Make your Resolutions for year 2013

Wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Human race has evolved from very ancient ‘Stone Age’ to present most sophisticated ‘Information Age’. Every age has its tools and power. The power of present age is the potential of information, which acts as catalyst for speedy revolutionary growth and development that changed the life style of human race. Every age has created certain information, which adds to universal database.

Invention of Computer in the middle of last century, proved to be a great boon. Why Computer is so great, one may ask?

It is because of its characteristics, the memory to store, the speed and accuracy to compute a large volume of data and capability to process any complex processing. And it could create large universal database adding information from all ages; this along with the communication has empowered to exploit the great potential of information.

Computer’s storing capacity can hold large volume of information of a very large library in a small compact disk, which can be carried in our pocket. We can also retrieve whatever information we need by pressing few keys of the keyboard.

Information, communication, liberalization, and globalization have created a tremendous growth power in the world; there is a great quest among the younger people, who are struggling to convert all these energies into a super power to shape themselves as energetic and viable human force. The progress & development are also being misused by few negative forces, causing a great threat to human race, in the form of terrorism.

The younger generations today are at the crossroad, at one point they have to prove themselves amidst multifaceted severe competition and on the other hand they are in every step exposed to disastrous danger from all sorts of vices cropping up every moment by terrifying human mind.

Most sad aspect of this rapid and progressive period is that young minds are exposed so deeply to sensual excitements that they fail to be at peace of mind, their mind is filled with anger, frustration, excitement, etc., and the pressure is so much that they try to escape from themselves. The outlet is Internet and social websites. Some of them end their life or fall prey to undesired practices that ruin their whole life.

In such an alarming situation, how to make our teens and youth to find solace and safety? Young impulsive mind unable to concentrate upon anything beyond few seconds, they don’t enjoy any creative work. They all need a very positive motivation and should be made familiar with the teaching given in our ancient scriptures and age old spiritual traditions, which are the only remedies.

Our scriptures in the forms of Veda, Upanishad and Purans provide all needed guidance and information for a meaningful way of living. When we understand the messages in these scriptures and convert them into knowledge we will be able to tackle any & every problem. Unless we exploit the potential of knowledge and put into use this large valuable information as tools for our growth & development through a proper way of living, all these will be reduced in to a mere voluminous data-base.

An appeal to young generation for having lasting happiness, which comes through safe and healthy practices and not the activities we get addicted to for momentary impulsive kicks, which will not only lead to frustration but make our life miserable.

Please give only half an hour time to self to create a great life for you – during that half an hour do the practices to strengthen your body, mind and soul.

Your body has five aspects: physical layer that need good health and nutritious diet encompassing – carbohydrates, proteins, little fat, minerals, vitamins and lots of water. Next is our vital layer that envelops our cells with oxygen, which we get through breathing, so learn to breathe deeply that your body get maximum oxygen. The third one is the mental layer – your mind is like a hard disk storing information, emotions and thoughts added it also able to direct you so learn to make it your servant rather than allowing it be your master, whereby it will make you do all that is not good for you. The fourth layer is intellect layer – governs the faculties of wisdom and discrimination; you can tap this layer only when you are able to keep your mind under control. Final and the inner most layer is blissful layer, where your soul resides – your soul wants to be pure, serene and happy all the time so that it can get merged with the Supreme Soul, the creator

Practices for these five layers:

Physical layer: this layer is comprised body organs, the practices required to keep them clean, strong and efficient are Kriyas, the process to clean internal and external body parts, and the practices to bring the endurance, balance, flexibilities, and strength to these organs are physical exercises like Suryanamaskar, aerobic, walking, dancing, etc.

Vital layer: the flow of vital power all through the body and removal of toxins from the cells would be possible only when get maximum amount of oxygen and the practices needed are Breathing kriyas, Pranayama, etc.,

Mental layer: the practices for this layer are the auto-introspection, it is the process to understand the thoughts, able to identify them and segregate them into positive thoughts, redundant (useless) and negative thoughts – nurture the positive thoughts, ignore useless thoughts and convert the negative thoughts into strength, removing its negative aspects.

Intellect layer: Keep the mind cool and calm so that you can understand its contents – only through this layer you can neutralize your anger, moralize desires, handle worries appropriately and act accordingly and finally be able to achieve 100% discriminatory power that will give success in all your walks of life.

Finally the Blissful layer: it is the layer, which is an anchor to the life of every soul, which will enable the soul to navigate and move to Supreme Power. This state will give an absolute peace of mind and serenity. Every religion advocate japa for peace, i.e., to repeat the word or line or stanza continuously and feel the Supreme Power – the Supreme Soul is with you.

Wish you all a Very HAPPY 2013.

Be happy all the time.

The Art of Happy Living (HOLISTIC HEALTH FOR HAPPINESS)

[1] K. S. Iyer

Abstract (Paper presented in International Yoga Conference organized by Kaivalyadham, Lonavala in December 2009)

Today, the Yoga Therapy has been accepted universally as a way, rather a method to achieve the holistic health. This presentation, “The Art of Happy Living”, studies the body, psyche, mind, intellect and soul, as components of human life to achieve holistic health thereby derive a total happiness.

Vedic sources on the various aspects of human life, have prescribed four objectives for human life, called "Chatush-Purushartha", these four objectives of human life are based on human traits and their inborn desires. Today, human beings are filled in with numerous desires, and want to lead a luxurious life with all worldly comforts. These four objectives give the insight to us to make our life meaningful. Two of the objectives relate to worldly life, i.e., Kama (desires) & Artha (materialistic resources), and other two relate to subtler aspect of life, i.e., Dharma (righteous path) & Moksha (Liberation / Self-realisation).

All these aim at eternal Happiness of every person is. A person is happy, when he enjoys a good health (wellness), i.e., to have a holistic health. The hindrances in realizing the happiness are anger, desires, emotions, worries, etc., which in turn lead to an uncontrolled stress, resulting in countless psychosomatic disorders & diseases and ruin our happiness forever.

In this presentation – an attempt has been made to throw light on the various aspects of wellness, i.e., body, psyche, mind, intellect & soul. The tools to accomplish wellness and derive happiness are, thus to understand self, to cope with stress, neutralize anger, moralize desires, ignore worries, etc., and all these through the process of self-introspection. This process will enhance awareness of different layers of human body and soul in Blissful State and will enable to understand various energy centers that control us. These techniques together make a process, which can help us to accomplish the wellness (holistic health) and achieve the absolute Happiness. This entire process, we may call as: “The Art of Happy Living”.

1. Introduction

Since Vedic time a child is initiated to Veda at a very early age. Sanskrit word Veda is derived from its root, ‘vid’, which means the science of knowledge. The initiation process is called upanayanam, upa means near and nayanam means knowledge, i.e., to bring the child near the knowledge. Gayathri is Mother of Veda

Objectives:

v To understand the vary purpose of this life – the ultimate purpose is to be Happy All the Time – which, we may call the Blissful State of our soul

v We can derive the happiness only through our body, mind & soul – so it is necessary to understand their form and nature

v Finally, there are many obstacles, which not only destroy our happiness but also make us victim of diseases and agony. To be happy, we need to learn and practise the techniques to overcome all these obstacles.

Contents of Main Paper

2. Components of The Art of Happy Living

a. Understand the Wellness – its factors & their Dimensions

i. The sheathes enveloping the soul

ii. The energy centres that control our functioning

iii. Social being

iv. Environmental/Occupational

b. Understand the Body which enables us to experience the Wellness & Happiness – to understand through

i. Modern Medical Science

ii. Alternative Medical Perspective

iii. Complimentary Medical Perspective

c. Self Introspection

i. Understand & to cope up with the stress

ii. Analysis of thoughts

iii. Moralisation of desires

iv. Neutralization of anger

v. Eradication of worries and

vi. Realization of consciousness-self

3. Conclusions

---

[1] Prof. K S Iyer graduate in Science & Law and postgraduate in commerce, management, computers & application, is a certified associate of Indian Institute of Bankers and the Life Member of Computer Society of India. Voluntarily Retired as IT & Banking professional from Reserve Bank of India, Ex-in-charge of Business Simulation Lab (BSL) in a reputed Business School; developed BSL as a platform for on-line trading and designed a curriculum for PGDM FM course for Business Schools. Prof. Iyer has been teaching Accounts, Finance and IT since over 25 years and Cyber Law since 2007. Prof. Iyer authored the Principles of Computer Science for Banking Industry for Indian Institute of Bankers, when institute introduced the subject for its CAIIB course. Besides, a qualified yoga teacher, yoga therapist & naturopath, Prof. Iyer has developed the Life Style Management course for management schools in particular and for the corporate world in general.

The School Called "Life"

Each day in our life is an opportunity to learn lessons. We may like or dislike these lessons. However, it is necessary for us to design these lessons as part of curriculum of our course Life. First of all let’s ask - Why are we here? What is the purpose? We, the humans have sought to discover the meaning of life for a very long time. But, what we and our ancestors have overlooked in the course of this endless search the very fact that there is no one single answer to this serious question; what is Life? Since the meaning of life is different for every individual. Each person has his or her own purpose and distinct path of living, which is unique and separate for each one of them. As we travel through our life path, we get numerous lessons and we need to learn them in order to fulfill the very purpose of our life. The learning these lessons is the key to discovering and fulfilling the meaning and relevance of our own life.

Once we have learned the basic lessons taught to us by our own self, i.e., our body, mind and soul then we are, now we are prepared for a more advanced teacher: the universe. This is in line with the saying, which says ‘yatha brahamande tatha pind”, i.e., your body as is the nature. We get lessons in every circumstance those surfaces in our life. When we experience pain, we learn a lesson. When we feel joy, we learn a different lesson. For every action or event, there is an accompanying lesson and that we must learn.

As we travel through our lifeline, we may encounter challenging and complex lessons that many don't have to face, while others spend years struggling with some other challenges that we don't need to deal with. We may never know why we are blessed with a wonderful marriage, while our friends suffer through bitter arguments and painful divorces, just as we cannot be sure why we struggle financially while our peers enjoy abundance. Here the only option we have either to choose to learn from them or ignore them entirely.

The challenge, therefore, is to align us with our own unique path by learning our lessons. This is the most difficult challenge we will face in our lifetime, as sometimes our path will lead us into a life that is radically different from others. Let’s not compare our path to those around us and focus on the disparity between their lessons and ours. We need to remember that we will only be faced with lessons that we are capable of learning and are specific to our own growth.

If we are able to rise to this challenge, we can unravel the mystery of our purpose and actually live in it. We cease being a victim of fate or circumstance and become empowered - life no longer just "happens to us". When we are working toward fulfilling our true purpose, we discover astonishing gifts within us that we may have never known we have. This process may not be easy, but the rewards are well worth the struggle.