Self-Development - (Book Review)

Don’t we strive to improve ourselves everyday in every way possible? “A better tomorrow” is our decided motto as we retire for the day. At times we are aware, and at other times, we are painfully reminded by others of our shortcomings. We are not up to the mark in our performance at school or at office or on the sports field. We do not maintain good health, our concentration is poor, and our memory is failing. We cannot control ourselves in crucial situations. We lack that quality of excellence in our lives that we have come to admire in our superiors. As we become conscious of such defects within us, we resolve to change. We want to improve our health, our mental and physical capacities, and our image in the eyes of others.

Most often such an urge to improve is a momentary one. When we find ourselves humiliated in the presence of others, or are incapacitated at a time when we should have acted, we are overpowered by regret and pain. We grow sad and disappointed and allow negative thoughts to corrode our personalities, we begin to doubt ourselves. The worst is when we make half-hearted attempts to improve ourselves. We make resolutions, we keep diaries, we read articles on how to overcome frustration or read books on keeping fit or even join some activity of Self-development.

But alas! This very approach of ours as well as the mechanics of the activity defeats our purpose. While reading a book, we display a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning but soon exhaust our emotional energy. When we reflect, we find that the techniques of Self-development seem to be sheer common sense and look practicable but we just do not have the time or the patience or the energy required.

The rule is simple: Self-development is not like learning some trick, mastering which, one reaches the desired goal. The answer to the overweight is not found in mere exercise. You have to watch your diet and your emotions. Similarly if you wish to improve your concentration, you just do not achieve results by making a black dot on the wall and staring at it all day. Concentration becomes an attitude of the mind and grows out of our desire to cultivate a meaningful participation in all our experiences.

In straight words: “Self-development cannot be separate since it is part of a total process. We cannot improve our bodies, as long as we do not improve our minds.”

This book will show you easy steps towards Self-Improvement and the basic ingredients of Self-development. An excellent reading for people from all profiles!

Cultivating Faith - to be balanced midst duality

Faith is a critical virtue in Yoga. Man cannot succeed without having any faith in himself, his environment, nature or God. Without faith man remains full of doubt, which gives rise to worry. His actions are haphazard and without a clear goal, and thus he cannot succeed. Faith helps one to be balanced midst duality.

Faith can be developed by practice. When one has faith in his actions he will succeed. As nothing succeeds like success, ones faith grows stronger every time he succeeds. For example:

- One may not sit in Sukhasana for hours but one should sit for 10 minutes with mind absorbed in breathing. Meditative asanas can cause introversion. Quietude is gained when eyes are closed for a few minutes together with composure.

- One may not succeed in doing Paschimmottanasana for 3 minutes but one should rhythmically move hands towards toes and return (keeping a manageable breathing rate of 2:4:2 or 3:6:3). So with a selection of easier and more effective asanas, doing them dynamically and for shorter duration we can learn asanas.

All this helps in generating faith. On the other hand, stress results when routines at physical and mental level are not followed e.g. proper rest, mental conditioning, performance of one’s own duties, etc. In absence of relaxation one gets confused and suffers from loss of faith and capacity to accept life.

Faith is a mental state which is positive and has to be cultivated. It is called an ‘upaya’ or technique.

When certain calmness is encouraged faith is born.  It has to be strengthened and also cross-checked.  There are moments when one is totally lost, like during an earthquake, and only faith helps him to maintain sanity.

Ishwara pranidhana is resignation to the will of the Absolute.

It requires the student of yoga to believe that whatever happens, happens according to the will of the Absolute. One should accept the results of one's deeds without feeling pain or pleasure. One should concentrate fully on doing one's duty and be disinterested about the results. The other side of this is that one has faith in a higher reality which maps out our lives beyond our control.

What you can do:
- Watch yourself during the day and observe how you behave when someone disturbs or offends you, or when something goes wrong. Do you immediately loose your balance of mind? Or do you have the understanding that some things are beyond our control, but there is always a great power ruling over all things?