Subtle Connections

Hari Om!

The time frame for the intentions to come true depends on our attitude. With 100% positive attitude - concentration, (not an iota of doubt), full confidence, being conscious with all five senses, mind and body coordinated - being in sync we can be sure about the results.

What is Attitude?

Attitude means:

• Orientation of the mind, expression of action, emotion, feeling, or disposition to a person or thing
• The way you think and feel about someone or something
• Feeling or way of thinking that affects a person’s behavior.

Behavior means to act, respond, or react to external or internal stimuli in a particular way.

Emotion is a state where we experience joy, sadness, fear and anger.

“Negative emotions such as anger, fear and sadness, in fact, sacrifice a lot to give us knowledge about the importance of Happiness”!!- By Sadguru Yogiraj Sri Sri Mangeshda

You associate attitude with emotions and display a certain attitude while experiencing certain emotions - Positive emotion result in positive attitude. Negative emotions lead to negative attitude. Attitude acts as a reflecting mirror of your emotion.

Happiness manifests as a positive attitude of cheer, joy, care, compassion, bliss, or contentment. Physical expressions are hugging, giving gifts, laughter, etc.

Anger is reflected with the attitudes such as - irritation, agitation, grouchiness, frustration, exasperation, disgust, jealousy, resentment, vengeance, violence etc.

Fear is conveyed through attitudes such as - nervous attitude, anxiety, tension, worry, panic.

Sadness is reflected with - depressed, defeatist attitude, hopelessness, glumness, grief, misery, disappointment, shame, dejection, insecurity, embarrassment, etc.

Here is a story from Sai Satcharitra about how all our feelings of pain and Pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind. Chapter 20 from Sai Satcharitra states How Das Ganu’s problem was solved by Kaka’s maid servant.

“Das Ganu and Kaka are very staunch devotees of Shirdi Saibaba. Das Ganu was once trying to translate Ishavasya Upanishad, a Sanskrit vedic text into Marathi language (one of the many languages spoken in India esp. in the western part of India like Mumbai, Pune).This work is called a `Mantropanishad’, as it is embodied in the Mantras of the Vedic Samhita. Within the short compass of 18 verses, it gives a valuable mystical description of the Atman (Soul), a description of the ideal sage, who stands unruffled in the midst of temptations and sorrows. Only an enlightened Sadguru has the capacity to make you understand the subtleties of such supreme knowledge. As Das Ganu had difficulty in understanding the exact meaning in certain places, he sought the guidance of Shirdi Saibaba for explanation (Shirdi is a small village in the western state of Maharashtra, India). As he lamented his difficulty, Shirdi Saibaba told him “the maid-servant of Kaka (Kakasaheb Dixit) will solve your doubts at Vile Parle, on your way home. Sadguru’s have a unique way of imparting knowledge through practical demonstration instead of theoretical expositon.

On his way back, Das Ganu stayed with Kaka for a few days. One day he heard a poor girl singing a beautiful song in clear and melodious tones. The subject matter of the song was a crimson colored Sari, how nice it was, how fine was its embroidery, how beautiful were its ends and borders etc. He liked the song so much that he came out, and saw that it was being sung by a young girl, the sister of Kaka’s servant. The girl was cleaning vessels, and had only a torn rag on her person. On seeing her impoverished condition, and her jovial temperament, Das Ganu felt pity for her and arranged to give a sari to the poor little girl. On receiving this gift, like a starving person getting delicious dishes to eat, the girl’s joy knew no bounds. Next day she wore the new Sari, and out of great joy and merriment, whirled, and danced round. The following day, she kept the new Sari in her box at home and came with the old and torn rags, but she looked as merry as she did the previous day. On seeing this, Das Ganu’s pity was transferred into admiration. He thought that the girl being poor had to wear a torn rag, but now she had a new Sari which she kept in reserve and putting on the old rag, strutted herself, showing no trace of sorrow or dejection. Thus he realized that all our feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind. On thinking deeply over this incident, he realized that a man ought to enjoy whatever God has bestowed on him in the firm conviction that He besets every thing, from behind and before, and on all sides and that whatever is bestowed on him by God must be for his good. He realized that in this particular case, the impoverished condition of the poor girl, her torn rag and the new Sari, the donor, the dance and the acceptance were all parts of the Lord and pervaded by Him. Hence, Das Ganu got a practical demonstration of the lesson of the Upanishad - the lesson of contentment with one’s own lot in the belief that whatever happens is ordained by God, and is ultimately good for us”

You would come across situations in life where circumstances would prevent us from doing what we really like, for example choosing our passion or talents as our profession. Some of you might feel anxious or depressed, have that gloomy attitude - “I have been fated to be sad, I always don’t get to do what I want to do” etc.

Opportunities always exist.  How you recognize and utilize it to your advantage shows how wise you are - Do not wait for it to knock on your door.

This is how my best friend views life.

I would like to mention here about my best friend - She is an artist, though not by profession. She says there are plenty of opportunities in our daily life to express our creativity - her home is her art gallery filled with her creations - paintings, crafts. In her eyes, success is not measured in terms of monetary gain but by the personal happiness you feel in any activity that you choose. She is a full-time mom, homemaker, works all the days in a day job, cooks three meals a day for her husband and teen age children, and still finds enough opportunities and time to express her artistic temperament and creativity in every small task. Her home looks like an interior designer decorated it, though she does it herself. The home is tastefully decorated with her creative designs. For New Year or other holidays, she designs her own greeting cards and sends them to friends and relatives. She decorates and arranges gifts herself, expressing her creative talent in that too. Every year, during the festival of Navarathri (Dusshera) she painstakingly arranges the dolls and designs the display with unique creativity. The display looks as if you have walked into a beautifully arranged gift store during the holiday season. Every year, it is different, and unique. Every festival is celebrated and not as a mechanical ritual but with gusto, enthusiasm and fresh creativity.

It is amazing that instead of complaining that she is not able to concentrate on her art full-time, she makes use of every little opportunity to display her artistic side. Hats of to her positive attitude!!

Rituals are performed mechanically without understating the subtle meaning (in-depth meaning). Nowadays, more emphasis is on new clothes, giving gifts, preparing and eating sweets, and good food. The purpose of celebrating any ritual, festivals or holidays is to awaken the Soul consciousness by removing the inner darkness, ignorance and kindling the light within. New clothes are worn, to symbolize that we are shedding the old, worn out, and dark ideas from our self, and donning a new, and pure self. Awakened Soul guides the mind keeping the senses under control. Thus we operate on a conscious level all the time which promotes positive thinking and attitude. Most of the Indian (Hindu) festivals have a story about their origin and purpose - Victory of Good (God) over Evil (Demons). Demons are the dark forces (ignorant and egoistic); God is satva (purity), filled with unconditional Love. Similarly be it Dusshera, Diwali, Thanksgiving or Christmas, the attitude behind celebrating is to leave aside indifferences, Ego and all negative qualities and develop positive attitude by spreading Unconditional Love and acceptance. In Bhagawat Geeta, Lord Krishna says   “Whoever offers me, with pure-mind and devotion, a leaf, flower, fruit, or water, is dear to me and I accept”. So the concept behind celebration of rituals should be for developing pure mind and not focusing on external sensual pleasures.

Symbolism of Sweets in Celebrations

All six tastes are dominated by the five elements - ether, air, fire, water and earth. Among them two or more elements dominate a taste and define its qualities on the tastes. Sweet taste is made up of water and earth out of which water (jala) is more predominant. Water is pregnant with Soma -Moon or Lunar energy and Soma also promotes love, and nurturing qualities. Qualities of water are purity, cohesion, flowing etc and of earth are nurturing, grounding loving and caring. Hence sweet taste increases Soma, thereby increasing Love energy and purity (satva). This emphasizes the importance of developing sweetness within and distributing it to all.

Sweet taste harmonizes the mind and promotes a sense of contentment. Diets having sweet taste are wholesome to the body and enhance production of rasa (body fluid/plasma), blood, muscle, fat, bone, marrow and Ojas (immunity), and thus nourishing and building all tissues, and provides cooling effect.  Out of the six tastes, sweet taste is more important because it is one of the most useful factors for longevity. When we say sweet taste, it is natural sweets, in moderation, and not white sugar/artificial sweeteners.

We are aware that eating a well balanced diet rich in organic foods, a natural way of living promotes purity or satvic thoughts, positive attitude and good health. Just eating right and following a strict regimen alone does not guarantee well-being. It has to be fortified with the right, positive attitude. Otherwise, these efforts at healthy living are in vain.

How emotions, attitude is reflected in the Physical body

Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body. They have two qualities - Inhibitory - calm the brain and create balance; excitatory - stimulate the brain. In the brain, various neurotransmitters like endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, nor-epinephrine, and epinephrine make it possible for a nerve impulse to travel from the axon of one neuron to the dendrite of another. They are circulated to meet the everyday functioning of the entire body and these alter (increase or deplete) at times of chronic stress and also to cope with stress. An excess or deficiency of a specific transmitter or group of transmitters may lead to a serious disorder in thought, mood, or behavior.

Endorphins in abundance increases happiness. Endorphin is a chemical name; we can also call it Love energy.

Stress and its effects

The endocrine system secretes hormones to cope with stress. While perceiving stress due to emotional outbursts, the physical body responds to this heightened situation by flight/fight response. The brain sends signal to the adrenals (stimulation of hypothalamus and pituitary activates the adrenal gland). To this stimulus, adrenal releases chemicals into the body - cortisol as a response. These hormonal releases suppress the immune system (inhibit production of disease fighting white blood cells). When immune system is suppressed, you have a greater chance for exposure to virus, infections and diseases.

You know there is going to be traffic during peak hours of commute, yet we complain, nag and get stressed about the traffic. Instead accepting the reality, we can spare the adrenals and the liver from overworking to produce extra cortisol (thus compromising your immune system) to meet the chemical imbalance due to stress.

Apart from driving, you encounter numerous occasions in a day which can trigger stress like late for an appointment, somebody not on time, not having lunch on time - hunger, excess talking, thinking, not able to accomplish task of the day etc. To meet all these emotions (even if it is small irritation, frustration, anxiety etc), liver has to transform and release chemicals for the brain and nervous system to handle the situation.

Every time we experience stress driving us towards displaying negative attitude or are very serious, unknowingly, we squeeze our eyebrows. This forms a line either on the left or right or both areas next to the inner eyebrows. In Ayurveda we call this line on the right as liver line and left as spleen line, thus indicating imbalance in the liver or spleen.

Negative thinking is like the harmful bacteria, and increases toxicity. Priority is given to mental peace now-a-days. Therapies given to remove stress from the mind, promote mental health and positive attitude are -  psychological counseling, journaling, behavioral therapy, visualization, art, music therapy, mantra therapy, Yoga, meditation, deep breathing to name a few.

“Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t you are right” - Henry Ford.

This is especially evident in the recent, historic election results in USA. President Elect Barack Obama’s team had the winning attitude with the mantra “Yes We Can”, which so eloquently describes the positive attitude that won the elections. This bold, simple yet powerful phrase invigorated the crowds, gave them a ray of hope amidst dismal economic conditions, and ignited them to make history.

“Anger swallows valuable breath, Fear burns good qualities, Sadness rejects inner happiness, and Unconditional Love keeps away Anger, Fear and Sadness.”

“By changing our own attitude towards the whole process positively, we can start living our each and every breath peacefully.”!!

- His Holiness Sadguru Yogiraj Sri Sri Mangeshda

Hari Om

Subha  Krishna

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Yoga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.