Few of the books which integrate psychology and spirituality ...
1.David Richo
How to be an Adult
How to be an Adult in Relationships
2.Scott Peck
Road less travelled
Further along the Road less travelled
3.Carl Jung
All his books are valuable for anyone who wants to know how our mind works.
4.Julia Cameron
The Artist's way
This is a amazing book for anyone who wants to be creative.
All the blocked artists(me included)should consider this book as a treasure.Recently I found out that this book was used in lot of artists workshops.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Humility
I was fed up with the rat race...So I decided that I would serve at a monastery(for few days) and fill my world with peace.I waited for the D-day with lot of excitement.One of the jobs I was given was to cook.I had to prepare meals for 40 people.Preparing the meal was not difficult.But as usual I was worried about the results.All thoughts starting with "IF "..became the major theme in my mind.
As the people who meditate eat very less..The only "whole" meal was during lunch.I was worried that if I would mess up,then they would starve the whole day.My anxiety used to turn into panic attacks when serving time approached.I became little paranoid..I also used to get obsessed with perfection,tried working the whole day and sleeping only for few hours.The service became a misery to me.I had to deal with all the issues I normally have in a professional work place.After 3 days,I started missing my work-life...That was less stressful..."At least I don't have nightmare's where people suffer from food poisoning."
Humility is one of the best ways of dissolving the ego.Everything we achieve in the field of professional/personal/spiritual realm makes us more confident and the downside to that is that ,we feel, we are more important.Service was one of the ways which helped me understand the way my ego works.But even in service we start having expectations...We want to get noticed,we want to compete and we want to attach ourselves to the results.As I was returning back to my home I realized that,we can change the background in our life.But wherever we go,we project our own world.Our mind is filled with lot of issues which call for attention.
The food turned out good.All my worrying went in vain.There was a American psychologist( PhD and all the additional tags) who used to wash dishes there.He never traded places with any of us.According to him, dish washing was the easiest way to Nirvana.A educated person doing manual labor, is the ultimate solution for the intellectual ego.Gandhi followed that a lot in his life.
We all have the major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. ... And the great issue of life is to harness the major instinct. It is a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The meditation I talk about is Vipassana Meditation(www.dhamma.org)
As the people who meditate eat very less..The only "whole" meal was during lunch.I was worried that if I would mess up,then they would starve the whole day.My anxiety used to turn into panic attacks when serving time approached.I became little paranoid..I also used to get obsessed with perfection,tried working the whole day and sleeping only for few hours.The service became a misery to me.I had to deal with all the issues I normally have in a professional work place.After 3 days,I started missing my work-life...That was less stressful..."At least I don't have nightmare's where people suffer from food poisoning."
Humility is one of the best ways of dissolving the ego.Everything we achieve in the field of professional/personal/spiritual realm makes us more confident and the downside to that is that ,we feel, we are more important.Service was one of the ways which helped me understand the way my ego works.But even in service we start having expectations...We want to get noticed,we want to compete and we want to attach ourselves to the results.As I was returning back to my home I realized that,we can change the background in our life.But wherever we go,we project our own world.Our mind is filled with lot of issues which call for attention.
The food turned out good.All my worrying went in vain.There was a American psychologist( PhD and all the additional tags) who used to wash dishes there.He never traded places with any of us.According to him, dish washing was the easiest way to Nirvana.A educated person doing manual labor, is the ultimate solution for the intellectual ego.Gandhi followed that a lot in his life.
We all have the major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. ... And the great issue of life is to harness the major instinct. It is a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The meditation I talk about is Vipassana Meditation(www.dhamma.org)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
To defend ourselves
As humans with uncontrollable emotions we all are vulnerable.Whenever we are threatened we become defensive.We try to erect a wall of logic.I mix logic with lies, so that I can attract sympathy from people.The reason we get defensive is not to fool others but to protect ourselves from psychological pain.As free individuals we dont owe any explanation,as to why we behave a certain way or
why we react a certain way to situations.As long as we abide by the laws of the state and make choices which do not affect others,our actions/reactions cannot be judged.But we land up in situations,where our life becomes the focus and also what we are becomes a fact.
Facts are laws which do not change over time.As humans we vary our desires,ambitions and our lives every day.So when our lives are viewed as a fact...as a done deal,we feel threatened.I have recently realized that we feel hurt,only when we truly believe what others say.If you brush it off and let go of our defenses,it does not effect you.But as easy as it sounds,its very difficult to implement.I could never be impassive to any one's comments.But the only solution I found was to deal head on.I directly question the intention of the person who is assaulting me.Its embrassing the first few seconds,as the person is in shock.Honesty is scary to people who want to make you feel inferior.I have tried it in few situations...it helped me reduce the amount of logic and lies I use in counteracting judgements.
why we react a certain way to situations.As long as we abide by the laws of the state and make choices which do not affect others,our actions/reactions cannot be judged.But we land up in situations,where our life becomes the focus and also what we are becomes a fact.
Facts are laws which do not change over time.As humans we vary our desires,ambitions and our lives every day.So when our lives are viewed as a fact...as a done deal,we feel threatened.I have recently realized that we feel hurt,only when we truly believe what others say.If you brush it off and let go of our defenses,it does not effect you.But as easy as it sounds,its very difficult to implement.I could never be impassive to any one's comments.But the only solution I found was to deal head on.I directly question the intention of the person who is assaulting me.Its embrassing the first few seconds,as the person is in shock.Honesty is scary to people who want to make you feel inferior.I have tried it in few situations...it helped me reduce the amount of logic and lies I use in counteracting judgements.
Monday, January 12, 2009
One minute Excellence
This article made a huge impact on me..
Its a article by Tom Peters
I can sense the curling of your lips. While such a catchphrase makes me shudder, too, it contains a gem waiting to be discovered.
How do you go on an effective diet? How do you stop smoking? How do you stop drinking?
In short, you do it and it's done. Then you work [hard] for the rest of your life to stay on the weight-maintenance, non-smoking, or booze-free wagon.
A while back, I came across a line attributed to IBM founder Thomas Watson, If you want to achieve excellence, he said, you can get there today. As of this second quit doing less-than-excellent work.
The idea is profound.
Suppose you're a waiter and, for your own future's sake (...) you decide to set a matchless standard for service. How? You do it. Now.
Sure you'll be clumsy at first. You'll get a lot of it wrong. You'll need to read up, listen to audio-tapes, take classes, tune in to on-line electronic chat rooms, visit other restaurants to collect clues. And you'll need to keep doing such things to maintain your edge (as an opera singer or a professional athlete does).
Nonetheless, you can become excellent in a nanosecond, staring with your first guest tonight. [...]
Does it sound wild? Silly? Naive? Maybe, but it isn't. The first 99.9 percent of getting from here to these is the determination to do it and not to compromise, no matter what sort of roadblocks those around you (including peers) erect.
The last 99.9 percent (I know it adds up to more than 100 percent -- that's life) is working [in right earnest] to
1. Keep your spirits up through the inevitable storms
2. learn something new every day
3. practice that something, awkward or not and no matter what, until it's become part of your nature.
What holds for the waiter also holds for the manager of a six-person department or the cheif executive of the 16,000 person firm.
How long does it take you, as boss, to achieve world-class quality? Less than a nanosecond to attain it, a lifetime of passionate pursuit to maintain it,
- By Tom Peters from "The Pursuit of Wow!"
Its a article by Tom Peters
I can sense the curling of your lips. While such a catchphrase makes me shudder, too, it contains a gem waiting to be discovered.
How do you go on an effective diet? How do you stop smoking? How do you stop drinking?
In short, you do it and it's done. Then you work [hard] for the rest of your life to stay on the weight-maintenance, non-smoking, or booze-free wagon.
A while back, I came across a line attributed to IBM founder Thomas Watson, If you want to achieve excellence, he said, you can get there today. As of this second quit doing less-than-excellent work.
The idea is profound.
Suppose you're a waiter and, for your own future's sake (...) you decide to set a matchless standard for service. How? You do it. Now.
Sure you'll be clumsy at first. You'll get a lot of it wrong. You'll need to read up, listen to audio-tapes, take classes, tune in to on-line electronic chat rooms, visit other restaurants to collect clues. And you'll need to keep doing such things to maintain your edge (as an opera singer or a professional athlete does).
Nonetheless, you can become excellent in a nanosecond, staring with your first guest tonight. [...]
Does it sound wild? Silly? Naive? Maybe, but it isn't. The first 99.9 percent of getting from here to these is the determination to do it and not to compromise, no matter what sort of roadblocks those around you (including peers) erect.
The last 99.9 percent (I know it adds up to more than 100 percent -- that's life) is working [in right earnest] to
1. Keep your spirits up through the inevitable storms
2. learn something new every day
3. practice that something, awkward or not and no matter what, until it's become part of your nature.
What holds for the waiter also holds for the manager of a six-person department or the cheif executive of the 16,000 person firm.
How long does it take you, as boss, to achieve world-class quality? Less than a nanosecond to attain it, a lifetime of passionate pursuit to maintain it,
- By Tom Peters from "The Pursuit of Wow!"
Saturday, January 03, 2009
S. A. D
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer, repeatedly, year after year.They may sleep too much, have little energy, and crave sweets and starchy foods. They may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up
I get gloomy whenever the winter approaches.Rainy season also makes my days dull.I used to always wonder how Indian actress's get happy and dance in the rain...
It was always the opposite for me.I could never get out of bed,if the weather is cloudy,with never ending greyness.I dislike the hill stations in India..and always had a fantasy to go to Rajasthan for a vacation.
Even though my depression is not life threatening,it is still a pain living at a place which has rains all year round.(5 months snow also included)
How I wish I had Icelandic ancestry!!!
Wikipedia mentions that people in Iceland are immune to SAD.It seems a certain fish which they consume also makes them winter-friendly.Being a vegetarian the fish solution goes outside the window..
Personally I try to cheat my moods by using lot of lamps,which simulate the summer season.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy also works fine.Knowing more about the problems we are going to face and having solutions before hand, makes things easier with regard to SAD.
Keeping busy is one of the easiest ways to conquer SAD.
I get gloomy whenever the winter approaches.Rainy season also makes my days dull.I used to always wonder how Indian actress's get happy and dance in the rain...
It was always the opposite for me.I could never get out of bed,if the weather is cloudy,with never ending greyness.I dislike the hill stations in India..and always had a fantasy to go to Rajasthan for a vacation.
Even though my depression is not life threatening,it is still a pain living at a place which has rains all year round.(5 months snow also included)
How I wish I had Icelandic ancestry!!!
Wikipedia mentions that people in Iceland are immune to SAD.It seems a certain fish which they consume also makes them winter-friendly.Being a vegetarian the fish solution goes outside the window..
Personally I try to cheat my moods by using lot of lamps,which simulate the summer season.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy also works fine.Knowing more about the problems we are going to face and having solutions before hand, makes things easier with regard to SAD.
Keeping busy is one of the easiest ways to conquer SAD.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Rat race part 2
I just wanted to add few sources which can give a spiritual understanding to the term "ambition"(in terms of career)
Dr Larry Brilliant vs The devil of Ambition
Interview with Dr.Larry Brilliant
Adyashanti
Beyond the personal will
Dr Larry Brilliant vs The devil of Ambition
Interview with Dr.Larry Brilliant
Adyashanti
Beyond the personal will
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)