Mind plays Games

Do you know that mind’s only pre-occupation is playing games? We are often fooled by our own minds. John Milton said, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”

Mind is that aspect of our personality that thinks. A continuous flow of thoughts is mind’s food. No thought, no mind. Thoughts are either about past memories or future expectations. Present moment passes so fast that it offers no opportunity for the mind to think. The present moment can only be experienced, not thought about. Mind virtually dies in the present moment. Therefore, mind hates the present moment. It conspires to keep us from being in the present moment. It plays variety of games to keep us occupied in its playground – past memories and future expectations.

For example, you want to buy something. You collect all the information, carryout all the possible analysis / negotiations and zero in on one item. However, no sooner have you bought it and wish to enjoy, mind raises doubts about your decision. Now, you are not sure if you bought the right stuff or paid the right price. Your enjoyment from the purchase is no longer complete.

Consider another example. You are preparing for a job interview. You study all about the company and the job. You mentally rehearse a number of scenarios to perfection. But, on the D-day, mind presents a new scenario that you have not rehearsed. Your confidence is shaken and you cannot concentrate on the ongoing interview. Success becomes a matter of chance.

Yet another example: You are well prepared to make a presentation to a large gathering. But, no sooner you face the audience; mind throws doubts about your preparation or simply your appearance. Now there are butterflies in the stomach.

And, how about this example? You want to marry. You make a list of criteria and start exploring for a suitable match. You ultimately find a match and decide to live together forever. But, soon after the marriage, your interest drifts elsewhere. Mind starts highlighting deficiencies in your decision, while presenting alternative options. You are on a wild goose chase for the ultimate marital bliss. Increasing rate of divorces is a testament to this game of mind.

In reality, mind never gives 100% consent on any choice. That part of the mind, which does not give its consent, fights back soon after making the choice with greater force to convince us that our choice could have been better. Having committed a wrong action, mind hates to say ‘sorry’. It will fabricate all sorts of excuses and reasons to justify that action. Mind maintains a huge video library of all the past memories, especially the miserable ones, and replays the scariest number when we are about to launch a new venture or waiting for an important news. Child is late in returning from the school and the mind will suggest only the worst scenario. Mind never sleeps, even when we sleep. It weaves variety of dreams with strings of unfulfilled desires and fancies. We are never left alone in peace. Mind keeps us busy with unending series of dilemmas. It is a chatter-box in which internal dialogues never stop.

So, what do we do with such a mind? We can neither ignore it nor dump it at will. Perhaps the answer lies in the old adage, “Mind is a great servant, but a terrible master.” We can use it to our advantage. For this, first we must realize that we possess our minds – not the other way round. Hence, we have higher power than the mind. We should use this power to maintain a constant watch over the mind. Simple observation with a detached attitude can stop mind’s rambling to a great extent. Mind becomes unruly when we lose this objectivity and start flowing with it. Keeping our attention in the present moment is an excellent way of cutting the supply line for the mind.

We should refer to the mind when required. We should use it to carry out a given task or problem analysis. Let it throw possible options and choices. But, while making the decision, we should refer to our hearts. Heart is beyond logic and reasoning. Love is the only food for heart. It is closer to the core of our personality and hence can better judge what is right for us. Heart has wonderful quality of connecting with other hearts. So, it also knows what is good for everybody. Decisions reached by heart are comforting and do not have any disturbing aftereffects.

Once we regain control over our minds, we can reverse the game-plan. We can now play games with our minds. Since mind is so good in creating illusory visions, we can instruct it to create desired visions at will. We can ask it to create a vision of success before an interview or a business meeting. We can ask it to create a vision of applauding audience before the presentation. We can command it to lift the gloom and spread joy. We can use mind to go beyond the mind.

A prisoner confined to a dark cell in France for several years used this power of the mind to play virtual Golf in his mind everyday and became a professional player soon after his release. There is no reason why we can’t do the same with our minds. There is no reason why we can’t start living spontaneously – moment-by-moment.

Is Money Root of all Evils?

Once there was a king who had a servant. He used to give the king daily massage. King used to pay him one coin every day for his service. The servant used to spend that coin in fulfilling daily needs of his family and do some charity. In the evening, he used to call his friends and neighbours treating them with the remainder of the coin. In the night, he used to sleep without any worry and anxiety. The king felt jealous of his servant’s happiness, as he was besieged by all kinds of worries despite so much wealth. He discussed his feelings with his minister, who promised to fix this situation. One night, the minister dropped a purse containing 99 coins in the servant’s house. When the servant discovered it, he thought of making it to 100. Next day, he decided not to spend anything from the coin that he earned. His entire family suffered hunger and his friends wondered why he had not called for daily evening treat. In the night, he could not sleep, as his mind got busy with ideas of further increasing this new found wealth. He was caught-up in the whirlpool of 99. We may laugh at this story. But, are we not all caught-up in the similar whirlpools?

At the dawn of humanity, there was no money. Life used to begin with the sun-rise and virtually end with the sun-set. There was no certainty of tomorrow. Cut to the present time. There is no certainty of tomorrow, even now. But now we have money, which seems to assure us that tomorrow will come. With money, our life-styles and thinking have changed. We have learnt to postpone and camouflage our joys. We no longer enjoy delicacies of cheap joints. We no longer shop in open markets. We no longer stop at a chalk-painting done by an impoverished artist on the footpath. We no longer lend our ears to a soulful tune played by a loner in the sub-way. We judge success in life on the scale of money. We choose partners and friends on the parameter of money. We conveniently distance from those who don’t match our monetary status. How many of us would honour a prior commitment of meeting an old friend with humble background, when suddenly invited by a well known icon at the same time? Families fall apart over money issues. Friendship gets sour when money enters the scene. Is money root of all evils?

Certainly not! Who does not want money? If someone says he doesn’t, then either he is lying or he hasn’t any. It is unfortunate that money has been blamed for causing so many evils in the world. Money is merely a tool of exchange. When someone has the ability to produce something and another person wishes to have his product, then he exchanges his money with that product thus giving value for value. This is the principle of ‘fair trade’. Further, money has no intrinsic value of its own. In the famous novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ by Ayn Rand Francisco says, “Not an ocean of tears, not all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow.” Money only carries a notional value given by different governments. This value can change overnight. Recent economic recession has amply demonstrated this fact.

Giving exaggerated value and power to the money is the root of all problems. It is vital that we clearly understand the right value and limitations of money through the following four fundamental questions:

1. How much money do we need? Money can only buy the objects of the world. And, we need money to survive and achieve our goals in life. But, when we cross the boundary of ‘needs’ and enter the arena of ‘desires’, it becomes a completely different ball-game. Since our desires are unlimited, the money that we require will also be unlimited. Hence, there will never be enough money to satisfy all our desires.
2. How must money be earned? Money must be earned through application of honest efforts. It runs away, when you chase it. But, it comes to you unexpected when you are busy delivering your best. Anyone inheriting ancestral money must prove himself to be worthy of owning it. Otherwise, the same money has power to destroy him. Those who find faults with money are most likely those who obtained it dishonourably. One can never enjoy ill-gotten money. The fact that you compromised with your conscience will always haunt you, no matter how much money you accumulate. Money is useful in true sense only when it is the product of your virtue. But it cannot give you virtue and it will not redeem your vices.
3. How must money be used? Like water, it spreads life and cheer only when flowing. It stinks when it is locked-up in vaults. No doubt, we enjoy spending it on ourselves. But, when we spend it on others, especially unknown and incognito, our hearts are filled with bliss. A vulgar display of wealth attracts unwanted attention, which ultimately ruins its very existence. Money is best used in realizing our own hidden potentials, not in imitating others.
4. Should we keep money for tomorrow? We must inculcate the habit of saving something for a rainy day. But, accumulation of money at the cost of today’s happiness cannot guarantee tomorrow’s happiness. What would we do with the accumulated money when we have lost the ability to contribute and enjoy in the world? But, our ability to produce; our ability to remain useful for the society and our ability to enjoy every moment will guarantee continuation of happiness as long as we live. Someone somewhere will always be ready to reward us for our honest efforts. Most of all, we would sleep every night peacefully.

Making Sense of Common Sense

“Use your common sense.” Aren’t we tired of hearing this? Most of us use this phrase in our day-to-day dealings almost without thinking. By common sense, do we mean what most people would do most of the time? Which sense do we refer to and what is common about it? Are we talking about information received through sensory organs, emotional feelings, intellectual understanding or something close to conscience? Can any sense be common to all? Is there a thing called ‘common sense’?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “Common sense” as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” Let’s also see what some of the famous personalities say about common sense:

• Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius (George Bernard Shaw)
• Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen (Albert Einstein)
• Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done (Josh Billings)
• Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses (Leonardo da Vinci)
• The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next (Henry Ward Beecher)

In the absence of a common understanding, use of common sense appears questionable. Human race has evolved through millennia of learning and growth from initial hunting age. Accordingly, our sense of perceiving different situations has also changed. However, everyone has not evolved equally. Even today there are people, amongst us, representing almost all ages of human evolution. Factors such as: gender, culture, beliefs, environment, education, experience, traditions, prejudices, etc. produce the whole variety of people. It is futile to expect everyone having sense that is common to all.

Notwithstanding the above, I like Josh Billings’ quotation, “Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.” By common, I guess, he means ‘simply’, ‘ordinarily’ or ‘obviously’. This makes sense to me. It is within everyone’s grasp to see things as they are, and do things as they ought to be done. If all are able to apply this power at their individual levels, what they would see and do will tend to be common and hence a common sense can prevail. But, it is easier said than done. In reality, we often see things through the lenses of our prejudices and act based on our likes and dislikes.

Seeing things as they are is seeing the truth, which is same for all. And, in truth lies all the possibilities for future growth. Newton, Einstein, Archimedes, Edison – each one of them simply saw the truth and discovered great laws of science. What was common sense to them, remained great mysteries for others before them. Even rocket science is based on principles derived from multitudes of common senses. I believe that every single scientific and technological advancement, that today’s world boasts of, was a common sense for someone at the start. All theories, philosophies, work of art and culture have evolved through commonsensical approach of rare individuals who dared to see things as they were in their times. I also believe that most of the political, social and inter-personnel problems are rooted in the fact that we have lost sight of the truth. Everyone is carrying a ‘hidden agenda’. Everyone is asking what is in it for me. No one cares to ask what is in it for everybody.

Through education and experience, we have lost simplicity and acquired sophistication. We have developed a knack of complicating everything. We no longer seek simple pleasures of life. We dwell in virtual reality. Sophisticated gizmos, that were meant to free us for enjoying life, have stolen the very life from us. We meet people on the net, shop online, telecommute to work and believe in everything digital. We are seeking life in the digital world, while the life is shining in full splendour just outside our windows.

Common sense has been the biggest casualty of current times. There is no reason why any conflict or problem, however big, can’t be resolved if all concerned dare to see things as they are and get committed to doing what ought to be done. Common sense is deeply rooted in simplicity and simplicity is sufficient for living. Are we ready to break out of virtual reality and park our prejudices? Do we wish to test the fruit of common sense, in real sense? There is no better time to start than NOW.