Are Absolute Values, Obsolete?

Gone are the days, when people who lived on this earth, were “Value Personified”. When we think of TRUTH, the name that comes to our mind is Harichandra, when we think of NON VIOLENCE, the name is Gandhiji, When we think of SERVICE, the name is Mother Teresa. There are many such real life examples, who have lived their life, for the value they cherished close to their heart. For them, their value, was more important than their life. If it was a choice between their life and their value, they would decide to give up their life and not their value.

Are such personalities relevant today? Is there still a scope for absolute values?

In the modern world, most of us agree, it is OK to go against those time bound values in order to reap some gain. We have different terms by which we call this; Survival technique, Adaptability, Being Smart, so on and so forth.  It is ultimately our intelligence,  that has got better off our emotional convictions. Even if somebody pinpoints to us, that what we are doing is wrong, we shoot back with the words, “Hey, You….. which century do you belong to, come on, get practical”

Honesty today means different things to different people.  There seems to be different levels of honesty.

Level 1: I will be 100% honest and transparent. I will never say a lie.

Level 2  : I will never say a lie, but I will hide the truth, if there is a need.

Level 3 : If telling a lie, can save me, my family or my friend from a dangerous situation, I will.

Level 4 : I will tell petty lies, to get petty things done. It is not my intention to cheat anyone, but telling such small lies, makes my life a lot  easier.

Level 5: I know what is important to me and I don’t want to loose out on opportunities, in the name of being clean and honest. At the end of the day it is only me, who has to fend myself.

There could be many such levels, that seems appropriate to different people. So, you cannot just label somebody as dishonest. All you can do is, assess for yourself the level of honesty, of the person and deal with him accordingly. Nobody likes to be condemned as being dishonest. They have their own justifiable reasons.  It is just a matter of how much you are agreeable with that particular person. Your level of agreeability, will depend upon which level of honesty, you belong to.

Talking about honesty, I would like to share a incident that touched my heart, way back in 1992, when I was studying in London. During the weekends, I used to attend a class on philosophy. There used to be a refreshment break. The way people bought and paid for the refreshments was really interesting. Just like a buffet, a table is placed with different bowls, some having cakes, some having cookies, and few other bowls with other snacks. Below every bowl the price of the product is written, such as £0.25, £0.50 etc. Plates are kept in one corner. The person picks up the plate and moves along the line. He picks up whatever snack he wants and just calculates in his mind the price of the item. At the end of these food bowls, there is a glass bowl with some loose change in it.  It is something like an “open cash box”. The person puts the exact amount in the bowl or puts the currency note and picks up the balance change from the bowl. The beauty is that there is no one to monitor, what is dropped in and what is taken out. A classic example of honesty and integrity, that I have seen in real life.

I was awestruck by such a wonderful practice. I imagined, what would be the result if something like this was practiced in our country and I could not hope for a positive answer, that day. 16 years, has now passed since then, and I am still waiting for a positive answer.

 Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article dated Dec'08

Why We Do, What We Do

Most of us would have somewhere heard this famous parable of two brothers, which goes something like this. A father had two sons. The elder son was a drunkard and a notorious person. In the contrary the younger son was a very disciplined man, and a teetotaler. People were surprised how there could be two different types of children for the same father and out of curiosity, one person went and asked the elder son, “why are you into the habit of regular drinking?”, for which the elders son replied; “my father was a drunkard and so am I”.  The person who questioned, then went to the younger brother and asked, “how is that inspite of your father being a drunkard, you are such a nice person?”, The younger son replied, “Because my father was a drunkard, I have seen all the troubles my mother and my family has faced and that made me decide that I will not drink”. The incident is the same, but the outcome of the incident differs from person to person, based on his perception of life.

Anything we do in life, needs a lot of emotional conviction. With mental conviction we may be able to do something for sometime, but only with emotional conviction we can do something all the time.

Let me draw an example, from my own life. I go for my morning walk regularly. I do my yoga exercises, regularly. As much as possible I try not to skip this routine exercise schedule. For people from outside it may look like, I am just  fanatic about my exercise schedule, but to me the reason for this type of conviction is a lot  different. I am in fact gripped by a fear, which motivates me. Sometimes fear serves as a better motivation than appreciation.

My father is a diabetic and he takes regular insulin. It is painful to see the daily injections he has to prick on himself. Doctors say, walking is a good antidote to diabetes.

I have seen my mother suffer as a bed ridden person for four years, before she died, due to her lower spine problem. Yoga, is a good antidote for stiff back, because these exercises helps in improving the flexibility.

Today, doctors claim that most of our diseases are genetic. Given this perspective, it is better to practice the philosophy of “prevention is better than cure”. In some cases we may not be able to avoid, but we may be able to postpone. There are so many things that happen beyond our control, but it is also true that we can to a great level, have  influence on our health, by developing health eating habits, getting into a exercise schedule.

I caught the first spark of intelligence, on “prevention is better than cure” from one of my staff, many years ago. When we used to order for coffee, he used to say without sugar, all the time. This gave me a impression that he was a diabetic. On questioning, he replied, ”I am not a diabetic; but my father is. I am just trying to postpone my diabetic inclination, as far as I can”. His words had a lasting impact on me.

There are days I feel a bit lazy and try to avoid, waking up early in the morning, but the thought of future pain and suffering, makes me rise and go.  And once I am on, I enjoy my morning walk, more than anything else. I enjoy the gentle breeze, the soft rays of sunlight, my personal time with nature, and breathing in loads of fresh oxygen from the trees, that energizes me.

Not just about health, my friends. Anything we do in life, we need the emotional conviction, in order to keep going. The stronger the conviction, the easier it gets.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article dated Nov'08

Are Changes Making Our Life, Better or Bitter

We are living in an exciting period of time, where we come across so many changes in our day to day life. We are experiencing things that people have never experienced before. For instance three great inventions has drastically changed the way of life. Computers, Internet and Mobile Phone. Well, with every invention coming in there is always a debate whether it is a boon or curse. But not withholding our opinions, inventions continue to happen. Medical research has advanced to such great high levels, that scientist are finding ways to modify your genetic patterns.

For thousands of years, humans have walked around in an environment that was different from the one we move around in today. I read a nice quote which said, “ In those day, people did not have watches, but they had time. But today, everyone has watches but no one has the time. It is a irony. Our ancestors spent their time in a world that was outdoor-oriented, where family was the focus, where survival was tied to hands-on work, and where not much changed. Advances in technology and changes in their way of life occurred, but when they did, the change was slow and gradual. People had time to adapt.

Today, advances in technology are occurring at a rate that we have never experienced before. Within the time span of just one decade or less, an entire way of life can be shaped and altered. Just about when you seem to get familiar with a gadget, a new gadget comes. Look at the way the mobile phones has evolved. From the size of a brick to something that is invisible outside your palms.

In the beginning of the 1990s, the average household had only one telephone and no experience with computers. When something broke, it was possible to fix most items with your own hands. Now, just one decade later, people find it strange if you can't be reached at most hours and locations on your cell phone, if you don't have e-mail and Internet access, and if your business doesn't have a web page. Since computers are now being incorporated into many items, when something breaks we can only get out the phone book to call the technical guy; we are no longer capable of fixing things with our own hands. These changes represent not only changes in our technology, but also changes in the amount of control we feel over our own lives. It is exciting that our style of life changes so quickly, but at the same time it also makes us feel somewhat lost and disoriented. Though there has been an increase in comfort and convenience, people are feeling less happy and less satisfied than they were a decade before.

To win the battle against unhappiness, we need to be alert to the patterns in how we approach our interactions, people, our environment, and our everyday activities. This alertness and awakeness in life is the most reliable tool we can use in the pursuit of happiness.

 Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated Oct'08

How we Understand Life

Life is such a complex phenomenon, that it cannot be easily understood.  The uncertainties of the events happening on our day to day lives, leaves us many a times, puzzled.  As we gasp for answers, to our mysterious questions seeking the wisdom of the sages, the knowledge of the spiritual masters, the insights of astrologers and so on, we take to one of the following paths. Looking at the way one approaches life, I could see that there are predominantly four ways or a blend of these four ways, that constitutes one’s belief system.

1. The belief in Karma
2. The belief in Destiny
3. The belief in Human Effort
4. The belief in  Divine presence

Karma , in Indian philosophy, is the sum total of one's actions, good or bad, that are attached to the soul as it transmigrates, each new body , and each event experienced by that body being determined by previous karma. Some aspire to amass good karma and a good rebirth, but others, regarding all karma as bad, strive for release from the process of rebirth altogether. Those who believe in karma determine, all that happens to one, is a result of past karma.

Destiny is about belief in fate, fortune, luck or whatsoever.  This sect of believers, patronize the astrologers and the fortune tellers. These people seek the advice of astrologers, when they feel some troubles shooting up in life. The forecasts are generally based on the identifying the planetary positions at the time of one’s birth and relating the same to the current planetary positions. The astrologers takes a looks at the natal chart and assess the situations and gives some recommendations. Believers heed to advice, such as performing some rituals or choosing the right days, right numbers and right colours, whatsoever to coping up during the difficult period. Some value additions, to this is the numerology, palmistry, gemology, vasthu, and so on.

Then there are the most logical set of thinkers, who believe that work is the only way to progress. If something went wrong, they try to analyse and find a answer rather than contributing the cause to a external factor. They read and learn to update the skills, and have a positive attitude towards life. Inspite, of the best of their efforts, they sometime fail and this is when they start looking for answers beyond the realm of logic.

There is another sect of people who believe in the omnipresence of the creator. What we are talking about is not religion, but the faith in a power beyond our imagination, which we call as God. By prayer, we strengthen our faith and take life as it comes. We attribute all good and bad happening in our life and around us, as divine deeds. It is the faith that the one who sows the seed, will see it grow through rain and sun.

Our beliefs are shaped by our own choices and the resultant outcome and there is no right or wrong belief. I am reminded of the beautiful words of OSHO. “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived”. So , let us learn to accept life as it comes and enjoy the mystery unveiling before us, day after day.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated Sep'08

Owning our mistakes, can change us for the better

Blaming the world for what is not going right and praising ourselves for what is going right, is something we Indians have learned from our childhood days.

When you were a very small kid, somewhere between the toddling and running stage, if at anytime you fell down and cried, your mother would have picked you up, comforted you and in order to pacify you and stop you from crying, she would have acted as if she was beating the floor on which you tripped, twice or thrice, saying that “I have beaten the floor, now you don’t cry”. Somewhere deep in our mind a message was engrained that tripping down was not our fault, but the fault of the floor. Because the floor was punished, when actually we did the mistake of running carelessly, our mind learned whatever happens to us, is a plot of a external force and not our own mistake. This act of   dis-owning our mistakes keep continuing in our growth stage as well.

For example, while we are walking and we accidentally stamped over a thorn, we would say, “the thorn pricked me” whereas a English man would say, “I ran over a thorn”. Just think of it. Is it not true?.

A few more similar examples:

When we miss a train, we brood “the train left before I arrived” rather than saying “I was late to catch the train”.

When our shirt does not fit, we say “the shirt has become short”, instead of saying “I have outgrown the shirt”.

When a pen slips from your hand, we say “the pen fell down” instead of “I dropped the pen”

These are just few of the many wrong statements we use in our day to day life. These communication patterns which we form unconsciously, affects the way we perceive life and our life situations.

This has invisibly affected our growth and success rate in our life. As we tend, to justify our failures, by blaming the external situations, we don’t genuinely try to understand what really went wrong, when we face a failure. Unless we develop a unbiased view and try to figure out, what went wrong, we cannot find a positive solution to the problem. The problem will keep repeating again and again.

Robin Sharma, in his book “The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO” gives a very thought provoking statement which goes like this. “Life is a growth school. Everything that happens in your life, happens for a reason and there is some lesson that life is trying to teach you. We need to quickly learn the lesson, failing which life will continue to bring the same problem again and again until you have learned the lesson.”

It is time we learn to own responsibility, for our mistakes. It is only by owning our mistakes, we can change for the better. It will give us a opportunity to assess where and how we went wrong, and give us a o positive way ahead plan. Because in the end of the day, what the world will count is not the number you’re your excuses but the amount of your achievement.

 Happy Reading

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated Aug'08