The Mind

We have never taken a close look at our minds. The faculty with which we hear and see is the mind. When you listen to someone, you may continuously agree or disagree with what is being said. It is your intellect that is doing this. And you remember what is being said because of your memory.

There are seven levels to our existence: body, breath, mind, memory, intellect, ego, and self. When we get to know a little bit about each of these layers, there is a transformation.

The sign of true success is the ability to smile at all times. You are successful when you are compassionate, cultured, and committed. Education needs to provide all these values. We should not see all these values as goals to be achieved in the next 5 to 10 years of our lives or in the next life.

Let us examine our mind for a moment. Suppose you want me to tell you something about management, and I tell you to go to a library, where you will find hundreds of books on the topic. Suppose I tell you that I am not a professor and have not gone to any management school. When you hear this, what will be your reaction? What will happen in your mind? There will be a state of waiting. Waiting can lead to frustration or meditation. When you are not waiting, your mind is usually racing with thoughts. When your mind is waiting, your mind is stationary.

Are you aware of what goes on in your mind when you interact with people – the inner dialogue you have with yourself? Being aware of this is very important and helps to keep you healthy.

We need to look closely at ourselves, our lives, and the roles we are playing at any given time.

What we expect of others rarely matches how we behave when we are in their situation. Let me give you a simple every-day example: you will not be totally comfortably when you are a guest at somebody’s house; you will tend to feel inhibited and uncomfortable. You will want them to feel completely at home and be in harmony with their surroundings when they are at your house, yet you will not feel the same way at somebody else’s place. Have you ever thought about this before? Why do we see ourselves differently from the way we see others?

By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

First published in the book ‘Management Mantras : Key To Effective Management &leadership’.