Importance of Change

Importance of Change Often, conventional and commonplace way of thinking only results in clambering the ladder. A person leading a ho-hum existence is invariably complacent and satiated with the prosaic lifestyle. Those with a curious mind and an unconventional or atypical thinking process try to refashion their personalities by re-engineering themselves from inside out. They possess the assiduity to carve a niche and become role models. Tale of an old man Aeons ago, lived an elderly gentleman who in the winter of his life decided to embark on a spiritual journey to re-engineer his personality. The immediate family of the geriatric gentleman was solicitous of his welfare and simultaneously perturbed at what they thought to be an unusual desire. The Pater now embarked on the spiritual sojourn and enrolled in a monastery. Upon completing his tutelage, armed with various nuances of Zen teachings, he left for his bijou town. Once an emaciated and enervated looking individual, he had transfigured his mind and was suffused with jollity. Miraculous escape or metamorphosis He stepped out the portals of the Temple of Knowledge and involuntarily slipped into a rivulet. “Oh, the old monk falls in the river!” chortled some young tutees. However, the senior gentleman emerged from an up-surging stream. He was to dramatically declare that the re-engineering processes and techniques he acquired had enabled him to accommodate water into himself and not the other way round. Thought process, thinking patterns, building blocks of thought, organised thinking and goal direction are five keys to re-engineer the mind in order to metamorphose and refashion our lives. Strategy of the astute and perspicacious An ingenious individual in order to re-engineer his life to change the existing pattern begins with identifying the problem. In the swathes of his mind, such a process represents and delineates the problem; as he or she is mindful and discerning, solutions and set of sub-goals are outlined. Once the inventory of plausible expositions and elucidation is prepared, those are evaluated. It was the time of Sakya Muni Gautama Buddha, when an animated group of denizens were involved in a rambunctious argument about Divinity and various religions. Much as they attempted, none could zero in on a suitable answer. In sheer exasperation they arrived at the feet of Lord Buddha. The compassionate and enlightened one smiled and ruminated for a while. Lord Buddha then asked his disciples to arrange for an elephant and for four persons to be blind-folded. And so, it happened that the first of the blind-folded persons felt the elephant’s leg and exclaimed that God appeared as a pillar. The second person touched the elephant’s tummy and opined that Almighty God was a wall. The third gentleman stroked the elephant’s ear and made an observation that God was a piece of cloth. The fourth man grazed the tail and described that God was as a piece of rope. Once again, the group of four was engaged in a raging debate on the form of Almighty God. After the exercise was completed, Buddha asked the assembled disciples and citizens. The four blindfolded individuals felt the same elephant, but provided varying answers, so what could be the correct answer? The episode just proved that no one individual or thought process is complete. One should always be prepared to accept that one might be correct in parts and that other streams of thought could be complementary. Pearls of wisdom Human mind views the vastness of the Universe through one’s own perception, delineated as it is by limited thinking and understanding. The four blindfolded individuals and those bestowed with vision appreciated the point made by Lord Buddha that they carry much baggage of past impressions and limited thinking that they end up wrangling about the form of Almighty God, when they are unable to even comprehend and envisage the form of an elephant. However, a trained mind, which looks within, gains insight, becomes wakeful and mindful. In an unfeigned manner undertakes the process of re-engineering the mind and the baby steps necessary to undertake a change in their lives to make it pregnant with possibilities. Techniques for training The spiritually inclined can re-engineer their lives undertaking the bouquet of courses imparted by the Art of Living, or pursue Vipassana; attempt to mutate their minds through the practice of yoga, pranayama and meditation. There are others who have a logical bent of mind and charter a different path. They need to develop a passion, or take up a sport, read inspirational literature among other things. But it is elemental and foundational to reengineer the mind and thought processes at regular intervals to live life with gusto.