You’re limiting me to a very narrow scope to only one thing. Why one thing? I would go for 25 things!
Well, there are different situations that we face but mainly it is the stress that shrouds our happiness. Stress simply means too much to do, too little time and no energy. Either you increase your energy level or reduce your demands, then you’ll be happy.
It is very difficult to say. If I just take a few names I won’t be doing justice. But it starts from my mother.
When you are in the moment, when your mind is here right now, then you’re able to draw inspiration from everyone around you. Anytime, anywhere, people can inspire you. It is an internal phenomenon.
So I find that inspiration is opening that source of energy within you, and anyone can become a catalyst for that. A child in the street can inspire you, a carpenter can inspire you, a gardener can inspire you. You only need to have that willingness to take the inspiration.
By being yourself and finding that inner reservoir of peace that we have all been gifted with. Just be yourself!
(Maintains a few moments of silence) That’s it! Take a moment, observe your breath, calm your mind, and relax your body. You find such peace and so much love within you.
We are all born with this gift of love and peace. Somehow we forget to look within, which is of utmost importance. A few moments to introspection is very necessary.
Either eyes open or closed, being in the moment, now, and relaxing suddenly connects you to yourself.
You know, my biggest problem is that I am a dreamer. Knowing very well that there is violence, there are problems in the world, I still dream of a violence-free society; a violence free world. And I know it will take its own time, but I can’t give up my dream. This is my big problem. I hold on to it.
If you read newspapers and watch television, it looks or appears like we are so far away from this dream, but yet I see the same dream: to see the world united in love and peace. I dream of a violence-free and stress-free society.
Obviously the latter in which you find happiness within yourself. You see that your happiness is unconditional.
One is a taker and the other is a giver.
As children when we took things we were happy. But as grandparents, we feel happy when we give. This is a mature joy.
Like the grandmother at home, when she makes different dishes and serves everybody, she feels a sense of happiness.
So, there is a joy in giving which is much more mature than the joy in taking, or in grabbing. Somewhere we need to graduate from taking to giving.
Finding that we are the source of happiness, and come what may I’ll be happy and I’ll spread happiness around me, is what I call as wisdom.
I don’t believe in evil but I know that evil is the shadow of lack of goodness. It is an absence of goodness, absence of love, and absence of light.
In India we believe in six types of evil: Pride, Greed, Arrogance, Jealousy, Anger and Lust. Any of these distortions of love, or lack of knowledge, lack of wisdom can destroy one’s life.
Absolutely. Turn towards light and all this will disappear.
Hard work keeps you out of trouble. If you don’t do anything then your mind runs too fast and goes where you don’t want it to go. Work is essential to keep yourself busy, to keep yourself sane and creative as well.
There are certain ethics in work also. Making money is not bad, but if it is done through unethical means, it is not going to give you a good night’s sleep. That’s for sure.
Definitely. Capitalism without compassion will not lead to a just society. Only a rich person can be compassionate. A poor man’s compassion has no value.
See, whether capitalism, communism, socialism or secularism, no ism will work without humanism. The heart of humanism is compassion, and it is essential. Without that nothing can work. Everything will be lame. And we’ve found this throughout the world. There are ample examples. Whenever the human values are found missing, all these isms remain in books as success but really not on the ground.
