George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was a Greek Armenian philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, music composer, and movements teacher (free movements of body dance). He had a powerful presence in England and when he spoke, people wanted to listen. If Gurdjieff was going to speak on a particular evening at six o’ clock, five hundred people would come to one great hall somewhere in London. If somebody was late by even a minute, the doors would be closed. He was called ‘Rascal Saint’. One person who made Gurdjieff famous was a person called P. D. Ouspensky who was a very famous man by himself. He was a great philosopher, mathematician, and a great intellect. He had written a book on truth, which was hundreds of pages long.

Gurdjieff’s ‘Law of Three’ is referred by himself as “the second fundamental cosmic law”. According to this law, every incident consists of three separate forces, which are Active, Passive and Neutral. This law applies to everything in the universe including organic life on earth. The active force is dominant, passive force is submissive, and the neutral force is holy spirit (spirituality).

I have read Gurdjieff’s work which is bit difficult to understand, its bewildering. I am giving hereby my thoughts on law of three. Gurdjieff says we human beings live unconsciously which means our thoughts constantly flood in and out, and we often fall prey to them. The thoughts could be good, ugly, mysterious, magical, fearing or bad. We are always on autopilot mode; we let those thoughts drive our thinking and take action without realizing its reality and effects. Instead, if we direct our mind to live consciously it could be a game changer. It is taking control of our life, about thinking what decision we are taking, rather than allowing them to sway us.  

If we live consciously,  we could rather settle for a life which suits us, which fits us. Here I mean, understanding our strengths and weaknesses and shaping them for a fitter life. If we’re drifting through life, if we feel out of control, or don’t know how we got here, trust me we are on an autopilot mode of thoughts.  Scientists have found that an average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those thousands of thoughts, 80% are negative, and 95% are  exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before.

If you allow yourself to notice all thoughts that come into your head as you are consciously aware of your breathing most thoughts are imaginary. The process of breath itself may not be in most people’s recognition. They may only be conscious of the sensations caused by the movement of air in their nostrils or lungs. If we notice, pay attention to our breathing, we will learn to appreciate the Universal Energy, the Shakti. And if we recognize our breathing process sincerely, we may accept these thoughts, without judgment. Thoughts are not bad or good, positive or negative, they just are what they are.  You are separate from your thoughts.

So, a thought might occur: “you are not wise”, “you look good today”, “she is jealous of me”, “I will get this job“ etc, etc, etc.  You may become aware that you are having difficulty thinking about your thoughts – so think about that. You may be thinking: “I can’t do this very well,” “I am being ignored”. Well, those are thought too. Allow yourself to think about that. Some people allow the thoughts to just float like leaves on a stream, or clouds in a sky, noticing each passing thought and each coming after the other, first, second, third, fourth and so on.

A Buddhist idea is to think of thoughts as pages written on water. There is similarity between the Buddhist idea and one stanza in the song whahan kaun hai tera from Movie “Guide” 1965 there is a stanza of the song ‘kehete hai gyani, duniya hai paani, paani par likhi likhai’ earth is a watery planet because 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Whatever is written on water does not hold significance because the writing will never last as water keeps flowing. Nothing is permanent in life; name, fame, and fortune do not stay permanently. We come into the world empty-handed and leave empty-handed.  It’s 2025, and I still can’t get over S.D. Burman’s voice and Shailendra’s lyrics, it is one of the finest songs.

You may notice that just now you become aware of a thought, it passes and is replaced by another thought. That’s what happens – thoughts come, and they go. Finally, bring yourself back to awareness of the breath. Behind Gurdjieff’s teaching lies the idea that human beings live and die in a state of sleep, but do not realize this. In this sense, all human beings are divided into two categories – those who realize they are asleep (ignorant) and other ones who are attempting to awaken. Gurdjieff says that human beings live mostly in a kind of sleep.

My understanding from Gurdjieff’s teaching is if we awaken from “waking sleep,” we understand who we are. That most humans exist in a state of “waking sleep,” where they remain unaware of their infinite potential and ultimate value as human beings. If we awaken from the waking sleep, we can enjoy full freedom of the cosmic benefits. Cosmic benefits are energies of sun, moon, stars, earth, air, night sky, ocean, sea, trees, greenery, rain, winter, summer, flowers etc, and we are interwoven with the cosmic energy.    

Spiritual faith is a conscious decision. Spiritual faith happens when we place our trust in God. Giving our trust to God releases the element of faith inside of us. A person may be high in their Spiritual Quotient (SQ) but may have no religious faith or belief in form of God. Similarly, a person may be religious but low in their SQ. Those seeking meaning form their life and the purpose of life are on their path to attaining that spiritual realization.

IQ, or intelligence quotient, which is tested using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. The scale is an individually administered measure of general intelligence for persons ages 2 years to 23 years 11 months. The scale yields a standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16. It refers to our rational, logical, rule-bound problem-solving intelligence. It is supposed to be what makes us bright or dim. It is also a style of thinking. All of us use some IQ, or we wouldn’t be functional.

EQ – Emotional Quotient became famous in 1995 by Daniel Goleman. He articulated the kind of intelligence that our heart, or emotions, have. EQ is manifested in trust, empathy, emotional self-responsiveness and self-control, and the ability to respond appropriately to the emotions of others. It’s a sense of where people are coming from; for example, if someone looks dull and drawn, he must be facing some personal issue in family before coming into the office that morning, it’s not the best time to raise a query before him. 

SQ, or spiritual quotient, underlines IQ and EQ. Spiritual intelligence is an ability to access higher meanings, values, abiding purposes, and unconscious aspects of the self and to be surround by these meanings, values, and purposes in living richer and more creative lives. Signs of high SQ include an ability to think out of the box, humility, and an access to energies that come from something beyond the ego, beyond concerns of I, me, myself.

All of us at some points do get in touch with that higher self. Researchers say that 70 percent of adults throughout the world, regardless of culture, education, or background, have had what they call “peak experiences.” Peak experiences are those moments when you suddenly feel that everything is beautiful, that there’s a super link of yourself with the surrounding,  that love fills the world. You really feel them with your whole being, and then they flash by and are gone. Often people are shaken by having these experiences and don’t talk about them. These are called spiritual peak experiences; they are often described as superior moments of pure joy and elation. These are moments that stand out from everyday events. The memory of such events is lasting, and people often link them to a spirituality.  

I narrate here one story from Mahabharat which shows how IQ, EQ and SQ are connected and how powerful spiritual faith is in every living being’s lives. Here the story talks about Krishna’s IQ and EQ led by compassions and a tiny bird’s spiritual faith in Lord Krishna.

The battlefield of Kurukshetra was being prepared to facilitate the movement of mammoth armies with large cavalries. Areas were marked for rival camps. Huge bundles of wood were organized to cook food for a sea of an army. Trees were being felled by elephants to clear the ground. On one such tree lived a sparrow, a mother of four young ones. As the tree was knocked down, her nest landed on the ground along with her offspring who were too young to fly. Miraculously they all fell on ground unscathed.

The vulnerable and frightened mother sparrow saw Krishna scanning the field with Arjuna. They were there to physically examine the battlefield and devise strategies. She flapped her tiny wings with all her might to reach Krishna’s chariot. She pleaded before Krishna “Please save my children, else they will be crushed tomorrow”.  “The wheel of Time moves indiscriminately,” Krishna spoke like an ordinary man implying that there wasn’t anything he could do about it. The sparrow told Krishna she is surrendering to him and its HIS responsibility to save her tiny children and herself. Krishna told her to stock her nest for three weeks. Unaware of the conversation, Arjuna was trying to shoo away the sparrow when Krishna smiled at the bird.

Two days later, just before the conchs were blown to announce the commencement of the battle, Krishna asked Arjuna for his bow and an arrow. Arjuna was shocked because Krishna had vowed that he would not lift any weapon in the war. Besides, Arjuna believed that he was the best archer out there, why is Krishna wanting the bow and arrow? Quietly taking the bow from Arjuna, Krishna took aim at an elephant. But, instead of bringing the animal down, the arrow hit the bell around its neck and sparks flew from it. Arjuna couldn’t contain his chuckle seeing that Krishna had missed an easy mark. Arjun asked Krishna why he shot at the elephant, Krishna answered that this elephant had knocked down the tree sheltering that sparrow’s nest. Arjun didn’t understand which sparrow, and though Krishna shot at the elephant, it was not harmed, Only the bell from elephant’s neck fell.

The war began and numerous lives were lost over the next eighteen days. The battlefield had turned red with blood, body parts scattered everywhere. The Pandavas won in the end. Once again, Krishna took Arjuna with him to traverse through the flushed field. Many corpses still lay there awaiting their funeral. The battleground was littered with severed limbs and heads, lifeless steeds and elephants. Krishna stopped at a certain spot and looked down thoughtfully at an elephant bell. He asked Arjun to lift the bell and put it aside.

The instruction, though simple, made little sense to Arjuna. After all, in the vast field where plenty of other things needed clearing, why would Krishna ask him to move a trivial piece of metal out of the way? He looked at him questioningly. Krishna reiterated. “It’s the same bell that had come off the neck of the elephant I had shot at.” Arjuna bent down to move the heavy bell without another question on his facial expression. As soon as he lifted it though, his world changed forever. One, two, three, four and five. Four young birds flew out one after another followed by the mother sparrow. The mother bird whirled in circles around Krishna, few times, in great joy and gratitude. The one bell Krishna had clung eighteen days ago protected the entire family. This is spirituality, this is faith!!!       

Japanese philosophy has historically been a fusion of both indigenous Shinto and continental religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.  Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the kami (angels, demons, dragon, fairy, devil etc.). The kami is believed to occupy all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The kami are worshipped at kami dana – household altar and family shrines.  Buddhists believe that human life is a cycle of suffering and rebirth, but that if one achieves a state of enlightenment (nirvana), the cycle of birth and death gets over. Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in balance with the Tao, or the universe. Taoists believe in spiritual immortality, where the spirit of the body joins the universe after death. Confucianism built on an ancient religious foundation to establish the social values, institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society.

This passage speaks about the Japanese term “Gaman,” which translates to mean “patience, perseverance and tolerance,” refers to continuing difficult situations with self-control and dignity. A Zen Buddhist teaching, Gaman is a strategy of remaining resilient and patience during hard times which is characteristic of emotional maturity. It emphasises on perseverance and self-discipline in the face of hardship or adversity. Gaman is about staying strong and not giving up, even in difficult circumstances.

The Japanese philosophies about acceptance and improvement have been popular globally. Many rich and famous people have been following to live a wholesome life by following Japanese philosophy.

Indian Billionaire Harsh Mariwala is one amongst many. The Marico Chairman transformed his brand Marico among the top ten in India and global brand in the FMCG sector. Marico has a strong presence in the personal care, food, and beverage industries, with major brands including Saffola, Parachute, Hair & Care, Nihar, Livon, Set Wet, Mediker, and Revive. Mariwala believes in the seven Japanese concepts Kaizen, Ikigai, Oubaitori, Wabi-Sabi, Hara-Hachi Bu, Shikata Gai Na, and Shin Rin Yeku, which he lives by. According to Mariwala the term Gaman is the art of surviving difficulties with patience and dignity. “It is a virtue to persevere during seemingly unbearable times and display emotional maturity, discipline and self-control. You have a greater capacity for patience than you believe.”  He set up the consumer products business practically from scratch. Over the past four decades, he has not only built Marico into one of the leading FMCG companies in the country but has also transformed what was essentially a family-managed business into a professionally managed one. Mariwala, who has seen the FMCG space transform over the past few years, says Marico views every disruption as an opportunity. He says he has practiced Daman inherently.

Gaman is a powerful concept that can help individuals cultivate a sense of inner strength and resilience in the face of adversity which Japanese have developped. on July 16 1945, the nuclear age began with the world’s first nuclear weapons test explosion in the New Mexico desert. Three weeks later US attacked with the atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In minutes, the city  vanished. The explosion produced a supersonic shock wave followed by extreme winds that remained above hurricane force over three kilometers from ground zero. A secondary and equally devastating reverse wind followed, flattening and severely damaging homes and buildings several kilometers further away. The intense heat of the Hiroshima bomb reached several million degrees Celsius and scorched flesh and other flammable materials over three kilometers away. Many of those who survived the nuclear attacks would die from radiation-induced illnesses for years to come. Three days later atomic bomb used at Nagasaki, Japan,  on August 9, 1945, was “Fat Man”.   The bomb was dropped by a USAAF B-29 airplane named “Bockscar”, piloted by U.S. Army Air Force Major Charles Sweeney.  The bomb weighed 10,000 pounds and had a diameter of 60 inches.  It utilized the explosive power of dynamite to create pressure on a ball of Plutonium. The bomb was called ‘Fat Man’. Albert Einstein said after the Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombing that “The time has come now, when man must give up war. It is no longer rational to solve international problems by resorting to war.”

Due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes and tsunami, having the highest natural disaster risk in the developed world. With numerous hardships facing natural disasters, foreign attacks, Japan has strongly built its foundation of righteous existence and adopted the philosophy of Buddhism through some time-tested principles of the art of living in the Japanese context which holds good for all cultures and humanity.

Japanese are extremely hard-working people by adopting the philosophy of Daman. They have faced everything from nuclear attack, earthquakes to tsunamis, but they’re emerge more stronger than ever. Japanese have revolutionized the electronic industry: Canon, Casio, Citizen, Fujifilm , Fujitsu, Hitachi ,Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, Nikon etc.

In true sense Japanese have endured hardships with patience and dignity, individuals can find meaning and purpose in the experience and use it as an opportunity for personal growth and transformation. Gaman can be applied in many ways in practical life, from the way we approach personal challenges to the way we respond to societal issues. In Japan, Gaman has been used to describe the stoical resilience of individuals during times of adversity, such as natural disasters, economic hardships, and war.

In 2011 when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and tsunami that struck Tōhoku, killing nearly 16,000 people in Japan, there were no reports of looting or arbitrary price scraping. Instead of panic and fear, the attitude in Japan after the devastating natural disaster seemed to be one of calmness and grit. The Gaman mentality is at the base of that attitude. In fact, resilience during vulnerability and chaotic acceptance helped Japan through clear and lawful civility that derives from Gaman.

In Japanese culture, showing Gaman is considered a sign of maturity and strength. It’s taught to children very early elementary school. Gaman is trained early in life. In Japan, patience and perseverance are part of education from elementary school.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of cracks with urushi lacquer, which is the traditional labour-intensive production process, time-consuming and expensive.  The broken pottery is dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The method is like the maki-e technique. Maki-e (literally “sprinkled pictures”) is a representative lacquerware technique that originated in Japan around 1,200 years ago. Maki-e is done by painting lacquer motifs on the surface of a piece using a fine brush and then sprinkling gold powder onto the lacquer before it hardens, this technique produces luxurious decorations.

Kintsugi tells us of the temporariness of all things; nothing stays forever. Like a piece of pottery, our lives are filled with fragility, setbacks and unpredictability. The philosophy of Kintsugi highlights that resilience is not merely about bouncing back from adversity but also about accepting the process of repair and renewal. Just like the meticulous process of fixing broken pottery, our relationships, illnesses, profession, education, demand patience, effort and care to mend snags in our fabric of life. Accepting the reality of imperfection frees us to spend time on other projects, even on our work-life balance.

Kintsugi helps us to realize that life itself is not perfect. Every moment we are fighting a world full of chaos. Every time we try to edit our script of life, we become vulnerable by making few new errors. You might get cheated by someone whom you trust the most, you might lose your job, you might not be able to catch up with newness in technology, you may get sick in the middle of a project. An environmental problem like a tornado, hurricane, earthquake may destroy your home. Control what you can and accept the rest.

Self-acceptance is defined as accepting all our attributes, positive as well as negative. When we accept ourselves, we embrace every part of ourselves, the good, the bad and the ugly. Self-acceptance must be unconditional. You made a mistake, but it’s okay, nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes. We all have flaws, and that’s what makes us human. As human, we all imperfect. Till we breath our last, we are all works in progress. And perfection itself is an illusion.

The philosophy of Kintsugi in Japanese is about being non-judgemental, accepting, and empathetic towards ourselves. Facilitators and workshop participants of Kintsugi explore the connections between the Kintsugi way and the recovery from illness depression, anxiety etc. Once, I enrolled for a short course of pottery, it gave me invaluable lessons that go beyond the clay. To shape a pot we need patience, accept our faults, reshape the clay with firmness by finding balance, creating resilience, and practicing mindfulness.  I realized that like the pot in process, we all have cracks in our body and mind here and there which we try to repair. 

The repaired cracks of the pottery represent our healing process. The difficulties in our life leave many scars which take time to heal. What’s important our willingness and our ability to heal.

God gifted us the freedom to administer our own life, He allows us to connect with Him as and when we want. He helps us to heal our cracks and shape up as a masterpiece. 

To stop being active for a while just to relax and swing back to work is called rest. It is vital for better mental health, increased concentration and memory, a healthier immune system, reduced stress, improved mood and even a better metabolism. 

According to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., sleep isn’t the only kind of rest we need.  She asserts that there are different types of rest that can’t be fulfilled just by sleeping. As she puts it, “Rest is the most misjudged, chemical-free, safe, and effective alternative therapy available to us.” It’s a false impression that rest is purely physical. Rest is physical. But it is more than that. It is mental, emotional, and spiritual.

We are used to push through our exhaustion to meet our career, personal, home assignments, our goals and ambitions in life. Like the muscles in our body, our mind becomes fatigued after extreme efforts. We need to top up energies after mental and physical efforts. Our brain isn’t designed to be endlessly productive. In fact, the brain works efficiently between periods of focus and unfocused activities. That’s because, during periods of rest, play, and relaxation, the brain can consolidate memories, crystallize learning, and work on solving problems.

Rest is not an optional leftover activity. Work and rest are collaborators. They are like different parts of a fluctuation. We can’t have the high without the low. The better we rest , the better we work. Rest is NOT an optional activity.

There are seven types of rest. Sleep is one of the types.

Creative rest

When we are involved in creativity, we feel that we are living more fully than  the rest of life.  Psychologist Cathy Malchiodi explains that art and the creative process improves not only our quality of life, but is also effective in reducing pain, fatigue, and stress, and increasing cognitive abilities and emotional well-being. Creativity gives us the ‘Aha’ moment which is so refreshing.  Many times, when we don’t get those creative ideas, we feel creatively drained. Creativity often manifests in frequent but short bursts due to several interconnected psychological, neurological, and environmental factors. Some ideas flash in mind, if don’t capture them immediately, they are gone.

Mental rest

Mental rest is a state of relaxation and mental calmness that allows the mind to unwind and recover from mental exertion. It involves taking a break from mental activities that require cognitive energy or concentration that allows the mind to rest and rejuvenate. It is feeling of calmness inside. When we are mentally drained, we feel like a “brain fog” which makes us rework. Every task takes twice as much effort to complete. Mental rest allows to disconnect from thinking demands and allows brain to slip into that default mode network. For people in information-driven work or who spend a lot of time on the computer, this kind of rest can be especially helpful.

Physical rest

Visiting a spa for a good body massage is like a luxury. Passive rest can include napping or sleeping. Active physical rest might be engaging in activities that we find  recuperative, such as getting a massage, yoga, stretching, walking, running etc. These examples of active physical rest also help improve flexibility and blood circulation  that makes us feel better in our body. Because many of us spend so much time seated at our desks, another form of physical rest falling somewhere between active and passive.  Walking few steps after every half an hour is good, drinking a glass of water every half an hour hydrates mind and body. When we experience a shortage in physical rest, we notice body aches and pains.

Social rest

Spending some time in solitude, using the ‘me time’ always boosts energy. All of us have a variety of relationships in our lives which consists of family members, coworkers, friends, and acquaintances. Managing our energy is about finding time for ourselves. Always to be surrounded by people is draining. Socialization is necessary but not a ‘must’. Have guts to say ‘no’ if  you’re feeling exhausted, turn down an invitation or two and recharge at home. Reduce your hangouts.

Emotional Rest

Emotional rest is the ability to express our authentic self, being open about our thoughts and feelings without modifying them to make others happier. In other words, it is the rest we experience when we don’t hide a part of ourselves from others. Why should we hide a part of ourselves? When we are irritated, we can just tell people that we need to be left alone. When we get emotionally drained, the effects tend to quickly spill over into other areas of our lives. We have a hard time staying focused and productive when we’re not at our emotional best. Emotional rest requires setting effective boundaries, deciding whom to involve and whom not to in our emotional bonding. We must take “yes” and “no” breaks. Take work which we can manage effectively. We are not here to please everyone. We must develop the aptitude to manage our emotions skilfully.

Sensory rest

Usage of too much electronic gadgets like mobile, tablet, personal computer, TV, tape recorder creates loud noises, too much of information can’t be handled by brain. Too much of honking on roads, traffic jams, fire alarms create noise pollution. Bright/flickering lights, such as strobe or fluorescent lights are bad for eyes and brain. Too much of crowded places, like malls or concerts are tyring after some time. Multiple loud conversations occurring in the same space at the same time, too much screen time harms our sensory system. When we receive too many messages, notifications and phone calls we feel the anxiety. It is best to go for digital detox occasionally. Eating and drinking too much of spicy or sweet junk food and drinks spoils the digestive system. Human beings have five senses: sight (eyes), hearing (ears), taste (tongue), smell (nose), and touch (sensory). They all need rest. 

Spiritual rest

Spirituality helps us to  rest our mind and body both. If anything is constant in world it is only change which can either be positive or negative. With change occasionally uncertainties come. Spirituality gives the power of the unconditional surrender unto the Almighty. In my opinion it is a quality of true Karma Yogi. When we feel disconnected from the rest of the world, it can leave us feeling disconnected which can be both positive and negative. Some people feel insecure with disconnection. 

Spirituality is the ability to recognize that there is intelligence beyond our five senses. There is universal power that creates and governs everything within and beyond the worlds we know, and that power is omnipresent. We can surrender to this supreme intelligence through our awareness. We call this universal power by different names as per our religious faith. Spirituality makes things easier for us to go through the life’s journey with all its ups and downs. It makes our lives happier.

Conclusion

Rest is a state of physical, emotional, and mental relaxation that allows our bodies and minds to recover from the stress of daily life. It is essential for our overall health and well-being, and it is just as important as diet and exercise.