Abstract

Servant leadership style aligns closely with spiritual principles, consisting of humbleness, empathy, and the well-being of others. Leaders who incorporate spiritual practices into their management style are more likely to create a supportive and inclusive work environment. When an organization has leaders with higher spiritual quotient, aligning of individual employees’ objectives and goal with organizational vision, mission goals and objectives becomes easier. Spiritual faith is a conscious decision of an individual; it is believing in a higher energy (God) which I refer to as Universal Energy. Different religions refer this energy as per their faith; Islam calls it Allah, Christians call it Jesus & Merry, Sikhs call it Guru Granth Sahib, Hindus call it Ram/Krishna/Shakti, Jains call it Mahavir so on.  When we give our trust to God, it 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.

Organizational conflict refers to the condition of dispute, backbiting, grapevine, jealousy, hatred leading to disagreement that is caused by the perceived or actual opposition in the needs, interests, and values among people who work together. Organizational conflict hampers the work environment in organizations.

I am writing this paper to emphasize on Spiritual Quotient (SQ) IQ, or spiritual intelligence which helps in resolving organizational conflicts. SQ underlines IQ and EQ. Spiritual intelligence is an ability to access higher meanings, purpose of life, to achieve which one needs to abide by  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.

I have interviewed 15 senior managers across the industries having Head Quarters in Mumbai. All organizations are blue chip companies. My interview carried a brief questionnaire carrying just five parameters:  1. Ability to see beyond 2. Resolving organizational conflicts with ease 3.  Integrity 4. Organizational Culture 5. Spiritual Faith

I have listed below the outcomes

Ability to see beyond

60% of the respondents said they could sense something coming in the way of business prior to Covid-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the world economy and was the largest global economic crisis in more than a century. The crisis led to a dramatic increase in inequality within the haves and have-nots across countries. The emerging economies stumbled, and economically disadvantaged groups needed much more time to recover pandemic-induced losses of income and livelihoods.

The executives of   Ambuja Cements and ACC responded that both companies part of Swiss cement major Lafarge Holcim group,  collectively contributed ₹3.3 crore to three NGOs to support daily-wagers, migrant labour, slum-dwellers and homeless stranded across the country on account of the lockdown. Ambuja Cement and ACC supported Goonj, an NGO on the forefront of disaster relief with expertise in material management; and Praja Foundation and Mumbai Roti Bank, who are working with labourers and daily wage workers those who had lost their livelihood on account of the country-wide lockdown to protect against the coronavirus. Together, these organisations carried out multi-pronged containment and relief efforts  required immediate attention across the country.

Many people seek a sense of purpose and meaning in their work, and integrating spiritual practices and principles into management can help to increase a sense of seeing deeper purpose and meaning for both the individual manager and their team members. Fortune magazine mentions that companies like Starbucks, Google, Southwest Airlines and Staples are integrating spirituality through initiatives such as servant leadership. The magazine introduced spirituality in business as a “large, unorganized, deeply felt and deeply personal movement”. It is happening in small and large companies alike, as dog-eat-dog management models from past decades make way for lively, mutually beneficial relationships that feed the wellbeing of everyone involved in an organization.  Soulful leaders recognize that relationships have the power to transform teams and business outcomes.

SQ helps resolving organizational conflicts

55% executives said SQ helps them solve organizational conflicts which lead to the condition of misunderstanding or disagreement that is caused by the perceived or actual opposition in the needs, interests, and values among people who work together. This leads to workplace alienation which brings down productivity. Employers must take strong steps in preventing those feelings in employees. Often when employees are transferred to another department or geographically positioned elsewhere. It’s often observed in some organizations a manager plays game of favouritism: he/she behaves partially with an employee, while others feel left out. When managers play different standards of accountability and performance for subordinates their behaviour becomes destructive and pulls down the employee morale.

The Senior Vice President at Reliance Jio said While “HR should not love people” this may sound counterintuitive given the traditional perception of Human Resources (HR) as the advocate for employees, it points to a more nuanced aspect of HR management. HR professionals are tasked with making impartial & unbiased decisions that benefit both the organization and its employees. Embracing emotional attachment or favouritism can cloud judgment and compromise the fairness of HR practices.

He says spirituality has helped him in maintaining objectivity and neutrality, He ensures that policies, procedures, and decisions are applied consistently and equitably, fostering a culture of fairness and respect in the workplace. The burden of negativity should not be taken forward. Hold on to the lessons learned, not the scars and burdens.

Integrity

The role of a manager should be more of a go getter. He should know all the people not by their skills but also by their psychological orientation of mind. He should have a deep vision in who can execute a task to its best instead of being a typical ‘yes-man’. Individuals with integrity are incorruptible and always uncompromising in the moral and ethical values that they believe in. People with integrity always keep their word, abstaining from lies and excuses, no matter the situation. 50% of respondents said Integrity is difficult to practice among weaklings.

One of the Mid-Level managers of Wipro said he follows in the footsteps of Mr. Azim Premji. He once accompanied Mr. Premji to a Wipro retailer.  When Mr. Premji shook hands with the dealer and asked – “How are you doing? Happy? Making Money?” the manager and the dealers melted with the warmth of Premji and instantly generated an emotional connect. The questions asked by Premji were genuine which reflected empathy, were straight from the heart and were powerful testimony to Premji’s belief that every  Reseller must profit from his relationship with Wipro. 

Mr. Premji genuinely feels that a good Vendor-Reseller relationship is most important for the business. The hallmark of Premji’s style is that his employees, his vendors, dealers can  disagree with him privately or in the open; every Wipro Executive has the freedom to execute in his own way, innovate and above all make mistakes. Often those mistakes are costly mistakes. Wipro pays the price for that learning. One thing on which Premji does not compromise is Integrity. It is the cornerstone of Premji’s operating philosophy. He always says that everything in life can be negotiated except Integrity. Integrity is and will always be non-negotiable. He has created a values-driven business, built and scaled in a volatile market environment. Wipro has created thousands of entrepreneurs who in turn have created over 450 plus companies, raised over billion-dollar venture capital.

Today, in the corporate world also most of the organizations and institutions have realized and acknowledged that their human element, what is called ‘human resource’ is not simply intellectual property consisting of human knowledge and skills but is human spirit as well. Corporate have realized that they need to nurture and value the human spirit which is an integral part of leadership. Spirituality is not a mere element which needs reference and regular discussions on it; its practice and application will reduce commotion and misconduct to a greater extent. Lot of awareness is growing in applying spirituality in the workplace.

Organizational culture

Organizational culture is a system of shared traditions, values, and beliefs, which have a great effect on how people behave in organizations. 95% of respondents said the organization culture makes or breaks an organization.

Values are lasting beliefs which have a strong influence on the people in the organization. It dictates how the organization appears in public eyes. Edgar Henry Schein, a former Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, is known for his work in the field of organizational development, more so in areas such as career development, talent management, group dynamics and cultural developments. Edgar Schein‘s model of organizational culture originated in the 1980s. Edgar Henry Schein identified three distinct levels in organizational cultures: Artifacts and Behaviours, Espoused Values and Assumptions which came to be known as Edgar Schein’s three levels of organizational culture. He speaks about three levels of organizational culture.

Artifacts include any tangible, evident or verbally identifiable elements in an organization. These include the architecture, beautification of workplace, careful design, layout, fitting and maintenance, built-in space for movement (space, sound, and acoustics), functionality, attractive visuals, elegance, furniture etc. Artifacts include dress codes; explicit dress codes speak a lot about workplace culture. They are varied as workplaces are. It differs as per the nature of the workplace; it is the starting point of defining and determining a dress code. Wearing I-Card and clean dress, well-groomed employees speak a lot about organizations. The employees are organization’s brand ambassadors.

Espoused values are the second layer of the organization’s stated values and rules of behaviour. It is how the members represent the organization both in terms of their behaviour and the shared values. Their interpersonal behaviours and their behaviours with outsiders speak volumes. This is expressed in mission, vision, philosophies and values of the organization. The mission, vision, goals, values   need to be displayed nicely in framed posters in strategic locations in organizations. They are official philosophies and statements of identity for the public. A company’s mission statement is essentially its statement of purpose.

The third level is Assumptions which are shared basic assumptions. These are deeply embedded, taken-for-granted behaviours which are usually unconscious, but constitute the deep essence of culture. These assumptions are well integrated in the work culture, that they are easily recognized in actions of the employees and management. The inner aspects of human nature constitute the third level of organization culture. The inner values of individual employees can make or break an organization. Being honest to work, being a well-wisher of the organization, putting in the extra bit matters a lot. Sometimes when employees need to put in late hours, and they refuse, or when female employees are dominated by male employees, or when female employees are harassed by their bosses it portrays the culture. The organizations follow certain practices, which are not discussed often but understood on their own. Such behaviours form the third level of the organization culture.

Zappos.com is an online shoe and clothing shop currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada. In July 2009, the company announced it would be acquired by Amazon.com in an all-stock deal worth about $1.2 billion. Since its founding in 1999, it has become one of the world’s largest online shoe stores. Zappos has become almost as well known for its culture as it is for the shoes that it sells online. How does Zappos culture look like? It believes in delivering an experience of ‘WOW’ through service. The company believes in embracing change constantly. It believes in creating fun and weirdness among the employees. Weirdness is necessary for creating innovation. It encourages its employees to be adventurous, creative and open-minded and pursue learning. The organization believes in building honest relationship with its employees with transparent communication. In true sense Zappos behaves like a close-knit family.

When it comes to hiring employees, it starts with a cultural fit interview, which carries half the weight of hiring the candidate. New employees are offered $2,000 to quit after the first week of training if they decide the job isn’t for them. 10 core values of the company are instilled in every team member. Employee raises come from workers who pass skills tests and exhibit increased capability, not from office politics. Portions of the budget are dedicated to employee team building and culture promotion. The organization passes on great benefits and a workplace that is fun and dedicated to making customers happy all fit in with the Zappos approach to company culture, where one gets the company culture right, great customer service and a great brand will happen on its own. Zappos has established what the company culture is, and fitting into that culture is the most important thing managers look before hiring.

Why Amazon acquired Zappos? Zappos had a lot going for it. The company survived the dot-com crash, and sales were growing. The organizational culture matters.

Spiritual Faith

55 % respondents said they believe in spirituality and that has helped them grow personally and professionally in the organizations.  A spiritual workplace is one where you find meaning, value and motivation in one’s work beyond salary and performance measurement. It is about people finding a sense of oneness and togetherness in an organization.  Indira Nooyi – Former CEO of Pepsi used to keep a statue of the Hindu deity Ganesha; the God of Auspicious Beginnings typically depicted with head of an elephant with one broken tusk in her office. Nooyi, is famously candid about the difficulties women face balancing family, children, and careers, saying that women “pretend we can have it all.” The mother of two daughters cited her Hindu faith as a source of solace from the storms of guilt and stress.

Pierre Omidyar the Former-CEO of the online auction site e-Bay founded in 1995,
Pierre Omidyar,  remains chairman of the company and a prominent public figure in the areas of innovation, technology, and media. He is a follower of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, Omidyar has contributed generously to support that leader’s message and travels, both with his wife Pamela and through his foundation, Omidyar Network donated funds to support a think tank, the Dalai Lama Centre for ethics and transformation values at MIT.

Donnie Smith, CEO of Tyson Foods  since 2009, does just that at Cross Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Springdale, Arkansas, the city where the company is headquartered. “He not only teaches the Bible, but he also lives the Bible,” the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor at Cross Church and the recently named president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told Fortune. “He’s just a passionate leader in his faith as well as in the corporate setting,” Floyd said. Donnie Smith says he carries his faith with him in everything he does, including his business life. In an interview with Wall Street Journal in 2010 Smith said that hi faith influences, what he does.

Conclusion

When organizations face a short supply of vision among leaders, it loses its ground because the leaders are interested in material pursuit, authority and power. As humans we get wrong ideas about so many aspects; each of us is busy trying to prove our worth. Each one of us is trying to be better than somebody, how many of us have destroyed ourselves in the rat race.  How many of us have wasted our time, efforts, energy and almost everything on this planet just trying to look a little better than somebody else. It is such a horrible waste of life, because you will never blossom into your full potential if you keep thinking how to be better than somebody. SQ helps us in fixing our priorities of life; it helps us in understanding do the best that we can–what must happen will happen.

It is worth mentioning here that according to the recent Pew Research Centre, USA, report, one in five Americans identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” In other words, they have some feeling regarding something greater existing in the world, but they feel allergic to religious institutions. But it is also worth recognizing that as we approach Passover and Easter, it’s important to remember that it is institutions and not abstract feelings that tie a community together and lead to meaningful change. Religion brings along with its institutional disillusionment. They act poky and dictatorial; they can both enable and shield wrongdoers. They frustrate our spiritual ideas and desires by asking us to submit to the will of others.

Abraham Maslow had suggested in his ‘Need Hierarchy’ model that as nations and their populations became more affluent, so would their spiritual hunger become stronger.

Faith can move mountains

I am a follower of Nelson Mandela. His leadership was deeply rooted in spiritual intelligence, particularly in his capacity for compassion. Despite spending 27 years of imprisonment under brutal conditions, Mandela did not emerge with a heart full of bitterness, but with a spirit of reconciliation and a vision for a united South Africa. 

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasya was written in Marathi language by Indian social reformer and independence activist Bal Gangadhar Tilak while he was in prison at Mandalay, Burma. Tilak was a visionary leader who fought for liberating India from clutches of Britishers. I see him as man of intellectual capabilities, emotional strength, and spirited values.

Author: Prof. Dr. Vidya Hattangadi, Director, Babasaheb Gawde Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. 

References:

1. https://www.vantagecircle.com/en/blog/workplace-spirituality/
2. https://thegitahindi.com/adhyay-14/
3. https://www.anandaspa.com/ru/wellness/the-bhagavad-gita–a-path-to-spiritual-enlightenment/139-41/
4. https://globein.com/blog/10-influential-spiritual-leaders-around-world/
5. https://drvidyahattangadi.com/why-is-spirituality-important/
6. https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-integrity
7. https://drvidyahattangadi.com/edgar-scheins-three-levels-organizational-culture/
8. https://www.enotes.com/topics/giver/questions/what-this-capacity-see-beyond-giver-300660

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते,
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

This ancient shloka is from the Isha Upanishad which describes the cosmic order of universe. The universal creation is Infinite, boundless yet complete by itself. Every fragment of creation, arising from the whole consideration is completed by itself. There is completeness here. We are a part of that complete energy which is the creation of creator.

The Higher Self is our greatest potential. Once we connect to our Higher Self, we understand more about the world and it is the best thing to happen in our life to fully appreciate the relationships between seemingly unconnected facets of life such as countess happenings in our life, our duties and responsibilities, a particular part of our life which matures us. This leads to a more holistic worldview that can help us find the balance between seemingly incompatible positions in life. The term incompatible with life is used in circumstances of damage such as losing something precious, a person near and dear, an accident which injures some part of body,  or developmental disorder that render life impossible.

When we live in alignment with the inner wisdom of our Higher Selves, we become the best possible version of ourselves. Our Higher Self knows our true purpose and includes our potential to live a fulfilling and joyous life through personal growth and self-awareness.

Inner wisdom is our ‘gut feeling’, it is our intuition and inner guide that we can trust to point us in the right direction. To channel this ability, we must set aside our ego and ideas of how things should be and instead tune into what feels right.

Mindfulness is associated with both a sense of purpose in life and engagement in activities, which are also connected with positive outcomes. Moreover, having purposes in life is linked to higher levels of behavioral foundation.

Om Poornamadah prayer reveals the highest truth of the Universe that “Everything is One We all are One. The whole Creation (air, water, earth, fire, sky) is One. We have come with high Perfection. Everything remains within Perfection. Perfection alone remains forever. So, nothing is separate. We are all like infinite waves of the whole unlimited Ocean of realization. Like a wave, we rise, move forward and merge again in the Ocean of Consciousness which is always Purnam. Many modern Scientists and many modern Mathematicians are fascinated by this Vedic Verse; through this prayer, we remember the ultimate truth of every day, every moment. To merge with the wholeness, we need just 20 minutes of meditation daily.

How to meditate

Choose one corner of your home. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed, simply breathe in while saying “breathe in” in your head as you do. Then breathe out and say, “breathe out”. For the next 20 minutes or so, your aim is to focus on this circular breath and the simple words in your head as much as possible. Let this chosen spot for meditation be the same every day.

Watch your breath

As you begin your meditation, become aware of your own breath, taking deep cleansing breaths. Feel your body from head to toe and scan how each area of your body feels in the present moment. As you inhale, take in your dreams and desires. As you exhale, allow yourself to let go of all the negative energy that takes away from them.

Watch your thoughts

As you meditate, allow all your thoughts to be watched upon. Don’t judge or label any of them. Don’t resist them. Allow them to come and go. All thoughts are okay. Don’t try to control them or achieve anything with them as you meditate. Treat them as data, rather than attaching feelings or meaning to them.  If you find that you are being overwhelmed with thoughts, get up. Walk around your space for thirty seconds and then sit in a new direction. This allows the mind to restart, it also allows your body to be more at ease and for you to go deeper into the space where your source lies. 

Be gentle with yourself

Allow the energy you are drawing to yourself, and your spirit serve you. If it doesn’t, allow yourself to let go of it without blame, ego or judgment. This is a way to be the gatekeeper and give yourself inner guidance to expel fear, doubt and negativity from your body and mind.

Clearing your mind through meditation creates the foundation for manifesting intentions for yourself in the most powerful way in the present moment. It prepares you for moments of divine inspiration, prosperity and abundance that will lead your future self-filled with these gifts. 

Conclusion

I conclude this article stating that Freud’s id, ego, superego play with our higher self; id is the aggressive energy largely held in our unconscious mind, ego is tasked with balancing reality with the demands of desire (id) and morality (superego) ego lies in conscious mind, and super-ego is  The superego is one’s conscience which is established via identification with parental figures or social groups at large. Our Higher Self relates to superego – the wise being within all of us. It is a calm, loving, and spiritual guide that brings our positive characteristics to the surface and tasks us with questioning our lower nature. When we live in alignment with the inner wisdom of our Higher Selves, we become the best possible version of ourselves. Our Higher Self knows our true purpose and encompasses our potential to live a fulfilling and joyous life through personal growth and self-awareness.

Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” Om Poornamadha, Poornamidam helps us knowing ourselves. I am giving here below a small part of “Aath Prahar” by Pandit Jasraj for your peace.

The healthiest approach in life is often to focus our energy on the things within our control. Finding a balance between perseverance and self-care is important. It’s normal to experience sadness, frustration, or even anger when we don’t get what we want. Breakups, career problems, dealing with losses, financial issues, there are a million things that can put us into miserable frame of mind. Spiritual strength can help us overcome hardships. Spirituality is our connection with the Universal Energy – Almighty.

Spiritual surrender means that a believer makes his attempts to get his desired goals with his thoughts, ideas and deeds in harmony with the Universal Energy whom we call God. When we surrender spiritually, automatically we stop forcing solutions on situations that are not in our control and instead trust and have faith that there is a Divine force taking care of everything in a perfectly coordinated manner.

When we surrender, the first practice comes automatically to practice letting go of things and circumstances we can’t control. This helps us to free ourselves from our fears.  God’s timing and rewards cannot be challenged. To surrender first we need to control our inabilities, wrong advice, identify where we have power and where we don’t. Face challenges in worst times. Don’t give up on friends, relatives in your worst fear/worst case scenario but let go of emotional attachments. Don’t depend too much on others, have the emotional connection with Almighty – you never know God will encourage one of them to help you.

One of my friends Aditya met me few weeks back, and while discussing over a cup of tea, he informed me that his sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer few years back.  It was before social media craze; Aditya has a compiled list of people around the world which they called “prayer chain.” It was an extensive email list of people who would pray for known/unknown ill people, natural calamity, wars and many other problems.  Aditya at once emailed them all, asking them to pray for his sister. Each one prayed their Divinity to give her strength and motivation to withstand the harsh treatment for cancer. Forty-eight hours later, the tumour shrank almost by 30 percent! His sister survived. It took her two years, she is alive. Aditya says he surrendered his dilemma, his fear, his anxiety to the Almighty.     

Surrender the situation to God and let Him do His divine work with you! We must accept our powerlessness. Accepting our powerlessness sends us directly into the arms of God where we feel empowered.  

This is story of Nilima, a lady who highly believes in prayers. She always prays to the Almighty saviour to allow her to help people around her. On a freezing and windy day, she was waiting at the post office for some transaction and looking out for a cab to return home. She noticed an isolated homeless woman freezing in a corner. The woman was waiting for little food she looked weak and famished; she had only a tiny cup filled with pennies. Well, sometimes life leaves people unfortunately helpless. In her poor state, the woman looked at Nilima with some hope of help. Nilima couldn’t purchase food with a credit card at nearby shops; all she could do was sympathise.

The woman accidentally dropped her bowl, and all coins scattered across the ground. Though she had nothing to give in return, Nilima rushed to help the woman gather each penny and fill them back into the cup. In a shaky voice, the woman sincerely murmured, ‘God bless you.’

Her words moved Nilima’s heart, and she offered up looking at sky a silent prayer. When she turned around, one kind woman had put money in the bowl while another ran to get her some water. It was a miracle in due time! As more people crowded around the woman, placing money into her cup, a woman asked if she was feeling alright and warm. The saviour, the Father, had heard Nilima’s powerful prayer and miraculously bestowed protection on the needy soul. It might look like a minor incident, but it has a huge lesson when it comes to spiritual surrender. Faith can move mountains.

Whenever we ask for divine protection and guidance for all those who are going through bad weather, natural calamity, accidents on ill conditioned roads, our spiritual surrender to Lord, can keep them safe from any harm or danger. 

When you make peace with your fears and anxiety, they are then less likely to show up. When you become okay with your worst-case scenario, you are no longer bound by a particular outcome or fear because you truly are okay with any outcome. This releases you from unconsciously helping to create the undesirable outcome because you are no longer resisting it nor have negative emotion going towards it, which feeds it. When you surrender to the God, you are freed of all negative thoughts. When we surrender, we become mindful of a higher power, and when we trust in a higher power that is trying to show and give us something greater.

Often people come into your life, and you know right away that they were meant to be there. They are meant to serve some sort of purpose, to teach you a lesson, or to help you find the purpose of your life, some backstab to make you realise that all is not good, some come to show you the direction. People do not just randomly appear into our lives, there is a reason behind it.

Everyone we meet comes into our life, or crosses our path, for a purpose, though it may not be clear at the times. It may be years before we learn what the purpose was. Some will teach us something we need to know. At times we meet a person who helps us to fulfil one of our needs. So, some people come to assist you through a difficulty; to provide you with guidance and support; to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They seem like godsent, and they are.

Ramkrishna Paramahans met (Narendra) Vivekananda in November 1881, at the house of Surendra Nath Mitra. The meeting was not planned, it was a coincidence. Ramakrishna asked Narendranath (the pre-monastic name of Vivekananda) to sing. Impressed by his singing talent, he invited him to Dakshineshwar Kali Temple. Narendra accepted the invitation, and the meeting proved to be a turning point in the life of Narendra. Initially Narendra did not accept Ramakrishna as his master and found him to be an exaggerated, obsessive man.  But eventually he became one of the closest people in his life. Ramakrishna reportedly shaped the personality of Narendra and prepared him to dedicate his life to serve humanity. Vivekananda served the Indian freedom struggle as one of the most inspiring and intellectual leaders. He gave the young freedom fighters beliefs and motivation for the Indian freedom struggle. He was looked up to as a source of motivation by great leaders such as Aurobindo Ghose, Hemchandra Ghosh, Mahatma Gandhi, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.  He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda is also considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the West and is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism to that of a world religion.

Vivekananda meeting Ramkrishna had a purpose. Certain people are destined to come into our lives. Yes, I believe that certain people are in fact destined to come into our lives, they come to improve us in some way, or we feel a strong connection with them, they were destined to come to us. That is why people have mentors, best friends, Guru. if two souls are destined to meet, the universe will always find a way to make the connection. Even when you lose all hope, certain bonds cannot be broken. They show us who we were, who we are and who we can become. Amidst everything, nature will always find a way.

According to this view, the ultimate purpose of life is to find joy, contentment, and satisfaction in one’s pursuits and relationships. This might involve building closer connections with loved ones, pursuing activities and hobbies that bring happiness, and working towards goals that bring a sense of fulfilment.

It was chaotic day at Kurukhestra station. There was commotion aboard the Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi train when a 61-year-old passenger named Narendra Mohan fell unconscious on in the morning. Calls were made randomly to find a doctor to treat the 61-year-old passenger. Dr. Manoj Gupta, a Panchkula-based cardiologist, proved vital in saving the life of Narendra Mohan. The patient is a diabetic and resident of Chandigarh who was visiting New Delhi.

Dr Gupta was travelling on another train – the Kalka Shatabdi when an urgent call for a doctor came through. Usually, people don’t respond for such calls, but Dr. Manoj Gupta rushed to the scene, he found the passenger, in his 60s, in a critical condition, displaying heart attack symptoms. With no pulse and no breathing. Dr. Gupta immediately administered Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to revive him, aiming solely to save his life as he was alone. The universe will always find a way to make the connection. Most people believe that the goal of life is to achieve happiness. According to this view, the ultimate purpose of life is to find joy, contentment, and satisfaction in one’s pursuits and relationships. This might involve building close connections with loved ones, pursuing activities and hobbies that bring happiness, and working towards goals that bring a sense of fulfilment. Some people get satisfaction working for society quietly. They don’t make a noise about it.

Balbir Singh Seechewal (born 2 February 1962) is a Sikh who led an anti-river pollution crusade in Punjab, India. He is fondly called “Eco Baba” for his philosophy of belief in self-reliance added with act of strengthening the environment. Balbir Singh is a staunch believer in the essence of the Gurbani (Sikh term, very commonly used by Sikhs to refer to various compositions by the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib). He has restored life into the 160 km long Kali Bein rivulet of Beas River in Doaba region of Punjab.

In the year 2000, Balbir Singh decided to put in efforts to stop the pollution and wastage of the water of Kali Bein River because of domestic and industrial waste. Like rest of India, rivers are considered sacred in the state of Punjab. Kali Bein had reduced to nothing but a drain because of all the waste that was being dumped in it. Some portions of the river had even dried up which resulted in enormous water problems in the surrounding farms. Balbir Singh began his campaign by educating local people the importance of cleaning of the river, many volunteers joined him for raising funds with the help of contributions from residents living on the banks of the river which included more than 24 villages. With this amount Balbir Singh and his volunteers’ group could purchase equipment required for cleaning. He had to propagate again and again urging villagers to dispose sewage in a particular place and not in the river. With a clean riverbed, natural springs were restored, and the river started to fill up once again!

The goal of life is a question that has puzzled philosophers and theologians for centuries. It is a deeply personal matter that varies from person to person and can be influenced sometimes by luck.  

Nancy Davis and Ronald Regan (ex-American President) who was basically a famous actor, met on a dinner date to discuss some problems she was having with another Screen Actors Guild (SAG) actress with the same name. The other Nancy Davis was associated with Communist front groups and was in danger of being blacklisted in the 1950s. Nancy asked for help with this problem from Ronald Reagan who was one of SAG Board member. They got attracted to each other, and began dating, and after a nearly two-year courtship were married on March 4, 1952, at The Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley, California. It was her first and only marriage and Reagan’s second marriage. 

I strongly believe that no encounter is incidental or meaningless. Each person reflects yourself and an opportunity to learn more about who you are and what you want.

We all must have known people who can recall details, dates, every major event in history, political science, science, day to day life in their lives. These people can describe a scene as though driven by a photograph. Such people seem to have mastered their minds and memories. They usually are skilled storytellers. I have seen just a few elderly people who recognize their colleagues, peers, assistants instantaneously when they meet them after decades.

There is a tendency to overdo and reconstruct memories to make them more interesting and thus easier to recall. Despite frequent rehearsal, some people have better memories simply because they encode more information in the first place. Memory is essential to all our lives. Without a memory of the past, we cannot operate in the present or think about the future. We would not be able to remember what we did yesterday, what we have done today, or what we plan to do tomorrow.  Without memory, we could not learn anything.

There are moments when your memory fails you pitifully. In a meeting, you try to recall somebody’s name, a date, a reference and you don’t remember there on the spur of moment.  Moments like these may lead you to believe that you have a “bad” memory, or are already showing signs of aging and memory loss. However, the human brain is an incredibly complex and mysterious machine, and our powers of memory are some of the most enigmatic elements within it.

How Do We Form Memories?

Before we can understand what makes a memory “good” or “bad” or “ugly”, we should understand how memories are formed in the first place. Due to the incredible amount of information that we take in every day, an efficient system is required for us to exist, form memories, think logically, make connections, and a thousand other things we do naturally take for granted. The process of memory formation is therefore broken down into three steps: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval.

Encoding

Encoding occurs when we take in sensory input and change it into a form that the brain can handle; these three types of encoding are visual, auditory, and semantic (meaning in language). For example, if you attend a meeting and like someone presenting a point very well, you will encode the memory as auditory. You see an old friend of yours in a crowded market after ages, immediately few memories gush within you, you run towards him and hug him this visual encoding. While walking in the market you listen to a much-liked song by you in the past of Lata Mangeshkar, you just stop to listen to it, listening to the song you feel very delighted this is an acoustic encoding(auditory).

These encoded pieces of information are then moved to your short-term memory (STM), where they can last for 0-30 seconds unless they are rehearsed or consolidated into long-term memory. Memory association is dependent on the passage of time; the longer you actively hold a piece of short-term memory, the more resistant it becomes to competing stimuli or other factors that can simply wipe your slate clean. When encoded memories are stored in the short-term memory, those memories can only be placed in 5-9 “slots”. However, memory can also be “chunked”, a way of bypassing this low limit for the amount of “things” we can remember at any one time.

Storage

If information is deemed “important” or “meaningful”, then it will be shifted into our long-term memory. Repetition and rehearsal are critical at this stage; the more you interact about an incident with others, the better chance it will have of entering the long-term memory.

Long-term memories last for a much longer time as compared to short-term memories and have unlimited storage capacity. Long-term memories are encoded in three ways. The capacity of long-term memory depends on the way it is encoded and the number of times it has been assessed or recalled. Psychologists brand long-term memories as recent and remote. It’s surprising to know that babies enjoy a dramatic increase in their ability to remember people and things between 8 and 12 months of age. That’s really astonishing.

We retain different types of memories for different lengths of time. Short-term memories last seconds to hours, while long-term memories last for years. We also have a working memory, which lets us keep something in our minds for a limited time by repeating it. Whenever you tell a phone number to yourself over and over to remember it, you’re using your working memory.

Retrieval

Recovery of memories is the final aspect and is often the hardest one to explain. Depending on how the information is organized, either naturally or intentionally, it may be easy or quite difficult to retrieve. Long-term memory is best triggered through association, such as hearing a lovely song from long ago that takes you back to a crystal-clear memory of events the song is associated within your life.  

Why Do We Forget?

There are four main causes behind our “forgetting”, which leads so many people to doubt themselves and surrender to having a “problem with memory” for the rest of their life. Particularly for short-term memories, if the information is not regularly rehearsed or returned to, the memory fades, never having made it to our long-term memory. Some information that we take in, even repeatedly, isn’t stored because it isn’t essential to the memory or meaning itself. For example, a road because of cleanliness on and beautiful trees planted on both sides of it, you might even remember a bakery in central of the road, but you might not remember the turn you need to take to reach a particular office on that road. That part of the information was less relevant and thus didn’t make it to long-term memory. Our memories need to be distinct in order to remain clear and neatly organized. When similar memories, places, faces, names, and experiences are all stored together, it can be difficult to separate them into distinctly different packets. For example, for a professor, remembering the names of roll numbers of students of one batch becomes difficult.  Similarly, detailed events of one family reunion over another, when they were held at the same place with the same family members, would be more difficult than if the reunions were held in a different location each year.

Motivated Forgetting

Some things that we experience are either consciously or unconsciously forgotten, particularly if they are painful or traumatic. While these events may make their way into our long-term memory, through the acts of conscious suppression we are able to baffle or fully “forget” these memories. There are ways to access these memories, such as hypnosis, but the concepts of suppression remain controversial in the psychological field.

Genetic advantage

Some of the processes of remembering are within our control, and some are not. Similarly, there are some natural factors that can lead to a person possessing a stronger memory, as well as some nurturing elements of our cognitive development, training, childhood upbringing, and attention faculties that can help to boost our memory, even later in life. We see many individuals predisposed to having an incredible memory. The concept of having a “photographic” memory has been widely studied, and it is found that some people do have amazing powers of recall over events that emerged years or decades earlier. I have seen some young men remembering flight numbers, hotel room numbers, names of the chefs and waiters in the hotel, teachers’ names from kindergarten class… In one large-scale study, it was found that people with such heightened episodic memory (a condition termed “highly superior autobiographical memory” or HSAM), do have enlarged areas in the temporal and parietal lobes, both of which are linked to memory storage and retrieval. This gives such people an increased organizational capacity; in the same way, some people are able to memorize thousands of digits of pi in a matter of hours.

Generally speaking, studies have found that certain genes affect the density of dopamine receptors in the brain; dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps us to recall episodic memories from the past. In the study, those with certain gene activations enjoyed a higher density of dopamine receptors in the hippocampus, and also had stronger powers of recall as they aged.

Abraham Maslow has mentioned self-actualization in his Need Pyramid model. Maslow estimated that only two percent of people would reach the state of self-actualization. He was specifically interested in the characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as individuals. Self-actualization is enlightenment within. When people get liberated of desires and are at peace with self and surrounding it’s a state of enlightenment.

An enlightened person is not self-centred, because he blends or merges with the universal energy. He doesn’t feel the need to show-off his self-identity because he loses the sense of a separate self. Universal Energy is the life force that exists everywhere. It is present in the entire universe – in plants, sun, moon, stars, planets, earth, mountains, river, ocean, fire, air it literally exists in all atoms and molecules. Enlightened humans spirt gets elevated. They get unified with the universal energy. An enlightened person is emotionally stable because he no longer has an ego and does not require validation for his existence. He becomes equanimous; he does not get hurt because there is no ego to hurt. He does not get angry because he becomes compassionate toward others.

The enlightened person is humble. He does not need to prove anything to others, including himself. He becomes kind and gentle; he starts accepting reality.

I am a follower of Aurobindo Ghose who was a freedom fighter and lived an extraordinary life. He was born in Calcultta in 1872 and got educated in England. He became part of the Indian independence movement and was eventually arrested in 1908. During his year in prison Aurobindo had a spiritual experience. Swami Vivekananda visited him for two weeks and taught him about higher consciousness. After getting freed from prison, Aurobindo moved to Pondicherry, India to avoid the oppression of the British. There he began his spiritual writings in 1914. He attracted spiritual followers and in 1926 the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed. The goal of the ashram was to evolve a new spiritual practice called Inner Yoga. The ashram was run by Mirra Alfassa known as ‘The Mother’ who Aurobindo considered his spiritual equal. She was a seeker from France who, guided by some inner conviction, had arrived at Pondicherry, then a French colony, to meet Sri Aurobindo. Mirra even as child used to think of humanity.

The enlightened person is enduring and has incredible understanding of surrounding. But there is no secret formula to attaining enlightenment. There are no steps to teach process of enlightenment. It doesn’t happen with a bang. It happens quietly. It’s like a bud blooming into a flower…..quietly.

Saint Tukaram of Maharashtra spent much of his time in contemplating and studying the holy scriptures of Saint Dnyaneswar, Namdev and Eknath, all famous saints of Maharashtra. He received spiritual guidance in his dreams from a guru named Raghava Chaitanya. He also was spiritually guided in a dream by Saint Namdev, and Lord Vitthal himself. Tukaram was instructed by Gurus and Lord Vitthal that it was his mission to compose abhangas (religious poems) and spread Bhakti Movement among the masses. Saint Tukaram was a married man.

The enlightened person works with open mind. He is able to see the world with a clarity, without attachments. He does not carry any preconceived ideas about people, places, and things. The enlightened person has great inner strength. There are many enlightened people around us, we are unaware of their powers. When you feel content, you are enlightened. 

I am ending my article with a latest example. Prakash Shah who served Reliance Industries in various positions, decided to follow the Jain ritual of renunciation. In 2021, Prakash and his wife Naina Shah took ‘diksha’ on the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti.

After graduating in Chemical Engineering more than 40 years ago, Prakash post-graduated from IIT Bombay. He had a long career at Reliance and before retiring he got promoted as a vice president. Prakash was playing a key role in Reliance’s Jamnagar petcoke gasification project before his retirement. Earlier, he had also managed petcoke marketing for the company. After taking diksha, Jain monks give up all worldly pleasures. They walk barefoot and eat only what they have received in alms. Enlightenment does not come with a bang, it does not require marketing or promotion, it does not require a teacher/Guru, it cannot be ‘learnt’ it happens automatically. 

Maslow felt, a person is always ‘becoming’ and never remains static. The fluctuations in life do not allow a person to remain stagnant. As each person is unique the motivation for self-actualization leads people in different directions. While for some people self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others it comes through achieving great profit in business, for some it comes through sports, so on and forth. It is worth noting that self-actualization is a continual process of ‘becoming’ rather than a perfect state which we often see in movies ‘happy ever after.’ Success involves many ups and downs; it means going from failure to failure – yet not giving up.

The self-actualizers have few characteristics which allow them to stand out such as they are efficient, they accept other for what they are, they are humorous, they look at life objectively, and they are highly creative people. Such people are childlike inquisitive, have great grasping power and great amount of concentration, they don’t dither from trying out new things, they listen to their heart, avoid preteens of any sort, and take responsibility for failures. Although different people achieve
self-actualization in different ways (each one has his own unique way), they tend to share certain characteristics.  Maslow said that there are no perfect human beings. Please note – Maslow did not equate self-actualization with perfection. Self-actualization merely involves achieving one’s potential to fullest.

Wisdom is the state of being wise which means having the power of judgment and judging appropriately as to what is true and what is not. Wisdom does not mean having lot of knowledge. People can easily be acquainted with theories, concepts and scientific facts and principles, but just a few can apply the information in their deeds and actions. 

Enlightenment in seven days: Buddha told his disciples that whoever makes an effort can attain enlightenment in seven days. If he can’t manage it, certainly he will attain it in seven months, or in seven years. The young man decided that he would attain it in one week, and he wanted to know what he should do: “concentration” was the reply from Buddha.
The young man began to practice, but in ten minutes he was already distracted. Little by little, he began paying attention to everything that distracted him, and thought that he was not wasting time, but was getting used to himself. One fine day he decided it was not necessary to arrive at his goal so fast, because the path was teaching him many things. It was at that moment that he became an “enlightened” one.

In life when we get academic degrees and have knowledge of specific areas, we are called knowledgeable. Wisdom is not just about knowledge, but applying that knowledge into our everyday life. When you do that, this is when you know that you are truly wise.

We have wrong perception that there is a certain age at which maturity sets in. Some say it is 18, some say it is 25, some say it is 40…. But I have met a young child of 7 years whom I found matured and wise, and I’ve known older guys of 60 and 70 years of age very childish.

The Japanese master: A great Japanese master received a university professor who came to enquire about wisdom. The master served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. ‘It is overfull. No more will go in!’ ‘Like this cup,’ the master said, ‘you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you wisdom unless you first empty your cup?’

Well, I’m not sure that we can be mature in every situation that presents itself to us because we are always growing and learning as human beings, and I’m pretty sure that all of us have been guilty of at least some of these negative behaviours at least once in our lives; that being said, I give here below some of the following signs of wisdom.

1. Realizing how much you don’t know. 2. Listening more and talking less. 3. being aware and considerate of others as opposed to being self-absorbed, self-centred, and selfish. 4. Not taking everything personally, not getting easily offended, or feeling the need to defend, prove, or make excuses for self. 5. Being grateful and gracious, not complaining. 6. Taking responsibility for your own health and happiness, not relying on others and blaming others for the circumstance you are in. 7. We need to be compassionate to ourselves and others in tough times. 8. being calm and peaceful, not desperate, frantic, or irrational.  9. Do not brag about yourself.

I’m sure there are probably other signs, but this list covers at least the majority of them. I know we can always do a better job by displaying our mature sides. I also know that, by doing so, we lift each other up through our example. But, what is most important, however, is seeing the negative side of our behaviour and knowing we must do something positive to change it; and my dear friends that is what is WISDOM.

We all sensible people in world agree that good relationships are the foundation for success in all areas of our life. But, rarely do we realise that it begins with our relationship with our own self. If we do not love our own self completely with all the strengths and weaknesses by ensuring whether our own needs are met or not, we will find it difficult to accept others, love others and help out other around us.

Your relationship with yourself is arguably the most important relationship in life. Self-relationship is the foundation of everything else including philanthropy.  One’s relationship with oneself is crucial and needs to be built like many other relationships in life.  Healthy self-love is most essential. How you value yourself as a person, how you embrace yourself with all the good and the bad in you, your self-relationship, how much you trust yourself is very important in building your life and relationships with others in your life. Ironically, the most selfless thing you can do is to be self-cantered.

The time you spend with yourself is very important; spending time alone is actually a good thing for building your relationship with yourself. Some crucial studies have shown that having more me time has benefits such as increasing productivity, contentment, gratitude and empathy. It doesn’t matter what you do in that me time, as long as you are doing it alone. Please understand that me time does not mean trying to change the way we live our lives for other people. It means allowing ourselves to be truly seen for who we are. It means letting go of feeling that we have to be someone that we are not or trying to speak or act in a way that doesn’t feel affiliated for us.

Me time is a term which has been popularized by all forms of the media geared towards issues of female interest, more particularly in women’s magazines. The idea is that, amidst the stress of 21st century life, a woman finds it increasingly difficult to spend time which is exclusively for her and is not intruded upon by the non-stop demands of work and family. Me time, is a period of time when a woman can put herself first and do something that she particularly enjoys to aid relaxation and revival. This might be as simple as having a bubble bath, sitting down with a cup of tea, listening to some most precious songs, painting or drawing, or going on a trip to the gym or a weekend away. Though not used exclusively with reference to women, this term lies heavily in the female domain. But, it is also means equally the same for men.

The time a person has to himself or herself, in which to do something for his or her own enjoyment is refreshing. Unplug yourself, ban all electronics, social media, email and phone calls for a set amount of time, and instead read a book or magazine, go for a walk, or simply stare out the window and daydream.

Being alone can help you build mental strength. Solitude is important. Studies show the ability to tolerate alone time has been linked to increased happiness and improved stress management. People who enjoy alone time experience less depression. Can you imagine how many people are scared to live alone and therefore they cling on to wrong relationships? This is a fact.  

Me-time increases empathy. It increases your productivity.  Although many organizations offices have started creating open floor plans so everyone can communicate more easily, some studies show being surrounded by people kills productivity. People perform better when they are left alone in their privacy.

Me-time helps you to plan your life. It helps you to know yourself better. Being alone helps you become more comfortable in your own skin. When you are by yourself, you can make choices without outside influences. And that will help you develop better insight about who you are as a person. Start scheduling me-time as often as you can.

Frugality is a good word. Being frugal does not mean being miserly or stingy, instead it means being mindful. Frugality makes one less stressful, because one buys what is necessary, therefore he wastes less.   It can’t be termed as a tactic, it is a mindset which makes life more joyful. Frugality is about saving money, financial freedom and creating the long-term life one wants to live; it’s about living a life with simplicity and honesty. It is about personal accomplishments and satisfaction that comes from learning new skills, fixing things, and enjoying all of the gifts we already have. It’s about lessening the junk, it’s about being your own person and not the person society wants you to be.

Successful people have recognized the importance of frugality. Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway prefers living in the same home he bought for $ 31,500 in 1958, his net worth is $69.1 billion.  Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro Ltd drives secondhand cars also and he always reminds employees to turn off lights when not required, and his net worth is $ 16.6 billion. So friends, prosperous people have recognized that frugality is environment friendly which simply means having a lifestyle that is healthier and saves the environment. Frugality helps us take small steps towards mother earth so as to make this planet a better place for us and generations to come.

A good way is to start with conserving water, driving less and walking more, consuming less energy, buying recycled products, eating locally grown vegetables etc hence creating less waste.  Frugality means live and let live.  If we do not save and oil, our life might come to a standstill. The world badly needs oil for many purposes: to power its cars, to plant it fields, to operate its oil-powered irrigation pumps, and to act as a raw material for making many kinds of products, including medicines and fabrics. Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company has predicted that the world will face an energy crisis unless investment in fossil fuels production is conserved.

Nearly every frugal strategy doubles as an environmental boon such as driving less, buying new things only when required, not wasting food, and not creating clutter by hoarding more and more. Although frugality can’t solve each environmental problem that modern society has created, it’s a humble start. The beginning is always small.

John Ruskin, an art critic in the 19th century, once wrote, “Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.” He was so right. Think about it. The more materialism we accumulate in life, only adds to our frustration blocking our cupboards and wardrobes, and our energies. Frugality is not about spending less money……….it is how you choose to spend your time and how you choose to conserve other resources in totality. Carols Slim Helu, who is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist was ranked as richest person in world from 2010 to 2013, Slim has lived in his same old house of six bedroom more than forty years. And, Charlie Ergen an American businessman and is the co-founder and current Chairman of the Board, and former President and CEO of Dish Network still packs a brown bag lunch. Brown bag lunch originally referred to the practice of employees bringing a packed lunch from home.  Living frugally means deciding what is most important to you and directing your energy and money towards getting more of whatever you intend to have in your life. It doesn’t mean sacrificing your joy and happiness.

The biggest fact of frugality is, if we live life with simplicity, there is no boredom. It allows you to constantly use your creativity, exploring your hobbies such as cooking, gardening, singing, dancing which involves living a very real, very tangible existence. Frugality allows us to use our hands a lot. We don’t pay for easy solutions. And it relaxes our nerves to a great extent. Mark Zuckerberg may be frowned upon by many traditional investors and self-made millionaires but he is one of the richest people in the world and is undoubtedly more popular than most. Imagine a man who is worth more than thirty billion driving in a saloon car that costs just around twenty thousand. His obsession for grey tees is known and has a ton of those in his wardrobe. He and his wife have shown time and again that you don’t need to spend money needlessly, even if you have a lot of it.

Ratan Tata of Tata Group is regarded as one of the humblest industrialists you would ever meet. He wears affordable suits, drives affordable cars made by his group company and he has never indulged in any so-called needless luxury that is often synonymous with the life of the rich and famous.

Frugality brings peace and simplicity into your life. Evaluate your priorities. Evaluate the words of Edmund Burke – Irish Businessman “frugality is founded on the principal that all riches have limits”

An aura is also known as human energy field. It’s a colored production that encloses a human body and all living things. The aura is described as an electromagnetic energy field that surrounds each one of us. It appears as an oval ball of energy that encompasses our body. The auras of saintly people can be seen because their auras are very strong, whereas normal ordinary people’s aura cannot be seen because they are not strong.  The negativities that we hold in our mind, appears like grayish clouds in our aura. The gryaishness looks fainter or darker depending on negative thoughts and emotions that one generates for years after years.

We think and we feel every day, so in a given day, a week and year how many thoughts must have created emotions inside the aura. That’s the reason it is better to forget, and forgive people who hurt us. The alternative therapists such as pranic and reiki healers can see these grayish clouds floating in our aura. The pranic and reiki masters depending on their practice can even see our thoughts and emotions during the healing process. I have talked to few healers and taken help from them during difficult times and have found the service very helpful in reducing the stress levels.

Mental noise: When we sit down to meditate, try to concentrate on breathing, so many thought pop up in mind, this is called mental noise or inner noise. Mental noise is the invariable rattle of the mind which is never-ending. It is the inner conversation that goes on constantly in the mind. Many of us are ignorant of this mental noise, because it is a deeply rooted habit, and is an inseparable part of life. This mental noise never stops; from the moment we wake up in the morning till we fall asleep at night it goes on. If the inner noise is too much, it prevents to fall asleep. It constantly does the work of analyzing about all activities of day, what we speak to others and the response from others. The mental noise or inner noise keeps analyzing everything about our life: circumstances, the people we meet, events.

It is a voice in the head that non-stopping keeps talking. The mind keeps repeating the same thoughts over and over again, similar to a loop, some thoughts get stuck like a cracked record, so they keep coming back. Now, if these are a positive thought that’s fine. However, too often, these are negative thoughts that deepen stress, worry, anger or frustration. These are thoughts that you need to work on to remove them from your system. The negative thoughts make our aura weaker. The greyish clouds of thoughts and emotions within the aura are a major source of inner noise.

Cleaning of aura: You can cleanse your own aura which helps to think clearly, it prevents illness in your physical body, helps you to receive love from the world and people in your life, helps in getting soothing sleep and wake up feeling energized, helps in attaining goals and objectives in life.

Invite happiness in your life by avoiding people and places with bad energy. Our mind gives us good and bad signal listen, therefore we must listen to our mind. Please remember that your aura is not only made from your own energy, it also absorbs energy from your environment. All those people you interact with and places you visit have their own auras that are sending out energy, and you are taking that energy and making it a part of your own aura. When we visit holy places, positive thinkers, good hearted people, our aura gets recharged. On the contrary, negative people block your aura which can lead to poor emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health. People who have very negative emotions and thoughts emit negativity.

Observe this carefully: people, places, events which make you happier, and people, places and events which give you a bad feeling. Avoid people who gossip about others, people who are backstabbers, people who are liars, and people who don’t have much going on in their own lives. They lack a personal touch and give off a cold unfriendly vibe.

Happier people radiate a sense of calmness and clarity that makes us feel at ease when we interact with them. Nice people put a lot of thought into decorating and infusing their own personal energy into their homes and surrounding. Some people can be trusted because they mean what they say.

Can you change your belief system? Yes, you can. Remember this; your beliefs are the source of your health and quality of your life. Your beliefs are aligned with the universal energy. They are capable of manifesting good health, good luck, good spirit in your body and your aura. But, if your belief system is flawed,  it has the capability of bringing you down.

Have faith in the Almighty, faith balances the psychological and emotional disturbances in our life. Faith expresses a hope in our mind. Faith is total trust, confidence or assurance in somebody, a theory, an idea, or something. Faith gives us peace, consolation, comfort and security.

Meditate: The process of mediation is very simple. I don’t know why the world fusses so much over it. To begin with, commit few minutes of yours – may be five minutes a day. Try to fix a time simply if you want the habit to stick. You can do it for ten minutes if you feel good about it, but all you are committing to is five minutes each day. With little bit of practice of few days it will create a trigger in you.

Find a quiet spot where you can sit just by yourself. The spot could be a corner in your home, your kitchen or your work station in your office. You don’t need to go out in search of it. It need not be a park or a beach or a place of worship to meditate. Don’t look for a soothing surrounding. The place really doesn’t matter, what matters is as long as you can sit without being bothered for a few minutes. Sit comfortably. Don’t waste your energies on deciding what you sit on. If you want to lean against the wall or need a pillow to relax your back, take it. You may sit on sofa or a chair. Focuses on your breath, observe it. See how you breathe in and breathe out. Feel the breath on your upper lip; check the rhythm, check the speed. Slowly start wiping the negative thoughts from your mind.

The mind itself is the biggest obstacle standing between the self and this awareness. The mind is by nature unruly and unmanageable. And, it resists any attempts to discipline it or to guide it on a particular path. The mind has a mind of its own. With help off meditation, which is simple, you can heal your own aura and attain health, wealth and happiness forever! Unblock your aura regularly.

Conclusion: Your aura is the energy field that surrounds you. The successful appearance of any intention depends on your energy and subconscious mind, this subconscious mind is your aura. The subconscious mind contains the pattern of our thinking. The strength and state of your aura determines the strength of what you attract, which includes people, events, success, failure, happiness or sadness.