An Alchemist's Blog

Adopt a Dustbin

Our thoughts and emotions determine our mental make-up. This in turn makes us who we are and dictates if we are happy or sad, positive or negative. Unfortunately most of the millions of thoughts we have in a day are negative. They either pull us down or pull others down. The feelings become ingrained patterns of thinking and determine our very character. The whole cycle begins with thoughts. That is why all philosophies from various spiritual disciplines ask us to remain in a no-thought state. Since thoughts are always about the past or the future, they are possible to arrest only if we remain in the present - in the moment of here and now. That is why we are constantly exhorted to remain in the present or be in the moment. Ever wondered how it is possible to do this?

Try and arrest your thoughts for a moment. Watching your breath is a good way of doing this. However, try as you may, within a few seconds or maximum in a minute or two a thought will creep in. Even if the thought is about the fact that you are not thinking any thoughts, it comes into our head and that is the end of the no-thought state. Some of our thoughts are no doubt, not as innocent as that and have an all-together negative effect on us.

When such a thought comes into your head next time, disturbing your peace and no-thought calm, bin it! Yes, throw it in a dustbin. Imagine the thought as separate from you, an entity by itself. Take no ownership of the thought. It has its own lonely existence. Stand by the side of the thought and look at it. Watch it shrivel and die without your support. Imagine yourself, smiling and peaceful, looking at it. Imagine yourself wearing spotless clean clothes while the thought is like a black smut beside you, but in no way a part of you. Then stamp your foot hard on the pedal of an imaginary dust-bin, watch the lid lift and throw the thought inside, bringing the lid down as hard and suddenly as you lifted it, crushing the thought in its powerful jaws.

Bin thought after thought. Give them the treatment such useless thoughts deserve and break the negative pattern effectively. Slowly your mind will cringe at the crash of the lid of your imaginary thought-dustbin. It will stop producing the thoughts. It will opt for peace and quiet. For our mind does not yet know we don't like the thoughts it produces. We have to punish it adequately to teach it new behaviour.

Makes sense? You'll only know if you try it. Happy bin-ing

A Note to Myself

Almost twenty five years ago, I greeted a letter I received from IIM Ahmedabad with a whoop of joy. The letter said I was accepted into their MBA program. Then four years ago, I accepted the road my MBA had taken me down had reached a fork and I chose to start writing, taking pre-mature retirement from my first profession.

 

Years before that my parents accepted I was left-handed and left me alone. Today, I accept my hair is curly, no frizzy, and no matter how much I protest, it will always be. I accept my return to

India

.  We all accept things. And that is how we grow.

 

Acceptance is almost always the first step. The Vedas say when you can’t change something, accept it. Just as a river charts its course without trying to break every obstacle in its path, so must our lives meander around difficulties, the act of meandering beginning with acceptance.

 

Acceptance brings relief. I really don’t need to head-butt that problem anymore. And it all but disappears. It seizes to control me for I have accepted it. Acceptance is my release warrant to worries. It is also the first step to finding their solution.

 

Contrary to ‘giving-in’, acceptance is about not giving-in to negativity. When I accept I am a poor time manager, I start to rely on making lists to manage my day or setting an alarm on my phone to remind me time is a-ticking. When the country collectively accepts

Kashmir

 as an issue, rather than leaving it to Ms. Arundhati Roy alone, we will be on the path to finding a solution. There are no rights and wrongs in the world, only points of view. Accepting allows me to look at the view from another’s window. Not accepting amounts to stopping my car before a speed-breaker without accelerating.

 

I have noticed in the English language, the words we use are to ‘accept something gracefully’. This makes me believe acceptance and grace go together. And our objective is always, but always to receive grace.

 

My prayer to start the day: “I accept with grace and joy all that I am about to receive today.”

 

My prayer to end the day: “I accept with faith and trust, all that happened today was for the best and for my good.”

 

Time it is likely to take: under two minutes.

 

Benefits I will receive: an open attitude, carefree spirit, sparkling intellect, wit and humour that last 24 hours.

 

 But I will never really know until I try it. I must remember to try anything new for 21 days for it to become a habit. But do it one day at a time. If I forget after the first two days, it doesn’t matter, I’ll go back to it after a week or when I remember.

 

Since these thoughts just came into my head, I’m going to go a step further and give them a name. This is my I Accept Meditation. I will start the day with the words I accept and end with the same. I will also accept during the day. When I do these things consciously, I will be meditating.

 

PS : Try as i may, i could not get the layout of this piece to be perfect. Every time i pre-viewed it the words 'India' and 'Kashmir' insisted on separating themselves from the text. Is there a message there?? Also, i decided not to a 'perfectionist' and 'accepted' it and sent this piece on it's way!