Break Free

Sufi music.. mesmerizing to the core.

The song Bandeya Ho from Khuda Ke Liye strikes one chord too many today… It speaks about the society’s reaction to Bulleh Shah’s association with his spiritual guru, the eminent Sufi saint, Shah Inayat Qadri. The raised eyebrows were due to Bulleh Shah’s direct descendance from Prophet Muhammad (and hence the honorofic title Sayyid) and his teacher’s Arain agricultural caste.

Bulleh Shah counters by indicating that he would rather denounce his clan than defame his guru. The barriers of clan and caste are man-made and self-destructive indeed…

The KKL version performed by Khawar Jawad and Faiza Mujahid… sung in Saraiki with fusion undertones.

 

Bullay Noun Samjhawan Ayaan
Bhenaan Tay Bherjaayaan
(Bullay’s sisters and sisters-in-law came to advise him)
Man Lay Bullaya Sada Kaina
Chad Day Pala Araiyaan
(“Listen to us and stop associating with that man of the Araain community”)
Aal Nabi Ulad Nabi Noun
Tu Kyoun Leeka Layaan
(“Why do you insult our tribe the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed”)
Jera Saanoun Syed Saday
Dozakh Milay Sazaiyaan
(Bullay replies: Those that call me a Syed (the tribe of the descendants of the Prophet) will be punished in Hell)
Bandeya ho, Bandeya
Araain Saain Sabi Thaain
(People of Araain and Saain clans are everywhere)
Rab Deeyaan Bay Perwaayaan
(God doesn’t care (about placing them together in this world))
Soniya Paray Hatayaan tay
Khoojiyaan Nay Gal Layaan
(Those that are beautiful (in heart and soul) do not find such differences (in castes), only ugly people do)
Jay Tu Looray Baagh Baharaan
Chakar Ho Ja Araiyaan
(If you desire paradise in the afterlife, become a servant of the Araiyan) (Indicating ‘serve the poor and downtrodden, if you seek heaven’)
Bullay Shah De Zaat Ke Puchni
Shakar Ho ya Razayaan
(Ask not what caste Bullay Shah comes from)

More on Sufism and New Age Spiritualism in posts to come.. I leave you with one of my favorite Bulleh Shah quotes..

I am free, my mind is free,
I am neither a sick person nor a physician
Neither a believer nor an infidel
Nor a mullah or syed
In the fourteen spheres I walk in freedom
I can be imprisoned nowhere.

 

Adi Sankara’s Bhaja Govindam

Popularly known as Bhaja Govinda Stotra, this poem is also known as the Moham Mudhgarah – a hammer to crush delusion.  Bhaja Govindam seems like a devotional song, but it also contains, within the simplest of Sanskrit verses, the very essence of Indian Advaita philosophy. As a poetic work, it is a devotional song par excellence, and as a philosophical treatise, there are few that can compare.

Some of the stanzas most meaningful to me follow…

 

má kuru dhanajanayauvanagarvam
harati nimeúát kalaç sarvam,
máyámayam idam akhilam hitvá,
brahmapadam tvam praviùa viditvá.

Do not be proud of wealth, kindred, and youth;
Time takes away all these in a moment.
Leaving aside this entire (world) which is of the nature of an illusion,
and knowing the state of Brahman,
enter into it.

suramandiratarumülanivásaç
shayyá bhütalam ajinam vásaç
sarvaparigrahabhogatyágaç
kasya sukham na karoti virágaç.

Living in temples or at the foot of trees, sleeping on the ground, wearing deer-skin,
renouncing all possessions and their enjoyment -
to whom will not dispassion bring happiness?

Satsañgatve nissañgatvam
nissañgatve nèrmohatvam
nirmohatve niùcalitatvam
niùcalitatve jèvanmuktiç.

Through the company of the good, there arises non-attachment;
through non-attachment, there arises freedom from delution;
through delusionless-ness, there arises steadfastness;
through steadfastness, there arises liberation in life

 

For the full text and translation, visit Kamakoti’s Bhaja Govindam page.

 

Analyze this!

“Sensation tells us a thing is.
Thinking tells us what this thing is.
Feeling tells us what this thing is to us.”
- Carl Jung, Father of Analytical Psychology

Do you think Psychology is just for students, academics and therapists? Then think again! Psychology is both a theoretical and applied science, and its everyday implications are many in number. In fact, every aspect of inter-personal relationships is grounded on the subconscious use of psychology.

How many times have you intuitively felt that the other person is lying simply based on their body language? Or thought of a decision from multiple points of view, including rational, emotional, intuitive, creative,

Unlock the Mind

positive and negative perspectives? The wide realm of psychology has conducted research and derived conclusions about human and social behavior which can be utilized to make our lives brighter. Let’s examine how.

1. Get motivated
Whether it’s your goal to quit smoking or lose those extra kilos, psychology offers interesting ways to keep yourself motivated enough to achieve your ends. Introducing new ways to accomplish the goal, stepping out of routine, having your ends and positive results clearly in sight, and rewarding yourself on your good work are some steps you could take to keep your motivational levels high. Remember, the light from one candle can brighten up an entire room-so your positive energy might spread cheer to people in your circle of influence as well!

2. Learn to understand others better
The ability to understand yourself and others better plays a very important role in your life. Your Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) measures this ability, and recent research places a higher value on EQ than on IQ in this era of communication. Try being more empathetic and humane-we tend to have a rather rigid mind-set if we alienate ourselves from emotions. At the same time, learn to analyze situations from a neutral perspective and keep unwarranted bias away. Don’t jump to conclusions about the root causes of the other person’s actions- open channels of communications are vital to keep a relationship in the pink of health.

3. Productivity
Have you felt overwhelmed by the amount of work or studies you have at hand? Does time seem to whiz past, and that important exam or conference meets you too soon for your liking? Mental organization is the key, as is time management. Try to focus on the task at hand, and eliminate distractions. Research in psychology has found that trying to perform more than one task at the same time seriously impairs speed, accuracy, and productivity-the reason you subconsciously write the lyrics of the song you’re listening to instead of meeting minutes!     Time management needn’t necessarily involve routine, but you need to have a specific time frame for every activity. This will ensure that you spend time at your books, as well as get time to catch that game on television, and also leave you an evening out. Sounds good? Get to that planner pronto!

4.  Improve your memory
Youngsters and working professionals are fast becoming victims to those frequent patches of memory lapse. Research on how we form new memories as well as how and why we forget has led to a number of findings that can be applied directly in your daily life. Pay complete attention to your work and relate new concepts to familiar ones. Organize your study material, and try using mnemonics. A mnemonic is simply a way to remember information, like the mnemonic VIBGYOR for the colors of the rainbow. Educators and psychologists have also discovered that having students actually teach new concepts to others enhances understanding and recall, so a study group wouldn’t be a bad idea!

5. Be healthier!
From ways to encourage exercise and better nutrition to new treatments for depression, the field of health psychology offers a wealth of beneficial strategies that can help you to be healthier and happier. Research has demonstrated that exercise can be an effective treatment for depression as well as other mental disorders. It has also been found that if you understand the ways the pill you take works in your body, you’re more likely to take it regularly; as opposed to the old practice of one-sided doctor-patient interaction. Stress is a major cause of many psychosomatic disorders, ranging from asthma to hypertension. Acceptance of the situation and a determination to stand ground and face the music will go a long way in reducing stress.
Above all, understanding the everyday implications of psychology leads to a healthy dose of inspiration-for an uncluttered, focused mind is the most fertile ground for creativity and innovation. The next time you see a kid laughing at a comic in the library, marvel at his innocent pleasure instead of snapping at him. Spend time with your family outdoors instead of in a theatre- research shows that even a brief exposure to light substantially increased alertness and cognitive ability. And get inspired, let your creativity run wild! After all:

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

 

coach carter + covey’s seven habits= ??

This is a movie review I wrote a few days ago for academic evaluation. We study The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey in depth, and had to relate Coach Carter-the movie based on the conterversial Californian Coach Ken Carter- to the same.

To know more about the book:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

a summary of the book

www.profitadvisors.com/7habitlist.shtml

or the movie:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_Carter

 

The movie Coach Carter is based on a real life incident in Richmond, California, when a high school coach Ken Carter put a stopper on all basketball activities because 15 out of his 45 member undefeated basketball team were performing poorly in academics.

Coach Carter agreed to taken upon the responsibility of a team which had won just 4 matches in the last season as opposed to 22 losses. His initial confrontations with the team depicted a large amount of pent-up resentment and aggression in the team members, coupled with a tendency to play the blame game. The Richmond team was being extremely reactive to the scenario, with the individuality of the players more expressed than the team spirit.

The first meeting also saw the exit of the two top scorers of the previous season due to their disagreements with Coach Carter’s methods, and when this fact was expressed with much alarm by one of the players, Coach Carter answered it with a calm but firm belief that they would together build up other teammates to be the top scorers next season! This portrays the belief that nothing constitutes as the end of the world. There is always room for hope and improvement through introspection.

Coach Carter set the sights early on by getting the team and their guardians to sign contracts which, among other particulars, required a GPA of 2.3 (the national requirement being just 2.0) and regular attendance in lectures to continue on the basketball team. Outrageous as it sounded to the team and their families, Coach Carter began his mission with the ends clearly in sight. He consistently encouraged the team to believe in themselves, and emphasized that their sense of self-worth should come from their principle-centered core, and not from the rebukes of the society or taunts of their peers.

The principle of making your own decisions and living the consequences shifts the dependence paradigm to one of independence. Accountability and commitment are two important aspects of the same.

Coach Carter introduces creative synergy in the team by teaching them to derive learning from all sorts of situations like he does, for instance, by equating basketball tactics to the women in his life. He also stresses on the fact that nothing is impossible, only thinking makes it so. When the people around us belittle us or our activities and believe that our achieving a certain goal is impossible, it is our choice to either succumb to their reactive mentality, or be proactive and move for the win.

The Habit of Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood is exhibited when a player’s mother meets the Coach and informs him about the loss of her elder son some years ago. She expresses her ardent desire to see her only remaining son successful, and Coach Carter empathizes with her situation, thus proving that differences in background or ideology are no longer stumbling blocks to communication and progress. Instead, they become the stepping stones to synergy.

The Habit of Synergy comes into play when other team members volunteer to do part of the exercises assigned to a player to allow him back into the team, thus proving that in both in times of celebration and adversity; interdependence is the best paradigm we can use.

Winning is the ultimate goal of a basketball game, but achieving is that of life. We need to fight till the last second to achieve our goals, but if we do not ‘win,’ in conventional terms, we need to realize that long term goals are what matter, not instant gratification.

Tactics and strategies are vital aspects to any game, be it basketball or that of life. A level-headed attitude is necessary irrespective of winning or losing. In all situations, a mentality of win-win or no deal should be adopted to achieve optimum results.

And if you firmly believe that you are right in your stand, you need to go ahead and do it! Risks need to be taken with alacrity, self-confidence, proactive attitude, and a drive to achieve. As Coach Carter stresses, to be able to realize your potential, you need to be able to recognize it in the first place and value yourself for who you are.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had to written to his daughter on her 13^th birthday about one of the most important principles in life…

Never do anything in secret or anything that you would wish to hide. For the desire to hide anything means that you are afraid, and fear is a bad thing and unworthy of you. We work in the sun and in the light. Even so in our private lives let us make friends with the sun and work in the light and do nothing secretly. And if you do so, my dear you will grow up a child of the light, unafraid and serene and unruffled, whatever may happen.

 This rings true both in the context of the movie as well as our personal lives.

Setting priorities is important at every leg of life, and Coach Carter stresses that his team strike a balance between excellence in sports and academic performance, so much so that he puts a bar on all basketball activtities till some of the team members pucker up their academic performance. His move is met with extreme resentment by the people of Richmond, to the extent that Coach Carter decides to tender his resignation in the advent of the gym being thrown open. When he does walk into the gym to collect his belongings, he is touched to see his team working diligently on their academics, and expressing their commitment and single-minded devotion to his plan to get them to a better life.

Although the Richmond Oilers lost the deciding game of the season, they found an improved, more positive way of looking at life. They understood that mastery over self and synergy directed towards pre-aligned goals are more important than the cursory win.

I would like to conclude with my favorite quote from the movie, which is, incidentally, a poem penned by Marianne Williamson, a spiritual activist and author, in her book ‘A Return to Love’.

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

 

Melting Pot

Globalization has become the most-used buzz word in socio-political circles, and with the resulting amalgamation of the cultures and civilizations of the World into a Global Village of sorts, each of us has now metamorphosed into a Citizen of the World.

The luminescence of long by-gone civilizations shimmers through the cultures and traditions of the Citizen of the World- he is formless, transcends borders, and can indulge with equal ease and enjoyment in activities which were once restricted to geo-political settlers-a Dim Sum culinary treat in Japan, a snow-skiing lesson in Alaska, a desert safari in the Sahara, learning about the boa in the Amazon, shopping in Milan, sleeping on hot stones in the freezing Gobi…

A Citizen of the World’s views on culture and its obelisks-Melting Pot