Browse published articles attributed to Vinod Anand, with full-archive search.
Attributes of Philosophyrn(Vinod Anand) All the sciences are in fact philosophical, provided they are taken to the desired height with the help of knowledge that is treated as the basic instrument for this process. Once that height is attained all sciences talk of the world with their specialty of the universe. They also need intelligence and enterprise. Hence philosophy has many attributes and realms.r
Stay Calm No Matter What Happensrn(Vinod Anand) On any given day, our emotional state changes many times, one moment, something good happens to us and we are joyful. The next moment we receive a bad news and we start feeling sad. Then, we get a cheque in the mail unexpectedly and we are happy again. Next, on the way home, someone cuts us off on the highway and we are enraged.
Effective Teachingr Vinod Anand A few days back I read a news report on the orientation programme organized by the UGC- Academic Staff College, University of Allahabad, where the valedictory address was delivered by Prof. Mishra, former Vice Chancellor of the University. Addressing the participants, Prof. Mishra gave four tips for effective teaching. According to him a teacher must have four characteristics based on the principle of 4H. He said that the first H stands for “Head”, the second H stands for Heart, the third for Hands, and the fourth H stands for Health.r
HOW IMPORTANT IS COVERSATION? (Vinod Anand) Is conversation a dying art? Texting is communication. The impersonal virtual space is best to argue and engage. If we don’t like someone’s views, we tune off But talking — orr Listening — is simply not an option anymore. Let us look at it briefly The daily commute from home to work in Metropolitan cities in local trains or buses is a fascinating experience. People say the railway is the biggest leveler in this city.
Integrating the Harmony of Mind and Heartrn[Vinod Anand] For most of us the mind and heart are at —“loggerheads, and the conflict betwee L the two creates confusion. The mind, in its objective handling of the material world, is saturated with experiences of multiplicity and separateness, and it therefore feeds egocentric tendencies which divide one person from another and make some selfish and possessive.
Gandhi and the path of Ahimsar Vinod Anandr The concept of Ahimsa occupies a central position in Gandhi’s thoughts. It would not be correct to say that the inspiration behind the idea of Ahimsa came from Mahatma Gandhi solely, from the spiritual traditional in India, or from any unified religious tradition for that matter. The idea is to be found in the teachings of Buddha, Mahavira and Jesus Christ. However, we find in Gandhi’s thought continuity in this regard as well as the modification of elements in the idea, reinforcing its historical relevance in a wholly new perspective.r
Human Memoryrn[Vinod Anand] Is ordinary knowledge confined to the material level, the abstract level, or is it a bit of both? Another question may arise: If ordinary knowledge is partly material and partly abstract, is there an extraordinary, super-conscious knowledge which is totally unrelated to the material body and exclusively associated with the abstract level? The way in which you withdraw yourself froth all worldly factors determines how the action of knowing takes place. The human mind has two contradictory inherent tendencies: one of acquisition, the other of sacrifice.
The Life Cycle: Epigenesis of Identityrn(Vinod Anand)r
Characteristics of Preschool Thinkingrn[Vinod Anand] 1. The young child cannot think from any point of view except his own and he does not realize that he is limited in this fashion. His thought is centered on one perspective, his own. An example of centered thinking in an adult makes this limitation more clear, because it is obviously inappropriate for adults. Mrs. A: My, what a charming accent you have, Mrs. B. I think it is so quaint the way you say “two-dooah Foahd cah” for ‘two-door Ford car.” I’d just love to have an accent like yours. Mrs. B:
Patience Leads to Positive Attitudern(Vinod Anand) Rome was not built in a day. Every masterpiece requires efforts to make things perfect. However, in some cases, despite all sincere efforts, the art simply remains art; it does not become a masterpiece. This can lead to frustration, low self esteem and reduced se1fconfidence. The path to success or achieving a goal is never easy. Every task or goal has its unique challenges and roadblocks.
A Self-Realized Leader Can Work Wondersrn[Vinod Anand] We all are leaders in a way as people around constantly emulate us, seek our inspiration, guidance and support and crave for our attention, love and compassion. Therefore, leaders in any sphere face the dual challenge of connecting with self and others. Knowing one’s true nature, the Self, becomes crucial. While doing so, at times, one’s deep-rooted beliefs, thoughts, fixations constituting mindset become obstacles. In fact, all through our lives we have been indoctrinating ourselves with these only.
Attraction of Fragrancern(Vinod Anand) There are some words we find beautiful in and of themselves; take ‘ephemeral’. It sounds good rolled around your lips, tongue and mouth, and to me it also looks good written. Its meaning, too, is hauntingly lovely—lasting for a markedly brief time. We get it from the Greek ephemeros ‘lasting a day’. It isn’t any wonder then that the words ‘ephemeral’ and ‘beauty’ often go together. The first day it began to rain, we were treated to the indefinable scent of water soaking into the parched earth.
Charityrn(Vinod Anand) Charity is one of the greatest virtues of the universal church. Christians following the footsteps of Jesus Christ in performing acts of giving during Lenten. Charity is born of unconditional love which prompts people to give lovingly and generously The Bible says, ‘And now abide in faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Life and Death are Interconnectedrn(Vinod Anand) When you begin to realize the relationship of life and death, the old model of who you are starts to expand. As your old model dies something new happens. You begin to experience directly the living truth of dying and being reborn again in each moment. When you live in the moment, then death is just another moment.
ACTIVITY IS VERY IMPORTANT IN LIFErn (Vinod Anand) Action is the insignia of life. The law of life proclaims that none can remain without performing activity. Everyone is made to act according to one’s own inner temperament. If you choose to remain idle, you lead yourself to destruction. Look at Nature.
The Balance betwee Love and Logicrn(Vinod Anand) Can we achieve a balance between love and logic? Logic leads to material gains, while love warms the heart and leads to emotional and spiritual gain. In life, both are required. The ete al battle between mind and heart is something all of us have to contend with. You are made up of body, mind, heart and soul.
Absorbing Fresh Knowledgern[Vinod Anand] The capacity to absorb fresh knowledge is called udana. This capacity is at its maximum at infancy, and it diminishes gradually as you grow older. In the passage of life this process of absorption helps you gain information, knowledge and intelligence. But the intelligence acquired does not make you think freely, originally, or reason independently.
Invite Good Things in your Lifern[Vinod Anand] All of us complain at one time or another. But, there are some people who complain, regardless. Complaining is a way of life with them; they cannot stop cribbing, wherever they are, whatever they are doing, or whatever is happening to them, they keep on complaining!
Confusion in Lifern[Vinod Anand] In this world, you usually have two types of options. In Sanskrit the word dvividha means, two options. If you play around with this word, it also sounds as duvidha, which means confusion. The more options you have, the more confusion you face. For example, when you have food at home, and there is only vegetable and daal, you will have no confusion as to what to eat and what to leave. But if you are attending a wedding, where you have a lot of choice, you will also have lots of confusion. What to eat? What not to eat?
Smoke Meditativelyrn[Vinod Anand] Many people cannot drop the habit of chain-smoking. They do try hard but they normally fail. Some people say that is a sin to smoke. I would suggest that don’t make a mountain out of a molehill! Now, what are you really doing when you are smoking? Just taking some smoke inside your lungs and letting it out. It is a kind of pranayama filthy, dirty, but still a pranayama! You are doing yoga, ma stupid way.
Beyond The Physical Worldrn(Vinod Anand) We are part of manifest creation that has the inherent tendency of movement. The movement is either upward or downward, whether in the spiritual, commercial or emotional worlds. Relationships play a significant role in all of this. Nothing is ever constant or unchanging. No matter what your position in life, who you’re with or how much power and influence you wield over others, nothing is constant.
Convert Mistakes into Blessingsrn(Vinod Anand) Every single mistake is a blessing in disguise...there are actually untold blessings hidden within every mistake. Children make many mistakes while learning how to ride a bike or write, and we don’t give it a second thought because we know that through their mistakes they will learn and eventually master what they’re trying to do.
ARE YOU LEADING A BORING LIFErn(Vinod Anand) Do you feel your life is repetitive and boring? I can ‘see’ a lot of hands shooting up at the question. Same old, same old... Beyond a point, we get used to everything — yes, even to the most exciting stuff, and life seems to take on a repetitive sameness that threatens to strangle us. Cyberspace is flooded with people seeking ideas to help pep up their boring lives.
Birth and Death are Two Illusory Scenesrn[Vinod Anand] Death is a universal occurrence; yet it is the least understood phenomenon. According to early writings of Wittgenstein, this is because death is not an event in one’s life — we do not live to experience death. He upheld that “at death the world does not alter, but comes to an end”. However, he added, “our life has no end in just the same way in which our visual field has no limits”.
Change your Thinking and Lose Weightrn(Vinod Anand)
Self-Assessment is Very Importantrn(Vinod Anand)
Collect All Your Worries in a Boxrn(Vinod Anand) On a pleasant, cool night, everyone in the apartment block had gone to bed after a nice dinner, and there was absolute silence. Early in the morning, the police came with a search warrant for carrying out a search operation at Apartment No.6. Their announcement about this was followed by a gunshot. Hearing all this, a person sleeping in the building next door got up shivering, His wife tried to calm him down.
Happiness in Actionrn(Vinod Anand) Stress is a disease of the 21st Century. It axes years from your life. Stress affects work output, causing failure and unhappiness. We need to develop internal protection from the challenges of life. You attribute your stress to an exte al agency. You believe your mother-in-law, boss or the weather causes your stress. Vedanta says that nothing in the world has the power to disturb you except yourself.
Lead a Wise Lifern(Vinod Anand) What really matters in the end, said Gautama Buddha, is, “How well did you love; how fully did you live and how deeply did you let go?” All the three are golden rules of wise living.
About Poetryrn[Vinod Anand] A poet is the Ultimate Rest unbounded: He spreads his form of love throughout the world. From that Ray which is Truth, streams of new forms are perpetually springing, and He pervades those forms. On the harp of the road what true melodies are being sounded? And its notes pierce the heart: There the Ete al Fountain playing its endless life streams of birth and death; do not go to the garden of flowers? 0 Friend! Go not there; in your body is the garden of flowers Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus, and there gaze on the infinite Beauty.
Knowledge through Selfrn(Vinod Anand) Self knowledge is neither gained by explanations and descriptions nor by the instructions of others but by direct experience. Whatever is experienced and known here in this world, all that is the self, consciousness devoid of the duality of the experiencing and the experience. It is the Self alone that exists everywhere at all times, but because of its extreme subtlety, it is not experienced. In all beings, it is the Jiva.
Lust: A Form of Lovern(Vinod Anand) Those who try to understand God through the intellect alone, arrive at some cold and dry concept which misses the very essence of divine nature. It is true that God is infinite knowledge, existence, power and bliss, but true understanding comes from knowing His essence as infinite love. In the ‘beyond state’ from which the entire universe springs and into which it ultimately merges, God is ete ally infinite love.
New Mind in the New Worldrn(Vinod Anand) The companions, the relationships, the work, the ideas and the beliefs and the dogmas that we hold have produced a monstrous world, a world of conflict, misery and perpetual sorrow. We accept it as normal condition, we put up with it day after day; we never inquire into the necessity, the urgency of a revolution that is neither economical nor political but much more fundamental.
Earth Dayrn(Vinod Anand) On 22 April every year, there is the Earth Day. You must know that Life began 3.5 Arab Years back, and the age of earth is 4.54 Arab years.70 % of the Earth is covered with water, and 30% is the plain. How audacious that we can even think we can allot a day for the earth!
Mind is the Greatest Gift of Godrn[Vinod Anand] Mind is the greatest gift we have. All our activities are controlled by the mind. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says that controlling the mind is more difficult than subduing the wind.
Be Spiritualrn(Vinod Anand) You believe someone else is causing you stress. The truth is there is only one person responsible for your state of mind. That person is YOU. So practice ‘attitude control’. Assess the people you interact with. Accept them for what they are. You will be amused by their idiosyncrasies. You will no longer suffer for others’ faults. Whether at an exam, in business, sport or music, mental agitation spoils the party. Dynamic action emanating from a calm mind makes for success.
Live and let Livern[Vinod Anand] Are you taking someone’s life without even being aware of it? You might be doing just that, as the following true-life story illustrates. A father was telling his graduate son what career the young man should pursue. The son listened to what his father had to say and then, very respectfully, replied, “You’ve lived your life and now you want to live mine. That is, while you’ll get to live two lives, yours and mine, I’ll get to live no life at all. Why do you want to take my life from me?”
MOVIES AND YOUR CHILDrn(Vinod Anand) Movies are one of the major influencers of the youth today. Instead of devising ways to restrict your child’s movie viewing, find ways to help your child get inspired and learn about, different topics through their favorite movies here...
DEPRESSION AND FRUSTRATIONrn(Vinod Anand) Depression and frustration come in many forms, sometimes couched in philosophical conundrums that confuse young minds, leading to serious issue. We will have a brief look at these problems. At a point in time in one’s life when one feels all doors are closed and all you can see is darkness, one feels that by not existing physically, we can end the mental anguish. For example, Princess Diana used to inflict cuts on her body to deal with the unbearable pain inside
Body, Mind and Soulrn(Vinod Anand) We have three aspects of our humanness, a body, a mind and an immortal identity — soul or spirit. The mind forms a link between the soul and the body and the two interact on each other. In the world of existence there is nothing so important as spirit, nothing so essential as the spirit of man.
Direction of Enlightenmentrn(Vinod Anand) I was brought up in India, a land that is imbued with a living mythology. Very early on in my childhood, it was my mother who told me that the word “inspiration” literally meant to be in spirit. The spirit, in turn, was the spirit of God, who breathed into the dust of the earth and animated it with consciousness. The most fundamental factor of existence, then, became the awareness or consciousness of existence. Since it was impossible to imagine God as an infinite being, our collective consciousness used symbols to express divinity.
Focus on Silencern[Vinod Anand] The mind and the physical brain control the human body. The brain and mind are controlled by the desire of the soul. Just close your eyes and see what is going on inside the brain. Give it just two minutes. You will find so many thoughts running inside you related to children, family, spouse, business, emotions... All these thoughts indicate desire of the soul. And it is because of these thoughts or desires that you are unable to go beyond human existence.
CREATIVENESSrn(Vinod Anand) One of the greatest problems confronting us at this present time is the question of creativeness, how to bring about the creative release of the individual, and if we can consider the question, not merely verbally, but go into it very deeply, perhaps we shall be able to discover the full significance of that word creativeness.
Plant positive Thoughtsrn(Vinod Anand) How many of us utilize the power of the subconscious mind? Your subconscious mind does not need your advice to say what is to be done to overcome barriers, when there is a blockade in your daily life. It is continuously alert: Whatever your need may be — your desire for a promotion, purchase of house and precious household items, or anything else — you are able to get guidance from your subconscious mind.
The Power of Sincere Apologyrn[Vinod Anand] The word ‘sorry’ is synonymous with apology. It is a common, familiar word but it is t potent and magical in its efficacy. In our day-today life, it is symbolic of a polite apology for a wrong done intentionally or inadvertently and normally figures in the vocabulary of suave, courteous individuals. Small, insignificant wrongs like bumping accidentally into someone or stepping on someone’s foot elicit a spontaneous, even nonchalant apology from the perpetrator.
The Gift: Economic Perspectivesrn[Vinod Anand] As we know, there are three values (gifts) of economic life: Freedom, Justice and Care. Let us briefly look at the economic perspective of gift: In economics gifts have also received some attention too. It will come as no surprise that most economists have done so within their conventional framework of explanation, that is, by explaining gifts both in terms of exchange and in terms of utility maximization. Kenneth Arrow (1972) is a good example, adding also the idea of a social contract:
Live in the Present Momentrn[Vinod Anand] The present moment is all you ever have. There is never a time when your life is not “this moment’. Is this not a fact? Psychological time is a mental disease. Look as its collective manifestations. They occur; for example, in the form of ideologies or any nationalism, or rigid religious belief systems, which operate under the implicit assumption that the highest good lies in the future and that therefore the end justifies the means.
Even a Teacher Might Have Egorn(Vinod Anand) No one is completely devoid of ego and self-esteem. For example, if a guru does not have a well-functioning ego, then perhaps no seeker would ever listen to his discourses and the former would be left alone in his ashram. Whether you are a guru or seeker, you might have to blow your own trumpet in order for you to be successful. However, ego must be employed differently at different times because of our constant. The Rig Veda says, “Ego is the biggest enemy of humans”.