Savvy Raj

July 26, 2020
by Savvy Raj 10 Comments

WHO ARE YOU?

Here is a beautiful story from India…

During one of his travels, Kalidasa (the Great Poet) felt very thirsty and looked around for water. He saw a woman drawing water from a well.

He went up to her and asked her for water. She agreed to give him water, but asked him, “Who are you? Introduce yourself.”

Now Kalidasa thought that an ordinary village woman was not worthy of knowing who Kalidasa was. So he said, “I am a traveller.”

But his lady replied, “In this world there are only 2 travellers – the Sun and the Moon. Both Rise and Set every day and keep travelling perpetually.”

Then Kalidasa said, “Alright then, I am a guest.” The lady promptly replied, “In this world there are only 2 guests – Youth and Wealth … both are temporary and hence can only be called as guests.”

Intrigued Kalidasa said, “I am a Tolerant person (sahansheel vyakti).” Now the lady replied, “In this world only 2 truly know the meaning of Tolerance – Bhoomi (Earth) and Tree. How much ever you stamp the earth or throw stones at the tree (for the fruits), both continue to nurture us.”

Now Kalidasa was completely perplexed. He said, “Fine. I am a stubborn person (hatavaadi).” The lady smiled and said, “There are only 2 truly stubborn personalities – our nails and our hair. We keep cutting them non-stop, but they continue to grow.”

Kalidasa had been patient so far, but now in anger he said, “I am a fool”. Now the lady gave a wide smile and said, “There are only 2 kinds of fools in this world – a King who rules without having any capability or knowledge & a Minister who is a sycophant to such a King and lavishes praises on such a useless king.”

Kalidasa realised that he had been outsmarted. He fell at the feet of the lady and when he touched her feet and then got up, whom did he see?

Mother Saraswati – the Goddess of Learning and Wisdom. She said, “Kalidasa, you are wise. But only if you know yourself do you become a Manushya (human being). A person without any awareness of self has not reached the pinnacle of being a Human.

Note:
The Guru who recounted this story in His Teachings said, “Children should become a Manushya & know themselves. More than teaching them how to earn more money and become rich, parents should teach them to become aware of themselves and become better Human beings.

Wouldn’t you agree?

What do you think of this ancient story and its relevance to our education today?

How far have we really come with the so called knowledge?

What legacy will we really be leaving behind for our children tomorrow?

When can we bridge this growing gap between learning for knowledge and learning for understanding?

How can we transform our methods of education where we educate not just the mind but also the human heart?

For the truth is that…

Humanity needs us all to be humane more than ever before to survive!

Savvy

July 25, 2020
by Savvy Raj 4 Comments

A REASON TO BE… Part 2

When you type the word ego…

Ego

a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.

“he needed a boost to his ego”

the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.

PHILOSOPHY

(in metaphysics) a conscious thinking subject.

A few musings…

Ego & the Dance of Buoyancy

In the case of a human being
The ego is a dance of buoyancy
In the weight of thoughts words & deeds
The being is able to function optimally.
As long as the effect is balanced all is well.
If there is too much flutter
Its perhaps the behavior is creating a stir…

In every human interaction
A discomfort or a delight, talks of ego at play.
Is the ego that is overwhelming
An ego that is self sustaining?

Or is it Self destructing?

All depends on the movements
The trick is to continually balance oneself to stay afloat
Ego is both a boon & the bane of life.

If it is too less life becomes unobservable
If it is too much life becomes unbearable
Life is a dance of buoyancy
Of balancing the ego at play
Every thing has a reason to be.

Savvy

July 24, 2020
by Savvy Raj 1 Comment

A reason to be

Every thing has a reason to be

Air and Space Water Form
All elements of being
This beautiful world of ours
Blesses us much
So much gratitude
For these elements of life.
We are born of it and we need it to survive

Every thing has a reason to be

The river of time
The water that flows
The shape of things
The spaces we occupy
The air that we breathe
All matters for life and living.

We breathe air to live in space
This air that we breathe
We often take for granted
This air is the gift of earth around us.
We need to value its presence
We need to keep it pure and clean
For what we breathe we are
For our actions depend upon it.

A ship floats in water
Not just because of buoyancy
But because there is air tight space
A space that contains air
A space that aids the displacement
A space that balances the weight
A space that lightens the load
The shape makes a difference
In the way the weight is carried
The shape of the ship makes it float.
Displacing water equal to its weight
Helping it to stay afloat.

Archimedes’ principle, physical law of buoyancy, discovered by the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, stating that any body completely or partially submerged in a fluid (gas or liquid) at rest is acted upon by an upward, or buoyant, force, the magnitude of which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body. The volume of displaced fluid is equivalent to the volume of an object fully immersed in a fluid or to that fraction of the volume below the surface for an object partially submerged in a liquid. The weight of the displaced portion of the fluid is equivalent to the magnitude of the buoyant force. The buoyant force on a body floating in a liquid or gas is also equivalent in magnitude to the weight of the floating object and is opposite in direction; the object neither rises nor sinks. For example, a ship that is launched sinks into the ocean until the weight of the water it displaces is just equal to its own weight. As the ship is loaded, it sinks deeper, displacing more water, and so the magnitude of the buoyant force continuously matches the weight of the ship and its cargo.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Archimedes-principle

Contd…

Savvy

July 23, 2020
by Savvy Raj 6 Comments

Way of being

You show who you are

By the way you treat people…

Especially those who in a way

Have done wrong by you

Who didn’t treat you good

Who were nasty and mean

Who were happy by your loss

Especially these people

Treat them as well as others

Share goodwill from your heart ❤

Without expectations, be kind

Even with the most critical

They will come around.

Just trust in yourself

And your way of being.

Savvy

July 22, 2020
by Savvy Raj 3 Comments

On Leadership

Here are my musings to support the

Qualities of a Leader mentioned by the esteemed and the honourable Dr Abdul Kalam Azad.
All these are valuable qualities in leadership.

A Visionary:

Without knowing where to lead the followers how can a leader execute his plan?

Equanimity

Without being able to be balanced in equanimity in both actions and attitude, how can a leader be able to ride the storms and manifest the changes in the challenges?

Nobility

Without enabling the heart and mind to be transparent to each other, how can a leader be synched in the decisions taken?

An Explorer

Without being open to an explorer’s mindset how can the leadership survive in this cutthroat world?

A decision maker

Without a focused approach and timely decisions taken with courage how can leadership know what to do ahead?

Integrity:
Without a sense of honesty and morality how can the leader lead others?

And I love the wisdom in these words. For this is what to me, is the sign of a great leader.

Savvy

July 21, 2020
by Savvy Raj 1 Comment

Breathe in Peace

You have it in you

The choice of what to do

You are your own master

You are capable to choose

What you want to do

You need to own who you are

Your passion, your purpose

Your life, your breath

Then you will breathe in peace

As you begin to own your own breath.

Savvy

July 20, 2020
by Savvy Raj 7 Comments

Art of Storytelling.

Stories telling is an art

Not just the story

But the way you say it

When you say it

How you say it

To whom and why

Stories have much depth

Than what’s apparent to us.

Here is one such story worth a study!😀

Enjoy the humour…

Finest example of presence of mind!.

A Professor started his class on a very serious Topic. The moment he turned towards the blackboard, one of the students whistled. He turned, looked at the class and asked the Whistler’s name. No one answered.

The Professor peacefully kept the Pen in his pocket saying: “Lecture ends here. I’ll tell you a story to utilise the remaining time”.

Everyone became interested.

“Yesterday night I tried hard to sleep, but it was miles away from my eyes, so I thought I’d better get petrol in my car, which will save my time next morning and might induce sleep. After having my tank full, I started roaming in that area, enjoying the peace of a traffic free ride.

Suddenly, on the corner I saw a girl who was as young and beautiful as the clothes she was wearing. Must have been returning from a party. Out of courtesy, I turned my car towards her and asked if I may be of any help. She asked me if I could drop her to her home, she’ll be very obliged, to which I agreed.

She sat in the front seat with me. We started talking, and to my amazement she was very intelligent, had control on many topics which many youngsters don’t.

When we reached her address, she admitted my courteous nature and behavior and accepted that she would love to meet again.

I also admitted her intelligence and beauty and that I’ve also started liking her. I told her about my job as a professor in the university.

The girl asked my number, which I gave her willingly. Then she asked me a favor, to which i couldn’t have denied naturally.

She said that her brother is a student in the same university, and asked me to take care of him, since we’ll meeting each other more now.

I asked the name of the student. She said that I’ll recognise him with one of his very prominent quality, *He whistles a lot!*

All eyes in the classroom turned towards the boy who had whistled.

The professor said: “I didn’t buy my Ph. D in Psychology.. I earned it”.

July 19, 2020
by Savvy Raj 4 Comments

The Invisible Light

There is always more
Than you can see
What you perceive
Is only a part of the whole

For there much that stays hidden
To the human eye.

Watch the invisible light of flowers https://youtu.be/abVgsgpLWyU

https://youtu.be/abVgsgpLWyU

The world has much to discover
Like the invisible light of flowers
Iridescence quite striking
Illuminating in the darkest of nights.
Always full of reason.

Savvy

July 18, 2020
by Savvy Raj 2 Comments

The Dance of Cownose Rays

Is it fluidity of the flow or form

That makes them move

With grace and elegance.

This dance of the cow nose rays

Captivates the senses in awe & wonder.
Savvy

Here is a beautiful link to their amazing dance
Watch “The cownose rays dance”
https://youtu.be/f7H959hBdLU

July 17, 2020
by Savvy Raj

On Infinite Potential

Why do we believe this is it and this is all?

There is so much more…

We are so much more capable!

Reach out…

Explore the infinite potential of the moments at hand.

Envision the infite possibilities in the horizon and embark upon them.

Savvy

July 16, 2020
by Savvy Raj Leave a comment

Power of Silence

Power of Silence

Emanates in stillness
Between rest and movement
Between words and deeds
Between two spaces…

In the betwixt and between
Is the potency of potential
To emerge in creativity
Silence is full of movement…

There is movement
In the stillness
And stillness
In the movement.

Savvy

July 15, 2020
by Savvy Raj 3 Comments

Accept, don’t expect

Peace

Whenever we get too drawn into the vortex of living life and whenever it starts to feel like a burden and like there is no lightness in the moments it is perhaps time to take a check on our own way of being. So today I am heart fully sharing my dear mother’s two bits on the way of peaceful life and living… I have re read it earlier for to balance my own thoughts as well.:))

Already a lot has been said and written about this. So many experts in different fields have shown so many ways to attain peace.

Peace- the ultimate human need even after reaching peaks of success in their fields. It eludes even the so called achieved souls.

Humans have various desires and find various ways to fulfill them.
Need for wealth, health, love, knowledge, family , status, fame, power, comforts… . the list goes on. To achieve them they go through various states of hardships n emotional turbulence . Perseverance, hard work, focus and luck help them to achieve their goals. But after attaining all these is one peaceful?
Unfortunately the more one gains, the greater is the loss of inner peace. Loads of pressure weighs down them.

The need for more never get satiated. Contentment is always on the other side of the river.Because our expectation keeps on increasing .
From childhood one has to live to the expectations of people surrounding them and in the process then they grow up, they start expecting the same from all around them .
Whichever field or whatever state they are, there is always expectations. Family , friend, society, teachers, work place, children, lifestyle, appearance, behavior befitting their age n status…expectations everywhere.; either by us or from us at all stages of our life. Again it is endless. Peace still eludes .

Like the most difficult puzzles have very simple solutions , life problems also can be simplified.

Simply working towards reducing and gradually ceasing the expecting from others or living to other’s expectations.

Be yourself , let others be themselves.
Never shy away from our duty or ignore social responsibilities or inner values. Doing without expectations. But it is not easy to transcend basic human nature. More than desires, our expectations not happening cause us more sorrow. All are not yogis or saints. But peace is ultimately desired by all. If every one adheres to practice non expectation, peace will befriend the surrounding .

Do your duty, Be dedicated, Be grateful , Be understanding ,Be helpful, Be kind and compassionate,
Be selfless , all without expectations.
Your due will come to you in its own time in its own way.

Such is Cosmic law.

No expectation –
No disappointment –
No arguments –
No disharmony –
Peaceful existence

With whomever or wherever one be, adopt, adjust & accept. Happiness & peace will follow.
When acceptance becomes our nature the rest become easier.
One word mantra to peace
Live, let live.
Stop Expecting.
Start Accepting.
Live happily.