In praise of retirement

The biggest fear in most humans is death and the second biggest fear is retirement
I can understand fear of death but why are men so scared to retire?
Even if they are financially secure,men will not retire at 60,the earliest retirement age.

There must be something wrong in the very basic fundamental attitude that society breeds of a retired man-an image of boredom or of uselessness or sick and diseased or a parasite .
“You’re too young to retire” is the most common reaction you will face.
“What will you do the whole day?” everyone asks.
The women would worry about having a man on their hands to look after the whole day,and worry that their freedom would get curtailed.And you will find few women encouraging retirement especially early retirement.
And the men dont wish to retire because they have just started earning huge salaries with great perks so retirement would suddenly cut off all that power,the money etc. and would alter their lifestyle totally.
So greed keeps them going on and on and on.Work till you drop dead.

I think its sad that the system is such that a person becomes so productive only at such a late age that society would not want to give up the services of that person at the age of sixty.Its sad for the individual concerned,not for society.Its the individual who is missing out on the golden age.You have studied and then worked all these years,and you need to enjoy the remaining years of your life after sixty.Who knows when the end is going to come?
If all the top posts were to be given to men in their late forties then they could retire at sixty.
If all mortgages were planned so that by 45 you have no liabilities,you could plan to retire by 60.Wishful thinking,but possible ,if a whole generation is taught the value of time spent on yourself without feeling guilty or insecure.

What Bill Gates has done by retiring at 52 is simply amazing.Not for anybody else but for himself.
What growth he will discover in his early retirement ,only he will know.But I am glad he has set an example to the world.I hope many many others follow him.If the senior staff in Microsoft follows his example, en masse,it will be a revolution.The younger generation would all get promoted, and the retired seniors can help the juniors and also work towards making the world a better place.

There are so many joys,so many pleasures that life offers-and all these dont require a lot of money.But they do require time.
You have to take time off.And grow within so that you become richer and richer from inside.This richness cannot be measured by society.But a society which is full of Buddhas is obviously going to be a rich society.
I would like to end the post with an extract from the Tao:
“It is important to know ” When to Stop”,
Otherwise there is danger of becoming overfull.
If you keep on sharpening a sword endlessly
It is bound to become useless.
If you keeping on filling a house with gold and diamonds,
It is bound to fill you with tension and fear of being robbed.
The way of the Tao
Is to know when you have Enough.
To know you have Enough
Is to be filled with Joy and Contentment.”

When You have done your job…Retire.

Unmess the mess.

 

A word I really love is “simplify”…..to make everything simple- relationships,emotions,routine,work,whatever.
The opposite of simplify is complicated….but complications coloquially means to make a mess….and I love the word “mess” as much as I like simplify because it goes hand in hand ,because by avoiding a mess,you can simplify…..

The word mess is used in many ways.A few of them below,just to make my point:
My room’s a real mess.
The traffic…the noise …what a mess.
I’ve messed up  my girlfriend.
I’m all messed up in my head.
And the whole world is  messed up.Over population,global warming,oil price escalation ,they’re all messed up.There is no end to it.

What I am talking about is mess at the personal level  in your emotional physical(including financial) and spiritual life.

How is mess created?And how to unmess?
Mess starts slowly.It creeps up on you little by little.
Choices are made,decisions are taken without consideration of their implications.But if you believe in living in simplicity,if you believe in minimalism,then there are less chances of a mess.
Everything in its proper place,proper time and the taoist principle of tackling problems when they are small before they become big.

Becoming aware, before, that a mess may be created later on with a certain choice ,is a big preventer of mess.

And meditation,knowing and stilling your own mind,will help to clear the mess inside your head.If there is less mess inside your head it will follow that there will be less outside also.

Meditation will calm your mind,make you more aware ,and help you make right choices.
Its not that easy as I make it sound.
But “to simplify” is a good antidote to “messing up”.

Developing The Distant Gaze

 

Walking on a beach,or jogging in a park,when  crossing  people in the opposite direction,the normal human tendency is to look at the person passing by.

There is a certain mind energy drain in this process as the mind  gets activated  and starts a judgemental process about that person.This starts an unneccessary chain reaction . 

So also ,if you are seated at the back, in a car or a train ,you will see all the advertising billboards passing you by, and your mind will pass silent  comments on them  like good,bad, etc. etc .

To avoid unneccesary mind activity in these type of situations,learn to develop the distant gaze.

The Distant Gaze is to be practiced only when you are on your own.And obviously,not while driving a car.

Look at a faraway point,and let people,buildings,trees,all pass you by.Do not observe any specific particulars.Try and make your mind vacant at that point,like a no-mind meditation.

This will  also develop  a certain detachment. A distancing device that will make you more alert ,more aware,as a witness.It will sharpen your mind as there will be no other mind activity during the period of Distant Gaze.

You often see it in films when a person is in a state of shock.People go out of focus or they hear only distorted sounds because  they are not in full control of their senses.

But  here you are practicing the Distant Gaze, in full control,with great awareness and only during certain periods,when you wish to meditate but cant close your eyes.

The Distant Gaze is a meditation technique with your eyes open.

The real world will slowly become a dream world and the dream world will become more real.

Ego Pressure

If there is such a thing called blood pressure, surely there should be a thing called ego pressure that  measures  the level of your ego.

New terminology has to be brought in to seek new insights into mind control. 

A high ego pressure- A high E.P. should be the medical word used for a highly egoistical person.A person who has a large ego.

A person with high E.P. will hardly be aware of his problem,unless someone around him tells him of this.

The ego(whether large or small) is the source of so many problems.

Therfore it is neccessary to get rid of the ego ,if you can.

The first thing is to be aware of this problem.

Then,the  next thing is to  counter this problem with humility.

Developing humility is the cure for High E.P.

Once ego is in control,so much happiness is possible.

You will become more lovable and you will love others more easily.

There will be less distance between you and the rest of humanity.

If there were self development lectures in school,the first lesson would be to learn everything about the ego and then get it out of your system.

Be In Sync

“May I speak what I think,and may I think what I speak.”

-The Invocation Prayer Opening lines  of the Nirvana Upanishad.

What the above quote is saying is ” Be in sync”.

Let your mind(what you think) be in sync with your body(with your actions.)

Let your speech(what you speak) be in sync with your heart(What you feel)

If you dont like a person dont spend too much time with that person.

If you dont like a company,dont work for that company.

To be sincere is to be in sync.To be honest is to be in sync.

To be in sync with yourself is to be in sync with your family.

To be in sync with your family is to be in sync with your environment.

To be in sync with your environment is to be in sync with the universe.

To be in sync with the Universe is to be in sync with God.

That is the ultimate ” to be in sync.”

Interestingness

What is it that makes a person interesting?
Is it money? Or fame? Or wisdom ? Or clever talk ? Or spirituality ?
Or individuality? Or a combination of all of the above?

What is important is not how interesting you are to others (which is what most people focus on) but how interesting you are to yourself. This is what makes a study of interestingness interesting….

What is lost must be regained

Is individuality no more a virtue?

Is small no more beautiful?

Is the world not getting more corporate….with the big gobbling up the small?

Is  so much competition good for any anyone?

How do you avoid getting sucked into the mad  rat race that humans are running?

Where will global warming and using up all of earth’s natural resources take us finally?

When will the exploding  overall  population of earth  ever start decreasing?

When will we ever regain our individuality  again?

To be Spiritual-what does it mean?

Spirituality has been made too esoteric…..

It has become a retirement plan.

When I’m 60 ,then I’ll read about it ,find out what it is and then I’ll become spiritual….Thats the thinking pattern…

Spirituality has been distorted…..It has to be redefined, it has to be reunderstood,it has to become commonized and more universal…

Look at a new born baby….It is so spiritual…eyes full of wonder…quiet and peaceful(when not hungry),always playful,and when you see a new born you are always in awe,of something,of God,of the spiritual.

But by the time the child grows up the spirituality in the child  is lost.How ? Why?

Because no one taught the child to preserve its spirituality….no one knows how to teach babies spirituality….First of all we have to look at spirituality in a new way ourselves…. So what exactly does it mean to be spiritual? A definition is impossible ,like trying to define God.

I will attempt it only partially ,in one liners, as it is too wide a subject for one person.

1.To be spiritual is to be joyful to be alive.

2.To be spiritual is to be silent and natural.

3.To be spiritual is to understand the presence of the divine.

4.To be spiritual is to be kind and understanding.

5.To be spiritual is to be humble and prayerful.

6.To be spiritual is to be loving .

7.To be spiritual one has to keep the poisons like anger,hatred violence,jealosy etc out of the system. 

This can go on and on…..I would like more definitions,if anyone cares to join in….

May the flow never stop

I have picked up my pen after a long gap of time.

I hope the flow has not stopped.May it never stop for anyone.

It is the worst nightmare of a writer……a writer’s block….

The worst nightmare for a human is to loose contact with the divine…..When you are in such a frame of mind….then you ask yourself this question”What is life all about?What am I doing in this world?What is the purpose of it all?”

Without the divine it does not make sense…This universe is so vast and there is so much we do not know anything about,so there is no place to anchor your Self.But  if you believe in the divine,you can leave everything in His hands……like a child who trusts his Father .

My writing is my flow.Good or bad,it is my connection with the divine.It is my connection with the unknown face of humanity out there.

And so I pray “May the flow never stop”

Make the moon your friend

Most people ignore the moon.
They take it for granted.
There are too many other problems that they have to cope with in day to day life.Who has time to look up and gaze at the moon?And it is so unpredictable.One day it is there,the next day it is somewhere else at the same time.No consistency,like the sun…..
But make friends with the moon..Study it a bit and you will soon know where exactly to look for it and at what time.
And why should anyone bother to make friends with it?
It is our closest neighbour in space.
It is visible to us most of the time,in all its beauty.
It affects our life on earth so much.
If you associate the moon with nature and if you associate nature with God,then making the moon your friend is like making God your friend.
The moon will widen your mindscape regularly if you take out time to gaze at it lovingly like you do for sunsets.
If you learn to talk with the moon in your mind,it will show itself to you regularly when you are least expecting it.Try it out.And the full moon is such a lovely friend to have ,and the moonlight it showers on you will make you so peaceful and so blissful.
So why not make friends with the moon?