Inner Compass

We often speak about the effect our desires have on our behaviour. Desires that get fulfilled make place for new desires and those that go unfulfilled cause agitations in our minds. At the same time, to have no desires is not possible. So what should we do to break this endless cycle? We need to channelise our desires, divinise them or sublimate them - thereby freeing ourselves from their enslaving and compulsive nature. This is called desire management. All desires spring from the basic desire for happiness. We all want pleasures, comfort, peace, love, thrills, satisfaction etc., which are all expressions of the desire for happiness. How then do we become truely happy? Which desires should be fulfilled? When? Why? Here are some important guidelines from our scriptures: 1.    Give up illegitimate desires . Entertaining or fulfilling such desires leads to adharma and sorrow. For e.g., the desire for another's wealth could get us into trouble. 2.    Do not fulfil legit...

The world is made up of all kinds of individuals. And try as much as we want, we cannot please everyone and we cannot control the opinions and reactions of others. At the same time, none of us are perfect. Intentionally or unintentionally, we make mistakes. Sometimes we realise the error of our ways, sometimes we do not - until someone points it out. And then our defensive mechanism kicks in! The mind gets agitated, the emotions spin out of control and we lose our composure and focus. The word criticism, unfortunately, has got pegged to unwanted or unfavourable feedback. This is far from the truth. Criticism can also be constructive and healthy. However, the perception of negativity with regards to criticism is so strong that we miss seeing the positivity and learning that may exist in the feedback we receive. How do we break this emotional reaction? How do we prevent ourselves from getting swayed by our emotions?   The Bhagawad Gita gives us many insights on how to handle criticis...

The only thing constant in life is change. Sometimes, the change is in line with what we have planned and sometimes, it is the exact opposite. In both instances, our mind can take us on a roller coaster ride of emotions. If we have met our goals, our mind starts stressing about what comes next. If we have fallen short of our expectations, our mind starts stressing about what went wrong. The mistake we make is that we keep reacting to situations. We allow ourselves to be pulled in all directions because we are constantly looking for answers in the world outside. The Bhagavad Geeta gives us specific guidelines on how to deal with stress that comes our way: 1. Focus on Actions, not Results : We should perform all our duties and actions to the best of our abilities. We cannot control the outcomes or the response of others. 2. Cultivate a Stable Mind : We must learn to pause and make our mind step back from the chaos of the world outside. Having a steady, unperturbed mind will allow us to f...