Satyam (truthfulness), Ahimsa (to not hurt), and Brahmacharaya (intelligent self-control) are the three pillars of Hinduism because when practiced, they create energy dynamism. With an integrated, kind, and disciplined personality, our energy is not dissipated. Understanding how our energy works is crucial for we can then appropriately generate, conserve, and direct it into a field of our choice. Rather than unknowingly depleting our energy, we consciously adjust to balance it and serve a higher...
Dec 02, 2020•10 min
Lingering like a smell left behind in a room, our Vasanas are the continuity from lifetime to lifetime. These past impressions on the mind manifest as our tendencies, likes, dislikes, and personality traits. For instance, when something comes very easily to us, we had to have worked at some point to acquire that ability. We create who we are, from the past of this life and that of so many previous lifetimes. So let’s put the effort and time in now to master the skills and virtues we value....
Nov 24, 2020•9 min
Other than nurturing the mind with gentle compassion like we would a friend, we can evaluate it like a mystery series by having a sense of wonder and excitement as we figure it out. For introspection questions, we apply to ourselves the concepts learnt in scriptures and commentaries, podcasts, or books. Most importantly, we rely on our intellect to draw that line when we start overthinking. Today, we take a break and think about how important it is to do that.
Nov 18, 2020•8 min
It is counterproductive to over self-analyze and fixate on rectifying ourselves. With excessive criticism, we collapse inwards and become smaller, no longer blossoming and unfolding. We introspect to see our personality layer, peel it away, and go deeper into ourselves. Once we see the truth underneath it all, we adjust our behavior to bring out and enjoy that beauty within us. Today, focusing on one weakness, we see its effects on us, think of its substitutes and reflect on our thoughts around ...
Nov 17, 2020•6 min
While self-analyzing impartially, we discover weaknesses that could trigger shame or guilt. But when we see our thoughts as they appear, we realize that we experience every type of thought which affects our personality differently. So we need not judge ourselves harshly when we find and can build a pattern of thinking. Introspection also becomes highly amusing and entertaining with practice as we notice the sneakiness of our mind. Today, we reflect on our speech and the damage control we did bec...
Nov 16, 2020•6 min
In contrast to who we are, we all have an image we aspire to be. But in our eagerness to be that ideal, we think up another version of ourselves. We also sell ourselves short when we aren’t the ideal we hold. Introspection gives us clarity on who we are as we accurately assess our thoughts, separate from emotions. With detachment, we bridge the disparity between our different images and lift ourselves closer to who we’d like to be. Today, we practice objectivity by looking at ourselves through o...
Nov 15, 2020•10 min
The introspection structure explains that the deeper we consciously trace a pattern of thought within our personality, the deeper we can negate and adjust. A successful alteration then leads to our unfoldment as it affects so many of our actions. There is also the development of presence of mind as we observe others to learn and experiment with different ways of doing things before eventually adopting one. Today, we notice our feelings about ourselves, about others and when we compare ourselves ...
Nov 14, 2020•7 min
The process of introspection takes openness and time for we simply sit in waiting silence with an incident, thought or emotion. There is no active doing or hunting, neither a general idea nor an obvious answer and no hurry to get the answer. Reflecting on a day’s events is a good start for the mind to attune to details. But as we proceed, less specific and more time-pervading questions can be asked. Today, we check our feelings for both the intensity with which they featured and our predominant ...
Nov 13, 2020•8 min
Introspection involves a lot of self-observation and self-evaluation. Introspection also entails staying with an identified mental process to see if it was inspired by an emotion or if it created one. So from our actions, thoughts and feelings, we identify the thought or emotion that led to them and its reasoning. It could be completely irrational or have been brewing for some time. Using the same question as yesterday, today we trace our thoughts and check for patterns in our thinking and feeli...
Nov 12, 2020•8 min
While identifying our actions, thoughts, and feelings during introspection, the mind learns to bear a witness attitude. We develop our ability to simply observe. Our mind is also trained to be alert and wholly tuned into our thought process as we examine all identified thoughts for motivation of our actions. These great qualities help build the frame of mind that is needed for meditation. Today, we look back on our day’s actions and reflect if they could have been done any better.
Nov 11, 2020•9 min
We are who we due to our choices and experiences, most of which, were not conscious. Introspection empowers us to make purposeful adjustments and recreate ourselves with understanding and love. Yesterday, we created a space where we could deliberately choose happiness. So today, we ask if we exercised that choice during our day. With openness and awareness, we also recap on previously posed questions, looking for connections or patterns in our being, acting, interacting, reacting, thinking, and ...
Nov 04, 2020•10 min
Despite its structure, introspection is neither a forced process nor a deliberate action. There is no “have to”. When practicing this technique, we stay with an action, thought or emotion for as long as we can before moving on. We go on looking, noticing, and appreciating, when suddenly, something may just become clear since our mind was made available to see and understand. Today, as we look back at our day, we ask ourselves if we made a conscious choice to be happy and introduce that concept t...
Nov 03, 2020•10 min
Having applied the cyclical technique of detect, negate, and substitute to our lives, the next organic step is to introspect on how well we practiced it. Eventually, a lifestyle change is brought about for we become more aware. We can recall better our actions, thoughts, and emotions during introspection, while also remembering to carry out our substitution strategies during the day. So today, we look back at our choices of yesterday and reflect on today’s happenings, gauging how well we impleme...
Nov 02, 2020•9 min
As we understand the nuances of our being, we may have found something counterproductive to what we are working towards. It’s not something we want for ourselves and naturally, we wish to remove it. This is “negate”, the third step of introspection. But eliminating creates a space that cannot be left unfilled. So we consciously substitute our eradicated action, thought or emotion. Today, we find one unpleasant detail to negate and brainstorm on all possible substitutes before choosing one to imp...
Oct 31, 2020•9 min
In “detect”, the second introspection step, rather than simply knowing our experiences, we see the reason or cause-effect relationship behind our daily actions, thoughts, or feelings. For instance, we evaluate a thought as the cause of our speech or as an effect, caused by an emotion or someone else. But what is most important to understand is that we may not instantaneously have clarity and an answer. Today, we introspect on our day’s happenings, looking for the connections between our experien...
Oct 31, 2020•10 min
Introspection involves 5 steps: notice, detect, negate, substitute, and grow. Today we focus on the first 2. We start by attentively seeing our mind, noticing different nuanced thoughts and details. With the next step, as we look at ourselves, naturally, we detect. But to do so in an objective, practical and pragmatic manner is essential. So as we think back, remembering our day and its sequential happenings, we observe and assess “How happy am I with this action/thought/feeling that I experienc...
Oct 29, 2020•9 min
Our BMI tools provide a structured way to think about ourselves. Through the body, we look at how we are perceived and at the qualities of our actions. With our mind, we notice all the varied feelings we feel and the degrees to which we feel our mixture of emotions. With our intellect, we check our voice of reason and the stock of knowledge we use to make sense of world and ourselves. Today, we introspect on the exact same question as yesterday, but going through our actions, feelings, and thoug...
Oct 29, 2020•9 min
Over the next 8 days, the technique of introspection, or mindfulness, will be outlined. We start with preferably writing something down via the old-fashioned method of pen and paper. Compared to writing on an electronic device, this is less structured, allowing more freedom and flow in the way we express ourselves and our thinking. Writing things down also helps us better identify our thoughts and connect with ourselves. Today, we introspect on the question, “How happy was I, all throughout my d...
Oct 28, 2020•10 min
Introspection is a powerful technique to understand and regulate our mind-intellect unit. We start by observing the thoughts and reactions we had throughout the day. Then, we evaluate them and can detect the different types of thoughts we had. As we identify our thoughts, adjusting and negating, replacing them comes naturally. The repetition of this process empowers us to understand ourselves and our motives better. This clarity and growth makes us happier and more free as we make more purposefu...
Oct 21, 2020•9 min
Our body, mind and intellect are our purposeful equipment to be worked around or be improved. Via the body and its senses, we act and engage with the world and people in it. The mind pulls us outside, enabling us to enjoy and fulfill our wants. Conversely, the intellect pulls us within, towards our spirituality, empowering us to evaluate, appreciate and understand. Maintain clarity of the specific functions they serve to objectively accept the tools as they are and not identify with them....
Oct 14, 2020•10 min
Success can be achieved in the world both outside and inside. We successfully explore and understand the world outside at large, like via science, economics, or politics. Conversely, we find success inside as we reflect and pursue goals related to our personality and wellbeing within. Unfortunately, as we try to find happiness and peace more or only in one world, we dampen the success of the other world. So neglect neither. Maintain a balance between worldly and internal success and thrive in th...
Oct 08, 2020•9 min
For each one of us, success is the ability to be found within and brought out in efficient action, skill, or knowledge. Using religion to turn inwards, we can find that latent potential before awakening it to be actively used and experienced. As we constantly choose to use and think about that discovered wisdom or talent, we become proficient at it, can easily repeat it, and develop it into a habit.
Sep 30, 2020•9 min
Hinduism and our scriptures are kept alive by relevant reinterpretations that are applicable to us, our temperaments, and our lives. One of such redone works is “The Manual of Self-Unfoldment”, authored by Swami Chinmayananda. This book provides seekers with the perfect foundation to be building on, for it is written as if Pujya Gurudev committed to paper his own notes on Vedanta. Also, self-unfoldment itself is the spiritual journey, as we unfold to discover who we are in essence and rise in ou...
Sep 23, 2020•9 min
Our tapas is practiced all day long and the greatest tapas is the remembrance of our divine nature – “I am Sat. I am Chit. I am Ananda.” We’re not only intellectually understanding this, but also, remembering, experiencing, and radiating divinity as our being while we feel, think and do. To abide in our nature is actually meditation, and everything else we do on the way there is building up to this powerful tapas of Gyaana Yoga.
Sep 16, 2020•7 min
Oneness is when we see that the root cause of all creation goes back to one thing, call it “an explosion in space”, “energy”, or “God”. It is all-pervading, and as this divinity, I am all-pervading. There is no distinction, division, nor any difference. Oneness is also in the interconnectivity of everything around us. We are linked, affected by and dependent on everything in creation. But we often fail to see this logic for our ego, or the “i”, asserts differences and individuality. So, surrende...
Sep 09, 2020•6 min
Enlightenment is not something to be achieved, but to be experienced within. We must give up all that is keeping us away from the core of our personality. Put everything at His feet and offer every limitation to be devoid of ego. In this surrendering, we also come to see that we are self-effulgent, vast and infinite. We are Ishwara, not the limitations we put on ourselves. So why not actively choose to be who you are?
Sep 01, 2020•8 min
Consciousness is “Chit”, the brilliant light of knowledge, enabling us to see and know. Even more beautiful is we are this light that already understands and can infinitely know. Chit is also enlivening, giving sentience to our inert and inanimate tools. Just like Ganesha, our body, mind, and intellect are given life and any movement is the manifestation of Chit. We are that self-effulgent breath of life that does not need to be known. We just need go beyond the small ‘i’ to see the big “I” that...
Aug 26, 2020•8 min
Our likes, dislikes, beliefs, memories, judgements, and often negative self-descriptions all add up to become who we believe ourselves to be. But there is another ‘I’ thought free from all these limitations for it belongs to the very core of our personality, divinity itself. Because it exists and shines and is life and is love, I am. But we forget this divine “I” and drastically underperform. What are we holding onto that’s stopping us from who we want to be, and why? What could we be if we just...
Aug 19, 2020•9 min
So often, we look to the world for answers to our questions and it echoes back to us what we already think and feel. This is because our Idam thoughts rest on the substratum of the Aham. The entirety of our thoughts isn’t about the world and ‘i’. There is only ‘me’, connecting all conflicting thoughts throughout the ages, letting ourselves feel who we think ourselves to be. Then, as we enquire where the ‘i’ thought comes from, “Ayi!”! The elusive personality disappears for it has no depth nor su...
Aug 12, 2020•8 min
Our thoughts can be divided into 2 categories – Idam Vritti or Aham Vritti. In Aham Vritti, we have and identify with “i” thoughts, producing “I am” as related to our limited egocentric personality. Idam Vritti refers to thoughts of the world outside, which are all also based on thoughts of ourselves. So it can be concluded that “i” is a constant in our thoughts. Our mind can thus be defined as a flow of “i” thoughts that creates our individuality.
Aug 05, 2020•9 min
