Living a passionate life
Introduction – Are you happy with your career?
Whether you
are a working professional or a student, the above question is very important
Are you
happy with your career?
Is it
precious to you, meaningful to you?
Do you get
up every day and want to rush to college/office and start the exciting day?
Do you feel
a tightening in your belly when you think about your life and the great things
are going to happen to you?
Do you feel
an unlimited energy and enthusiasm towards your career /field?
It us such a
terrible tragedy that the above feelings towards one’s work are extremely
rare.99% of the people do not live or feel this.
They are the
followers. They follow the crowd. And what does the crowd follow? They want a
job –a good paying one by which they mean a little more the average pay scales.
They want to marry and have kids. After having kids they fear, they start
living in a constant inner fear & insecurity and put their fears in their
children too.
They are now
driven by that fear to work. Note this point. The motivating factor, the ruling
factor in their lives Is not love but fear. It is fear that makes them run, it
is fear that makes them shut their minds to their true desires and needs, it is
fear that pushes them to make friends .Drop by drop, their love of life gets
lost until a day when only fear dominates them .Them natural desire for joy ,
their natural energy , ambition ,love never surfaces , never finds expression .
They reach a point where they don’t even understand what these things mean.
Then they wonder
why, no matter how settled they are, they cannot find joy in their work or in
their life. Everybody is happy around him, with him, except himself!
He doesn’t
even know that he has the right to be happy, that it is his birthright. He has
lost it.
Isn’t the above
true?
Isn’t it the
reality all around us?
Yet
happiness is possible. Energy and enthusiasm is real. There are people like
that the true, great leaders who do live like that.
The key to
the psychology of great leaders who are deeply happy ,who get a great kick out
of life is NOT genius or intelligence ; it is courage , daring and lack of
fear.
What is
really the difference, the core difference between the 99% and the 1%?
The 1% do
NOT fear anything. Why? How is it that they escape the limited life and achieve
great success and constant energy & joy?
They examine,
question the things society tells them .Them develop their Own vision of their
life. They do not blindly listen to others. They take as their role models not
their immediate boring people, but great personalities .They suffer from no complexes,
insecurities & fears!
Their
attitude is:!I want a great life .I will work hard for it . I will die if I do
not achieve great things .I will find out, I will not cannot (!) settle for
less!”
You see
ambition, true ambition not narrow, limited ambition, dominates their imagination.
Is that
process of thinking, fear vanishes. They too fear, feel insecure at times but
fear is not in the driving seat. It has been thrown to the back seat, they hate
fear, weakness and following others .They love their life and cannot even
imagine less than the greatest life.
All of us,
each and every one of us, start in life like this .Then we given in because we
become lonely, frustrated, pressured and develop deep fears. We are always
carrying that baggage and never even for a moment, do we feel free hence
joyous.
So you see,
dear reader, it is not your ability as such, or your potential that limits you
but your own decision to live a limited life! Only that!
You can
become happy and develop an unlimited ambition, energy and passion towards your
career and life.
For that you
must understand how your life works, how you have given in to others.
You must
liberate yourself not tomorrow but now, right now by examining your fears and
the wrong conclusions you have come to.
It is a
simple law that when a man begins to fear he shuts this mind and then he has
only one choice by his own choice – to listen to society and form wrong
conclusions about himself and life. He doesn’t reason and think out things. He
blindly comes to conclusions .He blindly accepts, he feels he is right because
everybody around him is feeling like that!
He, hence
finds great security when he is with people life him. He smells their fear and
they his! And the real self, the real hero is buried deep. The hero in the soul
is frustrated and suppressed.
Yet remember,
dear reader, you are a human being , you are born for joy , you can say that
you are good enough but it never becomes true because you are born for
greatness and a joyous life.
It is more
than possible, it is natural! Now do you see the tragedy, the real tragedy of
the world? It is not poverty, terrorism, corruption, lack of values. It is this
“shutting one’s mind “and limiting one’s life by coming to wrong conclusions.
What are the wrong conclusions?
Does the
following sound familiar?
“I am not
talented. I am average “
“Greatness
is not practical. After all I will starve if I think these things”
“Everybody
is better than me and I can never be good. Great people are born. I am not
brave .I am not like that”
“Why fight?
What for? I want to be happy & adjust. I will lose nothing “
“Great
people are special. Me? A genius? Oh no!”
“I am happy.
I am fine “
“People will
not give you a chance. You have to adjust & compromise”.
“Why should
I bother? Who am I to change the world?”
“ I don’t
love anything . What is love?”
“Let others
do great things .I want security”
The above
sounds pretty logical but this book, a step a time, will blast one of the above
fallacies Hopefully at the end, you will see, with your own eyes , heart &
mind, what you are capable of . You will be convinced that there is absolutely
no reason to fear and feel. you will get angry at your own lack of drive and
courage and throw off blindness. You will feel ,” why should I fear when there
is nothing to fear and when these fears are limiting me and harming me?” you
will become naturally courageous, energetic and rediscover the real hero, the
pure, innocent child in you.
You will
dramatically change and your life right and be on the road to a great career
that you known is possible to you and not a fantasy.
You will
live like a human being and formulate a clear vision & count your chickens,
many of them, and everybody you will prove to yourself that “yes Fear is death
.Courage is life. I am happy & will always work hard to maintain it.”
You will
discover the meaning of a career and live it!
The first
chapter discusses true ambition and how to develop one foe yourself.
The second
chapter makes you a great learner and blasts the fallacy of “I am an average. I
am not talented”
The final
chapter will show you how a vision – a lifelong work emerges from true learning
and how to implement it.
Happy discovery!
Section – I
Developing true ambition.
There are
two types of ambitious people .Both want to ‘come up’ in life . Both are
energetic and spend their major part of life in pursuing their ambitions. Yet there
is a profound between the two.
The first
type is motivated by a desire to achieve position, name, and money. Their
primary desire is that. That will do anything & everything to achieve position,
Name and money. Their primary interest is not the work as such but the result
of that work. Why? Why are they interested in position, name and money? What is
it to them? in fact 99% of the people would agree these are great goals and
would themselves like to achieve these things . Let us examine what these mean
carefully.
If you think
about it a little, there is a great error n this type of thinking, a
fundamental error. If a man wants to achieve name, position, money primarily
from his work then the work does not mean anything to him.
This means
that the work by itself is a zero value to him. After he is done with that work
he desires others to judge him and say he is great for the work he has done!
But, dear
reader , I hope you see that this will not work & in fact , in reality ,
actually it doesn’t . The person realizes that he didn’t want anything truly
and his desire for prestige, name and even money was empty .
Then why do
99%of the people consider these goals as true goals , as true ambition , worthy
of achieving ? What is it that makes people want others’ appreciation ,approval
and stamp so much?
It is really
a wonder ! Think! There is no real reason for doing the work , now love ,
passion , burning desire . Notice also that such people would naturally do
mediocre work .They would cheat ,copy borrow , get favors ,if possible. They
would fool others . some ,the criminal kind may even kill or harm others for it
politics is filled with such people.
Such people
harm others ,yes ,but they harm themselves more !
Then why?
Why should people throw away their precious lives in such pursuits?. Let us now
proceeds to answer this crucial question .
When a man
is devoid of a true love because he never made the effort , and was always
driven by inner fears, he seeks a substitute ,pseudo purpose . He has to
because he can’t remain still and without any purpose!
He looks
around and discovers by smelling and by instinct that you must impress people,
you must talk and talk, you must flatter and lie and you must be a nice , friendly person to get
things done.
He discovers
only this because the world is exactly that . Others too are following others
who are following others! Everybody is playing a game for no reason whatever !!In any case , this person is not thinking , he
is learning a behavior blindly and
noticing only that it is working.
He soon realizes that everybody
as mediocre and that even he can be in his work. He need not understand his work , struggle to learn , be a master.
He learns the minimum necessary to impress others not to develop a love for his
field.
Alone with
himself ,he knows it is all a dirty game . He feels dirty about it . his fear
stops him from examining ,questioning and fighting.
The whole
world to him , is a dark unknown and he has to fight but he doesn’t know
why! Why –this question is along gone dead. What – he knows. Why – he doesn’t.
He rises ,
he manipulates , he joins a gang and finds his guru who too is like him. He is
loyal to his gang. He is blind ,driven, lost in the group. This habit becomes a
real habit. Now he can’t even live with himself. Everything is calculated –every word, every action
,every dream ,every plan to get him what he wants or thinks he wants.
But life
catches up with him . In middle age he does realize that he pursued all these
things for no reason, that he was cheated of his by the world and that he
cheated himself.
But he goes
on playing that game not knowing now what else to do . He would go mad if he
didn’t continue.
You see,
dear reader, this is the truth ,the reality of 99% of people .Does it sound
familiar? Don’t you see it around you ?
But is there
no alternative ? Is life doomed to be
like this ? will life always be corrupt, dirty, bad and that too for no reason
,purpose, only filling a vacuum ? will
life always be dead ?
I will ask
you to consider one question . And now I will tell you some very inspiring
,very good and bright things about life !
If all were
like the pseudo ambitions people, would society survive ? If all become
mediocre , society will crash , in fact , in one day . This means there are a
few , there must be a few who do all the work & create the work for others
.
Yes, such
people have always existed in history . it is these people who carry the world
forward . It is these people who gave us this magnificent world –
scientifically and socially . It is these people who have the vision to se what
is possible and achieve it ! It is these people who are the real heroes with an
extraordinary character and tremendous talent and true joy beating in their
hearts. They burn with passion and know no rest! This is the second type of
ambitions people and the human beings.
What drives
such people?
Such people
are very difficult to understand not because they are complicated but because
they are clean, profoundly simple people basically and at root.
Such people
love their work ! More –they are mad about their work . Their work means more
than anything else to them –even their true ones. Their work is their god and
they are slaves, passionate salves to
their work . They are so consumed by their work that they cannot think of an
alternative way from their life and they are dead. That is why they cross all
obstacles –for their work . That Is why they achieve magnificent success, a
little delayed and with unspeakable struggle but eventually . They mean
business all the time . They cannot understand the link between ‘friendship’
and work . They despise, even hate those who compromise in their work and do
mediocre work . They are merciless and aim at perfection it is their love and
they cannot spoil it. It would be the greatest sin to them. They are, hence,
filled with unlimited energy and drive and even patience . They love their work so much that they can
wait it out and work . Hence ,they win because they world needs them . They
don’t fight for leadership . They find that they are ! They are natural leaders.
Nobody is around them who can come even close to what they can do.
Such people
control and rule the world. They may earn money ,fame, position but it is an
inevitable by product of their tremendous love . They like all these things but
not too much . They know too well what they like and they move the world and
are impatient with it . They brush aside
the world and are , as a rule ,innocent and pure.
They look
different but that is superficial .
inside such magnificent being s are all same . They are mad about their
work-100%.
This is true
ambition ,true living ,what else can be life it not using one’s powers and
losing fear completely? What else can be life if not being powerful personally
not forcing others ? Life is work and passion and drive . To be human is to be
human .i.e. use ones mind to achieve not manipulate others and cheat oneself
ultimately of life.
How does one
develop such love ,such a true unlimited ambition ?
First , one
must love oneself , I.e. one must value one’s life. We all start our lifelike
that . when young nobody says I want to give up life , I don’t want a great
life. I want to be loser.
Your
self-esteem must be brought back . I will tell you a secret of life , an open
secret which people don’t usually tell you . It is a simple secret.
You are the
most important person in your life ! Nobody else. This is a selfish attitude.
But notice that it is a basic truth. Your life is important and precious , that
means you are important and precious . you are a value to yourself and hence to
others and to the whole world . But then what is you ?. “ you” means your true , honest self not some image of what
others think or say about you. “you” means your real , actual self – your
thoughts , your feelings.
Can you
start with that –become naked, strip yourself of all pretence and look at your
self?.
No, you
don’t have to tell anybody anything . In fact in this context, others don’t
count. We are not speaking of them now
but you.
Start from
your life, your real self and do not be apologetic, self-critical, or anything.
Just
remember that your life is precious and life means to live ( nothing else) and
that you have to make that life.
When you
honestly be with yourself and not be tempted by the world’s false and worthless
beliefs ,you will start liking yourself and you start wondering truly what to
do with your life .
Simple
questions would come to you . what is life? What is a career ? what do I want?
You will get
the answer too . I want a great adventures , exciting life . How ? How to get
it?
You will
decide one thing naturally . It would be anything and for any reason . It could
be even a random reason . But you will commit to a field – one field.
I will learn
and struggle and know and do something
important in my field- you will slowly commit . with that decision made you are free , peaceful and
happy . you will suddenly realize - I
have 30,40,50,60, years. You will realize ,yes ,I can make a true, great life.
In that
natural decision you will start learning, struggling to know, discover ,
understand your field. Learning is the core of life. Life means to know, to discover,
to learn ,to apply learning . It is through that our love grows without limit.
Learning, true learning is laughter. It is the human being unleashing his
weapon , his reason ,his intellect on to the world. The fire of learning burns
forever and impacts on the world like nothing else. It leads to creation of
values and that is the profound joy.
What is
involved in learning? That is what we will explore in the next chapter.
Section –II
The art of true learning
The guru of Pt.Ravi Shankar ( The sitar Maestro)
once said about Ravi Shankar that “it was as if he had discovered a great
laughter and he has been laughing since then….”
There are
many who learn sitar for years but none of them seem to discover that “great
laughter”
Such
examples can be multiplied without end……
There are
many who paint ,sketch ,sometimes quite well in the sense that everybody says
they are good but there is something that happens to an Ravi varma (say ) or a
Picasso. These painters never stopped and more – they continuously grew, they
went on & on & on trying , experimenting as if there was no end or no
limit ……. Again that “laughter”
I met an
Indian movie director once and we had a long chat . In the course of our
conversation he said “you know there are secrets to making movies . Once you
know it , it is easy “. A year later , I read that he had win the national
award . “ secrets”, “laughter” “passion”
, “ madness” – what is it about the learning process that some people become
really crazy about it ? It is as if a lightening has hit them and they are
changed ! It is live . People in love behave like this . But these people love
things ,fields ,subjects. After all it is just a subject why should one become
crazy about it ?
Notice that
in our schools , colleges – as a rule nobody seems to be crazy like that . we
have periods ,bells, ,text books ,exams ,competition ,dull students ,toppers
but no one who talks about subjects as if he has gone crazy?
Nobody likes studies . in fact studying means boring
!. The words have become synonymous . Laughter, secrets, madness on one hand
and duty ,seriousness and boredom on the other hand . Again a duality . Again
we come to point where a question needs to be asked.
What is true
learning ?when do we get hit by something ? How is it what we discover the “secrets”, the “laughter” ? Let us proceed to
explore this whole business of learning fresh , sincerely with our mind & heart.
I will start
with a shocking statement and then i am going to discuss it.
The majority
don’t know anything ,not really ,truly .
They think they know but in fact ,in reality they don’t .
The above is
a sweeping , damaging statement but the tragedy and wonder of the world is that
it is true .
Why do I say
that ? what do I mean ? After all people do know something . After all they
do go to school, do degrees , PGs even
Ph Ds. They work too. If they didn’t know anything then how can they pass and
how can they work and earn ?
When I say
that people don’t know anything I mean that the thing they know is not real, is
not seen by their own eyes ,mind and heart . It is a thing logically
,superficially accepted but not as a
real ,actual truth ,phenomenon and reality.
If you
really know not many things but one thing , if that one thing you see, you
comprehend and say “Yes !. It is like
that in reality and hence true “, You would be hit and your mind ,your brain
centers ( so to speak) will open and be on and you will go on from there and
start finding and discovering things . you will be led one after the other and
for the first time discover the beauty , the magic and above all the wonder of
our world…….
This point
is difficult to understand but it is simple if I give you an example.
Many many people ‘ know’ what causes ‘night
& day’. We will accept it and now we say we ‘know ‘ it .It challenge even
this . I say – no. you don’t. Not really.
What causes
‘night’ & ‘day’ ? The earth turns
once every 24 hours. When it faces the sun, there is day and when it doesn’t it
is night .simple . But do you agree ? Do you feel It ? Do you really feel that the earth is
moving ? Where and what is the
evidence ? How did we Know it ?
And why does
the earth rotate ( and revolve too) .
you see, the ‘answers’ & ‘ explanation ‘ when given to you didn’t hit you .
Other wise you would wondered about the above questions naturally. You would
have brooded over it and worried about it. It staggers the imagination .
doesn’t it ? The whole earth moving in empty space and the sun constantly
giving light for millions of years. Look at the number of questions then that
can occur to us ? who or what put it in
motion ? how did it happen ? when did it happen ? when was the earth formed ?
why ? How ? how does the sun give light
? what is happening in the sun ? And life ,what is life ? Why is life there in
earth alone ? you can go on
now………hundreds of questions are triggered on your brain ; Even philosophical
questions ……. Why are we on the earth ? Is there a God ? If yes , what, how
,when ? If no , who created that concept ,when ,why ?
You see
plants and animals too having life ? you look at a cat or a dog an insect or a
plant and wonder …when did these come into existence ; your teacher causally
tells you life came a 100 crore years back and then life evolved … This
staggers you … such a complex thriving , all working like clock work, precisely began only a 100 crore year
ago and then evolved ! That too only on earth ….. This process leads to almost
all the questions and hence all the answers are laid open for your eyes to see
and to understand . The very questions laid open the answers and you feel only
now you understand , you are now seeing things ….you feel the power, the
complexity and the simplicity –all at once , incredibly.
Laughter!?
yes! A laughter rises from deep within you, you feel like the first man , the nly man now . That is vision ,sight understanding –the very meaning of being a man.
yes! A laughter rises from deep within you, you feel like the first man , the nly man now . That is vision ,sight understanding –the very meaning of being a man.
That is the
godlike thing called true learning! The majority don’t Know anything because
whatever they know they accepted without feeling, savoring, understanding,
questioning and thinking . why ? Because they were not honest, simple , humble
. They never thought or even knew that they can understand and see . They just
accepted . And it is not really real, true , convincing to their own minds.
You see now
,dear reader , to know that one doesn’t know is also a great thing because ,in
that act your brain centres are receptive . When you are saying truthfully – “I
do not know “, you are actually saying ‘ I want to know ‘, ‘ I will know ‘ and
then the whole earth is yours to see , to know , to discover, to pay with
,experiment with as you please. This is the secret of learning ,this is what
happened and happens to great visionaries whether they are scientists, inventors
aritists,politicians,philosophers,cricketers,mothers whatever.
To be real
and true is to see and use your brain but then really use it as a tool to know
and discover NOT use it to memorize and recall and get marks . Yes ! you are
not a computer but a human being and now you will accept it if I say that the
greatest fallacy , the greatest myth is that some are intelligent and others
dull. To be born as a human being is to process the power to look see know,
feel , think,discover. If you didn’t have that power , you would not be all !
It is only this that explains a Newton , an
Aristotle , a Socrates, a Buddha ,a Kalpana Chawla…..
Whatever
they saw, they saw and then they were not the same !
Have you
observed their psychology ? They are childlike , humble , as if they were
noting! They did astounding things but to them it was simple and it really was
because it was real,true , and their brains where on they were not blind.
You see ,
blindness is not just of the eyes, it also pertains to the 99% of people who do
not know and do not see even one thing with their own eyes , minds &
hearts!
This too is
a wonder !
This
explains all problems of the world , doesn’t it ?
There is no
problem on earth but this and it is not a problem as such; it is plain ,
impotent,worthless ignorance, a plain nothingness and hence terrible suffering.
Not to know
, not to have discovered the process and power of true learning is the most
pitiable thing . True learning is simple , natural like breathing . At least it
should become like that.
Now you
might ask me –then what is it that the majority are doing ? Don’t they know
anything ?
They “know “
things but for me to explain that , I must bring In the concept called
‘compartmentalized learning’.
You can know
physics but not biology ( or the reverse) as it happen in the school.. This Is
pretty common. People say “ I am good at singing but not painting”, “My son Is
good at maths but poor in physics”.
In work a
man says –“I know CAD”, ‘I know C++ “,” I know how to design buildings “ and so
on. They are even paid for it . A professor says – “ My specialty is economics.
I know every thing about it “ And he does , in a manner of speaking .
If you “
know “ physics but not maths , it means you know physics in a somewhat detached
,abstract way an din a disconnected way . You know for example mechanic s, heat
,light ,etc., seperately. you know the
formulas and you have accepted the explanation but , you see, such person has
not linked those facts with the whole world,to reality.
He has
learnt “ heat” but he doesn’t see the “heat “ in things Heat is the phenomenon
of energy of atoms onside a body Every thing is made up of atoms. You feel it
too . IF you are sincere and honest . It will stagger your imagination . You
will read and get more facts (even from bad books and bad teachers) you will ask further question and think and think
and ask and answers will again be got –Dalton’s postulates,discovery of
electrons and protons ,Rutherford’s experiments, Bohr’s model etc.
Slowly a
picture , almost a story , reality will
emerge , the links will starts forming
……..it will take you slowly to the periodic table , to chemistry ,to chemistry
, to biology ,to geography ,to applications ,to the industrial revolution, to
politics etc.
You see a
series of questions lead to a greater understanding of the world . One question
naturally leads to another and then to another and ultimately you are forced to
understand the whole world ! This is not a fantasy and we are not talking a out
details. You will get a basic understanding of the whole world. There are many
who have this kind of historic understanding.
But think !
if a person knows only a narrow compartment he has not asked how that
particular information has come . He doesn’t
know the roots of his knowledge so his know ledge hangs in air and only
used as procedures in a narrow domain . To know how to design buildings using
ready made formulas is not true knowledge .It is a procedure and you will now
understand that such a person cannot go out of a procedure . He can do only
that and cannot think beyond that . Of course the procedure is important in
practical life but it is delimited and confined and cannot claim to be a deep,
wide, powerful knowledge.
So now you
understand , must people only know procedures and hence cannot be leaders that
is cannot hold a wide vision and do wonders.Remember also that a wide knowledge
created by somebody leads to procedures ultimately not he other way round.
Somebody has to discover true knowledge so that the majority can then on earn a
living through acquiring compartmentalized knowledge.
So now I can
answer the question –how to learn ?
You must ask
honest simple questions in your chosen field.
(your choice of profession could be anything ,even random ,it does not
matter ). You must read, struggle ,try to ask people. Every book , even a bad
one ,every person will given you something , you don’t stop, you question
further ,you search and slowly, I promise you , YOU , your brain will begin to
understand , to see patterns , links ,principles. You will naturally now be
excited . your field will become
precious to you . You will feel powerful. You go on and then –LIGHT ! you will
get the secrets , the foundations , the principles. You will not know all the
details but know you will know the path of your learning , you will know that
you can know all the details because the field basically and in essentials is
now clear to you.
You will
discover the handful of people , first handled professionals in your field ,
the masters and leaders in your field . you will talk to them ,read them
,observe them . Yu will suddenly realize you are at a height and there is
nobody else. You have become a leader and you will see above all hundreds of
possibilities . you will works ceaselessly and every day you will confirm and
learn further . You will become better and better ! Yes , you will laugh and
you will also feel terribly lonely because you will be alone with such a
wonderful and precious possession – your
knowledge!
SUMMARY OF
THE LEARNING PROCESS
So , when
you begin learning in your chosen field ,remember the following (summarized)
points
You will have to struggle for some time . This
means that you will have to read several
books and meet several people in you field. Unfortunately the world yet doesn’t
have the book for each field where
everything is laid out .
Knowledge – as a rule –is in the minds of a few great masters and professionals in each field .
A ‘bad ‘ or
“ an average’ book will also help you if you read it critically that is
carefully . You will get basic information from which you can begin to ask the
right questions.
Asking questions
is very important . Learning is a process of convincing yourself . If you don’t
ask questions , how will you be convinced ? How will you reach the end of the
process of understanding ? Do not accept too easily. You must go on until you
really understand, really get it .
You may
accept but only for some time . Then you must ask
How is this
true ?
Why is this
true ?
What is the
evidence ?
Who said it
, when and in what context ?
(iv) is a
good question . It will take you to the history of your field . The historical
development is a step by step improvement with new ideas emerging. It can be
very illuminating.
Remembering
questions lead to answers and to further questions and to answers and to still
further questions. Knowledge is not isolated but a ‘ whole’ that is knowledge
is a linked ,interconnected pattern and picture of many things .Real life is
not made up of compartments.
The above
process honestly carried out with sufficient amount of reading and talking to
people is enough. You will get the light – the basics, the principles ,the
foundations in your field .
From here
you are more free. You can think on your own, try out ,experiment .At this
stage you will be able to come new conclusions ,new ways of looking at your
field and a VISION will soon form in
your mind .
What is that
vision, purpose that comes after learning
? How do we implement that vision and have a huge impact on the world?
True
learning naturally leads to a lifelong
work that is vision. This will be explored in the next chapter.
Section - III
DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A PRICELSESS
THING - YOUR VISION
We talked
about acquiring knowledge , a real personal , interconnected deep understanding
of your field. Real knowledge ,true learning leads to a VISION – a clear
picture about what you can do in the
world. This is the most beautiful , most precious thing in the world . It is
this that becomes the source of unlimited energy, enthusiasm and joy . It is
this that leads to breathstopping action
and work.
Once Pt.
Ravi Shankar saw the light in music, once he understood music (not just accepted and repeated) he at once
saw what was possible to him ! He saw himself composing , rendering music
without end ! He saw himself on an adventurous journey where he would
learn on and on and play on and on !
He had found
the secret and knew that no one could
take away this from him. It was not money , fame , position that he was seeing
In the future. (though he got all these things ).He was seeing what he will
bring into the world that didn’t exist before, what he would do with the sitar
and how he would give the same joy to millions.
Think about
this . This , this kind of feeling of power (it Is a great power ! ) to create
great values is that trembling , is the
ecstasy , is the laughter!
This is true
of all great visionaries . Dheerubai Ambani after learning ,truly learning
about his area of business saw- as a vision – what he could do for india. He
knew and saw and was sure- 100% . That was the root of his communicative
ability ! He carried ever
body along! It was so clear to him jis
idea- and so practical and true , he could not remain still , he had to go on
and on and on and he crossed all hurdles and achieved his vision !
Think of
Gandhi , Mother Theresa , Sunita Williams , Einsten , Henryford, Bill Gates,
Narayana Murthy , M S Subbalakshmi … all the great visionaries. Their fields
were different but all learnt truly and all then saw their path and all were
filled with an unlimited energy , passion , excitement and joy.
Who would
want anything else if this is possible and real ?
Dear reader,
this is what happens after you truly learn , this is the creative principle ,
the very source and meaning of life . Life is nothing but learning and finding
one’s clear vision and then making it true.
Now, do you
understand , true knowledge is power – literally . It is not some empty ,
boring ,dead thing.Oh no ! It is exciting , pulsating with power. It is life
itself !
In fact ,
true learning makes you realize that life is infinite ! There are not one but
hundred things to do ! And you formulate and develop the full , lifelong
purpose for yourself.
So obviously
that purpose will not be limited. It will be unbelievable big. Ambani’s-
“ I will change the face of india
“ is a vision . “ I will earn a crore “ is only a limited ambition . You
understand , a vision is naturally , by its very nature , a big one.
Serena’s and
Venus’s father saw his daughter ruling women’s tennis. He actually did. Jawed
Habib used hair dressing and turned it into his vision.
A vision can
be anything but since it flows from true learning , it encompasses the whole
world.
It is
unbelievable to ordinary people who are blind to this world. It is clear,
simple obvious, sure and exciting to a man who has seen it to be possible
through true learning.
Yes!
Learning and vision , knowledge and action are one ! They are inseparable. To
know , truly know , Is to then see its applications , see what is possible and
then it is to get excited and passionate , work and work and achieve the vision
!
So , once
you have finished your learning, you will naturally get hundred ideas of what
can be done, the values you would bring into the world. It is here that you
find your love ! Your vision , the possibility of what can be done , your new
creative idea is your supreme and prime love.
And then you
will go on and on, knowing no rest. You will work and work and no one can stop
you .
Remember
,every field begs for work , for innovation , for somebody to pick up new ideas
and bring into existence what was not
there . This can be in any field. No field is small!
There are
literally thousands of ideas waiting to be implemented and nobody to implement
them! That is the tragedy – the lack of supply of true workers, true
learners,true human beings.
Yet, at the
end , it is SIMPLE, POSSIBLE , REAL.
You learn ,
you see things and then you see that so many things can be brought into
existence by your knowledge and then you fall In love and continuously work to
achieve your vision.
Yes, there
will be hurdles – many of them .. A new vision as a rule is unacceptable
immediately . But a visionary start working. He works all the time and doesn’t
wait for big success. Hence he gets it !
You must ACT
, you must start working because you love it and then it spreads and spreads
why ? Because it is true , practical , a value . A true value will , in time,
be accepted. A visionary is not worried about success. He knows he cannot fail.
He only has to wait . If not today, tomorrow he has town.
This is a
very important point.
A visionary
does not think about succeeding, he need not , because what he has seen ( to
him ) cannot fail; he has seen it . if today the world cannot understand ,
tomorrow they have to . why ? Because it is true and every one needs it . So
one day he wins. And he is not surprised !
He does not suffer, not really ,deeply because
he has seen and he is working . He is peaceful, deeply. He is passionate and
peaceful and patient. That is why he is joyous. You understand, he owns his
knowledge and vision! Nobody can take it away ! There cannot be anxiety and
worry then .! The very concept is
impossible !
M S
Subbalakshmi knew too well what she knew
and loved . She saw what she had to do. She did it . you see , there is no
doubt , no possibility of it at any step!
That is why
such visionaries can face anything . Their courage too is unlimited. In history
some died unrecognized –like Van Gogh .
But Van Gogh knew what he had done; in tne passionate years he had achieved it
!
A visionary
knows the value of life and his work .
In that he is happy . Fame , money ,position , is secondary and now you
understand why their primary love is their work , not fame , money , postion .
SUMMARY OF
THE STEPS TO IMPLEMENT ONE’S VISION
First ,
commit yourself out of self love, self
valuing to true ambition . Tell yourself – “my life is important, I am
important and I must live a great life, find life , learn and achieve it.
Decide upon
a career , a field . It could be anything .Trust me . If you have any special
something and then stick to it, commit to it and develop a passion in it.
You must
start a process of true learning – asking questions , searching, reading ,
finding out from people. As you begin to see , truly see and understand , you
will develop an interest, a strong one it.
You go on
and reach the end of learning , the light – the principles, the essential in
your field.
At this
time, you will see hundred that can be developed and brought into the world.
You will fall in love with your vision.
You start
and not worry about success. Your
struggle begins in service of your love
In time, not
too long you will get your chances, it will spread and spread and you will
accelerate
You will be
peaceful and courageous in this whole period because you have seen the value of your vision and you are
working, No doubts existing in your mind
!
You go on
and on from success to success and reach the end - your vision brought into
reality , functioning and benefiting the world.
Your vision
is actually infinite . You go on till the very
from success to success and leave a great legacy creating what was not
there before and thousands and millions benefit.
You will
have lived a passionate life – the only true meaning of life.
CONCLUSION
ITS
ONE LIFE, YOUR LIFE….MAKE EVERY MOMENT COUNT
This brings
me to the end. Remember it is all about self –esteem. Do not be hard on
yourself , do not be too self –critical and self depreciating.
“who am I to
do great things?” is an unnecessarily self – critical statement.
In fact , be
simple , human , innocent- like a child
or a youth
Commit
yourself to yourself – your ambition, your hero and find your peace. Then work
to learn and do work that flows from true learning. It is really as simple as
that.
It is your
life, an only life. Make the most of it. Make every moment count
May the
universe shower you with all its blessings!
Happy life!
