Posts
Almost every professional/person around the world who is involved in people training or HR activities is familiar with a word – Zen.
Zen stories, Zen mindset, Zen this and Zen that…. I am very happy and feel thankful to the western management (and people training) gurus for promoting that word. It is nice to see that they have found something good in Zen thoughts.
One of the most common/popular searches among humans is the search for Truth or God. For most of them (the majority) the search ends in some scripture, irrespective of religions. But there are some who dare to think beyond. That is a good sign.
Zen thoughts and stories are part of Zen Buddhism which belongs to the Mahayana branch of Buddhism (Mahayana is a Sanskrit word. Maha means big/great and yana means ‘vehicle’ (sometimes translated as ‘path’ since it is one of the different paths in Buddhism). Siddhartha Gauthama/Gauthama Buddha was born in India (563 BC) and hence the influence of Sanskrit or Pali). Zen approach is ‘think beyond the physical to find the answer’.
Zen Buddhism believes that there is Buddha Prajna (this again is a Sanskrit word and translates closely to wisdom) within every one of us. We can find it only through looking within us. That is why Zen approach has wonderful and deep rooted stories, thoughts and meditation methods.
After seeing many oriental things getting patented (or trying to patent Eg. Basmati rice, Yoga, Neem, my own Guru’s breathing technique….) by the westerners for the purpose of making ‘exclusive’ money, I really hope that we (the people from the land where Buddha lived) wont be asked to pay a fee to use the word Zen or practicing a Zen meditation!!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Three Questions and a Thought
Today evening, a friend of mine 'popped up' and asked 3 questions.
1. How old were you when you got married?
(My Ans: 29)
2. How many kids you wished to have?
(Ans: Two; but after seeing how things around me are going, decided to be happy with one)
3. What did you 'dream to be' when you were younger?
(I wanted to be a doctor (most of the time) or a fighter plane pilot. Fighter plane craze is coz of its speed and not to bomb people)
Why did she ask those questions? I don’t know. She said she is ‘just’ asking.
Sometimes its not easy to understand gals, isn’t it so?
xxxxxx **********************xxxxxx
Many a times, it is because of the efforts taken by one person that a relationship (of any kind) stays alive; the other person may not be aware of this. One exception could be the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
Yes, I think so..
1. How old were you when you got married?
(My Ans: 29)
2. How many kids you wished to have?
(Ans: Two; but after seeing how things around me are going, decided to be happy with one)
3. What did you 'dream to be' when you were younger?
(I wanted to be a doctor (most of the time) or a fighter plane pilot. Fighter plane craze is coz of its speed and not to bomb people)
Why did she ask those questions? I don’t know. She said she is ‘just’ asking.
Sometimes its not easy to understand gals, isn’t it so?
xxxxxx **********************xxxxxx
Many a times, it is because of the efforts taken by one person that a relationship (of any kind) stays alive; the other person may not be aware of this. One exception could be the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
Yes, I think so..
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Job Burnout - Apology to Dr. Beverly Potter
I got a comment from Dr. Beverly Potter, who is an authority on Burnout. Since my reply to that comment became a lil long, it can not be published as a comment and hence this new post.
Dear Dr. Beverly Potter,
When I am writing this, I don’t have any idea about whether you agree with Dr. Freudenberger or disagree. I don’t have any idea whether you two have different approach or not. Yes, you are an authority on Burnout, just like Dr. Freudenberger. I don’t have any disagreement.
You won’t believe how much happiness you brought into my life. I consider today as a special day. Somebody like YOU, an internationally reputed psychologist, mailing me is like a dream coming true. When I read that, I woke up my wife (yap, it was night and sleeping time) from sleep and told her that YOU personally wrote to me. I felt really happy and I wanted to share it with somebody. So I even sent couple of mails to my friends saying that YOU wrote to me. I just don’t care whether you are scolding me or not coz you have all the right and authority to do so. Thanks a ton for writing to me. I feel really excited.
Bur I think I better clarify on certain things.
First of all, my blog’s nature is entirely different from the site you have. I am not at all an authority to talk on Job Burnout, I know. But that does not limit me from sharing what I read about burnout (when I read science, I usually depend on universities or some reputed non profit organizations). If you go through my blog, you can find one thing, I write about so many things. politics, religion, spirituality, poems, science..most of them are some comments on current issues. Sometimes it’s just sharing what I read recently. Some are my personal views and when I borrow other’s, I give them due credit..its a layman’s blog just like the hundreds of thousands of others you can find in the net.
About diminishing comments. When we say something, it has a lot to do with our personal experience. In my case, when I wrote about sleep, last week, a person just left a web-address as comment (which I did not publish) where he keeps lots of ads and products which offer ‘better sleep’. My blog had nothing to do with ‘how to get better sleep’. When I wrote about Cholesterol and saturated fat, I received over 3000 comments (to sell their products). You won’t believe, but that is a fact. All those comments were ‘dropped’ by programs designed to do so, automatically. I had very hard time to remove those manually. All other comments I got are very much present there. Thirdly, usually I don’t get any comments!. May be its coz of my previous experiences that I did not publish your comment. I thought you were trying to sell books. If that is not true, I misunderstood you. I hardly think it has anything to do with my low self esteem or negativity.
I have no idea at all about how much you are paid for writing books. Three of my cousins are into book publishing business and I understand that they pay the authors decently. And in the internet, tons of such e-books are there for sale (for increasing height, reducing weight, to gain a 6 pack abs, speed learning, hypnotism…). As I told you earlier, am seeing this from my environment.
About stuffs we could find in internet. It’s the era of technology. Now information is available at our finger tips. Previously I used read a lot of (physical) books. These days many people read even news papers online. These days, I too heavily depend on internet for my reading, just like millions of others. I subscribe lots of newsletters and podcasts from many reputed organizations. I find it a blessing coz now I can get articles even from Harvard University, which I can only dream of, otherwise. After all, the information you are providing for free, which you left as a link and asked me to read too is through internet, we can’t ignore that.
Yes, your site is packed with contents (mostly through links). How do lots of free sites exist? Some sites are there to spy on us (for many reasons including marketing). And some sites make money when a user clicks a link. Here in my case, I know how much information Google collects from me. And if anybody clicks on that Amazon link I have kept in my site and buys a book, I will get paid. In your case, when I visited your site, what I saw is book for sale, Google ads, and so many (useful, of course) links. Usually, sites route/exchange links on business relations. They have some mutual understandings and ‘terms’, which WE do not have. Now you know why I was ‘selfish’. Your case may be different, but again, I am telling this based on my personal experiences (Some people took advantage of my innocence/ignorance and that is the reason why I lost Google ads.. When I started my blog, I too had Google ads)
Finally, I am not there to argue with you. As I mentioned earlier, in my blog, I share what I reads. It was useful to many people. Here in this case too, I read many articles on burnout, written by qualified people (doctors and psychologists). As with most of the things in our life, people might have difference of opinion; this is applicable in the scientific community too. Initially, I thought it was unfortunate that I did not read your books and articles. Now I think, it was something good, otherwise, I wouldn’t have received not even a word from you..
If I hurt your feelings or if you think that I tried to degrade your work, please understand that it wasn’t intentional and kindly accept my apologies.
Take care and God bless..
***************
The comment reads as follows:
I did, indeed, post the comment and not any web master. Freudenberger's high cost of high achievement is the typical - lower-your-expectations and accept-your-place-in-life approach. Also known as "blame the victim" view.Interesting that you must diminish my comments. Just about anything that you can find in internet research has more weight than what I wrote. This is probably due to your 1) assumption that no one of substance would comment on your site, i.e, low self esteem, and 2) your entrenched negativity.With regard to my motive being the lowly "to sell books". Hummmm, not only do you degrade any work associated with income, but you reduce me to be motivated by getting 50 cent or perhaps a dollar - the general amount that filters down to an author. Any more noble motivate - such as being a freelance educator.My what a dreary reality your create in your world - this cognitive style creates a vulnerability to burnout.I am, indeed, an authority on job burnout and for a very long time. I appeared in many media interviews with Dr. Freudenberger. And I am an expert in motivation - "social learning", behavior mod etc.My site is packed with excellent content - and, of all free - but you, rather selfishly, with hold the site address. Oh well . . . I will be gone from your reality in a few moments, but you are trapped within it - in its toxins. For your curiosity, I learned of your posting from Google Alerts.
Dear Dr. Beverly Potter,
When I am writing this, I don’t have any idea about whether you agree with Dr. Freudenberger or disagree. I don’t have any idea whether you two have different approach or not. Yes, you are an authority on Burnout, just like Dr. Freudenberger. I don’t have any disagreement.
You won’t believe how much happiness you brought into my life. I consider today as a special day. Somebody like YOU, an internationally reputed psychologist, mailing me is like a dream coming true. When I read that, I woke up my wife (yap, it was night and sleeping time) from sleep and told her that YOU personally wrote to me. I felt really happy and I wanted to share it with somebody. So I even sent couple of mails to my friends saying that YOU wrote to me. I just don’t care whether you are scolding me or not coz you have all the right and authority to do so. Thanks a ton for writing to me. I feel really excited.
Bur I think I better clarify on certain things.
First of all, my blog’s nature is entirely different from the site you have. I am not at all an authority to talk on Job Burnout, I know. But that does not limit me from sharing what I read about burnout (when I read science, I usually depend on universities or some reputed non profit organizations). If you go through my blog, you can find one thing, I write about so many things. politics, religion, spirituality, poems, science..most of them are some comments on current issues. Sometimes it’s just sharing what I read recently. Some are my personal views and when I borrow other’s, I give them due credit..its a layman’s blog just like the hundreds of thousands of others you can find in the net.
About diminishing comments. When we say something, it has a lot to do with our personal experience. In my case, when I wrote about sleep, last week, a person just left a web-address as comment (which I did not publish) where he keeps lots of ads and products which offer ‘better sleep’. My blog had nothing to do with ‘how to get better sleep’. When I wrote about Cholesterol and saturated fat, I received over 3000 comments (to sell their products). You won’t believe, but that is a fact. All those comments were ‘dropped’ by programs designed to do so, automatically. I had very hard time to remove those manually. All other comments I got are very much present there. Thirdly, usually I don’t get any comments!. May be its coz of my previous experiences that I did not publish your comment. I thought you were trying to sell books. If that is not true, I misunderstood you. I hardly think it has anything to do with my low self esteem or negativity.
I have no idea at all about how much you are paid for writing books. Three of my cousins are into book publishing business and I understand that they pay the authors decently. And in the internet, tons of such e-books are there for sale (for increasing height, reducing weight, to gain a 6 pack abs, speed learning, hypnotism…). As I told you earlier, am seeing this from my environment.
About stuffs we could find in internet. It’s the era of technology. Now information is available at our finger tips. Previously I used read a lot of (physical) books. These days many people read even news papers online. These days, I too heavily depend on internet for my reading, just like millions of others. I subscribe lots of newsletters and podcasts from many reputed organizations. I find it a blessing coz now I can get articles even from Harvard University, which I can only dream of, otherwise. After all, the information you are providing for free, which you left as a link and asked me to read too is through internet, we can’t ignore that.
Yes, your site is packed with contents (mostly through links). How do lots of free sites exist? Some sites are there to spy on us (for many reasons including marketing). And some sites make money when a user clicks a link. Here in my case, I know how much information Google collects from me. And if anybody clicks on that Amazon link I have kept in my site and buys a book, I will get paid. In your case, when I visited your site, what I saw is book for sale, Google ads, and so many (useful, of course) links. Usually, sites route/exchange links on business relations. They have some mutual understandings and ‘terms’, which WE do not have. Now you know why I was ‘selfish’. Your case may be different, but again, I am telling this based on my personal experiences (Some people took advantage of my innocence/ignorance and that is the reason why I lost Google ads.. When I started my blog, I too had Google ads)
Finally, I am not there to argue with you. As I mentioned earlier, in my blog, I share what I reads. It was useful to many people. Here in this case too, I read many articles on burnout, written by qualified people (doctors and psychologists). As with most of the things in our life, people might have difference of opinion; this is applicable in the scientific community too. Initially, I thought it was unfortunate that I did not read your books and articles. Now I think, it was something good, otherwise, I wouldn’t have received not even a word from you..
If I hurt your feelings or if you think that I tried to degrade your work, please understand that it wasn’t intentional and kindly accept my apologies.
Take care and God bless..
***************
The comment reads as follows:
I did, indeed, post the comment and not any web master. Freudenberger's high cost of high achievement is the typical - lower-your-expectations and accept-your-place-in-life approach. Also known as "blame the victim" view.Interesting that you must diminish my comments. Just about anything that you can find in internet research has more weight than what I wrote. This is probably due to your 1) assumption that no one of substance would comment on your site, i.e, low self esteem, and 2) your entrenched negativity.With regard to my motive being the lowly "to sell books". Hummmm, not only do you degrade any work associated with income, but you reduce me to be motivated by getting 50 cent or perhaps a dollar - the general amount that filters down to an author. Any more noble motivate - such as being a freelance educator.My what a dreary reality your create in your world - this cognitive style creates a vulnerability to burnout.I am, indeed, an authority on job burnout and for a very long time. I appeared in many media interviews with Dr. Freudenberger. And I am an expert in motivation - "social learning", behavior mod etc.My site is packed with excellent content - and, of all free - but you, rather selfishly, with hold the site address. Oh well . . . I will be gone from your reality in a few moments, but you are trapped within it - in its toxins. For your curiosity, I learned of your posting from Google Alerts.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Job Burnout - appendix
This blog is the after effect of a comment I received on my previous blog on the same topic. I did not publish the comment because it has a link leading to the commenter’s site. We can not publish a comment partly. So, I am pasting the comment here, after removing the link:
“Burnout is a kind of job depression. It not caused by demanding work - but demanding work where you feel you can not win and you feel powerless to change it.
The way to overcome or prevent burnout is to develop personal power - a feeling of I-Can-Do. But the first step is to get a clear picture of the factors in your job that are causing you to feel powerless.
To find out what burnout is and what to do about it, see: (here comes the link)”
First of all thanks for the comment….that too from a world known Psychologist/author. Personally, I don’t think the comment was posted by Dr. Beverly Potter but by her webmaster/staff who are involved in giving publicity to her books and activities.
I did some more reading on this topic to check whether I got it right or not. Also, I wanted to make sure that I am not misleading my blog readers.
The definition for burnout as per Merriam Webster dictionary is as follows:
"exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration”
Then I checked out with Mayo Clinic, world’s one of the biggest research body to see what they have to say on this subject . It showed that I am in the right track (stuffs are copy righted so, those who are interested, please visit the site and read).
It was Dr. Herbert Freudenberger who introduced the concept ‘burnout’ in 1974, for the first time. He did a comprehensive study on burnout and even today, his book (Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement) serve as a must reference on this subject. He is the authority in this topic and what did he say?
A compulsion to prove oneself
Working harder
Neglecting one's own needs
Displacement of conflicts (the person does not realize the root cause of the distress)
Revision of values (friends or hobbies are completely dismissed)
Denial of emerging problems (cynicism and aggression become apparent)
Withdrawal (reducing social contacts to a minimum, becoming walled off; alcohol or other substance abuse may occur)
Behavioral changes become obvious to others
Inner emptiness
Depression
According to him these are all phases of burnout. And as we can see, depression is ONLY one among them. There was a study on (11,500 parish ministers) stress and burnout which said three out of four parish ministers suffer from it(‘Stress and Burnout in Ministry’ by Rowland Croucher). And another interesting study says clergies deal with stress better than other professionals. How can we say those three out of four were suffering from depression? I don’t think those Pastors thought “no! I can’t do this” either.
Where did I say demanding work alone is the cause? And where did I say depression is NOT a cause? 'Feeling powerless' could be just another reason, since it being a negative thought pattern.
If I am not wrong, your intention was not to educate me but to divert my readers to your site and sell your book. I visited your site to gather more information and educate me. but what you ask is to buy your book paying $10 for a PDF version ($14.95 + postage for paperback). If I ever get a chance to read your book, I will definitely do that.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the comment and the extra/additional information.
“Burnout is a kind of job depression. It not caused by demanding work - but demanding work where you feel you can not win and you feel powerless to change it.
The way to overcome or prevent burnout is to develop personal power - a feeling of I-Can-Do. But the first step is to get a clear picture of the factors in your job that are causing you to feel powerless.
To find out what burnout is and what to do about it, see: (here comes the link)”
First of all thanks for the comment….that too from a world known Psychologist/author. Personally, I don’t think the comment was posted by Dr. Beverly Potter but by her webmaster/staff who are involved in giving publicity to her books and activities.
I did some more reading on this topic to check whether I got it right or not. Also, I wanted to make sure that I am not misleading my blog readers.
The definition for burnout as per Merriam Webster dictionary is as follows:
"exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration”
Then I checked out with Mayo Clinic, world’s one of the biggest research body to see what they have to say on this subject . It showed that I am in the right track (stuffs are copy righted so, those who are interested, please visit the site and read).
It was Dr. Herbert Freudenberger who introduced the concept ‘burnout’ in 1974, for the first time. He did a comprehensive study on burnout and even today, his book (Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement) serve as a must reference on this subject. He is the authority in this topic and what did he say?
A compulsion to prove oneself
Working harder
Neglecting one's own needs
Displacement of conflicts (the person does not realize the root cause of the distress)
Revision of values (friends or hobbies are completely dismissed)
Denial of emerging problems (cynicism and aggression become apparent)
Withdrawal (reducing social contacts to a minimum, becoming walled off; alcohol or other substance abuse may occur)
Behavioral changes become obvious to others
Inner emptiness
Depression
According to him these are all phases of burnout. And as we can see, depression is ONLY one among them. There was a study on (11,500 parish ministers) stress and burnout which said three out of four parish ministers suffer from it(‘Stress and Burnout in Ministry’ by Rowland Croucher). And another interesting study says clergies deal with stress better than other professionals. How can we say those three out of four were suffering from depression? I don’t think those Pastors thought “no! I can’t do this” either.
Where did I say demanding work alone is the cause? And where did I say depression is NOT a cause? 'Feeling powerless' could be just another reason, since it being a negative thought pattern.
If I am not wrong, your intention was not to educate me but to divert my readers to your site and sell your book. I visited your site to gather more information and educate me. but what you ask is to buy your book paying $10 for a PDF version ($14.95 + postage for paperback). If I ever get a chance to read your book, I will definitely do that.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the comment and the extra/additional information.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Job Burnout
What is job burnout?
“Burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term exposure to demanding work situations”
What are the common symptoms?
Change in the sleep pattern.
Nightmares
Forgetfulness
Not able to laugh on things we used to laugh
Being more sarcastic with colleagues
Change in appetite
Grinding teeth, often
Fatigue
More irritable with customers, clients, colleagues or even to friends
Being cynical (or more cynical)
Frequent headaches or neck pain
Body weight change (in most cases, its weight gain)
Bad temper started affecting family life…
So, what causes it?
Job burnout is the result of stress. This again could be coz of:
Work work and more work (especially during layoff times)
Wrong career/position
Situation where we need to handle a virtually impossible/unclear requirement
More work but no time (since we can’t stretch time)
Worked very hard, but no return/reward
So, how can we cope with it?
Adopt relaxation techniques
Prioritize work
Exercise regularly
If possible, take a break and involve in activities which gives you peace of mind
If possible, avoid working overtime
Try to maintain good working relationships at work
If nothing works, consider changing the job.
“Burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term exposure to demanding work situations”
What are the common symptoms?
Change in the sleep pattern.
Nightmares
Forgetfulness
Not able to laugh on things we used to laugh
Being more sarcastic with colleagues
Change in appetite
Grinding teeth, often
Fatigue
More irritable with customers, clients, colleagues or even to friends
Being cynical (or more cynical)
Frequent headaches or neck pain
Body weight change (in most cases, its weight gain)
Bad temper started affecting family life…
So, what causes it?
Job burnout is the result of stress. This again could be coz of:
Work work and more work (especially during layoff times)
Wrong career/position
Situation where we need to handle a virtually impossible/unclear requirement
More work but no time (since we can’t stretch time)
Worked very hard, but no return/reward
So, how can we cope with it?
Adopt relaxation techniques
Prioritize work
Exercise regularly
If possible, take a break and involve in activities which gives you peace of mind
If possible, avoid working overtime
Try to maintain good working relationships at work
If nothing works, consider changing the job.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
How to Detach?
Attach yourself to Him who is free from all attachments.
Bind yourself to that bond so that all other bonds may be broken.
- Saint Tiruvalluvar in Tirukural
(written over 2200 years ago)
Bind yourself to that bond so that all other bonds may be broken.
- Saint Tiruvalluvar in Tirukural
(written over 2200 years ago)
Yahoo Mobile
For those who were waiting for the Yahoo Mobile application, it’s a big disappointment. I got a mail from Yahoo (since me being one of their beta testers) which reads:
“Yahoo! has decided to cease development of the Yahoo! Mobile smartphone app effective Wednesday, May 20th. So you will not be provided access to the beta program for this product..........”
Huhuhu
“Yahoo! has decided to cease development of the Yahoo! Mobile smartphone app effective Wednesday, May 20th. So you will not be provided access to the beta program for this product..........”
Huhuhu
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Being Doubtful?
To be or not to be…sorry that is not the question…what I am facing now is something different.
How can I be diplomatic? How can I pretend? How can I be a hypocrite?
OK, if I managed to achieve that, is it worth it? or will it prove wrong?
I am ‘the man of doubts’ today. At least today…
I have to be optimistic…Shouldn't I?
Sometimes doubt has this advantage of opening new possibilities…isn’t it so?
How can I be diplomatic? How can I pretend? How can I be a hypocrite?
OK, if I managed to achieve that, is it worth it? or will it prove wrong?
I am ‘the man of doubts’ today. At least today…
I have to be optimistic…Shouldn't I?
Sometimes doubt has this advantage of opening new possibilities…isn’t it so?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hell and Heaven
The hell and heaven
Do they really exist?
People don’t believe
In hell or heaven, just
Because they exist, but
The hell and heaven
They just starts existing
When we think they exist!
Do they really exist?
People don’t believe
In hell or heaven, just
Because they exist, but
The hell and heaven
They just starts existing
When we think they exist!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Its Not Mine
....
The night kissed the fading day
With a whisper.
"I am death, your mother,
From me you will get new birth"
....
- From 'Stray Birds' by Rabindranath Tagore
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sleep, Meditation and Spirituality
There are different types of ‘sleepers’. But the most distinguished ones are the ‘light sleepers’ and ‘heavy sleepers’. Who are the lucky ones?
I personally know couple of people who can sleep at anytime they want. If they want, they can spend the whole day and night sleeping, except for waking up for eating and answering natures call (saw this happening during weekends). I know one person who can fall asleep within 10-15 seconds, if tired.
By saying someone as a heavy sleeper, I also include those who go to a very deep sleep and can sleep for about 10 hours in one go without waking up in the middle. Some people don’t have any issue going to sleep even if the room is lit or people are moving around in that room or even talking. I have seen people falling asleep while watching TV or reading (am not talking about watching/reading some boring stuff). Some can fall asleep while texting on the mobile!. Worst, some people can sleep even while standing (in a train etc)!!!
I being a light and troubled sleeper, many a times I thought the heavy sleepers are the lucky ones. Did God show a partiality by creating light sleepers and heavy sleepers? Are the heavy sleepers the blessed ones and the light sleepers ‘less blessed’ ones or unlucky ones?
The practical aspect of spirituality can never be understood without meditation. Yep, even a person with mediocre brains can understand the theoretical aspects by listening to some talk or by reading relevant books. But to personally experience it, one has to undergo through some process where meditation plays the biggest role.
What is the feel we get after meditating for two hours? We need to meditate to get the feel. And to meditate for two hours, one needs to practice meditation for months or even years. It is like me telling about Gulab Jamoon . Indians and those who already tasted it will understand how sweet it is. For others, I can just tell how it is made, looks like or how sweet it is. But those wonts help. If one want to know how it tastes, one need to taste it. Meditation is a must tool for spiritual growth and this tool can be used for other purpose also; like a hammer can be used to powder/crush something, flatten something, hammering a nail or even kill a person ! But what I am talking about this time is the meditation used for the purpose of spiritual growth.
How can the heavy sleepers manage meditation? I observed and talked to some of the heavy sleepers I know. They fall asleep as soon as they start meditating. They can not meditate easily. And for some, it’s almost impossible to meditate even for 5 minutes without falling asleep.
Is it normal to fall asleep during meditation? During the very early days/stage of practicing meditation, many beginners’ falls asleep, that’s normal. This is coz of experiencing deeper relaxation for the first time. I had witnessed even a ‘snoring competition’!
Is there anything wrong in falling asleep while meditating? If we ask this question, we get a mixed response. Those who can meditate well might say “YES” and those who tried and fell asleep might say “NO”. And some might say “It depends”. Yes, it depends…
There are situations where meditation is used to manage sleep related issues (meditation is not sitting alone and daydreaming or keeping silence). That is, here, what the practitioner is trying to achieve is better sleep and that is the only aim. In such cases, falling asleep while meditation is good since it can offer a more relaxed sleep and one can wake up more refreshed (troubled sleepers usually do not wake up fully refreshed). Even heavy sleepers can use meditation to improve the quality of sleep.
What if the person is after spirituality? Well well well…
Those who fall asleep during meditation (almost all the time) can not progress in spirituality. Here I am considering only the practical aspect of it, the ‘getting the feel of it’ aspect. One interesting thing I observed is that heavy sleepers are hardly/rarely spiritual ( though we can find many religions ones, including ‘I will die for MY faith’ types, among heavy sleepers).
(Here, we need to make a note that being spiritual and being religious is different. Religions always can be used as the stepping stone for spirituality but one need to grow further if ones path is spirituality. Just reading scriptures or chanting/shouting (!) God’s name or praising the God won’t help. It’s an evolution. One need to evolve through many stages, one need to evolve through experiences. This process is common for people from all faiths and it’s beyond religion).
Staying awake during meditation is very important for a person who is in the spiritual path. If we fall asleep during meditation, we can not fully make use of the benefits of it. The level of awareness (brainwave frequencies) in the conscious, sub-conscious, meta-conscious and super-conscious mind is different during sleep, meditation and hypnosis.
If a person falls asleep during meditation, that will lead to dreams and many people misunderstand it as visions. I am not talking about those who are using meditation get better sleep. Once they fall asleep, a dream is dream for them. But for the hardcore religious ones, these dreams can be confusing. Sometimes the dream can be the result of a deepest desire a person has and it could be mistaken for God’s will !! Same is applicable for the voices heard during the dream. It could get misinterpreted as God’s voice !!
So?
So, it all depends on the path. If one is after spirituality, being a light sleeper is lucky; it’s a blessing. In the material world, a heavy sleeper enjoys the 'blessings'.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Chrysalis
Some thought he doesn't exist
Some thought he died
“What’s wrong with him?”
Wondered some more.
He did not breathe
Nor did he make any move
He did not drink anything
He did not eat either.
He looked mummified
Though he wasn’t dead.
He was just transforming
Like a pupa to butterfly.
He transcended the time
And travelled to places.
Through the clouds and
Through the wind; through
The sky and through the ocean.
And now, it’s just a waiting
Waiting to be re-born, with
Peace within and peace around
Love within and love around
It is just a waiting, just
Waiting to be re-born.
Some thought he died
“What’s wrong with him?”
Wondered some more.
He did not breathe
Nor did he make any move
He did not drink anything
He did not eat either.
He looked mummified
Though he wasn’t dead.
He was just transforming
Like a pupa to butterfly.
He transcended the time
And travelled to places.
Through the clouds and
Through the wind; through
The sky and through the ocean.
And now, it’s just a waiting
Waiting to be re-born, with
Peace within and peace around
Love within and love around
It is just a waiting, just
Waiting to be re-born.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Yahoo Status Message - How to Delete
When we keep changing our status messages in yahoo messenger (version 9), it goes on and on and becomes a long drop-down list. It’s not easy clearing the list. So how do we do that?
This is how we can solve that, on a windows based system. We are going to play with windows registry so, be DOUBLE WARNED. Do not mess up anything, else the system may not even boot. But done carefully, there is nothing to worry.
Sign-out from yahoo messenger
Start-Run (or press windows key + R key).
Type ‘regedit’ (without quotes) and press Enter
Go to - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\pager\profiles
We can see the list of all the usernames that had been used to sign-in; select /expand yours
(Single) click on ‘Custom Msgs’
On the right hand side, we can see the list of current messages. There will be two entries each for every message (1_DND & 1_W, 2_DND & 2_W and so on). To delete a message, just delete the corresponding pair (look for the first digit) of entries (by selecting it and pressing Del button, and confirm it)
Exit from registry editor. Done
This is how we can solve that, on a windows based system. We are going to play with windows registry so, be DOUBLE WARNED. Do not mess up anything, else the system may not even boot. But done carefully, there is nothing to worry.
Sign-out from yahoo messenger
Start-Run (or press windows key + R key).
Type ‘regedit’ (without quotes) and press Enter
Go to - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\pager\profiles
We can see the list of all the usernames that had been used to sign-in; select /expand yours
(Single) click on ‘Custom Msgs’
On the right hand side, we can see the list of current messages. There will be two entries each for every message (1_DND & 1_W, 2_DND & 2_W and so on). To delete a message, just delete the corresponding pair (look for the first digit) of entries (by selecting it and pressing Del button, and confirm it)
Exit from registry editor. Done
A Swine Appendix
This is about my previous blog - The Swine
Somebody asked whether I took the whole thing from George Orwell. No, I wrote the first half and ONLY the second part belongs to Mr.Orwell.
Sorry for the confusion, if any.
Somebody asked whether I took the whole thing from George Orwell. No, I wrote the first half and ONLY the second part belongs to Mr.Orwell.
Sorry for the confusion, if any.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
The Swine
“How dare you? You swine! You Pig!” Shouted the Man
The pig looked at him for mercy and said
“Its not me, believe me”
“You filthy creature, shut your mouth”
“I fed you...”
Tears came from its eyes…
But…
-------------------*****-------------------
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man and again; but already it was impossible to say which was which"
- George Orwell
The pig looked at him for mercy and said
“Its not me, believe me”
“You filthy creature, shut your mouth”
“I fed you...”
Tears came from its eyes…
But…
-------------------*****-------------------
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man and again; but already it was impossible to say which was which"
- George Orwell
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