A Chronicle of Enlightened Citizenship Movement in the State Bank of India

A micro portal for all human beings seeking authentic happiness, inner fulfillment and a meaningful life
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Monday, May 16, 2011

The Fundamental Principles

By Shri Shri Anandamurti


In each sphere of life we should follow a code of discipline. Knowing or adhering to the code of discipline would ensure 60 per cent success. For proper movement, an aspirant should follow certain rules and know certain important factors. 

In this connection, Gautama Buddha said that there are eight codes. The first is samyak or proper darshana. Darshana means to see, and in philosophical language, it means seeing with the spirit of a scholar, an aspirant. Darshana means guiding philosophy. So, every one of us ought to have a philosophy of life that will help us to progress.

The second important factor is samyak samkalpa. Samyak means proper. Samkalpa means determination. "I will do it. I must do it." The third is samyak vak. In ordinary terms vak is expression of vocal chords, but in philosophical language, vak means all the expressions of efferent nerves. Whatever we see, touch and speak, all these expressions are found within the scope of vak. Therefore, a man while expressing himself in any stratum of life, must have proper control over himself; he must have proper control over his sensory and motor nerves. This is samyak vak. 

The fourth instruction is Samyak Ajiva. One can earn money by many unfair means such as stealing, selling intoxicants and money-lending. There are so many bad things one can do. A good man should have a clean occupation; he must not be engaged in unclean means of livelihood. Not only his physical occupation, but also his mental occupation should be neat, clean and pure. His objects of thought should be in good taste, and he should not try to do anything bad to another good man. 

The fifth is samyak vyayama. Many of us perform regular physical exercises to keep the body strong and supple. A human entity, however, is not only physical but also mental and spiritual. The sixth one is samyak karmanta. When you start a task, you should finish the work properly, and in a nice way. Don't leave the work in a half-finished condition. The finish should always be good. 

The seventh advice is samyak smrti. In Sanskrit, smrti means memory. What is memory? Whenever you see, or you hear, or you smell something with the help of your efferent or afferent organs, what happens? Your mind gets compartmentalised. One portion of the mind takes the subjective form, and another portion takes the objective form. You are seeing a tiger. One portion of your mind becomes the seer and another portion of your mind takes the form of the tiger; then you think that you are seeing a tiger. This recreation of a tiger in your mind is called smrti or memory. 

The last is samyak samadhi - proper suspension of mind. When you are hearing an excellent expression of music, your mental object is that music, and while hearing, your subjective mind gets suspended in that objective portion. It is suspension of mind in hearing. Similarly, while meditating on the Supreme Entity, the Parama Purusha, your mind gets suspended in Him. It is proper samadhi; it is proper suspension of mind. 

These are the eightfold codes of discipline, an indispensable part of an aspirant's life. You should always remember that for proper success, to attain the Supreme Bliss, adherence to these eightfold codes of discipline is a must. 

www.speakingtree.in 

Monday, May 9, 2011

Laughter Yoga @ State Bank Academy, Gurgaon









A brief presentation on Laughter Yoga was followed by a live demo and a thunderous laughter session at the state-of-art auditorium of the State Bank Academy at Gurgaon, India.

It was attended by 170 officers of the State Bank of India and its five associate banks which included the General Manager and Principal, Deputy General Managers and Senior Faculty, Regional Managers, Assistant General Managers and Managers from across the country, HR Trainers from 27 Learning Centres of the Bank and young Probationary Officers.

State Bank Academy is the highest learning seat of the Bank and this was the second occasion when its auditorium witnessed warm echoes of laughter. Earlier in January I had made a similar demo-cum-presentation on Laughter Yoga which was well received. This time my wife Radhika also accompanied me and conducted laughter exercises on the stage.

The audience felt overwhelmed by the intrinsic strength of the concept and the instant experience of joy. Many of the officers were so thrilled at the end of the session that they came forward to share that this was one of their best experience of life. One of the officers, an asthmatic patient, told us that he found it difficult to laugh in the beginning of the session due to asthma but with group synergy started laughing and feeling very healthy after the session as his respiratory track smoothened. Some of the HR Trainers promised that they would use Laughter Yoga back home in their training sessions.

Jagat Singh Bisht
SBLC, Indore

coolbisht@hotmail.com