Sunday, October 01, 2006

The "Thought" connection between the blogsite and the blogname

Many people who know me often say "He thinks a lot". Initially this used to irk me so much that I used to feel low for days together. Then slowly but surely I started to realise that this is not something I should be ashamed of but it is something I should nurture. Amongst all living beings, humans are considered to be the strongest and this strength I attribute to our unique abilities like being able to talk, feel, express but above all I feel it is the ability to think that sets us apart from every other species dwelling on this planet. Thinking is a process akin to breathing - it takes place without pause - even when you are not aware of it. Ever heard of Pranayama? In simple words it is a technique to breathe. Now one would naturally ask 'Why do we need to be taught something which we have been doing from the moment we were born?’ But still Pranayama is preached, learnt and practiced all over the world. This is because breathing is not enough, breathing properly with focus is what enriches and invigorates our body to function better. Our mind, which one of my Gurus had beautifully defined as "a flow of thoughts", is working continuously. But the thoughts attain value only when focus comes into the picture. Only when we concentrate or become aware of what we are thinking, we can use it effectively or purposefully. Only when we focus on a problem, our pondering leads us towards the solution. You might be tempted to argue that I have not conveyed anything novel here. But if everybody already knew this then I would want to ask everyone to explain something to me. How many times have you heard the phrase "Don't act without thinking"? Now do you know which other phrase boasts of an equal frequency? - "Don't think so much". Can you explain this universally prevalent paradox? I feel the latter phrase is a tool to make things convenient and leads us to the easier and, more often than not, the wrong way out. Whenever we utter an unkind word, or commit an unjust act towards someone it is mostly because we have not thought about how the other person would feel, or, about the consequences of our speech or action. The moment we think before we act we are becoming more conscious of our actions and by doing so we are allowing us to do what is right. By thinking and doing what is right we would make life's that very moment count. In that very moment we would have found a way to better our lives by a small but significant shade. I would like to think of that shade as an upward curve in our life. I would like to think of that curve to be the smile on our lips. I would like to think of the smile on our lips as a manifestation of the happiness in our heart. I would like to think that in a life full of many moments we have found 'a moment full of life'. I would like to think....