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Personal and Spiritual Growth. Subjects covered include Philosophy, Psychology, Management, Academics, Vedanta, Religion, Culture and Traditions, Interpersonal Relationships, Communication Skills, Parenting, Meditation, and Healing.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
My Quotes in Life Positive
Uday Acharya
Says Vedanta teacher Uday Acharya,: "The heart of a satsang is the communication of spiritual ideas, so even an e-group fits the bill. Writing for Life Positive is also satsang!"
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Certainly, there appears to be a groundswell of interest towards matters holistic. All systems of knowledge are converging and blending. Says Vedanta teacher Uday Acharya, "Science is coming closer to mysticism and psychology is getting integrated into metaphysics."
"The extremeties of consumerism and materialism are also forcing people to urgently search for meaning in life. Says Uday Acharya, "It's a good era to be in. The severe discontent is forcing people to look deeply within."
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Uday Acharya is a Vedanta teacher who gives courses on the Gita and the Upanishads. He, too, chants Om Namah Shivaya as his mantra to become united with the universal mind. So do members of his family. There is no particular place or time when he does it, combining it with any other activity, like travelling, for instance.
The practice, he says, is relaxing and promotes an accepting frame of mind. “It can be combined with prayer or merely used as a technique to quieten the mind. You must look for silence in the gap between the repeated mantra. With practice, the gap widens and the silence deepens.”
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Why do we look outside of us, to friends, family, neighbors, everywhere but ourselves, for emotional and physical sustenance?
"Because of patterns imbibed in childhood," explains Vedanta teacher Uday Acharya."Because of patterns imbibed in childhood," explains Vedanta teacher Uday Acharya. "As children we observe that we need to 'earn' affection, that love is always conditional, that it requires being manipulative. We begin to believe that unconditional love is non-existent or that no matter how hard we try, we are undeserving of it." These patterns are carried into adulthood and we learn to treat ourselves the same way: we berate ourselves, lose faith in ourselves, mistrust ourselves. We continue as motherless children, wrapped in self-pity and rejection of ourselves.
"Affirm to yourself: As a human being I'm deserving of love. I'm a lovable person," says Acharya. "Say: I am an adult now, capable of providing for myself everything I need. Whatever I lacked as a child and didn't get from others I can give myself right now."
The Indian tradition is particularly rich in rituals that invest meaning in even mundane acts, while commemorating every significant milestone with ceremony. Vedanta teacher, Uday Acharya, points to the four ashramas that trace the stages of human life.
These apart, says Acharya, the Hindu’s progression through life is richly encased in rituals from the time of conception, to her birth and subsequent punctuations such as the first hair cut, partaking of the first solid meal, the first act of writing, and so on. Then comes the ceremonial bath after one’s education, called Snathika, followed by marriage, the sixtieth and eightieth birthdays and finally death.
The rituals revolving around death, easily the most wrenching and crucial of events calling for completion, are elaborate and organized around helping the survivor get in touch with his grief and complete his relationship with the departed. Says Acharya, “During the Shraddh ceremony, the survivor conceives of the soul travelling further on his life’s journey and offers all help and conveniences for his progress. He also offers to complete the responsibilities the soul left behind.”
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“The eyes and ears faithfully send factual messages to the brain, but our mind rejects it because ‘it cannot believe’,” says Uday Acharya, aVedanta teacher from Mumbai. He cites the following story to illustrate the same:
Bharchu was a minister who was loved by the king for his wit and wisdom. One day, Bharchu made fun of the king and incurred his wrath. The king ordered Bharchu to be executed, but he himself went into mourning, contemplating his hasty and drastic deed. After a year, when the king was still depressed and mourning, his councilors decided to cheer the king and organised a royal hunt in the forest. The king set off for the forest, and passing one of the dwellings, he was shocked to see Bharchu alive and well. Believing Bharchu to be dead, the king mistook him to be a ghost. With great difficulty the foresters convinced the king that Bharchu was not a ghost. The king checked with the executioner who confessed that he had allowed the minister to escape from prison and gave the king evidence to the contrary.
Why did the king see a ghost instead of Bharchu? Was it the fault of his eyes, or was it because he firmly believed that Bharchu was dead? His eyes revealed the existence of Bharchu faithfully. But the mind rejected what the eyes evidenced.
Similarly, the scriptures reveal the truth directly by saying ‘You are That’. Why then, do we not believe in the simple truth? Because of our conditioning; through the process of living untold lives we have accumulated several objections and preconceived notions about who we are that make us unable to take this statement at face value. Low self-esteem, undesirable habits and thoughts, all shroud the truth from us. Hence jnana yoga involves reflection and questioning until the layers of ‘ajnana’ are peeled away and the truth becomes crystal clear.
Bharchu was a minister who was loved by the king for his wit and wisdom. One day, Bharchu made fun of the king and incurred his wrath. The king ordered Bharchu to be executed, but he himself went into mourning, contemplating his hasty and drastic deed. After a year, when the king was still depressed and mourning, his councilors decided to cheer the king and organised a royal hunt in the forest. The king set off for the forest, and passing one of the dwellings, he was shocked to see Bharchu alive and well. Believing Bharchu to be dead, the king mistook him to be a ghost. With great difficulty the foresters convinced the king that Bharchu was not a ghost. The king checked with the executioner who confessed that he had allowed the minister to escape from prison and gave the king evidence to the contrary.
Why did the king see a ghost instead of Bharchu? Was it the fault of his eyes, or was it because he firmly believed that Bharchu was dead? His eyes revealed the existence of Bharchu faithfully. But the mind rejected what the eyes evidenced.
Similarly, the scriptures reveal the truth directly by saying ‘You are That’. Why then, do we not believe in the simple truth? Because of our conditioning; through the process of living untold lives we have accumulated several objections and preconceived notions about who we are that make us unable to take this statement at face value. Low self-esteem, undesirable habits and thoughts, all shroud the truth from us. Hence jnana yoga involves reflection and questioning until the layers of ‘ajnana’ are peeled away and the truth becomes crystal clear.
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In fact, the word ‘jnana’ is used interchangeably with ‘upasana’ (meditation) in the Upanishads, says Uday Acharya. The Kathopanishad speaks of OM as an object of meditation and also as the subject of Self-kowledge. Upasana is meditation involving concentration, steadiness, and contemplative thought. It involves mental disciplines that are helpful for learning, retaining, and contemplating on Self-knowledge.
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The Indian tradition is particularly rich in rituals that invest meaning in even mundane acts, while commemorating every significant milestone with ceremony. Vedanta teacher, Uday Acharya, points to the four ashramas that trace the stages of human life.
These apart, says Acharya, the Hindu’s progression through life is richly encased in rituals from the time of conception, to her birth and subsequent punctuations such as the first hair cut, partaking of the first solid meal, the first act of writing, and so on. Then comes the ceremonial bath after one’s education, called Snathika, followed by marriage, the sixtieth and eightieth birthdays and finally death.
The rituals revolving around death, easily the most wrenching and crucial of events calling for completion, are elaborate and organized around helping the survivor get in touch with his grief and complete his relationship with the departed. Says Acharya, “During the Shraddh ceremony, the survivor conceives of the soul travelling further on his life’s journey and offers all help and conveniences for his progress. He also offers to complete the responsibilities the soul left behind.”
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The very nature of life and our Selves, according to the Upanishads, is joy or bliss. Our true nature is sat (reality), chit (consciousness) and ananda (bliss). "Vedanta says that happinessis you," explains Uday Acharya, a Vedanta teacher.
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Uday Acharya, Swami Dayanand Saraswati's disciple who teaches Vedanta to Mumbai aspirants, is more upbeat. Says he: "In this century all the positive things are coming together. Everything's ready for a takeoff. There's no specialization any more. Today, most subjects are becoming multidisciplinary, such as biochemistry or geopolitics. And whether in religion or in health, people are taking matters into their own hands. They come together in small prayer units, or try alternative medicine. They are taking back their power."
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Says Vedanta teacher Uday Acharya: "Young people are experiencing the downside of consumerism early in life. A young airhostess recently told me that she has enjoyed everything and now has nothing to live for. Many are earning fast fortunes and losing them quickly too. They realize there are no guarantees in life. Spirituality gives them the meaning and stability they need. Also, when they are hurt, they turn to spirituality to heal."
Acharya also believes that their interest in spirituality is fueled by greater awareness of it at the ground level. "People are reading more and there are greater varieties of spirituality available today," he says.
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Vedanta teacher Uday Acharya explains it (intuition) as "a comprehensive grip of the principle of universality". With this, comes a comprehension of things in their totality, a holistic knowing.
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Acharya has another yardstick to check messages from the ego: "The ego is reactive. Its messages tend to be based on thoughts of scarcity, guilt and fear. Intuition speaks from the divinity within you."
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Uday Acharya, a Vedantic teacher, recommends traditional conflict resolution methods. He says: "The guru was the mediator between parent and child because of the respect he commanded. Value for truth minimized conflicts because if you were wrong, you had to apologize. And finally, there was a great sense of duty that compelled you to take measures to resolve relationship problems."
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Moving into spirituality indicates a graduation from the tacit acceptance of a belief system to an active, vibrant and experiential understanding of God. Says Vedanta teacher, Uday Acharya, "Unlike religion, spirituality is not about dos and don'ts. It is about growth."
Uday Acharya http://www.udayacharya.com/
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Books and More: My Reading List on Linkedin.com
by Gail Sheehy
uday has read this book
Comment: "A book that follows in the style of Passages. A Sequel. Studies lives of people living beyond the 60s. Buddha Hoga Tera Baap :)"
by Gail Sheehy
uday has read this book
Comment: "Predictable Crises in Adult Life - Charting transitions in Life. Excellent researched book to understand changes that happen within us and outside as we go through different stages in life that includes teeage, career, marriage, middle age. "
by Richard Bach
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "How we program our lives with everyday thoughts - thought by thought. Brings to mind the Bhagavad Geeta statement: 'Mind alone for mortals is the cause of both bondage and liberation.' Talks about coincidence as the outcome of subtle intentions and not a mere accident. Looks true, if my own experience is to be believed. I was completing the book on a flight that was booked at the last minute. My mother and I were the last of the passengers to disembark. I passed the cockpit and found the friendly co-pilot responding positively to my taking a look at the cabin. I told him about the book I was reading and was promptly invited to take his seat and explore the control panel. An experience totally unexpected and coincidental. By the way, the book was given to me for reading by my nephew who has just completed his flight training for pilots."
by Gregory David Roberts
uday has read this book
Comment: "Good book to know all about Bombay (Mumbai) - slums, underworld, philosophy, police methods, Indian villages, and 4letter words in 3 different languages. Racy novel based on real life experiences."
by Ayn Rand
uday has read this book
by Daniel Goleman
uday is reading this book
Comment: "Case studies on the positive outcomes of Emotional Quotient in the workplace."
by Norman V. Peale, Ken Blanchard
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "A corporate governance must read. "
by Daphne Rose Kingma
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Four steps : Speak Out, Act Out, Clear Out, Set Out! Great stuff for getting over self obsession and to honour yourself. "
by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Focus on actual results, not on paper profits. An eye opener on the high cost of inventories and automation. "
by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Four generations of time management. You cannot manage time. Only your life in the time allotted to you. Can you manage the important and the urgent? What would be your priorities for the last six months of your life? "
by Gary Chapman
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Five Love Languages: Communication beyond audio, video, kinesthetic NLP modes. In the same category as another book: Talking to Kids so that they listen and listening so that they talk."
Thursday, Sep 17 2009
by Herman Hesse, Gunther Olesh, Anke Dreher, Amy Coulter, Stefan Langer, Semyan Chaichenets
Comment: "Siddhartha's special mantra for success: "I can think, I can fast, I can wait". A book that questions the meaning of life. Siddhartha is a fictional character and contemporary of Buddha. "
by Rhonda Byrne
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "The secret is to first be what you want to become until you become what you are. Shades of The Alchemist!"
by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen, Ken Blanchard
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Bringing Wow to work"
by David D. Burns
uday has read this book
by Karen Pryor
uday has read this book
by E. F. Schumacher
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Economics of Simplicity as taught by Buddha and Gandhi"
by Swami Dayananda Saraswati
uday has read this book
by Swami Dayananda Saraswati
uday has read this book
by Sharon Janis
uday is reading this book
by Susan Jeffers
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "5 truths about fear. Growing from victim to survivor. Saying Yes to Life. How whole is your life? Susan Jefffers at her best."
by Sean Covey
uday has read this book
by Arun Tiwari
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Great book for learning about team work and flow state dynamics."
by Dayananda Swami
uday has read this book
Comment: "An enlightening series of talks on the Gita based on Shri Aadi Shankaracharya's Advaita. This was my teacher's first major published book. He has written many more since, and the list includes classics like 'The Value of Values', 'Talks on Emotional Maturity', 'Talks on Vivekachoodamani' etc. Check his Gurukulam websites: www.arshavidya.org, www.arshavidya.in, http://www.arshavidya-nagpur.org, and http://www.dayananda.org
by Alvin Toffler
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "No trainer should be without this book. It speaks of the power shift from muscle power to money power onward to thinking power. The person who can imagine best will rule the world."
by Alvin Toffler
uday has read this book
Comment: "A masterful sequel to Future Shock. Gives you much material to chew on."
by Alvin Toffler
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "I was shocked reading this in my 20s. I am now in my 50s and am still awed to see the implications of future shock. Toffler takes you through the agricultural society to the industrial society onward to the information society and the implications of these changes in our lives."
by Richard Bach, Russell Munson
uday has read this book
Recommended
by Richard Bach
uday has read this book
by Kenneth H. Blanchard, Spencer Johnson
uday has read this book
Recommended
by Anthony Robbins
uday has read this book
by James Redfield
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "A deeply spiritual book about the new age"
by Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish
uday has read this book
Recommended
by Kenneth Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins, Jim Ballard, Ken Blanchard
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "How do you train a whale? You can't order it around like you do your kids. The art of motivation at its best."
by Edward De Bono
uday has read this book
Comment: "When you face a roadblock, the best thing is to look for a lateral way out. Lateral thinking is a way to explore new ways of thinking by shaking up thought patterns"
by Jim Collins
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "All about the power of Level 5 Leadership"
by Richard Koch
uday has read this book
by Spencer Johnson, Kenneth Blanchard
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Winners don't stay down when they are down. Don't fret for the past. Make a new future."
by Marcus Buckingham, Donald O. Clifton
uday is reading this book
by Spencer Johnson
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Ask two important questions - the head question and the heart question. "
by Robert Cooper, Ayman Sawaf
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "16 parameters of EQ important for the workplace."
by Edward de Bono
uday has read this book
Recommended
Comment: "Lateral Thinking and Changing Perspectives necessary to explore before setting out to making effective decisions."
by Paulo Coelho
uday has read this book
Recommended
by C. Rajagopalachari
uday has read this book
by C. Rajagopalachari
uday has read this book
by Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi
uday has read this book
Recommended
by Alex Haley, Michael Eric Dyson
uday has read this book
Recommended
by Malcolm Gladwell
uday has read this book
by Matthew McKay
by Tony Buzan
by STEPHEN AUSTIN
by Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Cassandra Vieten, Tina Amorok
by Eliane Strosberg
by Gary Zukav, Linda Francis
by Steven Holzner
by John Adair
by Ernesto Lee
by Brian D. Kush
by Charles J. Pellerin
by Jon Frederickson
by Thich Nhat Hanh
by Jason Selk
by Robert Epstein, Jessica Rogers
by Edward Scannell, John Newstrom
by Sivasailam Thiagarajan
by Doni Tamblyn
uday has read this book
by Elaine Biech
by Leo F. Buscaglia
by Rita Nayar
by Adele B. Lynn
by Judith Orloff
by Anthony Robbins
by Thomas J. Peters, Robert H. Waterman
by Joe D. Batten
by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger
uday is reading this book
by Larry E. Greiner, Thomas G. Cummings
by Harrison Monarth
by Morten Hansen
by Jon R. Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith
by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
by W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne
by Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton
by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Alison Maitland
by Francis Fukuyama
by Michael J. Sandel
by Dov Seidman
by Edward De Bono
by Frederic Brussat
by Anant Pai
by Bill Price, David Jaffe
by Stephen R. Covey
by Paulo Coelho
by Ram Charan
by Peter M. Senge
by Chetan Bhagat
by Annette Moser-Wellman
by Terry Paulson
by Eliane Strosberg
by Gary Zukav, Linda Francis
by Bertram I. Spector
Uday Acharya
http://www.udayacharya.com/
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