Friday Night Introspection

It would be an understatement to say Covid Pandemic has changed lives. People Across the globe experienced Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Loneliness, or isolation. This weekend I took some "ME" time out to reflect on the 3.5 years since the lockdown. Covid had a positive effect on me as I reevaluated myself.

As a child, we used to watch Mahabharat on Television, it was a Sunday ritual for the whole family to get ready and sit down to watch the serial. By the end of the series, I had learned the Mahabharat title song by heart. There was a verse in the song.

yada yada hi dharmasya

gyanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya

tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ 

vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām

dharma-sansthāpanārthāya 

sambhavāmi yuge yuge

I never really understood the verse, one of the covid lockdown days I was googling the meaning of this Sanskrit Shloka. I actually found that this verse is from the Bhagwad GITA Chapter 4 Verse 7 and 8. 

Before this day the only time I had heard of Bhagwad GITA was in Bollywood movies, where before taking the stand in the courtroom, the witness would say "Mein GITA per haat rakh for kasam khata hoon ki jo bhi kahoonga Sach Kahoonga"  Or "I swear on GITA, that whatever I say will be the truth".

My initial reaction was this would be too complex for me, I was a bit hesitant but I started to read more. Slowly I started to appreciate whats written in the Bhagwad GITA. I found many videos on Youtube with the Sanskrit verse and its English translation. 

The meaning of the verse is - Krishna is telling Arjuna in the Kurukshetra battlefield

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice,

 O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion

—at that time I descend Myself.

In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, 

as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, 

I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

As I started to listen to the verses, I found the tone and pitch to be extremely soothing. I started to listen to other verses.

One of the verses that has had a huge impact my life was from Chapter 6 Verse 7

 jita-atmanah prasantasya 

paramatma samahitah

 sitausna-sukha-duhkhesu

tatha manaapamanayoh.

This translates to 

For one who has conquered the mind, 

the Supersoul is already reached, 

for he has attained tranquility, 

To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, 

Honor and dishonor are all the same.

As I read and reread this, the question emerged "How do you control your mind?" Especially in this digital age of TV, the Internet, and Mobile where we are bombarded with information. My quest to find this answer led me to where I am today. As per GITA, The quest to control is attained in two ways Renunciation and Yoga. Each of these methods required multiple blogs.

The first step was to take back control of my mind from the Digital world. I followed a simple approach of USE, REDUCE and REMOVE 

• Use  - Where is my mind absolutely required? 

• Reduce -  Where can I reduce my involvement? How can I reduce my involvement? 

• Remove - Can this go on without me? Can I delegate?

What it translated into was 

• Turning off all notifications for all mobile apps. Taking control of my time by not letting the notifications dictate what I do and when I do it

• Uninstalling all Social media apps

• Exiting all Whats app groups where 60% or more of the messages are forwards  
• Reducing the number of messages being sent

• Notifying key people to call me if they needed me, I would not respond to messages

• Turning off Outlook and Teams on the laptop as soon as you end your day

• No wasting of time during the day Chit chatting or browsing while working

• Uninstalling Teams and Outlook from phone

• Setting expectations and delegating 

It was difficult initially because there was FOMO, but slowly It became normal. Looking back on how my life changed with these few lifestyle changes. I am peaceful, sleep well, worry less, pay full attention to items that need me, and focus on the work, being detached from the output. 

Today I find more time for meditating, understanding the bhagwad GITA, and focusing on learning something new each day. Finally, I have better clarity, desire less, give more for charity, expect less from people, and don't have FOMO. 

Most of us would have seen the movie "In Pursuit of Happiness" where a struggling salesman takes a life-changing career decision. Will Smith acted really well in that movie. We all go through various phases in life, as kids we are conditioned to chase material things and we are told that we will attain happiness. As we age, we are all "In Pursuit of Tranquility".