Importance of being optimistic

Every one of us, must have heard that anger is bad for our health. But have we ever heard that ager is bad for our mind too? In 17^th Century, Samarth Ramdas Swami in his shlokas mentioned about the bad effects of anger on our mind. We are how we think. If we think positively, we become positive. If we think negatively, our mind consumes negativity. So, when it comes to anger, we should keep in mind that anger has an ability to steal away the peace of mind.

    Anger destroys our sense of being in a stable state. Anger doesn’t allow us to be patient and it doesn’t let us think before we do anything. If we do something when in anger, later we feel bad for our actions. Anger only gives us regret and sadness. Samarth Ramdas Swami, in his shloka says that avoid this anger for your betterment.

    Further he adds that never wish for something which is related to worldly desires, because by doing so, you allow your mind to wander in search of having worldly happiness around you. When you allow it to wander, you actually send it away from peace and the way of divinity. If you want to achieve the real aim in life, you should keep your mind pure enough, because the real purpose of life is being pure at heart. It is about being able to connect with the purity of mind. When could we be able to connect with that purity of mind? When we think good for everyone around us.

    When we keep our thoughts pure and we think and talk good about everyone around us, we actually become closer to the divinity. The divinity lies within the pure form of mind. When we actually clean our mind by pouring only positivity into it, it gives us the power to connect with the self. Samarth Ramdas Swami asks us to do the same. He asks in this Shloka to connect ourselves with positive attitude in life. He asks us to keep the negativity aside and be positively charged for the self-development!

Walk the way of truth

What is truth? Truth is the purest form of anything, which is unique and beautiful in every way. Truth is the name of God. Truth is the name of your pure expression. Truth is something which doesn’t need any support to stand in the crowd, it has its own place and that is higher than anything else. Here we could take that “truth” as anything or anyone which or who is genuine. 

   Smartha Raamdas Swami suggests in his 5^th Shloka, that our mind should not consist the sinful things, it should consist only truthful things. Here we could consider it as his way of telling that surround yourself with genuine people and things in life.

   Further he adds that mind should use it’s power of imagination only to imagine good, it shouldn’t use it’s power of imagination to imagine something which is related to worldly desires. When our mind does so, it allows worldly desires to equip our whole world, it takes us away from the real purpose of our life.

    In this Shloka, Samarth Ramdas Swami says further that “Paapbuddhi” that is mind with sins, is the mind which is full of dualism. Dualism is a phase, in which you forget the fact that you are a small part of parmatma just like other living beings. Satyabuddhi is something about being aware of the fact that everyone around us is small part of that Paramatma. When your mind consists of satyabuddhi, there is no space for dualism. You understand the fact of non-dualism. You accept the fact of being one of them. When you accept it, you automatically start behaving politely, because you understand the pain of being harshly treated by someone around you.

   When we give minute attention to everything he has said in his shlokas, we would realize one thing that, he has not given very difficult examples while explaining the way of life. He has just made us encounter with the fact by using simple gestures and morals. This is the beauty of his intelligence and his power of understanding the pulse of our mind.

Feed your mind with quality thoughts

As we have accepted that our mind is like our child then we should take its responsibility on our shoulder. We should guide our mind in the direction of its spiritual development so that it won’t wander here and there. We should guide it to go ahead on the right track. In his fourth shloka, Samartha Ramdas Swami guides mind to stay away from nasty thoughts or any thoughts that are provocative. 

These thoughts assure us the happiness at the initial stage but later we find that these are the root causes of our sorrow. Samartha Ramdas Swami asks mind to stay away from wicked mentality. 

   He tries to tell us that nasty or wicked thoughts are the main reasons behind every sorrow, if we want to keep that sorrow away, we need to get rid of those wicked thoughts. As we know that they are useless.

   Samarth tries to tell us that these wicked thoughts make us commit sins in our life. What are those sins? They can be anything, they can involve hurting someone’s emotions, threatening someone or just being happy by seeing someone in trouble. When you feed your mind with such thoughts their outcome would be of no difference. 

    If we sow seeds of sweet fruit in the soil, the plant which would grow, would obviously ripen the sweet fruits. In the same way, Samarth Ramdas Swami asks us to feed our mind with positive thoughts so that they would reflect in our actions and our life would be the celebration of optimism. There would be no room for negativity or loss, there would be only happiness and optimism. This kind of life surely leads you to the success, happiness and satisfaction.

Importance of contemplation in life

Many a times, creative minds try to find an answer about self. They try to find out what exactly are they? They are the way they think about their surroundings before taking any decision. In short, their ability to ponder is what they are in reality. This is what Samarth Ramdas Swami says in his third Shloka. He tries to make our mind aware of the power of pondering. 

        He tries to make us aware of the fact that we are what we think, so always try to think positive and he guides us that it is important to ponder in the early morning as this time of the day is filled with silence and no one could disturb you.

      In this Shloka, Samarth Raamdas Swami asks mind to get connected with the divinity in the calm and peaceful environment of morning and after that he asks to keep the name of God in our mind whole day. In this Shloka, he asks us to keep our aim in our mind from the very beginning of our day and later too we should keep moving in the direction of our aim. 

      By asking us to keep the name of God in mind, he actually makes us aware about keeping our destination or aim in mind always. He tells us the importance of being goal oriented. Contemplation allows us to think by keeping all the angles in mind. It allows us to touch all the aspects of everything. 

     His shlokas are not just the way of spiritual awakening, they show us the real way of life. They guide us through darkness of life. They guide us to act as we speak. They tell us the importance of living life with purpose. They are a true combination of thoughts and action.  

Treat your mind like a child

Our mind is the world of various thoughts and several imaginations. It becomes difficult for anyone to handle it. Mind is nothing but the speedy child which cannot be controlled easily. You have to do particular Sanskaras to make it concentrate on what is important. Samarth Ramdas Swami asks people to use sweet words while talking to your mind to make it concentrate on everything which is important. Take an example of bad people, when you tell them that they are bad and they should change their behavior, they won’t change. But if you tell them that they are good but they can be better, then they try to be.

        In his second Shloka, Samarth Ramdas Swami calls mind as a “sajjana” that is a person who behaves so well. He doesn’t tell mind that you are misbehaving, he is just telling that you should follow the path of Shree Hari that is the path of spirituality, the path of divinity. If you do so, you’ll achieve your destination so easily, rather it’ll come to you. He makes us understand that choose your path wisely, so that the destination that path leads to, would be also beautiful. Further in the Shloka, he says that, whatever you find good in people around you, you should adopt it and whatever is bad, you should leave it.

        After reading the shloka, we realize that in one shloka, he has given us an insight of living whole life peacefully. He indirectly asks us to be acceptable enough to accept the people as they are. It’s in our hand that what we want to take from them. He guides us to be on the path of truth and that is the path of divinity and asks us to be wiser enough to take only good things that are around us. It actually guides us to be more patient and to feed our mind with optimism. When we start to live our life according to his suggestion, we would be happier in life always.

Manache Shlok: A homage to the spiritual soul

Manache Shlok is a literature of a divine power who took birth in the form of person on this earth. Samartha Shree Ramdas Swami. A true Psychologist. A true legend who understood the real nature of mind so well that he showed mind, the path of living life. How to behave and how to cope-up with the situation in life is over all what Manache Shloka are about. Brainberg is trying to pay him a tribute by writing a series of articles on his thought process and his teachings. 

       He started it by paying homage to the source of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh that is Ganesha, the Aaradhya of all deities. Ganesha is the source of all Guna swaroop deities and he is the only source of Nirguna! He pays his homage to Devi Sharada, who is the Godess of language that is Vani. The reason behind doing so is, due to Vani we could recite the shlokas and we could appreciate the divine power that is God.

     And reason behind paying homage to Ganesha is, Ganesha is the source of knowledge, spirit and he is Omkar that beginning and end of the world. He is the truth and by paying him homage, Samartha is showing his belief that Vighnaharta Ganesh would bless him in his journey of writing Shlokas. It is a pure appreciation of God by letting him know that whatever I do is devoted to you. 

     By doing so, Samartha is surrendering everything to the spirit. It is a pure feeling of surrendering the ego and being ready to accept that whatever I do using my mind power is due to your blessing and I devote it to you, because it belongs to you only!
     He in this first Shloka says that by reciting the name of Ganesha and Sharada, we would accept the path of aanant that is Shreeram who is non-destroyable and continuous spirit. In this shloka, Samartha teaches us to surrender our ego and how it is important to do so. How it is important to get connected to our work and making it our Aaradhya. 

Samarth: An ‘able’ Psychologist of all time

What is mind? Many would say that the mind is a set of cognitive faculties. It includes memory, consciousness, perception, expression and language. We all know that we live according to our mind. But have we ever thought that one could do Sanskaras on mind and could guide mind to live according to those sanskaras? Have we ever thought that one could spend his whole life to understand the swabhava that is nature of mind and how to control it? And that too in 17^th century?? Yes, there was a legend rather an awtara! A pure soul who did it! Shree Samartha Ramdas Swami! The Guru of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. 

         Whenever there will be a discussion on faith, devotion and sacrifice, there would be the name of this Shree Ram bhakta! Who heard the alert indication that is “Sawadhan” in his marriage and left the marriage because he understood that this would bind him in Sansara and it would be difficult for him to connect with his Aaradhya that is Shree Rama! Around 400 years ago, on this day he left his body and got connected to the divine power by his will! This day is called as “Daasnavami”. And why not? Who understood his own mind can easily know when he would take his last breathes.

          Today, we will discuss about a bit of his work and himself as a Psychologist. Don’t be surprised! He was the greatest Psychologist that is what I believe in. There is no one who could understand the invisible part of our body that is mind, better than him. His work in Philosophy and Psychology is a great blessing and guideline for the human kinds. He included Politics and Social work in his Philosophy. He used to believe that nation building should be the main focus of every ruler. He backed Hinduism and encouraged Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to do the same. 

          He built temples of God Hanumana and God Shree Rama to teach people the importance of “Bala” that is “strength” and “Limitations” that is “Maryada”. Hanumana is a symbol of strength and Shree Rama is known as Maryada Purushottama! Due to the Chatrapati’s request he spent some years on Sajjangarh. He created a treasure of literature in his lifetime. It includes, “Manache Shlok” that is the Shlokas of mind in which he guides the mind. Dasbodh, various aaratis and books. In Maharashtra, while chanting the God’s name and doing rituals his aaratis are recited even today.

He was a genuine yet extraordinary divine power. He guided mind to be free from bodily and worldly desires. He was a strong believer of “Namasmarana” that is reciting the God’s name. 

         He used to say that to get connected with the universal divinity one needs to engage his mind in reciting the God’s name continuously so that it would become his way of life and it would help him to be free. His thoughts were about living like a free spirit even if you are living in body. It takes a lot of guts to understand what it is about to “living in body”. It means that your body is not your real identity, but the “Aatma” is what you are actually. 

       So, he urged human kinds to do such Sanskaras on mind that it would be in our control and would not get spoiled. He knew that the mind is very restless and speedy, it becomes difficult to make it concentrate on a particular thing. So, he created a treasure of literature called “Manache Shlok” to teach us various ways to control our mind and make it neutral about everything. Because mind is a tool to achieve the real happiness and get connected to that divine power and he knew it so well. His work and devotion towards Shree Rama can’t be written or recited in one article or lecture. We Brainberg, salute this extraordinary spirit, who is alive through his literature and would be guiding the whole world in coming centuries.

Identify the fears of your child

We all have some or the other fear in life. Fear of losing someone, fear of leaving job, fear of interviews, fear of failure, fear of financial loss in business and the list is endless. But do you know one thing that these fears arise when we grow up. But there are some fears which children experience too. You may find those fears meaningless but for your child, these fears are the big issues of their life. Do you find your child worried when you ask him or her to go to the kitchen and bring the candles when electricity supply is cut? If yes then your child has Scotophobia.

There are various kind of phobias and you can get help from Psychologists for your child. But when it’s in initial phase, you need to be aware and act smart to make your child brave. What are those things that you can do at home to make him or her comfortable? Read on to know:

•          Don’t force your child to do what he or she is scared of.
•         Be with your child when he or she is trying the things which make him or her scared.
•          If he or she has fear of cat then don’t force him or her to touch the cat by saying that, “Look, it is cute and soft.” Because, you find it cute and soft but your child doesn’t. This can affect his or her mind at unconscious level.
•          Understand that there are certain ways to get rid of the particular fear and these ways have some steps.
•         For instance, if your child has Ailurophobia, that is fear of cats. You should take some initial steps like don’t directly ask your child to play with cats but take small steps.
•         Place the poster of cat in your house, so that your child can see it daily. Ask him or her to see it as it cannot come out of that poster so your child will automatically get comfortable with cat’s look. Place the decent and cute looking cat’s poster at first.
•         Then increase the number of cats in the poster and make sure that he or she gets habitual to see them. 
•          Then show your child a video of moving kittens.
•          In this way, he or she will get comfortable seeing the cat moving and the particular movements of kittens.
•          Then make your child understand that it won’t harm until you harm that kitten.
•         Bring a kitten to house and touch that kitten in front of your child.
•          It will make your child feel that he or she should touch it and then it would be easier for him or her to walk in the house in the presence of that kitten or cat.
•          Nothing is impossible but if you find any difficulty, then do visit Psychologists and take their help. Because, these fears can impact your child’s future badly in long run.
•         Take care, have a happy parenting!

Learn the art of forgiving!

Life is a beautiful journey. We meet many people in our life and we feel that everyone should behave sweetly with us. But there is this fact that we need to understand that everyone can’t be the way you want them to be. Every person in your life is different and you should learn to accept everyone’s individuality. You may find some of them funny, some of them happy and some of them very serious. As you cannot expect everyone to be same, the same way you cannot expect everyone to be nice with you.

When someone does harm to you and leaves you in pain, it’s your responsibility to take care of your emotions and forgive them. You may feel why am I saying this? Forgiving can’t be that easy but you need to understand the fact that forgiving is the only way out when it comes to the fact that holding grudges and hating the people around you is not what gives you the peace of mind which forgiving may give. It has long term effect on your mind when you decide to hold on the grudge and keep living life.

How this art of forgiving can be achieved? Here are some easy ways to do it.

•          Treat the person, the way you want to be treated.
•          Understand the fact that something or the other is going to bother you about the person in front of you in some way.
•          When you live in a society, you meet various kind of people and you should have that capability within you to accept the way they are.
•          When you feel that you are being neglected, your ego says that this person is hurting you and you take it personally. Instead of taking it personally, you should tell yourself that, “This person needs to be given his or her space.”
•         If you find something is bothering you about anyone, you should just go and have clear conversation with that particular person.
•          When you have things clear in front of you, you get to do a lot in life. But if you keep the grudges in heart, there is no way to happy life.
•          Even if the person or the situation hurts you, it’s only you who is giving that person or a situation a chance to hurt you.
•         Feed your mind with the thoughts like “Only I am responsible for the happiness and sadness that I am facing in my life. I would never give anyone permission to control my moods or emotions. If someone or something hurts me, I am capable enough to let go the grudges and forgive that person because that’s the way I see my life. I allow myself to be happy in life.”  

Habits of successful people

Success is not just the word. Success is an emotion. Success is an outcome of endless efforts that we take to achieve the desired goal. One cannot succeed without efforts that we all know but many a times, instead of taking efforts many of us fail at achieving the goal we desire to achieve. 

          Then journey of thought process starts and it leads us to one question that how does people become successful? Do they have something that we don’t? The answer is they have that attitude, which we often fail to concentrate on. They see themselves in the mirror as tiger even if they are not!                They feed their mind with an idea of having strength of tiger to achieve things in life.

It’s not that you don’t have the courage but the fact is you need to show that courage in your efforts. What makes the man win the running race?? Efforts? Yes at some point, but the attitude with which he runs the race matters a lot. 

          Everyone takes efforts to cross the last line but that doesn’t mean that everyone wins the race. If a person has an attitude of winner then even if he falls, he wakes up like a winner and runs as if the trophy is waiting for him only! Understand one thing that how you see yourself, this world is going to accept the same version of you.

Following are some habits of successful people:

•          They organize themselves well.
•          They keep their vision of success clear.
•          They follow their heart no matter what!
•          They always see the best in everything.
•          They know how to convert their failure into the success.
•          They know the trick of learning new things.
•          They are humble.
•          They are persistent.
•          They are strong.
•         They are imaginative.
•         They are innovative.
•          They value time.