11. Wellbeing - Unleashing Leadership Potential

Discover the true essence of a focused mind. Our enlightening conversation will guide you through mastering the art of achieving a one-pointed mind, and reveal how this can become your secret weapon for tranquility amidst life's chaos. Imagine the serene surface of a still lake, its calm waters mirroring the clarity that awaits when you harness the power of concentration. We'll share how this intensification of focus, much like sunlight channeled through a magnifying glass, can spark a deeper understanding and shed light on the subjects of your meditation, ultimately enriching your daily efficiency, sparking creativity, and leading to fewer errors across all aspects of life.

In the realm of leadership and decision-making, the magnetic pull of charisma and the undeniable force of willpower are dissected with Swami Tadananda's insightful observations. Unveil the three pivotal stages of bringing one's will into reality: the desire to act, the acquisition of knowledge, and the execution of action. Together, we navigate the nuances of each phase, illustrating how they manifest in every endeavor from the simplest task to the grand pursuit of enlightenment. Furthermore, we delve into the artful skill of discrimination as a pivotal factor in decision-making, comparing a concentrated mind to a precision microscope that enables meticulous discernment. Join us for a session that promises not only to elevate your personal enlightenment but also to refine your leadership capabilities with a newfound, razor-sharp clarity.

Transcript

Sunil: 0:01

Welcome to Rhythm, a podcast on being in balance through conversations with the Swami Namaste Rhythm listeners. My name is Sunil. I am with Swami Tadananda from Raramakrishna Vedanta Centre of Auckland, New Zealand. How are you, Swamiji? I am good, Sunil, thank you. How are you? I am good, good, thank you. The last few episodes have been quite good. We've had a guided meditation from you and then explored some of the reasons for the meditation and explored the different elements of the meditation. Today, can we spend some more time explaining the benefits of meditation to the listeners?

Swamiji: 0:45

In other words, why should we meditate? What outcomes do we expect? How does it help us? Well, what happens during the process of meditation? We are trying to enhance the concentration of our minds. The normal mind is scattered in all directions, running rampant with all types of thoughts and ideas, bombarded by the external world and also bubbling from within our own memory, chaotic. There's not much control over the thought process. During meditation we give our minds one thought and one object to focus on and the objective is to have this one-pointedness of mind. It is called Ekagramana. Eka means one, agra means pointed, that is one-pointed mind.

Swamiji: 1:50

So as we practice this seriously, regularly, with intensity, over time, that which is the initial struggle to keep the mind on one object, where it keeps drifting off .. t hat wavering of the mind becomes less and less and the mind becomes calmer because there are fewer thoughts now in the mind space. And if we go back to that analogy of the mind-lake, where the mind is compared to a lake. If it's very windy, there are too many waves and ripples, we cannot see clearly what's at the bottom of the lake. But if there's no wind, the mind is like a sheet of glass, like the mirror lakes, then you can very clearly see right at the bottom. So imagine that through meditation, the mind is becoming calmer and calmer. The wind of external world is not able to disturb you because you can now block them off, and so whenever any energy is intensified, so the mental energy still remains, but it's not scattered on so many thoughts now, and that energy is now focused. So it's like to give another example like sunlight falling on a piece of paper, the paper will get focused on the focal point and the heat will again set that piece of paper on fire.

Swamiji: 3:39

It is not that we increased the heat. What we did is we intensified it. That is a great principle to understand in itself. Whenever we can intensify any form of energy, that's where the magic happens. Okay, so imagine we have so much mental energy. Previously, in an uncontrolled mind, it was scattered in all directions. Now you have reduced the number of thoughts that occupy your mind space. If train yourself that you can hold that total energy in one particular point, and just like that piece of paper would catch fire, here that intense beam of light or mental energy will illuminate whatever we are trying to focus on, because we are trying to study that, whatever is represented by the thought, so in the meditation process that single thought is a divine being or light or something?

Swamiji: 4:42

Anything that's attractive and something higher. We have said also that concentrating on some physical, external object, that is not the same as meditation. That's a simple form of concentration. In meditation we have some spiritual object of concentration Higher being.

Swamiji: 4:59

Higher being higher focus, Then the energy is coming from that source to us. If we focus on something lower, then the energy goes out from us because we are higher to that object, lower and we drain that energy out. That's why the difference is there. So one of the things that happens over time and it will not happen overnight is that the concentration of that mental energy becomes sharpened and that mind becomes very, very powerful. So if you're a student studying something, you will not need to read the same paragraph three times. Whatever is the idea that the author is trying to communicate with the help of those boards and drawings, you'll catch that subtle idea quickly. Okay, and it's a great thing, because it's the same mind we are using during meditation and in our everyday activities. But now this mind has become a powerful tool where you are able to achieve your, your goal more efficiently. Efficiently means in a shorter time right.

Sunil: 6:07

Yes, it's taking less time to less time efficiency means less time.

Swamiji: 6:12

Okay, and that's a great saving. Okay, you don't spend so much time Fiddling around things, you just get the essence of it, and the same would be applied to work Everywhere. You're using the same mind, you know. Yes, so you'll find that as you practice down the line, it work in everything. There's much more clarity. Quickly, that means you're making less and fewer mistakes, able to see through the noise.

Swamiji: 6:42

You can eliminate the noise. It's like the filter in a sound system. You know you fill it out, the noise, and then you can have more clarity About what we will try to hear. So here it's noise that comes that disturbs everything. How to eliminate that noise so that your mind, space, is totally occupied with what you choose to, and if a scientist, if a researcher, if a philosopher, if a doctor, if an accountant, engineer, and you can give your whole mind to something, that's where the originality and the creativity and the brilliance and all those things come.

Sunil: 7:20

So that's one of the positive yeah, but if I would sort of carry that on the example at work, it worked it normally. In a normal day there's lots of things happening, so 10 or 20 emails would turn out. Then you're in a meeting, then you're going to the next meeting, which has got different topics. So everything is a different topic or different challenge, a different problem that you try to solve or understand, to help solve some stage. How would that doesn't stop right. So all of those things will keep coming because those are external, the CXI environment that we are working in so are we saying that through meditation We'll be able to?

Sunil: 7:59

when these things come, come at us, we'll have to quickly sort of go through it, because now we're more efficient at how we do things and process it in our mind.

Swamiji: 8:08

Yes, yes, yes. So whatever another person might, a person who lacks concentration might take 10 or 15 minutes to go through a document, understand and then process it and come with a Decision because he has to come with the decision. Another person Very quickly can go through that, grasp the essence of it and then says this is to be done in half the time and if you can do that, it takes so much pressure and tension of you.

Swamiji: 8:35

Yes, okay, get more, more output, yeah you can achieve more on the same hours? Yeah, and without stressing yourself Otherwise. You know, so much work has piled up and I could not finish it, and now I have to carry it to the next day and just builds up, oh, okay, at home. Yeah, I carry it so yeah.

Swamiji: 8:54

So you're very good, your mind is very sharp, you knock off all those things very quickly and you're free now. Okay, so, concentration of mind everywhere. It's an. It's a wonderful tool to have for everyone. The second thing is, as you, you develop this capacity to attach your mind to one object. Simultaneously, we are also developing the capacity to detach our minds from other things. Okay otherwise you're not able to attach it. One point you know right, All right.

Sunil: 9:28

We fully concentrated on one thing. So that level and go.

Swamiji: 9:31

Yeah, and that capacity of letting go Also develops, which is a major problem with many people. Yes, they cannot let go. Yeah, okay, we talked about that prior, previous yes, and so worry or whatever is there. So ideal mind is it's like a, something that's very sticky. I can throw it into the wall. It stays there, stuck, as long as I want and I can take it out and I put it another place. Stuck there and Unconcentrated, uncontrolled mind.

Swamiji: 10:00

You put it in place but attention is not able to retain there drifts of, then you bring it by force and and so much energy is exhausted in just trying to manage the mind Before you can get anything productive out of it. So the power of detachment is a self-wonderful topic to discuss, because many people suffer because of that. They're not able to detach their minds from things that trouble them, people that trouble them, something has happened in the past. It keeps on mind keeps on going into those loops, worry, and you know you don't forgive people in this and that, and so much of mental energy is dissipated, time is dissipated and just carry on being more miserable. Yes, but there's another topic that can be discussed in another episode.

Swamiji: 10:52

So the second Facality that we are developing through meditation is as we said. They said there are two parts of the mind. One is the active mind, which is trying to keep your mind in that loop of the repetition of the mantra, and On the object. Yes, and there is that more important, reflective, or the observer mind, which is a Buddha. And Because the Buddha is controlling the mind, the reflective mind is controlling the active mind. It's getting exercised and through that exercise, you know, strength comes, the Buddha develops and over time that Buddha is Like a powerful radar in the boat that is now guiding and controlling your thoughts. It's not just about having one or two thoughts, it's about having the control over the thought process also. So you see, in a decision-making process, you want to control your mind.

Swamiji: 11:52

Not it runs in whichever way. If you pour whatever on a hill, it goes down according to the path of least resistance. There's no control in that. Gravity is dictating it. But in a person, a living person, you don't want to get the shortcuts, you want to cut through the mountains. If necessary. That requires a tremendous willpower. You see, so in life, when challenges come, they do not always present you the easiest path. You come across challenges, difficulties, but people might lack that force behind them to pierce and cut through those things. You cut through the mountains, yes, and that is the willpower you call it.

Sunil: 12:35

So if you've got a strong reflective mind, you put these strong then you're able to use that to cut through things.

Swamiji: 12:41

Yes, it develops into a strong willpower and in this world, people with powerful, strong willpower are the ones who succeed, while others give up, fail or drop off. Keep wondering you see yes.

Swamiji: 12:56

So people can't make a decision, even when challenges come. Some people are very positive We'll get it done, don't worry. But other people are there. After a few attempts they lose heart in this house too hard. And the moment that attitude comes, the whole exercise, the whole force behind the activity drops off. So great people, great achievers, people with tremendous amount of willpower and how is that willpower developed? That is exercise.

Sunil: 13:27

So obviously some are born with it. But what you're saying is it doesn't matter, they're born with it.

Swamiji: 13:34

So it's not that the mind they brought into this world is the mind they had in the last life.

Sunil: 13:39

Yes, so it's continued for them. So in this life they've born with it, but in previous lives they've never lost. But for others, they are listening to the podcast. Let's say they're able to. What you're saying is there's hope. Don't give up hope, then you can actually get to that level by intense discipline through this meditation practices.

Swamiji: 14:02

Yes, whatever you achieve through your mental meditation practices in this lifetime, that is not lost to you. It's a good investment, it gives you good dividends in this life and it's there for you thereafter also, and that's why this tremendous willpower Actually this development of this willpower is a secret of things. So a great leader is one who has got this tremendous willpower that it's like a magnetic field around that person, what we call the charisma or the magnetic personality of that person, and when people come into others, come into that ambit, they get charged by the thoughts of that particular person and follow this person's positive, always talking.

Sunil: 14:53

It could be a negative also.

Swamiji: 14:54

Sometimes you get a negative, like I hit Laugh, who comes along and he has got this idea and he sucks everyone up and the whole nation goes to go and kill so many people, not knowing why. They were all good people, maybe mostly, but they just got so influenced by that energy and personality of that person that they were under their control. But on the other side, on the positive side, if you want to do good to the world, you see, you need to have that mental or energy capacity to be able to influence people. If that is not there in a person, you can make him the Prime Minister, you can make him the CEO of the person you know, like somebody is there in a family who inherits and then is given some big post there, but he doesn't have any, any substance in it.

Sunil: 15:49

People, large families, large rich families, where they have, you know, the father, the great father, great father probably developed a business and then now he passed on, the children automatically inherit the position title, the wealth, but do not have the substance.

Swamiji: 16:06

Adhikari nahi hai. No, they are not competent to hold that post or exercise that responsibility or duty. So, you see, even at workplace, when you are looking at giving some responsibility to somebody, promotion or something like that, you should not only look at the know-how, the knowledge or information that particular person has. It is really the personality. Heritage is the personality, the force, the magnetic force field that that person exudes around him that is going to influence his team members and that will make him the leader. That leadership and this is all like wonderful topics that are related to all this, but you can see, to be great and successful, it's all about the mind and its power, how well it's harnessed. And when that is ready, everything becomes easy. And when that is not ready, well, you can put all the money, all the positions and everything and it will disappear after some time.

Swamiji: 17:11

So, coming back to this, this Buddha power, the power of discrimination. So Buddha is the power of discrimination. Will power is itchha-shakti. Itchha-shakti is the force from the depths of our being, the drives. It becomes into gyanashakti, knowledge, and then it becomes activity, kriyashakti, so karma. Yes, so you'll see, constantly, in everything, these three stages are there, whether it's trying to make a cup of tea. When you say I wish to have a cup of tea, they say itchha-shakti. Do I know how to make a cup of tea? That is gyanashakti, and actually making a cup of tea is kriya. Whether it's a small activity like this or you say I want to become a doctor, there's an itchha-shakti.

Swamiji: 17:55

Gyanashakti is a long process of you know, kriyashakti, before you become transformed into what is called a doctor. Okay, and you say I want to have mukti liberation, the itchha-shakti, gyanashakti, getting the knowledge from the scriptures, kriyashakti, doing all the sadhanas, but the process remains the same.

Swamiji: 18:14

Yes, the will, the knowledge and then the actual practice the karma, so that energy, which is very subtle deep inside, becomes more materialized in the mental space, which is knowledge, and then it becomes part of something that the body is doing. Okay, so that is about the will power. What I wanted to talk about the other benefit of meditation is what is called the power of discrimination, vichara-shakti, To discriminate, okay, one thing from the other, because constantly we are asked to make a decision. Yes, decision means making a choice. Yes, there has to be a criteria. Yes, one is better than the other, always, something you're always trying to discern the better option. If that capacity is not there, okay, and everything looks same, then how do you make that decision? So let's give me an example.

Swamiji: 19:16

You look at a piece of cloth with a naked eye. It's just a sheet of fabric, is there? I give you a magnifying glass. Now you look through that. You can see those small threads are appearing slightly thicker. They're not all same. The naked eye, almost, they look same. But with this magnifying glass I can see that. But if I try to really discriminate the best one out of the five threads that I see, then you say, hey, give me a more powerful microscope, I need more clarity. And when that becomes available, then you can see which is the best.

Sunil: 19:54

So when you say which is the best, if you try to decide what fabric is the best out of them all, the naked eye it's fine, but if you look at the detail, really focused, then you look at the threads and then expert will be able to do the same thing with, I suppose, diamonds. Right, when you go into diamonds you need the expert who uses.

Swamiji: 20:13

Who knows how to interpret it, but at least he'll need the tool.

Sunil: 20:16

Yes, he'll need the tool.

Swamiji: 20:18

So this concentrated mind is the tool. It's like the powerful microscope that can zoom into something and can zoom out also. You can see things like everyone can see, but whenever he wants he can just focus all his mental energy. Other things are pushed outside his mental field of vision. That particular object occupies the whole thing. He understands what it is and then he zooms out. He says I know what are the qualities of that particular object. And then he does the same with another one and because he has got two sets of information, now he can discriminate and say this is a better decision, better option, whatever is there.

Swamiji: 20:56

So you see, this is a wonderful thing, because we all are constantly being asked to make decisions. Yes, in life, in life it's like a one-way track time. You can't step back and say, hey, I made a mistake, let me go back to yesterday and take another course, rewind. You can't rewind. In space, you can go back, but not in time. Yes, so when you're asked to make a decision and you can't simply postpone things. Also, certain things you can postpone, push, but kick the can down the road, as we say, but other things you have to make the decision immediately. Do you have that capacity. No point afterwards saying I wish I had done something. You know, time is gone, money is gone, opportunity is gone, maybe everything is gone. So you see, the tool, mind that we had.

Sunil: 21:47

So this practice helps obviously what you said, but then also with decision making will be quicker, more efficient, so you can make these things, making the right decision at the right time.

Swamiji: 21:59

That is a wonderful quality for everyone. But in management and all those things, because on your decision depends so much.

Sunil: 22:07

Yes, success of the firm employees hold up the standards.

Swamiji: 22:12

Yeah, it depends on what position you hold. You know, if you're the Prime Minister of the country and some crisis there, Okay. If you get bamboozled, confused, this and that, all right. And on your depends the lives of the populations. Yes, Great.

Sunil: 22:28

Excellent. Okay, so those are the benefits of meditation.

Swamiji: 22:32

Yeah, some of the benefits, Some of the benefits We've almost to time.

Sunil: 22:36

is there anything else you want to add to this podcast?

Swamiji: 22:37

Maybe we can do another one, because you've talked about the positive side of things. Yes, there are many things that we are trying to grapple in our own mind and we look into our mind and say that some things sitting there, hiding in there, which I would rather not have them in here, habits anger, you know, yes, which is a very powerful, concentrated state of mind, anger, but it's a negative and destructive, yes, okay, but many people do not know how to manage that and do things and afterwards they regret you can't wash it away with a sorry, you know, and has consequences. Yes, I will say so. How do we manage all those things, those negative energies? How do we neutralize them?

Sunil: 23:20

Right, so we've talked about the positive stuff there are other things to be attended to. In what you've done before and what you've sort of developed over time. Is your quality that you have?

Swamiji: 23:32

Yes, as we can say you're character now.

Sunil: 23:34

Okay, yes, it becomes part of the character, right? Yes, Because it's developed over a long period of time. And so are you saying meditation can also handle.

Swamiji: 23:41

Because you are dealing with the mind and it's not only just a good thing you know you can deal with the total mind.

Sunil: 23:47

And then. So the negative side is now how does that work?

Swamiji: 23:51

Well, you have to understand what is this emotion of anger? And these are called thoughts, are given a representation, called chitta vritti. The best way to visualize them is a little whirlpool. You know spinning energy. If it's positively spinning, it's lifting you up. If it's spinning in the opposite direction, it's taking you down.

Swamiji: 24:21

So anger and all those things are a form of energy, but they're spinning in the wrong direction. It's like you're turning your screwdriver clockwise it's tightening, and anti-clockwise, it's opening, that type of thing. So in your mind you've got this mixture of good, uplifting ones, and not so good, taking you down. And so, while we're trying to say, be good, do good and all those things, but we also get influenced by these negative energies that are around there. Yes, and we get angry.

Swamiji: 24:47

We say something, do things which we know it's wrong, we've heard about it, but people do it in spite of themselves. Like parent might be saying don't get angry to a child if the child has got that habit, that's not helping the child. No, you're just trying to put a benchmark and say don't behave like this, but you're not helping him. How to manage that anger? Yes, you see. So if a deeper understanding is there, you say okay, this energy that's being manifested in him. He's throwing a tantrum and behaving in a not so nice way and he's totally under the control of that emotion. Now how do I, as a parent or teacher who was there, can provide a way to neutralize or reduce yeah, reduce it. That would be helpful to that child. But if you don't understand that psychology, then you're just very superficially, by force, by stick, by punishment, controlling that and making a bad situation worse maybe. So this is something we can discuss a little later.

Sunil: 25:46

Maybe the next episode.

Swamiji: 25:48

So maybe we can talk about what are these thoughts, how do we visualize them and how do we classify them good and bad, how they're constituted. Once we understand how they're constituted, then we'll know how the mechanics of managing it. Okay, and then from that point you'll begin to see the sages are saying do this, do this, do this right.

Swamiji: 26:10

Or don't do this and don't do this, don't do this among the 10 commandments do's and don'ts are there you can. You'll get a very clear, rational understanding of why they are saying that Correct. And so coming to that which probably we should take up in the next episode, the foundations of meditation process are on two disciplines called Yama and Niyama don'ts induce, right, that forms the moral and ethical foundation of any spiritual life that anyone wants to build. So there are eight steps of meditation as Tanga Yoga. The first two are Yama and Niyama don'ts induce. Then comes Asana how you sit Prana, how you breathe. Then becomes the mental exercise of withdrawing the mind Dharana, pratyahara, then concentrating the mind Dharana on one object. When that concentration becomes better, it's called Dhyana meditation and when it's perfected it's called Samadhi. Right, okay, the last four are the actual mental exercises. The first two are moral and ethical exercises. In between is the physical posture and breath.

Sunil: 27:27

So with the last few episodes we've done the actual meditation.

Swamiji: 27:31

We have basically talked about not meditation. Out of courtesy, we are saying it meditation, but technically it'll be called Pratyahara in Dharana. We're drawing the mind from outside and focusing on the object. It drifts out. Concentration has much eard, so it'll be called.

Sunil: 27:48

Dharana, but we've done this sitting now. We've talked about it, we've talked about the breathing right, so we've talked about four of the eight so far?

Swamiji: 28:00

Something like that. Yeah, four of the eight, but now I think time to go to the foundations, because what happens in the ten minutes of sitting down for meditation depends on what was happening at other times. Yes the whole day? What are you doing the whole day and how you're going about it?

Sunil: 28:18

The other twenty three hours and fifteen minutes.

Swamiji: 28:21

Yes, some of you are sleeping, but when you're awake, are you mindful of the impact of every thought, what, indeed, that is now fashioning your mind? Yes, if you're not alert to that, then you're carrying a very polluted, damaged mind to the hour of meditation and you wonder why it's not concentrated.

Sunil: 28:42

And why it's not working.

Swamiji: 28:44

Yeah, so it's an alertness comes, okay, but let's look at those do's and don'ts. Yes, that's a foundation.

Sunil: 28:50

Awesome, thank you. Thank you, samuji, welcome. Thank you for listening, being in balance rhythm. For more information, please visit