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Suicides-Alarming trend among the Youth today…

Suicide is a serious public health problem that affects many young people.Deaths from youth suicide are only part of the problem.Though many suicidal teens appear depressed or downcast, others hide their problems underneath a disguise of excess energy. Girls generally attempt suicide more often than boys, but boys are about 4 times more likely to die from the suicide attempt. This is because the methods that boys choose – often using firearms or hanging – are more lethal than those chosen by girls, namely drug overdoses or cutting themselves.More young people survive suicide attempts than actually die.Suicide among teens and young adults has gone up multi-fold and the risk factors include: family history of suicide; history of depression, other mental health problems, easy access to lethal means; alcohol and drug abuse; exposure to previous suicidal behavior by others; and residential mobility that might lessen opportunities for developing healthy social connections and supports.

With respect to having suicidal tendencies among the youth,I have never been of the opinion that taking one’s life is the solution to any problem.

 Now to present my view on the above plot, I would like to mention that we think of running / moving away from only those places where we are sure that we are not loved;we may be in acute emotional / physical pain and may be feeling unwanted / neglected.With my personal experience, I would mention that the outside world is very unpleasant & frightening.The parents who give us birth and rear us,even though our mother may scold us;our father may be a strict disciplinarian and our siblings may fight with us on silly things during our growing up years, but our home is where we belong. Home is our comfort zone and it is the most beautiful place to be on the entire planet.

There are obvious signs that an adolescent may be suicidal which include low self-esteem and self-deprecating remarks. Some teens come right out and talk or write about their suicidal thoughts – this should be taken seriously, and not ignored with the hope that it’s a passing phase. Any previous attempts at suicide are loud and clear cries for help, which demand responses before it’s too late.

Coming back to answer the question as to why suicidal tendencies abound in the youth of today and this I must admit is absolutely tragic and unnerving. I would like to share a real-life incident when one of my acquaintance brought his daughter-an engineering 1st year student to me. After sharing the initial pleasantries, on the insistence of her father;the girl pulled up her sleeves showing me multiple blade inflicted cuts around her right hand wrist. She replied to me in the affirmative that yes,it was she who had inflicted herself with a blade. The girl seemed very adamant, spoke stubbornly and felt no remorse whatsoever over her such actions. I on my part just asked the girl that why could she not find the correct vein in the first few attempts.Then I guided her finger to the exact nerve[green colored] on the wrist that may help her, if cut properly to successfully commit suicide in her next attempt. This reaction of mine surely startled the girl and she gave me a blanked out look as if caught off-guard.I, then said to her that with my experience,it seemed that her problem may be of failed relationships to which she tried to deny vehemently as she was with her parent. Understanding this,I tried to put the point differently that, whatever may have been your circumstances,if you shirk,run away by committing suicide,in your rebirth in another life,you would be presented with the same turn of events from where you had taken the escape route.

To further elaborate on this fact, I would also like to share a small story from Mahabharata where Arjun puts up a question to Lord Krishna as to “What is the Secret of LIFE ?” To this Lord Krishna replied very appealingly that- “Arjun,if you start writing a letter and go to sleep without completing it,would you on waking up, start writing the letter from the beginning again?” In his reply,Arjun stated in the negative and said that he would start writing the letter from where he had left it incomplete.Then Lord Krishna said that–“our lives,rebirth and afterlife plays out in the same way. Hence,when we try to escape from our current set of circumstances by committing suicide,then we are made to take birth in our after life and start our journey from the very same turn of events which we had tried not to face in our previous life.”

 I then asked the girl that say for instance, what would be her reaction if her mobile handset happens to get damaged / crushed under a heavy moving vehicle. She replied that she would pick that instrument,take out the sim and if the sim is found intact,would place that sim in another working mobile and would start using the same.To this reply, I asked her–since the sim and number would remain the same as earlier,then the same calls would keep coming and pestering her,meaning that the situations would remain unchanged.This detailed explanation made the girl realize her multiple blunders and then she vowed never ever to even think of attempting suicide. 

To conclude, I would like to mention that committing suicide / running away without facing the situation is cowardly because the same chain of events would come back to haunt us in our afterlife as well. 
This LIFE is the most beautiful gift given to us by our CREATOR ,we should live it to the fullest with enthusiasm and courage to bounce back from every failure.

Words can either Make or Break You !!!

 

Words are one of the vital instruments that people use to communicate.We all know how important words can be to an individual. The “right” words can mean the difference between being misunderstood or being clear in your communications.The words you write or speak to others can leave a huge impact and create a lasting memory-either good or bad–so it is of utmost importance to choose them wisely. Words can make or break a relationship and your choice of words and the way you express yourself can build up or destroy your career. 
 
To explain further, I would like to share two examples to validate the importance. First instance that comes up in my mind is that of the battle of Mahabharata. We all know that the entire battle was fought just because of the careless,thoughtless and sarcastic comment of a female that terribly bruised a male’s ego. Once,while visiting the palace of the Pandavas,Duryodhan unknowingly fell down / hit a door shaped wall due to the architectural marvel that the palace was and Draupadii lost no time in commenting smugly that the son of a blind man has acted blind as well. Now this comment went on to pain Duryodhan so much that this small incident became the premise for the entire battle & blood shed of Mahabharata. So,it is correctly said that words can make as well as break a human.
 
In an another instance,the teacher of a student one day called upon him ; gave him a hand written letter inside an envelope asking him to deliver this message only to his mother at home and that the student should not read it.On reaching his home,the student went & delivered the envelope to his mother.He asked her to read out and share the report with him as well. The mother read out the letter saying that the school administration and his teacher has apologized & advised her to either change the school / arrange to have her son tutored at home. Because, they have found that her son was way too genius / intelligent and the school did not have the competent teachers to address his talent / innumerable questions.The mother then with the agreement of her son arranged for home tutors. A few years later, her son went on to become one of the brightest minds of his times and created the commercially practical incandescent light bulb.The name of this student was Thomas Alva Edison and if not for him,we would still be living & working with candle light. Then,in the later part of his age during the cleaning of his house one day, Thomas Alva Edison chanced upon the same letter from his teacher kept by his mother in a box in the basement of their house. On reading it out, the teacher had clearly mentioned instead that Thomas Alva Edison was a difficult child,with acute learning disability and there were zero chances of him reaching any position in life.Hence,kindly pull him out of our school as he is a bad influence on his class-mates. But, just because of the words his mother chose to use and motivate her son,this very difficult child,with acute learning disability went on to become one of the pioneering inventors of the world.
 
This then, my friends, goes on to demonstrate the immense power of WORDS…

Experiencing the Existence of GOD…

 

The existence of GOD has been a matter of emphatic debates in the philosophy of religion and popular culture for the last many centuries.A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence oGod have been put forth by many learned individuals,atheists,philosophers and thinkers. I would like to share with you my point of view on this subject and would like to explain the same with a small story.
 
To begin with,on a lighter vein,would mention and everyone knows that barber shops and paan shops are the epicenters of overflowing knowledge because of the varied clientele visiting them.Every male frequents them at regular intervals and all kinds of discussions, be it spiritual,educational,religious or political are carried out with a lot of gusto. The ladies, not to be left out, participate in such debates when at beauty parlours. Men visit the barber shops to get entertained as well and spend a lot of time while the barber is attending to their mane and facial hair.
 
Now,one day, a client was sitting in the chair at the Barber shop while his hair and beard were being trimmed. The Barber during one such debates on spirituality- happened to mention that he was convinced with the fact that there is NO existence of GOD or any SUPERPOWER and could not find any logic supporting this as well. To this,the person sitting in the chair replied with conviction that YES, i am of the firm belief that GOD surely exists.
The Barber replied back providing his arguments to support the statement that if GOD really existed,then why in this world was there a lot of suffering,why would GOD not look after the orphans,beggars,homeless people and poverty-stricken masses of the world. The Barber was very adamant with his opinion and tried to give further reasons as to why he was very confident of the statement that there is NO existence of GOD. Now the person in the chair was rendered speechless, but he left the shop as his mane and beard had been catered to.
 
Even though,the person had not debated further on the topic with the Barber but he wanted to make sure that the Barber would have to be convinced with a befitting live example on the existence of GOD because only then he would be able to contradict the logic given by the Barber. So,as he was walking back towards his home,he could see a man coming at a distance and as the man came nearer,this person could see that the man was very shabby with long,dirty unkempt hair and beard. The man forcibly took this person by the hand and went back to the Barber shop. On reaching the Barber shop,the man said to the Barber that you can see the shabby unkempt hair and beard this person is carrying. The Barber agreed that the person actually was in a shoddy state with long ,scruffy hair and a dirty beard as well. To this, the man said to the Barber that the reason of his shabby look is because this person does NOT believe in the existence of Barbers.The person is of the opinion that there are no Barbers in this world. This statement of the man made the Barber retort back that Barbers do exist and people need to search/seek for him to find him.Even if you shout for me in the streets, only then can i reply back in the affirmative that i am available to cater to your requirements.Only if people look out / search for /ask for me then only can i be found. The man replied that this exactly my friend is the answer to your doubting the existence of GOD.
 
Hence,I would like to conclude here by saying that – Seek and you shall Find,Ask for and you shall Receive,Place your concerns/troubles with GOD and he shall address each one of them in his time.The only logic that explains the existence of GOD is our unfaltering FAITH[without doubts] and our belief that GOD will be with us as our Guide whenever we sincerely seek for HIM. 

WILL POWER-The Potential to Transform !!!

 

Most of us may have often wondered that even though we know the correct from the incorrect and good from the bad, but a lot of times things go wrong in our lives.
 
I would like to mention here that this is a misconception that everyone is aware about everything- the good from the bad and a Guru would never teach his/her pupils with this thought.Like the parents / elders while counselling their kids think that since they themselves are the authority on correct / incorrect and hence kids would require their regular inputs on everything. But in my opinion,in the current situation, the kids are sometimes more knowledgeable than their parents but this knowledge mostly remains directionless. And if we start being curious enough to analyze and understand the reasons- the why and how of it,then we will become better equipped to handle firstly ourselves and thereafter  our kids.
 
I would like to elaborate this concept by sharing a short story- “During the battle of Mahabharat, Duryodhan who is considered to be the sole creator of the premise for the entire duel between the two clans,his behavior was morally incorrect and caused a lot of blood-shed. Here i would like to add that very few people may be aware of this incident that- one day Duryodhan went to Bhishma Pitamaah and keeping his head by the feet of Bhishma Pitamaah started weeping bitterly. Tearfully,  Duryodhan accepted that he very clearly knew that he is fighting for a wrong cause,my actions are not virtuous.This is leading me into sin,i have made myself eligible to receive pain ,Hell and this terrible guilt is eating me from within. I often question myself that even though i know and feel that i am committing a grave wrong deed but still why am i unable to stop myself from doing it.
 
To this Bhishma Pitamaah replied back very beautifully saying that, everything in life does not get solved just by the knowledge / awareness / preaching about the problems / misdeeds.But in practical life,the transformation [change] comes about not through the knowledge about it but happens purely with determined WILL POWER. Bhishma Pitamaah reprimanded Duryodhan saying that you Duryodhan;even though have the knowledge about virtuousness and sin but do not possess the required will power,the determination / strength to deviate yourself from the path of evil. However,this trait of will power was inherent / inseparable from Bhishma Pitamaah and he is known to be an epitome of the same. Bhishma Pitamaah restated this to Duryodhan that he needs to work on his Will Power to find solutions to his problems.”
 
Now coming back to the real life situations, i would like to mention that the youth of today is much more competent than their elders / parents and there is absolutely no inadequacy of awareness on any domain. But the youth has become aimless like a kite with strings unattached because they lack the most important aspect of-WILL POWER . This power can transform your entire being,can make you limitless and a go-getter. This power can be attained by being with oneself,introspecting and getting relaxed through deep meditation.And during this meditation,the inherent power that springs out like dynamic energy,thereby rejuvenating our dormant consciousness and acting as the cradle to enlightenment is known as-WILL POWER.

LIFE MANAGEMENT-Awareness is the Key…

 

Our Life in this world is the most beautiful and valuable gift bestowed upon us by the ALMIGHTY-CREATOR.Our innumerable blessings are namely- our body,our consciousness,the emotional structure and these are absolutely astounding. We may have heard many speakers who also are of the opinion that our existing knowledge and education system is somewhat incomplete.It does not work on improving our bodily health or does very little to guide us on how to enlighten our consciousness and many other such gaps we do come across. Therefore, once during my meditation,the thought dawned on me that why cannot we instead of complaining of what has not been said/done yet, focus our entire energies and actions on designing something to cater to this very void. Hence,me and my team have chalked out an extensive course namely- LIFE MANAGEMENT
 
Definition : Good life management ensures that every facet of our life grows as naturally as it should. Without good life management, we tend to neglect some vital aspects of our personal growth while overemphasizing the less vital ones.
 
Hence,in this expansive course,we have assimilated 12 aspects which are necessary for us to lead a beautiful,happy,fruitful and content life. Since,these aspects have been entirely left out in the school/college curriculum and we do not intend to crib for the same here. Instead,I believe for overcoming this shortcoming,we should draw a longer line and the purpose would get resolved with our persistent efforts. We have put a lot of creative thought in devising the course.Around 1000 plus people till date have undergone this course with remarkable results when the learning were put into practice.
 
Since,there are 12 aspects of this course and we would be taking you through one of them-namely and most importantly HEALTH. The meaning of the word “HEALTH” in Hindi is “Swasthya” and it can be broken down to mean “stability within oneself”. Ideally our body should be so light & fresh that we should not feel the burden/strain of living. For eg. in the case of a headache,we are bound to feel the presence of our head,likewise in the case of pain in our leg / finger- makes us feel their presence. Thus, if our body is in good condition and shape,we would feel burden free. But in recent times,our society has come to associate a healthy body with the notion that the body should be devoid of diseases like diabetes for one,blood-pressure,weak heart,cancer etc.I would like to state that this is an absolutely wrong concept of a healthy body since it being a very negative definition. 
 
The correct definition / concept of HEALTH is that our body should be fresh and easy to carry. We need to have  good stamina- having a steady reservoir of energy, even if we have to climb many stairs instead of taking elevators. And nowadays,people in general do not possess good stamina and get breathless very soon while doing even a small physical activity.The perfect state of good stamina is that we should not be feeling the drag while climbing a lot of stairs/performing any physically laborious activity. Hence, I would like to put the definition of good HEALTH in this way that our bodies should be fresh,strain free,having good stamina to endure physical activities for longer periods. Secondly, a person who is a powerhouse of dynamic energy and a live wire in each moment ,I would address such a person as being a Healthy Person.
 
Thirdly,the vital aspect of Health is also how strongly our immune systems work.If the immunity of a person is powerful, thereby making our bodies less susceptible to common diseases,then he/she has a healthy body. And all we need to keep our body healthy is that we need to deeply understand that how our body functions.I would like to pick an example from the discourse of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and share that-when we buy a smartphone,we visit the service center to understand/learn it’s entire functionalities even though it is just another electronic item and always replaceable.But we do not take the most complex machinery in this world namely-Human Body seriously and never take a sincere moment to understand it’s mechanisms.We do not give due importance to the features of our human body like-what to ,when to eat/drink,what should be our emotional state of mind to help better digestion process and release of optimum energy. Correct position to sleep,when to sleep to get deep rest,the correct mental state and timing of food consumption can fill us with ecstasy and compassion;fill us with dynamic energy and enhance stamina. 
 
The knowledge of these mechanisms can be attained under expert guidance only and reading books on health / attending classes will not serve the purpose.Hence,I would state that coaching would not help and my discourses also are just the transfer of information whereby if they inspire my disciples / listeners to gain life skills,then only can it be deemed meaningful. Because,no change has been brought about just by the transfer of information; until and unless the same is implemented.The correct way is to undertake a training and let the changes come about within us in small steps during our daily routine.Such changes go a long way in helping the body to slowly but surely reach the pedestal called- HEALTH.
 
Therefore,the foremost dimension of LIFE MANAGEMENT course is our focus towards building and sustaining HEALTH. As already discussed,HEALTH is the possession of a burden free body,good stamina,overflowing energy and an invincible immune system.A lot of times these days,it comes to my notice during my working with the youth and I would request you to pardon my saying this that, immense potential lies unrealized in them and they tend to wander directionless with the lowest possible energies. Hence, I have devised few training methods to fire up and energize their dormant power sources. So,i would humbly request you all to live this one life with awareness of the maximum intrinsic possibilities that our CREATOR has blessed us with.

# Listening # is an ART !!

 

It is said that we should listen like a Dog,yes like a Dog !!! I will try to make you understand the above statement and when i conclude, I believe and hope that I was convincing enough with my logic.
 
With my 21 years experience of training people from all walks of life, I can with utter conviction,mention here that the first and foremost aspect of diplomacy / communication is agreeing to disagree.This leads us into agreement[positive] and not into argument[negative]. Even if the other person may be mentioning a totally wrong / illogical thing, we should never argue with the person.Say if a person states that “Dawood Ibrahim is a good man”, we should agree with him/her even if we know for sure that Dawood Ibrahim is a wanted criminal/fugitive by International Police. On doing this,we would see, much to our amusement, that the other person feels deflated/dejected because he was expecting us to contradict him and thereby initiating an argument.
 
To further elaborate on this technique,I would quote the method of Gandhigiri where we should be receptive through our ears and not retaliate verbally / otherwise on the slightest provocation.In our country especially, since that most of my of work experience has been within India,i have come to observe a very saddening truth that as a country we are more fond of arguments than agreements and we do not listen from our ears. Now to come to think of it that then, from where do we Indians listen ? The answer to this unfortunately is that we as a nation mostly listen with our mind[own prejudice],our mouth [between interruptions], and our nose [ego/false pride].
 
For example, if a person of Pakistani origin comes to India and during a discourse if he happens to even vaguely mention about the corruption and unemployment scenario prevalent in India,the entire nation of 1.3 billion plus would take acute offence.Every atom of our bodies would be retorting back that -“Preacher,heal thyself. How dare you comment on anything about India ? You should introspect that since Pakistan being a failed state is a world known fact,you have absolutely no moral right to counsel India on how to handle it’s internal affairs.” This example clearly demonstrates that we have listened from our nose [ego/false pride] and not from our ears. Although we know that surely we do have a severe problem of corruption and unemployment,but we are not ready to lower our guard and accept the stark reality / facts from a person of  Pakistani origin.
 
Thus,I would like to reiterate that the most important pillar of communication that we teach and learn in training is the art of listening to ourselves and to others from our ears and not from your mind / mouth.