The healing power of books

Getting into reading habit is one of the significant developments in my life.  I think I started sometime around when I was in 6^th standard reading Telugu newspapers and my all time favorite newspaper ‘The Hindu’.  Around the same time, I started my first magazine reading with a telugu magazine ‘Wonder world’ and later on moved to ‘Competitors Success Review - CSR’ and continued with it for almost a decade.  I am proud to say I have till date all the magazines of CSR.  Then I went on to compare news in Telugu and English newspapers as well as from different local newspaper.  Then I started with India Today, The Week and Outlook.  But above all, it was the ‘Frontline’ magazine for which I waited eagerly.  Till date, Frontline and Hindu newspapers are my benchmarks in regard to writing and presenting a topic.

After when I first stuck with my failure, I got my hands on these Self Help books and with them I also started reading Autobiographies and historical books.  On the same path of reading, I started my journey into spiritual books with Ramakrishna Math books which were at affordable prices for me at that time.  Another great thing which happens to me was the discovery of State owned libraries which contains tons and tons of good books.  I almost spent my Engineering days in the local library and read any and all books on which I can lay my hands.  As these books were costly and I couldn’t offer them at that time, I use to go to library (as they didn’t allow Non-locals to borrow the books) and spend the whole day. 

Second hand books purchased on Sundays in Abids, Hyderabad, is from where I started my own library which old and new books.  I am proud to say I have a collection of almost 2000 books ranging from spirituality, history, autobiographies, self help and technical books.

Books have more influence on me.  I also depend on books for emotional support as they are my stress busters.   It takes me 60-70 pages per hour and almost 4 to 5 hours to complete a book depending on the size of the book.  I normally underline or take notes during reading and will summarize the whole book as per my understanding.  When I feel bored, I pick up two or three books and travel to some nearby places and make a point to return after completely reading those books.

I like serious books.  I hate reading novels, coffee table books and classic English literature.

I have a big list of books to read and very happy to have this habit of reading.

Happy Reading….

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

Brahmachari President: Mr. Kalam

This soil has produced many great sons who time and time again have spread the greatness of this culture by truly following it in their own lives.  One such person who we look up to is Mr. Kalam, the people president of India.

“Courage to think different, courage to invent, courage to travel on the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible, and courage to impact problems are the unique qualities of the youth.  Don’t just sit there and crib about the bad system.  Join it to change it.  It does not matter which society you belong to, you can achieve your dream’. That was the message from former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

It is very rare to see someone so inspiring and urge people to think positively.  I think after Swami Vivekananda, we kind such role model in Kalam.

Kalam’s mantra is based on four proven steps to achieve success

1.       Aim in life

2.       Acquire knowledge through books

3.       Emulate lives of great human beings

4.       Work hard to defeat problems

Organ donation:

Over 100 people, inspired by kalam speech, signed forms pledging their organs after death to the needy in Bangalore.  Kalam, known for his pro-active speeches, urged people to make India a great nation.  He said no nobler service existed than bringing succor to the sick.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

Patanjali Yoga

Patanjali’s eight-step discipline to Yoga

1.       YAMA – Restraining harmful thoughts and impulses

2.       NIYAMA – Cultivating good habits

3.       ASANA – Learning sitting posture for prolonged time

4.       PRANAYAMA – Learning techniques of rhythm breathing

5.       PRATYAHARA – Withdrawing senses from their Objects of Enjoyment

6.       DHARANA – Fixing the mind on object of Contemplation

7.       DHYANA – Uninterrupted Contemplation – Meditation

8.       SAMADHI – Total absorption of mind in object of contemplation

The first two steps, Yama and Niyama purify and strengthen our minds through moral and ethical exercises.

The third step, Asana is assuming postures that allow us to sit comfortably and meditate for at least an hour or two.  Continuously sitting in Yoga posture for three hours is called ASANA-SIDDHA.

The four step, Pranayama, is a breathing technique to control our mental and physical energies.

The fifth step, Pratyahara, is withdrawing our minds from all other objects of meditation.

The sixth step, Dharana, is holding our minds with great concentration on the object of meditation.

The seventh step, Dhyana, is more mature form of Dharana.

The eighth step, Samadhi, is concentration par excellence. 

For more information and guidance, visit http://www.ramakrishnavedantamath.org or mail to ramakrishnavedantamath@vsnl.net

Note – The above points are notes I have scrubbed down while reading the book “Meditation – Mind and Patanjali’s” written by Swami Bhaskarananda. I am blogging this material only to encourage the readers who see my blog to read the book and is not meant for any commercial purpose. It is just sharing information about a good book.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

 

The Bagchi Principles for Success

Mind Tree CEO Mr. Subroto Bagchi Success principles

Success is mainly about leaving a legacy behind for the future generations and reaching extraordinary heights with ordinary means and people.  All of us want fulfillment in life.  Now, picture your life to be a huge container that needs to be fulfilled for you to be satisfied.  Say the container has only one tap.  This is your ‘work’.  There‘s only a certain extent to which this tap can fill your container: what happens if it dries out? The best thing is to make sure there is more than one tap.  The other should be your ‘hobby’, ‘health’, ‘giving to others’ and lots more.  Only if all these taps are open will your container be filled.  So, make sure you fill your life with a lot of things and find satisfaction out of all of them.  He also warns that every now and then, ‘a tap goes dry’.  Also, ‘no harmony is possible without strife.  Behind every harmony there’s some strife and after every strife, there’s harmony waiting to be found.

Life depends on how you look at it.  So, enjoy it and be positive.