Gollapudi Maruthi Rao Column in Telugu

Understanding Mind

The mind is superior to the body. It is the mind that makes the body, but not vice versa. Mind is a repository of thoughts. Negative and evil thoughts make the mind weak. Weak and uncontrolled mind always succumbs to temptations, creating havoc with a person. The habits of brooding over failures gives rise to negative thoughts. Swami Vivekananda's words will certainly help us to overcome such weaknesses. He said: 'The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them'.

There are a few fortunate souls who are lucky enough to attain success without pitfalls; the rest have to pass though the hurdles and difficulties. But the real hero is he who welcomes challenges in life and faces them with boldness and courage. Such a person crossing all the hurdles comes out successfully like a lion. The following incident took place during Swami Vivekananda wandering days, when he was staying at Varanasi. It conveys a profound message to the whole world. One day, while returning from the Durga temple, Swamiji was chased by some monkeys. TO save himself , Swamiji started running, but the monkeys ran still faster and grew increasingly aggressive. Meanwhile, an old monk who was witnessing the scene called out to him: 'Stop running. Face the brutes.' Swamiji heard his call and turned to 'face the brutes.; Then the monkeys stopped harassing him. Swamiji drew a great lesson from this incident. He learnt that one should not run away, when faced with danger or difficulty; and instead, one must face it boldly. In his later life, addressing a gathering in New York, he said: 'That is a lesson for all life-face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back, when we cease to flee before them. Cowards never win victories. We have to face fear and troubles and ignorance, if we expect them to flee before us.

STRONG MIND

1. A strong mind always remains calm even in adversities.
2. It never succumbs to temptations, and develops tremendous courage to say 'NO' to immoral thoughts and action.
3. It always remains free from prejudice, suspicion and jealousy.
4. Clarity of thinking makes it possible to take right decisions and come to right judgements.
5. Such a mind will never indulge in wrong action, prompted by evil emotions, such as desire, anger, greed, greed, hatred, etc., but will be always guided by serious, deep and right thinking.
6. Positive thinking, concentration, fearlessness, adventurous nature, and self-confidence are the vital qualities of a strong mind.

WEAK MIND

1. A weak mind gets irritation and loses temper over trifling matters and reacts violently.
2. Such a mind can easily succumb to temptations, like bribery, stealing, etc.
3. Due to confusion, suspicion, and prejudice, if fails to take the right decision and make impartial judgements.
4. Such a mind always compromises with and surrenders to evil forces.
5.It cannot face challenges in life, and tries to escape from them by adoption easy and cheap methods.
6. Such a mind always takes recourse to weeping and grumbling.
7. Such a mind never appreciates good qualities in others.
8. Restlessness, fear, tension, laziness, frustration, superstition, and negative thinking are the main characteristics of a weak mind.

Even a weak and uncontrolled mind can be controlled by applying strong will power and regular training. The body needs nutritious food, so does the mind need good ideas. Though t-power is a great source for strengthening the mind. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that mind is just like a laundered cloth; whatever colour you dip it in, it will take the same colour. Our actions are the concert forms of our thoughts. Once we change our way of thinking and develop a habit to think noble and positive ideas, it will bring tremendous change in our conduct and behaviour. Swami Vivekananda has give us hope, when he said: 'Whatever you think, that you will be, if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be.' Underestimating one's own capacity and constantly thinking in a negative way, such as, i am good for nothing, I am hopeless, I am worthless, I am a sinner. is the prime cause of our mental weakness. Tremendous power is hidden within us : positive thinking is the only way to bring it out.

The habits of reading good, mind-strengthening, and wholesome literature always provides healthy food for our mind. _the selection of such reading material and the company of good people will certainly enhance our mental strength. Specially for the youth, Swami Vivekananda's literature is most inspiring, and a storehouse of all positive and constructive ideas. While explaining the impact of this literature to Romain Rolland, Rabindranath Tagore said: 'If you want to understand India, study Vivekananda; in him, everything is positive nothing negative.'

So, positive thinking, the habit of reading good books, and the practice of meditation are the few means to improve our mental strength, which forms a part of our personality.

-- Swami Vivekananda

Laws of Life

1. Love Is The Law Of Life: All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.

2. It's Your Outlook That Matters: It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.

3. Life is Beautiful: First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves!

4. It's The Way You Feel: Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God.

5. Set Yourself Free: The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

6. Don't Play The Blame Game: Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.

7. Help Others: If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.

8. Uphold Your Ideals: Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.

9. Listen To Your Soul: You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

10. Be Yourself: The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!

11. Nothing Is Impossible: Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

12. You Have The Power: All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.

13. Learn Everyday: The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.

14. Be Truthful: Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.

15. Think Different: All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.

- Swami Vivekananda