Imagine a genie, immensely powerful, capable of the most amazing feats. Imagine it beside you, invisible, at all times. Imagine yourself in command of the genie, able to make any demand and at any time. Demands that the genie will fulfill, no questions asked.
What if all you ever needed to do was ask?
Truth is, we are always asking. Whether we do it knowingly or not, we are always giving the genie instructions. And the genie is always processing it, altering our reality by fractions, giving us exactly what we want.
Not much is known about the nature of the genie. There are many theories, some more popular than others.
One theory says the genie is our own sub-conscious mind. I will try to explain.
For the most part, our reality is decided by what we perceive through our sense organs. We believe what we see. This, in essence, is what forms the basis of our conscious mind.
The sub-conscious mind however, is blind to the world. It does not interpret reality. It merely takes the conscious mind's version of things and accepts it without question.
The senses observe the world and feed the conscious. The conscious feeds the sub-conscious. The sub-conscious makes us who we are.
The power that our sub-conscious mind has over us is phenomenal. See a point I made in my previous post - How to Get Lucky. Hypnosis takes the conscious mind out of the picture by putting the subject into sleep or a similar trance-like state during which the mind becomes vulnerable.
Ideas are directly fed to the sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious, as is its nature, accepts everything as true. Its interpretation is not based on accepted definitions of reality or even what we believe to be right & wrong. It just listens and obeys.
Take a moment to consider what you feed your sub-conscious during an avarage day. Your states of mind, your moods, your choice of television programmes, news and cinema.
Is there a pattern? Do you find yourself telling your sub-conscious something particular over and over again? Is it a worry? An anxiety? A fear? Do you frequently feed it despair, anger, and frustration?
Or do you tell your sub-conscious you are happy? Do you tell it you can deal with anything? Do you ask for power and strength? Do you tell your sub-conscious that even though things may seem bleak, they will not beat you?
The ask-you-shall-get premise is not limited to the mind-body analogy alone. I have found this same message in various kinds of literature. The idea of us not being alone is something you can find practically anywhere you care to look (fantasy novels, religious texts, spiritual literature, self-help books, comic books etcetera).
Personally, I find the concept very much in line with the practice of praying. The same kind of doubts apply to this theory as well. An atheist may say praying is a waste of time and will not work. He doesn't pray because it is not effective. In reality, it does not work because he doesn't pray.
You could say that the sub-conscious doesn't matter. You could argue that the world is what it seems to be. You could call yourself practical and trust what your senses feed you.
Guess what? Your sub-conscious will agree with you. Without a question. Always.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
What do you feed your genie?
Sunday, May 4, 2008
How to Get Lucky
Do you know Shalu? She was a classmate of mine in college. She was unlucky (or so she thought). She told everyone about how terribly lacking in prosperity her life was. She looked at smiling faces and found reasons to explain why she could not smile like that.
She whined day in and day out about how unfair the world was to her. She believed everything was futile and had a million reasons to prove why nothing would ever work and why life is terrible and why it would never get any better.
Most likely you don't know Shalu. But you are sure to know someone very much like her. Someone who is never happy and in fact, seems to go looking for unhappiness. Someone extremely talented when it comes to looking for faults. So talented that even when good things are pointed out to them, all they can see is faults.
I learned a lot of things from Shalu. I learned that depression can become an addiction. I learned that depression can be contagious. Most importantly, I learned the secret behind good luck from her.
Of course, I didn't know it at the time. The lesson kind of grew on me in course of the years that followed.
Luck is a strange and powerful word. We throw it about in daily conversations, seek it more than anything else, even grow jealous when others show signs of possessing it. Most of us seem convinced it is a crucial deciding factor in all matters in life. Many also believe there is little we can do about luck. You either have it, or you don't.
I have been called lucky all my life. At times, to the point of frustration. Imagine working hard for something, getting it, and then the credit going to your lucky stars.
Perhaps this was because I never looked like I am working hard. And when I do look like I am hard at work, I fail, miserably (Want to see my high school math grades?). Then again, areas that I have done well in, have never really been hard work either. I have had fun doing things that brought me happiness and success.
I do believe luck exists. But not as something outside us. It is not something we all must reach out for. Something that is short in supply and must be guarded with jealous zeal.
We are all born with all the luck we are ever going to need. We become lucky or unlucky depending on whether we accept it or deny it.
I have this thing with my attitude. Some have called me a bullheaded optimist. Barring the flowery language, I have nothing against the definition. I have mostly been, from as far back as I can remember, utterly blind to the possibility of failure. I have always believed that the odds don't apply to me. I admit there have been times when events have come close to shaking my faith, but I am happy to report that the demons returned empty handed.
Of course, this theory is rooted in the general faith that one's mind rules one's reality. You may have heard of the case where a hypnotist told a subject he was being touched with a red hot iron and instead touched him with a pen. The subject instantly developed a blister at the point of contact. What determined his reality wasn't what happened. What was eventually real to him was what he thought was real. (see details here)
How about if you stop saying, 'That's it. I'm screwed.' or, 'I'm never going to make it now!'?
What if you started, instead, to tell yourself that you can do it. No bright and flashy, "YES, I CAN!" trip. A moderate affirmation will do. Something that will convince you. Something you say as if it can't be anything but true.
Here's an example. Try saying, "I will make 50,000 bucks more this month," in the same tone as you might say, "I take the bus to work every morning."
If you make a habit of it, nothing like it. Don't sound dreamy. Don't sound like you wish for it to happen more than anything else. Just say it like its true. Like it has already happened.
She whined day in and day out about how unfair the world was to her. She believed everything was futile and had a million reasons to prove why nothing would ever work and why life is terrible and why it would never get any better.
Most likely you don't know Shalu. But you are sure to know someone very much like her. Someone who is never happy and in fact, seems to go looking for unhappiness. Someone extremely talented when it comes to looking for faults. So talented that even when good things are pointed out to them, all they can see is faults.
I learned a lot of things from Shalu. I learned that depression can become an addiction. I learned that depression can be contagious. Most importantly, I learned the secret behind good luck from her.
Of course, I didn't know it at the time. The lesson kind of grew on me in course of the years that followed.
Luck is a strange and powerful word. We throw it about in daily conversations, seek it more than anything else, even grow jealous when others show signs of possessing it. Most of us seem convinced it is a crucial deciding factor in all matters in life. Many also believe there is little we can do about luck. You either have it, or you don't.
I have been called lucky all my life. At times, to the point of frustration. Imagine working hard for something, getting it, and then the credit going to your lucky stars.
Perhaps this was because I never looked like I am working hard. And when I do look like I am hard at work, I fail, miserably (Want to see my high school math grades?). Then again, areas that I have done well in, have never really been hard work either. I have had fun doing things that brought me happiness and success.
I do believe luck exists. But not as something outside us. It is not something we all must reach out for. Something that is short in supply and must be guarded with jealous zeal.
We are all born with all the luck we are ever going to need. We become lucky or unlucky depending on whether we accept it or deny it.
I have this thing with my attitude. Some have called me a bullheaded optimist. Barring the flowery language, I have nothing against the definition. I have mostly been, from as far back as I can remember, utterly blind to the possibility of failure. I have always believed that the odds don't apply to me. I admit there have been times when events have come close to shaking my faith, but I am happy to report that the demons returned empty handed.
Of course, this theory is rooted in the general faith that one's mind rules one's reality. You may have heard of the case where a hypnotist told a subject he was being touched with a red hot iron and instead touched him with a pen. The subject instantly developed a blister at the point of contact. What determined his reality wasn't what happened. What was eventually real to him was what he thought was real. (see details here)
How about if you stop saying, 'That's it. I'm screwed.' or, 'I'm never going to make it now!'?
What if you started, instead, to tell yourself that you can do it. No bright and flashy, "YES, I CAN!" trip. A moderate affirmation will do. Something that will convince you. Something you say as if it can't be anything but true.
Here's an example. Try saying, "I will make 50,000 bucks more this month," in the same tone as you might say, "I take the bus to work every morning."
If you make a habit of it, nothing like it. Don't sound dreamy. Don't sound like you wish for it to happen more than anything else. Just say it like its true. Like it has already happened.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
What my name is
This story goes back a while. My family has been following a naming template for two generations now. Uncles, cousins, siblings, all follow (or are made to follow) the naming convention in the name of upholding family honour. As a result, we are called Mahendra, Upendra, Amarendra, Samarendra, and Vijayendra (me) respectively and in that order.
I was never comfortable with this arrangement. My mother tells me that at the time of my naming someone suggested Kumarendra and everyone almost went with it. Had a wise elder cousin not come up with my present name, I would be just another Mr. Kumar today.
Some time in my early teens, I decided to name myself. I wanted to call myself something that marked me as unique and not as a part of the Nepal royal family.
So, I did what young Tom Riddle did. I took my given name, and made my new name with it. I called myself Vimoh. It is sort of an acronym of my first and last name. In addition, it is Sanskrit for 'enrapture'. You may have heard of mythological sages and hermits getting all vimohit due to heavenly apsaras giving them private performances. The name stayed with me through my school life and college. It was one of my first email usernames. On many web services even today (like on stumbleupon), it remains the way I identify myself as.
Ironically, Vimoh may also mean 'free of attachments'. Sanskrit is a funny ancient language I know. I choose to go with the first version.
I have nothing against my mortal family and the given name. Just that I think one's name should be one's own.
I was never comfortable with this arrangement. My mother tells me that at the time of my naming someone suggested Kumarendra and everyone almost went with it. Had a wise elder cousin not come up with my present name, I would be just another Mr. Kumar today.
Some time in my early teens, I decided to name myself. I wanted to call myself something that marked me as unique and not as a part of the Nepal royal family.
So, I did what young Tom Riddle did. I took my given name, and made my new name with it. I called myself Vimoh. It is sort of an acronym of my first and last name. In addition, it is Sanskrit for 'enrapture'. You may have heard of mythological sages and hermits getting all vimohit due to heavenly apsaras giving them private performances. The name stayed with me through my school life and college. It was one of my first email usernames. On many web services even today (like on stumbleupon), it remains the way I identify myself as.
Ironically, Vimoh may also mean 'free of attachments'. Sanskrit is a funny ancient language I know. I choose to go with the first version.
I have nothing against my mortal family and the given name. Just that I think one's name should be one's own.
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