Bondage & Liberation Are of The Mind Alone
    Date :24-Nov-2019

 
By T G L IYER :
 
Virgil (70-19 BC) wrote: “They can because they believe they can”. Good thoughts are no better than good dreams if you don’t follow through. Education is an admirable thing but it is well to remember that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. Also others cease to interest us when we find their limitations. Sometimes we dislike other people only because we dislike ourselves. So take care to correct it in ourselves. Also ideas are a capital that bears interest in the Hand of Talent.
 
If a thing is known for a long time, it loses its freshness. New ideas could sprout only when the mind is fresh and clean. In the poem Man in the mirror, the Poet says: “If you get what you want in your struggle for self, and the world makes you king for a day, then go to the mirror and look at yourself, and see what that man has to say. It is not a man, father, mother or wife whose judgement upon him must pass; the fellow whose verdict counts most in his life is the man staring back at the glass. He is the fellow to please, never mind all the rest, for He is with you right up to the end; and you have passed your most dangerous difficult test; if the Man in the glass is your friend.
 
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years. And get pats on your back as you pass; but your final reward will be headache and tears; if you have cheated the man in the glass.” My friend used to say: “A friend is someone who knows the song in your Heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. To be original, never imitate any other but be original. Be natural and not artificial and Heart in work and that is the secret. Aim of education is not knowledge but action. The desert of Sahara or Gobi is not in Africa or China but it is in the Head! There are two people one can please and that is God and myself.”
 
The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and the wonderful which slips into the pupil’s comprehension. The way to build a better Nation is to build better individuals. A successful Nation is composed of citizens the majority of whom are efficient and of good character and possess a reasonably high sense of duty. A Nation with good people have nothing to fear because goodness always shines even in bad people. That secret is known only when goodness overshadows every step Man takes.
 
My teacher used to say: “A person with great talents but without good manners is like someone with bags of gold who has no small change for his daily needs. Usually, people are happy and fulfilled when their lives are consistent with their highest values and their inner most convictions”. High performing people are clear about what they believe and stand for. They don’t deviate from their values. Unhappy people compromise with their values. This is not a secret but an open theory to follow. A person’s values determine his personality. It determines his priorities and choices. It shows his interests in life. In fact, values shape destiny. Select a value and make it a focal point. A mission clarifies what you wish to accomplish in life in the years ahead.
 
A mission is measurable and achievable. A mission statement revolves around your values. Always try to upgrade your skills. And it can be done through reading, curiosity, asking, interaction, experimentation, focus and action. If our ideas are clear, results will be definite. My father used to say: “It is easy to get into a RUT. To get out of it, you have to get out of your comfort zone. Engage in new activities and eliminate complacency that is doing the same routine things again and again. Ups and Down of life are the biggest inspiration for an artist.
 
At every step life passes through you, hurts you, touches you, embraces you; everything depend on how you seize these moments.” If you want to be whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty (Tao te ching). Light is all not positive; Darkness is all not negative. Night is not enemy of day. Energy is not opposite of matter. They are all aspects of the same whole. To say something is not exhibiting knowledge and to say nothing while speaking is half the art of diplomacy. Nobody travels on the road to success without a picture or two. Real education should automatically bring out creativity