Lessons from "Inward Bound"

Why did you select this book to read?

As I’m interested in reading spiritual books and practicing for meditation, I used to search for new knowledge. Last year l got an opportunity to participate for a retreat on Mindfulness. Thereafter, my interest grows on the subject. One day when I was listening to an International webinar on mindfulness, that session was Moderated by Mr Deepal Sooriyarachchi. The organizer introduced him as an author of many business books in Sinhala and Inward Bound for Mindfulness. It made me to check my bookshelf to find the book. As I have purchased it at a book launched at PIM some time back. I went through the book again & realized the value of those practical guidance to our life.

Read it and reflect on it.

What is mindfulness?

It’s not about “a mind full of things”. But to being able to know what goes on in your mind in this present moment. Aware of the things happening around you and within you.

To be here and now, let go of the past & the future. In the book Mr Sooriarachchi shares how hunters in Asian countries use a simple trick to capture monkeys.

 The hunters make a small hole in a coconut that a monkey can reach inside only by squeezing the hand. Inside the coconut they place some peanuts. When the monkey reaches and grabs a few peanuts and close the fist, it will fail to pull the hand out of the coconut. The monkey couldn’t figure out that by letting go of these peanuts, that it can pull the hand out. Eventually the hunters capture the monkey.

 This is exactly what happens to us. Until we let go of the painful thoughts of the past and worries about the future, we can be free from the suffering and enjoy the present moment.

 “Self-awareness is a key component of Emotional Intelligence”- Daniel Goleman

 It’s a critical capability for today’s successful Executives and central to success of a businessman in the 21^st Century.

 

How can we use mindfulness in our day-to-day life?

 In the book you can find 20 simple practices we can use in our day-to-day life. Such as drinking your cup of tea/coffee, eating as a practice to improve mindfulness, shower in the present moment, get dress mindfully, driving mindfully is a pleasure, cooking in the present moment, practice in the shopping mall, stretch and start slow to drive fast.

 Let’s talk about, having your morning cup of tea/coffee as it’s done for the 1^st time…

 Observe the shape of the cup,

Look at the tea inside the cup,

Observe the color of the tea/coffee in the cup,

Now touch the cup and hold it. Feel the warmth and the smoothness of its surface,

Bring the cup towards your mouth as slow as possible,

Observer the aroma emerges from the tea/coffee,

Notice the intention to drink,

Bring the cup closer to your lips,

Observe the warm sensation on your lips,

Become aware of the process how hot tea/coffee touches your lips and tongue,

The taste?... the sound of swallowing…

 Repeat the whole process as many times, slower to become aware of the present moment.

 

How important is paying forward instead of paying back?

 In the book he shares the lessons learned and best practices from Dai Ichi life insurance sponsors seminar.

After world war II, Japan was helped by German Insurance company to restart their insurance. They wanted to show their gratitude. But the German company did not need any help. Hence, they decided not to pay back but to pay forward.

Being grateful is a skill that can be developed and can be a way of life. (Living a life with an attitude of Gratitude) Remembering the help offered to us by another person in different stages of our life. We will recall many who helped us in both big or small ways – Paying Back

 Being grateful towards them, in our thoughts and do what was done to us, to others – Paying forward

 

What is the formula for success?

Before we talk about for success, let’s know how we fail. In the book he develops an acronym called RAPID.

R- Restlessness and Remorse, meaning lack of focus, inability to stay on course and being worried about what was done or not done in the past.

A – Aversion, fighting and avoiding situations that I do not like

P – Procrastination, postponing things to be done later

I – Indulgence, giving into the demands to satisfy senses forgetting the task at hand

D- Doubt, lack of self-confidence, not having a clear idea of the path to be followed.

 

The 5R formula to overcome RAPID,

(For more details visit,  www.mindfulexecutive.net)

The Power of Now

 

The spiritual book that ignites me for being in the present moment.

During the 1^st lockdown in Covid 19 pandemic, I was able to download an eBook called “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle.  At first, I couldn’t get the concepts clearly. But, during the month of August, I got an opportunity to participate for a seven-day residential retreat at Nissarana Vanaya, Meethirigala (details on www.nissarana.lk). There I learned to practice mindful walking, mindful sitting and perform activities mindfully during the day. Without any distraction from scrolling through social media on mobile, reading books, watching television and even talking to each other. That relaxation helped me to understand the importance of being in the presence. Once I return back, I went through the chapters as I practiced with SMS - Slowly, Mindfully and Silently.

Once I mentioned that I’m currently reading “The Power of Now” in one of the Pick a Book sessions, an awesome friend of mine, TM Shuvo Hridayesh said that he has the hardcopy and handed over to me to go through it. I got super exited and did a presentation and practice session on it.

Let’s first get to know about the author;

•        Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher, presenter and best-selling author

•        He’s a German born resident of Vancouver, Canada

•        “The most popular spiritual author in US” – The New York Times

•        The Power of Now has sold over 2 Million copies and translated into over 30 foreign languages

 This book contains with 10 wonderful chapters, starting with You are not your Mind, The way out of Pain, Moving deeply into the Now, Mind strategies for avoiding the Now, The state of Presence, The inner Body, Portals into the Unmanifested, Enlightened Relationships, Beyond Happiness and Unhappiness there is Peace and The meaning of Surrender.

On the Introduction, the author mentions that until his thirtieth year, he lived in a state of almost continuous anxiety sprinkled with periods of suicidal depression. It feels him, as if he’s talking about some past lifetime or somebody else’s life.

On chapter one, You are not your mind, starts with a story of an old man who had been sitting by the roadside begging for years. One day a stranger came and said, “I have nothing to give you” also he asked, “What’s inside that box you are sitting on” Then the beggar replied, “Nothing, I haven’t ever look inside” Afterwards, the beggar opened it and found the box full of gold. Just like that, we are sitting on our own treasure/wealth without knowing what’s inside ourself.

Some of the concepts are;

Ø  What is the greatest obstacle to enlightenment? – The author says that, “It’s true that I do lot of aimless thinking, like most people, but I can still choose to use my mind to get and accomplish things and I do that all the time.”

 Ø  Freeing yourself from your mind – The author mentions to watch the thinker and “Draw your consciousness away from mind activity and create a gap of no-mind in which you are highly alert and aware but not thinking.”

Ø  Rising above thought – As per the author, “The mind is essentially a survival machine. Attack and defense against other minds, gathering, stories and analyzing information.”

 Ø  The body’s reaction to your mind – What about emotions? The author states “To feel your emotions, start by focusing attention on the inner energy field of your body. Feel the body from within.”

 

On the next chapter, Consciousness: The way out of pain. The author mentions that “Nobody’s life is entirely free of pain and sorrow. Isn’t it a question of learning to live with them rather than trying to avoid them?” Also, some of the sub-headings the author discusses;

v Create no more pain in the present – “The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It’s self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life.” Also, you can free yourself from disappointments in the past and worrying about the future.

 v Past pain: Dissolving the pain-body – “Fight with the pain-body would create inner conflict and thus further pain. Watching it implies accepting it as part of what is at that moment.”

 v The origin of Fear – “Fear has been part of our basic underlying emotional pain and isn’t a certain amount of fear just healthy self-protection?”

 v The Ego’s search for wholeness - “As long as the egoic mind is running your life, you cannot truly be at ease; you cannot be at peace or Fulfilled.”

  

 On the subsequent chapter, Moving deeply into the now. The author discusses the below concepts with details;

•        Letting go of Psychological time - “If you dwell on mentally, self-criticism, remorse or guilt come up, then you are making it part of your Psychological time. Which is identification with the past and continuous compulsive projection into the future.”

•        Finding the life underneath your life situation - “Forget about your life situation for a while and pay attention to your life.”

•        All problems are illusions of the Mind - “The problems are mind-made and need time to survive. It is impossible to have a problem when your attention is fully in the Now.”

•        The joy of Being - “As you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve and life begins to flow with joy and ease.”

Quick summary:

         -  Freeing yourself from your mind.

         -  Every person carries the seed of enlightenment deep within.

         -  Be the one who observes, the silent watcher of your mind.

         -  Be the power of your own conscious ‘Presence’.

 

This is your state of Being. You have succeeded already!

(For more details on www.eckharttolle.com)

Retreat in Myanmar

It was in year 2009, four of us from the Martinus Meditation center, Mt. Lavinia arranged a tour to Myanmar. This country is well-known as the Golden Land in south east Asia. We were able to obtain the visa for our tour without any hassle from the consulate as we were accompanied by our chief monk in our Centre.  The tour was in the month of March, summer season for Myanmar. We landed in Yangon, capital of Myanmar and visited their glorious, glamorous and giant golden temple, “shwedagon Pagoda”. Subsequently, we visited their main monastery to meet the chief Buddhist monk. After the initial discussions, they took us to a forest monastery in a distant village full of paddy fields and enormous trees.

In the forest monastery, we were given accommodation in small cottages. Which only Two devotees could house. I stayed with our monk’s elder brother, where as my wife occupied the section assigned for females. The centre had a common hall for us to practice mindful meditation. Male devotees used the front side of the hall, where as the females used the back. There were only few devotees as it was the most warmest period in Myanmar. During the day time, there were many instances when I thought of giving up meditation. But the tranquil forest picture on the wall, painted a picture in my mind's eye ” A beautiful river flowing through the forests, inhaling the scents of cold breeze and slashing water on my feet”. This picture was so soothing to my mind that it helped me to endure the hot climate and concentrate on my breathing.

First few days were very challenging. We had to wake up at 4am, get ready and meditate in the main hall until breakfast time. As the days passed by, we got used to the routine.  I observed monks meditating for long hours. It gave myself a boost to practice hard. Use of mobile phones inside the monastery is prohibited. It was in a way a blessing.  At night, some devotees even slept in the same sitting posture by keeping their head on the mat under a mosquito net. On some days at night, we got the opportunity to listen to the Dhamma recordings by the chief monk in English. We had discussions individually with the monk In-charge of the monastery on the following day. He enlightened us on how to tread on the correct path with right thinking. Also he taught us to concentrate on every step of breathing as we Inhaled and Exhaled air.  On the fifth and final day,  all of us attended a group discussion. It helped us to calm our minds. We returned to our Mother Land after visiting several other historical places in Myanmar.

That five day retreat enriched  my life in many ways. By giving me strength to face challenges, improved the concentration and control of my emotions at difficult situations.

We learnt an invaluable lesson; if we frequently practice concentration with presence of mind, it will help us to focus on our goals precisely and achieve them in our lives.

Dream come true

In October 2018, the Toastmasters Division J council meeting was held at Excel world. In the midst of our discussion regarding the itineraries for the tenure, I suggested doing a novel event. Previously not ventured. It was to hold a Debate competition among the Toastmaster fraternity instead of the Drama competition ‘Encore’ as per preceding years. My council members unanimously agreed to the idea. 

 You might wonder, WHY a “Debate” Competition from a person who has not participated in any debate competition at school. May be you are also in my group.   Opportunity knocked on my door when , one day I was the Table Topic master at one of our Toastmasters meetings. I decided to do something innovative. Two teams with two members each was formed and a topic was given for them to debate on. That was my first experience in debating. This afforded others also to take on this interesting topic and improve their skills. 

I can also recall, in year 2016, The Association of Professional Bankers (APB), organized a Debate competition among banks. I was leading one of the Teams at HNB but was unable to be a member of the Team,  which went up for the finals. The team effort and the experience was pretty amazing. I felt that I should share my experiences with my TM family.  At our meetings , I conveyed the message. "Let’s create a platform to improve on the aspects of a real debate". Speeches and debates are complementary to each other. Improvement in one ensures success on the other.  

We planned to launch the project after our annual Toastmasters Conference Ovation 2019, which was held in Chennai. I was searching for a suitable project chair for the debate competition. At SLIM Toastmasters club (TMC) installation l identified the correct person TM Kolitha Ratnayake, their enthusiastic Project Chair.  Consequently, he became the Coordinator for this project too.

 When it came to finding a suitable name for the competition, my mentor and our Administration Manager 2019/20 of District 82, Distinguished Toastmaster Keerthi Wijekulasuriya proposed a few names. We decided the spectacular name, “Debate & Conquer” as ideal. 

Four enthusiastic  teams came forward to debate with each other at the Preliminary round  on 22^nd June 2019 .We released the registration flyer one week prior and closed it on 19^th June. The topic was given two days prior to the contest .“Open economy is good/not good for our country”, was the interesting toipc to be thrashed out at the closed competition. The Preliminary round was held at Royal College Skills Centre, Colombo 7.  Timing was three minutes for a speaker and two minutes for summation by the captain . As per the request of the panel of judges, we increased the speech time to 5 minutes and summation to 3 minutes at the finale. We selected judges from non-toastmasters, in a bid to motivate them to join this wonderful movement.

The Finals were scheduled for the 20^th July at DIMO auditorium, Mercedes-Benz center, Colombo 14. We released a flyer regarding the finals to obtain more publicity. Although the audience attendance was less, we started the session on time.  The Topic was released 1 hour prior to the contest to the team members. It was “Does social media improve or impede communication”, as Horana TMC clinched the third place by beating Colombo TMC with a lean margin.

Finals was between SLIM TMC and Awakening TMC. Topic was “Education is a must for Entrepreneurship”. After a nail biting  competition,  SLIM TM emerged as winners.The panel of Judges selected the best debater as TM Dhananjaya Gamlath from SLIM TMC.  The winners and runners up were awarded with trophies and certificates. A Special token was given to project coordinator and Debate Master TM Kolitha Ratnayake for his dedication and commitment.

Gratitude goes to the past and present Division council members, as we were able to work as a team and finish it on a grand scale. When you have a DREAM, that you believe you want to make it come true, even the entire Universe will support you. By conducting this event my dream came true. What about your dream .............?

Noble Deeds of Merit

Everyone wants to be happy in this life. This clearly manifests in the story of Visakha, the great female disciple of Lord Buddha. She was the devoted and generous daughter of a millionaire in Savastthi, an ancient city in India.

At the age of fifteen, she was engaged and married to a son of a millionaire called Migara. On the wedding day Visakha’s wise father gave her some sound advice to be practiced in marriage.

"A wife should not criticize her husband and parents-in-law in front of others. she should not listen to the stories of other households and not report yours to others. Things should be lent only to those who return. Poor relatives and friends should be helped even if they don’t return.  When seeing her husband and ln-laws a wife should rise gracefully from her seat. Before taking her food, she should ensure others are served. Before going to sleep, she should ensure the household is safe and servants have performed their duties. As a rule, she should rise early in the morning unless she is sick. Ensure, her husband and in-laws are treated well and cared for and given due respect."

 One day, her father-in-law, Migara was eating sweet milk porridge from a golden bowl.  At that moment, a monk entered the house for alms. Migara saw him and continued eating ignoring the monk. Visakha seeing this, politely said “Pass on venerable sir, my father-in-law is consuming some leftovers.” Migara was very offended with the words and came to the conclusion that she had brought disgrace to his family. He ordered Visakha to be expelled. Visahka enlightened her father in law about the advice given to her by her own father; “If there is any fault, investigate it”. Migara agreed to her request. Vishaka proved her innocence by explaning “Sir, when my father-in-law ignored the monk and continued consuming the milk porridge, he was committing a great sin in the present life whilst enjoying the merit he had accumulated in his past actions. Her father-in-law admitted he was at fault and confessed his misdeed and the acknowledged the wisdom of Visakha. At her request, he invited Lord Buddha to their house to preach the Dhamma. Later, Migara was able to achieve the 1^st step in the noble path of supreme Nirvana.  Many deeds of merit have been done (with wealth, out of faith and generosity) by one subject birth like an expert florist can made  many garlands from a collection of flowers. (Ref: Dammapada  verse 53)

With wisdom and patience, Vaisakha converted her husband’s household to a happy home. Her good deeds of merit were an example to many.  Her kindness, generosity and conduct resulted in her being conferred as an acclaimed lady of yesteryear and also in modern times.

Power of Thoughts

Thoughts have the power to connect with nature and the universe. This story depicts the power of thoughts in a mind. The events unfolded during Lord Buddha’s time in 6^th century BC.  

In an ancient city of Soreyya in North India, there was a city treasurer who's son by the same name. One day Soreyya went out of the city with his friend in a carriage for a bath. There was a tranquil river flowing by the side of the city.   Beside the rippling waters they found a Buddhist monk getting into the water by the waterfront. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind and the monk’s robe was swished away from his shoulder. Soreyya saw the monk’s complexion. It was shining like gold. A thought came to him, “l wish he would become my wife, or may my wife’s complexion be like his body”. Instantly, due to his wrongful wish a miracle occurred. His manhood organs disappeared and changed him to a woman. He was confused and distraught.  He ran into the nearby forest withoutinforming his friend. His friend looked everywhere to find Soreyya, but failed and went back to his city alone. 

Lady Soreyya passed the forest, and arrived at the city of Takkasila. The treasurer of that city found her. Also got to know that lady Soreyya was alone in the city, therefore he got married to her. Time passed by and lady Soreyya gave birth to two beautiful sons. In her previous marriage as Soreyya, there were two other sons.  

After about five years later, lady Soreyya’s previous friend visited the city of Takkasila. Lady Soreyya got to know and arranged to meet the friend. She told him everything what had happened. Soreyya’s friend was shocked and decided to help his friend. He suggested a plan to get out of this mess. They arranged an alms giving to the Buddhist Thera, who was getting into water by that river who was none other than Venerable Maha Kaccana Maharahath Thera. He was one of the eighty supreme Maharahath theras of Lord Buddha. Afterwards, lady Soreyya asked for pardon for her dreadful and unrealistic thought beside the river. Then the Thera said, “Get up, I forgive you” As the words went into the air, a miracle occurred and her female organs disappeared and lady Soreyya became a man again. His friend was delighted.  

It was asked by many, “whom you love the most”. Then Soreyya said, “l love both my present and past sons, but l have more affection to the sons l have given birth than the sons borned to me”. Later Soreyya moved out of that unrealistic unsecured and unstable life and followed the footsteps of the Maha Kaccana thera. After a few years he attained the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana. (Ref: Dhammapada verses 43) 

Moral of the story is don’t underestimate the power of your thoughts in your mind. Well directed thoughts can do more for the well-being of one.  Also don’t judge a person from their outer appearance. You may not know that person’s capabilities. You can change your destination with your courage and determination.

May your rightful thoughts direct your life towards excellence!