Excellence be thy name!
Hello all,
Namaste! I want to let my blog readers know about my new website-swaroopa.net. Very simple id, not the complicated blog id address. Now to the post.
Hope all of you had a great week, where you took another step towards your Dharma, true purpose in life. Last week we discussed SatChitAnanda, the bliss of the true heart. It is only when we live truly, authentically from our heart, the joy and peace follow. We can live as we want, putting personas and masks all through our day life. But when we hit the bed at night, the first and foremost companion who goes to bed with us is our mind, the conscience of our mind.
We can escape from any situation or circumstance, any which way we want. But how can we escape from ourselves, our mind? Not possible. So, that is why it becomes utmost important to be truthful with ourselves, to do our Dharma, the true purpose we came to this Earth to do. But mind you, our true Dharma, the purpose from our heart never puts anyone down. We stand in our innate truth while we allow another to stand in their own truth. There is nothing to change outside ourselves, the only person to change in this lifetime- is to change ourselves, our own perspectives, concepts and mindsets. Humans have to learn this, big time. I mean gigantic time!
Trying to change others: Look at the global scenario. Take many of the countries. We are in the business of trying to change others and their mindsets. Religions are trying to convert others to their religions, parties are trying to brain wash others with propaganda, among communities people are trying to change the perspective of others. Everyone thinks their own party, religion, race, class, creed, caste is the very best. That it is the 'one' that is the best. Once we consider, one as the best, the others become second, third or last.
Now, for the very 'best' in their mind they start to fight and argue with others, to change the religion, party, culture or principles. How can one be the very best, with no negative points? Cannot be. Every principle, concept and idea works perfectly in that particular space, time and age. For example, great leaders took the very best decision they could make according to the data or information available to them. At that time and space, that decision worked very well. But the same may not have been the outcome during another era. This is true for Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela.
Abraham Lincoln was able to take the very best decision of Emancipation proclamation and the successful win of the civil war in the late 1800s. The time and space was ripe for that. Same way Mahatma Gandhi was able to bring freedom to Indians in mid 1947 and Nelson Mandela was able to free South Africa from Apartheid government in 1994. The Universal energy aligned perfectly with their own personal Dharma to bring massive change to a huge group of people.
Here, whether it was Lincoln, Gandhi or Mandela, they didn't try to change others. Being very true to themselves and their principles they showed 'how to live a life of integrity and purpose-their Dharma'. A lot of people seeing the way they conducted their own life, made all three of them inspiration for their own life. Here, all three were ready to put into practice the principles they preached- true leaders. True leaders, first put into practice the principles they believe in. They won't preach one principle to others and practice a different principle for themselves.
Nowadays, this value has been lost in many leaders of the world. The values and principles showcased are not many times practiced by the leaders themselves. Another thing to keep in mind, the principles and practices they embrace should also align with the principles a country was founded with. When a leader's principle comes into loggerheads with the values of the country, then chaos erupts. Without going into the details, the values USA was founded on was 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness'. India was founded on the principle of 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic'.
Anything that comes in contention to these principles are going to be questioned by the people. In the USA, it is as of now the principle of Liberty- the freedom to be who, one wants to be within the laws of freedom of expression the country/society allows. When that freedom of expression is being muted or taken away and people are asked to behave in a certain way, people resist. In India, the struggle people are having is for the principle of Secular- attitudes or activities that have no religious or spiritual basis, or free from religious or spiritual ties. So, here people have the freedom to practice the religion they want and the government becomes separate from religious values.
These are deep principles, which the countries were founded on. When that is being ignored, it pulls a deep string within the psyche of the people. Of course, emotionally they can feel, it is not right, something is wrong. They are going to resist and speak their mind. This is why nowadays both the USA and India are finding themselves in deep chaos, two countries I dearly love. I do feel sad how the countries are torn apart by decisions that were not well-thought-out, debated, and executed. Many times the decisions are even very opportunistic towards the people who make those decisions. Tilted very much towards the side of influence, money and power.
Lincoln and Gandhi: Here is where we have to look at Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi. True leaders! The former who brought deep changes to the USA and the latter to India. Both leaders did the ultimate sacrifice of giving up their lives to their country. Both executed the same way- shot and killed. Their respective countries mourned their deaths, deeply and innately. What made these two Souls very different from normal beings and etched their name in history?
Why Americans can't get enough talking about Lincoln and Indians about Gandhi? What made them so very different compared to other leaders? Why are aspiring generations always look unto them? Why they have a persona that overtook their life, personality and the whole globe itself? What did they do different? How can we emulate some of those principles into our own life?
There are some things that kept them high up on a pedestal compared to us, the everyday normal being. Both were very honest and highly ethical. Abraham Lincoln was called 'Honest Abe', while Mahatma Gandhi kept Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu sacred text as his guiding light. Both knew themselves deeply, innately. Their deep knowledge of themselves came from the core values they kept within them. Those values didn't change according to the person, power, money or circumstance they came across.
One can only embrace the deep inflexible values if one knows themselves very well. If we don't know ourselves well, we would dilly-dally according to the values of a person or circumstance that comes along. If we don't know ourselves, how can we know what values we uphold. For example, I am nowadays a blogger and a writer. I deeply respect the words, thoughts and concepts that come along. This forces me to respect the words and thought another writer puts out. I would never ever imagine taking another's words or thoughts. That is a huge No.
So, the value that comes here is the 'right to intellectual property'. What a person puts out as words is deeply tied to them. That right to claim as theirs. It is called the 'property of their intellect, or Intellectual property (IP). Businesses and companies go to the extent of courts to protect their IP. A person who does not know the seriousness of this can simply copy and paste another's idea or words. Scientific journals can retract (take out of publishing) if they realize a paper has been copied. It is one of the most dishonorable things to happen in a scientific community.
Because I know deeply I am a blogger/ writer/scribe, I give deep value to IP and the right a writer has to his/her words. Like this to know our core values, we need to know who we are. Lincoln and Gandhi knew who they were inside out. But they didn't shove it down another's throat. Instead, they held strong convictions of whom they were and lived their life true to those values. They became living examples of how to uphold their values. Their life itself showcased their values. The followers inspired by their examples made deep changes in their own lives.
True leadership: That is the difference between a leader and a manager. A true leader gives the choice to make the decision to the followers. They just plant an idea, things can be this way. The followers who take that idea, analyze with their mind, come to their own conclusions and make the decision. Here the mind is theirs, the conclusions are theirs and the decision also is theirs. But with a manager, who acts as a leader, the mind that brings the idea, analyze and make the decision is that of the manager. The followers are just asked to follow.
In this case, respect is not given to the mind of the followers. They are spoon-fed the decisions and conclusions. The follower's mind is asked to take a hike. Not a good way to lead. A true leader gives respect to the analysis and decision-making capabilities of the followers. The footing is equal. The leader doesn't put themselves on a pedestal, but are very humble. This very attitude endears the leader to the followers. This was true about Lincoln as well as Gandhi. Their stellar reputation preceded them everywhere. True leaders!
Excellence be thy name: Both Lincoln and Gandhi lived very true to their values and upheld their integrity which led them to embrace fine character. It is not easy to develop a strong character. One has to be innately courageous and fearless. We as humans are living in societies which bring forth every kind of person. In such scenarios it becomes very easy to be swayed by the power, influence or money a social or political arena can bring. As it involves a lot of people, people who have money, power and access would try to influence the leader to their side.
Leaders are tested by life. Can you uphold your values? Do you believe deeply in your convictions? Would you be swayed in the glitter of money or glamor of power. Both Lincoln and Gandhi have struggled with self-doubts. Gandhi has written about it in his autobiography- The story of my experiments with truth. In the case of Lincoln, others have noticed Lincoln many times having inner struggles to take the very best decision a particular circumstance demands.
Both these leaders were walking their true path of Dharma. The peculiarity of this path is, the guidance comes from within. The people around can give suggestions. But ultimately both of them were the leaders and they were leading a whole lot of people. Above accountability and responsibility for their own life, they were accountable and responsible to lead a great many people. Think about the responsibility of leading a lot of people. If the leaders mindset and thought process is not crystal clear, the followers instead of following a shining path to their destiny, can find themselves in the thick mud of the metaphorical swamp.
Both these leaders were very aware of this huge responsiblity. There is a proverb in English, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. They took their responsibility very seriously. They never tried to take advantage of the great power they embraced. True leaders. They made sure their behaviors, mind sets, ethics, attitude, demeanor and character were stellar. Both leaders were great contemplative thinkers. Every concept or idea first they filed against their own philosophers' stone called mind to see whether it would uphold value, truth and ethics. Only if their own judgement allowed them to proceed did they utilize it for their followers.
This self reflection and contemplation made sure they had a character of integrity, value, truth and ethics. The realm of excellence. Their behavior, attitude, mindset or intellect was not mediocre, but excellent. Any person can be smart and ambitious. But it reaches the level of excellence when the same smartness and ambition, along with intellect, intelligence and mind, instead of just putting to work for oneself is put to work for everyone involved. True leader!
When true leaders come along, instead of just their group or party being elevated, the whole system gets elevated. This was true with both leaders. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, the whole country abolished slavery. In the case of India, Mahatma Gandhi brought the whole nation towards freedom. Huge missions that just two individuals undertook very elegantly. In the process, both made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their life to their country. A state of magnificient and mighty excellence.
From these two leaders and their life we can learn deep lessons for our own life. True leaders who showed with their life, the example of living a worthy life which declares, 'Live in such a way with character, integrity, values and ethics, that our life screams- 'Excellence be thy name'!
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: The jump from Kethu to Rahu!
Credits: Pixabay.com
Namaste! I want to let my blog readers know about my new website-swaroopa.net. Very simple id, not the complicated blog id address. Now to the post.
Hope all of you had a great week, where you took another step towards your Dharma, true purpose in life. Last week we discussed SatChitAnanda, the bliss of the true heart. It is only when we live truly, authentically from our heart, the joy and peace follow. We can live as we want, putting personas and masks all through our day life. But when we hit the bed at night, the first and foremost companion who goes to bed with us is our mind, the conscience of our mind.
We can escape from any situation or circumstance, any which way we want. But how can we escape from ourselves, our mind? Not possible. So, that is why it becomes utmost important to be truthful with ourselves, to do our Dharma, the true purpose we came to this Earth to do. But mind you, our true Dharma, the purpose from our heart never puts anyone down. We stand in our innate truth while we allow another to stand in their own truth. There is nothing to change outside ourselves, the only person to change in this lifetime- is to change ourselves, our own perspectives, concepts and mindsets. Humans have to learn this, big time. I mean gigantic time!
Trying to change others: Look at the global scenario. Take many of the countries. We are in the business of trying to change others and their mindsets. Religions are trying to convert others to their religions, parties are trying to brain wash others with propaganda, among communities people are trying to change the perspective of others. Everyone thinks their own party, religion, race, class, creed, caste is the very best. That it is the 'one' that is the best. Once we consider, one as the best, the others become second, third or last.
 |
| The different colored faces that comprises the humanity! Image credits - Pixabay.com |
Now, for the very 'best' in their mind they start to fight and argue with others, to change the religion, party, culture or principles. How can one be the very best, with no negative points? Cannot be. Every principle, concept and idea works perfectly in that particular space, time and age. For example, great leaders took the very best decision they could make according to the data or information available to them. At that time and space, that decision worked very well. But the same may not have been the outcome during another era. This is true for Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela.
Abraham Lincoln was able to take the very best decision of Emancipation proclamation and the successful win of the civil war in the late 1800s. The time and space was ripe for that. Same way Mahatma Gandhi was able to bring freedom to Indians in mid 1947 and Nelson Mandela was able to free South Africa from Apartheid government in 1994. The Universal energy aligned perfectly with their own personal Dharma to bring massive change to a huge group of people.
 |
| Emancipation Proclamation! Image credits - Wikimedia Commons Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 [Public domain] |
Nowadays, this value has been lost in many leaders of the world. The values and principles showcased are not many times practiced by the leaders themselves. Another thing to keep in mind, the principles and practices they embrace should also align with the principles a country was founded with. When a leader's principle comes into loggerheads with the values of the country, then chaos erupts. Without going into the details, the values USA was founded on was 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness'. India was founded on the principle of 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic'.
Anything that comes in contention to these principles are going to be questioned by the people. In the USA, it is as of now the principle of Liberty- the freedom to be who, one wants to be within the laws of freedom of expression the country/society allows. When that freedom of expression is being muted or taken away and people are asked to behave in a certain way, people resist. In India, the struggle people are having is for the principle of Secular- attitudes or activities that have no religious or spiritual basis, or free from religious or spiritual ties. So, here people have the freedom to practice the religion they want and the government becomes separate from religious values.
 |
| First stamp issued by India after independence! Image credits - Image by India Post [Public domain] |
Why Americans can't get enough talking about Lincoln and Indians about Gandhi? What made them so very different compared to other leaders? Why are aspiring generations always look unto them? Why they have a persona that overtook their life, personality and the whole globe itself? What did they do different? How can we emulate some of those principles into our own life?
There are some things that kept them high up on a pedestal compared to us, the everyday normal being. Both were very honest and highly ethical. Abraham Lincoln was called 'Honest Abe', while Mahatma Gandhi kept Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu sacred text as his guiding light. Both knew themselves deeply, innately. Their deep knowledge of themselves came from the core values they kept within them. Those values didn't change according to the person, power, money or circumstance they came across.
 |
| Mahatma Gandhi! Image credits - Elliott & Fry (see [1]) [Public domain] |
 |
| Abraham Lincoln! Image credits - Alexander Gardner [Public domain] |
One can only embrace the deep inflexible values if one knows themselves very well. If we don't know ourselves well, we would dilly-dally according to the values of a person or circumstance that comes along. If we don't know ourselves, how can we know what values we uphold. For example, I am nowadays a blogger and a writer. I deeply respect the words, thoughts and concepts that come along. This forces me to respect the words and thought another writer puts out. I would never ever imagine taking another's words or thoughts. That is a huge No.
So, the value that comes here is the 'right to intellectual property'. What a person puts out as words is deeply tied to them. That right to claim as theirs. It is called the 'property of their intellect, or Intellectual property (IP). Businesses and companies go to the extent of courts to protect their IP. A person who does not know the seriousness of this can simply copy and paste another's idea or words. Scientific journals can retract (take out of publishing) if they realize a paper has been copied. It is one of the most dishonorable things to happen in a scientific community.
Because I know deeply I am a blogger/ writer/scribe, I give deep value to IP and the right a writer has to his/her words. Like this to know our core values, we need to know who we are. Lincoln and Gandhi knew who they were inside out. But they didn't shove it down another's throat. Instead, they held strong convictions of whom they were and lived their life true to those values. They became living examples of how to uphold their values. Their life itself showcased their values. The followers inspired by their examples made deep changes in their own lives.
True leadership: That is the difference between a leader and a manager. A true leader gives the choice to make the decision to the followers. They just plant an idea, things can be this way. The followers who take that idea, analyze with their mind, come to their own conclusions and make the decision. Here the mind is theirs, the conclusions are theirs and the decision also is theirs. But with a manager, who acts as a leader, the mind that brings the idea, analyze and make the decision is that of the manager. The followers are just asked to follow.
 |
| The value of leadership! Image credits - Pixabay.com |
Excellence be thy name: Both Lincoln and Gandhi lived very true to their values and upheld their integrity which led them to embrace fine character. It is not easy to develop a strong character. One has to be innately courageous and fearless. We as humans are living in societies which bring forth every kind of person. In such scenarios it becomes very easy to be swayed by the power, influence or money a social or political arena can bring. As it involves a lot of people, people who have money, power and access would try to influence the leader to their side.
Leaders are tested by life. Can you uphold your values? Do you believe deeply in your convictions? Would you be swayed in the glitter of money or glamor of power. Both Lincoln and Gandhi have struggled with self-doubts. Gandhi has written about it in his autobiography- The story of my experiments with truth. In the case of Lincoln, others have noticed Lincoln many times having inner struggles to take the very best decision a particular circumstance demands.
Both these leaders were walking their true path of Dharma. The peculiarity of this path is, the guidance comes from within. The people around can give suggestions. But ultimately both of them were the leaders and they were leading a whole lot of people. Above accountability and responsibility for their own life, they were accountable and responsible to lead a great many people. Think about the responsibility of leading a lot of people. If the leaders mindset and thought process is not crystal clear, the followers instead of following a shining path to their destiny, can find themselves in the thick mud of the metaphorical swamp.
Both these leaders were very aware of this huge responsiblity. There is a proverb in English, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. They took their responsibility very seriously. They never tried to take advantage of the great power they embraced. True leaders. They made sure their behaviors, mind sets, ethics, attitude, demeanor and character were stellar. Both leaders were great contemplative thinkers. Every concept or idea first they filed against their own philosophers' stone called mind to see whether it would uphold value, truth and ethics. Only if their own judgement allowed them to proceed did they utilize it for their followers.
 |
| The many virtues when upheld becomes values! Image credits - Pixabay.com |
This self reflection and contemplation made sure they had a character of integrity, value, truth and ethics. The realm of excellence. Their behavior, attitude, mindset or intellect was not mediocre, but excellent. Any person can be smart and ambitious. But it reaches the level of excellence when the same smartness and ambition, along with intellect, intelligence and mind, instead of just putting to work for oneself is put to work for everyone involved. True leader!
When true leaders come along, instead of just their group or party being elevated, the whole system gets elevated. This was true with both leaders. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, the whole country abolished slavery. In the case of India, Mahatma Gandhi brought the whole nation towards freedom. Huge missions that just two individuals undertook very elegantly. In the process, both made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their life to their country. A state of magnificient and mighty excellence.
From these two leaders and their life we can learn deep lessons for our own life. True leaders who showed with their life, the example of living a worthy life which declares, 'Live in such a way with character, integrity, values and ethics, that our life screams- 'Excellence be thy name'!
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: The jump from Kethu to Rahu!
Credits: Pixabay.com
![Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 [Public domain]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emancipation_Proclamation_WDL2714.jpg){kind=link}
![Image by India Post [Public domain]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1947_India_Flag_3%C2%BD_annas.jpg){kind=link}
![Elliott & Fry (see [1])](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mahatma-Gandhi,_studio,_1931.jpg){kind=link}
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