Meditation and Its Methods : My Favourite Notes from Book

Recently I finished reading an awesome book on meditation and its technique. The book “Meditation and Its Methods” by Swami Vivekananda. The book is written specially for beginners in meditation. The book is written in two sections, first section talks about what is meditation, why it is important and how it is performed. First part covers the very basic techniques of meditation. Second part is devoted to spirituality and how meditation is the best way to connect with God.

As I have a habit of collecting good notes, thoughts and quotes from every book which I read so here is highlights of my favourite notes from the book.

  • The mind is like a lake, and every stone that drops into it raises waves. These waves do not let us see what we are. The full moon is reflected in the water of the lake, but the surface is so disturbed that we do not see the reflection clearly. Let it be calm. Do not let nature raise the wave. Keep quiet, and then after a little while she will give you up. Then we know what we are. God is there already, but the mind is so agitated, always running after the senses.
  • What right has a man to say he has a soul if he does not feel it, or that there is a God if he does not see Him? If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe. It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.
  • According to the Yogis, there are three principal nerve currents: one they call the Ida, the other the Pingala, and the middle one the Sushumna, and all these are inside the spinal column.
  • Make it a rule not to eat until you have practised; if you do this, the sheer force of hunger will break your laziness.
  • Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.
  • First hear, then understand, and then, leaving all distractions, shut your minds to outside influences, and devote yourselves to developing the truth within you.
  • To control the mind you must go deep down into the subconscious mind, classify and arrange in order all the different impressions, thoughts, etc., stored up there, and control them. This is the first step. By the control of the subconscious mind you get control over the conscious.
  • The living God is within you, and yet you are building churches and temples and believing all sorts of imaginary nonsense. The only God to worship is the human soul in the human body.
  • Do you feel for others? If you do, you are growing in oneness. If you do not feel for others, you may be the most intellectual giant ever born, but you will be nothing;
  • 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. It is through the heart that the Lord is seen, and not through the intellect.
  • The cause of all miseries from which we suffer is desire. You desire something, and the desire is not fulfilled; and the result is distress. If there is no desire, there is no suffering.

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in Book | 578 Words

How to Win Friends and Influence People – My Favourite Notes from the Book

My Favourite notes from the book : How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

  • Learning is an active process. We learn by doing.
  • By criticising, we do not make lasting changes and often incur resentment.
  • Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain – and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. ‘A great man shows his greatness,’ said Carlyle, ‘by the way he treats little men.’
  • Everything you and I do springs from two motives: the sex urge and the desire to be great.
  • We often take our spouses so much for granted that we never let them know we appreciate them.
  • The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally condemned.
  • Don’t be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.
  • Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself.
  • One of the most neglected virtues of our daily existence is appreciation. Somehow, we neglect to praise our son or daughter when he or she brings home a good report card, and we fail to encourage our children when they first succeed in baking a cake or building a birdhouse. Nothing pleases children more than this kind of parental interest and approval.
  • The next time you enjoy filet mignon at the club, send word to the chef that it was excellently prepared. Appreciate others effort often.
  • Try leaving a friendly trail of little sparks of gratitude on your daily trips. You will be surprised how they will set small flames of friendship that will be rose beacons on your next visit.
  • Only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.
  • Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something.
  • If there is any one secret of success, said Henry Ford, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.
  • Did you ever stop to think that a dog is the only animal that doesn’t have to work for a living? A hen has to lay eggs, a cow has to give milk, and a canary has to sing. But a dog makes his living by giving you nothing but love.
  • You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
  • Showing a genuine interest in others not only wins friends for you, but may develop in its customers a loyalty to your company.
  • People who smile, tend to manage, teach and sell more effectively, and to raise happier children.
  • You must have a good time meeting people if you expect them to have a good time meeting you.
  • A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.
  • Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
  • Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
  • Always make the other person feel important.
  • The desire to be important is the deepest urge in human nature; and William James said: ‘The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
  • Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
  • If you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent’s good will.
  • Buddha said: ‘Hatred is never ended by hatred but by love,’ and a misunderstanding is never ended by a argument but by tact, diplomacy, conciliation and a sympathetic desire to see the other person’s viewpoint.
  • The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
  • Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, ‘You’re wrong.’
  • If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
in Book | 709 Words

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – My Favourite Notes

I have a habit of collecting notes and quotes from each and every book which I read. Collecting notes or favourite quotes and writing down them have many learning advantages. My Favourite notes from the book : The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

  • No man is free who is not a master of himself.
  • The only limits on your life are those that you set yourself.
  • You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.
  • Don’t race against others. Race against yourself.
  • When you control your thoughts, you control your mind. When you control your mind, you control your life.And once you reach the stage of being in total control of your life, you become the master of your destiny.
  • I am more than I appear to be, all the world’s strength and power rests inside me.
  • Guard time well. Remember, it’s a non-renewable resource.
  • The most meaningful things in your life should never be sacrificed to those that are the least meaningful.
  • 80 percent of the results you achieve in your life come from only 20 percent of the activities that occupy your time.
  • Enlightened people are priority driven.
  • Laughter opens your heart and soothes your soul. No one should ever take life so seriously that they forget to laugh at themselves.
  • Never be a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future. You will never be the same.
in Book | 256 Words

40 Proven Tips for Happy Healthy Life

Happy and healthy life is just not about earning good money and working out in gym as many people think. Happiness is nothing related to money and working out in gym is no where related to health. Though both are equally essential in life apart from other factors. Imagine what will you do with lots of money when you don’t have time or health to spend at the end and similarly what will you do with good toned body unless you do not have a good soul to live life with. So to live a happy and healthy life you need to be good from inside and outside both. By doing small changes in your daily routine life you can bring tremendous amount of positive changes in you which will help you in achieving a happy and healthy life.

40 Tips for Happy Healthy Life

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time for prayer and reflection
6. Play more games outside.
7. Read more books.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.

Personality:
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day —- and while you walk, smile.
11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over do; keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument.

Community:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right things.
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. Forgiveness heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, don’t take it for granted – embrace life.
39. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not least:
40. Enjoy LIFE!

in Life | 561 Words

Success Mantra – Slow down your mind

Every day more and more people are becoming depressed and unhappy with their lives. The reasons are many: amongst them are financial worries, work related problems, family problems, weight issues, health issues etc. Your mind is running fast, is disturbed and is not focused on the job. Have you ever observed your mind? Just observe your mind, is it running fast, thinking so many things at a time and because of that you are unhappy right? Have you ever observed that whenever you are happy, your mind is always calm focusing only on one thing that time, that happy moment. So it means the solution of your problem is slowing down your mind. What happens when you slow down your mind? You become happy, yes happy.

Slow down your mind, if you truly want to be successful.  Its called slowdown therapy. Lets see how can you slowdown your mind –

Slowdown Therapy

  • Slow down; you are not responsible for doing all by yourself and right now.
  • Recall a happy, peaceful time experienced in your past. Be there in that moment, rest there.
  • Set you own pace. Do not run and try to compete with every other person with you.
  • Take nothing for granted, watch the water flow, wind blow, corn grow.
  • Savour the taste of your food.
  • Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set. They are remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.
  • When you talk with someone, don’t think about what you will say next. Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.
  • Talk and play with children. It will bring out the unhurried little person inside you.
  • Create a place in your home, at your workplace and in your heart inside you where you can go for solitude and recollection.
  • Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive some time. Rest is not luxury, its a necessity.
  • Be in your present and just feel the things which you are doing right now.
  • Talk slowly, talk less, don’t talk. Communication is not measured by words.
  • Give yourself permission to be late sometimes. Life is for living, not scheduling.
  • Take time just to think. Action is good and necessary, but it’s fruitful only if we muse, ponder and mull.
  • Find time for play or any thing which you like to do.
  • Watch and listen to night sky. It speaks.
  • Listen to the words you speak, specially in prayer.
  • Learn to stand back and let others take turn as leaders. There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.
  • Divide big jobs into little jobs.
  • When you find yourself rushing and anxious, STOP. Ask yourself ‘why’ you are rushing and anxious. The reason may improve your self understanding.
  • Take time to read.
  • Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.
  • Take a day off alone.
  • Work with your hands. It frees your mind.
  • Take time to wonder. Without wonder life is a mere existence.
  • Sit in dark sometime. It will teach you to see, hear, taste and smell.
  • Once is a while turn down the lights, the volume, the throttle, the network, the invitations. Less can be more sometime.
  • Take a walk without any destination in mind.
  • Count your friends. If you have one you are lucky. If you have more you are blessed. Bless them in return.
  • Count your blessings – one at a time and slowly.
  • Meditate daily.
in Life | 592 Words