REFLECTIONS ON THE ACTIONS WE TAKE AND HOW IT IMPACTS THE FINAL OUTCOME

There are broadly three types of actions which we will discuss in this article. One is the action that is preceded by a thought process with the intent of achieving the expected outcome for a positive or maybe a negative purpose of harming somebody. Another type of action is the spontaneous action, a mental trigger which comes from the reflex without any thought preceding the event. This type of spontaneous action mostly ( if not always ) mostly a person takes in a life-threatening situation. And this type of situation generates a response also called the “FLIGHT or FIGHT ” response. In such a situation the person chooses either to leave everything and flee the place or he chooses to face and fight it to the finish. Another type of action is the one he is compelled to take in a totally new and different type of situation with no previous experience of similar such situation. In this situation the person has no knowledge of the probable outcomes and where it would lead him to. So he has to deploy a subjective judgement and try to anticipate the probable outcomes. Here, a person with diverse repertoire of past experience (though may not be similar to the ensuing one) enhances the probabilities of his actions to be in the right direction . The man by nature is inherently averse to facing any adverse situation. But as the saying goes “Sweet are the uses of adversity ugly and venomous like a toad, bears a precious jewel in the head ( in Shakespeare’s play  ‘AS YOU LIKE IT ’). This is very much true because adversity teaches a person to find new ways of overcoming the apparent impasse. And hence adversity is a boon in disguise which most people fail to realize. By overcoming a difficult situation the person enhances his mental strength.

And lastly, I would say every person needs to intensely observe  every action and how it has impacted the final outcome. By following this practice he can know the purpose and clarity of this action which he have taken , before coming to know the outcome.This would always lead him to develop the quality of righteousness thereby preventing from venturing into a wrong path.

FLOW -THE NATURE'S PARAMETER FOR CHANGE AND IT'S EFFECT ON HUMAN BEINGS

"Everything flows " this was said by Heraclitus the Greek philosopher over two thousand years ago. Everything that we see in nature and living creatures are bound by nature’s process" flow " the dynamic state thru which past leads into present and present leads into future. The effect of flow is visible in the change that occurs and time is the medium thru which it happens. As we all know change means impermanence. And by simple logic, whatever is impermanent has to be transient.

Thus impermanence and transience are complementary aspects thru which all phenomenon that may be visible or invisible occurs. The human being as a sentient creature has self-reflexive consciousness experience this change thru their senses. But man being conditioned mentally to permanence and that is why finds nature’s this imposition difficult to accept. Man always likes to hold on pleasant times, events and memories. Thus holding on to static mindset and this is where he runs into conflict with nature and the ensuing situation which the flow of time has brought him to. And for this reason, remain in disharmony with nature as a consequence suffers mentally.  Thus we see that “ FLOW” being the fundamental aspect of nature and so only by aligning himself to a mental state accepting the same he can live in harmony with nature. But this aligning to a mental state in an adverse situation is only possible if he is able to view the situation in a totally different perspective by reframing the situation and create a choice . Thus a man who lives in the present moment in the “ HERE AND NOW  ” only can be with the flow of time and changing situation that does not affect his mental harmony.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS AND WHAT ARE IT’S CAUSES

The man by nature is conditioned and attached to four aspects which can be classified into four parameters,  these are things, events, people or ideas. The difference between happiness and sorrow is in the state of emotions that a person beholds in given situation. Happiness arouses positive or healthy emotions whereas sorrow arouses negative or unhealthy emotions. The degree of the emotion whether positive or negative both depends on the source ( the four parameters stated above ) that induces the type of emotion which a person experiences and that varies from person to person. For the same source, different persons would experience different levels of happiness or sorrow. When anything that a person likes comes to his possession he feels happy and conversely he feels unhappy if he is unable to get that thing he has been longing for. Thus happiness is directly related to fulfilment of his expectation or anything that comes to his possession as per expectation or unexpectedly. When the closest of a person like the spouse or child or close relation achieve anything on his or her own or that was asked to him to do and he succeeds, that brings happiness. There are innumerable such situations when the outcome of an event or the other aspects related to it turns out to be with positive outcome, it brings happiness. But the perception of happiness per se is not induced by the external factors.It comes from the arousal of a positive emotion  in the mind that brings the perception of happiness. However there is another side to it.A person in a sad mood on receiving a good news would not experience that level of happiness, as a person in good mood in the same situation. Hence the pre-existing state of mind ( before that situation) impacts the level of emotion in the ensuing situation. As stated in my earlier blogpost time always flows in the forward direction. And so man has to strive to be happy in order to be in harmony with flow of time which is transient. Therefore it is something which we need to endeavour for in all situation of life , since whatever be the situation it eventually would pass away.

REFLECTION ON THE RELATION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY , PSYCHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY

Philosophy is the unseen foundation on which the civilization rests . This was said by the famous Indian philosopher and statesman Dr. S. Radhakrishnan . Perhaps there is no other better way  to state the purpose of philosophy . This  in general sets the basic guideline for the humankind for the purpose  of adoption of an  objective for  common good of humanity  irrespective of caste , creed , religion or ethnic diversity . But as we all know this is  easier said than done .  And to get an access to those  guidelines man fundamentally has to dive deeper into the inner self to find answer to basic existential questions  .  These would include questions like “Why we are born ? What is the purpose of our life ? Is death the irrevocable truth and the end of everything “ that each of us has to face . This is spirituality . Diving deeper into the self  would  necessary incur application of the mind which is the basis of our psyche . Thus we find that , besides  philosophy  ,psychology too has  very close relation with spirituality . It is what an individual practices to access the peace and serenity in the very core of an individual self  and also is related to the  developing meaning of life and the connection with others .