Scribblings✍ as an all time learner
Our Mind is a weapon
Let's take any great leaders or philosophers, like Buddha or Thiruvallvar, one thing which they have commonly taught is 'Clarity in thinking'. My favourite of Buddha's quotes is, 'Our mind is everything. What we think we become'. And I strongly believe this. Buddha has also preached the concept of 'let go' when something is not in our hands. It is just that we need to have a balanced and matured mind to control things as we want and let it go in scenarios which are not in our control.
When our mind is everything, I wonder how people make up their mind to commit suicide. News reporting says most of the people commit suicide because of depression. Personally, I had categorized people into 3 types based on how they handle a problematic situation. Some people have the maturity to overcome any problems by themselves without guidance or without any advice. Such a category are stronger by mind and a kind of enlightened people who won't be muddled by problems for a long time. Another category of people realize the reality and arrive at appropriate solutions when guided by someone. It is a matter of time for them. Then there is this third category who neither know how to arrive at solutions nor approaches the right person for advice. I felt that this third category of people create their own pseudo layer of problems and dissatisfaction, and call it as depression. This category of people suffer due to their mindsets and attitude, more than they suffer from the actual problem. Unfortunately, most of such people don't have an endeavouring attitude, they have giving up attitude. And that's why they end up giving up his/her life committing suicide. I have never thought about the reason why people give up.
A book which I read recently gave me some inputs on why people give up. It's their thinking which is their enemy. Primarily the book stressed the need for strategic thinking in any situation. In that way, the book gave me an insight on the requirement of a clear mind for strategic thinking.
Next to our teachers and mentors, it is books which can teach us and can influence us. I would not prefer including fictional books in this list. Not all fictions teach us. But non-fictional books giving some wise advice and life thoughts can enlighten us in a better way. This is one such good book I came across. Chanakya and the Art of war (by Dr.Radhakrishnan Pillai, who has made an extensive research in Arthasasthra). Chanakya was a teacher of war strategies. He wrote down everything he had studied about war and war techniques in Arthashastra.
Interestingly this particular book by Dr.Radhakrishnan Pillai, didn't stop with war strategies and principles of Chanakya. It goes something beyond that and says how Chanakya's teachings can be used by the current generation. Based on principles enunciated in Arthasasthra, the author, in this book, gave tips on how to win the daily battles.
I liked the way author has related the ancient principles to our current life. Earlier I had a profound belief that Thirukkural, aathichoodi and Bagawad Gita are an exhaustive book of principles needed for life. Now after reading this book, I realized that I should not restrict to 3 books, many more are to be explored😅. Any ancient literature or works which are kind of Arthasasthra too propouds life principles. We need to know how to relate and apply them in our daily life.
The author shared his opinions on the problem of the current generation. We fight with us (our minds). During Chanakya's era, the enemies were external and it needs a strategic war to win them. Now what we need is a clear mind to win our inner enemies. It hit me hard while reading about the comparison given by the author, between enemies in ancient times (external enemies) and enemies in current time (our mind). It reminded me of the third category of people I had in my mind.
The mind is a weapon which can either make us or destroy us. So we need to tune our mind stronger by giving right inputs, by reading such life principles from such books or by reading motivational stories or we need to have someone who gives us wise advice in required situations. Chanakya has also emphasized the need for proper minster for a king and the king should consider all advice of his ministers before arriving at his decision. Likewise, having someone who can guide us in the right direction is a mandate. In my opinion, people never step into this so called depression when they openly talk with their well wishers asking for advice.
There is a famous thamizh epigram, "ஐந்தில் வளையாதது ஐம்பதில் வளையாது", which means, it is difficult to demand or enforce things which are not taught or habituated at an early stage. Being endeavouring in nature is an attitude which needs to be ingrained at an early stage. Most of this third category of people are the one who weren't taught how to face a problem boldly and that's why they give up easily. I feel that we need to educate children about it right from their early stage. Teaching principles of life for children is the need of the hour. It can be a religious one like Bagavad Gita or religiously neutral one like Thirukkural. Undoubtedly, the learnings from these could touch the principles of acceptance, optimism, and being endeavouring. The study of these may make children's mind stronger and let them know about right and wrong, inner enemies, ways of overcoming it, how to have clear mind etc., so that in future, percentage of people falling in the third category is reduced.