Through spiritual practices and positive affirmations, one can find the peace
A student of archery, in all sincerity, asked his Guru how long it would take to master the craft. The Master ponders and with his prescience provides a measured reply. “It would take ten years.”The student is stupefied. The Guru is promised by the student that he will strive hard to achieve proficiency by putting in extra hours of work. Thereby he would become an ace, an unrivalled archer.
The teacher paused and gravely replied that it would take twenty years to become an expert.So how do ten years become twenty? The simple answer is anxiety and increasing levels of stress. A stressful mind cannot scale the summit.The Guru knew the potential of the candidate in question and the time required to harness the skills. The anxiety, feverishness and desperation of the student can never compress the period of learning.Humans live in highly stressful and disharmonious conditions.
Pressure is exerted on their minds, resulting in an unhealthy lifestyle. Stressful conditions are also created by our feverish attitude and desperation: A mental state when our expectations far exceed the actual requirement. Not living in the NOW and a covetous nature also contribute to mental disequilibrium.The memory of past events has a double whammy on the mind. A pleasant occurrence brings peace, but turbulent experiences make us stressed and fret. Unfortunately, the human mind gives more credence to negative experiences and that leads to the gathering of stress in the mind.A stressful mind can be smoothened only through a 3C policy, namely commitment, control, and challenge. The energy of the mind needs to be channelled productively and this can be done through proper training and a firm commitment. Challenging situations and tasks endear the human mind: to try something new or different and think out of the box. Renowned psychologists Endler and Parker have enunciated a three-factor model to overcome stress or manage this ailment.
(a)Task-Oriented Strategy: The individual should ensure proper time management to complete the task at hand. Also, box out stressful conditions when through experience we are aware of negative possibilities and results.
(b) Emotion-Oriented Strategy: Create a space in the mind to vent anger and frustrations. Literally to let go of the emotions. Develop a belief and hope in a higher power through the power of surrender and sublimate all the muddles.
(c)Avoidance-oriented Oriented Strategy: Create a shield or envelop the mind with an aura of positive thoughts. This works like magic and it mitigates the seriousness of the situation and stressful situations get obliterated.
The model merely provides the framework. In reality, relaxation techniques, practising yoga, dwelling deep into meditation, engaging in visualisation (which incorporates features such as imagery and positive imagination), learning breathing techniques like Vipassana and Sudarshan Kriya or even hitting the gym are some of the tools to implement the model.
All these strategies uplift the mood of the person and assist in combating stress.Stress can also be dealt with effectively by acquiring knowledge, taking up responsibility and inculcating a feeling of genuine compassion, love, and concern for humanity.The mind should become bigger than the problem or stress. This, only a true seeker or sadhakcan achieve and that too by resolute practice or sadhana. Only positive thoughts, realistic ambitions and limited wants and desires can enable the mind to reduce the magnitude of stress.“In time of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plough your anger and your energy into something positive,” says Lee Iacocca.
(The writer is the CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd. and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd. He is a faculty of the Art of Living; views are personal)
