Bhat's Notes

Coverage by Bhat Dittakavi of Variance.AI on “Diet of the Mind” by SA Sreedharan at TiE Global Summit on 10th Dec 2020

Abranila Das: What are the right ingredients for the recipe of effective mind? Sreedharan is a new-age philosopher and self-management expert. Sreedharan has conducted 7500 lectures across the globe for diverse audience. Sreedharan is senior disciple of Swamy Parthasarathy.

Sridhar Reddy of CtrlS) 13 yeas ago, I got vexed up with my life. I was almost broke and stressed out. I decided to leave the material world and chose to leave to Himalayas. That is where I met Sreedharan who was giving a lecture. I walked in and sat in his class. He took me for dinner. He spent an hour or two with me then. The next day morning, we were in Yoga sessions. He walked me through each of the problems my mind was going through in those days. He could identify the diet my mind needed. I returned from Himalayas after 10 days and got myself into my action. My team found me to be more pleasant, clear on decision making. From bankruptcy we have created 2000 people company. I can’t imagine my life without by-chance-meetup with Sreedharan.

SA Sreedharan) I never had a better introduction about me.

Why does the mind need to be on diet? We discuss about Mind, Diet and intellect. Then the three conditions of the mind. Finally a diet plan.

Why the mind needs to be on diet?

We understand the need for physical diet. Diet is the program or plan so that you give optimum potential for the physical body. Everyone talks about mental fitness in COVID time. We are working on very miniscule aspect of the mind aspect. We learn in universities a subject that makes us proficient that improves the standard of living. Your learning at schools may not help you with relationship issues. They don’t teach you that in school. Intelligence you get through school is wonderful. Mind plus intelligence creates ego. Ego is defined as the necessity to prove yourself better than anyone lese. EGO is Exaggerated Glorification of Oneself. 90% of the people who quit jobs don’t quit jobs but people. There is an ego clash that makes people leave.

Vivekananda said “Conquer your mind. You conquer the world. Fall a prey to your mind, you become victim of the world”. Diet plans for body are dime a dozen. I wish you can google the diet for mind.

Mind is where your emotions arise. Your feelings and impulses arise. Indiscriminate flow of thoughts is mind. Discriminate flow of thoughts is intellect.

Impulsive reaction that makes you ask “Hello, it looks like have you gained weight?”. Feelings that you know. There are three kinds of actions we perform. Your friend wants to buy a mobile. You end up buying mobile and not your friend. You chose to have a latest version of the phone based on impulsive choice. You don’t need a phone as you already have one. X-mas season is around. They are baking cakes at home. You are diabetic and your mind wants it and your intellect says no. You won’t eat the cake. Both mind and intellect make the choice such as attending this session. Our actions could arise from mind, intellect or from both.

If your choices are only from the mind, you will be in trouble. Mind is like a flow of river water and the intellect is the bank supporting the river. If the banks are strong, water stays course. If the bank are weak, water overflows. The blessing becomes curse.

Mindshare varies and your personality varies. 100% mind is insanity. 75% is hysterical. 50% is eccentric. 25% your mind emotional. 100% of intellect makes you a man.

There are three conditions of the mind.

Self-centered one will have the restless mind. The cone standing upside down will never stand steady and it will fall down. He or she is continuously agitated. An imperfect mind is there but with little blow of air it keeps oscillating. One negative incident will alter his or her peace. Depending on this incident, the imperfect mind oscillates. A lady took her husband for the charity event and at the time of event a distant friend passes a comment on her saying “what happened you seem to have aged”. The lady gets upset and reduces the amount of her pledge form $25K to $10K. One incident can later you, agitate you for a minute, 30 days or 30 years. Just one incident could make the folks enemies. One negative experience is all it takes to get one’s ego involved. Both restless mind and imperfect minded people needed diet plan. Perfect mind goes through the life experiences and tranquility.

Buddha was patiently listening in a session. Every day, there used to be an interaction with his disciples. The disciple asked Buddha about a stranger who insulted Buddha earlier. Buddha said I don’t remember. Why were you quiet? It was his privilege to give his opinion and it is my privilege to accept it or not. Heaven or hell are not geographical locations. They are in the mind.

Diet Plan for the Mind

1. Express gratitude but do not expect gratitude. You can’t say “how can these people are?” I am grateful to my inability to repay the benevolence.
2. Receive gracefully, give joyfully.
3. Be slow to judge and quick to forgive.
4. Be dependable but not dependent. Dependable makes a star player perform well every time.
5. What you expect from others first you expect from yourself. If you want your team to perform certain way, you perform first, be the change you want to se in the world.
6. Be expressive of your love and demonstrative of your happiness. Many are expressive of negative emotions and demonstrative of unhappiness. Do the opposite. Speak when you are angry and you will make a greatest speech you will ever regret.
7. Even if your trust is broken trust again. I am not suggesting you have to trust the untrustworthy ones. As long as you have a choice of action, there is potential of greatness in every human. Any one who loses trust becomes very insecure.
8. Bring selflessness into your life. Serve in capacity expecting nothing in return.
9. Have faith in divinity, beyond your judgment.
10. Be a multi-role wonder and bring balance in life.

As a cry the world rejoice. When I leave the world, let the world cry, I rejoice. This is the result of following a diet plan.

Dhwani) How do you manage work life balance?

A) My father managed 2000 people. He could switch off and spend time with family. This is learnable skill. Some ancient houses have very small door. It is a reminder that you bend your ego when you go home. You get a second chance in everything in anything else in parenting. If you missed parenting the first 8 years of your kids, you missed out. You associate priority, you will allocate time. The last stage of your life you are answerable to one person. That is you standing in the mirror. “I wish I allowed myself to be more happier” is the worst regret you can have at the end of your journey.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself. It is impossible to find elsewhere. The more the search is internal,. If you fulfill a desire, you upgrade that desire. Be watchful.

Jasleen) I have attending workshops about managing pillars of life. Everyone wants you to work harder. If you don’t work after hours it means you are not for the growth. How do you explain this to your boss?

Sreedharan) You re not here to impress your boss. If not you are compromising. your role at work is replaceable. Your role at home is irreplaceable. Sack your boss.

Gunjan) Life giving you chances. How many chances life gives you if you were to make wrong choices?

Sreedharan) Thy known self be true (Shakespeare). Be true to yourself. If your conviction is strong enough, follow your conscious, inner voice. You may not reason your conscious. Your conscious is available only when your mind is calm. You may have to make many choices at work. Do critical choice during the morning. Convince your intellect. Areas where you can’t make a decision using intellect, use your conscious. Follow your conscious. If that is also not available, take the guidance of a wise person. Have one connect beyond your judgment. Fearless virtues bring you boundless gains. This is my inner calling.

1. Conviction 2) Inner Voice or Conscious 3) Guidance from your person

Wrong choice may spiral you down and right choice lifts you up. You are your greatest friend (listen to conscious) or worst enemy (listening to ego). Life is a skill and art you need to learn and practice to make you eventually self-sufficient.

Jasleen) self respect versus self importance. Where does ego play?

SA Sreedharan) Self importance is ego and self-esteem and self-respect are good. You have to live up to your self respect.

Aakriti) Everyone is doing their own thing. What is the real purpose of me being me alive and living this life that I am living?

SA Sreedharan) Questions give direction to your thinking. A Nobel laurates mother always ask him “what did you ask today?” You questioning to learn not to question others. The goal is about eventual uninterrupted happiness. When you fulfil a desire, you don’t become happy. Desire grows. The agitation you had in fulfilling a desire subsides when you fulfill the desire. Now that the desire is fulfilled and now you bought a new car, now the agitation goes away but new desire stats. What you want now is not really you want. Find out what you really want. If you find out what really want, you get uninterrupted happiness. Happiness is an internal phenomenon. Purpose of existence is for us to merge with the divinity.

Thumb of your palm is the divinity. Without the thumb, four fingers are useless. Body, mind and intellect are three fingers and the pointer is ego. Pointer bends and meets with the divinity in dhyana mudra and you make circle which represents universe or soonya.

Contentment = Gratitude of the past + Acceptance of the presence + Aspiration of the future