Brewing Coffee

He went on to explain the function of the conscious and unconscious mind. As the first step to remove the clutter from the mind, he suggested removing the clutter from our households. I found this particularly interesting and hopeful. Cleaning the house would definitely be much easier than containing the mind.

Uncle Yadav also suggested writing down on a piece of the paper the anger we hold towards one. Then, burn it. (Another consolation. I feared that he would tells us to mail it.) He guaranteed that the exercise would free us from any form of derogative attachment.

As it has always been preached, he also emphasized on the need to love. Gifting and forgiving are the two natures of love.

As a finale to his session, he got the listeners to sit in a circle and close their eyes. He got us into the meditative mode and told us to visualise a person who has angered us. He, then told us to forgive that person. The objective of the exercise was to release the anger and learn to forgive. Amazingly, I saw myself in my vision. I guess we all have our days when we feel that we're responsible for everything that happens around us. I did feel slightly better after the exercise.

The next speaker, Komal had an interesting and insightful knowledge to share with the audience. He touched on the ayurvedic knowledge about the body. He advocated that the body is linked to the five elements; air,water,fire, earth and space. Two of each elements are combined and structured into three segments; Varta, Pitta and Kappa. Individuals could fall under either one of the segments or a combination of any of the two.

This was new knowledge to me. I never realised that we were so connected to the elements. It was amazing to know that the fundamentals of the human structure, characteristics and diet can be determined by our connection with these elements. It brought about an understanding to the diversity in the human nature and that each individual is designed to carry out a specific task. Personally, I felt that my attributes were a combination of Pitta and Kappa. More of Kappa, in fact.

The last speaker, Mr Guna presented on the Art of Giving. I believed that I knew the basics of giving but it turned out to be an eye-opener, or should I say, a "mind-opener"?

He touched on giving to receive. He emphasized on the importance of detaching ourselves from the gift when we give. He engaged the audience, particularly me, to explain this theory.

He also mentioned the need to give others what they want rather than what we think is best for them. Though, the principle appears to be the obvious, through his examples of humourous events, I realised at times we can be insensitive to others' needs when we choose to give.

An example, he quoted was during the Tsunami relief. People donated high-heeled shoes and bikinis to the victims. When giving, the intention is important.

It made me reflect on my personal encounters. On the occasions that I had given, it made me think whether I had done so wholeheartedly. It is important for the intention to be noble when giving.

Mr Guna, also touched on the dilemma that most of us face in our daily lives. This was particularly important to me for when I'm approached by people for monetary help, often I'm caught because I'm not sure whether they are being truthful.

He explained that it is not up to us to judge the individual. If we feel that he/she will spend it on booze instead of food, then buy that individual food or share your food with him/her. He also emphasized on the need to listen to the heart to know whether it is right to help one and not be duped. Not an easy feat but not impossible either. :)

The talk was enriching and it opened up my mind. These plain-clothes yogis, as I would call them, touched on a different angle on each of the topics. Not something that I had commonly known or considered.

Hence, it goes without saying that, "The known is just a drop whilst the unknown is the ocean."

Talk on Total WellBeing