AGAIN AND AGAIN

A Zen story tells of a singer who ran off from his singing classes, overwhelmed by frustration. His strict teacher insisted that he rehearse day after day, month after month the same passage from the same song. When he went to another teacher to learn, he was asked to demonstrate his singing skill. He sang the same passage that he knew so well. His new teacher was impressed, “Son, you are already a master. There is nothing that I can teach you… you are already so proficient at singing.”

He practiced so much that it became a part of him. So often we spread ourselves too thin by trying to do too many things at once. But mastering one thing at a time creates a solid foundation that we can then build on. A singular really impressive skill gives us the confidence to tackle other skills.

The ability to practice is not only challenging and tiring, but mentally, can be very taxing. The rich Indian musical tradition has shown in so many ways that ‘riyaz’, (practice), not only helps develop skill; it also, empowers mind control in terms of patience, tolerance, endurance and focus.

However, just practicing isn't enough. Our heart must be into what we are doing. Also, doing the same thing again and again is not enough to be better at doing it well. Practice doesn't make perfect – it depends on what we practice, how we practice! Perseverance needs to combine with conscious improvement while taking our abilities one step further.

It is by falling again and again that the drop hollows the boulder...
Perseverance helps to BE BETTER at rising above the shoulder!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

ROOM FOR RUMOUR

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”- G. B. Shaw

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 will see the occurrence of the longest total solar eclipse of this century, which will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. A total solar eclipse is a spectacular natural phenomenon and many enthusiasts have already embarked on travel to locations where it is best visible. An airline has even discovered business opportunity by announcing a flight to view the eclipse from the sky.

While the hype of the historical event has been in the public domain for a long time, a latest rumour has found greater attention. An e-mail doing the rounds warns coastal Asia of a tsunami triggered by the eclipse. Although mainstream scientists and media have already rejected this hypothesis, the rumour is swiftly gaining attention worldwide as an electronic chain letter. Doomsday prophets are going berserk with their unscientific predictions.

A day of joy will now be a day of worry for the gullible. Our minds have room for rumour at the cost of critical thinking. While we are slow to apply our minds, we show urgency in giving credibility to a rumour. We easily acquire the irresponsible habit to forward information without verifying its authenticity. It is ironical that people who receive e-rumours do not use the same internet to verify its authenticity.

Albert Einstein said it so well: “Information is not knowledge”. We must learn to sift facts from non-facts in the information we receive. We must be careful to ensure that non-factual rumours do not eclipse the real truth. To be better at escaping the stranglehold of rumours, we must develop the spirit of inquiry and investigation.

No room for rumour, but lots for critical inquiring...
That’s the way to BE BETTER at effective thinking!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

LOL

LOL is an acronym for ‘laugh out loud’ or ‘laughing out loud’. It is being increasingly used in internet and cellular textual communication. Although, some may also use it to mean ‘lots of love’, the majority would be using the abbreviation to indicate their expression of mirth. However, it is a matter of conjecture whether the person, who writes LOL as a response, is actually laughing out aloud or only saying so.

Interestingly, ‘LOL’ as a native Dutch word means ‘fun’ while in Welsh, it means ‘nonsense’. But as an acronym it is open to as many meanings as laughter can have… it can express glee, joy, delight, amusement, contempt, sarcasm, scorn, ridicule, derision, etc, etc. hence, ‘LOL’ does not tell us of a singular, specific response.

It is pertinent to note that e-communication can obscure real responses under generalized initializations. Surely it would be better to receive responses such as ‘that’s funny’ or ‘that’s not funny’ or ‘what’s so funny’ or ‘so that’s funny according to you’, so on and so forth instead of a repetitive ‘LOL’ which is open to different analysis. Exceptions would include cases when both persons on either side of the message are in tune with only one understanding of the term that is used.

Acronyms are wonderful things as long as they are singular in meaning. After all, it is more important to express rather than impress. Our communication will be better if our responses do not get expressed in generalizations which may not reflect our real response.

To BE BETTER at communicating our true feelings
We must avoid expressions with multiple meanings

:-) Pravin K. Sabnis

LANTERN

In ancient Japan, while venturing into the dark night, people carried bamboo-and-paper lanterns with candles inside.

One night, a host offered his blind visitor a lantern to carry home with him. The blind man declined saying, "Darkness or light is all the same to me." The wise host persisted, "I know you do not need a lantern to find your way, but if you don't have one, someone else may run into you."

The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him. "Look out where you are going!" he exclaimed to the stranger. "Can't you see this lantern?"

"Your candle has burned out, brother," replied the stranger.

Now let’s recast the above characters. The blind man in the story is one of us. The stranger is a person who crosses our path. He could be a family member, a friend, a colleague, a customer or just a stranger. The lantern symbolises the persona we carry. The candle represents our dream, our vision. The path represents our life purpose, our mission…

Quite often we are cocky about our capabilities and may be rightfully so. But, we need to understand that while the lantern we hold lights up our path, it also enlightens our way and walk to the ones who we meet enroute! Hence we must constantly revisit our dreams and vision to ensure that the lantern of our personality is consistently illuminated. To be better at getting to our aspiration, we must connect to our guiding vision every night, every day!

To BE BETTER at overcoming the hurdles on the dark way
Our vision-candle must burn in our lantern, every day!

---- Pravin-da