Imagine a King stripped of his kingdom and his wealth… Imagine a dog attacking this king-turned-pauper… and NOW imagine, a passer-by greeting the king… What would we do if we were the king fleeing that fearful dog? Maybe we would not even pause to respond to the greeting. Maybe, we would curse the person for poking fun at our predicament.
It is pertinent to note that a real King, (never mind the desperate situation) would accept the greeting with grace, befitting a King! A King is not a King because he is surrounded with wealth and power. A King needs to display consistent behaviour and unswerving attitude…
This attitude is put to test in the various corridors we walk… a person responds differently to different people who might wish him, say, “Good Morning”. The response ranges from a dignified “Good Morning” to a benevolent senior… an energetic greeting to a close associate… to a blank look or an irritated snub to a person whom we abhor or dislike.
Obviously, our response does not depend on us… It depends on who stands before us and on the situation that surrounds us… Not, so for a King! The response of a true King should be independent of situation or petty thinking… Such attitude is steadfast and full of conviction and a strong sense of responsibility. It is said so well that “responsibility” is the “ability” to give the right “response” irrespective of the stimulus or the situation.
To BE BETTER at leading a glorious king-size life,
Let’s display ‘responsibility’ even when in strife!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
EMPTY CUP
A young professor went to meet Nan-in to discuss Zen. The professor quizzed him on comparative philosophies and the Zen master gave some brief answers. However, when the professor began to debate with him on those answers, Nan-in stopped speaking and kept smiling at him. Eventually, the professor got angry, "I have travelled a distance just to understand the relevance of Zen. But apparently you have nothing to say."
In response, Nan-in offered tea to the professor. He kept pouring into his guest’s cup even when it was full. As the tea started spilling, the professor shouted, “the cup is full… no more tea will go in!” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said politely, “You are full of your own assumptions and presumptions. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
It is pertinent to note that fresh learning cannot really happen until unlearning has happened. In our personal, professional and social life, we need to unlearn habits, prejudices and most importantly our “know-all-attitude” that prevents fresh learning. It is necessary to inculcate humility and an open-minded attitude in our quest to further our learning processes. Without the right attitude, it is not possible for us to acquire knowledge and skills.
It is said so well, ‘Forget learning, learn forgetting’
‘Empty the cup’ to BE BETTER at true unlearning!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
In response, Nan-in offered tea to the professor. He kept pouring into his guest’s cup even when it was full. As the tea started spilling, the professor shouted, “the cup is full… no more tea will go in!” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said politely, “You are full of your own assumptions and presumptions. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
It is pertinent to note that fresh learning cannot really happen until unlearning has happened. In our personal, professional and social life, we need to unlearn habits, prejudices and most importantly our “know-all-attitude” that prevents fresh learning. It is necessary to inculcate humility and an open-minded attitude in our quest to further our learning processes. Without the right attitude, it is not possible for us to acquire knowledge and skills.
It is said so well, ‘Forget learning, learn forgetting’
‘Empty the cup’ to BE BETTER at true unlearning!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Monday, August 10, 2009
BIG STONES
In the late 90s, while conducting training sessions on time management, I used to carry along a plastic jar. I would put stones, one by one, into the jar. Once the jar was filled to the top, I would ask the participants, “Is the jar full?" Obviously, not yet! Then, some gravel was put in the jar, to occupy the space between the big stones. The exercise continued with putting sand into all the spaces left between the gravel. Lastly, water was poured in until the jar was filled to the brim.
Then I would repeat the process in reverse, but in vain! Once the jar was full of water, some sand can go in but only after displacing some water… In the first scenario, nothing put in earlier was displace!! Gravel cannot go beyond the top surface of the wet sand… and as for the big stones they just won’t go in… if you use the force, either the stone will break or the jar will crack up. The natural truth this illustration teaches us is: “If you don't put the BIG STONES in first, you'll never get them in at all”.
The BIG STONES are our principal priorities in life … our individuality, our family, our friends, our physical and mental health, our dreams, our cause … Remember to put these BIG STONES in first, or you will never get them in at all. If we sweat the little stuff and fill our life with little things, then we will never have the real quality time we need to spend on our most important priorities. And of course, all your principal priorities are equally important!
Let’s hold on to the big stones in the jar of life,
May we BE BETTER at connecting to the right priorities!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Then I would repeat the process in reverse, but in vain! Once the jar was full of water, some sand can go in but only after displacing some water… In the first scenario, nothing put in earlier was displace!! Gravel cannot go beyond the top surface of the wet sand… and as for the big stones they just won’t go in… if you use the force, either the stone will break or the jar will crack up. The natural truth this illustration teaches us is: “If you don't put the BIG STONES in first, you'll never get them in at all”.
The BIG STONES are our principal priorities in life … our individuality, our family, our friends, our physical and mental health, our dreams, our cause … Remember to put these BIG STONES in first, or you will never get them in at all. If we sweat the little stuff and fill our life with little things, then we will never have the real quality time we need to spend on our most important priorities. And of course, all your principal priorities are equally important!
Let’s hold on to the big stones in the jar of life,
May we BE BETTER at connecting to the right priorities!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Monday, August 3, 2009
BAD WORD
Last week, a 2-day Youth Leadership Development Program - Carpe Diem - was organised by Goa Sudharop Community Development Inc. USA in collaboration with Fr Agnel College, Pilar. At the valedictory, the young chief guest, Fr Feroze Fernandes (editor – Vavradeacho Ixtt) chose to teach the students some new, modern ‘bad words’… and one such bad word was ‘good’!
Fr Feroze spoke of how the word ‘good’ as a response was not good enough! So often when asked to evaluate something, we easily say ‘good’ and more often than not it probably means ‘not bad’ or it means that we may be opting to be politely untruthful. But if we really find it to be good, we are more likely to use better superlatives like ‘great’, ‘fantastic’, ‘superb’!
But this miserliness with appropriate appreciation is not just a result of an indifferent or disinterested use of language. It reflects an attitudinal disconnect with the relevance and the consequence of positive reception towards the quality of excellence. The word, ‘Good’ symbolises a plateau… to peak, we need to ‘be better’! Hence, it will be prudent to treat ‘good’ as a bad word, and opt for more exuberance in our vocabulary and our outlook!
In every situation that surrounds us, let’s strive to ‘be better’… with every person we meet, may our behaviour be better than ‘good’… may every response of us reflect our inner resolve to shake off apathy and rise above the chains of mediocrity… may we enlivened enough and proactively provoked to BE BETTER at our deed, thought and expression!
Let’s rid our lexis of the bad word - ‘Good’… now, not later...
In every act and response, may we strive to BE BETTER!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Fr Feroze spoke of how the word ‘good’ as a response was not good enough! So often when asked to evaluate something, we easily say ‘good’ and more often than not it probably means ‘not bad’ or it means that we may be opting to be politely untruthful. But if we really find it to be good, we are more likely to use better superlatives like ‘great’, ‘fantastic’, ‘superb’!
But this miserliness with appropriate appreciation is not just a result of an indifferent or disinterested use of language. It reflects an attitudinal disconnect with the relevance and the consequence of positive reception towards the quality of excellence. The word, ‘Good’ symbolises a plateau… to peak, we need to ‘be better’! Hence, it will be prudent to treat ‘good’ as a bad word, and opt for more exuberance in our vocabulary and our outlook!
In every situation that surrounds us, let’s strive to ‘be better’… with every person we meet, may our behaviour be better than ‘good’… may every response of us reflect our inner resolve to shake off apathy and rise above the chains of mediocrity… may we enlivened enough and proactively provoked to BE BETTER at our deed, thought and expression!
Let’s rid our lexis of the bad word - ‘Good’… now, not later...
In every act and response, may we strive to BE BETTER!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
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