Return

A carpenter, who built timber houses, told his employer of his desire to retire. The contractor was sorry to see a good workman go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour.

The carpenter said yes, but it was obvious that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy work and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When he went to hand over the keys, his boss arranged for a send-off function. He spoke of the carpenters’ commitment to his craft and announced an appropriate farewell gift. ‘You built the finest of homes and you deserve one of the same,’ saying so he handed back the key of the latest house built by the carpenter.

Imagine his predicament! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the mediocre home that he himself had built so poorly.

We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to give lesser than our best effort to the task at hand. Then with a shock we look at the situation of our creation and find that we are now living in the house we have built.

If we had realized that our efforts were going to return back to us, we would have done it differently. Our life today is the result of our attitudes and choices in the past. Our life tomorrow will be the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today.

Don’t retire from giving your best
Things we do return back to rest!

 - Pravin K. Sabnis

Liberation

Liberation refers to the process of freeing someone from another's control. Synonyms of the word ‘liberate’ are emancipate, free and release. While these words mean ‘to set loose from restraint or constraint’, ‘liberate’ stresses on the resulting state of liberty.

Liberty is freedom from limits on thought or behaviour. When we describe someone as liberated, we mean that they do not accept society's traditional values or restrictions on behaviour. It is about feeling free and being able to behave as you like.

Essentially it is about the shift in paradigm. In the first stage of Illusion, we believe that problems originate externally. By thinking thus, we empower what’s out there to control us. Putting the onus on others and external factors chains us to those very problems.

From victimhood, we must wake up to taking responsibility of our lives and the choices we make. The truth may be unpleasant but it is better than living a lie of illusion. We start seeing things logically and find ways to cope and be liberated.

We constantly evolve with new levels of liberation awaiting us. When we escape one box, we find ourselves in another one. The box eventually is in our mind conditioned by prejudices and fears. Stepping out of such consecutive boxes will lead to liberation.

Don’t get chained by constraints of the situation

The limiting box must be undone for liberation!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Career

The term ‘career’ has its roots in the Latin word – ‘carrera’ which literally means race. The pressure is increasing on our youth to make career choices without looking at dreams, aspirations and aptitude.

Unlike earlier, when career options were limited, today a plethora of potential professions are available. Yet, young students are being conditioned to attach value to few careers. Worse, they are being discouraged from pursuing childhood dreams.

Very few have the personal courage or the support to change tracks midway in their academic education. Too much pressure is generated by narrowing on select few career options. And most such career choices are at the cost of the real career – our life!

We must not distance ourselves from real living. Career is, after all, the progress of the course of life. Living is beyond so-called status and handsome remunerations. We need to examine whether our careers will permit us to have the time for the real needs of our life – family, community, the environment.

Don’t get careered by choice strife
Choose the priority career of ‘life’!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Flux

‘All is flux, nothing remains still!’ – Heraclitus, Greek philosopher

Change is the only constant. Stars form and collapse. Continents shift. Seasons change. Our body decays, the mind evolves and relationships change. But though we live in a world of constant flux, many fail to recognize it and distress is the result.

When we fail to accept flux, we cling to things. We cling to days gone by, to relationships and to possessions. Eventually, reality intervenes. When that, what we cling to, is taken from us, we face the reality of impermanence.

Remarkably, the pain arises even before the loss, in the form of fear. Though we know it is temporary, we live in fear of losing it. We can have a better life if we realize and accept the fact of flux.

We can learn to appreciate things we have but without staking our happiness on them. This helps to make better decisions. When we know that we will change and that other people will change, then we can identify the fresh approach that’s needed.

Admitting the flux may seem daunting, however it is actually liberating. In reality, we are just conceding something that we already know. When we bring it into the open, it is not so scary. We find that recognition of flux brings acceptance and bliss into our lives.

Clinging to things is a hurtful crux

Learn to accept the inevitable flux!

- Pravin K. Sabnis