oneness – happiness / 7 commandments | identity | thoughts | beautiful people | gender equality | sustainable living

There are certain life lessons I’ve learnt over time and which I try to follow.

You can click on the first four commandments to read columns that I’d written based on them for the Talk Sikkim magazine from Apr-Aug 2011.

MY 7 COMMANDMENTS IN LIFE

1. Be happy always, no matter what. Don’t let events (good or bad) disturb your state of bliss. जाहीं विधि राखे राम, ताहीं विधि रहिये PDF writeup
2. Have 0 expectations from every other person in the world, and 100% from yourself. When you don’t expect, you’ll never be unhappy and everything you get is a bonus. PDF writeup
3. Never compare with those around you. Just give in your 100% and don’t worry about the results. PDF writeup
4. Everything happens for one’s own good. We get what is best for us (as Amitabh Bachchan quotes his father: मन का हो तो अच्छा, मन का ना हो तो और अच्छा If things happen the way you want them to go, it’s good. If not, even better). PDF writeup
5. Live in the present moment. Don’t worry about the future (it will take care of itself, if you take care of the present) and the past (we can never change it).
6. You can do the impossible! Remove the dust that is cloaking that power within you. Let your inner spark glow! (Know that there is God inside you. Our purpose in life is to realize this divinity within – like removing dust from glass.) Whenever we see greatness around, we see people who’ve removed more of this dust.
7. For every person that you see, meet and talk to, imagine that you’re seeing, meeting and talking to God. The essence is to identify with each person in the world as your own. किससे बांधू बैर जगत में कोई नहीं पराया. हर मानव में प्रतिबिंबित है उसी ब्रह्म की छाया (When your heart is truly opened, you cannot find fault with anyone, as you’ll see everyone as a part of yourself.)

At the end of each of my classes, I give a talk based on these to my students. Here’s an audio podcast of a similar 27-minute talk that I gave to the faculty and students of Simmons College in March 2011 (follow along the presentation slides as you listen).

A longer version of the talk given at a webinar organized by the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is accessible below:

I’ve also given this talk at other fora (Library 2.011 virtual conference, Simmons Alumni Reunion Day, etc.). Let me know if you’d like me to give this talk (either in person or virtually) to an audience of your choice, and I’d be happy to.