Philosophy of life

My Random Thoughts ......

Philosophy of life is all about understanding life for increasing happiness and reducing sorrow. 

The ultimate objective of life is to gain happiness and peace of mind and avoidance of sorrow and pain. Happiness is the end value or the ultimate aim of every human being.

 Ethics, morals and values are part of philosophy.  Philosophy enables you to interpret the principles of human life, analyses the reasons for mysteries and contradictions and suggests the best way to go threw life for perpetual happiness, and reducing sorrow. 

The values for guidance in the journey of life are embedded in the rules or the laws of the land, the religious scriptures, the rituals, and dictates of great men.

When you are born your awareness of the world is more or less zero.  Gradually you understand the world by building awareness bit by bit. The time and space dimensions are understood. The learning processes are an integral part of life. The individual changes with time. In the beginning there is confusion and chaos and gradually perceptions become meaningful.

People are the same everywhere; the difference is in their way of thinking. People differ in many ways: no two individuals are the same. Based on the differences, groups are formed. The families, communities, religious groups and nationalities are some of the groups. The members of the same or similar collectives have certain common or shared characteristics based on their beliefs. Beliefs guide behavior and precipitate as values carried over generations and reflected in the rituals, practices and habits. Based on these differences cultures are formed. Acceptable behavior taboos and prejudices come into being. 

Understanding life is the key to happiness!

Feeling of Happiness

The Secret of Happiness Revealed 

Everyone wants to feel happy. The young, old ,men ,women ; all desire happiness. Happiness is a feeling, a state of mind. 

 

Conditioning the state of mind is the key to happiness. Let us find out the secret of conditioning the mind to a happy state and keep it tuned that way perpetually..is it possible? It is not that easy, unless we really know how to condition our mind.

Each mind is different and so are the  individuals.  If we could understand more about the mind, we could arrive at a general formula to influence the mind to a happy state.

In search of Mind

Let us look for the mind in the human body; it is a difficult task : I am not able to locate even my own mind; my heart, I know where it is....and my brain is in my head; but my mind ! I am not able to locate it. I am sure, I have a mind of my own, different from all other minds in this world . If it is not in my body, could it be outside, somewhere near me: it is a confusing thought.... I am not ready to give up.

Mind and the Self

Is self and mind the same thing. There are theories on development of self and socialization in psychology, but I have not come across any satisfactory theory on development of mind so far. Some say that mind is evolved when you are born and grows within you till death. 

 

Now, let us presume hypothetically that you are all alone in this universe, will you have a mind of your own; you may not even have a self so to say - you are as good as a rock, just part of nature. Psychologists believe that self is developed as a result of social interaction; it is the' others' that help you form your self, so very unique and special. So we now know that self is a product of social interaction, the living and non-living influence the development of individual self. So self is different from mind.

If you do not have a self, may be you cannot have a mind of your own ,to feel the presence of happiness or unhappiness. I once asked a great scholar and a saintly person this question. After some time he told me " your mind is all over you or around you ": maybe it is true ,but I am not satisfied.

Suppose I have a mirror that reflects everything I perceive around me and record it continuously, the imagery will become a point of reference and this imagery could signal and influence the physical body and its actions. This intangible imagery in space , within and around the individual is the mind.

Mind, I believe, is the reflected self and self is a product of your interaction with the environment around you. So now, we have some idea about our mind. Influencing the mind is the key determinant of happiness. Let us find out more on influencing the mind.....

Mind and the Senses

Mind is a product created from experiences of life from birth to death, perceived by the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Senses are the gateways to the mind; signals and messages are received, processed and converted to perception, recorded for storage and retrieval for action: a complex mechanism indeed. Richard Bandler and John Grinder try to explain this phenomenon with the theory of NLP . I feel the concept of NLP is not sufficient to define the working of the human mind.

Mind is space

Mind has many dimensions and exists only in space and about the individual. It has no physical representation .It is like a virtual reality. Development of the mind differs from person to person . Mind ,unlike the human body (which exists in the biosphere), exists in the psycho-sphere; the subtle forces of nature affect all activities in the psycho-sphere. Forces of nature influence the development of mind.

Happiness is…

Happiness is a state of mind , rooted in the past experiences and conditioned by the future expectations and achievements: the expectation achievement gap determines the degree of happiness. Setting of ambition, aspiration, and expectation ,is critical to the feeling of happiness. Setting realistic target for achievement is the deciding factor. So the happy man is he who, sets his ambition with in his limitations and works hard to achieve it.

Mind .... thoughts and feelings….

Thoughts are reflections based on the stimulus received by the senses and registered in the mind. Thoughts are the basis or platforms for beliefs & values ( culture) of the individual. All the stimuli received by the senses are subject to analysis by the 'thought- framework' of the person, and produce reactions in the body, through feelings.

Feelings produce emotions, and emotions find expression in the individual through actions. If your mind can take control of your thoughts and feelings you could command the mind to be in a state of perpetual happiness; if you can control your body from automatically reacting to thoughts and feelings ,you can command the happy state of mind.

From time immemorial, great men,: saints and prophets, through scriptures, mantras and teachings have been trying to help control the mind to achieve perpetual happiness; achieving this by introspection and mind control will be easier.

 

 Influencing the senses by practice of Yoga, meditation and prayer, according to them, will help reformulate the existing mind-body equation for achievement of perpetual happiness. Some, as in the Bhagavad-Gita of the Hindus advocate detachment of mind from all worldly affairs & actions as far as possible; the more detached you are  more happy you could be .

So, disciplining the mind is the key to happiness. Your mind should be able to sort and sift the signals coming through the senses and moderate your thoughts and feelings . Once you are able to totally control your thoughts and feelings your mind will be under your command. Powerful minds can even control the minds of other people by influencing their sense perceptions. Some of the Charismatic leaders, saints and Sufi s are gifted with this power.

To make the body strong, practice Yoga. Yoga advocates a series of body postures and breathing rhythms to irrigate and keep the endocrine -glands and the central nervous system in a state of perpetual health and harmony.

A strong mind in a strong body is the key: try to develop this and you will be happy!..always

Aristotle said " Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the aim and end of human existence"

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