An insightful conversation between Ramkrishna Paramahansa & Swami Vivekananda and my takeaways from them.
Swami Vivekanand:- I can’t find free time. Life has become hectic.
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you free.
My takeaway : We get so busy in the urgent of life and forget to focus on the important things. Our purpose, passion, health, relationships are some of the important things we let go, for the everyday humdrum of going to office, politics, petty squabbles etc.
Swami Vivekanand:- Why has life become complicated now?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Stop analysing life. It makes it complicated. Just live it.
My takeaway : Most of us have moved away from real living to just thinking about things. Take joy in doing small things rather than be worried about aspects of life beyond your control. People who live in their minds forget that the world is out there to experience
Swami Vivekanand:- Why are we then constantly unhappy?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Worrying has become your habit. That’s why you are not happy.
My takeaway : We first loose sleep over things which we don’t have, some call it dreams which do not let you sleep, I call them desires. These things then enslave you to the extent that once you do achieve them, then you loose sleep over thinking about, what if I loose them.
Swami Vivekanand:- Why do good people always suffer?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don’t suffer. With that experience their life becomes better, not bitter.
My takeaway : Good people are destined to be great. Only and only if they allow themselves to be subjected to immense trial and challenges. Pain while facing a challenge is inevitable but suffering is a choice. You would have heard successful people sharing that tough times made them who they are, they never suffered those tough time, they grew through it.
Swami Vivekanand:- You mean to say such experience is useful?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and then the lessons.
My takeaway : We do not realise the significance of tough times when they are happening, we just want them to get over. But the key is to take lessons as they are a result of some action or inaction in your past. The current tough times are only there to realise your folly and improve. Most people often keep repeating their mistakes and end up miserable.
Swami Vivekanand:- Because of so many problems, we don’t know where we are heading?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides the way.
My takeaway : Problems distract you and changes focus to the immediate environment. Yes you do need to take care of the challenge at hand but never loose track of your long term vision. Any successful individual has gone through these times but what became their north star was their ability to look beyond the immediate.
Swami Vivekanand:- Does failure hurt more than moving in the right direction?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you.
My takeaway : The important thing to ask is how do you define failure or success. Is it the way others or the society defines or you have an internal measure. Many visionaries had ordinary lives full of failures before they became “extra” ordinary. I once read a great definition of success, it said, pursuit of a worthy ideal is success.
Swami Vivekanand:- In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
My takeaway : Life works like an ECG graph, going up and down, signifying that you are alive. First of all never desire for a “fixed” life because in an ECG if the reading is a fixed straight line, it means you are dead. Additionally, look at how blessed you are and there would always be someone who will be suffering more than you. Look how far you have travelled and achieved in life, nothing is possible if HE is not looking out for you.
Swami Vivekanand:- What surprises you about people?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- When they suffer they ask, “why me?” When they prosper, they never ask “Why me?”
My takeaway : Suffering makes most people look upwards, to the GOD’s, and they beg to end it. But, somehow forget to look upward and thank HIM when things are going right for them. Every morning around quarter of a million people do not wake after they sleep at night, if you woke up today, then don’t you think it is time to look up and say THANK YOU.
Swami Vivekanand:- How can I get the best out of life?
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
My takeaway : The best is NOW. And it will soon become your past, so decide fast, how do you want to remember your past? Future is uncertain or has variables beyond your comprehension and control, so the only thing you can do is to prepare your body and mind to handle the situation(s), as and when it comes to the best of your capabilities. The same capabilities you are working on them now.
Swami Vivekanand:- One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
Ramkrishna Paramahansa:- There are no unanswered prayers. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.
My takeaway : Faith is the single most thing which has kept the humans going and got us here from where we were. Fear in contrast, has made the very same humans do unimaginable things to its own kind. So, keep faith, in the power which is much beyond and bigger than you and submit each of your action, with utmost humility in its service.
Do share your takeaways on the 11 principles and let me know what do you think about life and its challenges.
Thanks for the wonderful principles,I was searching for the answer in my life about How can I get the best out of life? And was always regret about my past….Thanks again I got my answer today, from now onwards I will never regret about my past.