Readers Respond to The Arjuna Factor

I am reminded of the famous lines: Between stimulus and response there is a gap. In that gap lies your happiness.
If we are able to be aware when every kind of stimulus attacks us, we should then be able to create that gap, then take a wider perspective as you say, and then revert with focus.
Sometimes with all the above we still may come up with an outcome different from our expectation. That is when acceptance and faith in HIS plans becomes a useful tool.
Mohan

I read the Arjuna factor email recently. Thought I would inflict my views again!
I agree on the FOCUS part. By being focussed you are totally in the present. When you respond to a situation by being totally in the present then that is the best response. This happens for example when you are faced with a dangerous situation which might endanger your life. You are totally in the present and respond intutively.
If Arjuna was totally in the present he would have just accepetd the situation and responded. He was worrying about the future. This is when Krishna's famous verse" Karmanye vadhikarasthe....." helps Arjuna. That is another way of saying" Be in the present".
So do we need a wider perspective if we are totally in the present? Wishing you all ..presence..........
Mohan

This is so true and sounds so simple. It is also true of a lot of other principles in life.
What I find is that a lot of times it isn't that I don't know that I am not doing the correct thing but I do it anyway. This is mostly when my emotions are involved. It is so much easier to take decisions and get the balance between perspective and focus when you are dispassionate about the issue. I find that when it comes to work related issues I can be dispassionate most of the time. It then becomes easy to get the right perspective and then take a focused decision.
In personal life, because you are really close to the people involved the emotions get engaged. Then it is far more difficult to not jump in without thinking and take quick actions.
The solution of clearing your mind is so simple and elegant. I must try and practice it.
Nira

Any tips on the solution? 'The solution of clearing your mind is so simple and elegant' - but how do you do that when your emotions are actively engaged? And no obvious answers pls - thanks
Amrita

The solution sounds simple but is not east to implement. There are no quick fixes. It would come with years of practice. We'll fail lots of times in the process. But at least if we are conscious of it it's a major first step. Trying to practice it is the next. We may never succeed all the time but if we are better a year from now than we are today, no matter how small the improvement, we're on the right track.
Nira

Amrita,
When you are feeling an emotion- go ahead and just FEEL it. We are in a human life, partly to learn to use the energy provided by our emotions [Latin root 'emovere': to move] in ways that we want. As you imply, it is difficult - if not impossible- to clear the mind while experiencing an emotion.
The short answer to that is- don't try the technique during an emotional experience. Use it as a part of your routine. FIRST: SET A TIME. Let's see now: what suits you- to clear every hour on the hour? Every two hours? Thrice a day? When you're waiting- for a download, a green light, to get to sleep, for a friend to answer the phone?
That's all the time you'll need to clear. Shorter than the time it took to type out the technique or to read it! So each of us decides what works for us, and makes a mental note to clear whenever we can. As they say- clear the garbage from the mind.
SECOND: WATCH THE PROCESS. At first, we may find the lightness that comes immediately after a clearing. Like a ripple, the lightness spreads to other times during the day; times when we would otherwise be impatient or bored. Time seems to slow down, we may find that we are able to internalize the theories that we have read, we feel more connected to events and people, more intuitive, clearer. All go against the emotions we'd like to avoid- despair, anger, annoyance, impatience, depression.
THIRD: THE PAY-OFF. As we continue the clearing and assimilating, there are times when we find the gap between the feeling of an emotion and our expression of it. If we can clear at that moment, we may wonder: whatever happened to the emotion? The clearing can work in wonderful ways. It's reproduced below so we can clear as we re-read it. The technique takes longer to read and write than practice. These are ancient techniques- not for the learning but for the experiencing.
Thanks for stirring the pot. A wonderful question.
And group- let's share our experiences with it! I have a wonderful story which I'll relate only if I get some others first. Thanks for being here.
Meenakshi

Dear friends,
I can only tell you how Meenakshi's clearing helped me when I was going though a difficult time this May.
My daughter developed pneumonia and my husband was away and at the same time my 4 year old came down with high fever as well.I felt the world would fall apart!It was Meenakshi who came to me as an angel and helped me through troubled times and her "Clearing technique " would really help me calm down!I can tell you it really works and helps!
I know it sounds difficult but it really heals!
Simi

The Arjuna Factor

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