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From: Prakhar Sachan
Date: 16 Oct 2006
Time: 09:27:08 -0500
Remote Name: 202.141.136.155
Hi Lisa, You ask:>>”What do you think it was or what changed that allowed you to realize that to be happy you had to remain true to your intentions?”<< Well, thats a tough one. :-) You see, Lisa, I can't really point a single factor. It was a combination of many things. Many people, in many different ways, have touched me deeply with their insights and profound wisdom. The realization is also a result of the work that I constantly do on myself. Be it introspection, or talking to myself and trying to view things from a detached perspective. As I said before, it is a tough question, as I haven't really sat down and thought over this one! Lisa: >>”I just wonder how we can or if we can impart that wisdom onto others.”<< Prakhar: Ok, lets see. This is an example I was giving to one of my friends last night. I'm sure you've faced many exams, or tests in your academic life. Suppose you have one scheduled for tomorrow (an end semester one), and you have a history of performing poorly in that subject. And, to make matters worse, you think you aren't well prepared this time either. So, it's night time and you sit down to study; but you can't concentrate. There is a flood of negative thoughts -- “what ifs, whats nots etc”. You start conjuring up images of yourself failing, and in process start preparing yourself for the worse. (being held for the semester.....what would others think....how would you face your friends... blah...blah...blah :)].Your mental dialog steps up further, and this time you start loathing yourself for not paying attention in class, for not taking the subject seriously, for not preparing well in advance, for not learning from your mistakes etc. Now step aside, and analyze everything. Are you staying in the “now”? NO. You are letting your perception of “future” affecting your 'now'. What should your intentions be? To give it your BEST. Are you staying true to your intentions, and giving it your BEST? NO. How should you go about following your intentions? By shutting off everything, and just concentrating on the subject matter -- by remaining in NOW. It is very much probable you might cover some stuff, which might be directly asked at the test tomorrow. But, by projecting yourself into future, you have lost a hold NOW. Get the picture? You might have heard this saying, which goes something like this – Failure at anything is not the end result, but the knowledge that you hadn't given it your best shot.” Think about it; there is nothing you can do, except giving it your best. Whatever happens thereafter, is outside your control.... period. There is a book which you might be interested in. I had known about this book for sometime, but never really got the chance to read it, until now. I'm still in the process of completing reading it. Incidentally, I have used the title of it, in my article as well. It is “The Power of Now... by Eckhart Tolle”. As I'm reading it, it rings 'truths' which I've found out for myself. However, you need to be a particular kind of person in order to appreciate it. Give it a try! Hope this helps. Best regards, Prakhar PS: Have you read John Harrison's paper? It might interest you as well. He talks in length about expectations vs intentions. http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad9/papers/harrison9.html