Youth day special - Careers, spirituality & mental health

 

Gurudev interacted with student of IIT Madras in a free-wheeling and candid discussion on mental health, career choices, and spirituality for youth.

This post is also available in: हिन्दी

A free-wheeling and candid discussion on mental health, career choices, and spirituality with faculty members and students of IIT Madras in an interaction titled, “Wellness in a post-pandemic world”.

Selected excerpts:

Q: The world is currently filled with uncertainty. All our academic, personal and career prospects seem so unclear and confusing. How do we remain motivated in this difficult phase?

Gurudev: There are two ways to look at uncertainty. When you’re looking for a surprise, what are you really looking for? Something which you have not expected, right? And pleasant surprises are always a thrill in life. They uplift your spirit. When you are watching a movie and you know the end, it’s not so interesting. When you do not know what’s going to happen in the next moment, it causes that thrill and joy.

So uncertainty can also lead you to heightened enthusiasm, joy, and a sense of thrill in life, and on the other side, uncertainty can lead you to fear, anxiety and depression. Life is uncertain. If you are a physics or astronomy student, you know our entire cosmos is revolving under uncertainty. There are lots of black holes. The whole creation will be finished and it will all be sucked in a matter of seconds if any solar system, including ours, gets touched with any one of those black holes. The entire Milky Way is moving with uncertainty.

Similarly, there are a number of incidents in life that can pose uncertainties. These occasions should be used to enhance our life, experience a sense of thrill, joy, and fun rather than brood over it. Why? When do we brood over it? When are we anxious about it? When we do not have confidence.

Suppose you visit a fair. If you are uncertain, then the merry-go-round can be a cause of anxiety for you. But when you know you’re on a merry-go-round, giant wheel, or roller-coaster ride, you happily accept it.

Believe you are going to be successful and that you have the ability to play with all the uncertainties. Use them as an opportunity for your growth.

Q: As students, we also tend to be very angry with external factors. The world is filled with hate, crime, religious intolerance, sexual harassment, environmental exploitation, and more such things. How do we respond to this calmly?

Gurudev: Violence cannot quell violence. It is wisdom that can quell violence. Wisdom is looking at the situation from a broader perspective. Some people commit crimes. There are criminals on the planet, definitely. But inside every culprit is a victim crying for help. They are not well. They didn’t have the right education, they didn’t know how to control their mind and at the spur of the moment, they committed a crime and later regretted it.

This is the case with every individual. Whenever someone commits a mistake, they know it happened at the spur of a moment and when they were not very conscious. Undoubtedly, in such cases one has to take strict action; it must be coupled with compassion. Put yourself in a place where you committed a mistake, how would you like to be treated? Would you like to be forgiven and tutored to move in the right direction? Or would you like someone to hold that against you for a whole lifetime? This is where we must hate the crime and not the person, not the criminal. Inside the criminal, a good person hides – we have to bring him to the surface.

Q: Even though the pandemic is a physical health crisis, it has opened up a lot of dialogue regarding the importance of mental health. How important is emotional wellness and how do we work towards it?

Gurudev: A weak mind cannot carry along a healthy body whereas a healthy mind can carry along a weak body. Mental health is supreme. If it is there, then you can manage your physical ailments also. Most of our healing happens when we sleep, and to sleep, you need to have robust mental health. Suppose someone is sick and you give them all medication but if you don’t let them sleep, you will see that the medication won’t work on them.

A pleasant, joyful state of mind can help heal the body faster. Hormones like keratins, dopamines are chemicals that the mind creates only when it is in a good state of mental health. Otherwise, it cannot happen. The vice-versa is also true. The mind is in a good state, then your endocrine system works better. Otherwise, stress hormones weaken you in more ways than one.

The value of life

Post-pandemic, there is a lot of uproar in the world about mental health issues. We were busy with life accessories. We were busy with technology and making money but somewhere we must have forgotten the value of life itself.

A spare part is of no use if the main engine itself is not in good shape. Right? So this is putting attention on the main engine – the driving force of our lives. Life itself. The life energy, life force, that is within us.

Q: A lot of people are skeptical about spirituality. While others, such as yourself, are advocates of spirituality for the betterment of human lives. Would you say spirituality is absolutely necessary for people to have a happy and satisfied life?

Gurudev: Well, it depends on what you call spirituality. Many people are skeptical because they have seen people who promise too many things rather than something they can use in their lives. For me, spirituality is that which brings you inner strength, makes you sharper in your observation, alertness, and perception, and gives you a sense of belongingness with everybody. Spirituality gives you that sort of unshakeable peace and unwavering love and compassion.

These qualities of the spirit which when enhanced is spirituality. Nobody can be devoid of spirit, spirituality because we are all made up of, both, matter and spirit. When you attend to your inner self, the consciousness – that is spirituality. Usually what we see is a lot of mumbo-jumbo about spirituality, making people skeptical. In a way, I would say a skeptical mind is a scientific mind if it’s not cynical. It is very good for spirituality because it can ponder on the truth, such minds can really go deep into the realms of consciousness.

Advice for the student community

When you look around and see any drooping face devoid of a smile, don’t just pass by them. Stand, pull that person, talk to them and ask them, ‘What is the matter? Are you undergoing any pressure? Are you not happy? Is there some issue?’

Take interest in all those drooping, depressed faces on your campus. Don’t let a single person, for any reason, take their life. If a person is not happy, put them in a wellness center.

Q: People often ask me to have the attitude of becoming a better person but at the same time, people ask me to remain content with what I have. How do we balance both these factors in our pursuit of success and happiness?

Gurudev: Yes, they appear to be contradictory but they are not. You can plan for your life, for a better future, you can earn more – name, fame, wealth – but today you should not forget to have your meals and today, right now, you must enjoy this moment.

If you are watching a movie, you should enjoy that thoroughly. You cannot only keep dreaming of tomorrow, the day after, and the future and miss today’s meal, or stop enjoying the meal today. They are not contradictory, you can do both. You can enjoy this moment and at the same time have a vision for the future. It appears to be contradictory but it’s not – you can do both.

Q: A very common question when it comes to spirituality and spiritual enlightenment, is the question about the purpose of one’s life. What is your take on this? What do you think is the main goal of our being on earth?

Gurudev: One who knows the purpose of life will not tell others. If someone tries to say that – you simply know that they don’t know! But this question is a million-dollar question. What is the purpose of life? When this question rises within you, I tell you, you are very lucky. You keep this question alive inside of you. You keep it – don’t give it away. Because time and again you will get different answers.

What is not the purpose of life will start appearing and will all fall apart. Then you will move towards that which is really the purpose of your life. For this question, go with a negative route. Make a list of all that is not the purpose of your life. The purpose of your life is not to be miserable and make others miserable, not to just earn money and just put it in the bank and die one day.

You know, what is the real purpose? You keep asking this. This is like the question, who am I? It is very useful and I will keep the question with you. The day you discover the answer, you will find a thrill and wow in your life. But till then, don’t go around and ask anybody this question but ask yourself.

Q: How to deal with career anxiety and how do I know which career path is right for me?

Gurudev: Have a little more faith in your brilliance. You don’t have to worry about your career. The moment you finish your studies, your path will already be determined. I will leave it to you to choose your subjects. Look around and see which one appeals to you more and where you feel most comfortable.

Rapid-fire round with students & Gurudev

• Money & fame: Means, not the end.
• Intuition: An ability, if you have, you can exhibit.
• Karma: The whole universe is filled with action and that is called Karma.
• Day-dreaming: Be a dreamer – be it day or night, doesn’t matter.
• Enlightenment: A goal to be pursued by intelligent ones.
• What to do when we fall in love? I think you should rise in love.
• Science or spirituality? They are intertwined and part of your life – can’t separate them.
• Destiny or Freewill? You have both – like your height and your weight!
• Competition or compassion? You need to wisely use both.
• Hard work or luck? They go together.
• Your favorite book: Life!

Q: Self-control is something that many people struggle with maintaining. People would rather give in to immediate gratification rather than pursue long-term gain. How can we exercise self-control better?

Gurudev: Balance! Balance! You have to balance both. You cannot keep thinking of the long term goal and miss the fun and joy of the present moment. On the other hand, you cannot only enjoy right now and not have a long-term goal or vision. Both will be at a loss – if the other is not included.

The best way is to have a goal – a long-term goal – and keep your attention there. Be in the present moment, enjoy this moment and be open to other possibilities. Some confusion may creep in the middle – which is good – it indicates you are growing. You have moved on from a concept which got broken and you are moving on to something new. Have a little patience.

Meditation will help you a lot, it will enhance your intuitive ability and bring about the most cherished creativity within you. An innovative spirit, intuitive ability, and sharp intelligence of observation and perception – all three come to you through meditation. Every day meditate in the morning and evening for 20 minutes each. You will find your brain and body energized in this short time. You feel so much comfortable in your studies and feel fresh and alive.

Q: There were world-famous universities in India several centuries back. Now we hardly have any university in the top 50. How can our universities once again become world leaders?

Gurudev: If all the faculties in our universities start thinking like you, it’s not far away. We can achieve it very quickly. I remember we started Sri Sri University six years ago, and today it is at the 8th place in India and at the 300th place among 10,000 universities in the world.

When teachers and faculties are so committed to making an institution grow, they can grow. And those days are not far away. We have an innovative spirit in India with the most brilliant minds here. Stress is something that we have to keep at bay by managing it. The formula of stress is too much to do, too little time, and no energy. Time is the same. We need to increase our energy levels and here is where meditation, pranayama, yoga, and kriya immensely help us.

Be happy, keep smiling. You have the responsibility to make the world a better place. Share on X

Q: What are the life lessons that we can learn from the pandemic and how do we apply it in the post-pandemic lifestyle?

Gurudev: The pandemic has shown us that the world has to be united. The human aspect in us has to come into play. So many lives are lost, so many people have lost their jobs, so much unsurmountable suffering on the planet. It has shown that the intention or the mistake of a few people can cause huge damage to mankind.

Humanity should stand first. Everything else can follow later. We must be prepared to help each other in whatever manner, in whatever way we can. Also, life is uncertain. It’s better to use the short span of our life and make good use of it. Exhibit our humanness, compassion, resilience, help each other. These qualities should reign at the top.

This post is also available in: हिन्दी