By Sanjib Mukherjee,
Perhaps the most celebrated yogi of all time has to be Krishna, the eighth avatar of the Hindu lord Vishnu. Krishna manages to encapsulate the ideals of a perfect human being by playing the roles of a friend, enemy, lover, father, mentor, king, servant, priest, soldier etc … with such effortless ease.
Our scriptures dictate the one main reason for any divine entity to enter this world in a physical form is to restore righteousness and show a practical example of how a perfect life can be lead (this concept holds true no matter which religion you believe in). So looking at the life of one such deity, what can we learn from Krishna and more importantly how can we apply these lessons to our everyday lives?
Well, the first principle to consider lies in the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna speaks the eternal truths regarding life to his alter-ego Arjuna. Regarding work, relationships and living a positive healthy life, the advice is very clear. Always be 100% in the moment for any task which you undertake, giving your full intelligence, enthusiasm, commitment and belief to whatever you are doing. By taking on more than one task at a time, our attentions get diverted and thus we can no longer authentically give our 100%.
For example, when I scribe these articles I first give a silent prayer and then sit at the computer and write whatever comes out from within. During the time it takes me to complete the post, I take no notice of anything else in the outside world. I won’t answer any telephones, won’t think about what I need to do for the rest of the day, forget about breakfast, lunch or dinner, forget about everybody’s problems and whom I need to help today…. I simply focus on one thing and one thing alone; finishing the writing I have started.
Where I to divert my attention even for a split second, I guarantee the resulting work will be of a substandard quality and I would have to start again. The mind is a cunning tool which can either destroy your concentration in a flash or help you to go deeper within yourself once you know how to control it’s tendencies.
Krishna described this whole phenomenon beautifully when he asked Arjuna to pull back his bow and line up his arrow. At the precise moment Arjuna took aim of his target, Krishna instructed him to forget his friends, family, work, responsibilities, gods, concepts, mind, welfare and indeed everything he had every learnt, experienced or observed in his life. At that moment in time only one thought mattered, Arjuna’s target facing the tip of his arrow. Only by having such a one pointed focus could Arjuna deliver his skills with such effortless perfection and become the great warrior we know him to be.
The same applies to all of us in our daily lives. Take a look at everything that matters to you and see if there is an area of your daily routine which you would like to improve. Let’s say for example you want to develop a closer relationship with your child but are unsure how. Try using the above principles, by making some dedicated time to spend with your child … during those moments forget about work and everything else which may occupy your time and thoughts.
Put your 100% focus into listening and conversing with your child, truly living entirely in that one moment in time. It may seem uncomfortable at first if your brain is used to continuously multitasking, but remain committed to giving this experiment a go. I will guarantee you will notice an immediate impact on your relationship and then you will be wondering where else you can use this principle in your life.
Focus, clarity, excellence, results and achievement can only be attained through a one pointed attention to the task at hand. When you focus your attentions and operate with the full belief in what you are doing, something magical happens. We now move into the realms of the law of attraction (which I wrote about in another post), where the entire consciousness starts to work alongside you in achieving your goals.
This experience can never happen when your mind is thinking about too many things at once (you not only divert your energies, you divert the focus of consciousness itself).
Never multitask and always be 100% in the moment … you notice an immediate positive impact on your life. The concept worked for the likes of Krishna, Jesus and Buddha… and look at how much they achieved in this world in so little time…………… if these ideals were good enough to work for them, there’s no reason why they won’t work for you.
All My Love
Sanjib
absolutely…too good
Enjoyed reading yr article…..This is what i advise my students when i teach them about giving 100%. people throw back lots of Qs too
)))
sanjib…intrestngly our Krishna also advises us to be 100% in part I course…:)
This MUST be directed to the WAY FAIRER SEX. Poor fellas. ; )
Deepika…thanks for your words:)
Anuradha…..whatever your students throw back at you, simply ask them to try and see if this idea works for themselves…questions are good, it shows an interest in what you teach….proves you must be a good teacher!
Mary…poor fellas indeed, thats why we need you women!!
thanx sanjib-most of d time this s true-that u shud concentrate at one task at one time-not all d time wid me—
if you do some comitment fulfil it..if you do some will complete it…if you do love then fully …no work should be done incomplete n halfheartdly ..and without concentrating fully on it…and giving if a full feel and sincerity…it will definetly going to effect the result.
very nice article as usual
teaching us a very good principle of life to succeed…in life but yet we r really so used to multi tasking …that it will b not so easy to practice it..yet we can give a try believing in you…
Giving examples of MY ALL TIME Krishna you already made me feel good…thank sanjib ..so much….care n love…
thanks Rekha for your encouragement, it’s a sign of your own greatness to appreciate others for what they do..
nice write up
Nice read, Indeed ! Thanks Sanjib.
Regarding Mind’s capability to concentrate, there is a very good example.
Consider the camera that we were using few years back where there used to be a film behind the lens. While clicking an image, we have to make sure that camera remains still, so that the light falling onto the film gets caught by film correctly. If you shake camera a bit, the picture gets blurred.
The same concept applies to our mind while doing or trying to memorize something. It depends on how concentrated we were at the time of grasping the subject. Suppose somebody was singing while I was trying to memorize my speech, I would listen the same song in mind while delivering that speech. this happens because we are just unfolding our memory mat.
It’s like we are washing camera film after all pictures are taken. We would see all those blurred images which have been caused by shaking of the camera.
Anjali..thanks my dear:)
Vinay….yah the memories stored in our minds constantly get in the way of us being in the present moment…it’s a fascinating subject…thanks for your views, your comments always add a further dimension to these posts…and we all appreciate you for it:)
And women need men.
We all need each other, Thank The Lord.
This is so true Sanjib! Thanks for reminding.
And thank The Lord we all need one another.
something to strive towards….
Awesome ………..Very nice article……..
Sanjib… u very well know who is the Actual teacher:) i m just the microphone…answers also are given by HIM only
))) & Yes HE is the Best Teacher.
Thank you….really nicely put together.
GIVE YOUR 100% and dedicate it to DIVINE SUCCESS is INEVITABLE.
You truly are a messiah Sanjib!…in how many lives you gently touch and change…
Timely knowledge…thank you!!
Thanks guys for all your amazing support
Love
Sanjib
Krishna The Ultimate Master,Sixteen Times Defeated Jarasanda In Battle Field,and Seventeen Time he Only Left the Battlefield, that’s why he is also called “Shree Ranchod”.
As told by Sri Sri, Shree Krishna Is Everything
Hi sanjib I was thinking while I was busy doing house work you
wrote abt multitasking today but if i wont do multitasking it would be difficult…if will go to kitchen only then cant do Facebook
… if do Facebook only then house work wil suffer…so for ladies i think multitasking become essential part…i feel good while working in house or maiking food then coming n seeing red mark msg in inbox or notification give so much comfort
…but yes i told my son while studdying he ws listening to songs then i told him please take out sepratee time for music…but while studying concentrate …brian theroy n all…little little things implementing in our house..n making me feel good ..but i think sometimes for ppl like me who has to see household and the social aspect n Facebook ..multitasking is very imp n i feel good with this multitasking…
@Rekha: Though your questionn is for Sanjib, I would like to say something on it.
As I see, different levels of consciousness is required for different type of work. If I’m writing some article on some complex subject, this may need more attention than cleaning floor or arranging wardrobes.
Similarly, playing some musical instrument would need creative brain that could gather creative & inspirational waves from universe, quality of which may differ depending on whether I am concentrating enough. Concentration gives us the capability to dig more and more, just like drilling machine.
Now, if I have to do works that require routine movements, like placing object, putting ingredients in recipe knowing well the taste of the person who will consume it, helping a kid doing his homework or cleaning, I do not think we have much scope for creativity.
Again, by naming above household work I do not mean to give them less importance. For example cooking something for the first time requires a high level of concentration, but doing usual cooking may not.
Similarly, helping a kid writing alphabets requires high concentration if you are putting stress on learning strategy, but if you are just giving hints to the kid, it could be done along with cleaning.
Therefore, I think the decision of whether multitasking could be appropriate or not depends on the level of involvement required. You either give 100 percent to one task or 25 percent to four task or 75 percent to one task and 25 percent to one task. This equation will be different for different people and is generally, intuitive. I mean you can’t figure out everything on paper
.
its like how much is too much (for salt). It varies. This is my experience when I do my works and also when I observe housewives doing great multitasking. I have great admiration for ladies who do household work and also concentrate on their careers.
Research has showed that this is the reason that female proves better manager and administrator at workplace, because they have got the art of delegating their emotional quotient as well as intelligent quotient to areas where they are needed. Kudos!
thanx vinay 4 SHARING UR THOUGHTS..
i know some works need importance n some dont so much…like i have laptop so it makes me stay online geting all news on fb yet moving arnd d house n taking it with me..so i dont feel guilty taht becos of this i m not doing my duties..
n houselhold work also dont get boring..but in some of d works we need full devotion..then we have to give fuly to it i also write notes while writing i have to listen to my heart only then sometime if someone disturbs in between then i dont like it til it finishes
..I dont respond to any msg or ppl waiting to chat to me…but while writng if there is a door bell then we cant sya ki v have to sit on comp then we have to go there to open priority…n if someones comes to house then we have to give them ful concntration even other things sufer …so we know how to priortise d things …someitme intellectual need feel more than the physical..an sometimes u cant avoid social n physical needs to have intelectual knowledge…so it all depends …how u take it ..
ALL IS WELL I THINK …
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Quite inspiring reads in there…:-) great sanjib and thanks Rachna for recommending this site
My understanding of today’s priceless work is: whatever be the job, small or big, we should enjoy it fully, we should be immersed in it. It’s only when we are fully immersed in anything we do, we are totally and fully connected…. And that is divinity for me.
Many, many thanks
I actually can’t do it anyway!! Whatever I do, have to give full attention! However; I am amazed with others who can do it!!
Sanjib-you make my day after i read your articles coz then I try and implement what you write. I thouroughly enjoy reading them.
Neeta – it makes my day when someone enjoy’s my work…thanks so much:)
Yes, Sanjib. The neccessity to multitask seems to be growing like an incurable disease on our modern age. In our desire make a great living, we are forgeting how to live.
Can’t imagine a day without multitasking! Grt article, sharing it with my colleagues. Thanks for posting.