"The Hanuman Effect" = Cultivating & Carving our Minds

Our body and mind is ever evolving. While our body grows older, our mind grows younger. At least, that’s how it is supposed to be. How come our minds grow younger? Well, the more you learn, the more you understand simple facts of life, the more your mind can process information and channelize it through right sources. The same statement you read a year back might mean entirely different when it is read today.

This is why we have to give special attention to our mental growth.

None of us want to go backwards. The first step in order to grow is to understand oneself. Now understanding oneself is easier said than done. But if a person has enough time to notice himself, retrospect his thoughts and actions, and have the humility to learn from others, and accept the beauty in differences, that is when he start being self aware.

Ego is the enemy of self awareness. Why is that so? Ego makes you look through a tainted glass, and reality of you and the people you look at, is stained respectively. The basic truth is, we all have goodness and badness in us. Our understanding makes our goodness better, and badness lesser. Now, that’s what we call, being a better person and learning from old mistakes. One of the first steps we can take in order to do that is to look at a second person and watch and appreciate their goodness. The more you emphasis on good the more you will get it. If you keep searching for the bad side of a character, you forget to live and disregard the good part.

Have you heard about the “Hanuman Effect”? The story of Hanuman teaches us the unlimited power that lies hidden within us like a serpent waiting to be unleashed. Channelizing it to the right direction is our personal responsibility. A Guru, good friend, parents, or even one’s career are some of the sources that can help us realize the hidden qualities in us. As a young child Hanuman could not control his great powers and in his childhood pranks caused a lot of trouble to the sages during those ages. Tired of Hanuman’s untamed energy, and indefatigable powers, the sages cursed Hanuman to forget all his powers. While embarking on the search for Sita, Rama’s troop was faced by a vast ocean separating them from Lanka. Someone suggested that Hanuman jump across the sea and find out what is happening with Sita. The same person who ones ate Sun thinking it is a fruit refused to jump across the sea because he thought “he cannot do it”. At that instance, his companions started praising him of the extraordinary powers lying dormant in him. This positive enforcement helped Hanuman recall and rejuvenate his powers and was able to accomplish his mission. Now, getting back to the practical application of this story in our personal lives, when we were born we had no clue what we were good at. We slowly discovered ourselves to be good in one thing or the other. Great speakers where not born that way. They realized the hidden qualities and constant encouragement, support and training from the near and dear ones helped them become great speakers.

Our mind is like a seed. You have to water it, give enough sunshine and talk to it ones in a while. Now, a plant only grows towards sunshine. The roots will only grow towards the water source. In short its growth is dependent on your choice of placement. If you place your window towards goodness, the plant will grow towards it. If you place your water source in a tumbler called heart and love, your roots will grow towards that.