Imagination is a powerful tool one can use to reprogram the mind and bring about any desired change in our lives. And reiteration, affirmation and focus can take us closer to this goal. These were some steps outlined by TK Vadivel Pillai, CEO and Founder IIMS Mind Academy, in his talk on the ‘Power of the Mind’ at the Madras Management Association's Women Managers Convention 2018, themed ‘Mindsets Matter’.
Thoughts can be a driving force to achieving the reality, he said, adding that repetitive exercises in training the mind and constant practice and reiteration can make one excel at any activity one sets one’s mind on.
“What makes the difference is intense belief. Focus your belief like a laser beam to convert your imagination into reality. The body flows according to the thought. These are the laws of the mind… it is the way the mind works,” said Pillai, reinforcing that nothing is impossible as long as the mind imagines it, you focus, repeat rigorously and believe intensely.
Stop worrying, start living
Training the mind, albeit towards another goal, was also prescribed by the next speaker, international spiritual and corporate management guru, Swami Sukhabodhananda, in his talk 'Stop worrying, start living'. Marvelling at the triumph of manasthiti over paristhiti (the mental state over the surrounding conditions), the Swami said the mind can be schooled to stay happy under any circumstances, even when the external environment is not conducive. Even as one screams throughout a roller-coaster ride but still thoroughly enjoys the experience, one can simultaneously savour both the pleasant and unpleasant in life, he said.
The key to this, said Swamiji, is the ability to rise above problems and irritants, even learning to enjoy them while focusing on playing the game of life, without worrying about winning or losing. “It’s important to be able to approach an experience with adbhuta rasa , pure wonder and joy, as if one is experiencing it for the first time as an experience in itself, without it being coloured by one’s own past experiences,” said the corporate guru, pointing out that we owe it to ourselves “to learn to respond to the wonderment in life, to see the joy in everything.”
Position happiness in the present
The longer one lives, the more problems one keeps encountering, said Swamiji, so it’s vital that one doesn’t set a time and date to experience happiness. Instead of thinking ‘When xyz happens, I’ll be happy’, or ‘when I go to the US, I’ll be happy,’ or ‘once I complete this and that, I’ll be happy,’ one should train oneself to locate happiness in the present rather than in some uncertain future, he said. In any case, rarely do plans work out the way one wants and, even if they do, one always hankers after the next best thing.
“So, stop worrying and whining, be happy in the present, achieve whatever you want to achieve out of this happiness and become a giver of joy, rather than a constant seeker. You’ll be surprised how much you gain from such a transmutation,” concluded Swami Sukhabodhananda.