How to conquer Anger and Worry

In order to get rid of stress and worry one should get rid of his expectations first.

With every stress, worry- there is an expectation or attachment behind- which when does not get fulfilled, it results in stress, worry.

Wrong path: Directly trying to get rid of stress and worry. It does not work.

Right path: Identify the attachment or expectation which was hurt, and caused the anger, worry. Then try to win the attachment.

Details of the right path:
In order to get rid of worry, anger, one needs to get rid of expectation or attachment first. Getting rid of worry does not work directly.

In order to get rid of expectation or attachment, one needs to realize that he is complete in himself as a spirit. If one considers himself as a body he would not be able to realize that he is complete in himself. As an alternative, he should realize he is better off without the thing/condition he has attachment towards.

In order to realize himself as complete, he needs to realize the true nature of spirit. Also that he does not need any worldly thing to reach his true potential. And hence there is no expectation needed from any worldly thing.

Steps: So here are the steps in straightforward manner:

1. First I realize that I am a spirit, who is complete in itself. And I do not need anybody else. I do not need anybody now, neither in future. Also I never needed in the past.
2. Second, the above step will remove all attachments and expectations from all worldly things including body, family, car etc, including the attachments which are causing me stress.
3. Thirdly, it will remove all the stress and worry produced by above things.

There are no ideal conditions in life

It seems there are no ideal conditions in life. We need to achieve our goals in whatever circumstances we have. The idea to wait for ideal circumstances is a flop policy.

The Lords Swami Parswanaath, Swami Mahavira did not wait for the ideal conditions, but they did their effort with whatever circumstances they had. Whether they had to suffer Kamath upsarg or whether Swami Mahavira was in form of lion.

There are two kind of 'best possible efforts':
1. Actual 'best possible efforts': These are the actual best possible efforts
2. Pseudo 'best possible efforts': These are the best actual efforts which one thinks one can. And one may be wrong here in terms of realizing his potential.

For a householder, he should not wait for the ideal conditions to pop up. He should become a saint, and if he can not- then he should break the boundaries of 'his notion of best possible efforts' and reach to the real boundaries. If we just do efforts within out notion of best possible, then there would be no progress since that is what we have been doing.

In words of Acharya Tulsi's words :
"ज्यों ज्यों चरण बङेंगे आगे, स्वतः मार्ग बन जायेगा,
हटना होगा उसे बीच में, जो बाधक बन जायेगा,
रूक ना सकेगी, मुङ ना सकेगी,
सत्य कान्ती की उज्जवल धारा,
प्रभु तुम्हारे पावन पथ पर, जीवन अर्पण है सारा"

Problems with Western medical science

(Source: Deepak Chopra Wellness Radio - January 3rd, from intent.com : http://www.intent.com/podcasts/2009/01/15/deepak-chopra-wellness-radio-january-3rd#comments)

In order to heal a living being, Science tries to understand the body and tries to fix it by using scientific laws. However the living being is combination of spirit and body, and the problems which manifests in body is combination of mechanical laws followed by the body and how spirit influenced the body. Therefore Science is not able to find the right solution.

Holistic approach: Look at body and spirit both
Body- exercising, food, living style etc
spirit- happy, relation with family and child, excitement towards life etc.

Mother teresa - In final analysis

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may just never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it's all between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.

(from Wayne dyer's lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Ql5w-YXBY&feature=related )

Problem inside, but looking solution outside

There was a guy whose key fell inside house, and there was electricity cut and he could not see the key. However there was street light outside- so he went out and started looking for the keys outside.

The same way we have troubles inside, while we look for remedy in outer world, and in others. We have hate for someone- Instead for finding remedy for it, we start looking for remedy for who we have hate for.

Meeting with Acharya Vidyanand Ji

Like a big tree is outcome from a small seed, similarly a great achievement which follows great actions is outcome from a noble thought. I was in India in december'08, and I had this noble thought to have Darshan of Acharya Vidyanand Ji. I have heard a lot about Him from Pt. Narendra Prakash Ji whom I met during Das Laxan.

I went to KundKund Bharati in Delhi, which was a very good building sorrounded by green trees and full of serenity. There was a big building, and a big lawn in the front. At a corner of lawn there was a small hut where Acharya Shree sits from 3 to 3:30 in the afternoon. I reached there 15 minutes early and waited for him to come. I was watching the hut, some Jain magazine which were resting in the hut, and enjoying the peace.

At around 3 PM Acharya Shree Ji comes, and asks me where I had come from. I gave him a nice introduction about my residence and my interest in religion. He asks me to wait, and then strolls around the garden and then comes to the hut, and takes His seat. And I start my usual questions and answers about Jainism.

After a warm up of questions and answers about 'Darshan', 'Gyan' etc, I ask him - "I have been reading SamayaSaar Ji, but I am not able to understand it. What should I do?"

He replied - "I was in Calcutta for some number of years and was close to the library which had thousands of books and read a lot. It needs a lot of reading." And then he pauses and adds, "One needs to understand spirituality of other religions in order to appreciate the dharma told by Mahavira."

A story: Division on the basis of races

Once upon a time, there was a shepherd, who had many sheeps. A person from a distant country came to visit him, and wanted to know about his sheeps.
He asks- "How much do your sheeps eat in a day"
Shepherd: "I have so many sheeps. Which ones you want to know about - white ones or black ones?"
Person: "White ones"
Shepherd: "exactly 3.5 pounds a day"
Person: "And back ones?"
Shepherd: "3.5 pounds a day"

The person is perplexed. He asks : "How much do your sheeps travel in a day"
Shepherd: "Which ones - white ones of black ones?"
Person: "Lets say white ones"
Shepherd: "I have measured it, and they exactly walk 6 miles a day"
Person: "And what about the black ones"
Shepherd: "They also do 6 miles"

The person gets more perplexed. He asks: "How much wool do your sheeps produce in a season?"
Shepherd: "Which ones - white ones or black ones?"
Person: "Lets say white ones"
Shepherd: "I have measured it, and they produce exactly 6 pounds of wool in a season"
Person: "And what about the black ones"
Shepherd: "They also do 6 pounds"

The person gets irritated and asks - "First I ask you a question and you ask me whether I want to know for white ones or black ones. And ultimately you tell me same for both of them. Then why do you ask whether it is for the white ones or black ones?"
Shepherd: "There is a reason behind it. It is because I have raised the white one. I have nurtured them."
Person: " Ohh I understand it now. And how about the black ones?"
Shepherd: "Actually, I have raised them too!"

The moral of the story is that there is actually not a difference in the white ones and black ones- it is we who make difference in our mind by dividing things on the bases of colors. Eseentially they are all same.

All have the same soul, and their form is not that important. While what we look at is just the form and keep dividing on the basis of back, white, mexican, colorful etc. And on the basis of caste - brahamin, kshatriya, vaishya, shudra. Or Jain, Hindu, Sikha etc. Or man, woman, animal etc. Essentially all of them are same souls.

(Inspired by a lecture of Wayne Dyer)