Tillitonse - A Transformational Journey Together

Lesson Learnt #4: MIND OVER FOOD! I spent 3 nights at a Buddhist Meditation Centre in Burma recently. The daily schedule which started at 3.30am, had basically two meals a day- Breakfast at 5.30am; Lunch at 10.30 am......no solid food after 12 noon and then a solitary glass of juice at 5pm! Imagine that - the last meal of the day ended at 11.15am!!!! So, I got there on a Friday evening and left on Monday morning. On Saturday, as I finished my lunch, hmm, I wondered, how the heck am i going to survive the day. But I actually did. There was very little physical activity and hence, the glass of juice at 5pm was adequate to keep me going that night. The day was spent on meditation. probably 5-6 hours. Have never done this much. And so I awoke at 3.30am on Sunday quite fine and went through the  morning as I had on Saturday. But, Sunday was VERY different from Saturday. On Sunday, I started thinking about the week ahead and in fact started making plans for Monday. For large ...

MUSICAL ORDER DELIVERED ---- How Wonderful!!! Colleen Zaner Gregerson is a super-woman - smart, works incredibly hard and produces amazing results. So, when she attended a workshop I facilitated in Istanbul on harnessing the power of positive thoughts and emotions to get what you want in life, I must confess, there was a part of me which said - this tough professional is going to tear up this 'touchy feely stuff.' BUT, WAS I WRONG! Colleen was an active and engaged participant. But two days ago, eight months after the workshop, when she sent this note in, I was floored. Once again, am amazed at how powerful indeed our thoughts + emotions can be! "Sanjay, I wanted to share with you a picture of a piano. This piano arrived at my home 3 weeks ago after making a journey from Cape Cod to California. It has been in my family for over 100 years (the two pictures on top are the original two owners, my great great aunt and my great aunt). My dad’s c...

I struggled. No two ways about it. I just struggled and could not feel at most times. During the intensive Mahabharatha Immersion, I re-learnt about the nine basic emotions (' rasas') that are fundamental to yoga and many forms of  Indian art  including  dance ,  music , musical theatre,  cinema  and  literature . These nine emotions are: Śṛngāram  (शृङ्गारं) Love, Attractiveness.  Hāsyam  (हास्यं) Laughter, Mirth, Comedy.  Raudram  (रौद्रं) Fury.  Kāruṇyam  (कारुण्यं) Compassion, Tragedy.  Bībhatsam  (बीभत्सं) Disgust, Aversion. Bhayānakam  (भयानकं) Horror, Terror.  Vīram  (वीरं) Heroic mood.  Adbhutam  (अद्भुतं) Wonder, Amazement.  I had heard about these, but then came across an interesting concept that has stayed with me: A sign of a healthy human is one is who able to fully experience all the nine emotions and return to a state of calm ('shantham') w...

LESSON LEARNT #2: HOW THE 'PURANAS' FROM INDIA ARE DIFFERENT FROM WESTERN MYTHOLOGY (Sharing some insights from two weeks of introspective experiences) I had previously thought that the Sanskrit word 'purana' was a simple translation of 'mythology.' But, when I learnt the correct interpretation, the pieces fell into place. At the Mahabharatha Immersion conducted by  Raghu Ananthanarayanan  a few days ago, a long standing question got answered. When I travelled to Egypt and Italy, while I marvelled at the history, I felt a sense of sadness that these fabulous tales were just that....tales from the past. In both places, I regretted that the rich myths had no connection with life unfolding around the pyramids or the great temples. The Indian 'Puranas', on the other hand, pervade all sections of our life in so many ways. References to the Mahabharath and Ramayan form part of popular culture and are integral to our lives in a ...

I just got back from two weeks spending time with the most important person in my life - ME! Yup, week one was away in a deep dive immersion program where we used the archetypes and situations of the magnificent Indian epic 'the Mahabharatha' as a frame to look at oneself. Week two was spent in Burma focused on a coaching assignment and then at a Buddhist Monastery. What was common in these trips was that I was away from all typical ways of interacting with the world.....So, when I got back yesterday, I was hit by gazillion emails, a letter from the tax authorities, minor family situations forcing me to choose between a rock and hard place, news about my mother's surgery next week and some turbulence in my transition from a paid employee to a consultant! All this in the first two hours of the morning....and sure enough most of the day was spent in a GRUMPY mood! Until I caught myself and reminded myself that I had forgotten a golden rule that I had honed over the y...