Thanks, for tolerating me to use the words of Feyman.
I came across the book title during my engineering days, when I was trying to be a great physicist (but I was not going to settle for being compared to anyone lesser than Einstein). After biting the humble pie and coming to also understand that I didn't have enough brains to be a great scientist, I have to settle for being a 'great spiritualist'...oopps...not even a great one at that. Maybe just a 'spiritualist'. I don't even like this. Just the neighbour next door.
I'm living by luck. I want to say some thing on this (and that's what is behind the blog title).
The acronym 'luck' comes from...
L - long. What does long mean? I put a tentative period as 48 days. It's called as 1 Mandalam. Maybe 1 Mandalam is 40 or 41 or 42 days. I believe that anything repeated for 48 days will bear fruit i.e. a some result will happen.
U - uninterrupted. It's also my hope and belief that anything done without a break for 21 days will become a habit i.e.e second nature. So what's going to be done by me?
C - Contentment. This is partly what I'm going to do. What? But you can't do contentment...you can only be content. But everytime I resist buying something desirable but unnecessary, I will be practising contentment. It's just an example. Basically it means living within one's means or enjoying only whatever comes on it's own. Perhaps a little difficult to practise but on second thoughts, if one takes a few moments to look into the many things available already that one is entitled to, one becomes satisfied.
K - Krishna Unakke Preethi. Maybe someone might say 'yuck' in hearing Krishna's name in the formula. Someone might say 'Hare Krishna!' happily. Again, it needs a little bit of discrete understanding of who or what Krishna is. It's really not even necessary to believe in or accept a Personal Krishna to practise this, though doing so helps. Anyway, what it means is that 'Whatever I do is going to benefit Krishna only." Wait...this is a little tricky. It's important to understand that Krishna is inclusive of oneself. Otherwise frankly no one will be interested in doing something that is not benefiting oneself also in some way. I repeat Krishna Unakke Preethi before everything I do, from eating to walking to working to passing urine etc. What!!! you are giving your urine to Krishna? Yes, for all practical purposes, it can be a good fertilizer. There is an advantage in repeating Krishna Unakke Preethi. Perhaps, someone might just do these things in that spirit without the need to say it. But there is an advantage, like what I read in the "Getting Things Done" book by David Allen. There he says...get the stuff off your mind. That is why I make it a ritual to read the Bhagavad Gita or hear the Sundara Kandam or listen to the Vishnu Sahasranama. When I do it mechanically, it frees up my mind to infinite things. It may complained that doing something mechanically isn't being sincere but even doing it requires some effort to stabilize it initially (the 1st 21 days) and then patiently taking the trouble to do it for the result (the full 48 days). But really, and this is where all this looks like a joke...how can mere repetition of some simple ritual make one productive or pay the bills? Read on.
It's a matter of rewiring the neurons in the brain, activating the cells in the body etc. From the birth, one have been living for oneself. Ofcourse, we have loved our parents by giving back a smile of appreciation or greeting 'Good Morning, Sir"to our teachers etc. But did we initiate it or did we really mean it or did we ever intend it to the right destination? Doing the ritual of Krishna Unakke Preethi or Krishnarpanam Asthu is basically like watering the roots of a plant. I learnt this from ISKCON. It doesn't help much if one waters the leaf or stem etc. I have been trying to do a job that can really benefit but it's just not possible to always direct it to the roots from the mind. Maybe the real spiritual scientist or devotee can do it. But for the layman, a simple repetition can have the same desired effect with some patience. and that's where the 'long' part comes. One cannot complain much about the long part because the practise is simple. Habits die hard and since we have been living a lot selfishly, it takes some time to reverse the wheel. But it's important to realize the 'i' in Kr i shna...anyone gets some benefit out of doing the service. You might hate Krishna and frankly you don't need to follow this way. If you are living for a long time uninterruptedly putting the effort to live within your means in contentment and dedicating your actions to the good of everyone, you are doing what Krishna has said. Living in contentment and dedication are the twin sides of the same coin. Krishna says this in the 18th chapter about Sanyasa and Tyaga. Sanyasa is giving up desire prompted works which is contentment while Tyaga is giving up the fruits of the works which is dedication. They both being compliment helps in a nice way...if you are a millionaire, enjoy the benefits of a millionaire. And if you are like me without a 9 to 5 job and doing petty jobs, with a little money in my name in the bank deposited by my father in heaven, live happily with whatever piece of tasty, pure and filling rice and rasam that comes your way. And this is not just some hanky panky idea from me. It's told right in the Bhagavad Gita and in the Pathanjali Yoga in the context of Vairagya and Abhyasa. But it requires some attitude change. And some fortitude. Who knows, I might still oneday do a regular 9 to 5 white collar job. To this, you can say "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Arvy!" ;-)
