60)  On being "Effective " and "Art of Living"

 Recently I saw the tamil Movie "Nanban( friend )" which is the Hindi remake of the movie "3 Idiots " and that movie talks about how youngsters are treated like machines in colleges and how due to pressure from parents and teachers youngsters are forced to take up things that does not resonate with their heart and end up as failures in life ( in totality ) though they may be successful in their jobs etc . I do not want to put forth a new theory of how schools and collages are to be or advice others how to be . All I am interested now in how effective as a Human being I am and what are the tools I need to equip myself with to be a more effective human being .  The word "Effective" may denote different meanings to different people and each one will have their own interpretation to what 'effective" means .For me I define "Effectiveness " with regard to how much smooth and productive I am with regard to people with  whom I deal in my day to day life - my close family members , my close students , my closest friends and other general people with whom I have to deal with life on functional basis like in banks ,shops ,  during travel etc etc . Do these people feel comfortable with me or my behavior ? Do I radiate peace , happiness , harmony in their presence ?  Do they feel empowered or dis empowered in my presence or in my actions .These are the questions I ask myself daily . I believe in quality rather than quantity . One of the reasons why I take fewer students for my Yoga is I know for certain that my quality will get diluted when I take more students . For me Yoga is not just on the mat daily for 1 hr or when I teach but it extends all throughout the day 24 hrs , 7 days a week and 365 days a year .I do not know what Enlightenment or Moksha or Nirvana or Samadhi  is . Each scripture has its own definition for the same and I am sorry I do not want to vomit what those scriptures say .I am committed only to improving my own personal effectiveness daily and I consider that art of living to be the greatest of arts and I want to live my life in this true spirit of effectiveness and I know I am not perfect and do have lot of areas to be improved and fine tuned but willing to put my effort ,time and energy in the same .

I conclude here with a quite of J.Krishnamurti on "Art of Living " .

"The Art of living is far greater than any other art . We never have spent perhaps a day or two , or a month to find out what is the art of living . There is an art of living . One has spent years and years to become a scientist ; you go to monasteries and spend all your life there ; or you spend your whole life earning a livelihood which is a vocation of limitation . To become a surgeon , a doctor , we spend ten to fourteen years and we never learn or even spend a day to find out what is the art of living ."