Tyag (Sadhana)

$1000 - nothing beats ten fresh, crisp Benjamins... so start today's sabha with prizing one lucky audience member.

(NOTE: Monopoly money works just as well unless of course we as presenters have the money to make someone's Sunday.)

Now, our guest has three options to make some more.

• Flip a coin: heads = +$1000 
• Flip a coin: tails = nothing
• Don't flip a coin = +$500

Ask our guest what they would do, and ask the audience what they would do in such a scenario.

Now it gets better - let's give another one of our audience members double. That's right, twenty fresh, crisp Benjamins. However, they now have a slightly different dilemma.

• Flip a coin: heads = -$1000
• Flip a coin: tails = nothing
• Don't flip a coin = -$500

As in the last case, ask our second guest what they would do, and ask the audience what they would do in such a scenario. 

In a similar psychological experiment conducted by Yale researcher Laurie Santos, most people went with the third option in the first scenario - that is they chose not to flip the coin and walk away with an extra $500 (a guaranteed total of $1500). 

In the second scenario, most people chose to flip the coin - a 50/50 shot at all or none. Hardly anybody chose to take a guaranteed loss of $500 which, interestingly enough, results in the same amount that most people walked away with in the first scenario of $1500. 

What's going on? And why again are we talking about money when the topic is tyag, the giving up of material goods?

Tyag is a two-way street: whatever we give up, we receive in a different form.

Let's take a turn down the first street - the lane of loss. We find tyag so difficult because we are biologically primed against loss; psychologists call it loss aversion. That's why when the housing market tanked, people refused to forego their properties even in the face of rising debts. 

Let's revisit our second scenario here and the payoffs for each option.

• Flip a coin: heads = -$1000 ($2000-$1000=$1000)
• Flip a coin: tails = nothing ($2000-0=$2000)
• Don't flip a coin = -$500 ($2000-$500=$1500)

The first & third options result in a net loss of some sort while the second option results in no net loss.

In Satsang, we are all too familiar with our niyams - no eating out, no onion/garlic, no TV, no movies, etc - and we phrase them in the context of our second scenario.

• If I take a niyam, I may lose out a lot.
• If I take a niyam, I may not lose out.
• If I don't a niyam, I lose out but not as much.

And this mentality constricts and curtails our connection to Swamishri.

Let's ponder for a second, 

"Does this man have my best interest at heart? 

If so, then we can only gain from following his guidance.

That's why our previous attempts at reframing our options fell short and proved incomplete.

• If I take a niyam, I may lose out a lot but will gain A LOT.
• If I take a niyam, I may not lose out but will gain NOTHING.
• If I don't a niyam, I lose out but not as much but will not also gain as much. 

Alright, enough of the sticky sabha shenanigans; what exactly do we stand to gain if we do elect for the first route?

Rajipo - the seed of success - and don't take our word for it, a survey of the plethora of prasangs proves this idea to its fullest.

• In Shriji Maharaj's time, the 500 paramhanso placed themselves in that path and succeeded to establish the Swaminarayan Sampraday.
• Our gurus, from Gunatitanand Swami to Pramukh Swami Maharaj, served their guru and succeeded to push their mentor's efforts to a new level.
• Our sanstha's haribhakto today reflect that sentiment in all they do as commemorated in the Shatabdi Mahotsav. (Prasangs can be found in this issue of Bliss).

Let's remember, tyag is a two-way street: whatever we give up, we receive as rajipo.

After all, the lane of loss pales...

in comparison to the roadway of returns!

Nishkam Dharma: Harness the Energy

If there was ever a topic that's difficult to discuss with kishores/kishoris, it's the topic of nishkaam dharma. While we may approach this week's topic with apprehension and anxiety, let's take a deep breath and relax.

Sometimes, we just need to shed new light. Light is an interesting thing. It certainly brightens up the day.

However, if we focus it, we gain a powerful laser, like this mosquito-killing ray that fends off malaria!

When it comes to nishkaam dharma, it's just do's and don'ts - the fastest way to tune out an audience of kishores/kishoris. However, let's try an alternative approach. Just as harnessing light provides us with the a powerful tool, harnessing lust provides us with formidable focus.

Nishkam dharma harnesses our lust, but we know those words are a big turnoff to the audience. Let's take a step back, and we realize nishkaam dharma at this age really boils down to dating. Surprise the audience - why not compare the benefits of nishkam dharma vs. not maintaining nishkam dharma?

Many believe that without nishkaam dharma, we would enjoy,

• Greater social status - through adhering to what's "normal" at this age
• Development of social skills - through dating
• Fulfillment of our emotional needs - through a relationship

However, these points are shallow at best.

Let's take social status first. Are "normal" things always best for us? One of the main reasons Swamishri asks us to aspire to this dharma is that it will enable us to focus on our education and poise us for a successful life.

• Yale, Harvard, or MIT are not "normal"; they're above it. 
• Graduating valedictorian or salutatorian are not "normal"; they're above it. 
• Scholarships and awards are not "normal"; they too are above it. 

Moreover, true friends are those that respect us for who we are without pressuring us to act contrary to our values.

Second, social skills can be traced back to self-confidence. When we follow Swamishri's agna of not exerting ourselves in a relationship at this age, we develop a type of resolve that's unmovable, unshakable, unwavering. The same resolve that...

• ...Shastriji Maharaj carried with him when he left Vadtal. 
• ...Bhagatji Maharaj maintained in his beliefs even amidst excommunication
• ...Shriji Maharaj instilled in his paramhanso when opposition reared its ugly head across the land. 

This resolve has withstood the test of time - it's eternal and much more solid than than anything we could gain from some frivolous flirtation.

Finally, we often confuse our emotional needs with what we hear in society. The type of romance that is often popularized in music, movies, and even TV shows revolves around hook-ups where we are fulfilling our lust and infatuation, the product of a rush of brain chemicals that makes us feel "fuzzy" at first but ultimately DROPS us at a low point. After awhile, the "high" disappears, so we look for somebody else again and again. In this endless cycle, we never realize that the companionship and support we seek with the opposite sex can be found through God & guru who lovingly wait for us with outreached arms.

Above all, we expend a great deal of energy as it is in trying to be a great student, satsangi, son/daughter, friend, etc. so why add another title (boyfriend/girlfriend) to the mix?

Swamishri has emphasized that "by practicing brahmacharya, one’s intellect, luster, and power increases. By conserving the energy of brahmacharya, the body’s total energy is conserved."


Bottom line: Harness lust to hit it high in life - practice nishkam dharma.

Man Dhaaryu Mookvu - Mind Control and Marshmallow

When you were four years old, would you have been able to wait fifteen minutes with a marshmallow staring you in the face for the chance to get another one? This was a classic experiment conducted in late sixties by Walter Mischel a Standford psychology professor. The same experiment was recreated in the video below.

Impossible is Nothing

What can we achieve if we put our mind to it? We have heard this many times in sabha. Many people start with that exact question, which usually is meant to be rhetorical, and in many cases is not, but in general serves no purpose (we do not like those questions).

Presentations dealing with: power of the mind, what we can achieve if we have mahima and nishta in Satpurush, great heights achieved by satsangis throughout history, what our Guru Parampara was able to accomplish to please their own guru - all could benefit from an unexpected and concrete example to set the tone. Enter David Blaine.

Honestly when we read about many of his stunts in the past we thought this guy was a tool. This talked changed our minds. The talk itself is sticky - tells a story with lots of unexpected images and concrete and credible examples. He is emotional about this subject - you can see it means a great deal to him. But the real key in our minds is that he has a simple message: I wanted to accomplish something so I set my mind to it and did it.

This is universal and can be used in almost any presentation. For example when discussing niyams if we start by saying: Bapa has never given us a Chaaturmaas niyam to shove a pipe down our throats so we could stop breathing. But image if he did. Great way to start, we can then talk about how hard that would be, what would it take for us to do it, in fact who in their right minds would do such a thing. Boom - show video (or parts of it). Come back with some concrete examples that show that if we have a focus to break a record we would do it AND if we had the same focus to please Bapa we could do it. Tie in past examples wherein people in the sabha (collectively or individually) did exactly that - both for Satsang and personal goals. You are on your way to a very sticky presentation.

Looking for a sticky ending? Try this. Sing a few lines of Ame sau Swami na balak. Then move to the following. We just sang: marishu Swami ne maate. Looking around this room and the achievements we had in the past, I am sure, no I am certain that everyone here would be willing to die for Swami. But the question is are we willing to make Sabha Sticky for Swami? Are you?

Justice #2: How to Measure Pleasure

Dull, dry, uncomfortable - while these words could accurately describe a host of gross medical conditions, that's what we're not referring to here, thankfully. Instead, these words describe seem to reflect common complaints about ghosti. If you've encountered this situation, keep reading.

We first posted this neat find about a week ago, but in case you missed it, we have an update. In short, Justice is the name of a class taught by Dr. Michael Sandel at Harvard University, and it's so good, they've posted full lectures online. He's excellent at asking questions and garnering feedback from his students.

The second lecture delves into utilitarianism, the idea if faced with options, we should select the one that gives us the greatest happiness or pleasure (utility).

However, we know that pleasure is not always accurate in taking account our goals and priorities; for instance, it may be awesome to watch a 12-hour marathon of House, MD but that to-do list wouldn't clean itself up.


So how can we better define pleasure?

Dr. Sandel provides in the answer in an sticky way, from 38:55-48:21. Watch below to see what we mean.

Here's our dissection.

• Simple - The educated are able to discern higher and lower pleasures. 
• Unexpected - Use of video clips breaks people's expectations of boring old philosophy.
• Concrete - He references and reiterates key examples.
• Credible - You bet - they're discussing one of the great utilitarian philosophers of all time!
• Emotion - There was some humor.
• Stories - It was missing but could have been integrated.

Best yet - it's an easy link to answering the age-old question, "How can anyone enjoy niyams?" Essentially, our understanding is lacking; we lack that spiritual enlightenment.John Stuart Mills, that great utilitarian philosopher from above, writes,

It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.

What do you think?

The Frontal Cortex: Fourth Down (11/17/09)

On November 15th, 2009, the Patriots faced off against the Colts, and Coach Bill Belichick made a final call that cost his team the game though his call made sense statistically.

On 4th down, with 2 yards or fewer to go, New England has gained a first down on approximately 66% of its attempts with Tom Brady as quarterback. The Colts had one timeout. If the Patriots gain a first down, the game ends; they can slowly walk to burn a few seconds, then take a knee on each down to end the game. If they don't gain a first down, the Colts would still need to score a touchdown to win the game. Let's give the Colts a probability P of getting the six if the ball starts at the 28 yard line. So if the Patriots try for the first, their chance of losing is

(Probability of 4th down failure) x

(Probability of Colts scoring a TD from the 28 Yard line) = 0.33P

The average New England punt nets about 40 yards. Let's give the Colts a probability Q of scoring a TD on a driving starting at the Indianapolis 32. Then, the chance of the Patriots losing is simply Q. For Belichick's decision to make sense, we just have to believe that he gave his team a lower chance of losing. In math terms, that would mean 0.33P < Q. Doing some algebra leaves you with P < 3Q. In other words, for the Patriots to have made the right decision, we only have to believe the Colts odds of scoring a TD on a drive starting 28 yards from the end zone are less than three times the odds of the same outcome starting from 68 yards out. The win probability graph for the game suggests that, given 1st-and-10 from New England's 29, the Colts had roughly a 51% chance of winning in the actual situation. We have to believe that their chances under the punt scenario were above 17% for Belichick to have made a bad good decision. Considering the Colts' have scored touchdowns on 30% of their offensive possessions, my guess is that this was a good one.

However, it felt wrong in the emotional/gut-instinct sense. Many times, we want to follow the rules, but when they conflict with our biases or convictions, we make an exception and hope to follow the rules next time.

Maya anyone?

Full Story: http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/11/fourth_down.php