The Gita for Children by Roopa Pai
Author:Roopa Pai [Pai, Roopa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789351950127
Publisher: Hachette India
Published: 2015-08-05T04:00:00+00:00
Lessons from the Gita
11. Multi-thinking is a vital skill for a happy life. All you need is practice, practice, practice.
You’ve heard of multitasking – the art of doing many things at the same time with equal focus. Women are supposed to be brilliant at it, men the exact opposite. Whether that’s true or not, what is true is that young people are absolute rock stars at it. They are able to listen to music, text a friend on the phone, carry on a conversation with another on Skype, and message someone else on Facebook, all while watching TV.
Multi-thinking – you heard the word here first – is similar, except that this one’s the art of having more than one stream of thought running in your head constantly. It is something Krishna brings up in this chapter when he tells Arjuna that an easy way for a man to become one with God after his death is to think of Him all the time, throughout his life, no matter what activity or other thinking he is doing. In other words, Krishna recommends that thoughts of God should run as a parallel stream to every other thought flowing through a man’s head, all the time.
But is such a thing really possible? Can you keep thinking about something that is completely unrelated to what you are doing at a particular time? Of course! Let’s say tomorrow is the last day of your final exams and that your summer vacations begin immediately after. Notice how, even while you are in the throes of studying for your last exam, there is a parallel happy thought-track running on loop in your head, which is all about the movie you’re going to watch with your friends right after the exams and the sleepover you’re going to after that?
Not all parallel thought-tracks are as easy to keep running in your head as this one, though. And it is your ability to keep the difficult ones running that will actually help you live a happier life.
If your main thought-track when you are, say, playing a match, goes: ‘I have to loft that bowler for a six; I have to smash that forehand winner; I have to head that ball into goal; I have to win!’, your parallel thought-track could go: ‘I just have to play my best game every minute, because if I do, I know it won’t matter whether I win or lose’.
If your main thought-track when you are doing your homework goes: ‘I hate biology; Ms X is such a tyrant – she gives us such tough math worksheets; What’s the point of studying stupid history dates, anyway?’, your parallel thought-track could be: ‘I know everything I’m doing today is helping me become smarter in some way, and that’s always a good thing.’ The positive, calming parallel tracks will balance the negative, aggressive main tracks, making you feel better after the game or through the homework process.
If your main thought-track when you’re doing an annoying chore for
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