Guest guest Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Time Management Swami Brahmeshananda A former editor of The Vedanta Kesari Swami Brahmeshananda is at present the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Chandigarh. Is time sufficient for preparing for competitive exams and also practising meditation? (a) Yes. (b) How long would you meditate? 15-30 minutes twice a day at the most. Can't you get this much time out of 24 hours? © This question has arisen because you have not understood or realized the importance of meditation. You don't ask a similar question about eating, sleeping, etc. because you think they are indispensable and they must be done even while preparing for examinations. Please note, meditation--rightly done--is far more important than sleep or intake of food. (d) Sometimes, in business, we have to invest money to get greater returns. Meditation is like investing time to get better returns. Good meditation regularly done will make you calmer, sharper, improve your concentration and you will be able to make better use of time. A person with good concentration can accomplish more in 10 minutes than one who lacks concentration. Does the word 'relative' address this point also? The word relative can be applied in this case also. After all, as compared to one, the other has better concentration. It is a question of degree. But this can be altered by effort. Concentration can be improved by systematic practice. As a matter of fact, time is not an absolute entity. It is relative. For example, if the speed of the car is increased, we can cover the same distance in less time. According to Romain Roland, the French writer, Sri Ramakrishna lived the 2000 years of human race within his short life span of 50 years-- so intensely did helive! It is very important to realize this relative aspect of time. There is also what is called a biological/physio-logical clock. We have divided the day into 24 hours, and further into minutes and seconds and measure them with the help of a watch or a clock. Our body system also gets conditioned by our living habits. For example, we sleep at a particular time, eat at a fixed hour and so on. This conditioning can also be altered by practice, so that we might sleep less, and think or act more. The whole physiological clock can be made to work faster. Some people are fast enough to complete their work in time, but a large number of people are slow and take double the time. What should these people do for time management, because there are only 24 hours in a day? They must do 'Mind Management'. As a matter of fact, time management is largely a matter of 'mind management'. We are not able to harness the tremendous energy and capabilities of our mind. There are, of course, techniques of time management. But far more important is to improve the capabilities of the mind. Please tell us about both time management and mind management. (a) Time management and mind management are interrelated, which will be clear as we proceed. Take for example the first most important thing in time management: Prevent wastage of time. Time is precious-- more precious than money or, in modern times, water. One moment past, will never return. Especially, the time of the youth is most precious. This is the time when your mind is bright, strong, and impressionable. If wasted, it will never come back, and you will have to repent bitterly. (b) It is equally important to know what are the various ways in which we waste time. These could be many: useless gossip, laziness, engaging in mental reveries and empty imaginations; thinking too much of the past or having imaginations about the future, aimless loitering, destructive activities, etc., etc. There could be many more ways in which time is wasted. To know these is a part of mind management. In religious texts, this prevention of wastage of time is given very great importance. In Narada Bhakti Sutras it is said that a devotee must not waste even half a moment uselessly (kshanârdhamapi vyartham na neyam). Will it not make us obsessed with time? Yes, quite right. That is anotherextreme--to be obsessed with time which causes a lot of mental tension. There are people who are always busy, always in a hurry; they don't want to waste a single moment. Such peoplebecome a prey to mental tension. In a book published a few years ago, entitled Time, Space and Medicine, the author, a doctor, has described that obsession with time can cause hypertension, heart disease and mental tension. Such people always have a big list of what to do, and a minute-to-minute time table, without which they feel uncomfortable. Such people can't relax, and hence suffer from anxiety. This is a very difficult situation: to make the best use of time, and at the same time not to be obsessed with it. How can it be done? That's why I said that mind management is far more important than time management. But then, I was giving you hints about time management. The second principle of time management can be termed as 'Fill up the blanks'. We know, filling up of blanks as an exercise in learning languages. Now, in day-to-day life we shall find a number of occasions when we are forced not to do anything. Even though we might have prepared a tight time-table, we might still have lot of time in between these items. For example, while waiting for the bus, travelling in bus or train, the time between the end of one class (period) and beginning of another class (period) in the college, etc. By these two methods, i.e., prevention of wastage of time and making use of inbetween times, you will find that you have much more time at hand than you ever imagined. Are there any other principles of Time Management? Yes, the third principle of time management is to make a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly time-table as well as a list of works to do. However, be careful not to be obsessed by these time-tables of works. I do plan every time. But sometimes there are obstructions which upset the plan. What can be done? Things do not always happen according to our wishes or plans. You must have the capacity to alter a plan according to the situation. It is also important to keep one's cool and not get disturbed. But how to keep one's cool? Herein lies the need for 'Mind Management', and the first principle of mind management is this: to remain cool always. Sri Krishna had advised Arjuna to fight--please note--fight keeping the mind cool and undisturbed by success or failure. Swami Vivekananda has said: 'The calmer we are, the less disturbed our nerves, the more shall we love and better will our work be.' Let me tell you a story: Two enemy kings were engaged in lifelong war with each other. In the decisive one-to-one battle, one of the kings felled his enemy and was about to give the final lethal blow, when the fallen, prostrate, vanquished king spat on the face of the striker. The striking king became red with rage, but strangely, instead of inflicting multiple severe blows, stopped and withdrew his spear. He askedthefallenenemytogetupandgoinpeace. Why? Because, the victor king said, he had fought for so many years without losing his temper. But at the final moment of the battle, he lost his cool and got angry when the enemy spat on his face! This, he considered a defeat. This, of course, is an extreme example. But it highlights a very important value: That keeping one's cool is far more important than even success or failure of one's enterprise. Nay, this equipoise, which is called 'samatva' in the Gita, is in itself a goal, or target to be achieved. Ok. I also realize the importance of remaining cool. But how to do it? Once you are convinced thoroughly about the importance of keeping one's cool, you will naturally strive for it. Sometimes we may be in a very important or a very urgent situation. In that case, how to keep oneself cool? Yes, in extreme, urgent situations, you might initially lose your balance, as Arjuna did on the battlefield, but gradually you will attain perfect undisturbed calm. The second important principle of 'Mind Management' is to have the right attitude towards time itself! Time is a sort of tool in our hands. We are given specific time to use. This is what our attitude is towards time. What else do you mean by our attitude towards time? I shall explain my idea through Swami Vivekananda's example: Once, in America, he was to deliver a talk in his own apartment at 4:00pm. People had assembled but Swamiji was not to be found even five minutes before the talk. The person incharge ran out to the street and found Swamiji coming from a distance in a leisurely manner. He ran to Swamiji and asked him to hurry, because it was already late. Swamiji did not hasten his pace but coolly said, 'You live in time; I live in eternity.' What was Swamiji's attitude towards time? He considered himself the birthless, deathless Atman beyond time and space. Hence he was never bound by time, never in a hurry, and yet could lead an intense life. What I am trying to point out is that we must carefully rethink about our attitude towards time, world and life as a whole. What about our social activities and commitments? How to decide which social activity is important and deserves priority? As I have already said, you must carefully rethink about your whole life. This also means deciding and fixing one's priorities. As students, acquisition of knowledge and character building must be given top priority. All else like social responsibility, meeting with friends and relatives, etc. must be given secondary importance. Only social activities like service to the poor, which will help in character building, expansion of heart and development of sensitivity towards poor peoples' suffering must be given importance. You may also spend time with learned scholars and men of noble character. You must manage time accordingly. But there are situations wherein we are compelled to spend time with others. How should we maintain relationship with others, and yet manage time well? You are not obliged to spend time with or maintain relationship with those who are a hindrance to your goal of character building and acquisition of knowledge. Better avoid such evil company which does not allow healthy and fruitful management of time. Initially, such distractors may oppose you, mock or insult you; but later they will stop disturbing you and even admire you. But, as I said, by all means spend time in holy, noble and inspirational company. This is a better way of managing time. I am able to work efficiently only if there is an urgency. How can I do it efficiently even if there is no urgency? How should I inspire myself for studies? Consider every work you are doing as urgent and important. No work is small. Even sweeping the room, washing clothes etc are as important as studies or meditation. First of all impress this idea on your mind firmly. The greatness of a person lies not in what great works he has done, but how efficiently and dedicatedly he does the smallest work. Not only this; if you do every action with full dedication and efficiency, your concentration will improve and it will also help in your studies. What is the exact meaning of yogah karmasu kaushalam? According to the primary meaning as explained in the Bhagawad Gita, working in such a way as not to be attached to work and its fruits, is meant by the phrase karmasu kaushalam or dexterity in work. But there is also an implied meaning. It is taken for granted that the work is done with fullest concentration, highest efficiency and total dedication. In other words, karmasu kaushalam means working with tremendous zeal as well as perfect detachment. We know that doing work with concentration and efficiency is important. But what is the advantage of detachment? If you learn the art of detachment, you will not feel miserable, frustrated or depressed when you fail in your endeavour, nor will you be over-elated in success. You will be able to maintain equipoise, i.e., samatva. You will remain cool and composed in every situation. That is exactly what we want: Efficiency with perfect calmness. How can that be attained? By 'Mind Management,' some of the principles of which I have already explained. Let me summarize them: 1. Meditation: Do regular meditation. Make it a daily routine and hold on to it for the rest of your life. It will help you in concen- tration as well as detachment. 2. Do all your activities, even the apparently most insignificant ones with fullest concentration. 3. Have a philosophical attitude towards life; and set your priorities clearly. Although study is your primary aim, ponder about higher goals also like character building, spiritual emancipation, service, etc. 4. Don't waste time brooding over the past or imagining the future. Time, in fact, is only in the present moment. The past is dead; the future is yet to come. We learn from the past, and our present moulds the future. There is no use lamenting about wasted past, if we don't learn from our mistakes and make the best use of the present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Hi Raman, Excellent article. Our indebted gratitude to Swami Brahmeshananda for bringing out such an invaluable article. Our sincere thanks also to you for posting this article. I am sure all the rs of this gtoup who go through this post will definitely benefit from this. Om SriRamakrishnaaya Namaha. Regards, Nithiya ________________________________ Ramakrishna on behalf of V. Raman Tue 2/6/2007 9:37 PM Ramakrishna [sri Ramakrishna] Time Management: VK Oct 2003 Time Management Swami Brahmeshananda A former editor of The Vedanta Kesari Swami Brahmeshananda is at present the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Chandigarh. Is time sufficient for preparing for competitive exams and also practising meditation? (a) Yes. (b) How long would you meditate? 15-30 minutes twice a day at the most. Can't you get this much time out of 24 hours? © This question has arisen because you have not understood or realized the importance of meditation. You don't ask a similar question about eating, sleeping, etc. because you think they are indispensable and they must be done even while preparing for examinations. Please note, meditation--rightly done--is far more important than sleep or intake of food. (d) Sometimes, in business, we have to invest money to get greater returns. Meditation is like investing time to get better returns. Good meditation regularly done will make you calmer, sharper, improve your concentration and you will be able to make better use of time. A person with good concentration can accomplish more in 10 minutes than one who lacks concentration. Does the word 'relative' address this point also? The word relative can be applied in this case also. After all, as compared to one, the other has better concentration. It is a question of degree. But this can be altered by effort. Concentration can be improved by systematic practice. As a matter of fact, time is not an absolute entity. It is relative. For example, if the speed of the car is increased, we can cover the same distance in less time. According to Romain Roland, the French writer, Sri Ramakrishna lived the 2000 years of human race within his short life span of 50 years-- so intensely did helive! It is very important to realize this relative aspect of time. There is also what is called a biological/physio-logical clock. We have divided the day into 24 hours, and further into minutes and seconds and measure them with the help of a watch or a clock. Our body system also gets conditioned by our living habits. For example, we sleep at a particular time, eat at a fixed hour and so on. This conditioning can also be altered by practice, so that we might sleep less, and think or act more. The whole physiological clock can be made to work faster. Some people are fast enough to complete their work in time, but a large number of people are slow and take double the time. What should these people do for time management, because there are only 24 hours in a day? They must do 'Mind Management'. As a matter of fact, time management is largely a matter of 'mind management'. We are not able to harness the tremendous energy and capabilities of our mind. There are, of course, techniques of time management. But far more important is to improve the capabilities of the mind. Please tell us about both time management and mind management. (a) Time management and mind management are interrelated, which will be clear as we proceed. Take for example the first most important thing in time management: Prevent wastage of time. Time is precious-- more precious than money or, in modern times, water. One moment past, will never return. Especially, the time of the youth is most precious. This is the time when your mind is bright, strong, and impressionable. If wasted, it will never come back, and you will have to repent bitterly. (b) It is equally important to know what are the various ways in which we waste time. These could be many: useless gossip, laziness, engaging in mental reveries and empty imaginations; thinking too much of the past or having imaginations about the future, aimless loitering, destructive activities, etc., etc. There could be many more ways in which time is wasted. To know these is a part of mind management. In religious texts, this prevention of wastage of time is given very great importance. In Narada Bhakti Sutras it is said that a devotee must not waste even half a moment uselessly (kshanârdhamapi vyartham na neyam). Will it not make us obsessed with time? Yes, quite right. That is anotherextreme--to be obsessed with time which causes a lot of mental tension. There are people who are always busy, always in a hurry; they don't want to waste a single moment. Such peoplebecome a prey to mental tension. In a book published a few years ago, entitled Time, Space and Medicine, the author, a doctor, has described that obsession with time can cause hypertension, heart disease and mental tension. Such people always have a big list of what to do, and a minute-to-minute time table, without which they feel uncomfortable. Such people can't relax, and hence suffer from anxiety. This is a very difficult situation: to make the best use of time, and at the same time not to be obsessed with it. How can it be done? That's why I said that mind management is far more important than time management. But then, I was giving you hints about time management. The second principle of time management can be termed as 'Fill up the blanks'. We know, filling up of blanks as an exercise in learning languages. Now, in day-to-day life we shall find a number of occasions when we are forced not to do anything. Even though we might have prepared a tight time-table, we might still have lot of time in between these items. For example, while waiting for the bus, travelling in bus or train, the time between the end of one class (period) and beginning of another class (period) in the college, etc. By these two methods, i.e., prevention of wastage of time and making use of inbetween times, you will find that you have much more time at hand than you ever imagined. Are there any other principles of Time Management? Yes, the third principle of time management is to make a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly time-table as well as a list of works to do. However, be careful not to be obsessed by these time-tables of works. I do plan every time. But sometimes there are obstructions which upset the plan. What can be done? Things do not always happen according to our wishes or plans. You must have the capacity to alter a plan according to the situation. It is also important to keep one's cool and not get disturbed. But how to keep one's cool? Herein lies the need for 'Mind Management', and the first principle of mind management is this: to remain cool always. Sri Krishna had advised Arjuna to fight--please note--fight keeping the mind cool and undisturbed by success or failure. Swami Vivekananda has said: 'The calmer we are, the less disturbed our nerves, the more shall we love and better will our work be.' Let me tell you a story: Two enemy kings were engaged in lifelong war with each other. In the decisive one-to-one battle, one of the kings felled his enemy and was about to give the final lethal blow, when the fallen, prostrate, vanquished king spat on the face of the striker. The striking king became red with rage, but strangely, instead of inflicting multiple severe blows, stopped and withdrew his spear. He askedthefallenenemytogetupandgoinpeace. Why? Because, the victor king said, he had fought for so many years without losing his temper. But at the final moment of the battle, he lost his cool and got angry when the enemy spat on his face! This, he considered a defeat. This, of course, is an extreme example. But it highlights a very important value: That keeping one's cool is far more important than even success or failure of one's enterprise. Nay, this equipoise, which is called 'samatva' in the Gita, is in itself a goal, or target to be achieved. Ok. I also realize the importance of remaining cool. But how to do it? Once you are convinced thoroughly about the importance of keeping one's cool, you will naturally strive for it. Sometimes we may be in a very important or a very urgent situation. In that case, how to keep oneself cool? Yes, in extreme, urgent situations, you might initially lose your balance, as Arjuna did on the battlefield, but gradually you will attain perfect undisturbed calm. The second important principle of 'Mind Management' is to have the right attitude towards time itself! Time is a sort of tool in our hands. We are given specific time to use. This is what our attitude is towards time. What else do you mean by our attitude towards time? I shall explain my idea through Swami Vivekananda's example: Once, in America, he was to deliver a talk in his own apartment at 4:00pm. People had assembled but Swamiji was not to be found even five minutes before the talk. The person incharge ran out to the street and found Swamiji coming from a distance in a leisurely manner. He ran to Swamiji and asked him to hurry, because it was already late. Swamiji did not hasten his pace but coolly said, 'You live in time; I live in eternity.' What was Swamiji's attitude towards time? He considered himself the birthless, deathless Atman beyond time and space. Hence he was never bound by time, never in a hurry, and yet could lead an intense life. What I am trying to point out is that we must carefully rethink about our attitude towards time, world and life as a whole. What about our social activities and commitments? How to decide which social activity is important and deserves priority? As I have already said, you must carefully rethink about your whole life. This also means deciding and fixing one's priorities. As students, acquisition of knowledge and character building must be given top priority. All else like social responsibility, meeting with friends and relatives, etc. must be given secondary importance. Only social activities like service to the poor, which will help in character building, expansion of heart and development of sensitivity towards poor peoples' suffering must be given importance. You may also spend time with learned scholars and men of noble character. You must manage time accordingly. But there are situations wherein we are compelled to spend time with others. How should we maintain relationship with others, and yet manage time well? You are not obliged to spend time with or maintain relationship with those who are a hindrance to your goal of character building and acquisition of knowledge. Better avoid such evil company which does not allow healthy and fruitful management of time. Initially, such distractors may oppose you, mock or insult you; but later they will stop disturbing you and even admire you. But, as I said, by all means spend time in holy, noble and inspirational company. This is a better way of managing time. I am able to work efficiently only if there is an urgency. How can I do it efficiently even if there is no urgency? How should I inspire myself for studies? Consider every work you are doing as urgent and important. No work is small. Even sweeping the room, washing clothes etc are as important as studies or meditation. First of all impress this idea on your mind firmly. The greatness of a person lies not in what great works he has done, but how efficiently and dedicatedly he does the smallest work. Not only this; if you do every action with full dedication and efficiency, your concentration will improve and it will also help in your studies. What is the exact meaning of yogah karmasu kaushalam? According to the primary meaning as explained in the Bhagawad Gita, working in such a way as not to be attached to work and its fruits, is meant by the phrase karmasu kaushalam or dexterity in work. But there is also an implied meaning. It is taken for granted that the work is done with fullest concentration, highest efficiency and total dedication. In other words, karmasu kaushalam means working with tremendous zeal as well as perfect detachment. We know that doing work with concentration and efficiency is important. But what is the advantage of detachment? If you learn the art of detachment, you will not feel miserable, frustrated or depressed when you fail in your endeavour, nor will you be over-elated in success. You will be able to maintain equipoise, i.e., samatva. You will remain cool and composed in every situation. That is exactly what we want: Efficiency with perfect calmness. How can that be attained? By 'Mind Management,' some of the principles of which I have already explained. Let me summarize them: 1. Meditation: Do regular meditation. Make it a daily routine and hold on to it for the rest of your life. It will help you in concen- tration as well as detachment. 2. Do all your activities, even the apparently most insignificant ones with fullest concentration. 3. Have a philosophical attitude towards life; and set your priorities clearly. Although study is your primary aim, ponder about higher goals also like character building, spiritual emancipation, service, etc. 4. Don't waste time brooding over the past or imagining the future. Time, in fact, is only in the present moment. The past is dead; the future is yet to come. We learn from the past, and our present moulds the future. There is no use lamenting about wasted past, if we don't learn from our mistakes and make the best use of the present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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