Graduate In The University Of Life

Graduate In The University Of Life

Smriti Irani, the newly appointed Union human resources minister in Team Modi's government, may or may not be a graduate. Yet her first pronouncements as HRD minister are bang on track. “What about education for life instead of degrees,“ she asks. And this question has been addressed by spiritual masters like Swami Parthasarathy of Vedanta Academy , Lonavla, and others like him.

Their wisdom is distilled from ancient texts like the vedas, upanishads and the Bhagwad Gita. However, Swamiji's Vedanta Treatise is not a Hindu religious text. It is a hands-on practical way of living a life, of handling relationships, of succeeding in business.

And living a good life as a good person who does what is right. It is a way of life; not a religion.

Life is not easy Many of us learn only too late in life that living life does not come easy . What comes easy is getting into scraps, losing our temper, riding roughshod over people, family feuds, grabbing, grabbing and more grabbing. Many of us do not understand that life is a process that requires learning.

The phenomenal and much loved Maya Angelou tweeted just days before she died recently , “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.“

Effective good habits The wise recommend that we wake at 4 am, the sattvik or purest hour in the day . Research by sages reveals that truth is discerned clearest between 4 and 6 am. As the day progresses we move into rajasik or action mode and late evening and nights are tamasik or slothful.

Why is the world so troubled? One reason is that we encourage late nights and late mornings. If more of us can rise early and sleep early it can help make the world a better and more peaceful place.

Learning experience Coming back to the Smriti Irani controversy over whether she is a graduate or not ­ her common sense more than compensates for what may or may not be a lack of formal education. We all make mistakes and hopefully this will be a learning experience for her in the University of Life.

Om Namah Shivay