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K S Venkataraman - My Blog
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Great Achievers
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Dear friends,

I reproduce my essay published in Dynamic Youth magazine, November issue (www.dynamicyouth.org) for the benefit of the learned readers of this group.

With kind regards,
K S Venkataraman

Dynamic Youth – November 2008 – Sports – Tendulkar’s World Record

Tendulkar’s World Record
K S VENKATARAMAN

If stones are thrown at you, you convert them into milestones.

Tendulkar



Sachin Tendulkar has achieved what was predicted as impossible for him by a few negative thinkers just a few months ago. The record for the highest number of test runs was 11,953 held by the West Indian cricketer Lara. On October 17, 2008 in the test match between India and Australia being played in Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Tendulkar surpassed the existing record and also crossed 12000 runs before he finished his first innings.

Sachin Tendulkar, the highest
run-scorer in Test cricket

Tendulkar’s achievement is not merely a matter of statistics in sports. It is a lesson on Self Development. Having started his career at the age of 16, Tendulkar has crossed a number of ups and downs in his journey to this great achievement. What he has extracted from his own body is tremendous. Naturally the beating he has taken has also been severe. Ankles and elbows have shown resistance many times seriously. But with discipline and determination he worked and brought back his own body to good shape.

When Tendulkar entered the field he needed just 15 runs to overtake Lara’s world record. But the pressure built by his fans and the media was very high. In such a severe condition, he just concentrated in his own game. He said, “I decided to just keep things simple, watching the ball, keeping my eyes on the ball and be alert."

About having proved something, Tendulkar remarked, "I don't need to prove anything to anyone. All these years I didn't play cricket to prove anything to anyone, whether it was the first year of my career, 10th or 19th.”

Having answered his critics not by words but by action, a poised Tendulkar revealed as a matter of fact, “I am going to continue obviously. I'm feeling good. So many things have been said and written but it is not necessary they are always right. They are only opinions and what I feel is more important… As long as I am enjoying it I will play. I don't need X, Y or Z to tell me when I should stop or continue. When I started playing nobody told me that. So nobody need to tell me now either."

1. Great achievers do not toil to prove something about them to somebody else. They just keep on giving expression to their natural talent and contributing their best always. They are engaged in something only because they enjoy doing it.
2. Great achievers are not unduly elated by the praise showered on them; nor do they lose heart when criticized or condemned by others. With unruffled self-confidence they concentrate on their onward march.
3. Great achievers have the ability to insulate themselves from the external pressure and mind only the next step to be taken; the next increment to be added to their achievement.
4. Great achievers do take notice of the opinions of others; but they are guided by their own decisions.
5. Great achievers overcome physical and mental hurdles by their discipline, determination and commitment.



Source
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/17/2394610.htm
The Times of India – October 18, 2008

November 8, 2008 | 4:06 AM Comments  0 comments


Swami Vivekananda
Related to country: India
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Reproduced from the August issue of Dynamic Youth magazine - www.dynamicyouth.org


SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S inspiring personality was well known both in India and in America during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, at which he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation, broad human sympathy, colorful personality, and handsome figure made an irresistible appeal to the many types of Americans who came in contact with him. People who saw or heard Vivekananda even once still cherish his memory after a lapse of more than half a century.

In America Vivekananda's mission was the interpretation of India's spiritual culture, especially in its Vedantic setting. He also tried to enrich the religious consciousness of the Americans through the rational and humanistic teachings of the Vedanta philosophy. In America he became India's spiritual ambassador and pleaded eloquently for better understanding between India and the New World in order to create a healthy synthesis of East and West, of religion and science.

In his own motherland Vivekananda is regarded as the patriot saint of modern India and an inspirer of her dormant national consciousness, To the Hindus he preached the ideal of a strength-giving and man-making religion. Service to man as the visible manifestation of the Godhead was the special form of worship he advocated for the Indians, devoted as they were to the rituals and myths of their ancient faith. Many political leaders of India have publicly acknowledged their indebtedness to Swami Vivekananda.

The Swami's mission was both national and international. A lover of mankind, be strove to promote peace and human brotherhood on the spiritual foundation of the Vedantic Oneness of existence. A mystic of the highest order, Vivekananda had a direct and intuitive experience of Reality. He derived his ideas from that unfailing source of wisdom and often presented them in the soul stirring language of poetry.

The natural tendency of Vivekananda's mind, like that of his Master, Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human suffering in East and West alike. It might appear that his mind seldom found a point of rest in its oscillation between contemplation of God and service to man. Be that as it may, he chose, in obedience to a higher call, service to man as his mission on earth; and this choice has endeared him to people in the West, Americans in particular.

In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years (1863-1902), of which only ten were devoted to public activities - and those too, in the midst of acute physical suffering - he left for posterity his four classics: Jnana-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga, all of which are outstanding treatises on Hindu philosophy. In addition, he delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired letters in his own hand to his many friends and disciples, composed numerous poems, and acted as spiritual guide to the many seekers, who came to him for instruction. He also organized the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the most outstanding religious organization of modern India. It is devoted to the propagation of the Hindu spiritual culture not only in the Swami's native land, but also in America and in other parts of the world.

Swami Vivekananda once spoke of himself as a "condensed India." His life and teachings are of inestimable value to the West for an understanding of the mind of Asia. William James, the Harvard philosopher, called the Swami the "paragon of Vedantists." Max Muller and Paul Deussen, the famous Orientalists of the nineteenth century, held him in genuine respect and affection. "His words," writes Romain Rolland, "are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Handel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books, at thirty years' distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports, must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero!''

NIKHILANANDA
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center
New York
January 5, 1953

Source

http://www.ramakrishna.org/sv.htm

August 9, 2008 | 7:00 AM Comments  0 comments
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Become Inspired by Right Persons

From T Joseph Benziger, the Editor, Dynamic Youth

Dear Youth of the World,
All living beings are dominated by two senses. The first is the sense of ‘self’. And, the second is the sense of ‘others’ or ‘outside world’. My self includes what I am as a person, i.e. my body, my mind and so on. Whatever contributes to my personality is part of my ‘self’. All the rest I see in the world are ‘others’ and are part of the outside world.
The term ‘Life’ has resisted clear definition. But we know that life expresses itself through interaction of ‘self’ with the outside world. My ceasing to live is marked by my ceasing to interact with others or with outside world.
Such interactions have been observed at physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual levels, i.e. at all levels of one’s personality. The physical interaction includes respiration, intake and digestion of food, and sex. Similarly, my mental interaction includes my emotional exchanges, thought processes etc. Thus interactions at all levels of a living being are not proofs of only existence; they prove also meaningful living and evolution.
We cannot simply think of a living being, without ability to interact; leave alone its evolutionary progress. As such, if we want to live meaningfully and develop, we should regulate our interactions properly.
The subject of ‘interaction’ is vast and I do not intend dealing with it exhaustively here. I shall limit my discussion with an important aspect of it.
All of us, especially in young age, become impressed with somebody’s speech, style, strength, power, ability etc. We are influenced by them and accept him or her as our role model. We try to follow them. We draw from the outside world, a select pattern of behavior or conduct or even a line of thinking and absorb it; and internalize it. This is called inspiration.
It need not necessarily be a real living person. Sometimes we accept the historic personalities as great persons and try to follow their principles and behavior. It can also be an imaginary character seen in a cinema or television serial. If the person is weak minded or ignorant, he gets influenced by wrong personalities, either real or depicted.
We inhale lungful of air from outside, use it, and exhale it; similarly, we take to our minds what we observe in some others and imbibe it; and make it a permanent part of our own personality. When we face challenging life situations, we ask ourselves how that other person would behave; and we choose to behave like that as far as possible. The importance of such inspiration lies in that it does not simply affect one’s behavior at a point of time; it molds one’s attitude and makes him to behave in a particular way throughout the life!
We understand easily the need for inhaling pure air or eating nutritious food. But the need for becoming inspired by the right person for the right reason is not appreciated that easily.
All of us should examine ourselves and find out who are those, whom we are allowing to influence our personalities. We should also ask if those influences are really good or bad.
There are no rigid rules on how we should go about finding a person to influence us. But there are some fundamental principles in this. For example, can a Physics professor have a famous foot ball player as his role model? Why not? He can emulate the foot ball player in his team spirit or perseverance or concentration towards attaining his goal. Life is qualitative and multifaceted. So, we may draw inspiration from any person belonging to any field. It should be for a right reason and relevant to our goals in life.
Suppose there is a black marketer or criminal in my neighborhood, who is very rich and lives luxuriously. If I become impressed by his ostentatious life style and draw inspiration from him, I would soon find myself in criminal path. Especially in young age, anything clamorous or glamorous would easily appeal. So the youth should be intelligent and selective in becoming inspired by others.
Mahatma Gandhiji, while he was young, was inspired by the legendary character Harichandra, noted for his adherence to Truth. It helped him to become a Mahatma. While Shivaji was a child, his mother used to tell him the stories of great heroes of the ancient Bharat. This inspiration made him a great warrior.
There are many great people around us. They may be close to us in our family or official circles, or may be famous and distant. We should observe and study the people, not only those with whom we move personally but also those about whom we hear or read. We should try to become inspired by their good qualities. Not becoming inspired by the wrong people is also equally important.
Wishing you all the best,
T Joseph Benziger

August 2, 2008 | 1:08 AM Comments  0 comments
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