Acharya Mahaprajna
Every man chooses his field of activity. Working and working efficiently are two different things. Today thousands of professionals are working as doctors, engineers, professors and scientists. There is a wide variety of fields of activity.
Self-Confidence
One person works efficiently and gets success in his work. Another does not work efficiently and courts failure. For a doctor, it is not enough to be a skilled physician; he should also be professionally competent, which is the result of self-confidence. No success is possible without self-confidence. We know of a doctor who lacked professional competence and so hesitated to decide about the right medicine. He practiced Jeevan Vigyan for three days, which increased his self-confidence, and that in turn, removed all his hesitation in prescribing medicines.
Decisiveness
The second principles of success is the development of the ability to take decisions. A number of people are just unable to decide. They lack decisiveness. Both self-confidence and ability to take decisions are extremely necessary for a man to be successful. Even a few minutes' delay in arriving at a decision may prove very costly.
Development of Concentration
The third principle is concentration. Sometimes people begin a piece of work, give it up half way and start doing something else and so on. A French scientist wrote nine hundred articles on different topics of science. It is said that if he had chosen one direction in which to work, he would have become one of the greatest scientists of the world. For lack of concentration he failed to achieve that distinction. It is necessary to get absorbed in whatever one has undertaken to do and being so devoted to it that nothing else may enter the mind while the work is being executed. Jain ascetics practice Avadhan Vidya. Avadhan, pranidhan and samadhan constitute an experiment in concentration. Suppose one hundred questions are asked. After a few hours, giving answers to all the questions represents the practice of concentration. Work losses are largely caused by the deflection of the mind. Mental unsteadiness is a common problem. It results in an activity being completed in four times as much time as it should have taken.
Concentration needs Practice
It is quite difficult to concentrate. Even seasoned spiritual practitioners experience unsteadiness of mind. It is therefore all the more difficult for the learner. But systematic practice can develop concentration. Arjuna said to Krishna, the supreme Yogi, “The mind is extremely inconstant. Restraining or controlling it is as difficult as seizing a gust of wind.” Krishna remarked, “Arjuna, there are two ways of controlling it, practice and detachment.” It cannot be expected that all students will be recluses practising renunciation of the world. But everyone can practise. Through practice the mind can be steadied. How to undertake different practices with a view to reducing mental inconstancy and developing concentration is explained in Jeevan Vigyan.
How can the fickle mind be steadied with practice, and concentration be developed? A young man was studying in the University of Bombay. But he left the University and started doing business. Some years later, he felt like going in for higher studies. He registered himself again for the Association Secretary course of the University. But he felt that since he was resuming his studies after many years, it would be better to attend a Preksha Dhyan camp before starting the studies. He joined the camp and learnt to practice concentration as a result of which he stood first in the University. Now he feels that but for that practice of concentration, he would not have stood first in the University. He felt that his success was due to concentration and blessings.
Development of Memory
The fourth element is the development of memory. Good memory makes for success. Concentration and memory are both good in the case of a man who comes to know the secrets of the mind. One feels astonished to come across a man of eighty having a better memory than that of a young man. A sharp memory is essential for developing efficiency of working.
Emotional Balance
The fifth element is emotional balance. It is the most effective principle of working efficiency. Failure is certain in the case of people who lack emotional balance. Balancing emotions is one of the most difficult tasks. Disorganized working, quarrels, family and institutional disputes are all the result of unbalanced emotions. Clash of egos is the biggest obstacle to success. Even though he knows its harmful effects, man does not renounce his egoistic disposition. If any reform is to be brought about in the field of education, teachers, students and administrators will have to practise the balancing of emotions.
The Problem of Intolerance
Intolerance is the biggest problem today. Practising tolerance is extremely difficult, but tolerance guarantees efficiency of work. Once Acharya Bhikshu was talking to an ascetic of another sect. The latter got infuriated and said, “You blasted brother-in-law! I'll cut your head.” Normally Acharya Bhikshu too should have reacted angrily, but he was an accomplished ascetic. He showed no emotion and said smilingly, “You have called me a blasted brother-in-law and accused me of incest with my sister. But that doesn't matter, because all the women of the world are my sisters. But did you have some reservations and commit some lapse while taking the vow of continence? However, even if you have married, your wife is my sister and I am therefore your bother-in-law. If you are not married, the moral blemish of telling a lie will stick on you.” It was a remarkable example of tolerance.
Controlling and balancing the emotions of egoism, anger, fear, intolerance, greed and lust leads to success. And it is the most important element of the efficiency of work.
Developing the Strength to work
The sixth element of the efficiency of work is the development of the strength to work. Without it, talking about efficiency is meaningless. Education, which is incapable of developing this strength, is futile. What can be more shameful than an educated man being inactive, idle and lazy? Education should awaken the consciousness of being active.
Development of Creativity
The seventh element of the efficiency of work is the development of creativity. People become dull-witted if they lack creativity, new ideas about the future, new creation, brilliance and vibrancy.
The burning problem today is that every educated person wants to take up a white collar job. He does not like to work in the fields. Surprisingly, even the son of a farmer does not want to work as a farmer. No one wants to pursue the ancestral profession. White-collar jobs hold out a tremendous attraction. What can explain it? It is because of a false norm according to which one who cultivates the land is an inferior being, whereas in reality he is the best man.
Agriculture is the Basis of Life
Jain philosophy has discussed non-violence profoundly. Acharya Jinsen wrote that cultivating the land is a much less objectionable and sinful undertaking than lending money on interest, which constitutes a very big sin and great violence. Now the times have changed. A man prefers to sit idly at home to working on the land as a farmer, even though agriculture is the basis of life. Today, people look down upon cultivating the land as a result of which the problem of unemployment has emerged. Education has been sullied by the notion of false status consciousness.
The first Necessity
Balancing of emotions is our first necessity. Unfortunately man's entire life operates on the basis of emotions. He looks apparently serene, but carries within him a volcano of emotions. He goes on weaving webs like a spider. Even education has paid little attention to emotions. There are all kinds of long training courses, but none in balancing emotions. The Director of Administrative Training came to see revered Gurudev Tulsi in Jaipur and expressed a desire to have a two-week training in Preksha Dhyan given to the probationers of the Rajasthan Administrative Service. Gurudev readily agreed. After the completion of the course, the probationers told Gurudev that their training course was very long and arduous and they used to take sleeping pills, which spoiled their health. The two-week practice of Preksha Dhyan had increased their concentration and they could finish their work in much less time. They no longer needed sleeping pills, nor did they suffer from sleeplessness. Similarly, surprising results were obtained in the case of Preksha Dhyan training to police officers and other staff at the request of the Inspector General of the Rajasthan Police Academy at Jaipur. Nearly one hundred police officers were given training in Preksha Dhyan.
Revered Gurudev Tulsi was walking to Mewar. Between Mewar and Marwar is a village, Bhim, in one of the valleys of the Aravalis. Gurudev camped there. The very next day, as he was departing from there, the area sub-inspector of police came to meet him. He told Gurudev that he was stationed there. Bhim was a big station of trucks and had a liquor stall, which naturally gave rise to a number of immoral practices. Some of the local inhabitants were also present on the occasion. They told Gurudev, “We have never had such a police officer here before.” The place had a tremendous corrupting influence even on innocent officers who resorted to accepting bribes and other malpractices. This sub-inspector is the first example of complete probity and just behaviour. The officer then said, “Maharaj, all of us who took training in Preksha Dhyan at Jaipur are discharging our duties most conscientiously. In fact, we have created a new image of a police officer. If the Government of Rajasthan had continued to impart training in Preksha Dhyan, the police department would have undergone a radical transformation and would have projected a very good image of itself in public life. May I entreat you to kindly urge the government to continue that training?”
The balancing Process
One very important factor in the context of education or work-efficiency is the balancing of emotions. How to achieve this balance is what education should concern itself about or else it will be education only in name, capable of intellectual development, but incapable of building good character and developing personality. It is here that the relevance of Jeevan Vigyan lies. Some people say that students can improve by reading the biography of a great man. We do not deny it. By reading an incident involving courage and fortitude in the life of Mahatma Gandhi, one will get an idea of what courage is. Similarly, devotion to duty and honesty will inspire the readers' mind. But we forget the strange nature of the human mind. Can we guarantee that the inspiration will endure? Waves come and go on the surface of an ocean. We should find out the method of making them endure.
Today, people talk of values in education. Despite the imparting of lessons in the awareness of duty, responsibility and national integration, nothing much will be achieved in the absence of their repeated practice. No lasting results can be expected without the practice of autosuggestion and without internalizing a particular value through relaxation in the Kayotsarg posture. And it will have to be continued for months together in order to yield real results.
The practices included in Jeevan Vigyan are very effective for increasing work-efficiency. Jeevan Vigyan has laid down exact practices for different achievements like improving decisiveness, developing a good memory and acquiring concentration. These practices must be repeated over a long period. By so doing, a man can succeed not only in increasing efficiency of work, but efficiency in all other fields.
