Climate Change, Ways Forward and the Journey of Personal Change

Mark Twain might as well have been talking about climate change when he famously remarked, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it.”

Climate change is for real and its alarming impact has been evident all around us. The proportion of hurricanes reaching categories 4 or 5 worldwide has risen from 20% in the 1970s to 35% in the 1990s; the increased frequency of extreme local weather like the 2003 heat wave across Europe that killed over 30,000 people; the receding glaciers (according to the UN, Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 possibly impacting over two billion people); the increasing deterioration of ecosystem and the ensuing diseases with newer mutants of viruses; and the disappearing bee colonies, impacting agricultural produce in many developed countries, are all examples of this change. It is even leading to social strife in parts of the world - the reduction in rainfall in Darfur has turned millions of hectares of already marginal land into desert, leading to one of the largest social conflicts. As we look into the future, the dangers of increased hurricane activity in Central America and Southern US, the risks of places like Maldives, Bangladesh and Cairo being exposed to higher sea levels, the challenges of large scale social migration, and spread of new and unknown diseases worldwide are ominous.

While there’s a significant debate (although often more political than scientific) about whether humans are causing this climate change or if it is merely the result of a broader planetary cycle of change, the scientific community unequivocally suggests that humans are contributing to it. As we know, one of the biggest causes of climate change is the rising level of carbon emissions, brought about by burning of fossil fuels, like oil and coal, by cars, planes, homes, factories, and power plants. On average in the US, a passenger car emits over 5 tons of CO2 every year and a home emits 4 tons of CO2 per person each year. The Ecological Footprint Network has estimated that humanity’s burden on the planet now exceeds its carrying capacity – we use 1.3 planets to provide the resources we use. Moderate UN scenarios suggest that at the current trend of population growth and consumption, by the mid 2030s, we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us. Research on global consumption levels done by Professor Jared Diamond of UCLA highlights that as developing countries, led by China and India, aspire to match the consumption levels and lifestyle of the developed nations, the world is likely to face a major resource crunch – for food, oil, metals, water and so forth. India and China together catching up would triple the global consumption rates. Further, the lifestyles of the wealthy and city folk account for majority of this global footprint – the wealthy 25% of the world’s population has a footprint equivalent to the Earth’s entire sustainable productive capacity.

It is also quite evident that this is not an issue we can hope to sort itself out with time. Despite the uncertainties of various projections, the risk of not doing something effective are way too high and can be devastating. Now, the solutions to this challenge include the roles of the Government, business as well as individuals. Governments around the world can contribute in multiple ways – by according high priority to sustainability in all their policies, raising awareness about climate change, introducing suitable tax breaks for businesses to embrace green technologies, actively promoting setting up of effective carbon pricing and trading exchanges as well as earmarking a meaningful budget towards research and development of non carbon emitting technologies. Businesses have a significant role to play in reducing and potentially reversing the damages of climate change. Organizations can begin by reviewing, reducing, and potentially capping, their direct and indirect carbon emission linked with their entire operation – the technologies they use, the location and type of raw materials they source, the extent of fossil fuel energy they consume through electricity and airplane transportation and so forth. Globally, buildings alone contribute to as much as a third of all greenhouse emissions – employing suitable temperature regulating technologies can not only reduce the level of emissions, but also save money for businesses. Similarly, restricting air travel to only the most critical meetings can greatly help reduce carbon emissions – not only does it take ten tons of ordinary fuel to produce one ton of Jet fuel, but it also happens to burn much higher in the Earth’s atmosphere, making it a deadly proposition. At a deeper level though, it’s the organizations’ resolve to incorporating social and environmental goals in every aspect of their business conduct that can have a real longer-lasting impact. Coined by John Elkington and ratified by the UN, the proposition to expand the role of organizations from merely delivering profits to being responsible for the triple bottom line (profits, people and planet) is a significant step in the right direction.

Finally, there’s an awful lot that each of the global citizens can do. From driving less and using alternate means of transportation to driving more fuel efficient cars; from buying energy saving light bulbs to choosing goods made from environment-friendly technologies; from eating more organic foods to turning vegetarian; from consuming less to buying goods produced in the neighboring communities; from cutting less trees to planting more and so forth. To my mind, while all the three segments- Government, businesses, and individuals- have meaningful contributions to make towards helping save this planet, in the longer-term, the greatest power and responsibility of change perhaps lies with the individuals. When individuals begin to make appropriate choices, the policy makers and the businesses will willingly follow that lead. Left alone, the Government may have to juggle multiple political compulsions – despite a broad global agreement to reduce carbon emissions by 60% in 1990, the emissions actually grew by 15% by 2001. Similarly businesses, driven by overly capitalistic objectives, maybe tempted to rewarding primarily the financial shareholders. Based on new choices that consumers begin to make, businesses may find going green not only environment friendly, but also better business.

Furthermore, at its very root, climate change is essentially a symptom of the deteriorating relationship individuals have with their environment, the planet, and the universe. It appears that since the industrial revolution, we have been paying disproportionate attention to scientific and technological advancement and much less to the development of our inner selves – resulting possibly in the current ecological imbalances. Recognizing this requires a fundamental mindset shift – entails paying attention to understanding our true identity and our interconnectedness with all beings and with nature. As the authors of Natural Capitalism highlight, “While it is unwise to believe in any one environmental projection of the future, it is important to bear in mind that nature bats last and owns the stadium.” Only when we commit to growing our self-awareness and building clarity of our personal purpose (one that encapsulates our social and environmental linkages), can we learn to live in harmony with nature and make real and sustainable progress to tackle climate change.

This journey has to begin with each of us – hopefully then spreading to our families, communities and the broader society. Top-down decisions, devoid of this sense of purpose and inner conviction, can have limitations of not being holistic. For example, encouragement of bio-fuels as replacement for fossil fuels has already led to greater global deforestation to plant corn, sugarcane and palm oil – resulting in both fresh emissions as well as higher food costs. When we make a commitment to the journey of personal change, it begins to reflect in each of our thoughts, beliefs and actions. As we relate to plants and earth as living beings, we acknowledge that single-minded pursuit of profit and growth, like cancer, is dangerous for the survival of the whole and are naturally drawn to sustaining a healthy co-existence. Also, learning to live with greater mindfulness, we then take decisions out of conscious choice rather than out of a sense of sacrifice and compulsion. Finally, public sector and private enterprise leadership is nothing but a collection of individuals – when they personally commit to this journey, the Government and business decisions too automatically sing in greater ‘natural’ harmony.

Meditation III: Joy of Mindfulness

In continuation of my last two posts on meditation, here’s the final one focused on mindfulness. Mindfulness meditations relate to the practice of being present and becoming aware of true nature of things – our own real identity and that of the world around us. While there are any number of specific approaches connected with mindfulness, they can largely be categorized as Concentration meditation and Mindfulness meditation.

The Concentration meditation techniques require focusing single-mindedly on an object, a mantra, or often the breath. Concentrating in this way stills the mind and sharpens its focus, facilitating a deeper clarity and fresh awareness to emerge. Further, staying close with the rhythmic nature of the breathing process has a calming effect on the mind. Breath is always in the present, we are only breathing the current breath never the last or the next one. Thus, focusing our attention on the breath helps us be in the present, without getting caught up in the drama of the past or the future. This not only relaxes our body and mind, it also creates space for new awareness to appear. As we recognize the depth and potential of the present moment, the empowering nature of that feeling enhances our inner strength. Breath is also the connection between our body, mind and the universe and observing it provides us new insights into the connection between our mental and physical states. The moment to moment profile of the breath can be a great reflection of our shifting mental states – when we are angry, anxious, or agitated, the breath becomes quicker, shallower and inconsistent; when we are calm and relaxed, the breath becomes slower, deeper and more consistent. Observing the breath thus automatically brings us in closer touch with our inner states of mind. Lastly, practicing this technique over time can significantly raise the level of our concentration in any given moment, resulting in greater focus and productivity in whatever we maybe engaged in.

Mindfulness meditation is directed towards becoming more aware of our true identity. It is about nurturing an ability to being a witness to whatever comes up – leading to a state of great acceptance, insight and equanimity. The practice requires sitting down in a quiet place and observing our thoughts, feelings or sensations. The key is to observe the thoughts (or feelings or sensations) without judging them or getting attached to them. Observing the thoughts is focused less on the thoughts and more on the thinking process; it’s about witnessing their ephemeral nature and examining how they incessantly arise and pass away. Observing our thoughts in a detached way, like an independent scientist doing research on them, makes us realize that the thoughts and feelings are nothing but passing packets of energy that don’t have any power to grow unless we pay attention to them. This cultivates a unique non-reactive state within us and sustaining that through a larger part of the day can lead to our identifying much less with each of our thoughts – whether of fear and worry or of greed and craving. This does not mean we become devoid of emotions or feelings; instead, we become better equipped to feel the entire spectrum of emotions but with a new awareness of not necessarily favoring one over the other. Such mindfulness makes us feel more abundant, whole, calm and joyful. It also brings us closer to the realization of our true identity of pure awareness, which merely observes and reflects all experiences with an honest mirror-like neutrality. Advancing in this practice helps shine further light on true nature of things by assisting the recognition that there is no independent me, only an ever evolving awareness.

Buddhist meditation practice of Vipassana takes this understanding a level deeper. Here the focus is on observing the sensations. Based on Buddha’s experiences, the teaching suggests how the deepest source of our motivations is not the thoughts and feelings, but the sensations, and how observing them, without identifying with them, can slowly bring us out of the human suffering. It stresses that as our senses interact with the environment, they produce several sensations in our body. These sensations are quickly judged by the mind as pleasant or unpleasant and driven by its conditioned responses (stored karma), the mind craves for more pleasant sensations and wants to get rid of the unpleasant ones – thereby also continuing to generate new karma. This bi-polar evaluation of every situation is the real cause of human suffering. We can spend an inordinate proportion of life’s time in craving for things we don’t have and fearing to lose what we have. Such a bipolar version of life is flawed as it assumes that one of these states is preferable over the other and that somehow it maybe possible for us to create circumstances in our life for only one of them to prevail. The process of deeply observing our sensations, accompanied by letting go of their constant evaluation, slowly trains our mind to recognize that everything is impermanent and hence there’s no point getting attached to any pleasant sensations as it is futile to becoming averse to painful experiences. It teaches us how pleasure and pain are nothing but our reactions to these passing sensations. With practice, mindfully observing even our most painful sensations, without reacting to them, can help them subside. When we resist them, we feel frustrated (with the situation) and/or guilty (of our past actions) – which in turn lead to further distortions in our emotional make-up and generation of new karma in our psyche. Cultivating equanimity, and accepting the current reality as is, not only strengthens our character, but also provides a deep sense of calm and happiness in our life.

As Thich Nhat Hanh said, “There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.” As the name suggests, all mindfulness meditations are an invitation to be more mindful of our true identity and of our present reality at all times. For example, the breath is always with us and we can always go back to observing it at any time during the day. When we are more aware, we think and behave from a very different level of consciousness. The greatest relevance of this practice is in being more mindful in every aspect of our daily life – eating mindfully, walking mindfully, working mindfully, and conversing mindfully and so on. What this requires is being fully present in whatever we are doing and letting go of our mind’s multiple agendas. Highlighting its relevance to relationships, Thich Nhat Hanh commented, “The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” When we lead a life governed by these practices, it equips our minds to both capture the details (through concentration) as well as be aware of the big picture (through mindfulness) in all situations. It is akin to listening to an orchestra and being able to soak in both the melody of an individual clarinet and the harmony of the entire symphony in equal measure. While the primary objective of these meditation techniques is to learn about our true self, mindfulness undoubtedly also helps reduce mental stress and physical pain. Needless to add, pursuing these practices can be challenging and requires significant commitment. Try closing your eyes for 2 minutes and just observe your thoughts without getting attached to them! As they say, mastering any creative craft takes a practice of at least 10,000 hours – sounds like meditation is no exception to that. Committing to meditating regularly, irrespective of our circumstances, is a real test of patience. As St. Francis de Sales said about undertaking this journey, “What we need is a cup of understanding, a barrel of love, and an ocean of patience.”

Meditation II: Power of Visualization

"The greatest discovery of the 19th century was not in the realm of the physical sciences, but the power of the subconscious mind touched by faith. Any individual can tap into an eternal reservoir of power that will enable them to overcome any problem that may arise. All weaknesses can be overcome, bodily healing, financial independence, spiritual awakening, and prosperity beyond your wildest dreams. This is the superstructure of happiness." – William James, Harvard Psychologist, the Father of American Psychology

In the last post, I had attempted to highlight the salient aspects of meditation as well as briefly introduced two broad techniques, namely visualization and mindfulness. In this post, I would like to expand on the visualization techniques – specifically, the theory behind them, examples of their successes, and some practical approaches.

Visualization techniques have been used to great results by many. Tiger Woods uses visualization to picture the exact trajectory of the shot he wants to make and then lets his mind relax (in a manner, get the mind out of the way) and let his body automatically perform the actions to imitate the picture. It is believed that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel with a similar approach. Einstein, who supposedly demonstrated limited potential at school, suggested that his theory of relativity came less so from a deep knowledge of physics and mathematics and more so from his ability to imagine and conduct ‘thought experiments’. In an interesting research, Soviet sports scientists studied the impact of mental training, particularly including visualization, on four different groups of elite athletes before the 1980 Olympics – group 1 doing 100% physical training, group 2 – 75% physical and 25% mental training, group 3 – 50% physical and 50% mental, and group 4 – 25% physical and 75% mental training. The results were truly amazing – group 4 that did the most mental training, fared the best, while group 3 did better than 2 and so forth. Louise Hay, famous for her books on healing, rid herself of cervical cancer without any medical treatment, by primarily following a regimen of forgiveness, affirmations, nutrition and therapy. Similarly, Reiki is proven to have healed people from deadly ailments as well as supported others in achieving personal and professional growth in multiple ways.

The theory behind the power of affirmations and creative visualization techniques has four key elements – Intention, Attention, Emotion, and Faith. To appreciate the importance of intention and attention, we need to start with recognizing the fact that at its core, every thing and every being is made up of the same universal energy – called by different names in different belief systems (please feel free to read an earlier post on this theme, The Ultimate Reality). Since this energy is all-pervading, every thing in the universe is interconnected and is in a continuum that forms the collective consciousness. Our thoughts connect with this continuum via our individual subconscious. Thus, our every thought and action has the ability to influence, in however small a way, the workings of the entire universe. Similarly, every movement in the universe has an impact on our individual thoughts, actions and experiences. As we deeply visualize a desired reality, our mind sends out commensurate signals to our subconscious which passes them on to the collective consciousness – which in turn works through presenting in our life people, events, and circumstances that support the manifestation of those thoughts. Our subconscious is both a store of all thoughts, information, and memories, as well as a doorway to the collective consciousness. That’s why so many creative ideas and actions emanate just by silencing the mind and connecting with the subconscious. This aspect also lends itself to a Reiki practitioner’s ability to be a channel of the universal energy and heal others, who may even be present at long distances.

When these visualization thoughts are coupled with emotions, they get strengthened further. Emotions engage the body and mind more deeply towards actualizing the desired future state. Furthermore, what gives visualization its greatest power is presence of faith. Faith in the power of our creative minds and the universe’s desire to support us; the ability to let go of our limiting beliefs and align to the forces of nature, all along feeling safe in the knowing that the best that needs to happen will happen. This provides visualization the necessary capacity to connect with the universal consciousness and works like a strong magnet attracting all similar thoughts and experiences in the person’s life. There’s sometime the debate about whether visualization can be considered a spiritual exercise given the focus on ‘wanting’ something to manifest. I believe that visualization can be really effective only when accompanied by a deep sense of let go of our mind and its attachments – and that crucial step makes it a spiritual practice. The other important aspect of let go and faith related to these techniques is that they work only with positive thoughts – negative thoughts, of doubt and fear, act as canceling energy and deflate the power of those thoughts and emotions. Finally, visualization is the most potent when used towards the fulfillment of our highest purposes, and for the broader good of all.

In order to bring this theory into practice in our daily life, we can use this technique in any number of ways. Some people like to remind themselves of their key set of affirmations by writing them out or thinking about them several times daily. There are others who like to draw their desired future state and look at that picture often. These affirmations can be linked to well-being, self-esteem, healthy relationships, career enhancement, financial security, personal and spiritual growth and so on. Experts in this field suggest two important details for this practice – one is to imagine the desired future state in as much vivid detail as possible, and the second is to write out the affirmations about the future state in the present tense, as in – I am healthy and abundant, or I am enjoying a beautiful relationship, or I am complete, whole and perfect as I am, or I am always enjoying the moment etc. – living with these affirmations expedites the actualization of the visualized goal. Another significant area of these techniques includes working with gratitude. Many a times, we are overly focused on feeling disappointed with what we don’t have rather than being thankful for what we do have. If we spend a few moments to reflect on what all each of us has, including the uniqueness of a human body, the beauty of nature, the creative power of our minds, the opportunity to contribute meaningfully, the love and support of our relationships, the progress we made from generosity and kindness of others and so on, we begin to feel grateful for what we have and where we are. Making a list of things or people we are grateful for and remembering that frequently supports our journey of growth. Also, being thankful for what we have makes us more open to receiving further.

Finally, visualization can be extremely effective with wishes for the well-being and wholeness of something larger than ourselves – others in our family and community, a nation, the planet, or the universe. Individual affirmations not only change the attitudes and actions of that individual, but when combined with the affirmations and prayers of other like-minded people, they have the strength to bring about any kind of meaningful change. This could potentially include ending wars, eradicating poverty or slowing and reversing the trend of climate change. There are over ten billion nerve cells in the human brain, arranged in an orderly manner, and as Napoleon Hill, a great believer in the power of mind and thought, said, “This in not to take care of the physical bodies alone but to provide the infrastructure for meaningfully communicating with the collective conscious.”

Meditation: An Introduction

I have been writing about the relevance of the journey of self-awareness and personal mastery – a journey that requires us to better understand and work with our personal emotional, mental and spiritual make-up. Among the various psychological and spiritual growth tools that can support us in this journey, many people find meditation to be one of the most effective ones. In that context, I thought of writing this blog piece to briefly introduce some key facets of meditation, its benefits, and share some thoughts based on my learning and experiences in this space.

Meditation is defined as engaging in a mental exercise towards reaching a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. It originated from the Latin word meditatio, meaning contemplation. People engage in meditation for a whole host of varied psychological and spiritual reasons – higher mental peace and relaxation, reducing anxiety or stress, boosting self-esteem, strengthening the mind, sharpening focus, enhancing creativity, and achieving higher states of self-awareness. While it has some definite background in religious upbringing, meditation can easily be a non-religious and purely spiritual exercise. However, in all situations, it tends to lay emphasis on direct experience rather than on any dogmas or beliefs.

Benefits
Significant quantum of research is now available on the benefits of meditation. Starting with studies on the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique in the late 1960s, various research findings have shown that meditation practice can noticeably improve all aspects of an individual’s life – health, relationships, work productivity, creativity and even academic performance of children. Independent studies at the National Institute of Health, and at Harvard, reported that regular meditation reduces chronic pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, cholesterol and cortisol (the stress hormone). Research has demonstrated that during meditation, the metabolic rate and oxygen intake drops significantly. Also, the meditators' levels of anxiety and tension, as measured by their skin resistance to an electrical current, have been found to decline. Meditation is also proven to increase serotonin production which influences mood and behavior. Low levels of serotonin are normally associated with depression, obesity, insomnia and headaches.

Similarly, other studies have demonstrated that sustained meditation practice can help business -and other leaders- build greater foresight, clearer thinking, authentic relationships, and enhance their productivity. Furthermore, children are proven to improve in their academic performance, creativity, and self-esteem through meditative practices. Meditation supports an individual’s growth of self-confidence, calmness, and tolerance. Such personal transformation at the deepest level also has a ripple effect in their environment – peaceful thoughts, speech and actions, developed by meditating individuals, lead to greater harmony not only in their immediate relationships, but also in the broader society.

How does it work?
Two key things that occur during meditation are a quieter mind and a greater focus on the present. Meditation generally requires pointed focusing on something and this forces the mind to stop getting entangled in the day-to-day challenges and worries. With greater practice, the number of thoughts arising in one’s mind during any given time also reduces – thereby, quitening the mind. Further, the pointed focus also requires focusing on the present moment. There’s a common emphasis across different practices to work on acknowledging and letting go of any other thoughts that may arise – this takes the mind away from living with the regrets of the past and anxieties of the future. A quieter mind, focused on the present, results in a higher level of awareness and a unique state of restful alertness.

Further, meditation can also facilitate positive physical changes in the brain. Until the 1980s, neuroscientists believed that an adult human brain had limited capacity to change. However, more recent research has established the concept of neuroplasticity – the idea that the brain is constantly evolving and forming new neural connections, based on its training and experiences. Meditation increases brain activity in an area of the brain associated with happiness and positive thoughts and emotions, and some evidence shows that regular practice brings prolonged positive changes in these areas.

Types of meditation
There’s a multitude of meditation techniques available and practiced by different people, ranging from focusing on breathing, or on an external object to visualization and chanting mantras. To keep it simple, I would like to categorize them all in what I find to be two of the broadest categories, namely – visualization and mindfulness. Visualization techniques focus on building a deeper understanding of our desired state and then visualizing it to be manifesting in our life. The desired state could be related to any aspect of our life like, better physical health, stronger relationships, lower stress, greater effectiveness at work and so on. The underlying principle of visualization based techniques is that we create our own reality based on our intention, attention and actions. When we pay greater attention to negative thoughts (I am not that smart, or I never seem to do well, or I am always unhappy, and so on), we are perpetuating these manifestations by letting our body-mind act out these very thoughts. On the other hand, when we intend to move towards our desired state, and start paying attention to positive thoughts towards the future state (I am becoming smarter, I am beginning to or really doing well, and I am always happy), our body-mind sends out corresponding signals to the universe and that helps us create that state. There are countless success stories from the use of these techniques from all areas of life, including from sports where a number of sportsmen use this technique to great results. Examples of this approach include Reiki, SilvaUltramind system, Holosync audio meditation, and various affirmation techniques. Mindfulness techniques, on the other hand, are generally related to focusing our entire attention to a specific thing. This may involve focusing on an external object or reciting a mantra (such techniques are generally referred to as concentration techniques) or focusing on our breathing, thoughts, feelings or sensations (more specifically referred to as mindfulness techniques). The broader principle behind these techniques is to observe the true nature of things – see things as they really are. These techniques help focus and sharpen the mind and that leads, firstly to deeper mental and physical relaxation, and secondly to a greater ability to observe and comprehend the true nature of things. A number of Buddhist meditation techniques (including Anapana, Vipassana, Metta and Zen meditations), Raja Yoga and TM are examples of this approach. I hope to describe these two broad techniques in greater detail in the next two blog posts respectively.

Endnote
Meditation serves different purposes for different individuals. For many, meditation is a spiritual practice – a way to journey within ourselves, to ultimately find the source of our very existence and universal intelligence. As Upanishads, the ancient Indian spiritual texts, describe the process of meditation on the self – “The self is the witness of the mind…it is not thought, but the thinker we must know. It is not what is seen, but the seer which must be known.” We are used to observing the object; here we need to observe the subject itself – in a way, it is like knowing the screen on which the thought images appear. For others, it may be a practice towards experiencing greater relaxation, peace and harmony. At the same time, when we examine the key facets of meditation like a quiet mind, focus on the present, and a sense of relaxed alertness, there many may be several other experiences in our lives that lead to a similar sense of flow – activities like painting, gardening, yoga, sewing, writing, and other creative pursuits. Now, for starters, it may be a useful discipline to create dedicated time for meditation on a daily basis. Simultaneously, it’s also worth noting that we always have the opportunity to be mindful of our thoughts and actions, learn to let go and be absorbed in the present moment and thereby, experience being in meditation throughout the day…irrespective of what we are engaged in.

Breaking the shackles of destiny…

As we journey through the path of self-awareness, one of the questions that often comes up is how much of our lives and actions are dictated by destiny and how much by our conscious choices. Are we the masters of our own fate or mere puppets of a bigger schema of life unfolding through us? Over the years, there has been a spectrum of viewpoints expressed on this by diverse philosophical schools of thought. The two prominent, and diametrically opposite, views being Determinism (everything is pre-determined) and Free Will (we have complete freedom of choice). Broadly speaking, ancient Eastern philosophies have tended to lay greater emphasis on Determinism, while there’s been bigger support for Free Will among modern libertarianists. The ascent of individualism in modern society has furthered the notion that we create our own reality – thereby shoring up the concept of Free Will. In this article, I would like to examine the case for each of these notions and wish to draw some conclusions that can hopefully better support us in our own personal journeys.

Determinism represents the view that every event, including human cognition, decision, action, and behavior, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. In its extreme version, it suggests that human beings may have no means to change the future course of events. Even though this thought sounds paralyzing, it may be grounded in more truth than we may commonly accord it. From a biological approach, there’s the role of the genetic code – the DNA carries the entire history and the future of any being. The small seed of a tree already contains all the characteristics of the full-grown tree. From the standpoint of the spiritual philosophy of karma, human beings are primarily acting out the effects of their past karma. Every action is preceded by a conscious thought and every conscious thought is preceded by a subconscious conditioning that makes us have the thought in the first place.

Free Will on the other hand espouses the existence of our rational agency through which we can exercise control over all our decisions and actions. Free Will also implies that the universal laws of nature or any omnipotent force does not exert any power over individual will and choices. Besides our intuitive belief that each of us has the ability to take independent decisions and actions, there are enough examples of an individual’s ability to create their own destiny through vision, focus, talent and commitment. Our personal experiences may also support the view that we always have a choice, and the choices we make determine the future we experience. We choose the career we want to pursue, decide on the food we want to eat, determine the extent of hard work we put in our efforts, have the freedom to choose our leisure activities, and so on.

Addressing the debate between Determinism and Free Will thus requires understanding the relationship between cause and freedom, and examining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic of our actions. The working of the entire universe is governed by several laws of nature (like the cycle of birth and death, karma, etc.) and destiny is nothing but these laws of nature unfolding – scientific and spiritual progress merely helps us better understand these laws. Now, the law of karma brings forth the truth that our motivations as well as experiences in the present are dictated by our cumulative stored karma of the past. Why, with the same stimulus, some people instinctively get angry and others don’t, why some children are predisposed to an ambitious drive while others are comfortable going with the flow and so on, may all potentially be pre-arranged in our karmic psyche. We are born with this karmic psyche and with every interaction with our environment, we continue to generate and store additional karma in that psyche. Each of our thoughts, volitions and actions is then dictated by this storehouse. To that extent, all our motivations, decisions and actions are a pre-programmed disposition, even though we may confuse them with free choice; our decisions in the present are at best an outcome of our conditioned will (and not Free Will) and significantly constrained by our hereditary and environmental limitations. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda’s teacher, explained it as, “man is like a cow tied to a pole with a rope, bound by the karmic debts and human nature, and the amount of Free Will he has is analogous only to the amount of freedom the rope allows.”

The above argument, based on the law of karma, strengthens the case for laws of nature being causally deterministic of our moment to moment future. Does true Free Will exist at all then? Free Will comes into play only when we are able to make a conscious choice of not being automatically governed by our conditioned responses. At any instant, what we experience maybe pre-determined, but how we react to it is where we have a real choice. Our ability to make a meaningful choice is determined by our level of mindfulness at that moment – how aware we are of our true identity and how connected we are with our inner consciousness. This universal consciousness that is alive inside each of us can be a doorway to examining every situation with a new awareness and in an open-minded way. To give potency to this intelligence, we need to learn to let go of our limiting mind and its conditioned responses and instead let our inner wisdom guide us. Committing to a path of self-realization- of greater mindfulness and equanimity- where we are not easily dragged into our habitual patterns, can support our journey towards developing greater freedom and Free Will. Living in the present and attentively observing every new thought or feeling as soon as it arises strengthens the practice. Swami Ramakrishna completes the above explanation by saying that “as one progresses on the journey of spirituality, the rope of freedom becomes longer” – allowing for greater access to authentic Free Will.

Thus, unless we take conscious steps to break out of its shackles, we could spend our lifetime just living out our pre-programmed volition, thoughts, actions and destiny. Paradoxically, the process of creating our own inner reality works best with learning to let go, living in the belief that whatever best needs to happen will happen. Concurrently, it requires us to recognize that with greater mindfulness, we become better attuned to creating such a reality. At its deepest, it is about letting our higher inner self express itself through us towards manifesting the reality that we were meant to create. This is the experience that sometimes exceptional achievers in creative fields like art, music, writing, and sports relate to – an experience of co-creating along with the universal intelligence. Lastly, I would like to believe that as humanity continues to evolve, we will likely grow in our levels of awareness with time – however, how centered and conscious we are while making every choice in the present may determine how enjoyable the journey becomes for each of us.

Of Well-being and Healing…

A healthy sense of well-being is really important to all of us. Well-being is often one of the top wishes (possibly along with happiness and wealth) that people have for themselves and their loved ones. As people age, other than financial security, well-being and longevity are what they long for. Despite that yearning, how much attention do we pay to our overall sense of well-being on a regular basis? Even if we do, it’s often directed primarily towards our physical health – centered on the exercise routine and possibly some watchful eating. That is hardly sufficient attention, as our more complete sense of well-being emanates not just from improving our physical but also mental, emotional, and spiritual health. According to a Harvard Medical School publication, "Recurrence of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes, is more closely linked to depression than to high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes." – reinforcing the importance of mental/ emotional health. Similarly, highlighting the need to nurture our soul, Roman philosopher Cicero said, “Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.” Taking a cue from the above, in this post, I would like to highlight the relevance of a more integrated approach to well-being, one that encapsulates healing and growth on all these four levels.

What are these different levels of healing and well-being? Physical well-being relates to our ability to effectively conduct various physical activities, including recreational ones, without any pain. It entails being physically healthy and inculcating healthy habits – taking care of our body through physical exercise, eating habits, hygiene, and maintaining effective balance between work and rest. Mental well-being is related to our intellect – our ability to think, our thoughts, understanding, values and beliefs. It facilitates our ability to create suitable mental maps to effectively navigate the world. Emotional well-being talks to our emotional health. As Mother Teresa said, “There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.” It’s the ability to understand our emotions, connect with others and their emotions, ability to face failure, resilience and so forth. It is critical for building meaningful relationships, at both work and home. It is also relevant in our ability to deal with the ups and downs of life. Spiritual well-being is connected with our levels of self-awareness, clarity about purpose of life, and our state of being. It is about knowing who we are, our place in this universe, and our interconnectedness.

For our true well-being, it’s important to make progress across all the four levels of well-being, without which we continue to experience a sense of incompleteness in our inner self. Physical well-being entails taking care of all aspects of our body – building endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility as well as eating a balanced diet. It also requires paying attention to the signals emitted by our body – towards rest, sleep, pain, and any illness. Every illness offers the opportunity to learn further about our body and engage in greater healing. Mental healing involves becoming more aware of our thoughts and beliefs; recognizing that the mental maps we have developed to navigate the ways of the world are not necessarily the reality; being open-minded towards new ideas and approaches; and addressing our inner mental scripts that often hold us back. Emotional well-being relies a lot on overcoming the delimiting emotional experiences of our childhood, a time where we are constantly judged and get used to suppressing our natural emotions. Healing in this area requires becoming better aware of our inner emotions, getting comfortable with experiencing the entire range of them, openly sharing them, being authentic in our interactions, and connecting with the true love that exists deep inside each of us. This not only allows us to be our true free self (please read the post on “being myself”), but also supports our ability to freely give and receive love. Spiritual well-being necessitates undertaking a journey within to connect with our core inner being, discovering our real purpose in life, learning to be present in the moment, and building equanimity under all situations. Progress in this area gives greater meaning to our lives and helps us to be happier and more peaceful.

While the above are some suggestive thoughts towards a more wholesome well-being, there is no one way to progress on this. It’s likely that we are already more developed in one/ some of these areas and may choose to begin working on the others. Different people may also find different approaches equally powerful and relevant for their personal situation. Sometimes, specific events, like layoff at work, a major health problem, or a deeply troubled relationship, can trigger the need for us to examine our lives more deeply. For others, it just maybe a broader sense of dissatisfaction with their existing life. However, all these areas are often interrelated and progress on any one may have a ripple effect on the others as well – learning about our inner self (spiritual) may allow us to better understand the source of our thoughts (mental) and feelings (emotional) too. Likewise, working with our feelings and relationships (emotional) may require an enhanced level of acceptance and letting go, resulting in spiritual growth. Similarly, it’s not uncommon to see physical challenges linked with deeper emotional issues. One of the recent winners of “The biggest loser”, a reality TV show about a competition to lose the maximum weight, described how his real breakthrough came by overcoming his discomfort with expressing his true emotions. He mentioned that he had previously been storing those emotions inside (akin to storing fat) and often resorted to overeating to overcome his emotional inadequacy. I have also written in the past about the interplay of our thoughts and emotions with what we experience in our bodies (please read “where is our mind located”).

All the same, while there are fairly well-established links between physical illness and psychological well-being, these linkages do not fully account for all our experiences. This maybe an important distinction, worth remembering, particularly when we are suffering from any significant physical or emotional challenges. With the modern society’s focus on individuality and the new age beliefs around “we create our own reality”, it’s possible for us to blame ourselves and have self-pity for every unsatisfactory state we find ourselves in. Now, every illness probably has a psychological aspect and every healing process is similarly influenced by psychology. However, as Steven Locke and Douglas Colligan write in “The Healer Within”, the challenge is that we maybe confusing psychosomatic (physical disease can be affected by psychological factors) with psychogenic (meaning illness is caused solely by psychological factors). There can obviously be other factors that influence physical health, like heredity, age, occupation, drugs, and living environment. One could perhaps add karma and other spiritual factors to the list too. In that context, I found Ken Wilbur’s perspective, of treating the illness at the level it exists at, quite insightful. That suggests treating a purely physical issue (fracture) at the physical level (fixing the fracture) and a psychosomatic issue (frequently getting a fracture) at a physical (fixing the fracture) and emotional level (understanding the emotional issues that attract accidents) and so forth. As he describes in “Grace and Grit”, treating a hurt at a level higher than required generates guilt; treating it at a lower level generates despair. Believing that the fracture was caused by our thoughts alone and trying to treat it with purely a mental level technique, like visualization, can lead us to feeling guilty and blaming ourselves. Alternately, someone suffering from low self-esteem (a mental, emotional issue) maybe best healed with mental-emotional tools of visualization, affirmations, and therapy; just focusing on diet will likely lead to despair in this case. Similarly, meditation and spiritual exercises maybe best suited for spiritual healing.

It is evident that we need to regularly create time and space to take stock of our lives and reflect on the state of our personal growth. As we become more self-aware and make a conscious effort towards healing areas that require attention, we begin to experience a greater sense of well-being. Further, developing an attitude, of learning and growing from every difficult challenge, facilitates this journey and gives us strength and inner peace. As we heal ourselves, we support the process of healing the world too.

Leading Through Coaching

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." - Galileo Galilei

We all know that a big chunk of effective leadership revolves around managing and leading people. Leaders with high EQ tend to better connect with their people and are able to motivate each of them to be the best they can be, thereby generating superior long-term results. However, it transpires that only a small fraction of leaders seem to get this right. A leading indicator of this is the level of employee engagement in the workplace – series of comprehensive employee surveys demonstrate how low employee engagement levels are. Towers Perrin, a leading employee research and consulting firm, found only 17% of 35,000 employees surveyed as ‘highly engaged’; Corporate Executive Board placed only 11% of 50,000 employees studied in the ‘true-believer’ category. For all the supposed focus of organizations on their people over the last few decades, these statistics are disturbing. All the same, employee engagement remains critical to an organization for multiple reasons. First, engaged workforce means better business – an extensive survey conducted by Towers Perrin found a 52 percent gap in the one-year performance improvement in operating income between companies with highly engaged employees versus those with low engagement. Second, people are an extremely valuable asset and a key source of competitive advantage. As per the Brookings Institute research, 80% of an organization’s market value comes from intangible assets, which include brands, intellectual property, and the workforce. Further, it’s expensive to have disengaged staff. Gallup research in 2003 estimated that unengaged workers in the UK alone cost their organizations US$64.8 billion annually.

What builds employee engagement? HR and management consulting firm, DDI defines engagement simply as “the extent to which people enjoy and believe in what they do and feel valued doing it” – enjoyment in the context of the match people find between their skills and their job, a sense of autonomy, and the opportunity to learn and grow; belief that what they are doing matters in the bigger picture of the team, organization, and society; valued in terms of respect, rewards and recognition. In light of the above definition, a coaching style of leadership can be hugely effective. Working with leaders from diverse backgrounds in my coaching practice, I have often noticed a strong correlation between a leader embracing a coaching style and their increased levels of employee engagement. A coaching approach to people is rooted in the following principles.

First, that each of us has the answers to all our dilemmas and challenges within ourselves; it’s just that often with our busy lives, we are unable to devote the time to find those answers. Coaching helps create the time and space for that discovery to happen. Second, the most meaningful and sustainable change occurs when people discover the solutions themselves. Neuroscience research demonstrates that the process of self-discovery creates brain patterns that are clearer and longer-lasting, versus when individuals are told the answers by someone else. Further, all adult learning theories suggest that adults have a great need for a flexible and self-directed learning approach. Finally, coaching advocates that the best way to help others is through a conversation where we have no personal agenda, are totally non-judgmental and treat others as equals.

All these principles make coaching an enjoyable, engaging and empowering journey of positive change. It can effectively help employees learn and grow (through self-discovery rather than being directed), feel autonomous (self-directed, they drive the agenda), feel valued (conversation of equals, non-judgmental), empowered and engaged. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered for improving employees’ engagement. A coaching style relies heavily on the belief that each individual is highly capable and just needs a supportive environment to discover and fulfill their potential. Thus, to sustain change, a coaching leader constantly looks out for what’s working well with the employee rather than being preoccupied with what’s not. As the noble Goethe said, “Treat people as they ought to be and help them become what they are capable of being." Further, each employee’s requirements are different and a coaching style allows the leader to better recognize and work with the employee’s specific needs. Management gurus believe that at least two-thirds of corporate conversations are “push” conversations, where the leader is trying to push his/ her agenda, often with limited regard to the employee’s situation or personal circumstances. Personal conversations based on direct, open-ended and learning questions can be greatly useful here – questions like, what conversation would you rather have? How do you feel about your current performance? What could help you do your job better? How else could you solve this problem? What do you enjoy the most about work? What would you do if you were the CEO? These types of conversations not only challenge the employee to reflect on their own, but also get them emotionally engaged. Employees then feel cared for and supported in their journey, leading to a higher intrinsic motivation and higher loyalty. Another of Towers Perrin’s worldwide survey found that the top driver globally for the level of employee engagement is an employee's belief that senior management was interested in his/ her well-being – not compensation, or career growth but a feeling of being valued and cared for. A coaching style is also extremely empowering. A leader focused on coaching approach is keen to help his/ her employees not only develop greater self-awareness but also build a sense of self-responsibility for their decisions and actions, substantially increasing the employees’ sense of autonomy.

Employee engagement comes from the top and perhaps the person who can impact it the most is the employee’s immediate supervisor. Notwithstanding the relevance of a business agenda and the pressure of time for a supervisor, a coaching approach can significantly enhance their effectiveness. Such an approach requires them to hone in skills related to listening, being totally present (for the employee, without getting distracted by any personal agenda), being non-judgmental, empathetic, trusting and supportive. As a leader embarks on this journey, he/ she becomes such an inspirational role model for the team that the effort to manage, direct, or lead is no longer required – the team wants to follow him/ her anyway. As they say, “The mediocre leader tells; the good leader explains; the superior leader demonstrates; the great leader inspires.”

Here’s the little extra. Besides helping leaders be far more effective in their roles, coaching has some significant side benefits for them as well. The three most prevalent causes of stress are supposed to be dealing with ambiguity, delivering results under pressure, and being seen/ evaluated by others. While these come with the territory of an executive role, it is believed that coaching others can not only reduce, but reverse, the damaging effects of long-term executive stress. As Richard Boyatzis, a leading scientist in the area of the links between neuroscience and performance highlights “When they experience compassion through coaching others, it has psycho-physiological effects that restore the body’s natural healing and growth processes, thus enhancing their sustainability. We thus suggest that to grow their effectiveness, leaders should imbibe coaching as a key part of their role and behavioral habits.”