Mindfulness is called “Sachethna” in Hindi and it came from the Sanskrit root “Chaitanyam” meaning “luminesce” or light emitting. When the Self within begins to illuminate, it dispels darkness from the mind and the person is able to see the Present and begins to focus on what he has to do, think and say ‘now’ without being blocked by the past or future.
In Sanskrit, Mindfulness is called “Bodham” meaning ‘awareness.’ Botham’ came from the root “Buddhi” or “What makes wisdom possible.” Wise know what to think, say and do to elevate self and others. It is this Bodham that made Prince Sidhartha, Buddha.
Buddha wielded amazing power of communication and his quotes are still studied, understood and applied by billions across the world! What gave Lord Buddha this stupendous ability is “Mindfulness” This is the secret power of Mindfulness. Having tasted the nectar of Mindfulness, Buddha went on to make it as the centre pillar of Buddhism.
When Indira Gandhi, the ex-Prime Minister of India asked astronaut to Rakesh Sharma who was on a spacecraft, “Uper se bharat kaise dikhta hein” (How does India looks from the space?) He simply said, “Saare jahan se acha” (More beautiful than any other place of all the world!)
Mindfulness infuses wisdom and when wisdom is the guiding force, you don’t say any wrong things, but ensure what is said is wise! That is the secret of Mindful communication.
Another example: When Alexander defeated king Porus some 2300 years ago with his mighty army, he posed a question to him, “How do you expect me to treat you?” There came the reply, I expect you to treat precisely like one king treats the other!” Alexander Swayed by the reply, Alexander returned the captured kingdom of Porus. That is the power of Mindful communication.
Had Porus was trapped in the thoughts of the past, he would not have been able to think, what he thought and said and won despite being defeated and lost. That is the secret of Mindfulness communication.
It is only when father is ‘mindful’ of the electricity being wasted, he tells the son, “Son please switch off the light in your room when you go out for playing!” It only when 3 princes were found going astray a king approached a person called Vishnu Sharma who began teaching governance through story telling in ancient India and it is called “Panchtantra” that has been translated into 63 languages.
Mindfulness gives us solutions that are absent when we are trapped in the past or in future in our thinking. A jury cannot give a verdict if he is trapped in the past history alone of the case. What helps him to give a worthy judgement is the mindfulness beyond his expertise on the knowledge of Constitution!
What makes our communication go bad is when we are “attached” to past or the future worries. Mindfulness helps us from not getting “attached” any of these three: the past, the future or even the present! While working in the present, it goes back to past to see what lessons it offers and evaluate the future based on what is being done in the present.
The above helps people in many ways, in advocacy, leadership, parenting, decision making and of course saying what needs to be said in a most appropriate manner.
Mindfulness helps us in “envisioning future.” This is a great boon. Vision, mission statements, planning outcomes, deciding strategies all cannot be done without mindfulness.
Great speeches are all mindfully constructed first, whether they are movie speeches like that of Charlie Chaplin’s Great dictator, Antony speech of Shakespeare or said to be that of the most enduring speeches of all times “I have a dream…” of Martin Luther King Junior
Mindfulness is an ocean of possibilities and mindful communication is just drop in that ocean! But the beauty of that drop of mindfulness is that it is not just a drop in the ocean, but ocean in every drop!
Comments