What motivates you?

I heard a TED talk today by Wael Ghonim, the young Egyptian Google executive who helped jumpstart Egypt’s democratic revolution. He explained how he and his group of followers used the internet and various forms of social media to create a revolutionary movement within the youth in society.

What motivated Ghonim? Ghonim had all that life had to offer – a well paid job, respected status within society, a good family life and other such parameters that we use within society to define success. Yet, he chose to use the resources at his disposal to make the world aware of the brutality of a political regime, getting himself detained by the Egyptian government and sowing the seeds for a revolution. So what motivated Ghonim to do this? Moreover, what motivates any of us to do what we do?

As humans, we have basic needs that drive us to work, have family and friends, eat food. But we’re all different in the way we pursue even these basic of activities. As individuals, we crave to achieve autonomy, mastery, and purpose. But is this what motivates us to become teachers, doctors, professionals, leaders in our communities?

Some say that they are driven by the desire to be happy. And the way each of us finds that “happiness” is different – whether through material wealth, helping the less fortunate, fame and publicity, etc. Do any of these truly bring us happiness? Or does the act of being motivated on its own accord bring us happiness?

And so, today we open the question to you – our readers. We invite you to tell us what motivates you via comment on this blog or on the T3 Plus Facebook page.

Debunking the myths of life, worry and inner peace

An Interview with Badrinarayan Srinivasan

Life is one of those funny things… It’s the opposite of the ‘practice makes perfect’ principle. It’s the one thing that as you keep going through it, you seem to somehow keep running into more problems and it never really gets better. Of course, there are a lot of people who offer solutions, often it’s a magic solution, a theory that will simply melt away your worries, stress and problems (and not to mention that it has the Midas touch to remove all the worries and stress of your family members, friends, next-door neighbour, cat and dog!).

So it is with this sceptical mindset that I approached my interview with Badrinarayan Srinivasan (Badri), speaker at the recent T3 Plus lecture on Karma Yoga on 9 April 2011. Who is this person? He’s so young, why should I listen to what he has to say?

Even over the phone, Badri came across as being calm, someone who could not easily be shaken. Here I was fumbling with my phone recorder, embarrassed, but Badri was patient and was not at all fussed about the delay. And I quickly understood why. Badri is one of the youngest people in the world to attempt and complete writing a comprehensive commentary on the Bhagvad Gita. Having studied at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute for Higher Learning, under the tutelage of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, his Guru, Badri has a deep understanding for why we worry and what we can do to stress less and live life the way we really want to.

Q: Badri, in your work through the Jnana Vedanta Institute in Melbourne, what have you found is the reason why people worry?

Badri: People worry because we have expectations tied to the events around us. We have expectations that things have to happen a certain way. And when they don’t, we are sad. Anticipation of the future causes worry; not being able to let go of the past causes guilt and regret and being caught between these two, we are left with no time to be at peace!

At the moment, the average human being is being buffeted by repeated alternate waves of joys and sorrows based on the situations, the events that happen around the person’s life. An event comes along, and the event, by definition, brings sorrows, therefore that person is sad.

That person is not in any control over his own joy or sorrow. He is losing his freedom over his own happiness.

Q: So how will the law of Karma help us with removing the worries and stresses of our lives? We understand Karma to be the law of cause and effect. Yet, we still seem to struggle with this seemingly simple concept and life still continues with its difficulties. Why is this?

Badri: The very fact that we find it complex – really, we add that complexity to it [law of Karma] – is what makes us miserable in our daily lives. The law of Karma, as many of us know it and it’s talked about constantly, seems to be inexorable and severe. It seems to put you in a rut, robbing you of all freedom! But it is the practice of Karma Yoga, that brings you out of this rut, removing the complexity you build around it and making it simple.

That’s why I call it ‘a legal loophole’. When you practise Karma Yoga in your life, and not just create more and more Karma, when you consciously apply the principles – that’s when life becomes simple. That’s when we start to realise that life can be simple, and that we can start to take control over our joys and sorrows.

Q: What in one piece of advice you can offer to our readers?

Badri: Come to the T3 Plus workshop! (He chuckles…) But seriously, if I had one piece of advice it’s that inner peace is your birth right. And it’s only right understanding that gives you inner peace that allows you to enjoy this inner peace. That is what we should all be doing – to gain the right perspectives over what we are doing in life. In the workshop [and mentoring and coaching program] we will be exploring how we can do this, what tools are available to help us better understand our actions, karma and life itself, so that we can take control over our lives and live it in a state of constant inner peace.

Badri Srinivasan conducted a one-day intensive program on ‘Karma Yoga: A Legal Loophole’ on 9 April 2011. The response was fantastic and some participants signed up for a mentoring and coaching program with Badri to continue their Karma Yoga practise.

To find out more about what we do at T3 Plus, visit http://www.t3plus.wordpress.com or email to t3plusevents@gmail.com.

The purpose of life is to find a life with a purpose ~ Robin Sharma.

In the year 2005, during a cricket match between Australia and India being played in Australia there was a commercial for Qantas Frequent Flyer. The commercial posed 3 questions to the viewer : ‘Where are we? Where do we want to go? And How do we get there?’

These questions are very interesting and relevant in providing directions in life … in all areas of life like financial growth, career path, family bonding and more importantly the spiritual progress …

How can one relate to the above quote ‘the purpose of life is to find a life with a purpose’ … If we think deeply all great humans like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Socrates, Issac Newton, Thomas Edison, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and other great humans including all of us are made up pf the same spirit and energy … It is only that many of us are ‘blissfully unaware’ of our own ‘blissful potential’ and caught up in the mundane matters of the world. If we can follow a systematic approach and discipline ourselves to delve deeper into ourselves we will also be able to find and ignite the ‘spark’ that will guide towards realising ‘our purpose in life’.

In doing so one may also seek answers to the following 2 questions :

What is most important to me in my life?

What are my deepest values and beliefs?