The real thinking about ones destiny

There are so many chain letters that are forwarded during a day, but have any one of us ever given a thought to how accurate, how truthful and for what extent these things are related to life. Some talk about great miracles that happen, some just say that when we forward we will be getting this much of money from bill gates, n some say before this day the person whom you love will get to know that you love them and they will kiss you. We have gone through all these letters, but this one it is different. I don’t promise when you forward this you will get anything, no reward not that your dream person gonna come and kiss you or anything. But I would say this chain letter or my initial forwarding has nothing but the truth about life. From the power of this truth, I pray and wish that all of you, my dear once be healthy, happy and could be enlightened with truth about the snasara. One of my closest friends inquired me “Machang what is the fairness of life if a person can’t change destiny” I was thinking die hard how could I explain this to him, I could have told easily that life is never fair we have to face this rather than a simple ambiguous answer like that I kindled my inner wisdom to provide him a better answer. I said we cannot change destiny, if destiny is changeable then we would not be thinking of karma. Actually destiny is what is predetermined. And so far on this planet earth I have never seeing a person or never any one depicted that they changed their destiny no matter how we strive for. Striving just put us on the place where destiny wants us to be in much quicker time. For an example I would quote Angulimalas incident where he was predicted to be a murderer on whatever the circumstance and whatever the social injustice or reasons he could not prevent by becoming a murderer. He had to become and then only became a monk. And even if you take bill gates he could not become a lawyer because he was not destined to be a lawyer. It is noteworthy that every incident that happens in our life is destined by our karma, in spite for the Niyamas that is explained in Buddhism. This is not to say that being discourage and lazy and not working on achieving goals would lead you in destiny because according to the chittha niyama, uthu niyama , dhamma niyama a person’s full attempt can sometimes lead to little deviations from destiny but then that is recognized as their destiny. We should also know that mans goals has a limit and capacity. However much we try there is no person on planet earth who have achieved all of his goals, visions in life thus, it should be understood that is what you call the destiny. Thus life is not what you can achieve it is about what you get. If anyone challenging this status quo I would give the hardest 100 tasks in this world and ask him to accomplish all those 100 tasks within a limited time period because this body that we bear now has a limited period of time for existence. That is where once destiny comes into play. This is to say that however much we try our kamma has its own results for us. And then we should no kamma niyama is the most powerful out of all the niyamas. N things that happens to us all though not all of them, a significant part is based on karma. So that is what we call destiny. With all these explanations on karma one would argue, is there anything truly called karma in this world? When a person does good things, will he get rewarded? When the person does bad things will he get reattributed? If this karma is working on this world, then how come sinners have all the comfort of life?? The answer is, that is how we see their life as, but the truth is that they are much as equal to animals because they lead a life of suspicion and fear!! They fear that they will lose their wealth next moment they fear about their consequences!!!So that they lead a life equal to animals. Because all animals do same things that humans do except for merits they eat, mate, fear and sleep. It is the human who is capable of doing a merit could get pleased of doing that. So the thing tha draws a clear line between animals and humans are their merits. It is said in Buddhism that it is very rarely that we get a life of a human and we have limited time to accumulate karma? So why aren’t we making the best use of it? Why aren’t we seeking the reality of life? Why are we getting hanged over material things that are uncertain and why are we reluctant to accept that uncertainty? I know all of us can’t go become priest or monks in temple that is not because we can’t, we haven’t accumulated enough strengths from our karma to achieve that status. We can’t bear the kaha sivra on us coz of our karma. But as lay mans cant we at least minimize our sins. Just imagine for a day how many sins we do by accumulating irshaya, krodha, vaira, n kama, state of mind, so to counter how many merits we do?? The answer would be a negligible amount. That is why I asked you even if we can’t do lot of merits at least isn’t it important to minimize the sins. Is nt it important to stick to pancil as laymen to minimize the faults or sins. We as normal human beings can’t lead sin free life because of incapability in our minds. Each moment this mind captures some or other thought of moha, devesha, loba state. But we can definitely decrease the amount of sins we do by sticking in to some sila. I am not lord Buddha to give u examples of timely and attractive realistic examples that would change your life in moments. But as a person who is attempting to follow his good path free from sins, I would say at any stage of time people will recall what they do. If they have done well for humanity or merits they will be out of fear it will strengthen their belief on not happening a bad to their life. When I Visited one of our lecturers at apiit being a Christian on religion said “I haven’t ever done wrong for students. What I Did was teaching other peoples students then I know no bad will happen to me” on delivery of her baby, and showed the pure tears of a mother. This showed that karma plays a vital role in our life. Whatever the religion we belongs to, And its effects could be at any important situation of our life. Be it bad or be it good on us!!! Karama one cannot avoid its consequences. It is the most powerful so be fearful to do wrong in life. I don’t know how to confirm you, whether there is life after death or not. I don’t know what is exactly happening to this body, neither I know about any heaven, but if in case there is life after death, or a heaven, it is not a waste to do correct things and charity or merits in our this lifetime, rather than to accumulate whole set of sins all throughout life. If you can’t accumulate charity or merits, be sure at least you stay out from sins. This is a kind request for the sake of friendship we share. Start your each day by thinking “Buddhan saranam gacchami”. And start acting today on merits coz time we have here is limited. “APPAMADO AMTHAPADAN PAMADO MACCHUNO PADAN”

“May all my Friends be healthy from these true words, Happy from these true words, and may they realize the truth of life and be sin free”

If you have any doubts about article, or any clarification needed, Please don’t hesitate to contact me on clarifications”.

Randika De Silva,

Yours Ever Loving Friend.

“SABBA DANAM DHAMMA DANAM JINATHI”

Entreprenurship can it be learned?

Inspired by the one ore two lectures I had about entrepreneurship, it made me write this article about whether the entrepreneurship could be learned and practiced in terms of characteristics. it should be undoubtedly accepted that even though these entrepreneurial characteristic or traits can be common, the composition to which this characteristics are there in entrepreneurs is totally different. For an example warren buffet is one of its kinds and that’s warren buffet, can’t ever become a Richard Branson because the tool or the force which is called mind has radiant differences from person to person. This is also the essential element explained in Buddhism as chittha. Buddha explains the “life as a state of living mind” If I were to explain this in laymen terms it is said that living is a temporary state where this mind, or so called force stays and have contacts with the external environment then consequently create karma (Sachethanica Karma) as a result of attachment (alma/Upadanaya) Which results in Bhava (or reincarnation) this happens as a cycle which is explained by lord Buddha as sansaric cycle. Each element helps the creation of each other as a result of interconnectivity and interdepdency. So life explained is the state of mind which prevails within the human during prathisandi chitthaya (the state of mind at birth) and chuthi chitthaya (consciousness or state of mind at death) so how could this be identical in two individuals is my question? Because no matter what you learn it is your state of mind that leads you to action. I raise the question if your consciousness say never do this would you do that and regret? Or say if your consciousness says you do this, whether you will actually do that and satisfy yourself is my question? This also may be different from person to person.

If the person is working out of his consciousness he will do that what consciousness prompt them despite all other learned factors. Say if you are known that risk taking is a high entrepreneurial skill and you wants to become an entrepreneur but your attitude is risk averse and because of that your consciousness prompt you don’t do this will you end up taking the risk or not? This also depends on person to person as I wanted to say if the person is having a low consciousness, he will take the learned or modified behavior which is developed in this birth, through learning and then think, or risk taking is entrepreneurial skill I should have it. And against what your consciousness prompt you will end up taking the risk. And one person may be the total opposite of this. Which is, he will take the risk if only the consciousness prompt him to take the risk? Which is the effective entrepreneurial skill or risk taking? Or I could raise it like who is the more powerful man is it the one who has the risk taking from birth (consciousness prompt him) or is it the learned risk taker (who is actually risk averse in nature but modified his behavior against consciousness to take the risk) undoubtedly it is the person who is backed by his consciousness to take the risk is very effective.

The difference is, when modified behavior is to take risk, it is always having the fear of taking the risk inside because he took it against consciousness. And the one who is backed by the consciousness will take the risk without fear. Which is very effective. (Therefore, I set aside the argument that risk taking which is inborn according to karmic force or any other divine conditioning cannot be learned)

State of mind undoubtedly is changing every moment and which is also different from person to person there is no powerful force than mind that which modify or condition a person’s behavior. And that is why NLP, Sleep Ignotist Tests and hypnotize play a massive role in psychiatric solutions today. This is to say if the major determinant of forming behavior is mind can you change the orientation of mind which is highly individualistic and different from person to person. Unless otherwise supported by highly sophisticated NLP and hypnotize systems. But undoubtedly those things also have limitations too. That is why there are still psychologically disordered people in mental hospitals in today’s context. So this orientation towards risk taking, creative thinking which is conditioned by the mind could it be learned or conditioned here in this earth? Also give a deep thought even if it is programmed on mind to modify the behavior, with the impermanent nature of the mind will the programmed person will remain a successful entrepreneur throughout his time with all entrepreneurial skills is my question?

If you take creative thinking is there any sequence to do that. Ok.. Say you take an average person and give him guidance; you can think it in this way. Will the person could use the same sequence that the other person use and come out with an exceptionally brilliant idea or identical to the other? The answer is no. (According to me) two people independently want think alike. (Exactly the same even without minor differences) This again is conditioned by factors such as experience, aesthetic thinking, values, 6^th sense, and many others which I cannot completely put on terms) so will this be same from person to person? My answer is No…

You can’t say entrepreneurs think like this, so you think like an entrepreneur, if you want to become an one. Again because capacity of thinking, ability of thinking is highly a personal matter which is determinant on minds free will nothing else. This reminds me of the statement what my father always repeats “you can educate a fool but you can’t ever make him intelligent”. So if state of mind could not be acquired and generalized from person to person how can you inculcate the characteristic of one person in to another? Even if you do how long will it exist? and in what ways will it work. Which is also the problem of modern science in cloning effects? You can’t limit persons mind set because it travels freely. “Duran gaman ecacharan, asariran guhasaran” by lord Buddha. Even though modern science could create another Albeit Einstein in to this world they don’t know how his mind will work? Whether he will contribute to the society in a constructive way of thinking like the original Einstein? or whether it could contribute to the society in a destructive way? This is unanswerable. Because science has its limits of discovery.

Lord Buddha in his karmic explanations explained these talents, skills, and characteristics in a very logical way. These are all the practices of the sansaric circle. You can always start practicing a new thing in this life but then again you can’t expect it to be effective in this life it self. (Because even though every action has an reaction the responsiveness to action can be given at any stage immediately, next birth or in every upcoming birth). If you keep practicing the entrepreneurship there may be an extent you could improve (according to karma niyama) explained in Buddhism. but you can’t ever become a successful entrepreneur without your inborn entrepreneurial characteristics, because you are conditioned to be it before birth. Greatest musicians, authors, dictators, kings, and even entrepreneurs are born. If you don’t have the entrepreneurial skills may be you could improve but it has it own limitations if you don’t have it by birth. And neither will you succeed, without having those characteristics by birth. because of the fear inside you in trusting an inculcated characteristic which is conditioned after birth. With fear how can you ever be an entrepreneur? Nor you can take the fear out from you, because you fear trusting your learned skill which is very natural to humans and which is justifiable. Every living creature in this world is bound to fear and phobias. If you don’t have one fear or one phobia then you probably might have another. Risk taking cannot be inculcated as long as you have fear inside to trust your learned or modified behavior. Even if you don’t have the fear there should be something inside which would prompt you to take risk which is unexplainable and highly subjective which is bestowed by karmic forces or by god himself for every entrepreneur, musician, artist.

You learn art, you learn music you learn entrepreneur but can every one emerge as a Richard Branson by learning. If so then everybody would do an entrepreneur module at a university to become an entrepreneur. If everybody can learn break dance and dance the way that Michael Jackson does everybody will become exactly the same worth of the said person. Wont we?

If I can learn to sing, and I could sing like amaradeva wouldn’t I love to be an amradeva? This can not be learned or acquired. Even if we do there are always limitations. If you don’t have the talent of drawing arts, can you learn and interpret it in your own terms like an artist even with deliberate practice? ok with deliberate and continuous practice you ll draw the art very well with fine lines and exactly the same colors like Pablo Picasso but then would you be able to interpret it in your own artistic manner? If you learn how to play the guitar and practice it deliberately would you ever be able to create fantastic melodies except for the practiced songs. If the talent is not gifted?

Everything in this material world is conditioned before birth. Almost everything. Even mothers love. Moments that we spend and what we ought to be is conditioned, except for fewer exceptions of (niyama dharma) but even these exceptions have its limitation. Buddha himself states that your karma is coming after you like a wheel in a cart throughout your sansaric cycle and it has its own results for you according to your deeds no one can not accept it unless attained nirvana. According to Christianity and Hinduism the lord Krishna deliberately created the world everything perfectly conditioned. And supreme god head has his own will in creating the world which means, it is conditioned. Gods will is conditioned before creation. (birth).

I strongly believe people should always learn and think of things in their own personal way. And that is why learning is required. But if you don’t have these aforementioned guptha (invicible, conditioned before birth) factors supporting you there are no way that you can effectively learn the talents, characteristics and skills which are inborn. In Oliver twist Charles Dickennes describe the innate goodness of a boy who lived in gutters. (Being a European writer he realizes sometimes even the goodness is conditioned before birth) This is conditioned before his birth by genes, karmic force or by the destiny writer god himself. There are people who try hard to achieve these skills characteristics and at the end of the day realize that man always has limitations to achievements. may be by becoming frustrated. Which we use to call “unrealistic” (when we can’t achieve them). There is no harm struggling or trying to learn skills, adopt characteristics by learning or anything. But always keep in your mind it has limitations if you are not born with those, and please don’t be unhappy with it. Because no body is perfect in everything. As algiyavanna mukavatete says “loven ekek ek deyakata vey samatha” This is acceptable for every human being with 5 senses. Rarely in cases are those people who do two things together, at a perfect level having either 6^th sense or the 7^th eye. Example- Leonardo dicaprio, mother theressa, lord buddha. Again some exceptions to normal conditioned living. They are conditioned to this world differently for those particular tasks. Jesus Christ to eliminate sins of people. Lord Buddha to enlighten people etc. therefore it should be identified ( there is always one thing which you can do in your best identify that and work for that, which you are conditioned before birth , or I could say the purpose of why god sends you to this world, or the model that you are because of karmic forces).it should also be noteworthy that we are trying to become artists, entrepreneurs and musicians by acquiring characteristics of them through learning, merely for a conditional living, but then how many of us attempt to acquire the characteristic of a pure human which makes all of these. All these characteristics are human characteristics in nature. If you are a proper human by karmic forces or by gods order wont you have most of the skills? People skills, conceptual skills, intellectual skills, and most of all nature will love you, opportunity will love you, and god will love you and everything around. So why don’t we learn to become a proper human first, in order to become an excellent entrepreneur.

I conclude by saying entrepreneurship cannot be learned and put in practice unless you are born with it. But nothing is worth in life than trying. “So even without purpose try”. Because we dint have such specified purpose of reaching the moon. Nevertheless, we reached it and discovered. With all these unfortunately till now we have arguments whether Nil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin reached it or was a mere deception of USA and other research centers? But “person can’t ever learn to ride a bicycle without riding it”

You don’t know the real experience of death unless you go through it… so do entrepreneurship. If you love it become one of them and see. Try, fail, Get up, go, achieve but if you can’t take the risk and you are fearing why should we take it? I could say you are not an entrepreneur in born if your attitude is this. And if its there can you ever be an entrepreneur while working against your consciousness? Even if you be, will you be emerged as a successful entrepreneur? My father always says if you are afraid of yakhas don’t build your home in cemetery of course exactly the place he was bought up in balapitiya. Therefore, I say if you don’t have entrepreneurship inside there is limitations of inculcating it within you an emerging as an effective entrepreneur. I open the option of learning entrepreneurship for the benefit of people who wants to learn. But practically there are always limitations to what you can learn and do. Unless you are born with it.

This article does not resemble any criticism for the subject or the module. But an contribution to the school of thought of great persons theory, depending on my personal experience, thinking and opinion. And a critical thinking with a philosophical view point.

Thanking You-

Swadesh Randika De Silva.

How intelligent are we

I was reading an article for the module International HRM, it was interesting that I got some proper insights about the latest “hit” which is known as “emotional intelligence”. The founder’s credit is borne by Daniel goleman and later by many other researches. When we talk about management, be it marketing, finance, economy, or HRM all in all, we always neglect the eastern knowledge that is bestowed on us. The concept of human intelligence, we believe to be a new idea that was passed to us by western management, which is not true. Most of the time I am fascinated, whenever the things that I learn at college link with Buddhisum. Not because it is my religion, or the fact that I over posess it, it is simply that I feel the same knowledge that is preached by one of the world’s greatest philosophers is being reinvented or proven by other people in new terms of their very own. At least, according to their cognitive blueprint in interpreting those. However, so far I haven’t learned any theory that describes the management concepts in depth as preached by Lord Buddha. The underpinning principles of porters five force theory to “sadisa namaskaraya”- how one should build up better relationship with the society.(each six direction representing separate entity) Dasaraja Dharma the ideal political ideology that could be followed by a good king and relationship management in terms of pancha bali. Hospitality management in terms of sathara sangraha vasthu. The psychology, all throughout Buddhism. The medicinal cure to mind, in order to have a good physics. Cosmic creation in terms of pancha butha and patticha samupadaya( Cause and effect) and even the concept of astral body that the segman freud introduced is preacehed by Buddha as mano bhava. The biology from human birth to death is explained in sanyukatha nikaya banda suthraya. The atomic construction which is known as electrone, proton, neuton and prositon is preached by Buddha again as pancha butha –apo, thejo, vayo, patavi which is exactly the attributes of said atoms. Even the the explainations about microscopic organs is being done to Annanda Rahathan vahanse, in one of his preaching. Reincarnation in details how a person leave the temporary body and how is he born again? Whether it is the same person born or not? Even for such complicated question answers are provided. Once sacchaka, a brahamin against buddha comes and ask my lord Buddha you say everything has cause and effect, but if we go in detail what is created first is it the egg or the hen. Buddha does not give any answer and stay silent. So that it could be understand by the sachakka. It is obviously, the small atomic pieces that first come together in order to create Egg. But this clear cut answer he did not give, since he realized that sachaka did not have the enough intellectual capacity to understand reality. Whats the point of explaining something to a person who does not know it?? To limit my scope, for a moment when I came across this idea, I was amazed at the beginning. Emotional intelligence, something that is relatively new than the intelligence that I have heard of, and whether I could find this somewhere in my past knowledge. I was correct even that intelligence is being preached. Parapsychology did identify only one intelligence at the beginning, that was IQ – intelligent quotient- once ability to understand a complex situation and analyze it and interpret according to their own cognitive reasoning manner. If the interpretation is accepted by a majority then the person is believed to have a high IQ if not as low IQ person. Then comes the EQ- emotional quotient- once ability to understand one self, and to understand other people emotions and act accordingly on given situation which is known as relational ability at intentional level. Then the modern psychology moves in to the part of SQ- spiritual quotient once ability to understand once inners, his divine connection, where he come from and where he is heading to, even to communicate with his own soul. This is not yet proven by poor science although has being identified and recognized for a certain extent There are some techniques like hypnotize and sleep ignites test that is being done to awake ones strongest self within to counter psychological disorders by communicating with his soul in modern techniques of psychiatry. But all these things are well explained by Buddha long time back before segman freud was born, before Daniel golemen introduce it. to an extent which no Daniel golemen no segman freud will be capable of explaining it. Buddha states that he has 32 “ghanas”In which I could explain only few according to my best of knowledge. This each intelligence I find is an improved, extreme condition of intelligence which Gautam Buddha had each can be catogarised according to the three simple modern findings of IQ, EQ, and SQ. one could not even imagine that human mind could be this developed to have all these intelligences.

Dibba solla- means that Buddha had the intelligence to hear sounds of the all six heavens, four hells, and 10,000 universes. Which I could say spiritual intelligence- SQ

Chuthupapathi ghanaya- where he understand how a particular peron is born and how he will die, and how he will come again in this world- this is an extreme element of emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence

Asavakya ghanaya- The knowledge of knowing about himself and everything about the world (enlightenment)- becoming Buddha. (Which is high state of spiritual intelligence)

Pubenivasanustahi ghanaya- where he understand who the particular person has being in past? His accumulation of knowledge, his actions in the past and every detail regarding that person. Again an extreme element of emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence.

riddhisakshatkriya, power of becoming visibly manifest at will, intuitive perception;. This power is being proven by the greatest psychologist segman freud as that extral body of one who has a improved concentrated mind can stay at many places and project several bodies. (This is a high extent of spiritual intelligence)

parachitta vijnana Ghanaya (knowledge of others' thoughts) understanding of their minds and hearts. (This is the so called relatively new emotional intelligence)

If all these things are explained by Buddha, what is there new? Actually even the concept of emotional intelligence has being well described by Buddha before even Daniel golemen understands the basics of its functioning. One can thus, believe all these miraculous intelligence of Buddha which is explained could be attain at an advance stage of improved mind and through extreme concentration on anithya( everything in this world keep changing and vanishing- Impermanence of nature) , dukkha (because of that it causes sadness-suffering) and anathema, (because of this state no real self or eternal soul)

All processes are impermanent … All processes are afflicted … All phenomena are not ‘Self’; when this is seen with knowledge, one is freed from the illusion of affliction. This is the pathway to purity.

– Dhp. 20. 277 – 279

It doesn’t stop here Buddha has explained the way a family should be planned, what types of families you find, what kind of friends you find, and how to make good friends, without stopping there in diga nikaya he explains the fundamentals of financial management. If a person’s income is considered as 4/4 then 2/4 th should be used for his consumption and ¼ for saving and the rest 1/4 for investment. One should not consume all, one should not save all, and one should not invest all. It is very interesting to note that Buddha has even stated about the investment basket where you don’t invest in a one business In his long explanation in the sutra.

Very recently when I read the book the monk who sold his Ferrari by robin Sharma and 7^th habit of highly effective people by Steven r covey, I felt as if I am reading chunks and pieces of mangala suttra which is explained in the book in layman’s understandable language.

How miraculous this knowledge of financial management to be even before 2250 years is beyond imagination. Starting from biology, physics, economy, psychology, anthropology, sociology and numerous others, I don’t really know what he has preached, explained and given to the world. He has preached nearly 17750 sutras I think it would have covered the whole world and any science any discipline that you would ever think of or find out about. This is the question where I raise how intelligent are we to reinvent something that is already there perhaps we might proudly call it reengineering (LOL)

“May every living being find peace, value peace and realize the truth and value of living”

“Sabba danam dhama danam jinathi”- Pettagan Swadesh Randika De Silva.