Insights!: September 2024

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Ye Hai To Woh Bhi Hoga (Translation at the bottom)

Ye Hai To Woh Bhi Hoga

Jahan gulab hai, wahan Kuch to chubhega

Jahan Suraj hai, wahan Kuch to jalega

Jahan heera hai, wahan tez dhar bhi hogi

Jahan nadi hai, wahan baadh bhi hogi

Jahan Raste Hain, wahan safar bhi hoga

Jahan bachav hai, wahan gadar bhi hoga

Jahan roshni hai, chakachaundh bhi hogi

Jahan pawan hai, wahan aandhi bhi hogi

Jahan chadhav hai, wahan utaar bhi hoga

Jahan Chandrama hai, wahan amawas bhi hoga

Jahan Kamal hai, wahan keechad bhi hoga

Jahan achha hai, wahan bura bhi hoga

Jahan pyar hai, wahan takraar bhi hogi

Jahan Jeet hai, wahan haar bhi hogi

Yadi ek pehlu hai, to doosra bhi hoga

Yadi ek nehla hai, to dehla bhi hoga

Jahan rechak hai, wahan poorak bhi hoga

Jahan mrityu hai, wahan Jeevan bhi hoga

Poem written in Hindi

Below is the translation to English

If this is there, that will be there too!

Where there is a rose, there will also be thorns

Where there's sunlight, there will also be burns

Where there's a shining diamond, there will also be a sharp edge

Where there's flowing river, there will also be a flood

Where there are ways, there will also be ups and downs

Where there is protection, there will also be a rebellion

Where there will be light, there will also be blindness

Where there is wind, there will also be a storm

Where there are ups, there will also be downs

Where there are full moon nights ,there will also be darkness

Where there is a lotus, there will be mud

Where there is good, there will be bad

Where there's love, there will also be hate

Where there is a win, there will also be a loss

If there is one side of the coin, there can also be the other

If there is a nine, there can also be a ten

When we exhale, we also inhale

Where there is a death, there is also a life.

9/29/24

Dr Jaya Sonkar MD MPH

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Who Benefits?

If one is good to the other, who benefits the most?

1. One who is good
2. One who gets the goodness
3. Both benefit equally
4. None
5. Unsure

If one does good deeds but expect nothing in return, who benefits the most?

1. One who does the good deed but doesn't expect.
2. One who receives the good deed
3. Both benefit equally
4. None
5. Unsure

If one focuses on the good actions but doesn't worry about the results, who benefits the most?

1. One who does the action
2. One who watches the action being done
3. One who is receiving the action
4. None
5. Unsure

Would you say that our ancestors, who promoted the following principles, wanted us to be altruistic and renounce the world?

'Be a good samaritan'
'Neki Kar Dariya Mein Daal' ( Do good and don't expect anything in return)
'Karm Kar Phal Ki Chinta Na Kar' ( Focus on actions and not the results)

Who Benefits from all of the above?

It's the one who does these.

How?

When we do good to others in our capacity without harming ourselves or our loved ones, it generates a feeling of happiness, peace and calm.

Whose body would benefit from feeling calm and happy.
The Doer's.

Whose stress level will be low?
The Doer's

Who's BP, Blood Sugar, heart health and mental health will be at its best?
The Doer's

If one focuses on the aim and doesn't get distracted or worried from the possible outcomes, who would have better chances of success?

The Doer's
No one else but the Doer's focus will not dwindle and chances of success will be at their maximum.

And if despite all efforts, the outcomes are different then it just needs to be tried harder.

Our ancestors were not thinking about anyone else's well being but the Doer's well being.

Let's say if one gets a bad rear end because of someone who wasn't paying attention to their driving and forgot to apply brakes at a red light and hits one from behind, and if one gets upset with that person and feel angry, who is at a bigger loss.

One loss has happened, the car has been damaged.
Hopefully, the health is fine. Let's assume the health is fine and no bodily injuries.

Now, drilling that person down would not help with anything. Should one ask for one's rightful remediation.

Absolutely yes.

However, the peaceful space in our minds should stay peaceful despite everything going around.

No one should have the power to enter our minds and bother it.

Let's say , now the car goes to collision center.
The collision center and the insurance team up to work on a cheap repair and collision center fraudulently bills the insurance for new parts but applies old sourced parts and gives the car to one in a not good condition.

How should one react?

We'll, certainly fight for the rightful repair and ask for genuine fix.
However, should one feel angry or fell ill will for them.

No, because it would not benefit one. The damage has already been done. The focus should always be on fixing the issue but again no one should be able to enter one's happy space in the mind and corrupt it because that will be a bigger loss.

Let's say one writes a book with passion and someone tries to blackmail one into paying for reviews and gives one a bad review for not accepting their offer.

Would one benefit from being angry?
Clearly, one should not give in to such requests.
However, bringing a feeling of kindness towards that someone who is interested in reading and may be going through some financial hardship or perhaps is trying to make a living somehow by using these sources, would benefit the author more than being upset.

While wrong deeds should not been encouraged, they should also not be allowed to enter the peaceful space in one's minds and affect one's happiness.

If one does a good deed, but keeps expecting something in return, one only creates a path of misery and sadness if the reciprocation doesn't happen.

One should do only that much that one could do and let go of the expectation of reciprocation.

That way, if the reciprocation doesn't happen, it doesn't affect at all and if it does then one should let the other person experience the goodness within them by being a recipient and feel the gratitude towards the one who reciprocated.

A good deed with an expectation is not a good deed anymore, it becomes business. And business with no returns is a loss which is unpleasant.
Hence a good deed should always happen without an expectation of reciprocation.

Forgiveness, peace and calm, and focus on one's actions without worrying, benefits those the most who follow these.

These are the very selfish things because these aim at self well being the most.

There is no point wasting even a second of the precious life, thinking about something that is unpleasant.

Instead, being pleasant and spreading peace and harmony with a smile benefits one and all, especially the one who does these.

When our ancestors wrote these idioms and taught these principles, they wanted us to be absolutely selfish and not let anything affect the happy space in our mind so we collect the best karma on the way.

Are we ready to be selfish in a good way?

🙂
Dr Jaya Sonkar MD MPH
9/28/2024

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Let's fly to the moon!

Come,

Hold my hand

I will take you to the moon

We will fly

We'll have our sky

And I will see you very soon

Join me

In this ride

It is full of high tides

I will embrace you

And encase you

And bring you safely to the sides

It will be

All fine one day

It will see a shining sun

It will see

The lush greens

Where we'll go for our run

We will run

Up and down

The beautiful meadows

We will play

We will laugh

We'll have all fun and no woes

Trust me

We will soon

Find our own sweet nest

Where

We will thrive, not just survive

We will have a great zest

Believe me,

Life is full of roller coasters

It's fun if you learn to ride

Its worth

To learn and ace it

And be your own guide

Then,

You can hold one

And guide to the moon

There will be

Mirth and laughter

Everywhere very soon

Come,

Hold my hand

I will take you to the moon

We will fly

And have our sky

And I will see you very soon!

Dr. Jaya Sonkar MD MPH

9/7/2024

Let's drive!

Let's drive to our chosen destiny!

We all know that we can behave as a social animal as we have a capacity to follow Yama and Niyamas.

We are able to follow the norms of the society and practice self discipline.

If this can be excelled and we can be in complete control, then we can responsibly drive our human body to achieve our desired destination.

Let's take a simple example.

Do you ever snooze?

Let's imagine a beautiful morning.

We want to snooze for 5 min, then another 3 min and then another 2 min until we finally wake up.

There was something in our thoughts at the end of the last snooze which brought our body into action and we woke up and started with our day.

Let's take another simple example

We have to prepare for an upcoming test or have to finish an assignment.

However, there is this very nice movie that we really want to watch or check the social media account or want to spend time in an outing or want to do anything of our choice.

We have in our thoughts that we have to spend time to prepare for the upcoming test or the due assignment.

We think about it once, we think about it the second time and eventually we do it.

What was in that final thought before we actually did it that the previous thoughts didn't have?

What made it turn into an action.

It was a conscious control that overpowered the reflexes, that overpowered the natural instincts of every cell, and allowed us to direct them in the direction that we wanted to.

Let's say, we have the most expensive car in the world which can bring a lot of comfort, speed and joy. But, if we don't know how to drive it, we will drive haphazardly and end up in an accident.

There has to be something within us that we came for, achieving which would give us that sense of fulfillment that would be the most gratifying experience leading to Nirvana.

We probably select where we want to come, where we want to be raised and what kind of skill set we want.

Let's say if a pilot wants to fly, the pilot will choose airplane as the vehicle and not the car.

If a car racer wants to race, the car racer will find the best car.

If a cab driver wants a car to bring the commuters to their destination, the cab driver will find the most spendthrift and safe option.

If a motorcyclist wants to feel the thrill of balance and speed, the motorcyclist will find a motorcycle

If the biker needs speed, exercise and the endorphins released from the physical work, the biker will choose a bicycle.

If a horse rider wants the thrill of controlling the wildest horse and taking it for a ride to its destination, the horse rider will choose a horse as it's carriage.

The crux of the matter is that whatever we have, is enough for us to fulfill what we want.

If we have a desire, we also have the caliber to fulfill it.

What is needed is the aim, effort, determination, self control and control over our mind and body to achieve it.

It's only then that we can drive safely and reach where we want and when we want.

We always want to do something. Let's make sure we follow what we really want and always find a way to get to what we want.

Are we ready to drive?

Dr. Jaya Sonkar MD MPH

9/7/24

Acceptance

Acceptance of the present and determination to improve the future is the key to a happy and successful life.

What has already happened cannot be changed unless we build a time machine to go back in the past.

What is happening in the present is also unavoidable and it is happening already.

What will happen in the future is in our control.

While it is very common for the occurrences to follow a pattern and the next moment can be predicted, the possibilities of an unexpected occurrence in the next moment are enormous.

And the capacity to build the future are enormous.

It depends on our thoughts how we mould our actions into producing the desired result.

Let's take an example,

Let's say,

The beautiful antique, one of a kind, rare, irreplaceable and expensive crystal glass that was in our hand got broken.

Can we bring the glass back now?

We can spend the time in feeling sad about it but that won't bring that glass back.

Can it?

The sooner we realize that it's broken and clean up the broken pieces, the sooner we will have a cleaner space and the lesser will be the chances of injury from those broken pieces.

That beauty of the glass will remain in our memory as a pleasant space and we can become happy as soon as we realize that it's gone and can't come back and we can't change that past.

What we can change is the future.

We can put precautions in place to protect the similar incidents from happening in the future.

However, lingering on the loss is just the play of our memory.

The more we know how to control and navigate it to our advantage, the sooner we will learn to be happy.

Nothing is permanent except change itself. We know things will change.

Everything has a limited life. Even the stars have a lifespan including our sun.

The above example was for a mundane object.

However, the concept applies to any living or non living thing. It even applies to the humans.

Any past experience, good or bad can hurt only if we let them.

The moment we accept the present and move on, we can start on the path of happiness.

After all, happiness is a state of mind and mind can be controlled. Isn't it?

Dr Jaya Sonkar MD MPH

9/7/24