Minimalism in Materialism is the new way of life
Dear Friends!
Atma Namaste (I salute the divinity within you)
Hope you all are doing well and in high spirits. Being confined to the four walls is not easy but as the present situation demands we all need to be safe and sound. So, I wholeheartedly pray for your safety and well-being.
Friends! Presently, we all are sailing in the same boat and learning new lessons every day as lock-down has changed our lives significantly. It has not only changed the way we work; we think but has also cast a deep influence on our habits as well as our entire mode of living and co-existence. Things have dramatically changed post corona virus. Our current generation had never imagined or anticipated that we would be facing such grave and ghastly times when a small virus would become a worldwide threat to the gigantic economies and the entire world economic and health order.
Corona virus has disintegrated various age-old beliefs and a new world order is emerging out of it. When the entire mankind is locked indoors and forced to retreat inside their homes, the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom are rejuvenating and reinvigorating. The planet is smiling as its flora and fauna are getting retrieved and breathing a lot of fresh air and enjoying a new lease of life without human interference and interruption. Pollution levels across the global level have fallen down and the lakes, the rivers and the waterfalls are smiling and basking in the new glory and sunlight. It is indeed miraculous that the Mother Earth is getting healed considerably.
But what have we learnt out of it! This question calls for a greater understanding and introspection at all levels; whether physical, emotional, mental, financial or spiritual.
Indeed, the whole humanity has learnt a plethora of lessons and by sharing these experiences and learnings, we can become instrumental in making each other’s life more joyful, peaceful and blissful. After the war with the pandemic gets over and we come out victorious in the sunshine again, till then, let us empower, enlighten and enrich ourselves so that life could be more lively, jovial and all smiling. Yes, life would not be the same for those who have lost their near and dear ones in this bio-warfare. But how as one entity we can help them come out of these gloomy clouds and the sorrow waterfalls. We all are spiritually one and this has been time and again emphasized by many Holy Gurus, Holy Masters, Holy Angels and Spiritual Elders who had descended on earth and are still present. But we have openly and rather brutally surpassed these teachings and made our lives miserable in the name of caste, colour, creed and religion. We have discriminated and differentiated among us throughout ages and halted the divine order and plan several times. Now we are paying for it.
It is rightly said, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’
Every situation in life happens to teach you some profound lessons and with those teachings how much knowledge and awareness you acquire matters the most. Similarly, during lock-down I had my own weak moments too. An unknown uncertainty and worry started seeping into my system and I immediately realized that my being was soaked into some kind of fear. I instantly pulled myself out of it with the help of various nurturing sessions, talks and meditations conducted by the World Pranic Healing Foundation and The Center for Pranic Healing Pune. Apart from it, the teachings from the various discourses propounded by different religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity made me realise the utmost ‘Relevance of Minimalism’ in our lives, which I would like to share with you. Lock-down taught me how with the practice of minimalism, we can significantly change our lives for the greater and highest common good. We can serve the community better and build up our resources more smartly and wisely.
Let us rewire and rewrite the alphabetic order in our lives by following MINIMALISM in:-
Anger, Anxiety and Arrogance.
Blind beliefs, biases, faiths and prejudices.
Complaining, cursing and cribbing.
Doubting, dis-empowering and disbelieving the self.
Engaging ourselves in unnecessary arguments, conflicts and disputes.
Fundamentalism in thoughts, actions and deeds.
Giving up on the self, one’s dreams, one’s desires when low in spirits.
Harbouring negative thoughts and negative attitude towards others and life.
Inhibitions leading to the demotivation and devaluation of the self.
Keeping oneself aloof from others and good things in life.
Jeopardising the natural habitats, the ecology and the environment.
Lambasting the self and others for not meeting out the targets in life.
Materialistic and mundane outlook towards life.
Not appreciating and acknowledging the self.
Opportunism and obstruction.
Pollution at all the levels; air, water and noise.
Quest for hoarding and accumulating the worldly goods and things.
Reacting towards the uncertainties, complexities and unwholesome behaviour of others.
Superstitions, stereotype behavioural thinking and patterns.
Temper raising, bad mouthing and shouting on being provoked.
Unwholesome actions; dishonesty, stealing, injury towards others, treachery, etc.
Vandalising public property and common goods.
Wearing fake masks and identity just for the sake of impressing others.
eXploiting the natural resources.
Yearning for undeserved profits and perks.
Zapping up the savings in the wake of splurging and shopaholism.
Lastly, I would like to say that by following these virtues, we can definitely make an impact on our lives. Practicing all at one time would not be feasible but by starting with some, we can begin the process. It is not easy but not impossible as well. It requires great diligence and dedication on our part and therefore we need to follow minimalism in all aspect of our lives patiently, persistently and passionately. To begin with, each small step counts…
Disclaimer: Dear Readers, the points listed above are my observations and experiences during the most testing times of our life. My intent behind sharing them is to highlight the fact that we can very well adapt, adjust and accommodate to the difficult and daring circumstances of our life provided we are willing, open-minded and receptive to those challenges. Human race is bestowed with great courage, perseverance and alacrity to fight all the odds provided we are ready for it. Acceptance is the key to all awareness as well as emotional and mental stability.
(Featured Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay)
About the Author
Dr. Gazal Chetan Bansal, Ph.D is a spiritual evangelist and a practical thinker. She is the founder and CEO of ‘Conscience Connect’ which aims to build up people holistically and wholesomely.
She holds Doctorate in Political Science and is an NLP Practitioner, a Pranic Psychotherapist, and an Arhatic Yogi. She is a Blogger and a prolific writer. She has co-authored and edited various books.
She writes to inspire people that deep contentment is the outcome of the passionate actions and courageous commitment towards compassion.