Notes by Dwija Ramesh

Discourse:

Virtue for today: Titiksha – fortitude

Life is nothing more than a series of experiences. How we meet these determine if they are challenges or learning experiences. These come at us at three levels.

1. Physical 
   1. hot/cold
   2. soft/rough
2. Mental/Emotional
   1. joy/sorrow
3. Intellectual 
   1. praise/criticism

In life, this continuous stream is either conducive to our environment, and sometimes, it is not. When we experience these non-conducive situations, we tend to react to them with three C’s

1. Cry
   1. We end up giving in to the situation as we become overwhelmed and paralyzed from acting
2. Criticize
   1. We tend to become dejected by that criticism and we tend to doubt ourselves and lose self-confidence
   2. We end up limiting ourselves and when we blame others, we turn ourselves into victims – we are no longer responsible for the situation and we end up not acting
3. Complain – BAD (thank you for the reminder for inclusion in the notes Sumanji)
   1. When we complain, the situation appears worse as we blow things out of proportion and make it more difficult to bear.

If we avoid these reactions, we realize that the situation is just there. It is not positive or negative, it is just an experience.

Fortitude is the way for us to bear these situations and make sure to not act in these three C’s. A strength of mind that helps one to bear these situations with courage is what we are aiming to have. 

What enables the strength of mind? 

1. Vision
   1. Vision = purpose
   2. When your purpose is clear, your actions will be the same
      1. Get a whiteboard to put in your room and write down your vision so you see it every time you come in and out of the room
2. The steadiness of effort
   1. Just having a vision won’t do anything
   2. You must put forth the effort to develop confidence in light of any adversity
   3. This will develop courage and conviction
      1. Set a reminder on your phone twice a day with this question and answer it: “What am I doing to achieve my vision?”
3. Knowledge to persevere
   1. Whatever situation comes will also go
   2. This knowledge will support you in persevering through any situation
   3. In any experience, the only thing we can control is our attitude – so choose cheerful acceptance
      1. On whatever device you regularly use, change your wallpaper to say: “Smile: this too shall pass”

Activity:

Write about how you’ve embodied fortitude as we’ve discussed it today.

People often default to the three C’s. However, by not indulging, we develop strength. Imagine that the reactions are a 1 pound weight and not reacting is a 25-pound weight. It is any day easier to lift the one-pound weight(cry, criticize, or complain) ; however, it is lifting that 25-pound weight that will make us stronger.

RAW Debrief: “Keep a rubber band around your wrist and every time you lose focus, snap it against your wrist” → Our mind is a tool, the redness of your wrist is how much more practice you need to engage in to realize this.

This week’s RAW is:  Take a cold shower in the morning – if you’re a real champion: turn it on once you’re standing in the shower

Notes by Mahathi Yathiraju

Practise for Directed Mind: Plan long term

• Make a 5 year plan and a 10 year plan

Life is nothing more than a series of experiences: 

• Moments
• Events
• Challenges

3 levels of experiences life gives us:

1) Physical

Experienced as physical moments-example, getting up early gets you hot showers while getting up late gets you cold showers

2) Emotional

 Experienced as emotions-example: eating chocolate brings you joy

3) Psychological

2 ways in which these experiences come to us are conducive and non-conducive

Non-Conducive 3 Cs:

• Complain!
• Criticize!
•  Cry!

Complain (BAD):

• When we complain, things get worse
• The situation intensifies because we make it bigger than it actually is

Criticize (MORE BAD):

• When we criticize ourselves, we tend to become dejected by that criticism
• We doubt ourselves and lose self confidence
• If you think you can, you can, and if you think you can’t, you can’t!
• When we criticize others, we become the victims by blaming others
• When we become the victim, we become helpless and we are no longer responsible for the situation in front of us, and if we aren’t responsible, we won’t act

Cry (PERHAPS MOST BAD):

• When we cry, we become overwhelmed and unable to act and limit ourselves

Fortitude is the ability to bare these non-conducive situations

What enables strength of mind?

• Confidence
• Self-Development
• Clarity
• Conviction

1) Vision with purpose

• When your purpose is clear, your performance is improved
•  “If my goal is to get to the state finals for tennis, this is my conviction.”

2) Steadiness in effort

• You can have a purpose, but if you do not do anything to achieve the purpose, you probably won’t achieve it
• Iit is the efficiency, quality, and steadiness of work that determines the quality of the outcome
• This steadiness helps you develop confidence and courage in light of any adversity
• When you are in constant pursuit of a clear purpose, you will develop courage and conviction
• There will be failures, and the vision in failure is opportunity
• Whatever comes (adversity, challenge) comes, must go
• In any situation, the only thing we can control is our attitude
• Choose cheer, cheer for acceptance
• “Smile! This too shall pass :)”
• Comparison is the thief of joy
• Each of our pursuits of happiness is expressed in an infinite number of ways, whether that is taking your time or  finishing everything quickly
• You should strive to be YOUR best, not THE best

Last week’s RAW and class thoughts

• Wear a rubber band and snap it on your wrist whenever you find yourself losing focus
• Snapping the band made me realize just how much I was drifting off

This week’s RAW

Take a COLD shower in the mornings! Not lukewarm… FREEZING COLD!