Musings on Attitude

Though I don’t fancy myself as any kind of a philosopher, yet my mind has time and again ventured into the intricacies of human behavior and understanding their psychology…Lol I do wonder sometimes if I should have opted for Psychology rather than Computer Applications as my choice of career !

Anyways, I have often felt that the most decisive factor in determining the quality of our life is our Attitude towards people and situations.
The way we think and feel about things can imprison or liberate us from the captivity of our minds.
An aware mind, devoid of the illusion of success, is the one that can be called truly liberated. The fear of failure and the pleasure of success would pale into insignificance before such radiant awareness.
Our attitude determines the nature and amount of our suffering. It’s not developed overnight, but slowly, as the pearl in an oyster, through an analysis of other’s thoughts and philosophies, by keeping the company of more such ‘liberated minds’, through contemplation of the nature of things and through thoughtful suffering. Once it has taken shape, it helps us to view the world in a fresh and lucid way.
Such attitude would definitely empower us to cultivate a disinterestedness in the fruit of action.
There are examples aplenty in the legends and lore from all over. The 2 that immediately come to mind are:
1st forms the very foundation of The Geeta – Lord Krishna giving this exact sermon to Arjuna who is waivering on his task at hand – to go to war against his cousins and relatives. Here the act of going to war against his own kith and kin is regarded by scholars as a metaphor for the constant struggle between the mind and it’s inner evils.
The 2nd is that of the Greek king Sisyphus who had been condemned by Zeus to push a rock to a hill’s summit until it stayed there. Each time he tried, the rock would come rolling back down – but instead of despairing, his awareness led him to transform his struggle into a game. He realizes that his sense of duty and the unavoidable nature of the assignment leave no room for emotions.

The essence of all these ‘deep’ thoughts seem to be to “ Live life to the full and Let NOT the fear of pain deter you from the pleasures ! “