Intention, Attention, Manifestation – Talk by Gurudev on Aug 24th 2007, Bangalore Ashram

Intention, Attention, मनिफ़ेस्ततिओन्

Intention, Attention, Manifestation – Talk by Gurudev on Aug 24th 2007, Bangalore Ashram

Our life runs through intention. Everything we do has either a desire or intention or unconscious habit attached to it. Whether you want to drink a glass of water, take a walk or sit and watch TV, first an intention arises in the mind. If you want to call it desire, as ‘a desire arises in the mind’, I have no objection. But there is a difference between intention and desire. People don’t understand this. Even if you say ‘I don’t want any desire”, it is a desire. “I want to be enlightened” is a desire. Better job, more wealth, live happily… die peacefully is also a desire!

Why some people desire gets fulfilled, others don’t? This is a question in many people. How many of you have this problem? . It is very few in Art Of Living!! Somehow by hook or crook, or fluke, you got the skill to attend to your desire. Desire is a feverishness attached to a wish or a thought. The feverishness kills. If you have noticed people who are getting all this Emmy awards, Filmfare awards – prestigious awards in the world, they can’t contain their happiness. They get sick. They get panic attacks!!

Desire when fulfilled still leaves you empty. If not fulfilled, they make you miserable. This whole hippy movement happened because all desire were getting fulfilled. It all seemed futile, nothing to hold on to. Because desire doesn’t seem to be bringing fulfillment.

Unfulfilled desire gives a void. Fulfilled desire gives a greater void. It creates such feverishness, you can’t have a good night’s sleep. If desire is the mother of sorrow, then shouldn’t we desire? I am saying “I don’t want any desire”. If that is also a desire, what to do?!!

Here comes the knowledge, the secret knowledge of desire and intention. For example, you want to go to Mysore – a 3 hour journey. You sit in a car, drive, on the way stop, drink tea, coffee, whatever, and you reach in 3 hours. This is an intention. An intention is a thought that arises in you, remains with you and translates into an action – whether today, tomorrow, next year.

And desire is sitting in the car and being feverish, repeating “I want to go to Mysore, I want to go to Mysore”. You will not go to Mysore, you will go to mental hospital.

Most of the people in the world do not know the difference between intention and desire. Ancient people knew the secret. They called it sankalpa. Take an intention and leave it to the universe. Today if you go to temples, even in the west, or where there is a fountain, they say ‘make a wish and drop it’ – drop the coin.

An intention has to be dropped. Have an intention, have an attention and consciously drop it. It will start manifesting. If you hold on to the intention, intention becomes desire and desire causes heartache.

See your life in the bigger context. With intention in your hand, what do you do? See how many billion years have passed, how vast this universe is. With this vastness, the mind expands. This is what is sankalpa – so many billion years have passed, among all the billions of stars, among all the milky ways, in this small planet, in this small country, state, I take this intention; and drop it!!

When you do this, a phenomenon is happening within you. Mind, consciousness expands and this expanded consciousness recognizes what you need to be happy. Attention on the magnanimity of the creation and intending what you want to manifest is an art in itself. Instead, what we do? We put our attention on what we don’t have!!

My grandmother would say “Chocolates are full. I have to go to to chocolate shop!”. She will never say ‘it is empty’. She would say ‘chocolate is full’. Even in language, she wouldn’t use the negative word – don’t have. She would say angels are floating around and all they say is ‘let it be’. You say ‘I don’t have money’, they say ‘let it be’!! It was like that for her, you know – always smiling, cheerful, positive state of mind.

Intention, , attention and manifestation. They are linked. The go together. But if our attention is always about something negative… Your attention goes to fights, to problem. If someone is doing good work, your attention doesn’t go there. Create a scandal and see your interest! Unless you know all about that, you don’t feel comfortable. If your mind is clinging on to negative, that’s what is going to grow. If you tell your child, ‘you are stupid’, he will remain stupid. Because your attention is on foolish, stupid.

People don’t understand this. They sit and visualize – I am becoming rich, rich! Instead of attention, intention they turn the intention into a feverish desire and become depressed. In positive thinking, you suppress, suppress and somewhere it all becomes negative.

This is a skill. You know, there is a certain group that tells people to wake up in the morning and sit and tell “I love myself, I love myself, I love myself”. And they get sick!! See, you know you are in Bangalore. You don’t have to repeat you are in Bangalore. You keep affirming, you keep saying “I am strong”, somewhere you think you are weak, so you have to keep affirming.

Intention is not fighting with a stream of thought that is coming in the mind. Intention is beyond fleeting positive and negative thoughts. In your mind, you get so many thoughts, but not everything translates into action. Why? Only those thoughts that translates into intention becomes action.

Let us see the distinction between desire and intention.

Intention has a purpose
Desire has feverishness.

Intention has a goal.
Desire’s goals are really not good because desire is always linked to happiness and no event or object can bring you to the happiness you really want.

If your attention is all the time on the negative, switch it to positive. Just being aware of it, it already switches. Then give the time for it to manifest.

Some of you have this habit. Saying Always. “I always have pain”. That is what is going to happen. In Bible also there is a saying, “Those who have more shall be given to them, those who do not have what they have will also be taken away”. The feeling of abundance, feeling you have abundance and abundance will grow. You put your attention on lack and lack will grow.

A gentleman got 1 million dollar in a lottery. He became so sad. Previous day, he had seen a house that cost 1.2 million! “Just 0,2 million and I would have got my house!”. Even though he won a lottery, he became depressed. Desire is never with what we have here and now. It always gallops – leaves your legs tired and hands empty. And meditation is the skill in which you learn how to drop the intention and relax, let go!

You know there is a saying – ask, and it shall be given. We never even attended to it. Your attention is not there. You never put your intention on it and you say it didn’t manifest. Many people who say “I am poor” do not put their intention and attention on it. It’s not enough to say “I want money”. You have to be specific – who do you want to be wealthy? In the temples, they say “this child born on this day, this grand child born on that day”… after or before meditation, you put your intention. I want this much money, this to happen, this to be solved – and drop it.

Many times you do not really enjoy what you wanted. Kids, it happens. They want something, get it and they don’t want it! Clarity comes only through depth of meditation and meditation cannot happen when mind is feverish with desire.

Bringing desire to intention, putting attention and allowing time to manifest is a really intelligent way to deal with desire. When you are sick, you put an attention on it “I am sick, I am sick”… I am not saying, you put an affirmation – “I am healthy, I am healthy”.

In Bali, Indonesia, they greet “Swasthirasthu”. Swa means self. Swasthi means ‘established in the self’. Swasthirasthu means “may you be established in the self”. Swaastha means not just physical health. Physical, mental and spiritual health is ’swaasthya’. In India, nobody greets that way. But in Bali, they greet that way. ‘Om swasthirasthu’ – of course in festivals, pundits chant that. But others don’t understand!!
Question: If you drop an intention, how can it convert into action?

Sri Sri : Just like you want to go to Delhi, and drop it, it automatically converts into an action. If you hold on to it, what will happen to you?? <>

Intention should go with a feeling. It is not reading, “Oh, what is the intention I should have today?”. Intention is a need that comes within you. There is a deep yearning for it. Then it becomes an intention. Like someone wants a car or transportation, they really need a car, then you just put an intention, sankalpa – I really need this.

One is fantasy – it is not a real need, your heart, your soul is not longing for it. Like someone else has a car, I also want a car. Someone has a bigger house. I also want. This is not a need. It is not going to happen. If you say “Im so tired of moving houses, and more people are coming and I need a bigger hall”, then it is an intention. And then you add the clause “Anything better than this is ok”. “This or anything better than this, I can accept”.

But if you have not kept your commitment, you are not sincere, you are cheating, nature will know that. It will also cheat you! Nature will also not give you the power to manifest what you intend!

In Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says there are five yamas one has follow before asana.

Ahimsa – Non-violence. What do you get by being non-violent? In your presence, everyone else will lose their violence. One who is established in non-violence, in their presence others will also lose violent tendencies within.

One of our teachers in Botswana, a young woman – she was kidnapped by 5-6 gunmen. How many of you know this? You should hear from her own words. They took her in the car. She was laughing and she said “If you do any harm to me, your family will not be happy!”. She said, “see, I have a Guru!”. They said, ‘what is a guru’ and then she gave them an intro talk!! She spoke to them half an hour and they left her. They they gave her the passport back. You listen to her own story. It is very funny! And the terrorist said sorry to her! They tried to push her, she said “It’s paining, don’t do that”. They said “Oh sorry madam!”.

We don’t know the power of yoga, meditation. How 6 terrorists in Botswana, it has never happened in history, they have left just like that and given the passport back!

Another teacher from India, went to Moscow. Four men came and started speaking in Hindi and then told him “You have five hours. Lets go have some tea”. He went with them innocently and they took him and locked him. He broke the door. They have guns and this gentleman without any weapons could face and get away from them, unhurt! They also gave him money to get to the airport!

Couple of other stories are there, in Calcutta, they kidnapped and brought him back.

If you have the conviction, if you are established in non-violence, in your presence, surroundings, violence drops. Violence turns into non-violence. This I have seen again and again. Why should you follow truth? Because that will fructify your actions. That much enough for today.

Question: Sarvasreshtha gnaan kya hai?

Sri Sri : Jo haath mein hai, who kya hai? Jo nahin hai, usko sarvasreshta maanke… dhoondthe reh jaaoge.

Haan se huddath, nahin ki talaash
Isi liye poori duniya hai udaas.

<>
Question: About Varlakshmi Vratham and what it symbolises

Sri Sri : They take a pot, put rice, crown it with a coconut, invoke the Divine and feel the abundance. Not just for me, for everybody. They say, give me enough, so whoever comes to my house will not be hungry. Grant me the wish for abundance. Wanting abundance for whose sake/ Not for oneself, so that I can help everybody! They feel Lakshmi has already come home. Lakshmi is invited to every home and stays at every home. There is enough for everyone in this planet. Don’t be greedy, don’t be selfish. There is abundance in every life.

Sit quiet for a few minutes and feel the abundance. Close your eyes and feel you have abundance of everything – good qualities, money, health everything.

Entry Filed under: Talks By H.H.Sri Ravi Shankar. Tags: Art of Living Foundation, Guru, Gurudev, H.H.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sri Sri.

An Interview with Gangaji « Mommy Mystic

Well Gangaji, you are now a fellow blogger, so I wanted to start there. What made you decide to start blogging, and why did you decide to blog on The Huffington Post, which many people know more as a political site?

They invited me. I had read The Huffington Post occasionally, and I also knew them only as a political site. But they have a lot of other writing, and they invited me, so I accepted. I also write at Intent.com, which is more of a wellness and spiritual site.

I guess I was surprised because I hadn’t heard you speak much on social or political issues in your satsangs. So I was wondering if blogging at Huffington represented any change in direction for you?

No, not really. In satsang I speak on whatever is present, whatever comes up. That might include current social or political events, or it might not. I try and use whatever is present to point to the truth. ‘Sat’ means ‘truth’, this is what we come together for in satsang. I try not to separate the internal and external. I think this separation is a myth, and it’s true that we tend to dwell on it. Many spiritual people look down on politics, choosing to retreat from the world. And many political people look down on spiritual people, believing they are flaky or out of touch.

That point is interesting to me, because I retreated for a long time, and am now finding myself more and more interested in politics, and more interested in becoming socially engaged. But I have a hard time reconciling the two. Politics can feel so ego-driven, positions are so fixated. It makes me want to retreat again.

Yes, and that is needed sometimes. There is a place for true retreat. I always tell people there is no formula. Some people retreat their whole lives – that’s how Ramana did it. Some feel called, or are constitutionally more suited, for engagement. I think I’m a little of both. Sometimes I will go weeks without reading the newspaper, and then re-engage. Either way, it is about recognizing the moment, and being true to it. It is available in both. But it is true that it is helpful to recognize what you need at any given time.

It’s interesting that you say that, because recently you wrote a post that I loved on suspending diagnosing for a day – suspending the tendency to judge and diagnose our own state and that of others all the time. How does this fit with what you are saying about recognizing what we need in the moment?

Diagnosis is a wonderful tool. This ability to see what is going on with us, to identify a problem and address it, is one of our great gifts as humans. But like any tool, it can be over-used. We can get trapped in labels and judgments, of ourselves and others. All we can see is our categories. We become completely focused on ‘fixing’ – ourselves, others, the world. What if we just let go of that, as an experiment, for a day? And just let things be what they are? That is suspending diagnosis.

This is a bit how I think about detachment. I heard you speak once at a satsang on passion and detachment, which is connected for me to the issue of retreat vs. engagement. It seems we need passion, need strong opinions, to act in the world, especially on social issues. But then we run the risk of acting from a place of attachment, of ego. How do we decide which is which?

I don’t use the word ‘detachment’ much myself, but I know it can be useful for some. I like the word inquiry, as Ramana used it, in the sense of inquiring into the truth. Both detachment and inquiry can be over-used, can become habits of mind, but true inquiry can really open us. When you inquire, when you look honestly at what is going on with yourself without judgment, you can discover a place where you don’t fear attachment. That’s passion. You are connected. There isn’t any fear of connecting or of attachment. There is no problem.
But even inquiry can be over-used. We can become ‘the inquirer’ and create a new story around that. Then we are not really inquiring, we are telling ourselves a story.

So does the need to inquire ever end? It’s often said that the spiritual process continues forever, that it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters. But in your view does there come a point when the ego – or whatever – can no longer move us away from presence, or get caught in a story? When spiritual practice is not needed?

Well, I would not call inquiry spiritual practice, although it can become that. I think there is a point when you know that presence – or silent awareness as I sometimes call it, we have many words for it – is right there, whatever the circumstances. And you will be tested, life will always test you. But you can come to a point where the moment any disturbance arises, you see that, and you inquire, right there.
For example, hypothetically, I might notice I am thinking about my daughter, and why she hasn’t called me in a long time. I might develop a story about how I always have to call her, or how she neglects me. Or I might worry. I add layers on top of that initial disturbance. But if I inquire, if I just sit with that disturbance and inquire into it, I might see an emotion underneath. I might see that the real issue is that I am hurt, or that I am missing her. Then I can inquire into that emotion, and so on. In the end, I might call my daughter, or I might not, but either way, it is not the result of some story I have told myself.
So spiritual practice can be useful. We have many techniques of mind that can help us to calm ourselves, or heal ourselves, or energize ourselves. But inquiry is not practice in this sense.

Speaking of your daughter, I wanted to ask you about parenthood. I find I have this story I can fall into of ‘if only I had more time to myself, I could pursue my spirituality’. I find this is so common for parents. Can you speak to this?

Oh yes, we have all kinds of stories we tell ourselves along these lines, whether about parenting, our jobs, our health, or some other aspect of our lives. We convince ourselves freedom is about being free of some obligation or affliction. But there is always the opportunity to inquire, in every situation. It doesn’t take more than 10 or 12 seconds really. Or even a moment – there is always a moment – an opportunity, right now. And in that moment, in inquiry, we can realize that our sense of a lack of freedom is – not there.
I’m not in anyway saying that having three young children isn’t difficult, because it is. Your body is not free in the way it once was. Your emotions are not free in that way. You can’t just do whatever you want, you have three other beings to consider. So that part of the story is true. But in your innermost being, there is still freedom, and you can take refuge in yourself. Even when you feel you are at your worst.

Yes. And I feel as if in my children it is so easy to see when they are disturbed, in the way that you mean. They are like a little mirror – if something in my awareness is disturbed I will see it reflected back to me in their state or behavior.

Yes, well there it is. Right there you see the opportunity in parenthood. We have this story of ‘well, if I could just escape this, I would be OK’, but that example right there shows you the truth. Your kids are actually helping you see what is really going on.

Yes, definitely. Ok, so moving on to kids, I know you are a mother and a grandmother. What do you think is the greatest gift we can transmit or relay to our children as they grow up, in order to help them connect to presence themselves, and maintain that connection into adulthood?

Well, you know, my grandkids are far away and I am not with them all the time. But I know when I am, kids have this ability to sense authenticity. They know right away if you are not being authentic with them. Really I think that is all anybody wants from anybody – authenticity. So trying not to be what we think we should be, or what we think our kids, or anybody else, wants us to be. Just being with them as we really are, fully. And kids pick up on that, and understand they can be authentic too. It is transmitted, from generation to generation.
I feel like I am seeing the results of this now, of the different way some kids are being parented, in some of the older kids – teens especially – that come to satsang with their parents. It’s quite wonderful actually. There’s a confidence there, and a consciousness. A recognition of something deeper. A willingness to face this adventure called life with this deeper consciousness.

Well, it’s interesting you mentioned this new generation, because I wanted to ask you some questions about the future. My own family, and my husband’s, are very diverse in religious and political views, and live all over the country. Sometimes I feel like I am right in the middle of this ‘cultural divide’ that the media is always telling us about. Everyone seems to feel like the world is at a crises point, and that their own way needs to be followed, in order to set things right. So I am wondering, what do you make of this divide?

Well, I know we are at a time of great awareness of that, and I know that every religion and political group right now senses we are in a period of great change. Some feel it is apocalyptic and some feel we are on the brink of a great breakthrough. I say – we’ll wait and see.
But what an interesting position you are in! To be confronted with all these different views, among people you love, and to therefore be prompted really, to see if you can relate beneath those differences and feel that love. To not relate only at the level of difference, to practice not seeing those with different views simply as ‘other’. Then there is a possibility that something can be discovered, a new common ground even, or at least an acceptance and shared presence. This is available to anyone, of any religion, and all walks of life.
You know, I wrote in that diagnosis post of this woman I spoke to recently who believed there was a chip in her head, and that the government or some other group was trying to control her through it. Instead of debating the reality or non-reality of that chip, I asked her to just sit and inquire what she felt right now, in the midst even, of that worry and pain. And she got it, she shifted. She relaxed, and felt peace herself. Whether she can find that again, who knows, but it is always available to her, to anyone. We pile lots of stuff, stories, on top of it and call it different things, especially in different religions, and we create obstacles to seeing it, but it is always there.
So your situation is ideal really. You have this opportunity to look beyond differences, beyond the perceived obstacles to connecting.

Yes, it is has done that for me. I can’t otherize or demonize people who disagree so easily. And it does feel like in today’s world those disagreements are so reinforced. With all the different cable stations and internet mediums – it is easy to just seek out content that matches what you already think, and to isolate yourself in that way from other points of view.

Yes, that is certainly true. This isolation, this is something we do on a lot of levels.

Along those lines, you just returned from an extended stay in Europe. Do you think there are differences between the U.S. and Europe in regards to this? Or in relation to spirituality?

Well, I don’t know so much about a difference from the U.S. But certainly there is a difference since I first started holding satsangs there 15 years ago. There is such an openness and eagerness.

Do you find Europeans more open to what you have to offer?

I don’t know if they are more open. There seems to be more openness everywhere in a way. But perhaps there is less fear, less anxiety there right now. People are of course worried about the economy, and about changes in the world, but it didn’t feel as anxious there. Whether that is because of the differences in government, or religious views, I don’t know. But the anxiety level here felt very palpable when I returned.

So here there is kind of an undercurrent of anxiety, that is hard for us to see?

Yes, perhaps so. And unless you can see it, it can cloud your judgment, cloud your views on how you should live your life.

Because it becomes all about self-protection? Protecting ‘me and my own’?

That’s right. And that instinct is natural to some extent. But when we become fixated on that, it obstructs our relationship with others, with the world. We act from a place of fear. And this we can see acted out on many different levels, from our personal lives to politics.

Yes, thank you. Well, I have just one last question, related to teaching. Over the years I have seen a lot of spiritual teachers, many with ‘big names’, you might say. But since the first day I saw you, your transmission has always seemed to come through so powerfully and purely. Is this just a quirk of your being do you think? Is this ability to transmit a skill that some teachers possess and others do not, regardless of the depth of their own realization?

You know, I don’t know. This might just be a resonance between you and myself. Some people, many people really, come to my satsangs and say ‘nice to meet you, thanks’, but don’t feel that connection. But they might feel it with someone else. In a way, it is a mystery. And different teachers can suit our needs at different times, depending on what we are ready for. When I met Papaji, there was this instant resonance for me, but I was in a certain place, I was ready. So you have to follow your heart.

Thank you so much Gangaji.

Speech by Sir Richard Branson to The Centre for the Mind University of Sydney, 10 December, 2003

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Speech by Sir Richard Branson to

The Centre for the Mind

University of Sydney, 10 December, 2003

Thank you Allan for those kind words and thank you all for coming along today.

I appreciate that at this time of year there are probably a number of Christmas events that hold

a great deal more appeal than hearing me talk about my life as an entrepreneur and

businessman.

I would particularly like to thank Professor Snyder, Robyn Williams and Professor Brown for the

invitation today.

I have been lucky enough to receive a number of awards in my lifetime. It is safe to say that as

a 16-year student who needed to borrow £4 off my mother to launch my first business venture

such awards seemed highly unlikely.

But, then again, at 16 it also seemed highly unlikely that I would have the opportunity to rub

shoulders with a band as great as The Rolling Stones or even fly around the world in my own

jumbo – or nearly around the world in my own hot air balloon for that matter.

I guess it is somewhat ironic that, as someone who never went to university and who even

struggled at high school, I find myself being presented with this award in the grounds of The

University of Sydney. My business or management education has come from trying and

succeeding – and even from trying and failing.

It is also very humbling to read that Nelson Mandela is the Millennium Fellow for the Centre.

Nelson Mandela has achieved so much for the people of South Africa and is such a wonderful

ambassador for his continent that to receive an award from an organisation with which he is

associated is a true honour.

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It wasn’t until I read that the Centre for the Mind exists to “shatter mindsets and stage-manage

spectacular initiatives” that I understood why I am being presented with this award at all.

After all, the Virgin Group of companies exist to “shatter mindsets” about how customer service

should be delivered and how products need to match consumer demands.

And whether I am driving a tank up to a Coke sign in Times Square, or flying solo around the

world in a contraption floating 60,000 ft above the earth’s surface because of hot air, I guess

that I am always trying to be ‘spectacular’.

So now I understand why I am here.

I appreciate that you may prefer to ask me questions, so I will keep my speech to a minimum

and keep some time up my sleeve at the end.

Alan has asked me to provide you with my thoughts on how creativity has been important in the

growth and success of Virgin and has also, somewhat unkindly, asked me to share my views on

‘What makes a Champion’.

I have always admired champions – whether in the field of sport, science, business or the arts –

who attempt the impossible.

We have all heard countless examples of champions who recount stories of being told by the

establishment or by so-called experts in their field that something can’t be done.

I am sure that Sir Edmund Hillary heard many times, “that mountain can’t be climbed”.

Or when Tiger Woods is told, “no male golfer can win a grand slam” I am absolutely sure that

motivates him to work even harder.

And when Virgin was told that it couldn’t create and operate a profitable trans-Atlantic airline

from scratch, it motivated me to get the airline up and running in just six months – and we

haven’t looked back since.

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Today, Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long-haul international airline operating services out

of London, flying to 21 destinations all over the world from Shanghai to the Caribbean and soon

Sydney.

Being unafraid of failure is, I believe, one the most important qualities of a champion.

My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and

trying to rise above them – an interest that was, perhaps, fuelled by my grandmother telling me

at the age of 99: “You’ve got one go in life, so make the most of it”.

Whether I succeed or fail in meeting the challenge is immaterial – it is the effort and the

opportunity that drives me. I truly believe that through effort and I guess to some extent risk,

success is waiting around the corner regardless.

However, while champions aren’t afraid of failure, they are truly made when they learn the art of

turning failure into success.

The only time I could ever be compared to Johnny Wilkinson is when we were both four and I

hazard a guess that neither of us could kick a football. He is a champion now because he learnt

how to do it.

Innate talent and skill are certainly important. As is hard work and perseverance.

In addition to that, my recipe for success has always been to understand my limitations and to

surround myself with talented and brilliant people that can pick up where I leave off. And, most

importantly, to have fun on the journey.

One definition of a champion, as far as I am concerned, is somebody who can empower

people’s ideas in order to fuel success.

It is no secret that I have always attributed the success of the Virgin Group and its brands to the

people that work for our company. I have always had a policy of hiring good motivators over

good business-people. I always look for executives that put their people first and themselves

last.

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So, in many ways I believe champions are self-less.

They also are quick to put their faith in others. When a flight attendant approached me

several years ago with an idea to start a wedding business, I told her to go and do it and even

wore a wedding dress to help her promote it.

When Brett Godfrey approached us with a business plan for a low cost Australian airline, written

on the back of a beer coaster, Virgin provided the finance and the optimism and sent him to

Brisbane to get on with the job.

Human intellectual brilliance comes in many forms and a champion knows a brilliant idea

immediately – whether it is theirs or someone else’s.

The mind which can develop life-saving vaccines is very different from the mind which

structures complex financial transactions, yet they are equally complex and amazing in their

own right.

I have always been fascinated by intellectual brilliance in others - whether it be a concert pianist

like Roger Woodward or a military strategist like General Peter Cosgrove or a medical miracle

worker like the late Dr Victor Chang, or even the mental toughness and adaptability of a Steve

Waugh.

Brilliant minds exist to take us forward as a society - they are a leading indicator of our progress

as human beings.

My own formula for success is actually not to rely on any brilliance in my own mind, or at least

not to solely rely on it. I have decided all the way through my life to surround myself with people

I know have that something special within, and to harness that brilliance for my own benefit and

experience.

My business team has always been the best and brightest I could find anywhere in the world,

and my role has simply been to assist them to achieve their potential.

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Brett Godfrey is a great example of that philosophy. Here was a success story waiting to

happen - a brilliant business mind with a specific interest in customer service. All he needed

was support and financing. That's where we came in.

And that has been the case with many other special minds I have been lucky enough to know.

Even the Sex Pistols were brilliant minds in their own way - people underestimate their ability to

communicate a social message through their music. Virgin saw that they had something special

and decided to back them, and they went on to change the way we looked at rock music.

So a life of being surrounded by brilliant and creative minds is something that has been good to

me. I recommend it as an approach to business, and life in general, because it works.

If I could leave you all with one message today it is that Australia must examine ways to support

brilliance and bring it to the fore - particularly in the realm of business and commerce.

Australia is a country which plays well above its weight in producing brilliant minds. From the

superb research skills of Sir Howard Florey to the creative genius of Baz Luhrmann, Australia

has stunned the world with its contributions to all fields of endeavour.

The great challenge that I can now see for Australia is to harness that brilliance as a force for

good in business.

Can Australia encourage its young people towards a new spirit of entrepreneurialism and the

embracing of risk to create economic benefit for the future?

Can we teach Aussie kids that Brett Godfrey is a good role model - a man who has, through a

simple set of very brilliant ideas first sketched on the back of some beer coasters, created

thousands of jobs for his fellow Australians, and an investment vehicle to create wealth for many

hundreds of thousands of his countrymen.

Can we create an educational and cultural environment where young Australians understand

that it's OK to take a risk and invest in their own enterprise and vision?

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Can we assist them to create the jobs and wealth of tomorrow?

It's a subject that occupies my mind, and I hope that I can use my ongoing investment in and

love affair with Australia as a way of encouraging that new entrepreneurial spirit.

Before I finish and take any questions you may have, I wanted to touch on the issue of

creativity, especially the role that creativity has had in building the Virgin Group into the success

it is today.

I mentioned Baz Luhrmann before, and I truly do marvel at the creative genius he possesses to

turn the conventional Romeo and Juliet of William Shakespeare into the Romeo and Juliet of

Leonardo Dicaprio and Clare Danes.

While establishing Virgin Records, we witnessed first hand the creativity of Mike Oldfield and

Peter Gabriel, and the unconventional Rolling Stones and The Sex Pistols.

It was during this time that we realised the important counter balance between CREATIVITY

and CONVENTION.

In developing the Virgin business our enemy has always been convention.

At Virgin we firmly believe that convention is the enemy of progress. It stifles creativity and

innovation. It hinders success and destroys a sense of adventure.

However, when it comes to other businesses, we have found that people usually bow to

convention over creativity.

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How many businesses do you know that would empower every individual in the

organisation to implement change?

At Virgin, we encourage and reward creativity in our employees and, as I have already said, we

have enjoyed the success of empowering other people’s good ideas. We want – and we have –

employees who can pick up the phone and call us with their ideas, dreams and problems.

How many would grow a brand organically, with the cost, time, risk and creativity that

involves, when a quicker option is to buy an established business?

Business convention dictates that it is less risky and more prudent to acquire successful brands

than build your own. I have always found that it is more fun, and ultimately more successful, to

build a brand and business from scratch and tailor it to your needs and the demands of your

customers.

How many businesses do you know that would put having fun ahead of customer or

shareholder satisfaction in a list of their business priorities?

Convention dictates that a company should look after its shareholders first, its customers

second and its employees last. At Virgin we do the opposite. It seems common sense to me

that if you start with a happy and motivated workforce, you’re much more likely to have happy

customers – which, of course, leads to larger profits and happy shareholders.

If a company believes in itself and is having fun, the net result is customers who enjoy the

product. For any of you who have flown Virgin Blue – and I hope you all have – the first thing

that would have struck you is that our flight attendants actually look like they enjoy their job and

are having fun. I am not sure the same can be said of our competitor.

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And finally, how many businesses do you know that specialised in music would back a

creative – and some said crazy – decision to start an airline in competition to British

Airways?

It really was the belief in a creative, left field idea that was the making of Virgin.

I would like to thank you all once again for joining me here today. As I said at the outset, it is an

absolute honour to receive this award and I look forward to answering any questions you may

have.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev -Here are some excerpts of thoughts from his book which is in a Q & A format

Moreover, Jaggi's answers are often spliced with humor and that gives his words a humanizing tone. For example, to a disciple who lamented he could become only a hen instead of an eagle, his instant poetic reply was

'The hen that you are, how will you know what deceptive ways Grace will descend

It is Grace that brought you here and it is Grace that will deliver

I prefer the hen that looks up to the sky than an eagle that flies but always looks down

How high is not the question, but how intense is longing for the sky:

May you always be in Grace'

I really abhor the seriousness that people on the spiritual path get into. But this man is earthy and invigorating.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is an eloquent and compelling speaker whose wit, wisdom, and piercing logic cuts through the complexity of today's global issues in a refreshingly frank and pragmatic way. I have no idea whether the Isha Yoga foundation set up by him works on noble motives or is yet another lucrative venture like that of Ravi Shankar. My liking towards him is entirely based on reading his book.

Here are some excerpts of thoughts from his book which is in a Q & A format. I found his thoughts on maintenance of relationship quite levelheaded.

Seeker: Much of the anxiety I experience comes through my relationships. Isn't it reasonable to expect some understanding from other people?

When you live in this world, there are various types of complex interactions happening. As your field-of-play increases, the complexity of interaction also goes on increasing. If you're just sitting in a cubicle, working on your computer with only one other person, you need only a little understanding; but if you're managing a thousand people, you need a vast understanding of everybody.

Now, suppose you're managing a thousand people and you want all these people to understand you, then you're not going to manage anything. You need to understand the limitations and the capabilities of these thousand people and do what you can; only then will you have the power to move the situation the way you want it to go. If you're waiting for these thousand people to understand you and act, it is only a pipedream; it is never going to happen.

The closer the relationship, the more effort you should make to understand them. Somebody becomes closer and dearer to you only as you understand them better. If they understand you, they enjoy the closeness of the relationship. If you understand them better, then you enjoy the closeness.

Seeker: This is easier said than done. It is difficult to always be there'

See, It is not that the other person is totally bereft of understanding. With your understanding, you can create situations where the other person would be able to understand you better. If you're expecting other person to understand and comply with you all the time while you don't understand the limitations, the possibilities, the needs and capabilities of that person, then conflict is all that will happen. Unfortunately, the closest relationships in the world have more conflicts going on than between enemies.

In your relationships, you have fought many more battles than this and are still fighting; isn't it so? This is because your line of understanding and theirs is different. If you cross this LOC, this Line of Control, they will get mad. If they cross it, you will get mad. If you move your understanding beyond theirs, their understanding also becomes a part of your understanding. You will be able to embrace their limitations and capabilities. In everyone, there are some positive aspects and some negative aspects. If you embrace all this in your understanding, you can make the relationship the way you want it. If you leave it to their understanding, it will become accidental. If they are very magnanimous, things will happen well for you; if not, the relationship will break up.

All I am asking is: do you want to be the one who decides what happens to your life? Whether they are intimate relationships, professional, political, global or whatever, don't you want to be the person who decides what happens in your life? If you do, you better include everything and everybody into your understanding. You should enhance your understanding to such a point that you can look beyond people's madness also. There are very wonderful people around you, but once in a while they like to go crazy for a few minutes. If you don't understand that, you will lose them. If you don't understand their madness you will definitely lose them. If you do, then you know how to handle them. Life is not always a straight line; you have to do many things to keep it going.

If you forsake your understanding, your capability will be lost. Whether it's a question of personal relationships or professional management, in both places you need understanding; otherwise, you won't have fruitful relationships.

The way you are right now, the very quality of your life is decided by the type of relationships you hold. You better make the needed effort to understand the people around you.

NON DOING AND NON SEEKING

NON DOING AND NON SEEKING IS IN THE VERY NATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE CLARITY. WHAT IS RECOGNISED THAT THERE IS NOBODY AND NOWHERE TO GO EXCEPT TO BE HERE AND NOW.

"Compassion does not see the faults of others. It does not see the weaknesses of people.It makes no distinction between good and bad people. Compassion cannot draw a line between two countries, two faiths or two religions. Compassion has no ego; thus there is no fear, lust or passion. Compassion simply forgives and forgets. Compassion is like a passage. Everything passes through it. Nothing can stay there. Compassion is love expressed in all its fullness.

ramana quote

At any moment, in this moment, you can stop for just a second; not stop the thoughts, not stop the ideas, not stop the body experiences or emotional experiences. Simply stop paying attention to them for just one second and move your conscious attention into what it is that is here that makes it impossible for you to deny that you exist. You can do that right now and see that this presence is untouched and untouchable by any of the madness that goes on within it, and it cares not for any of it.