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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Meditation can help prevent incidents like "London Looting" says Author

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"Often people find themselves lacking something or another. If you have time, you don't have money; if you have money, you don't have time; if you have time and money, you don't have health. If you have time, money and health, you may be lacking in wisdom!" says San Diego based author Yogi Kanna. "Time, money, health, etc, are nice to have; but without wisdom, people may find themselves clueless to what brings true fulfillment and may end up investing their time and energies in destructive and self-defeating purposes like we are witnessing in London [referring to the looting incidents in London]. If we encouraged our youth to gain wisdom to help them find true inner fulfillment instead of just teaching them how to make money or how to do a job, we may be able to prevent such incidents from happening."

When asked how do people go about awakening this wisdom, Kanna says "First we have to understand the difference between belief and wisdom. When someone tells you something and you accept it as a fact without investigation, it becomes a belief. Belief is thus second-hand knowledge, whereas wisdom is first-hand realization. When you lead a life based on beliefs, you lead a second-hand life. Before venturing on a journey based on beliefs propagated by the society, it is wise to take the time to examine those beliefs closely and experiment with them before accepting them as 'truth.' We have to learn to de-program ourselves from various forms of conditioning that drive us like social conditioning, biological conditioning, religious conditioning, etc. The ability to question these drives and instincts is what sets humans apart from animals. These drives make humans competitive and fearful of each other like in the animal world. When we deeply question all the values propagated by society, we begin to awaken the inner wisdom which can help us create a more co-operative and harmonious society. We have to encourage our youth to cultivate this wisdom by encouraging them to think for themselves."

So what is the most practical way for people to go about doing that? He replies, "Long answer short, Meditation is the way. I talk about it in detail in my book "Nirvana: Absolute freedom." I talk about why meditation is important, and how it helps one awaken wisdom and discover true freedom. True freedom is that which does not depend on anything outside of you. If you were to depend on any outside object, person or experience for your fulfillment, you remain at the mercy of external circumstances. Such dependency leads to competition and creates conflict and disharmony in society. Instead, when you learn the art of resting within through meditation, for the first time you discover that there is a treasure buried within you. Once you learn to tap into this inner treasure, you begin to experience a state of freedom from worry, freedom from dependence, freedom from suffering; a state so deeply fulfilling that no objective experience can even come close. Unlike with external wealth, where by gaining something somebody else must be losing out; upon finding the treasure within, nobody else is losing anything. On the other hand, the whole world benefits from your discovery of this inner treasure. When you discover the source of unconditional joy within, you open the doorway for others to discover the same thing within themselves. You show them the way to true freedom and fulfillment. If we introduce meditation as a part our educational curriculum, we can help our youth create a better tomorrow."


Yogi Kanna is the author of the book "Nirvana : Absolute Freedom."

For more details about the book or for requesting review copies please contact:
Kamath Publishing
Aparna Kamath
email: aparna@yogikanna.com
http://www.yogikanna.com