Monday Musings -23 – Sabari’s Solid Love

Sabari’s solid love

Mata Sabari, an old woman, was an ardent devotee of Lord Sri Ram. Ram reached Sabari’s hut along with Lakshman to rest when they were searching for Sita Mata in the forest. The old woman who was overwhelmed with joy had nothing to offer to Sri Ram. Tears trickled from her eyes and then she remembered about the wild fruits that she had collected the other day.

Sabari was not sure whether the fruits were tasty, sour or poisonous. She was not ready to take chance with her beloved Ram. So she tasted them first a little and threw away all that was sour and not good. When she was about to offer those which were good, she realized that they were half eaten fruits and hence not a worthy offer to the Lord. Sri Ram, who realized her predicament, asked Sabari to share the half-eaten fruits and accepted them lovingly. It is not the condition or value of the offering that matters but devotion.

Devotion is nothing but spiritual love.  Love can be practised and demonstrated in various other forms as well.

Understanding genuineness vs sycophancy

A leader should display godly qualities. True leader should understand and differentiate people who demonstrate genuine love for their work from those who are sycophants or brownnosers.

Remember what Lord Shiva told Sivagochariar “his calls are far sweeter than the hymns of rishis”. Flattery would be soothing and would give ‘ego massage’. But genuine love is long lasting and rewarding.

Handling Criticism

Criticism does not necessarily mean disrespect. Leaders should be open to constructive criticism if it comes out of genuine love and concern like what was displayed by Thinnan aka Kannapar,

Elbert Hubbard said, “To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”

Criticism is bound to come. Handling criticism is an essential part of professional development. Criticism always hurts on the face of it. Leaders need to first understand the motive behind the criticism. Leaders who love the people they serve won’t let critics keep them from serving.

Balance between following Mind & Heart

In the perfect world, our hearts and our minds would synchronize well in our decisions. Unfortunately, there are far too many instances where the heart and mind want completely different things and for different reasons and this gap creates problems.

The mind tells you the right thing to do, while the heart advocates you to do the thing that would bring happiness. Like many things in life, finding a balance between the two is your best bet for all around happiness.

Your heart wants you to do a job that you enjoy and love and have passion for, but at times you might end up doing different things for various other logical reasons. The ideal situation is when the mind and heart say the same.

The benefits of following your heart

When you follow your heart you choose to make a decision before you think of the consequences, which allows you to have opportunities that may be missed if you take the time and talk yourself out of doing it. Once your mind gets involved in things they lose the spontaneity and joy that come along with simply following your heart.

The benefits of letting your mind lead the way

There is often far less risk in making decisions that your mind has influenced. The Mind lets you weigh the pros and cons, think of potential consequences, and look at it from a more logical perspective. Those who are afraid of taking risks find that letting their mind make decisions puts them at more ease than if they don’t let their mind make the decisions.

Finding The Sweet Spot between your mind and your heart

The ultimate secret to finding success is finding the good balance between both following your heart and following your mind. This can be a challenge but it is ultimately worth it in the end when you have a well-informed decision that you can also be passionate about and feel like you’re doing something that truly makes you happy.

You can let your heart do the driving but it never hurts to consult your mind as the navigator every now and then to make sure you stay on track and on course. Otherwise, practice to love whatever path your mind takes.

The heart and mind while often wanting to go in different directions can become a very powerful duo once they learn to work together. Bouncing off of each other and using the benefits from both to decrease the negatives from both make for the perfect combination. Let them be a team rather than letting one always take the lead and you will find yourself in situations that are both well-thought-out and allow you to follow your passions. The heart and the mind can work very well together.

Love is the most misused word and is the most powerful.

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.

-Lao Tzu