Friends,

Mahatma Gandhi once said .. “Happiness is what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

Today is 30th January, Shaheed Diwas.

The day also marks the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi towards the freedom of the country and the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

It is said that Mahatma Gandhi had very few possessions; spectacles, sandals, a pocket watch, a small bowl & plate, and interestingly, the fifth possession was a statue of the Three Wise Monkeys.

The three famous monkeys that Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi cited to teach people about keeping away from evil.

That three proverbial principles are — “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil“.

Yes, Monkeys are intelligent and agile but impatient and fidgety too. In the present world, we have these intelligent monkeys are in most of the households. And we are overwhelmed by those three monkeys in other ways….

My Mobile Phone:

It is posing serious risks to focus, time resources, relationships, and most importantly, health. They snatch our sleep, peace of mind, sense of balance, and well-being.  In the present environment, these three monkeys represent as our mobile phones, our money, and our mind.

The first monkey is Mobile.

No doubt, the mobile phone is a smart tech device, a useful tool, and is our good servant. We cannot live without mobile for a long time. 

But our deep attachment to the gadget is almost playing truant with our sleep, mental health, interpersonal relationships, academic attainments, and productivity.

The second monkey is money.

Money is a practical and necessary tool to survive in this world. Everybody needs money. But our addiction to it makes it so dazzled and enamored by its exterior facets of status symbol, power, and flamboyant lifestyles — we dance to money’s tune and often fail to realize when our material needs degenerate into greed, which invites our misery.

The third monkey is the mind.

Our mind is a rare gift to us by God. Yes, our mind is Incredibly intelligent with unlimited potential, it is our great asset and it should be our friend.

If it is unchannelled and unguided, then our mind could be our worst enemy. The torrents of thoughts the mind produces, unless filtered or directed, can torment us.

 Anxiety, anger, jealousy, fear, depression, and other irrational and negative thoughts are some samples of the mischief an uncontrolled mind can create within us. In fact, the monkey mind is the most dominant mischief-maker, and if this one is mastered, the other two monkeys can be tamed easily.

As  three monkeys of Gandhi ji  symbolize the three evils as :  no see evil, no hear evil, no say evil,

Likewise, Our spiritual Guru and health experts advise that we need to cultivate an attitude of ‘non-attachment’ with the three monkeys, i.e. Mobile, Money, and mind and to master such monkeys.

The  Positive attitude allows us to live in this world fully without being attached to the monkeys or thoughts that cause disturbance and suffering.

A mobile phone’s attachment to us runs deep, and to break free from its bondage we should practice keeping the mobile out of sight for hours or days, a kind of digital fasting. This way we can set ourselves free from its spell and enjoy more real-life connections and experiences.

Our idea of money needs to be detached from some deep-seated illusions.

One, that accumulation of money, exclusively for self, can bring us happiness, and, two, that money is all in our life. We should come out of these illusions.

 As our scriptures say, money must be shubh, auspicious, to derive laabh, (profit).

By aligning the pursuit of money with the ‘common good’, and reimagining ‘wealth’ in terms of health, relationships, goodwill, character, and contentment, we can tackle the nuisance side of money.
To master our mind, we need to detach ourselves from the acts of the mind. Swami Vivekananda says, “Hold fast to the idea that we are watchers of the mind act. The mind is not I”.

This idea of ‘we’ being the witness watching the drifting mind, as separate from ‘ourselves’, is key and, can be learned.

 Swamiji says, “Through strengthening our will by the slow, continuous, persevering drill, we can master our mind. We can practice Meditation also.”

The three monkeys can serve us well only when we master them. Yes, We can make our life meaningful and happy only if master these three monkeys.

Do you also agree with me ? Please convey your feelings.

Please click the link below for a video of a monkey act.

BE HAPPY….BE ACTIVE….BE FOCUSED….BE ALIVE…

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