{"id":322824,"date":"2020-05-02T10:23:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T10:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=322824"},"modified":"2020-05-02T10:24:03","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T10:24:03","slug":"falun-dafa-helps-remain-calm-and-creative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/falun-dafa-helps-remain-calm-and-creative\/","title":{"rendered":"Falun Dafa helps remain calm and creative"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/falun-dafa-helps-remain-calm-and-creative\/59-8\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-322825\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-322825 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/59-300x239.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"613\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media\/2020\/05\/59-300x239.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media\/2020\/05\/59-526x420.jpg 526w, https:\/\/tehelka.com\/media\/2020\/05\/59.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 613px) 100vw, 613px\" \/><\/a>An idle mind is the devil\u2019s workshop. Remember the popular proverb we learnt when we were in school. My father had a strange habit of quoting proverbs to me when I was in school. Little did I understand why he kept saying proverbs to me \u2026 I misinterpreted it thinking maybe he just likes saying proverbs! But at this juncture I realise &#8230; the things he used to tell me often crosses my mind \u2026 it had so much inner meaning!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">In the current scenario when there <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">is a complete lockdown, most of the things aren\u2019t working normally. It\u2019s very important that we dont keep an idle mind \u2026 we may say that there isn\u2019t much to do \u2026 It\u2019s actually been quite the opposite for me since these unexpected off days have started \u2026 I have been reading a lot of positive things rather than indulging myself in the situation by repeatedly viewing news, videos and posts on social media. Although, it\u2019s important to be aware of what\u2019s happening in the world but not to a point of overindulgence leading us to read false news, negative remarks and criticisms!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Usually when we are in the grip of negativity a lot of us forget to be compassionate, which is an absolute essential character we should have \u2026 and can\u2019t be missed especially during such times. I have been practising, truthfulness, compassion and forbearance &#8230;the basic principles of Falun Dafa, an ancient cultivation practice for the mind and body. This break has really helped me do the five sets of exercises and meditation regularly \u2026 I have managed to increase the duration of the practice and it has really helped my mind to be in a state of calm and peace. Also this practice helps boost immunity, so naturally I feel quite energetic and active even if I am always at home. Along with it reading the profound teachings of Mr Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa in the book Zhuan Falun has essentially been a strong guiding factor for me at all times. Since I was visiting my mother when the lockdown happened, <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">I have been able to teach her the exercises, which has also been beneficial <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">for her.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Being a creative person and a self-taught photographer, I need to constantly evolve myself. Therefore, regularly setting aside time to expand my knowledge online, also constantly trying to further improve my editing and retouching skills. The other day I also found my bamboo flute at home \u2026 so I have been trying to play some tunes that I have learned. Music is something which has deep connects with our inner side and listening to tranquil and peaceful music is always a part of my daily life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">This is certainly a time when we need to reconnect with our inner self&#8230; I had given up on writing poetry a couple of years back and being in the confines of the four walls yet staying positive has been a help in reviving my creative side. Have managed to write a few poems and who knows by the end of all this maybe <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">I will have enough of them to publish!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Lastly, how I view this entire scenario is that there are some greater causes behind everything that happens around us, we should definitely try to reflect on our own thoughts and actions. This moment has been given to us and we have the choice to either let evil breed in our idle minds or\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">\u201cWe walk with glory heads held high, the distant miles of constant mirages, the piercing thorns rom the cactus dry, the scorching heat of the dreary desert sun \u2026 Yet, the shade awaits not so far, of soothing palms and blissful waters \u2026 let\u2019s all return to the eternal oasis\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"><em>Mr India finalist Adhiraj Chakrabarti is an eminent model and emerging fashion photographer from Mumbai. He practices Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong), an ancient cultivation system of mind and body. Views expressed\u00a0 are his own<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">letters@tehelka.com<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An idle mind is the devil\u2019s workshop. Remember the popular proverb we learnt when we were in school. My father had a strange habit of quoting proverbs to me when I was in school. Little did I understand why he kept saying proverbs to me \u2026 I misinterpreted it thinking maybe he just likes saying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":322825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[12986],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322824"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322828,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322824\/revisions\/322828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/322825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}