the manual of enthusiasm- chapter one

8/9/2019 The Manual of Enthusiasm- Chapter One

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-manual-of-enthusiasm-chapter-one 1/18

Yamo

The Manual of

Enthusiasm

www.entheos.in

http://www.entheos.in/

http://www.entheos.in/



ii

Dreamer

Break your layers

unleash your inner-callings

blast-off your fears

coz fears are fakes.

Life's breaking free

it’s growing like a tree

you oughta live on

like the mighty Amazon.

Set your sails high

the world will conspire

only you need to run high

and dream higher.

Remember you will DIE

don’t live a lie

there will be no rebirth

only you'll become dirt.

So, can you take the risk

to live another's life

to not be happy?



iii

Life's a one-chance-gameno one can you blame

so live enthused

be amused

become an ideator

life's travelerand a DREAMER!

- Dnana Ruhdam



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Contents

Acknowledgement iv

Preface v(Dreamer) vii

Part I: Basics

1. Entheos: The God in You 2

2. The Paradise Lost 14

3. Reclaiming the EternalFountain

26

Part II: Applied

4. Enthusiasm at Work 80

5. Enthusiasm at Home 133

6. Enthusiasm for Students 161

7. Enthusiasm at Leisure 205

8. Enthusiasm in Sex 233



Chapter 1

Entheos: The God in You

Like in any other soulful creature in the world, the

idea of God always fascinated me. And as soon as

I was my own, I wanted to explore Him,

extensively. Prior to that – it mainly remained

restricted to family rituals and reading a collection

of religious books lying at home, which

everybody worshiped, and nobody bothered to

explore. They were too sacred to be understood or

questioned, even to be touched – without one

having taken the bath. They were like idols meantfor garlanding, rather than reading. Ones those

could not find place near idols, rested in a wooden

box, frequently visited by rodents and pests, who

worked hard to trim them, and thereby create

space for new ones to get into.

The ability of rodents in distinguishing a

religious book from a scientific one always

puzzled me. They never made the same cut-art

caricature on my chemistry books, as they did on

the religious. It was actually possible to make out

which was a religiously book, and which not,merely by looking at rodent caricature, if already

visited by them. The life enhancing effect of the

religious books was evident from their artistic

expressions. Once a book whispered to me, ‘all

creatures in this world have same soul. And, we

directly communicate with the souls, braindoesn’t need to come in-between. For us, all souls



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are same: whether homosapian or rodent.’ The

book continued, ‘And, it’s not that the ratsdamage us in this wooden box, they do not have

power to do so. It is that the cockroaches

sometimes create an itch in us, and we ask rats to

give nail-teeth scratch. Feels good! We let them

visit our interiors without opening us; the box is

overfilled and doesn’t provide room for opening-up.’

Later I realized: it wasn’t the book’s

whisper - it was a cloud of wild thoughts that

engrossed me because of the extra-heavy

breakfast I had, subsequent to browsing a magic

book.

By the time of entering into university:

Geeta , Bhagwat and Ramayana had already

impressed me; in whom, I found many sensible

things, and many, which I could not assimilate or

rely-on. Excitement and boredom came in sinewave, keeping the interest dying and renewing.

An afternoon when I was down by boredom

induced by some verses of Ramayana , the book

whispered, ‘Excitement is an impulse that cannot

be sustained straight, it’s sinoidal. One is bound to

get bored, before the next impulse of excitement

could settle. … My all verses are fine!’ and this

time, I was neither under influence of any magic

book nor a drowsy breakfast.

Soon after finishing the college and

getting a job, which came more as economic



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liberation, my desire to explore Him became

intense. It was a teaching job, which came with lotof vacations, specially a 2-month long summer

break; and freedom of thinking giving me enough

breather to attend my inner-calling. In some

treatise I had read: Ahambrahmasmi (I am the God)

and Tatwamasi (You are also the same); and also,

that He is omnipresent. Hence, I was quiteconvinced that I could not be without Him. When

Osho changed his name from Maharshi Rajneesh to

Bhagwan Rajneesh , it never offended me. If the God

were to be omnipresent, Maharshi Rajneesh could

not have been a thing other than God; like any of

us. Hence, there was nothing wrong in his using

the Bhagwan title. I had gathered enough idea I am

also the God , the idea was mostly theoretical, as I

didn’t feel like that. The bookish information was

to convert into realization without which, it was of

no value. A strong desire to undergo realizationengulfed me!

Now, the first thing I wanted to happen

was: being all alone! Avoiding all distractions and

creating an opportunity to encounter – the Self .

First summer break – and I was heading

to Himalaya, to be completely unknown; and

later, isolated, too. My father had come to see me

off at bus-station, and gave me a piece of paper

containing some references of an Ashram at

Haridwar where I could stay. (Haridwar is an

entry point to Himalaya. Hari + Dwar , the name of



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city, means: gateway to God.) Soon the bus started

rolling, and my father went out of sight; as Iwanted to be completely unknown, I threw away

the paper without even reading it.

Haridwar was too-much-a-city, and I

decided to move 20 km north towards Rishikesh to

make my first stay at an ashram Shantikunj. At

first sight I found the ashram having the rightspiritual milieu. All activities were being pursued

by samayadanis and jeevandanis , the former were

volunteering for a few months, and the later - for

rest of their lives.

Having got tempted by setting, ‘Can I also

join as jeevandani?’ I asked one of the jeevandanis.

‘It would be too-much-of-a-haste! Taking

such a big decision.’ replied the jeevandani

realizing that it was merely my second day in the

ashram.

Three days passed - and I started findingabsurdities in many things being pursued there.

Losing all the excitement, I thanked the jeevandani

for having not encouraged me to becoming one of

them. I decided moving-out to continue further

north.

Swargashram , an ashram-town in Rishikesh ,

was my next abode. This small riverside town has

many ashrams; I felt a little deeper spiritual milieu

here. Still, I was far away – of a complete

unknown-isolation, which I was searching to

experience.



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Having tried for days, I decided to enter

deep into the forest. The inner-calling was drivinghard for an experience of being completely one-

self, undiluted, undisturbed. I decided to follow

the inner-calling, unrestricted, unanalyzed; and

got-up to move-on, putting a saffron dhoti of

Sanyasi as lower, and hanging a kurta on one of the

shoulder. It was 3 am; I might have got-up ataround 2:30 am. There was no problem in walking

as the moon was bright enough. I saw small sign

boards directing arrows towards Neelkanth and

decided to follow the same. As the time passed,

the moonlight started fainting, giving me fear of

becoming dark. The fear had come from the

conditioned mind, which was tuned to

hypothesize only the failures and difficulties,

regardless of the facts and possibilities. It was

approaching dawn, a new day; and the mind

feared – darkness!Thereby disembarked the first

enlightenment: fears are false!

The dawn approached scattering gold at

one side of the mountain, and I decided to take

some rest. Some pilgrims passed – bowing to me

by my saffron clothing, few tried offering - with

some hesitation – money and flowers. The

footpath I was on, was leading to a relatively well-

attended temple. In search of the isolation, I

turned on a very narrow path, almost unbeaten.



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By around 10, I was in a tiny valley with a

narrow stream and beautiful flowers. I ate some biscuits I was carrying and drank water from the

stream. After a small nap of around 15 minutes, I

tried understanding oneness: the sense of being

with the self . There was no human being in miles,

still I couldn’t feel oneness. There was a chameleon

looking at me, two butterflies whispered (about me!),and even flowers stared!

The second enlightenment: others only

reflect what we carry in our own mind.

At home: the botherations were relations

and acquaintances; in ashrams – the human

beings; but what about chameleons and butterflies

and flowers? The source of all botherations is

one’s own mind. Others merely reflect what we

carry in our mind.

These enlightenments put me in a state of

calmness giving me fearlessness and complaint-less-

ness. Things became lovely and bright! I felt

energetic, passionate and compassionate. …I was

a different person now, feeling oneness with the

surroundings! The hatred had gone. There was no

hurry. The desire for lonesomeness had vanished.

When the ecstasy went over, I got up and

returned back to the main path leading to

Neelkanth. There was a small stream forming a fall,

a temple and a few shops. The place was neither



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crowded nor deserted. The Priest of temple

welcomed me, offered me lunch and asked,‘would you like taking rest for a while?’ It was

indeed required, and I gladly accepted. He closed

the temple and offered me his own aasan for

taking rest. It rained for some time. I got up at 4

pm to take leave. Feeling fulfilled and complacent,

I wanted to return back to Rishikesh. Comingdownhill, I lost my way and landed some five

miles away from Swargashram. By 10 pm I reached

my ashram, after having trekked over 30 miles in

20 hrs. It was my longest single-day trek, in hours,

as well as, in miles. And, it was worth it!

The third enlightenment: Though, it is

tough going uphill – one is not likely to get lost! All

paths lead to one God, differences come when we go

downward, farther from Him.

I enjoyed rest of my stay at Rishikesh reading a number of books, listening to discourses

and taking dips in Ganga. The books I found most

engrossing were of Osho. When I was back to my

workplace, as a matter of coincidence, I was

offered to manage of a local Osho library, which I

accepted gladly. I resided inside the library, and

managed the same for about two years, reading

his books and listening to his tapes. Then I was

taken over by J Krishnamurthy and old classics,

particularly – Yogvashishtha and Upanishads.



8

Despite having born and brought-up in a

religious Hindu family, gradually I lost my interestin the religion. I found the religions hardly having

any connection with the spirituality. It’s not that

the religions do not have element of spirituality,

they do; but the possibility of their bringing a

realization is as bleak – as of a marketplace.

Spirituality is so all-encompassing, it could befound in anything, including religions. On the

other hand, everything, including religion, carry a

chance of itself becoming a faltering block; in fact,

religions – the most!

Though all religions primarily emerged of

somebody’s spiritual attainment e.g. Christ,

Buddha, Mahaveer etc. As of now – they are largely

thriving on: fear, escapism and greed! And

nothing spreads like fear and greed – which is

why, religions are not only thriving, but coming-

up in multitude derivative forms.Since religions are thriving on greed and

fear , they lead their followers to the same. And a

mind, tuned to greed and fear, has only the

remotest possibility of self-realization.

There has been so much of pollution and

adulteration; the real thing – spirituality , has

completely vanished from religions. In the real

sense: religions are over! And they should ideally

extinguish themselves.

Devoid of spirituality, religions are

propagating on fear , which transforms in – hatred;



9

and from centuries, religions have caused much

more hatred in mankind, than love or harmony. Itis too costly for mankind to anymore have

religions.

Hinduism – in which I was born, and

about which – I understand little better, is, in

particular, much more complicated. Alas for its

long past! Over the period of time, all kinds ofnonsense been dumped into this, making the

spirituality to come-out extremely improbable.

There are so many deities and gods: elephant-

head, monkey-head, triple-headed, lion-head,

parrot-head, and what not. It is said that there are

360 million (some ill-informed think it’s 33 crore)

gods-goddess in Hinduism, which is little too much.

India having been the land of the discovery of

zero, it seems that this 360 figure was taken for

providing the 360° protection; none-the-less, 360°

equals to zero, and that is a better consideration.There is a god for everything, and all put together,

make a zero.

With time, I am getting a conviction that

all Hindu deities are intellectual property of some

artists and writers, which should not be taken

more seriously than the Micky-Donalds or Harry

Potters of current time.

Knowing to God and knowing to Self is

one and the same thing. And ultimately either it is

He who exists, or I . The two cannot exist together.



10

On self-realization one does not gain anything; on

the contrary, things are lost: most importantly - fear and hatred. One cannot hate anybody unless

he carries fear against him, howsoever bad the

other may be. Irritation might persist, but not the

hatred. The compassion takes over the hatred.

There came brief moments, when I got

bored of spirituality: found it useless andunrealistic. Eventually those were initial periods,

when I considered spirituality to be markedly

different a thing than materialism , almost opposite.

The skepticism didn’t last long, and a

comprehensive understanding took its place. Also

aroused a desire: to define Him. I had read at

many places and heard from many people – He

cannot be defined; because, there is nothing that is

out-of-him. Defining Him would be – limiting

Him , a sin.

Still I wanted to define Him. It was likedividing the indivisible; still, I wanted to do that.

Hindus define Him: Sat-Chit-Anand (The real, alive

and full of joy). I liked this definition, still I

wanted something different. This definition was

too comprehensive and mature. It was little raw

and juvenile, I was looking for.

Years later, on a small railway-platform

bookshop, I happened to buy Norman Vincent

Peale’s Treasury of the Joy and Enthusiasm. I got

stunned on page 31; it defined word ‘Enthusiasm’

saying: The word enthusiasm, from the Greek



11

‘entheos’ , means ‘God in you’. Reading this

definition was a eureka-moment! Not for havingunderstood the Enthusiasm , but for having

understood God! It exactly was the definition, I

looked for. A direct connection between the two –

filled me with joy. It was like the ultimate

homecoming!

As I looked into the relationship betweenthe two – physiology of enthusiasm zoomed before

me: While in enthusiasm , it is connecting to the

God within , that a spring of energy starts flowing

from within, making the miracle happen!’ This is

why – while in enthusiasm , things happen so

effortlessly. And this is how: the Enthusiasm Inc

was born, with the objective of cherishing the

individuals and organizations with enthusiasm –

and thereby – with God.

It defines the Enthusiasm as:

Derived from Greek ‘Entheos’ meaning‘the God in You’, Enthusiasm is the elixir of life.

The moment one feels enthusiastic, a spring of

energy starts flowing from within; this energy –

directly oozing from the eternal source, because of

one having connected to the God within , makes

miracle happen.

I find enthusiasm much better than the joy.

As, joy is – geriatric , it is a result, an end point;

while enthusiasm is – raw and juvenile , it is not an



12

end; and above all – it makes the movement. Joy is

like a fully ripen-fruit, enthusiasm: a sprout!After Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist crossed 30

million-mark, I decided: enough is enough; now, I

must read the book. I simply kept avoiding the

book - thinking it was about chemistry, and for

chemists. Surprisingly, I got completely bowled-

over by reading the Author’s Note where Paulowrites, ‘What is personal calling (legend)? It is

God’s blessing, it is the path that God chose for

you here on Earth. Whenever we do something

that fills us with enthusiasm , we are following our

legend.’ connecting the God , Enthusiasm and

Personal Calling. A perfect fit.

I would like to quote J Krishnamurthy

also, he said: Man has throughout the ages been

seeking something beyond himself, beyond material

welfare – something we call truth or God or reality, a

timeless state – something that cannot be disturbed bycircumstances, by thought or by human corruption.



13

Ignited Minds Season I*

(February 2009) Talks by Prof Robert J Aumann

(2005 Economics Nobel)

*Text of the talk available at www.entheos.in



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Ignited Minds Season II

Speakers

Prof DD Osheroff

(1996 Physics Nobel,

Stanford University, USA)

Prof Robert J Aumann

(2005 Economics Nobel,

Hebrew University, Israel)

Prof Sidney Altman

(1989 Chemistry Nobel, Yale

University, USA)

Dr Jean-Marie Lehn

(1987 Chemistry Nobel,

ISIS-ULP France)

To know about other speakers considering invitation,

and dates and cities, please visit www.entheos.in or

email to [email protected]

the manual of enthusiasm- chapter one

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