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Tag: Hinduism

Jay Shetty, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Kung Fu Panda, After Skool, and a Japanese Proverb

Sunday Supplement #101 (April 16th, 2023)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“If you can build a muscle, you can build a mindset.”

– Jay Shetty

Book of the Week:

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success – Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success discusses seven simple principles that help cultivate a mindset that brings success.

The principles have some basis in Hinduism, and Chopra breaks down each principle into actionable steps to help change your perspective and invite success.

An example of one of the principles is 6. The Law of Detachment. In this chapter, Chopra discusses the benefits of not trying to change people and force solutions, but seeing how you can adapt to each situation or move on.

Chopra has written numerous New York Times bestsellers and was described by Time magazine as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

I’ve featured Chopra in two previous Brainfood of the Week sections and believe his work is worth checking out.

Movie of the Week:

Kung Fu Panda

The 2008 Dreamworks film Kung Fu Panda tells the story of a clumsy panda surprisingly chosen as the protector of the Valley of Peace in the wake of a villain’s pending attack.

Kung Fu Panda is a simple film with a powerful message of perspective and self-belief. It also packs many laughs and an entertaining story.

The film was also a commercial success and went on to have three sequels, multiple television show spinoffs, video games, and more.

In addition to its huge commercial success, the original Kung Fu Panda was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year.

I haven’t seen any of the other films or subsequent spinoffs, but I thoroughly enjoyed the original and recommend it as a fun and uplifting watch.

Brainfood of the Week:

Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset – Mike Rashid | After Skool

After Skool is a YouTube channel that animates videos as the backdrop to various life lessons presented by various individuals and texts.

Former professional boxer, entrepreneur in the wellness space, and host of the Civil Mind Savage Body podcast, Mike Rashid, shares his story and perspective for this video.

Rashid breaks down the differences between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. He shares his life experience and how he embraces a growth mindset.

Lessons from the video include using problems as motivating factors and knowing that intelligence and skill can be improved with effort.

I featured After Skool in Sunday Supplement #16, and I’m glad for the opportunity to return to their channel to share this video.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“One man’s fault is another’s lesson.” (人のふり見てわがふり直せ)

– Japanese Proverb

This Japanese proves reminds me of the usefulness of thinking about how I interpret things and what I want to gain from them.

Instead of criticizing someone else’s behavior, you can use the situation as an opportunity to correct your own.

Another’s fault can also be a chance to catch yourself before you react and an occasion to support someone else instead of putting them down.

The opportunities for pausing and thinking about how you want to interpret things can be elusive, but seeing someone else’s fault is a chance to reframe your perspective.

Work on your ideal mindset, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Henry Ford, Money Master the Game, Gattaca, Wayne Dyer, and a Rig Veda Passage

Sunday Supplement #50 (April 24th, 2022)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right.”

– Henry Ford

Book of the Week:

Money Master the Game – Tony Robbins

I featured Tony Robbins’ Awaken the Giant Within in Sunday Supplement #30. His work in the self-help genre has touched millions and was the doorway to self-improvement for me.

When I heard that Robbins wrote a financial self-help book, I knew I had to check it out.

Money Master the Game used extensive research and one-on-one interviews with some of the most legendary financial experts in the world, including Warren Buffett and Ray Dalio, to develop a 7-step blueprint for financial freedom.

Robbins broke down complex financial principles into easily digestible concepts. The book takes readers of every income level through steps to help create a lifetime income plan.

I majored in business and found this book more informative than most textbooks I was forced to read throughout college.

The book is on the longer side and takes time to get through, but it is worth checking out. 

Robbins’ Unshakable is the more condensed sequel to Money Master the Game for those looking for a shorter read.

Movie of the Week:

Gattaca

Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca is set in the distant future where eugenics is commonplace and ensures children possess the best hereditary traits of their parents. 

Society experiences genetic discrimination, where those conceived outside the eugenics program cannot partake in higher positions in society.

Vincent Freeman, played by Ethan Hawke, dreams of becoming an astronaut and going to space. By adopting a validated citizen’s identity, Freeman attempts to achieve his dream.

The film brilliantly explores themes of eugenics and freedom of self-determination.

There are so many beautiful elements of Niccol’s film to enjoy. Hawke gives a powerful performance as Freeman, as does Jude Law in the role of Freeman’s friend Jerome/Eugene.

Gattaca was only nominated for one Academy Award, but it stands the test of time as a thought-provoking and magnificent science fiction story.

Brainfood of the Week:

Dr. Wayne Dyer on the Art of Manifestation | SuperSoul Sunday | Oprah Winfrey Network

I’ve featured Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul Sunday in Sunday Supplement #43 and am excited to have it in the Sunday Supplement again.

Winfrey’s series features exclusive interviews with top thinkers, authors, and spiritual leaders and explores themes like happiness, personal fulfillment, spirituality, and conscious living.

In this clip, Oprah’s guest is Wayne Dyer. In Sunday Supplement #22, I featured Dyer’s quote, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

Winfrey and Dyer discuss manifestation and how it is different from the law of attraction. Dyer explains how we all have within us this amazing capacity to manifest anything into our lives.

The main lesson is that we attract into our lives what were are, not what we want.

If you say, “You are depressed,” your attention focuses on depression and more things to be depressed about. Feeling depressed can be okay because feelings change.

You get what you are rather than what you want. So, let negative feelings pass, but move towards an identity of happiness.

If you like this clip, check out more of Wayne Dyer’s work and more of Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul Sunday episodes. I’m sure I’ll feature both again in the future.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“When there is harmony between the mind, heart, and resolution, then nothing is impossible.”

– Rig Veda

The Vedas are a body of religious texts originating in ancient India that compose some of the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. I feature them regularly as closing spiritual passages.

This passage refers to the idea that we can achieve anything if our mind, heart, and resolution are in harmony.

I’m reminded of the moments of flow when you have complete faith and trust what will happen next.

There have been moments in sports or in life where I know that I can achieve an outcome or reach a goal, and it’s happened.

This idea of manifestation has many crossovers in many different religions and philosophies.

The Rig Veda passage exemplifies the perfect state of being for bringing the possibilities you wish to see into your life.

Take a step on the path of whom you want to be, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Plato, A Clockwork Orange, Howl’s Moving Castle, Alan Watts, and Quran 30:21

Sunday Supplement #16 (August 29th, 2021)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from this post that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.”

– Plato

Book of the Week:

A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess

Anthony Burgess is most recognized for the massive success of his novel A Clockwork Orange, which he gave credit to Stanley Kubrick for the movie adaptation. The film is a cinematic masterpiece for many reasons, but it is not a completely faithful adaptation of the novel. It also isn’t a great representation of Burgess’s work as a whole.

Most of Burgess’s creative writing was comedic, and he considered himself as much a composer as an author with over 250 musical pieces credited to his name. He was also a literary critic for The Observer and The Guardian and wrote studies of classic writers during his lifetime. For any who read A Clockwork Orange, though, it’s obvious why it’s his most famous work.

A Clockwork Orange takes place in a dystopian city that contains a youth subculture of acute violence. Gang leader, Alex, narrates his terrorizing journeys to the reader in a Russian-influenced English slang. Everything about the novel pushes the boundaries of good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. The primary arc of the book follows Alex’s adventures, his imprisonment for his crimes, and his subsequent release after he has been “reformed.” 

What most people will miss if they’ve only seen the Kubrick film is the final chapter the famous director omitted. This chapter brings an entirely different perspective to the end of the story and is worth the whole read to find out where Burgess intended to leave Alex. The novel takes a chapter or two to get used to the language, but it is well worth pursuing. It is on many top lists of “Greatest English Novels” and deserves its place in literary history.

Movie of the Week:

Howl’s Moving Castle

A shy young woman is cursed to an elderly age by a spiteful witch. Her only chance of reversing the curse is in the hands of a self-indulgent, insecure young wizard and his bizarre walking castle. 

I highlighted Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke in Sunday Supplement #2, and this is another gem from the acclaimed Japanese animation studio. Any one of their films is worth checking out, but this is one of their best. The theme of self-belief throughout the film creates an uplifting and wonderful watch.

The movie creates a beautiful blend of magic and realism. The internal journeys of each character have depth and meaning that come from a brilliantly adapted story. The scenery is breathtaking, and the magic in the film allows director Hayao Miyazaki to bring out the best of his creativity. I highly recommend the Japanese version, but you get Christian Bale, Billy Crystal, Emily Mortimer, Blythe Danner, and Lauren Bacall voicing the characters if you choose the English audio.

If you missed my post about Princess Mononoke, check it out, and add Howl’s Moving Castle to your list of animation films to watch. The former wasn’t nominated for Best Animated Film at the Academy Awards, but the latter was one of the picks, and both were deserving of the win. They are considered animated classics and wonderful films.

Brainfood of the Week:

An Alan Watts clip “Life is NOT a Journey” — animated by After Skool.

After Skool is a YouTube channel that animates videos as the backdrop to various life lessons presented by various individuals and texts.

Alan Watts is most known for breaking down and popularizing Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism for the Western world. He became known through his role as a volunteer programmer at KPFA radio station in Berkeley, California. Throughout his life, he wrote over 25 books and articles about religion and philosophy. The Way of Zen was one of the first bestselling books on Buddhism. Various of his other works put forth ideas and philosophies about human consciousness and existence.

In this video, Alan Watts talks about existence in the universe. He maintains that the universe is meant to be playful. He explains this through an analogy of music and art. The meaning in both is not determined by any destination but by the act itself. However, this concept is not something we see reflected in everyday conduct. The idea of a destination is brought on by many constructs in our society but often leaves the individual missing out on a deeper experience of life.

The After Skool video provides a cool animation of a brilliant monologue by Watts. It is a short clip and puts forth a positive perspective on engaging the world around us.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.”

– Quran 30:21

This passage from the Quran can be broken down in many different ways. One is the idea that we need companionship. From this, I take the word mate as meaning both intimate relationships and also the British slang for friend. I believe both provide significant meaning to our lives and help us be our best selves, have peace, and find purpose in life.

Another thing I pull from this passage is the idea of affection and mercy in love and friendship, meaning being there for support, especially in vulnerable moments. This isn’t always easy when you aren’t at your best, but it reminds me to be clear with my communication and inquire what is the best way to support them.

This coincides with the last part, which mentions the signs for people who give thought. In my opinion, meaningful relationships come when you give them thought and are present. You always have the time to be there for everyone at every moment, but I believe when you are with someone, you should give them your full attention and support.

I enjoyed coming across this passage from the Quran and hope you take something away from it that brings a positive perspective to your life.

Give the people you’re with your full attention and have a blessed week ahead!

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