Reflections on being distracted by work

~ Sanjay Tumati

I keep in touch with a few of my friends who I feel possess qualities that I would like to inculcate in my life. One of these friends is strong in his Christian faith. In a conversation to understand what a monk does to understand the spirit of doing. He said:

Monasteries are obligated to be as self-sufficient as possible for the basic necessitates. The spirit of which extends to the individual monks. They farm but they are not farmers. They makes clothes but they are not tailors. They herd but they are not herders. They may even write computer programs and debug and test them, but they are not programmers. They are spiritual scholars that happen to work with their own hands to support their vocation as monks, but they must not be distracted by the work itself.

This comment struck me very close to home because of the similarities with what we are doing in C3StreamLand. At C3Streamland, we too are self-sufficient, not only for our basic necessities but also to support a whole host of activities such as employment (we provide it), education (we provide it free of cost), Vipassana at Auroville (group sits/short courses, 10-day courses), Seminars for growth (RTL workshops), support other principled and ethical actors (Thamarai, RTLWorks, SAIIER). Indeed in this respect, perhaps, we go further than a monastery does.

Now comes to the point of being distracted by work and activity. We work for a commercial concern in Bangalore as a means to support ourselves, as well as fund our activities and the larger community in Auroville. In addition, each one of us in involved in some teaching activity or the other, be it an activity or formal classes. Further, each one us also has an accountability with regards to maintaining the Organisation as a whole à Finances (school, C3streamland), Maintenance (Internet, facilities, power) etc. Furthermore, most of us are also supporting others in their growth (organising Vipassana activities, organising RTL workshops and supporting them as PCs). 

Apart from generating a livelihood and supporting others, work and being busy with wholesome tasks is a wonderful tool to prevent me from falling into lower mental states that for me a chiefly characterized by sloth, addiction to useless information and trivia (which the internet has an unending supply of), time wasting conversations, mental brooding and so on and so forth.

The benefits of having an engaged mind during all waking hours have been spoken of by Great Men and Women down the ages. As my friend never tires of reminding me, Jesus was a fine Carpenter with a very strong work ethic. Buddha himself did not believe such a thing as R&R (rest and relaxation) since the impurities never rested, so why should purity?  Closer to time, GoenkaJi would keep busy peeling potatoes if there was nothing else to do and his wife, Mataji herself was never found idle when awake, her favourite go to activity being knitting sweaters. Mataji used to mention the importance of having a mind engaged in a wholesome (or at least not-unwholesome) pursuit at all times.

So much for the benefits of an engaged mind. Now I come to my friends’ admonition. There is a very real possibility and danger that I am getting distracted from my larger purpose in life in the rush to keep delivering on my livelihood and my support activities. There is the danger that I become so distracted by my Job performance and my various support roles, in meeting the delivery schedules and my social commitments that I forget what I really want from life in terms of my inner life. How do I forget what I really care about at a deep level? When I notice that my thoughts are mostly about what needs to be done next and what needs to be done today, when I notice that my Vipassana practice has become mechanical, when I notice that I am too tired at night time to care about any of the higher things in life that I claim to care about in daytime, when I notice that I am too tired to desire the higher mental planes that a human can access and that I wish to access.

Now that I notice it what will I do? I don’t know. For one, I have become aware of it, so that is a good thing. The next is to reflect. Clearly I am not overworked. It’s just that I am overwhelmed. I am building tension during the course of my day that leaves me detached from the higher mental planes as the daylight concludes. I no longer feel attracted to the lower mental planes during the nights as I used to, so that’s reason to rejoice. But the goal now is to cultivate the sort of mind that feels attracted to the higher mental states even as the day progresses right until the time comes for slumber.

Pie chart on daily activity

~ Poovizhi

8th grade students in Udavi are learning pie chart. In C3STREAM land we
have a system where we enter teachers notes everyday and will receive
feedback on the same from Sanjeev at the end of the week. From his
feedback I learnt that I can ask children to draw pie chart for their
daily activity. I asked them to collect data on their daily activities
for 24 hours to create a visual representation of their time management.

Students began by recording their activities throughout the day, by
writing them down on their notebook. They then organized the data into
categories, such as sleeping, eating, studying, traveling, and leisure time.

After categorizing the data, students calculated the percentage of time
spent on each activity. They converted number of hours in degree for
each activity and plotted them in a pie chart.

Each activity was shown as a separate slice of the pie, with the size of
the slice corresponding to the time spent on that activity.

Once the pie chart was complete, students analyzed and interpreted the
data. They noticed patterns and trends in their time management, which
helped them understand their own behavior and habits better. Students were able to notice where they spend more time and realized where they need to work on.

This exercise helped 8th-grade students develop their skills in data
collection, analysis, and visualization. By engaging in this exercise,
they gained a deeper understanding of pie charts and how they can be
used to represent complex data in a simple and visual form.



Tech Session With Udavi School Teachers

~ Poovizhi, Sri Bhavani

On 08/04/2023 We organised a technical session for the teachers in Udavi school from C3STREAM land. In this session, we offered our learnings to teachers be aware of cookies, application permissions, agreements and terms and conditions.

The session was handled by Sanjeev. He began the session by screening the popular documentary “The Social Dilemma,” which highlights the dangers of social media and the impact it can have on our lives. The documentary served as an eye-opener for many of the teachers, who were unaware of the extent to which their personal data is being collected and used by tech companies.

Participants were able to understand the situation of how much children were addicted to mobile phone usage. How it affects their emotions.

In Social media platforms, we always get feeds based how we likes and dislikes. No one is monitoring each person to provide such things. It was done by AI algorithm do it. The feeds were customised for each person based what they search and see.

Notifications: Turn off notifications of applications. When people get notifications, at that moment they get diverted to notification message. Anyways we see our mobile phones many times in a day. Turn off notifications of some app may help us to reduce the distraction.

Ethical and un-ethical business:

Ellipsis: Ellipsis are three dots you can see in some social media while other person is typing a message. It makes us to keep wait for the message until we receive. It also takes our time to be keep waiting for what will be the reply. In some applications, there will be option to turn of this.

Password: Never Save your passwords online. There is always risk of losing your password when you are saving it online. When people need to save their sensitive information like password, they can use keyPass tree application to save their passwords safe in offline also.

Digital wellbeing: In every android phone, there is a inbuilt app called Digital wellbeing. In this application, user can set the timer to use mobile phone for a particular time period and also user can set timer for usage of each application in your mobile phone. It will be useful for the parents who wants to control their children phone usage. After the usage of that particular time, application will lock automatically.

The session was well-organized, and the teachers were appreciative of the valuable information they received. They left with a better understanding of the importance of data privacy and online security and Conveyed their gratitude for their learnings.

Insights from the Participants:

Insight 1: I am able notice that I don’t have the control over the mobile phone usage.

Insight 2: I am able notice I am being monitored based on likes and dislikes, feeds were customised based on my likes. This session helped me to be aware of how I am using phones.

Insight 3: Creating these kinds of applications affecting the people who don’t know about these AI algorithms. They simply using these applications, get addicted to it. It leads to loss of their life sometimes.

Sri Bhavani:

From the session, I learned about ellipsis, keypass application to save passwords safely and Digital wellbeing app in mobile phone. I am to be aware of how I am using the technologies.

Vipassana experience and insights

~ Ajay, Arunkumar, Dinesh, Rajesh, Sivaguru Prasath

Vipassana experience and insights

We practiced 5 precepts in Sila

  1. to abstain from killing any being.
  2. to abstain from stealing.
  3. to abstain from all sexual activity.
  4. to abstain from telling lies.
  5. to abstain from all intoxicants.

These avoided any strong negative mental volition.

We then practiced Samadhi which is Mastery of mind/ Concentration of mind using breath.

Then we practiced about Panna(Wisdom) – which eradicates the defilements from mind through observations of sensations without reacting.

Metta bhavana – a meditation which I shared my merits to all the beings to be happy and be kind.

Here are our reflections from the same:

Ajay:

I found that the initial days of practicing Vipassana meditation were quite physically challenging, but over time I began to feel that my mind became more active and my body felt lighter. After attending the meditation, I felt a sense of lightness and happiness. This practice helped me gain insight into myself.

Arun kumar:

Vipassana is a cause and effect meditation technique, I learned that the peace comes from within is more enjoyable than the transient excitement and happiness. The focus on the sensations helped me to grasp that everything in life is temporary and it will change, nowadays my emotions have been controlled and I am responding to the situations rather then reacting to them.

I noticed the following changes in me at Vipassana and after being back:

  1. Calmness in mind
  2. Less anger
  3. Increase in concentration
  4. Lesser impatience
  5. Taking responsibility for happenings around me

Dinesh:

My reflection about Vipassana was accept the reality as it is, don’t stress myself at any cause. Before Vipassana I got distracted easily and less focused but after Vipassana I am able to notice that If I got distracted I accepted it ,I wouldn’t regret it and then immediately got back to work rather than going into guilt and doing nothing. With Ana panna (breathing technique) I am able to focus on my breathe for longer time and got focused mind even though my mind got distracted. Previously, I gave more importance to my feelings and started to react but now with my equanimous mind I started to observe my feelings rather than reacting to it.

Rajesh

I have noticed that I have gained control over my wandering mind. Through Vipassana meditation, I have learned to stay present and accept things as they are, rather than how I want them to be.

Previously, I used to react immediately to situations based on my emotions, which would lead to long-lasting regret and negativity. However, by practicing Vipassana meditation, I have learned to be aware of the sensations that arise within me . I no longer create cravings or aversions towards any sensations, which has helped me avoid reacting to unpleasant situations.

As a result of my practice, I have also developed feelings of goodwill towards all living beings, including humans and animals. While I continue to practice daily to fully eliminate any remaining roots of aversion, I am grateful for the progress I have made towards liberation.

Sivaguru prasath

Learning the vipassana meditation is such a divine experience, I felt the sensations of my own body and also learned how determined I am.

To practice this technique, I prepared myself mentally and observed my sensations without reacting to it.

Being equanimous the best part I have practiced in this 10-day vipassana course without reacting to any impermanent reactions with craving or aversion.

-Pagoda cell

Vipassana in Swarna Bhoomi

We learned why the Pagoda structures are there at Vipassana centers in honor or Swarna Bhoomi (Burma/ Myanmar) where it is believed Vipassana was retained in its pristine purity.

It is said that King Ashoka who was called as Chand (Cruel) Ashoka and he was very proud of this name and about the killing the rulers and extending his reign across the country. When he came in contact with Vipassana and practiced it he was transformed. He realized his mistakes and changed after that, he insisted his sena members to learn this technique to master the mind and he then sent them to make Vipassana reach worldwide.

The two monks “Sona and Uttara” went to Swarna Bhoomi (Burma) to share this technique to Burmese people they kept the technique to its utmost purity, after 25 centuries the ancient technique to master the mind reached its origin (India).

Radical transformation leadership program for B.VOC team and Family members 

~ Poovizhi, Durai, Sribhavani

On February 18th, from 8:45 AM to 5:30 PM, C3stemland organized a radical transformation leadership program in Tamil at Auroville SAIIER conference hall. It was a one day program in Tamil, facilitated by Srilatha Juva, Professor at TISS. B.VOC students and teachers, SAIIER staffs, employees, volunteers and their family members were invited for the program.

Radical transformation leadership is an approach developed by Dr. Monica Sharma, who worked for the United Nations for 22 years as director of Leadership and Capacity Development. It is based on universal values of dignity, compassion, fairness, and equity. It enables people to shift from ego-systems thinking (what benefits me) to eco-systems thinking (what benefits all)

The primary objective of the program was to help participants identify their stand,fear, four profiles and gain a deeper understanding of their background conversations, system principles, and design from universal values. By participating in these sessions, participants were able to develop a new project that addressed their problem statement, focusing on self-growth or social issues, and using their potential to bring about positive change in themselves and their communities.

Around 55 people took part of the program. Throughout the program, participants collaborated with their partners, shared their reflections and insights, and engaged in a collective effort to create a better future.

The program was an interactive session with everyone and involved practicing the tools such as:

  • Introducing oneself with what one deeply cares about or universal values that reflects one’s purpose and vision
  • Identifying one’s own profile based on four dimensions: wisdom, social, personality, and professional
  • Understanding one’s own background conversations within the family and how they influence one’s actions and choices
  • Deriving system principles  based on universal values
  • Designing projects based on universal values and system principles, noticing system and cultural norms, and shifting them by being in action

Throughout the session, everyone engaged with their partners and shared their reflections and insights on plenary.

Some of the insights from participants during the session were:

  • I realized that I have been limiting myself by my own beliefs and fears
  • I learned how to communicate effectively with others without being judgmental or defensive
  • I discovered my passion for environmental sustainability and how I can contribute to it through my project
  • I felt more confident and empowered to take action for my goals

Poovizhi

Organizing the program was an opportunity for me to stretch beyond my comfort zone and be in rigor. At the end of the session, I felt whole and fulfilled. I was able to ask for support from my team. I was able to notice my fear, my background conversations and that I judge myself  when I shared my personal example with everyone specially because most of the participants were from local area and were people I or my family members know. I was able to name my fear and be in my universal values and share.

Sribhavani


I was inspired by the participant through their insights. I saw this as an opportunity to remind myself to notice my fears and let them go by acting from my universal values. I was able to notice, what can I do differently and able to discern others perspective of thinking.

Usage of Vipassana at work by Youth in the Modeling Team

~ Sanjay, Sundaresan, Vasanth

I work with two Youth, VasanthaRaj and Sundar as part of the modelling and MSV team for C3StreamLand/AuraSemi. All the youth here have been introduced to Vipassana meditation. While the  high standards set by GoenkaJi for daily Vipassana practice (2 hrs/day. These are not met even by most seasoned household meditators and in many cases even Dhamma workers at the centers) may not be maintained by the youth, I notice that they do practice of their own volition from time to time.

I notice both Sundar and Vasanth sit upright, back and neck straight on their chairs, eyes closed, palms on thighs and meditating. This post is about this practice of theirs in the form of a Q&A

Q: I notice that the two of you meditate on the chair at work now and then. How often do you do it?

Ans. About once or twice daily?

Q: How long do you do it?

Ans. 2-3 minutes each time

Q: Why do you do it?

Ans. To Bring back our attention to work. When we notice that our mind is not on work

Q: What causes you to have difficulty in attending to work?

Ans. The normal mental wear and tear of the day

Q. Does the 2-3 hour of meditation work in bringing back your attention to work?

Vasanth: Yes, the Concentration does come back 60% of the time with just 2-3 minutes

Sundar: For me, with 2-3 minutes, the concentration comes back 90% of the time

Q. Have you tried longer duration, say 5 minutes?

Vasanth: Yes, if I am completely de-energized, I sit for 10 minutes. This is rare. I did not test how often this works

Sundar: I sit only 2-3 minutes at a time, but if I find it not enough, I go for another 2-3 minutes. I don’t have an estimate for how often the next attempt works or how often I need to sit a second time.

Q. Do you use a stop watch for setting the time?

Ans. No, we just sit for as long as is comfortable. We estimate it is around 2-3 minutes, but not more than 5 minutes.

Q. Any concluding comments?

Vasanth: Practicing Anapanna for a few minutes throughout the day helps me to regain my concentration when my mind is wandering. It also improves my work efficiency.

Sundar: Practicing Anapana helps me regain my concentration when my mind is scattered. However, it can be difficult to maintain focus on the breath, as my mind tends to get distracted by my thoughts.

Activating 7 Chakras in the body with sound Bowl

~Sri Bhavani, Narmadha, Poovizhi

This week Miss. Muthukumari created an opportunity for us to experience sound bowl therapy. I am grateful to join the yoga session with shifuians.

My reflection on sound bowl therapy: When I hear the sound during meditation, I feel relaxed. It improved my concentration and felt brisk after the session.

Sound Bowl:

This bowl is also called a singing bowl. Buddhist monks used this bowl during meditation practices. 

She used a bowl, sound wave takes 7secs to fade for single struck on the wall of the bowl. This sound helpful to activate 7 chakras (energy centres) in the body. Each chakra has its own frequency to activate. Sound bowl help to activate them by singing it in different note.

The length of time it takes to fade depends on many factors like size and shape of the bowl, material and the way it struck.

Because of these factors, it is pretty hard to assign accurate frequency for a singing bowl.

The 7 chakras in the human body are

Root Chakra (Muladhara): This chakra is located at the base of the spine and is associated with the colour red.

Sacral Chakra (Svadhishthana): This chakra is located in the lower abdomen and is associated with the colour orange.

Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura): This chakra is located in the upper abdomen and is associated with the colour yellow.

Heart Chakra (Anahata): This chakra is located in the center of the chest and is associated with the colour green.

Throat Chakra (Vishuddha): This chakra is located in the throat and is associated with the colour blue.

Third Eye Chakra (Ajna): This chakra is located between the eyebrows and is associated with the colour indigo.

Crown Chakra (Sahasrara): This chakra is located at the top of the head and is associated with the colour purple.

And also, we did asanas with supporting material like shawl in this week. We did back stretch and front stretch. This new method supported us to stretch beyond our comfort zone. We learned the asanas along with its benefits. There are some asanas than can help us recover from back pain and varicose nerve problems.

Gomukhasana

Dhanurasana

Bhramari Pranayama:

This is one of the pranayamas we learned in the yoga session. While doing this pranayama, we create a bee humming sound. It helps to calm our mind and helps to heal nerve system.

I learned to do the asanas with their benefits. It is good to have practice in routine life.

Playing Abalone Game at Stemland Udavi: A Fun and Educational Experience

~Durai, Kugan

At STEMland in Udavi school, learning new games is always a fun and exciting experience. We work with the 10th graders in their classrooms and don’t have as much of an opportunity to engage with the games at STEM Land.  However, recently, we had the chance to try out Abalone a very popular game among children at Udavi school and we had a lot of fun with it.

Before diving into the game, we took the time to understand the rules and mechanics of the game. For those who have never played Abalone before, it is a two-player strategy game where the goal is to push six of your opponent’s marbles off the board in any direction while keeping your own marbles intact. The game requires critical thinking, strategic planning, and as we were novices a bit of luck as well.

Playing Abalone at Stemland Udavi provided an opportunity to not only have fun but also use critical thinking and strategic planning. We could see how this could improve the cognitive abilities of children while enjoying the game. Having played it, it is not a surprise that Abalone has been named “Game of the Year” in several countries, including Switzerland and France, due to its unique design and engaging gameplay. The game has even sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

Overall, Stemland Udavi is a great place to try out new games and learn new skills. With its friendly and welcoming environment, it’s the perfect place for anyone who wants to have fun while expanding their horizons be it children learning Mathematics or youth coming in to learn programming/electronics/VLSI design.

Four profiles

~Sandhiya, Poovizhi

At C3STREAM land we have sessions of continued practice of Radical Transformational Leadership sessions every Thursday within our group as well as being open to people from outside.
Few people in our team have attended the PC training with Dr. Monica Sharma and the team. To continue the practice of delivering the tools we have planned to deliver one tool in a week on Thursday mornings. I have created an excel with the number of PCs and the tools and invited the PC’s to choose the tools for which they feel they need more practice and came up with a plan for next 5 months.
Being able to practice tools each week and being able to present tools each week creates a culture of being rigorous in our practice – understanding the tool better and deeper.
The plan includes a backup person also. Whoever is delivering the tool prepares on their own first and have a call with Sanjeev a day before to get clarity on how to deliver the tool, check if the examples are suitable.
On 02/02/2023 it was Sandhiya’s turn to take Four Profile tools and I was the resource person. We worked on “My Four Profile”. Once Sandhiya completed her presentations, I gave feedback to her and Sanjeev coached her.

Reflection on being a resource person:
My name is Sandhiya, I stand for courage, care, and happiness for myself and others. I notice that growth happens beyond my comfort zone. Though we had done the exercise many times each time it gives us an opportunity to reflect and learn about ourselves. By delivering the tool I was able notice that I was uncomfortable but when worked through it I was able

Reflection on being a backup person:
My name is Poovizhi I deeply care about equality and equity. I learnt that I have all the four profiles ( wisdom profile, social profile, personality profile and professional profile). When I work from my wisdom profile I am able to notice that the way I see at my other three profiles changes.

Participants insights:
I have been thinking that the shift in social profile is happening only now a days but during the exercise with my partner he said his parents have done inter cast marriage. I learnt that the shift has been happening from earlier also.

I learnt that wisdom profile is important

I learnt that wisdom profile is important because even if I change my profession my wisdom profile remains the same.

I thought that personality profile is not important but I learnt that all profiles are important.

The Active Learning and Preparation for State Board Exams: Udavi School

~ Duraisamy, Kugan

The 10th-grade students at the Udavi School in Edaiyanchavadi are preparing for their upcoming state board annual examination. With 13 students taking the exam this year, the school has implemented a mock examination every day as a method of preparation.


One of the unique aspects of the preparation process at the Udavi School is  the freedom given to the students to study wherever they want, whether it be in the classroom, under the banyan tree, or in the portico. This freedom allows the students to choose their preferred study environment.

Not only do the students have the freedom to choose their study environment, but they are also allowed to actively engage in learning by sharing information and concepts. The students are learning by memory, discussion, and active engagement with the material. This mode of learning has been shown to increase retention and understanding, which will serve the students well in their exams.

Additionally, by dedicating each day to one or two subjects and writing a mock exam, the students are gaining crucial practice in memory retention, writing, and time management. These are all important skills for the upcoming state board exams, and the mock exams will provide a sense of what to expect on exam day.

Finally, this mode of preparation is fostering confidence in the students. They can see their progress and feel prepared for the upcoming exams. Confidence is a key factor in exam success, and the Udavi School is doing a great job in helping the 10th-grade students build their confidence.

The Udavi School’s approach to preparing for the state board exams is innovative and effective. By giving the students freedom in their study environment and encouraging active learning, they are ensuring that their students are well-prepared and confident for the exams.  It is inspiring to see how the Udavi School is helping its students succeed.