“Hurry Worry Curry” (HWC) Syndrome to Spiritual Life of Sattvic Habits

Most of us as average individuals living at surface consciousness driven by TAMASIK and RAJASIK tendencies, like an amorphous mass, are largely driven by HWC syndrome. This all begins with liking of spicy food babits (Curry), which affects our thought process and makes us a worried lot and we feel and can be seen in a Hurry reflected by our Actions. This is largely true in working life and personal life or when we are travelling on road in dense traffic trying to overtake other vehicles or doing simultaneous tasks. This tendency invariably leads to a stressful life and health issues and there is enough evidence as seen in social media and newspapers.

My experience of having food (PRASAD) in the Dining Hall during my brief stays in Sri Aurobindo ashram resonates with the impact of food we take … as food is one of the major contributing factors in formulating mind-body balance for holistic development. The Mother used to emphasize on having Sattvik food keeping in view nutrition value of food intake.

I do remember earlier days of my life in late thirties and mid-forties when I used to have spicy and oily food in breakfast and also lunch just to enjoy the taste and this habit led to increase in cholesterol levels and symptoms of high BP as a wake-up call. It was incidentally diagnosed by breathlessness when I had to climb a cliff during an off-site trekking trip organized for company officials.

Treading on the path of Integral Yoga as invented by Sri Aurobindo, one moves from entity as an amorphous mass to the individual self. Individual self is least impacted by external stimuli, thoughts and feelings imbibed from environmental factors / interactions, and driven by free will guided by the psychic self.

This has been a transformational journey for me which I felt over a period of last many years as I moved from reactive to active response to external stimuli and shift in making choices. This journey required daily practices of 40-50 minutes in the morning (morning walks, meditation) and pre-sleep time (chanting of hymns) to connect with the Divine Spirit – hymns, meditation on a chosen deity, listening to devotional music being some of the tools which were used.

There are many examples of such seekers who went through a transformational change during their life journey, and common practices followed by them was a religious life pattern of tasks which are vital and essential for a spirited life of good balance of Physical, Vital and Mental self.

- Pranav Srivastava (India)

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