Srikumar Rao's Blog, page 33
February 1, 2017
January 19, 2017
You Make It All Up!!!
I was looking for a really good example for a lesson I wanted to share with you.
Today, I found it. You will be well served in the New Year – now nearly three weeks old! – if you pay heed.
And I found this example, by happenstance, when I was not looking. In fact, I was goofing off and watching a movie.
Let me give you some background. Saroo grew up dirt poor in India. He was very close to his elder brother Guddu who would watch out for him and play with him and promised to get him lots of jelabis – an Indian sweet that they were too poor to afford.
He was also close to his mother who would hug him and cuddle him and feed him and care for him.
When he was five years old Saroo went to sleep in a stationary train that started up and transported him to Kolkata, more than a thousand miles from home.
Destitute and starving, unable to speak Bengali, the local language, he lands up in an orphanage and is adopted by affluent Australian couple. He is brought up in Tasmania.
Flashes of his childhood keep recurring and, with the encouragement of friends, he estimates how long he was on the train and maps out places that could have been his home. He then spends months visiting these via Google Earth.
Finally he strikes paydirt and hops over to India to meet his birth family. There is a tearful reunion with his mother. And then he asks, “Where’s Guddu?”
Turns out that Guddu had been struck by a train and died the same night he was lost.
He dissolves into tears and the heartache is palpable.
For the curious, the movie is Lion and it is still playing in theaters. Doubtless it will appear soon on Netflix and other streaming services.
The lesson?
It is that the grief he felt was something he manufactured in his head.
Pause to think this through before you push back.
Guddu had died nearly three decades earlier. But the sorrow and anguish he felt was today. He made it up in his head by the way he processed information.
He passed through many years of normal life and the elation of romantic love and the pain of sibling squabbles while Guddu was already gone.
He made it all up in his head!!!!!
He did not realize that this is what he did. Quite likely it was involuntary. Possibly you, also, are reluctant to accept that this is what he did. But he did. He took a memory, infused it with emotion and mixed it with recent knowledge of past events and felt deep pain.
You do the same.
Every time you think of an ex or some mistake you made in the past and wince, every time you worry about any event that ‘could happen’ you are manufacturing sorrow between your ears.
Think about this again and again till you see very clearly that this, in fact, is what you are doing.
Recognizing this is the first step on the long journey to rehabilitation. To stop indulging in needless suffering. And, by the way, Saroo’s emotions were probably socially appropriate and not ‘harmful’ if he let them go in good time.
In future posts I will give you tools to help you stop wounding yourself.
If you want to get a headstart, consider enrolling in the next Creativity and Personal Mastery program that begins in New York on February 24. The tuition will go up soon so consider doing it now if this has been on your radar.
The syllabus has been revised. Ask Janelle for the latest version and details of the program. She is at janelle.light@theraoinstitute.com
The post You Make It All Up!!! appeared first on The Rao Institute.
You Make It All Up!!!
I was looking for a really good example for a lesson I wanted to share with you.
Today, I found it. You will be well served in the New Year – now nearly three weeks old! – if you pay heed.
And I found this example, by happenstance, when I was not looking. In fact, I was goofing off and watching a movie.
Let me give you some background. Saroo grew up dirt poor in India. He was very close to his elder brother Guddu who would watch out for him and play with him and promised to get him lots of jelabis – an Indian sweet that they were too poor to afford.
He was also close to his mother who would hug him and cuddle him and feed him and care for him.
When he was five years old Saroo went to sleep in a stationary train that started up and transported him to Kolkata, more than a thousand miles from home.
Destitute and starving, unable to speak Bengali, the local language, he lands up in an orphanage and is adopted by affluent Australian couple. He is brought up in Tasmania.
Flashes of his childhood keep recurring and, with the encouragement of friends, he estimates how long he was on the train and maps out places that could have been his home. He then spends months visiting these via Google Earth.
Finally he strikes paydirt and hops over to India to meet his birth family. There is a tearful reunion with his mother. And then he asks, “Where’s Guddu?”
Turns out that Guddu had been struck by a train and died the same night he was lost.
He dissolves into tears and the heartache is palpable.
For the curious, the movie is Lion and it is still playing in theaters. Doubtless it will appear soon on Netflix and other streaming services.
The lesson?
It is that the grief he felt was something he manufactured in his head.
Pause to think this through before you push back.
Guddu had died nearly three decades earlier. But the sorrow and anguish he felt was today. He made it up in his head by the way he processed information.
He passed through many years of normal life and the elation of romantic love and the pain of sibling squabbles while Guddu was already gone.
He made it all up in his head!!!!!
He did not realize that this is what he did. Quite likely it was involuntary. Possibly you, also, are reluctant to accept that this is what he did. But he did. He took a memory, infused it with emotion and mixed it with recent knowledge of past events and felt deep pain.
You do the same.
Every time you think of an ex or some mistake you made in the past and wince, every time you worry about any event that ‘could happen’ you are manufacturing sorrow between your ears.
Think about this again and again till you see very clearly that this, in fact, is what you are doing.
Recognizing this is the first step on the long journey to rehabilitation. To stop indulging in needless suffering. And, by the way, Saroo’s emotions were probably socially appropriate and not ‘harmful’ if he let them go in good time.
In future posts I will give you tools to help you stop wounding yourself.
If you want to get a headstart, consider enrolling in the next Creativity and Personal Mastery program that begins in New York on February 24. The tuition will go up soon so consider doing it now if this has been on your radar.
The syllabus has been revised. Ask Janelle for the latest version and details of the program. She is at janelle.light@theraoinstitute.com
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December 28, 2016
Personal Mastery for extraordinary impact
As human beings we are torn. We want more stuff, better relationships, richer experiences and to be known and appreciated and applauded. Our insecurities are legion and they hound us into frenetic activity as we try to quiet the shrieking, howling feverish monkey of our mind.
But we also know that we are spiritual beings having a human experience and the drama of our existence with all its Sturm und Drang is merely a ripple on the pond of life.
If you wonder how to use all that happens to you as a tool, a mechanism that you can use to work on yourself, then register to join the community.
Your contact details will NOT be shared. You will NOT be bombarded with emails. You will NOT be deluged with messages asking you to buy stuff.
You WILL receive resources that will help you lead a life of immense productivity and incredible joy. Resources that will help you experience your life in richer ways that you could never have imagined.
Here is what you can access immediately when you register:
The New Networking
Networks are important. How would you like to create a network of deep relationships without ever feeling uncomfortable about approaching a stranger or artificial or self-serving? You can and this article shows you how.
The Shape of Leadership to Come
Would you like to be a leader for the ages? One that people follow with their hearts and not purely for personal gain? You will be surprised at what really inspires and engages people.
Stop! Think! Live!
We search desperately for happiness. We seek it here, we seek it there, we seek it everywhere like Frenchmen after the Scarlet Pimpernel. But it eludes us like a chamois in mountains. There is a different way.
Unhappy at Work?
Are frustrated in your job? Do you find it sucking the joy out of your existence? Here are some tips that will help.
Passion and Purpose
Can you really be happy at work? How can you ignite passion in your life and find purpose in work?
What’s better than Positive Thinking?
We believe that ‘positive thinking’ is the way to cope with adversity in life. But there is a better way. One that is far more effective and powerful.
Register to join the community
December 22, 2016
Paths of Glory Lead but to the Grave
He came in fashionably late and occupied his cushioned seat atop
the intricately carved marble structure upon which his throne rested.
It was a hot tropical morning but his heavy robes actually kept him
cool and shielded from the searing wind. His diadem laden crown
felt heavy and he refrained from turning his head for fear that it would fall.
He looked at the pulsing, seething crowd below and, instantly,
they fell to their knees in homage. A far larger crowd had
gathered outside the mammoth, red sandstone, walls of his palace.
There was anger in the air but it was rapidly changing to fear.
He was about to help that transformation accelerate.
Today was not an ordinary court day. Today he would let his subjects
know what happened when they forgot that he, and he alone,
was their divinely appointed ruler.
He leaned forward slightly to look directly below him. A dozen naked
men were there, each held in chains by two burly guards. They were
in sorry shape. Many had broken limbs with white bones showing
through torn skin. Flesh, charred with branding irons, was suppurating.
One was comatose and only the chains kept him upright.
They had all confessed. Under enhanced interrogation from his most
skilled intelligence officers they had given up comrades and exposed
the conspiracy. Even now his horsemen were pursuing the one
surviving leader. He would soon be captured.
Now it was time to teach his subjects a lesson they would never forget.
He raised his hand.
There was instant silence.
He pronounced sentence. They would all die the traditional death of
traitors. And they would die in public. A dozen pits had already been
dug in the maidan – field – outside. They would be buried up to their
necks and then the royal execution elephant, decorated and gaily
caparisoned, would stroll through the maidan. Skulls would flatten
with a sickening pop while bloodthirsty crowds cheered.
He would not be there. His favorite queen had arranged special
entertainment for him. Her men had finally captured the giant tiger,
known as Sher Khan, that had achieved such renown that even he
had hard of it. This evening there would be wine and music and
dancing girls as Sher Khan was pitted against his war elephant
in a battle to the death.
He looked forward to it. It had been a tiresome day.
This is not fiction. Scenes, exactly as described, happened
with some frequency during the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth
Mughal emperor who is better known as the builder of the Taj Mahal.
His palace, the Red Fort, was constructed in 1648 and is now
a World Heritage Site. You can see a portion of it behind me
in the picture. At the time the Mughal Empire held sway over
more than 150 million persons and comprised nearly a quarter
of the world’s economy.
The kingdom did not come easy to Shah Jahan. He was born
Prince Khurram, the third son of his father, the Emperor Jahangir.
He killed his older siblings in fratricidal war to grab the throne.
Immediately after his victory he ordered the execution of his
younger brother, Shahryar and the imprisonment of his father’s
favorite queen.
He certainly did not foresee that his third son, Aurangzeb, would
slay his brothers to grab the Mughal throne and then imprison him
in Agra Fort. He could see the Taj Mahal take shape but could
not visit till he died and was laid to rest beside his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The intricately carved marble structure, from which he surveyed
his subjects in the royal darbar, is now in a sorry corner of the castle.
Random tourists, such as myself, gape at it and take selfies.
Think about what you, today, are striving to achieve. Think of the
tremendous expenditure of emotional energy, of the pain and
suffering, of the hopes and fears.
One day, regardless of whether you win or lose, all of it will be
equally forgotten and disregarded.
Does this mean that you should stop striving?
Not at all.
But it does mean that you should be exceedingly careful about
WHAT you are striving for and WHY you are striving.
And recognize that the true value of what you are doing is not
in the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of your efforts but in the changes it
produces in you.
That is the most valuable life lesson for you.
Peace!
I am launching a new, exclusive program in 2017. It will include a trip to India and
visits to sites of great historical import, unusual experiences like a tiger safari
and deep reflection on your journey through life. If you would like more
information on this email her at janelle.light@theraoinstitute.com
The post Paths of Glory Lead but to the Grave appeared first on The Rao Institute.
Paths of Glory Lead but to the Grave
He came in fashionably late and occupied his cushioned seat atop the intricately carved marble structure upon which his throne rested.
It was a hot tropical morning but his heavy robes actually kept him cool and shielded from the searing wind. His diadem laden crown felt heavy and he refrained from turning his head for fear that it would fall.
He looked at the pulsing, seething crowd below and, instantly, they fell to their knees in homage. A far larger crowd had gathered outside the mammoth, red sandstone, walls of his palace.
There was anger in the air but it was rapidly changing to fear.
He was about to help that transformation accelerate.
Today was not an ordinary court day. Today he would let his subjects know what happened when they forgot that he, and he alone, was their divinely appointed ruler.
He leaned forward slightly to look directly below him. A dozen naked men were there, each held in chains by two burly guards. They were in sorry shape. Many had broken limbs with white bones showing through torn skin. Flesh, charred with branding irons, was suppurating.
One was comatose and only the chains kept him upright.
They had all confessed. Under enhanced interrogation from his most skilled intelligence officers they had given up comrades and exposed the conspiracy. Even now his horsemen were pursuing the one surviving leader. He would soon be captured.
Now it was time to teach his subjects a lesson they would never forget.
He raised his hand.
There was instant silence.
He pronounced sentence. They would all die the traditional death of traitors. And they would die in public. A dozen pits had already been dug in the maidan – field – outside. They would be buried up to their necks and then the royal execution elephant, decorated and gaily caparisoned, would stroll through the maidan. Skulls would flatten with a sickening pop while bloodthirsty crowds cheered.
He would not be there. His favorite queen had arranged special entertainment for him. Her men had finally captured the giant tiger, known as Sher Khan, that had achieved such renown that even he had hard of it. This evening there would be wine and music and dancing girls as Sher Khan was pitted against his war elephant in a battle to the death.
He looked forward to it. It had been a tiresome day.
This is not fiction. Scenes, exactly as described, happened with some frequency during the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor who is better known as the builder of the Taj Mahal.
His palace, the Red Fort, was constructed in 1648 and is now a World Heritage Site. You can see a portion of it behind me in the picture. At the time the Mughal Empire held sway over more than 150 million persons and comprised nearly a quarter of the world’s economy.
[image error]
The kingdom did not come easy to Shah Jahan. He was born Prince Khurram, the third son of his father, the Emperor Jahangir.
He killed his older siblings in fratricidal war to grab the throne. Immediately after his victory he ordered the execution of his younger brother, Shahryar and the imprisonment of his father’s favorite queen.
He certainly did not foresee that his third son, Aurangzeb, would slay his brothers to grab the Mughal throne and then imprison him in Agra Fort. He could see the Taj Mahal take shape but could not visit till he died and was laid to rest beside his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The intricately carved marble structure, from which he surveyed his subjects in the royal darbar, is now in a sorry corner of the castle.
Random tourists, such as myself, gape at it and take selfies.
Think about what you, today, are striving to achieve. Think of the tremendous expenditure of emotional energy, of the pain and suffering, of the hopes and fears.
One day, regardless of whether you win or lose, all of it will be equally forgotten and disregarded.
Does this mean that you should stop striving?
Not at all.
But it does mean that you should be exceedingly careful about WHAT you are striving for and WHY you are striving.
And recognize that the true value of what you are doing is not in the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of your efforts but in the changes it produces in you.
That is the most valuable life lesson for you.
Peace!
I am launching a new, exclusive program in 2017. It will include a trip to India and visits to sites of great historical import, unusual experiences like a tiger safari and deep reflection on your journey through life. If you would like more information on this email her at janelle.light@theraoinstitute.com
[image error]
December 5, 2016
The Real Reason You Get Angry and Fearful
I have fielded many calls in the recent past from persons in the grip of strong
emotions, primarily anger and fear.
Do you become angry and afraid? Have you ever wondered why?
Steve had a rough day at work.
His boss asked him to do a report all over again even though he had
scrupulously adhered to the guidelines he had been given. The boss had
changed his mind about what he needed. Instead of acknowledging this and
apologizing he blamed Steve for not giving him what he now wanted.
The HR clerk called to let him know that his expenses would not be reimbursed.
True, he had stayed at a more expensive hotel than permitted but had assumed
that he could cover the extra charges with personal funds.
Not so. The clerk said there would be no reimbursement. He could probably get this
reversed by going up the HR chain but it would take up time he did not have and use up
relationship capital he wanted to conserve.
As he entered his house he felt something under his foot and heard an ominous crack.
His son’s brand new Gameboy console had just broken. He had spoken to him many, many
times about the inadvisability of leaving stuff around.
Something snapped. He took the stairs two at a time with flames shooting from his eyes.
He was going to have a word with his son.
Why did Steve get angry? Why do you get angry? Steve thought that he got angry
because his boss was inconsiderate and senseless rules ate up his time and his
son was sloppy and heedless.
All true but these are surface explanations.
Steve got angry because there was anger in him. You get angry because there
is anger in you.
There is an Indian sweet called rosogolla. It is about the size of a ping pong ball
and white and very sweet.
If you drop a rosogolla on the ground and step on it, what comes out is sugary syrup.
You can beat it with a hammer or drop a suitcase on it or throw it against a wall.
No matter how you mistreat and ‘torture’ it, all that comes out is sugary syrup.
Why is this?
It is because that is what is in the rosogolla.
In exactly the same way anger flows out from you because it is inside you waiting
for a time to erupt. Ditto fear. And ditto a whole host of nasty denizens like jealousy
and insecurity.
Life is wonderful and presents you with manifold triggers for each of these to emerge.
But they can only emerge because they are inside you.
Recognize this. Don’t beat yourself up about it. That will simply add to the anger you
are already carrying about.
Just begin the process of transmuting it. Here is a simple way of doing so. Think about
something in your life that is a true blessing, something that you are grateful for.
It could be the peace you find when reading spiritual books. Or that you have a partner
who genuinely cares for you. Or the smile on your infant son’s face when you look down
on him in his crib.
Whatever it is, savor it and let that feeling of gratitude well up from within you and pour
out of you in waves.
If you are a type A person who lives in your head – as most readers of this blog are –
it may take a while to get from ‘thinking’ gratitude till you actually experience it.
Persist till this happens.
You will discover that it is impossible to be both grateful and angry at the same time.
And, no, you will not be able to be grateful that you are angry. Try it. It does not work.
When your default emotional domain becomes that of gratitude, you will be like the
rosogolla I spoke about. No matter what happens in your life, you will respond with
care, compassion and reasoned action.
Not with anger.
And you will find your life has been transformed for the better. Infinitely for the better.
If you would like more tips on how to affect such a transformation in your life, get a
copy of my book Happiness at Work
I will be in India next week and will visit Kolkota where I will make it a point to
consume many rosogollas!
Peace!
P.S.: There have been tons of expressions of interest in the online version of my course
Creativity and Personal Mastery that will begin in January.
This is designed for successful individuals who are ready to make a quantum leap in their
personal and professional lives. Stress will leave. Serene confidence will enter.
I have designed it so that you will find positive change happening in your life just by going
through the multi-stage application process.
To learn more email Janelle Light at Janelle.Light@theraoinstitute.com
The post The Real Reason You Get Angry and Fearful appeared first on The Rao Institute.
November 21, 2016
The World has Ended. Now What do I Do?
She called me right after the event. I could not see her but I knew her eyes were red with weeping. “
I am so distraught, Professor Rao,” she cried. “My stomach is tied up in knots. I cannot think
or work or eat. I feel as if Freddie Kreuger has slipped into my house.”
And then there is my long time handyman, someone I have used for years who always delivers
great service at reasonable price. “Why don’t they recognize that he won? This pointless
obstructionism simply ensures that we will get nothing done.” His face was lined with
anger and frustration.
The 2016 Presidential election in the US has shaken up the country like no other in a century.
Yet again a presidential candidate has won the popular vote and lost the presidency.
There is hand wringing and jubilation and deathly fear and talk of the apocalypse.
I am not concerned with who you voted for or whether you did so at all. I am concerned
about the fear and trepidation that has entered into your life.
Are you apprehensive that there will be a great rollback of progressive achievements?
That women will be groped and gays put back in the closet and minorities overtly harassed
and hardnosed military adventures will happen in different parts of the globe?
As of right now, these are just thoughts in your head. So is the added alarm as it becomes
clearer who gets on the team that will lead America forward.
Are you joyous because there will be walls built, trade flows halted, immigration checked
or even reversed and hard lines will be taken with the ‘bad guys’?
As of right now, these are also thoughts in your head. And already there are signs that
campaign promises are being abandoned en masse.
I will guarantee you one thing – the future will be far different from anything that you can envision.
I have personal experience with this. I was head of Consumer Research for Data Resources
in the late seventies when the personal computer was just appearing and one of my clients
wanted a report on how the world would change as a result.
I created a learned thesis depicting a future where computers would take care of drudgery.
It forecast that there would be an abundance of leisure for most professionals. My team even
thought that a 20-hour workweek would become the norm.
We all know how that turned out.
Thoughts in your head do have consequences. Everything that exists around you, was once
a thought in someone’s head. Our system of government, the building of the World Trade Center,
the felling of the World Trade Center, our financial industry web, were all thoughts in someone’s
head at some point.
Thanksgiving is on us. Be truly, genuinely grateful.
Don’t be grateful for something. Whatever you are grateful for can disappear. Just be grateful.
Get a copy of my book Are YOU Ready to Succeed if you need help on how to pull this off.
And from that space of gratitude, think of the thoughts in your head. Carefully pick the ones
that you would like to manifest and feed them your emotional energy.
I hope you will pick the ones that unite us and bring home that, underneath our various forms
and longings, we are all human beings who want to be free of suffering.
Peace to you and Happy Thanksgiving!
A beta test of an online version of my program Creativity and Personal Mastery will be launched
early in 2017. Those selected to participate will help shape its final form. If you like what I stand
for and are sincere about your growth, email Janelle Light at Janelle.Light@theraoinstitute.com
Use the Subject: “CPM Online in 2017″
Also, I will be in India in December. If you would like to explore having me speak at your company,
email Janelle.
Subject: “ India, December 2016″
The post The World has Ended. Now What do I Do? appeared first on The Rao Institute.
October 25, 2016
The Little Known Secret to Achieving Incredible Success
I made a mistake when I was young.
It took me decades to recognize that I had made the mistake.
I will do what I can to make sure that you don’t make the same error.
What was that mistake?
I’ll tell you. But first some background.
Buddhist sages have exhorted lay followers to practice Dharma
and consciously follow a spiritual path. The Indian sage Shankara
spoke about the endless striving after pleasure, sex and wealth and
how this led persons astray and away from the path of genuine happiness.
St. Timothy beseeched everyone to flee youthful passions, pursue
righteousness and call on the Lord from a pure heart.
My mother knew about all of them and more and tried hard to get me to
read works by the Great Masters and live by their words.
I wasn’t having any of it.
I wanted ‘success’ now. Far from fleeing youthful pleasure, I indulged
to the hilt. And I continued to batter my head on brick walls until I
realized a great truth.
The lessons taught by the Great Masters also lead to vast success in
the material world. They were fully aware of this. But they never spoke
about it because they were more concerned about your spiritual growth.
So, am I saying that deliberately pursuing a spiritual path is the way to
material gain?
Yes, Virginia, that is exactly what I am saying. You can have your cake
and eat it too!
There is a catch and it took me decades to truly understand this. You
cannot set foot on the spiritual path expecting material success. That will
come but it will come as a by-product. It is a consequence. If you make
it a direct goal, it will disappear.
This is the conundrum. It will come. It will come inexorably. But if you start
on the path expecting it to come, it will not. We rush about our lives
desperately trying to fill the holes in our psyche with stuff that we acquire
through our striving.
Do you recognize many of the persons in your life in the picture?
Perhaps yourself as well?
We become ‘hungry ghosts’ devouring what comes in our path and our
peace of mind and ability to experience tranquil joy are the first casualties.
And we ignore the solution that has been provided to us by sages throughout
the ages. A solution that provides both abundance and spiritual growth.
Did you see The Karate Kid? Daniel is beaten up by goons and asks Mr. Miyagi
to teach him karate so he can protect himself. He was also looking for revenge.
Mr. Miyagi sets him sanding floors, waxing his car and painting his house.
Frustrated and angry, Daniel accuses Mr. Miyagi of using him as a servant and
is about to stalk off. Mr. Miyagi asks him to look in his eyes and attacks him.
Taken by surprise, Daniel instinctively defends himself and well. That is when he
learns that waxing, sanding and painting have given him the muscle memory for
karate blocks and punches.
Its pretty much the same story with the teachings from the world’s wisdom traditions.
You are born. You will die. Use the little time you have to get yourself out of the
great illusion in which you are ensnared.
But the steps you take to do this will also benefit you within the illusion.
Stand back and let that happen organically and on its own. Your focus will be on
personal growth.
You don’t have to make trade-offs. Both joy and success can be your lot in life.
I will elaborate on what steps you can take that will lead you to temporal success
as well as spiritual growth in coming columns. If you are impatient and cannot wait,
read the offer below.
Peace!
My program, Creativity and Personal Mastery, has helped thousands of persons
profoundly transform their life. I am launching an online version and the beta test
will happen soon. There are only twelve spots available.
If you would like more information email Janelle at
Janelle.Light@theraoinstitute.com
The post The Little Known Secret to Achieving Incredible Success appeared first on The Rao Institute.
October 12, 2016
Donald Trump, Abraham Lincoln, Dishonest Politicians and a Lesson For You!
Reading the newspaper each day is a surreal experience. Doubtless you feel
you have entered The Looking Glass World.
But there is a lesson here for you. A lesson that will serve you well in
business and in life.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a noble politician to vote for?
A high-principled one who would instinctively and always do the right thing?
Perhaps someone like Abraham Lincoln?
Unfortunately it turns out that Honest Abe “…dissembled, waffled, told racist
stories and consorted with corrupt politicians.” He also planned dirty tricks to
counteract his opponent’s antics including a scheme to harvest large numbers
of illegal votes. Read more about this in an article by Garry Wills in the
October 5, 1992 issue of Time magazine.
Fast forward to today and the New York Times reports that many Republicans
are whipsawed “between two unpalatable options: alienating much of their
party’s base, or standing behind a nominee who is unacceptable to most
mainstream voters.”
Donald Trump has set new records for mendacity and the House Speaker,
Paul Ryan, is giving a celebrated imitation of a human pretzel as he tries
to “explain” his position.
I have some advice for all these torn politicians.
How about doing what you honestly, deep-down truly, believe?
How about forgetting about whether or not you will get elected and doing
what you feel will be in the larger interest of the nation? That will create
the country that you would wish your children to live in?
Who has the capacity to heal divisions and raise an ennobling vision as
Lincoln did in his second inaugural address: “With malice toward none,
with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the
right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s
wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow
and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting
peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Is there no such candidate?
Fine. Then pick the one who is closest to it even if the gap is wide.
The politicians have an advantage that most of the rest of us don’t. They have
personal experience of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton or they know persons
who do.
Who best represents what America stands for and what they wish it stood for?
Support and root for that person. Leave your petty interests out of the picture.
And what lesson does this have for you and me?
We, too, are torn as we go about our lives. Should we protest that sexual
comment or let it pass because the person who made it is very senior? Should
we lay off the pleasant, incompetent person or the prickly foreigner who is
really good at his job? Should we speak up when the consensus favors a policy
we disagree with? Or remain silent and acquiesce to avoid rocking the boat and
alienating superiors?
In most cases we take an action based on our judgment of what is best for us.
We are all self-centered and always have been.
But let us at least actively consider what is the ‘right’ thing to do.
Some of the time we will actually do it.
And it will enrich our lives.
Peace.
The post Donald Trump, Abraham Lincoln, Dishonest Politicians and a Lesson For You! appeared first on The Rao Institute.
