Quotes by AVIS Viswanathan

“Sometimes in Life, 2+2 does not equal 4! Things just refuse to add up at times. Talent + Integrity + Hard Work do not immediately deliver worldly success/financial rewards/recognition/fair play!! And so, thats how we learn that we are all a product of the time we go through.”

“Make time for yourself. Diligently. Purposefully. Daily. The affairs of the world will go on forever – even long after you are gone. But do you want to die having lived a Life that you wish you had rather not lived at all? If you want to live a different Life, you need to make time for yourself. Now!”

“Acceptance is a great state to be in. It surely does not make a problem disappear. But the struggle stops. The ‘Why?’, ‘Why Me?’, questions die down. There is complete calm. When there is calm, there is focus, there is a sharpness. When you are focused, you invest yourself in solving the problem. You stop complaining about the problem. When you are non-complaining, you are at peace; you are happy with what is.”

“Watching indelible ink (what they use to denote you voted during elections in India) fade/peel off from your finger, albeit slowly, is fascinating. It is a gentle reminder that everything is, after all, impermanent. Nothing lasts forever!”

“You have stopped living the Life that you are meant to live when you attach too much importance to what the world thinks of you. And unwittingly, along the way, you have given the world the right to make you, well, intensely unhappy!”

“Companionship is a celebration of being together. It transcends the immediate physical attraction that two people experience when they first meet. It is all about their nurturing a core idea: what do the two people in the relationship want out of Life – together?”

“Letting go does not mean giving up on Life. It means giving in to Life. It means going with the flow. It is a prayerful state, of complete surrender, of trusting the process of Life.”

“Life offers no security. The idea of security and certainty are a function of education and economic power. While both are important, neither can bring you Happiness. You are happy only when you are doing what you love doing. And that means you must be willing to go where Life is taking you. Uncertainty, adventure, journeying into the unknown…all these are an integral part of the process of Life!”

“Every once in a while, sit down and make a list of people who have touched your Life and made a difference to you. Quietly, thank them…deeply…from the bottom of your heart. Watch yourself breaking down and crying like a baby. This is the surest way to humble yourself. And to realize just how much you owe the Universe in return for who you are, what you are and where you are today!”

“There is magic, beauty, romance and poetry waiting for you every step of the way. Life is waiting for you, with open arms. But where are you? You are not present here, in the now. Perhaps you are trapped in the past – thinking about what could have been. Or you have raced into the unborn future – busy worrying about what has not yet happened. Remember: this moment is the only Life you have! Unless you are present in the moment, you cannot celebrate Life.”

“Spirituality teaches you to be fearless. When you realize that everything that you are trying to cling on to or protect, including your own Life, will eventually be gone, will be taken away, you turn fearless!”

“A crisis is a great teacher. So, learn to love your crisis. Going through it with acceptance, and a seeking spirit, you will emerge stronger, wiser and happy!”

“If you pay close attention to your Life’s journey so far, you will realize that you have always – and only – got what you need. What you want has come to you, on its own, in its own time, and often only when you have stopped wanting it! This is the way of Life. Understand this. And you will live happily ever after!”

“Science teaches us to question, analyze, research, reason and believe. Spirituality teaches us to question, seek, understand, accept and realize. It is never about which one is more superior. Both are based on intuition. No scientific discovery has been possible without an intuitive leap. And spiritual progress is not possible without an intuitive quest. Both disciplines show us the way to learn and evolve in Life.”

“If you want to understand Bliss, do this little exercise. Imagine you are in your favorite place in the world. Or imagine you are with someone you love. Now, imagine peeling off your body and letting your spirit soar freely. Imagine dissolving in that moment. The oneness you feel with the Universe, even if momentarily, is Bliss. If you can recreate this experience in most of your waking hours, you stay blissful. And the only way to do this is to not postpone your Bliss, but to follow it – by doing what you love doing!”

“Just as being human is crucial to living responsibly, so is staying true, being authentic, key to living intelligently, to living happily. You are unhappy the moment you stop being true or being authentic.”

“When you learn to flow with Life, you discover the way to just be. When you simply are, you are happy!”

“Happiness is a decision that you must make.”

“You are at peace with your world when you don’t judge others. Learning to be non-judgmental is an art. And you learn this art through discipline. You learn by choosing not to comment, not to offer opinion on the actions, comments and lives of others. Being silent is key to being disciplined – and to being happy!”

“If you feel an unquenchable thirst in you, welcome it. Celebrate it. In children, this thirst presents itself as curiosity. In adolescents, it appears as a search for love, for belonging. In young adults, it manifests itself as a search for worldly success, validation, recognition and acceptance in society. And when you are past your mid-30s...latest by your 40s...it appears as a search for meaning. Slowly, if you are tuned, and are in sync with the energy that created you, you discover something magical! You awaken to the truth that Life is intrinsically meaningless. And bringing meaning to your Life is your responsibility. You do that by following your Bliss, by choosing not to postpone your Happiness!”