Events & Personalities
Pursuit of happiness
"The quality of your life depends on the state of your mind,” stated senior faculty member of The Art of Living Foundation for 27 years, Khurshed Batliwala (pictured, pg 28) at a webinar on "Well-being and Happiness” on May 24, 2020 organized by the Delhi Parsi Anjuman’s (DPA) Social Centre Committee. "The tendency of the mind is always to swing from the past to the future like a pendulum. Anger, regret and guilt are the remnants of the past which we carry along with anxiety for the future. So let’s take the ability to learn from the past, tame the mind in the present and plan for the future.”
Following a recitation of the Ashem Vohu prayer, the practicing Zoroastrian introduced the audience to his views on life and happiness with a disarming smile. The 51-year-old, who enjoys Parsi cuisine and culture and visits the agiary in Bangalore, led the 95 participants of all ages to a guided meditation of 24 minutes.
Stressing the need to stay focused, the spiritualist dwelt on "how easily we get distracted from a task on hand.” Success lies in being focused, he stressed. Spirituality is the key to focus on the four states of consciousness: being "awake” — when one is aware of one’s surroundings but not rested; "sleep” — there is rest now but no awareness; "dreams” — where there may be neither rest nor awareness and one wakes up with a disturbed sleep pattern, and "meditation” — where rest and awareness co-exist.
He described "tamas” as the tendency towards inertia and lethargy; "rajas” as the tendency towards action. When both are balanced, a new state of "sattwa” dawns, he said. "When one is in sattwa, it is remarkably easy to meditate,” explained the teacher. "The outward expression of sattwa is the feeling that one is lucky to notice the good things in life. One experiences harmony, purity, good luck when sattwa is high,” he noted. In most agiaries and atash behrams, the sattwa is intrinsically elevated. For most people feelings of peace and well-being manifest when with devotion in their hearts they enter a place of worship. Answering questions from the audience, he suggested, "We should fight loneliness by the ability to be happy with ourselves and with others… Happiness is like a horizon. We can see it but can never get there. It requires a complete change in mindset to be able to live and enjoy the fountain of happiness within each one of us. And not waste our lives pursuing it,” he concluded.
His informality punctuated with wit and humor created an instant connect with the audience. "I believe in being happy and making others happy,” were Batliwala’s first words at The Art of Living organization in Bangalore. A highly acclaimed and prolific speaker, teacher of meditation and private coach, he is also an alternate healer and renowned spiritualist. The congenial speaker has been called Bawa from his college days.
According to his Facebook profile Batliwala holds an MSc in mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He chose the unconventional profession of "teaching people to be happy through meditation, instead of teaching them maths and making them miserable.”
He has organized, created and taught self-development in 30 countries and speaks at TedX and corporate events on work-life balance and leadership. He is additionally a certified cranio sacral therapist and has designed his own board game called Mumbai Connection, notes a write-up on him.
He has co-authored two books -- Ready, Study, Go and Happiness Express. He is also a trained western classical pianist. DPA president Ava Khullar thanked Batliwala on behalf of the Anjuman while Ashdeen Lilaowala did so on behalf of the DPA’s Social Centre Committee.
Following a recitation of the Ashem Vohu prayer, the practicing Zoroastrian introduced the audience to his views on life and happiness with a disarming smile. The 51-year-old, who enjoys Parsi cuisine and culture and visits the agiary in Bangalore, led the 95 participants of all ages to a guided meditation of 24 minutes.
Stressing the need to stay focused, the spiritualist dwelt on "how easily we get distracted from a task on hand.” Success lies in being focused, he stressed. Spirituality is the key to focus on the four states of consciousness: being "awake” — when one is aware of one’s surroundings but not rested; "sleep” — there is rest now but no awareness; "dreams” — where there may be neither rest nor awareness and one wakes up with a disturbed sleep pattern, and "meditation” — where rest and awareness co-exist.
He described "tamas” as the tendency towards inertia and lethargy; "rajas” as the tendency towards action. When both are balanced, a new state of "sattwa” dawns, he said. "When one is in sattwa, it is remarkably easy to meditate,” explained the teacher. "The outward expression of sattwa is the feeling that one is lucky to notice the good things in life. One experiences harmony, purity, good luck when sattwa is high,” he noted. In most agiaries and atash behrams, the sattwa is intrinsically elevated. For most people feelings of peace and well-being manifest when with devotion in their hearts they enter a place of worship. Answering questions from the audience, he suggested, "We should fight loneliness by the ability to be happy with ourselves and with others… Happiness is like a horizon. We can see it but can never get there. It requires a complete change in mindset to be able to live and enjoy the fountain of happiness within each one of us. And not waste our lives pursuing it,” he concluded.His informality punctuated with wit and humor created an instant connect with the audience. "I believe in being happy and making others happy,” were Batliwala’s first words at The Art of Living organization in Bangalore. A highly acclaimed and prolific speaker, teacher of meditation and private coach, he is also an alternate healer and renowned spiritualist. The congenial speaker has been called Bawa from his college days.
According to his Facebook profile Batliwala holds an MSc in mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He chose the unconventional profession of "teaching people to be happy through meditation, instead of teaching them maths and making them miserable.”
He has organized, created and taught self-development in 30 countries and speaks at TedX and corporate events on work-life balance and leadership. He is additionally a certified cranio sacral therapist and has designed his own board game called Mumbai Connection, notes a write-up on him.
He has co-authored two books -- Ready, Study, Go and Happiness Express. He is also a trained western classical pianist. DPA president Ava Khullar thanked Batliwala on behalf of the Anjuman while Ashdeen Lilaowala did so on behalf of the DPA’s Social Centre Committee.
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