Date:20/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/20/stories/2006012002210200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Helping people fight stress in a simple way

Special Correspondent

Religion is an experience, not a belief system... nor dogma, says Swami Sukhabodhananda, founder of the Prasanna Trust and author of several best-selling books

Bangalore: "Religion is an experience, not a belief system... nor dogma," says Swami Sukhabodhananda, founder of the Prasanna Trust and author of several best-selling books. The true experience of religion often gets distorted when one is dogmatic, he believes.

Here he talks about his two new books: Looking at Life Differently and Wordless Wisdom. "The first is a series of questions people often ask me and answers to them. I have tried to follow the ancient Indian practice of `vidharka' where finding a breakthrough or answers and solution are more important,'' he says.

In Wordless Wisdom, he has presented ideas, each running to two pages or less, loaded with meaning for those who seek a meaning to their lives. "This is where you need to both think and read to understand what is in print," he adds.

Most people come to him with problems and they get weighed down with problems, mostly of their own making, he has found over the years. "It is a common myth that if you have no problem you can be happy, I keep coming across unhappy people who have no major worries," he says with a smile.

In his programmes, many specially created for corporate executives and employees, Swami Sukhabodhananda stresses the fact that most people spend 80 per cent of their energies whining about their problems and only 20 per cent or even less on trying to find a workable solution. "Reverse this and things become easier to cope with... I tell people not to become victims of their problem,'' he says.

Problem solving is a skill that management schools routinely teach and presumably, many executives attending his classes have gone through such learning. But they still end up being stressed out because of problems of a personal or family nature. "Another cause for stress among corporate employees is the urge to meet targets... if they take time off to find creative methods to reach those targets and try to enjoy their efforts while doing so, they will not be so stressed out, I tell them,'' he says.

Fear and anxiety are often created by one's own mind, he explains. He has created an acronym: Fancied Experience Appearing Real. "Most fear is not about what is happening right now but about what may happen... fear should not become a full stop, only a comma. By being more self-confident you can deal with any fear... even Sachin Tendulkar may feel some anxiety while stepping out to bat but he overcomes it, I'm sure,'' he remarks.

He also advises people not to be judgmental because it means using one's own yardstick and not being objective. "Try to see a person as he or she really is... you don't always have to be like them,'' he says in parting.