Thinking about It

Swamini Supriyananda - Chinmaya Mission

Do you ever stop and think about why you do what you do everyday?

Australian psychologist turned Hindu Monk, Swamini Supriyananda, provides insightful answers to your contemporary questions and challenges. Her captivating anecdotes, infused with the philosophies of the ancient Hindu teachings, are guaranteed to inspire us to think about it!

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345 episodes
Updated March 13

Episodes345

Newest first

Jan 6, 2021 · 6 min
Chinmaya Gratitude Challenge: Day 6
The saying "actions speak louder than words" could not hold more truth, especially in the case of gratitude. Gratitude can only be complete once it has been thought of, felt and expressed. Ponder upon times you have been treated with gratitude – it is usually a pleasant feeling. Now, reciprocate that feeling and express your gratitude by engaging with today's task of volunteering. Once we realise how much we have received, we also see just how blessed we are and how expressive we can be with our gratitude.
Jan 5, 2021 · 7 min
Chinmaya Gratitude Challenge: Day 5
Our eyes provide us with the blessing of sight and vision. Beyond observing the sunsets, landscapes, and physical features of our natural world, we can also be grateful for the more subtle yet extremely meaningful and potent sights, expressions, and quite significantly, colours. Notice the influence of colour, their ability to blend in or contrast with each other, their addition to beauty, dimension and structure. Express gratitude to one of our most valuable senses: sight.
Jan 4, 2021 · 8 min
Chinmaya Gratitude Challenge: Day 4
We don't normally meet most of the people that contribute to the finished products we consume. We only really meet the last person in the chain. Today, we focus on the people we do meet and acknowledge how we interact with them. How do we progress from automated, transactional interactions to actually showing our gratitude? The answer lies in making eye contact, being physically present, and while saying "thank you" is a start, more statements can be made to elevate our interactions.
Jan 4, 2021 · 8 min
Chinmaya Gratitude Challenge: Day 3
The often-asked question, "Do you see the glass as half-empty or half-full?" stands for a few amazing things. While both options hold true, the one each one of us sees makes a tremendous difference in how we feel. Today, we will focus on how perceiving things as half-full can make us feel somewhat complete and content. Try to find your gratitude buddy and message each other three messages with three things you are grateful for in that moment or for that day, three times a day for the next three days.
Jan 2, 2021 · 7 min
Chinmaya Gratitude Challenge: Day 2
Today, we focus on the chain of events that have occurred for us to use things. For instance, buying a cup of coffee appears a simple act, but behind the scenes, someone had to design the cup, someone had to source the material, someone had to build the coffee machine, someone had to keep it clean every day – and this is only just part of it! Remember the many hands that have helped you get the things you now enjoy. With sincerity, send out an acknowledgement of gratitude to all of them from your heart.
Jan 1, 2021 · 8 min
Chinmaya Gratitude Challenge: Day 1
Welcome to this year's health challenge on gratitude! There is a growing understanding of the concept of gratitude as being thankful; a readiness to show appreciation. Gratitude starts with the acknowledgement of receiving something or possessing something of value. Upon recognizing the value of something, we can be thankful and grateful for it. This 30-day challenge will progressively go deeper into the process of gratitude and involve a 2-to-3-minute meditation session to broaden our gratitude awareness.
Dec 16, 2020 · 8 min
Self-Unfoldment - Thinking While Acting
While acting, we often relive memories of the past and create desires for the future. Thoughts of failure or success create emotions that cloud thinking. We also compare the past or future with what's now, thus, losing out on present opportunities. Similarly, in the present, confusion or physical distractions take us away from the current action. So take all of these thoughts, and surrender them at the feet of the Lord. Clear them all away and make space in the mind to be able to stay in the present moment.
Dec 9, 2020 · 7 min
Self-Unfoldment - Efficient Action
Efficiency and dexterity in action means acting fast with precision and perfect technique. There is very little waste of time, energy or resources. Also, we do the action in the spirit of Karma Yoga and build ourselves up. When we are present and single-pointed in our action, our mind is less cluttered and detached from the results. In a silent and purified mind, we can feel grace and divinity working through us. This inspires us to focus more on our spiritual growth, taking us closer to our ultimate goal.
Dec 2, 2020 · 9 min
Self-Unfoldment - Where's all that energy going?
Satyam (truthfulness), Ahimsa (to not hurt), and Brahmacharaya (intelligent self-control) are the three pillars of Hinduism because when practiced, they create energy dynamism. With an integrated, kind, and disciplined personality, our energy is not dissipated. Understanding how our energy works is crucial for we can then appropriately generate, conserve, and direct it into a field of our choice. Rather than unknowingly depleting our energy, we consciously adjust to balance it and serve a higher purpose.
Nov 24, 2020 · 9 min
Self-Unfoldment - What's that smell? Vasanas!
Lingering like a smell left behind in a room, our Vasanas are the continuity from lifetime to lifetime. These past impressions on the mind manifest as our tendencies, likes, dislikes, and personality traits. For instance, when something comes very easily to us, we had to have worked at some point to acquire that ability. We create who we are, from the past of this life and that of so many previous lifetimes. So let's put the effort and time in now to master the skills and virtues we value.
Nov 18, 2020 · 8 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 8 of 8
Other than nurturing the mind with gentle compassion like we would a friend, we can evaluate it like a mystery series by having a sense of wonder and excitement as we figure it out. For introspection questions, we apply to ourselves the concepts learnt in scriptures and commentaries, podcasts, or books. Most importantly, we rely on our intellect to draw that line when we start overthinking. Today, we take a break and think about how important it is to do that.
Nov 17, 2020 · 6 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 7 of 8
It is counterproductive to over self-analyze and fixate on rectifying ourselves. With excessive criticism, we collapse inwards and become smaller, no longer blossoming and unfolding. We introspect to see our personality layer, peel it away, and go deeper into ourselves. Once we see the truth underneath it all, we adjust our behavior to bring out and enjoy that beauty within us. Today, focusing on one weakness, we see its effects on us, think of its substitutes and reflect on our thoughts around negating it.
Nov 16, 2020 · 5 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 6 of 8
While self-analyzing impartially, we discover weaknesses that could trigger shame or guilt. But when we see our thoughts as they appear, we realize that we experience every type of thought which affects our personality differently. So we need not judge ourselves harshly when we find and can build a pattern of thinking. Introspection also becomes highly amusing and entertaining with practice as we notice the sneakiness of our mind. Today, we reflect on our speech and the damage control we did because of it.
Nov 15, 2020 · 9 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 5 of 8
In contrast to who we are, we all have an image we aspire to be. But in our eagerness to be that ideal, we think up another version of ourselves. We also sell ourselves short when we aren't the ideal we hold. Introspection gives us clarity on who we are as we accurately assess our thoughts, separate from emotions. With detachment, we bridge the disparity between our different images and lift ourselves closer to who we'd like to be. Today, we practice objectivity by looking at ourselves through others' eyes.
Nov 14, 2020 · 6 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 4 of 8
The introspection structure explains that the deeper we consciously trace a pattern of thought within our personality, the deeper we can negate and adjust. A successful alteration then leads to our unfoldment as it affects so many of our actions. There is also the development of presence of mind as we observe others to learn and experiment with different ways of doing things before eventually adopting one. Today, we notice our feelings about ourselves, about others and when we compare ourselves with others.
Nov 13, 2020 · 7 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 3 of 8
The process of introspection takes openness and time for we simply sit in waiting silence with an incident, thought or emotion. There is no active doing or hunting, neither a general idea nor an obvious answer and no hurry to get the answer. Reflecting on a day's events is a good start for the mind to attune to details. But as we proceed, less specific and more time-pervading questions can be asked. Today, we check our feelings for both the intensity with which they featured and our predominant emotion.
Nov 12, 2020 · 8 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 2 of 8
Introspection involves a lot of self-observation and self-evaluation. Introspection also entails staying with an identified mental process to see if it was inspired by an emotion or if it created one. So from our actions, thoughts and feelings, we identify the thought or emotion that led to them and its reasoning. It could be completely irrational or have been brewing for some time. Using the same question as yesterday, today we trace our thoughts and check for patterns in our thinking and feeling.
Nov 11, 2020 · 8 min
Introspection Course 2 - Day 1 of 8
While identifying our actions, thoughts, and feelings during introspection, the mind learns to bear a witness attitude. We develop our ability to simply observe. Our mind is also trained to be alert and wholly tuned into our thought process as we examine all identified thoughts for motivation of our actions. These great qualities help build the frame of mind that is needed for meditation. Today, we look back on our day's actions and reflect if they could have been done any better.
Nov 4, 2020 · 9 min
Introspection Course 1 - Day 8 of 8
We are who we due to our choices and experiences, most of which, were not conscious. Introspection empowers us to make purposeful adjustments and recreate ourselves with understanding and love. Yesterday, we created a space where we could deliberately choose happiness. So today, we ask if we exercised that choice during our day. With openness and awareness, we also recap on previously posed questions, looking for connections or patterns in our being, acting, interacting, reacting, thinking, and feeling.
Nov 3, 2020 · 9 min
Introspection Course 1 - Day 7 of 8
Despite its structure, introspection is neither a forced process nor a deliberate action. There is no "have to". When practicing this technique, we stay with an action, thought or emotion for as long as we can before moving on. We go on looking, noticing, and appreciating, when suddenly, something may just become clear since our mind was made available to see and understand. Today, as we look back at our day, we ask ourselves if we made a conscious choice to be happy and introduce that concept to our mind.