IS YOUR MIND REALLY YOURS?
Break Free from the Shackles of a Programmed Life by Ajay Sachdeva
Life in many ways has been very kind to me, and I have a sense of deep gratitude for all that I have been blessed with. However, like many of us, I too have had my share of extremely low moments, triggered by certain events that shook me. It is largely in such moments that one’s spiritual quest as a seeker begins, in terms of finding answers to a set of perplexing questions that plague us. It is common to turn to various spiritual practices in the hope that there will be handy solutions given to us on a platter. While I respected the essence of the philosophies that many spiritual practices had to offer, I realised that no philosophy would work for me if it did not strike a chord of an ‘inner’ resonance. After all, blindly following any practice would only be an imposition, not something that truly connected with my heart. Thus began my journey, spanning years of introspection, of learning from a multitude of experiences, reading several books on spirituality while being an observer of nature and its phenomena. In the process, I realised that for one’s inner truth to reveal itself, one needed to stop trying to figure out the external world. What one needed to do was just figure oneself out.
This book, a culmination of all my efforts in understanding the self, is intended to stimulate the readers to dispassionately revisit their life’s journey so far. It invites them to carry out an honest exploration of who they really are and the relationship they have with themselves. The underlying premise is that it is only in the knowing of one’s true self that one can liberate oneself from the shackles of an illusory and caged existence, which becomes the cause of one’s misery. Life is essentially centered around the relationship one has with one’s self (with one’s thoughts, feelings and emotions), which in turn determines the relationship with one’s external world, comprising spouses, families, friends, society, workplace, and so on.
As a consequence, some fundamental questions have been raised in the book to provide food for thought. For instance: Are we, in our conditioned state, living a life that is akin to a computer hardware that has been programmed to operate only in a certain way? Or for that matter like a caged bird that is bereft of the freedom to fly and to live according to its true nature? Have we handed over the remote control of our lives to others, whom we allow to determine our state of mind, in fact our thoughts, behaviours and even key decisions? Are we honestly living authentic lives, being true to ourselves?
The answers to such questions must only come from our readers. While they reflect on their own answers, a case is presented for them to consider rising above all the ‘wrongs’ and ‘rights’ of the perspectives that may have been imposed on them, as also the multitude of belief systems they would have accepted as their life’s reality. The aspect of being true to oneself and operating from the ‘free spirit’ as an alternative to operating from the ego dimension and the programmed mind, thereby experiencing freedom, growth and contentment, forms the crux and cornerstone of this book.
In sum, whilst this book does not aim to present any new philosophy to its readers, it certainly attempts to prompt readers into examining life from another perspective -- the setting free of all convoluted ideas, opinions, and stereotypes -- all that the mind has gotten entangled with and which never belonged to individuals in the first place. It is in this letting go and establishing the connection with the true self that they can begin to feel the liberation that was always within them but got caged in the mental trap.
The answers to such questions must only come from our readers. While they reflect on their own answers, a case is presented for them to consider rising above all the ‘wrongs’ and ‘rights’ of the perspectives that may have been imposed on them, as also the multitude of belief systems they would have accepted as their life’s reality. The aspect of being true to oneself and operating from the ‘free spirit’ as an alternative to operating from the ego dimension and the programmed mind, thereby experiencing freedom, growth and contentment, forms the crux and cornerstone of this book.
In sum, whilst this book does not aim to present any new philosophy to its readers, it certainly attempts to prompt readers into examining life from another perspective -- the setting free of all convoluted ideas, opinions, and stereotypes -- all that the mind has gotten entangled with and which never belonged to individuals in the first place. It is in this letting go and establishing the connection with the true self that they can begin to feel the liberation that was always within them but got caged in the mental trap.
* Note: Content of this page is provided by the author. Barkatt shall not be responsible for such contents.
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About The Author: Ajay Sachdeva
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Ajay Sachdeva is a graduate in Mathematics from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, a post-Graduate in Operations Research at Delhi University, from where he is a recipient of a gold medal for securing first rank in the University. He then went on to pursue his MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. Ajay has over 37 years rich experience working with several leading Indian and Multinational Corporations, both in India and overseas. His key areas of expertise include marketing, business strategy and managing start-up ventures.
He has also been a visiting faculty teaching Marketing Strategy at various Management Institutes in the country. He retired recently as the Managing Director of an Indo-British joint venture enterprise, which he helped build from scratch. His interests include reading, travelling, music, badminton and chess. Of late, he has taken to writing on spirituality. Many of his articles have been published in the Awakening Times, an e-magazine published in Serbia and also appear in the blogs of Speaking Tree. “IS YOUR MIND REALLY YOURS?” is his first published book in the realm of Self-help / Spirituality. |
Acclaim for "Is Your Mind Really Yours"?"Ajay Sachdeva has done a great job in demystifying the complex mind and presenting it beautifully in the context of our day - to - day living."
- Ashok Wahi Former CEO, Lemuir Group, Life Coach and Healer "An extremely thought - provoking text that compels the reader to understand his own self and beliefs that he thinks are of his own making."
- Rajiv Walia Managing Editor, Asia News Agency "A must read for all who strive to discover the 'divine intelligence' residing in our hearts so as to cleanse what the author calls our 'conditioned' mind."
- Gautam Bakhshi Business Consultant "The author is lucid, readable and truthful."
- S.K. Bhatia Former Executive Director, General Electric Corporation of India Award Winning Writer "This book is a must read for those in search of becoming better human beings."
- Percy Batlivala Former Chairman and Founder of Indian Institute of Retail Training "The concept of trusting our conviction instead of seeking continuous validation from others about being on the right path has been my key takeaway from this book." - Hitesh Chandel Chief mentor of Defined Values Consultants, Author of Code of Citizen's Conduct. |
Select Reviews on AmazonA highly recommended read.
The tile of the book "Is Your Mind really Yours" and the sub-title "Break Free from the shackles of a Programmed Life" really and truly resonated with me. The book is very well structured and easy to read.. it made me question the belief system that causes me to put limitations on my very own life and the reasons behind my reluctance to move away from these very belief patterns that limit me and hold me back. The book is a good reminder of the fact that we need to build a strong relationship with ourselves before we look on the "outside". It is divided into seven chapters that take you step by step ... re-iterating how your relationship with yourself is instrumental in the final sense of liberation and happiness that we are all seeking and the importance of breaking away from mental programming that so tends to curtail our relationship with the various parameters of our daily life. All in all. a highly recommended read.. one of those books that you could keep by your bedside and return to whenever you feel that you have had a "bad" day. It reminds you to "Let Go" and "Go with the Flow". - Anjali Puri "What made great reading was the thought provoking revelation that invariably our minds don't reflect our inner truth.So we lead lives basis "borrowed", limiting, conditioned belief systems that act as barriers for experiencing our freedom, contentment and potential for growth. It is this programming and societal conditioning of the mind that needs to be dropped for a fulfilling journey of life."Is Your Mind Really Yours"?: Break Free from the Shackles of a Programmed Life.
- Gagan Berry A highly recommended read for an alternative lifestyle
I came across this motivating book called " Is Your Mind Really Yours"? Written by Ajay Sachdeva. When my mind was in self denial mode due to various happenings around me it helped me to an alternative way of thinking and to condition my mind to deal with different situations. The book is very easy to comprehend and the use of quotes to explain the content is an excellent idea. Overall it's a very well researched book which is a very good choice for repeat reading. A must buy book for people of all ages. - Nilmani Khanna |