Source: here.
There was always a spirit of competition between me and my father. Same was true of my brother. We felt internally satisfied when we did better than him in some areas of mental and physical ability. Eventually, in the domain of knowledge and science we became superior to him. But there were 3 areas we never measured up to him:
- the enormous ability for mental arithmetic calculations.
- cricket and
- that “pAshupata yoga” attitude to life.
It is that yoga that has led him to all his successes in life and every other ability of his was merely an incidental matter. He is always secretive of that yoga but definitely consciously confident of it. It is hardly of the flashy kind that so many yogIs may display, and the enormous difficulties he has faced in life have definitely had their mark on him, but his ability to survive has depended on that yoga.
I have often wondered if the proclivity for that yoga a genetic trait. After all I have observed so many little things being transmitted down from my ancestors to me and manifesting in me, in many cases to my own dismay. I suddenly realized the importance of that yoga and how I would need to master to survive the next great tsunami in rasArNava. When the first great wave came the gods had borne us aid and we remained afloat under remarkable circumstances.
पितृविषये विस्तारः (स्रोतोऽन्तरात्)
He is extremely tenacious and maintains the same demeanor whether the task is pleasant or unpleasant. He makes checklists and never misses any item on it. Doesn’t rest till the task gets done no matter how many hassles come in the way.
If he has to focus on the growth of wealth (through mutual funds, shares etc) - it is done with a detached approach of studying the math, the industry, the economy etc and live a normal lifestyle, never to indulge.
He also keeps his brain active by doing deliberate practice of arithmetic and geometry. For example - by looking at any random street scene - like say a water tank - and try to mentally compute its volume or mentally do the compound interest formula. When young, father still had memory of say things like - Fourier Transforms, Laplace Transforms, etc and a lot of the MTech level math and way able to impart them.
- Though he doesn’t perform rigorous Yogasanas, he has been very regular with Pranayama and Sandhya.
- He never eats too much or too less. Never asks for a favorite dish. Always eats whatever veggie is there with least complaint. And always supplements with fruits.
- His clothing is very simple and his needs are very simple.
His tenacity and ability to get tasks done ALWAYS with a smile on his face must be coming from his Japa of Rama’s name. His mantra is a very simple one - Rama, Rama, Rama… continuously. Whenever any situation gets tricky, he closes his eyes and repeats Rama’s name for a few minutes and then is able to dive in with enthusiasm and optimism.
If he has to deal with someone difficult he thinks of Hanuman intensely.
He does use other mantras- Rudram, various Vedic suktas etc… but Rama’s name is the foremost along with daily reflection on some passages from a Tamil book on the Ramayana. He is a great believer in mantra recitation. One major one for every day of the week. Thus all the suktas and Taitt Up get covered over the week.