DEEPAK CHOPRA answers questions on children and scriptures, how to focus on clearing examinations, and prayer as quantum communication
How can reading scriptures be of any help in my being able to understand the world, asks my eight-year-old son, Pranav. What should I say to him by way of response? — B N Tiwari
■ Dear B N Tiwari, I know you are eager for him to understand, but I will suggest that an eight-year-old is too young to grasp the nature of life. At that age, children absorb values of right and wrong from their parents. Beliefs are unconsciously absorbed and lessons inferred by how the parents behave. So your influence is more powerful than reading scriptures, particularly if your son isn’t eager to read them. At that age, and when my own son was that age, the fascination lies with stories, the more supernatural the better. It’s a start.
I am a student of Class 12. My priority is to get admission in one of the best colleges of Delhi University. I had been getting really good grades till Class 11. But in Class 12, I am constantly losing my concentration, focus and the ability to learn and grasp faster. My peers are doing very well, including those who scored less than I did, earlier and I am scared of this fierce competition. How will I perform in the Board Examinations? What should I do? — Ankita Gohri, 18 years
■ Dear Ankita, I can only offer some general help, since I don’t know your precise situation. Your letter shows a lot of anxiety, and when you are worried, it isn’t easy to learn. You might have heard about ‘math panic,’ where girls are so anxious at math that they panic and cannot learn anything —their emotions overwhelm them. You need to realise that you are not here to carry this whole burden. Talk to advisers at school and your parents. Perhaps having a tutor would help and often tutors are volunteers picked from the most successful students. You might have a friend who would be willing to help. Also, you should seek support for your worries about the future. I can assure you that test results are not the end of anyone’s life or a determination of future success.
Realise that worry and anxiety will get you nowhere. I know that’s easy to say, but all you can do is your best. You might have to face the reality that you need extra help in Grade 12, and it is no shame to ask for this.
Can prayers be quantum communication? Which spiritual techniques help in communicating with the higher Self? — Shashidhara Gangaiah
■ Dear Shashidhara, No one has proven that thoughts take place through quantum activity, although there is much speculation on the matter. I think you might consider relating to God or the higher Self, whatever term you choose, in a more personal way. Rather than communicating with an outside being or entity, you are really connecting with another level of your own consciousness.
Talking to someone else, either in person or on the phone, is simple because you see yourself as separate from the one you are talking to. But every aspect of yourself is part of you, always present. The cells in your body receive chemical messages that communicate your every thought and feeling.
So the operation of consciousness is everywhere. If you are religious, you probably think of God outside yourself, but God or the gods, Atman, Brahmn, the soul, or the higher Self are in consciousness, existing as part of the same unity. There is no division between them, so even to speak about parts is misleading; there is only wholeness.
Why do we feel the need to pray? We want a living connection with a higher power, and quite often we are in trouble and want this higher power to grant us a favour. If this thing we want comes about, we say that our prayers have been answered. But this overlooks that lots of things go our way without praying for them.
There is no magical way to improve your connection to the entity you are praying to. Meditation works to settle the mind, with the aim of always being conscious that you are connected to the whole.
My only advice is to have the intention of being part of the total consciousness that is the source of everything. Realise that your body and mind spring form this source and are always connected to it. I hope this puts prayer in a new light, as a practice that can bring the outcome you desire without being set apart as the only way to do that. ■
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