JKYog founder Swami Mukundananda, spiritual leader and authority on mind management, launched the Mind Management Challenge on YouTube on September 11th, 2020.
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Swami Mukundananda
Similar to the hugely successful Happiness Challenge (2018) and the Life Transformation Challenge (2019), it consists of 21 short yet powerful videos, designed to transform one’s perspective through Vedic wisdom, delivered in Swami Mukundananda’s inimitable lucid, witty and profound style.
A Global Phenomenon!
Worldwide, several people have joined the Mind Management movement as Mindful Ambassadors to transform and uplift their communities. Within a few days, the challenge has become viral on social media, among millions of people seeking foolproof stress relief and joy in a post COVID world.
“Swamiji’s eclectic approach shines through in this #MindManagementChallenge Day #1 video where he juxtaposes the lives of Howard Hughes and Sindhutai Sapkal to drive home the power of our mind. His style of marrying ancient Vedic wisdom with modern scientific knowledge is unparalleled and unique. In this age of mostly meaningless physical challenges, floating around on social media, the #MindManagementChallenge is a welcome and refreshing initiative to truly challenge ourselves to make our lives more meaningful and fulfilling,” shares Santosh Chavan.
Many enthusiasts have started journals to keep track of things they are grateful for. Others are thankful to be able to access this freely through the internet during the pandemic.
Swapna Punyakoteeswaran shares, “In this time of COVID and lockdown, technology is helping us gain access to such precious knowledge from the comfort of our home. Great service to humanity by Swamiji and JKYog Team! Can’t wait for the rest of the videos in this challenge!”
The Need for Mind Management
Never has mind management been more salient than now. Countless recent research studies have shown the pandemic’s significant impact on mental health across all demographics and professions, due to lives and livelihoods being snatched away in an untimely fashion.
In the introductory video of this challenge, Swami Mukundananda says, “There are those who have learnt to master their mind. Very easily any negative thoughts or emotions that enter – they reject them as unproductive and worthless! And they choose to dwell on thoughts that are beneficial; that are uplifting and sublime. They tap into the inner inspiration to lead enriched lives. On the other hand, are those who are slaves of their mind. They don’t realize the gap between the environment and their mind, because they have never thought of controlling it; and hence they feel victimized by the circumstances, the situations outside, the behaviors of others – consequently they ride the rollercoaster of their emotions. God has given us all many resources to lead a life we choose to. The primary amongst these is the inner machinery called the mind.”
As individuals and communities this calamity demands us to express the absolute best of ourselves for the benefit of others and exert all our faculties to emerge victorious!
The tide is visibly turning to highlight the importance of our own mind.
Business paradigms are changing to primarily adopt a mindful approach to resources and personnel to support employees families and ensure their physical and emotional well-being above all. COVID-19 has emerged as the ultimate disruptor – forcing world leaders and corporations to seriously consider and face visible consequences of their values, beliefs, decisions, and actions. Response to this crisis is being used as a measuring stick for good leadership everywhere.
What dictates one’s response to any situation is fundamentally the state of one’s own mind. As Albert Einstein famously said,” We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Mind management then is not just a concept for the intellectual elite. It is the need of the hour for every human being if we are to survive this pandemic, recover and thrive in the aftermath.
Why You Should do the Mind Management Challenge
Recognizing this need, Swami Mukundananda launched the worldwide Mind Management Challenge to help people use the greatest machine – the human mind – as a resource to elevate themselves – to become resilient, courageous and even optimistic in the face of challenges.
That alone is a particularly good reason to do this challenge. However, there is more to it.
Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya, the first Jagadguru (spiritual master of the world) says, “Who shall conquer the world? One who conquers his own mind.” In other words, mind management is not only essential to leading a successful, fulfilled, and happy life oneself but also to leading others.
One who is aware of their own emotions is better able to empathize with others. Such emotionally intelligent individuals realize the impact of their actions on others. They strive to live and work with kindness, integrity, and accountability, fostering trust and cooperation. They exercise emotional self-control at critical moments and in challenging times.
Self-control is the driving factor for success in every sphere of life. Individuals with poor self-control tend to have more negative emotions due to their inability to rein in the mind to accomplish what they want.
“A repetitive thought etches a deep groove in the neural network of the brain, making the recurrence of that thought very easy. In this manner, habits exert a gravitational pull upon our behaviour that becomes difficult to break.” says Swami Mukundananda.
He also stresses on the importance of channeling our thoughts positively for better physical and mental health. Positive emotions and actions arise from positive thoughts, whereas negative emotions and actions arise from negative thoughts. Addressing automatic negative thoughts that are characteristic of mental health conditions, requires awareness of the thought and consciously replacing it with a more productive, uplifting thought.
While modern psychology addresses solutions for depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, Vedic psychology addresses the deeper cause of these conditions and seeks to eliminate that.
Swami Mukundananda, a profound Vedic scholar elaborates, “The Vedic scriptures refer to anger, envy, greed, desire, among other weaknesses as mānas rog (mental illnesses). The problem is that we often do not even realise that we have a mental affliction. We know we get angry, but we do not know that anger is a diseased condition.”
The Mind Management Challenge highlights how we can transcend negativity and transform it to discover our own infinite inner potential and capacity for greatness!
“The successful distinguish themselves by their ability to marshal their mental resources. They choose their thoughts judiciously to be ever happy and inspired. They know how to tap into the fountain source of inspiration that lies within. Thus, they march forth as more effective human beings.” emphasizes Swami Mukundananda, an IIT/IIM alum who founded JKYog to spread Vedic wisdom for the physical mental and spiritual upliftment of humanity.
His highly awaited book, “The Science of Mind Management”, launches on September 22 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.
For more information on the Mind Management Challenge, please visit www.jkyog.org/mmc.
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