Five Words That Completely Changed My Life

It was just another  mid-term test in physics, during my school days. My teacher gave me very poor marks, but added a note while returning my test paper:

“Niraj, you can do better “.

Those five words changed my life forever. I took them to heart, and decided to act on them. I said to myself:

‘ Yes, indeed I can do better.’

I studied very hard for my next physics test. I read all the textbooks very carefully and took lots of notes. I did all the practice papers that I could find. I did everything I possibly could, and it paid off. I  aced the next physics test.

After this, I thought to myself:

‘If I can do this with physics, I can do the same thing with Chemistry”. I tried it, and it worked. Pretty soon, I was doing well  in science and in mathematics. After this. I tried to crack the IIT entrance examination, using the same approach. In those days, we didn’t have coaching classes, but I spent six months studying very hard on my own. With the grace of my physics teacher’s words, I succeeded well beyond my expectations and got admission in the engineering  college of my choice.

Those five magic words from my physics teacher worked like a mantra for me and made me an engineer, and gave me a successful career. Anything that I ever achieved in my professional life is the result of those five words.

‘Niraj, you can do better”

Like everyone else, I have faced ups and downs in my life. More often than not, the downs were due to my own mistakes. However, whenever I was down in life, I tried just a little harder, taking inspiration from these five words:

‘Niraj, you can do better.”

I now strongly believe that all spiritual mantras work the same way. If you take them seriously, they are very powerful, especially if they are given by a spiritual teacher. However, in order for them to work, you really have to take them to heart and act on them. If you don’t take them seriously, they will have no effect, they are just empty words.

Inspiration is  everywhere, not just in the mantras; we just need the vision to see them. Even popular advertisements can carry profound messages. Have you noticed that TV advertisements are generally more joyful than the news that surrounds them? One advertisement tries to entice people into buying expensive beauty products, using the simple phrase:

‘Because you are worth it.”

It is the perfect reason for buying anything. The product may be overpriced, but you are not. You are worth any price. You can make this the mantra of your life.

Yet another advertisement for a product  says:

‘Own your tomorrow.”

This, again, is a very powerful message. Buy this new, expensive dress or this new powerful gadget, because it will give you confidence. It will give you control over your life and, you can own your tomorrow.

Or, take this simple phrase from another advertisement:

‘Just do it.”

These are words of great power. Once, a student asked Guru Chidvilasananda about something her own guru Swami Muktananda said. Instead of questioning her guru’s words, she simply said, like a good disciple:

‘Just do it.”

Somehow, Nike got the message and used this phrase in its own advertising campaign.

A line in the song The Sound of Silence says:

‘The words of the prophet are written on the subway wall.”

In short,inspiring words are all around us, we just have to find the words that resonate with us and apply them seriously to our lives.  If we don’t apply them, they are just words. If we take them seriously, they are pure magic.

Just look at these beautiful opening lines from The Fight Song, featured in a Disney movie:

‘Like a small boat sailing in the ocean

Sending big waves into motion

Like how a single word can make  a heart open 

I might have one match but I can make an explosion”

That one word could be Om, the primordial sound, the source of all energy. It is a word found in so many cultures. Om. Amen. Amin. Just meditate on this word to feel the immense power behind it. 

You can double this power by adding just one more word, so that it becomes Om Swami. Meditating on the words Om Swami with seriousness and intensity can break any heart open. This meditation will light the match within and create an explosion.

Just do it, because you are worth it.

Do I need to say anything more?