The 3 Ds

September 17th, 2008 admin Posted in Family, Philosophy |

My father’s maternal uncle, Dr. K. Ramamurthy, whom I call uncle also, responded to my email about “Games Indians Don’t Win” with some of his own words of wisdom, which I believe will be useful to many people; I reproduce them here with his permission. Read and think about it.

“During my management consultancy days, I’d start my classes with “Three Ds”: Discipline, Dedication, and Devotion.

We have to start anything in life, commencing with our earliest education, with the rigor of Discipline: regulated studies in terms of time allocation, understanding of what we study, practicing to become perfect, and humility not to be carried away by early successes (or depressed with early failures). You keep at it in spite of obstacles to reach the goal you set for yourself.

When you’re sufficiently integrated in a disciplined web of working (doing things), you get to the stage of Dedication - a stage where you totally, intrinsically, get merged in what you do and what you want to achieve. You breathe, live, and think all the while of your chosen field and its nuances to be able to excel. That’s how great writers, poets, scientists, musicians, innovators, nation builders, and freedom fighters like Gandhi dedicated their whole life to a chosen cause.

From this stage comes Devotion, where your “life and work” become a Religion unto itself. That’s how Thyagaraja, Purandara, Meerabai, Aurobindo, CV Raman in our life time and people like Einstein worshiped what they chose to do. All the greatest achievers have gone through these stages, knowingly or unknowingly.

Consider the training of today’s top notch players who reach the very top, their journey begins at very early age and goes on unhindered and unfettered for several years to reach the top. Certain failures are inevitable during this long journey but they’ve to trod on incessantly to reach the peak.

Of all who tried, the number who did or did not make the final assault is immaterial. The very process and trial is ennobling - in fact, religious. It’s like seeking the elusive God, but there is bliss!!

In such pursuit, the teacher becomes the most important being in our life. It’s said in our scriptures that one cannot attain the highest pinnacle without a “Teacher.” In our daily prayers, we do give homage to our teacher: Guru Brahma, Gurur Vishnuhu, Gurudevo Maheswaraha, Guru Sakshsat Parabrahma, Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha! Discipline starts with respect to the teacher - starting from our parents who are our first teachers, to others who have taught us, guided us, helped us, sustained us, given solace in our trials and difficult patches, and remained our “guiding lights” throughout our life.

Unfortunately, the teacher-taught, trainer-trainee, professor-student, employer-employee relationship has become now too commercialized to nurture a meaningful, respectful, disciplined way in life. Without this kind of moral and ethical approach, the society declines. It’s only the few chosen (by whom, I can’t say!), who are able to fuse the 3-Ds to be the Great in their individual life!!

By our performance, we’re not ONE of those.”

His observations on how to simultaneously achieve happiness (selfish motive) while at the same time being productive to the society (altruistic outcome) by following the course of discipline, dedication and devotion speaks to me and I hope to many of us. He elaborated in a later email thus.

“To further elaborate, the first D is the base or foundation on which the second D, dedication, is superimposed. The third D, Devotion, is necessary, along with the other two, for the final outcome, or assault, as it were. That is reaching out to the pinnacle. While the first and second Ds have a continuous nature, the third D could be even ‘momentary or fleeting’ but it’s that fleeting moment - like in deep, prayerful, thought that gives the final ‘push’ and the ‘answer.’

This is referred to in our books of lore about ‘Rishis’ in deep meditation; we see this in our scientists and researchers in their hour of ‘discovery.’ Philosophers of lore were of that genre.

Recently I read of an interview of Dr. Ramachandran, the Neurosurgeon-researcher and author of books on brain structure and functioning. He was alluding to his conversation with Chembe Vaidyanatha Iyer, doyen of Carnatic Music and said that while the music maestro was rendering a raaga and aalaapana, he was ethereal, as if he was in ‘devotional ecstasy.’ At that moment the maestro was not aware of his surroundings, the visitor, or anything else but his music rendition. That is the moment of the third D.“