*Emotional Intelligence* by psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman is a groundbreaking work that challenges the traditional understanding of what makes people successful in life.

मनोवैज्ञानिक और विज्ञान पत्रकार डैनियल गोलेमैन द्वारा 1995 में प्रकाशित *भावनात्मक बुद्धिमत्ता* एक अभूतपूर्व कृति है जो लोगों को जीवन में सफल बनाने वाले कारकों की पारंपरिक समझ को चुनौती देती है। हालाँकि लंबे समय से बुद्धि को बुद्धिमत्ता का प्राथमिक माप माना जाता रहा है, गोलेमैन का तर्क है कि भावनात्मक बुद्धिमत्ता—अपनी और दूसरों की भावनाओं को पहचानने, समझने और प्रबंधित करने की हमारी क्षमता—उतनी ही महत्वपूर्ण है।

मनोविज्ञान  के आधार पर, गोलेमैन पाठकों को भावनात्मक बुद्धिमत्ता के पाँच प्रमुख घटकों से परिचित कराते हैं: आत्म-जागरूकता, आत्म-नियमन, प्रेरणा, सहानुभूति और सामाजिक कौशल। वह दर्शाते हैं कि ये गुण व्यक्तिगत और व्यावसायिक दोनों ही स्थितियों में हमारे व्यवहार, संबंधों, निर्णय लेने और प्रदर्शन को कैसे प्रभावित करते हैं।

गोलेमैन के काम ने “स्मार्ट” होने के अर्थ को नए सिरे से परिभाषित करने में मदद की और शिक्षा, नेतृत्व और मानसिक स्वास्थ्य के क्षेत्र में एक वैश्विक आंदोलन को जन्म दिया। वैज्ञानिक अंतर्दृष्टि को व्यावहारिक सलाह के साथ मिलाते हुए, *भावनात्मक बुद्धिमत्ता*  पुनर्विचार करने के लिए आमंत्रित करती है—बाधाओं के रूप में नहीं, बल्कि मानव विकास और जुड़ाव के लिए आवश्यक उपकरणों के रूप में।

Published in 1995, Emotional Intelligence by psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman is a groundbreaking work that challenges the traditional understanding of what makes people successful in life. While IQ has long been viewed as the primary measure of intelligence, Goleman argues that emotional intelligence—our ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions and the emotions of others—is equally, if not more, important.

Drawing on research in psychology and neuroscience, Goleman introduces readers to five key components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. He demonstrates how these traits influence our behavior, relationships, decision-making, and performance in both personal and professional settings.

Goleman’s work helped redefine what it means to be “smart” and sparked a global movement in education, leadership, and mental health. Blending scientific insight with practical advice, Emotional Intelligence invites readers to rethink how they approach emotions—not as obstacles, but as essential tools for human growth and connection.

Anger is a distortion of your true nature and it doesn’t allow the self to shine forth fully. The structure of human consciousness or the mind is very similar to that of an atom. The positively charged protons and neutrons are in the center of the atom while the negatively charged particles are only on the circumference. Similarly, even in human consciousness, mind and life, all the negativities and vices are only in the periphery. Your true nature is peace and love.

Showing anger itself is not wrong, but being unaware of your anger only hurts you. Sometimes you can show anger purposefully. For example, a mother gets angry at her children and can act tough or shout at them if they put themselves in danger. There are situations that warrant showing anger, but when you get angry, have you observed what happens to you? You are shaken completely. Look at the consequences of getting angry. Are you happy with the decisions you have made or the words you have spoken in a state of anger? No, because you lose your total awareness. But if you are completely aware and are acting angry, that is fine.

Being in the Present Moment

All anger is about something which has already happened. Is it of any use getting angry about something which you cannot alter? The mind always vacillates between the past and the future. When the mind is in the past, it’s angry about something that has already happened; but anger is meaningless as we can’t alter the past. And when the mind is in the future, it’s anxious about something that may or may not happen. When the mind is in the present moment, anxiousness and anger appear so meaningless.

Spiritual practices help you maintain your centeredness and not be shaken by small events. This is where a little knowledge about yourself, your mind, your consciousness and the root of distortion in our nature helps. It is when you are exhausted and stressed that you lose your nature and get angry. Every individual is bestowed with all the virtues in the world. They simply get covered-up by lack of understanding and stress. What is needed is just to uncover the virtues that are already there.

The Secret of the Breath

Breathing techniques and meditation are very effective in calming the mind. Learning something about our breath is very important. Our breath has a great lesson to teach us, which we have forgotten. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath and for every rhythm in the breath there is a corresponding emotion. So, when you cannot handle your mind directly, you can handle it through breath. Meditation is letting go of anger from the past and the events of the past. Meditation is accepting this moment and living every moment totally with depth. Often anger comes because you do not accept the present moment. Anger comes when one seeks too much of perfection. When you are joyful, you don’t look for perfection. If you are always looking for perfection then you are not at the source of joy.

The world appears imperfect on the surface but, underneath, all is perfect. Perfection hides; imperfection shows off. The wise will not remain merely on the surface but will probe into the depth. Things are not blurred; your vision is blurred. Infinite actions prevail in the wholeness of consciousness, and yet the consciousness remains perfect, untouched. Realise this now and be natural.

by : shri shri ravishankar

source :

http://www.artofliving.org

The everyday dance of life starts the moment we wake and glide out of bed. It continues when we put the kettle on and sip our morning cup of tea; when we greet the early morning and notice the colors of dawn; when we run out of the door to keep an appointment.
Do we pay attention to our everyday movements? Do we enjoy multilayered events, such as holding an object while walking and at the same time, keeping track of where we are heading? Very few of us take the time out to remember this everyday dance.
As human beings, we are born in a body that becomes our home as long as we are on earth.
From ancient times to the present, people have been studying and observing the way the body works. It is with its help that we accomplish all that we are here for.
One of our most important tasks is maintaining the health of our being. An inherent awareness about this organism of consciousness, motion and feeling leaves us with a sense of wellness. Due to the growing pressures of our fast-paced lives, many of us are adopting ancient as well as contemporary techniques of slowing down and becoming more aware.
Learning to slow down is not a one-time experience. Rather, it is a way to be in tune with time while being on the go. A good way to practice this might be to observe the sequence of everyday functions.
An example would be slipping ones shoes on and off. We could notice how the entire body collaborates in this sequence of simple movements. Even if it is not immediately enjoyable, it could be interesting to notice. If one were to see the act of taking off ones shoes as part of a dance sequence, each movement would appear connected to the next and with an underlying rhythm.
This may be a lovely idea but most of us have important things to attend to, leaving us little time to spare for a meditative approach to everything in our daily lives.
Even if one believes that there is too little time and too much to do, it is important to learn how the common movements we make everyday can help reach greater awareness of one’s health. When I am walking from my front door to the bus and Im in a hurry, I try to remember to note the feeling of being in a hurry

Is it possible to consciously choose to create a more satisfying life experiences?   The reason why most peo ple have only a few satisfying life experiences is because they are almost completely unconscious. They are operat ing on automatic, on subcon scious programs that run qui etly in the background, dictat ing their every move, pulling on their emotional strings, se lecting their perceptions, and organising their experiences around past hurts, fears, and insecurities.
   Ironically, they think that they are conscious. Acting out in a crazy, self- and other-de structive way is not con scious. And it is only because of acting out on our drives that we are unconscious Someone who is conscious does not let their drives dic tate their thoughts, feelings and actions. Instead, they choose the best possible op tions available to them based on what they currently know A casual survey of people around you will quickly re veal that impulsive actions are the norm. Rationality takes a back seat to innate ten dencies and urges.
   The way to become con scious is to become aware Awareness is stepping back and looking at everything for the first time. It is pulling the subjective ego state out of the equation and making an at tempt to see what is the way that it is. Awareness is not simple. It is not something that you naturally snap into And this is why spiritual dis ciplines like yoga, focusing on your breath, meditation mindfulness, and so on exist and have the power to change your life for the better. The natural state for human be ings is to be hypnotised by the onslaught of conditioning that began since birth. Thus the natural state for human beings is to be unnatural. It is to perceive through the lens of bias. It is to hear selectively. It is to act impulsively, regard less of consequences. It is to defend the ego from all possi ble threats while at the same time pretending to make a show of being open-minded rational, and even objective.
   Another way of describing this phenomenon is to say that the neocortex is used much less often than the mammalian or reptilian por tions of the human brain. Yet it is only the highly-developed and functional neocortex which will inform our actions to choose the best possible ex periences. The emotional brain and the instinctive brain take over the show.
   Thus, if we desire to have more satisfying life experi ences, we have to be present to the moment. This means that we have to be aware. We have to be cognisant of the envi ronment. And we have to recognise our own subcon scious programs trying to bubble up to the surface to take over our experience.
   If you are aware enough the past does not have to equal the future. You can, in fact choose your ideal future and find ways to reach it. Howev er, because most people are not aware enough that the fu ture happens to be a constant repetition of past patterns.
   The weight of past experi ences, because it is unexam ined and therefore uncon scious, has a stronger pull on them. The way to create awareness is to take on the practice of some psychologi cal or spiritual discipline which will train you to think in an original and creative way. Those who choose not to examine the past are con demned to repeat it.
   Cultivating awareness is not easy, but there is nothing more worthwhile. The culmi nation of supreme awareness is enlightenment, the uncan ny ability to be in a stream of constantly unfolding satisfy ing experiences.
   Ultimately, it is a spiritual experience to be in charge of your own mind and direct it away from unconscious act ing out to conscious delibera tion. The culmination of this discipline is awareness. And the gift of awareness is con nection with your own divine nature.