Ever found yourself spellbound by the power of words? Sanal Bhanu Rajan , our guest from the serene setting of Thailand, certainly has, and he's here to share the secrets of how language can shape the destiny we carve for ourselves. In the company of Sanal, a spiritual guide with a gift for communication, we unravel the mystery of the narratives that govern our lives. His teachings, a blend of wisdom from his grandfather and solitary refinement, advocate for a spirituality that's accessible to all.
Our journey through this episode is a fusion of philosophy, psychology, and spirituality, guiding you to seize control of your personal tale. We navigate the importance of mindful perception, revealing how the stories we tell ourselves can either be our shackles or our wings.
Our host leads us through a guided meditation designed to cultivate a 'mind full of less' and a heart overflowing with self-appreciation. Prepare to transform your perceptions and embrace a narrative that resonates with strength and empowerment.
Connect with Sanal Bhanu Rajan www.spiritualogic.com
Please note that we do not necessary agree with all the views on this podcast and leave listeners to make their own mind up with what they do or don't agree with.
For a Shamanic healing session with our host
Want to be a guest on the show or want to book great guests?
Ever found yourself spellbound by the power of words? Sanal Bhanu Rajan , our guest from the serene setting of Thailand, certainly has, and he's here to share the secrets of how language can shape the destiny we carve for ourselves. In the company of Sanal, a spiritual guide with a gift for communication, we unravel the mystery of the narratives that govern our lives. His teachings, a blend of wisdom from his grandfather and solitary refinement, advocate for a spirituality that's accessible to all.
Our journey through this episode is a fusion of philosophy, psychology, and spirituality, guiding you to seize control of your personal tale. We navigate the importance of mindful perception, revealing how the stories we tell ourselves can either be our shackles or our wings.
Our host leads us through a guided meditation designed to cultivate a 'mind full of less' and a heart overflowing with self-appreciation. Prepare to transform your perceptions and embrace a narrative that resonates with strength and empowerment.
Connect with Sanal Bhanu Rajan www.spiritualogic.com
Please note that we do not necessary agree with all the views on this podcast and leave listeners to make their own mind up with what they do or don't agree with.
For a Shamanic healing session with our host
Want to be a guest on the show or want to book great guests?
Hello everybody, I'm your host, the Gentle Yorgawarian, and today, in a moment, joining me from Thailand, we will have the amazing Sannu Banu Rajan. I will explain a bit more about this guest, but a little recap. We are on season 15, which is going to span from winter through to spring, which is a lot of changes that goes on in the world, and I want to make this the best season yet and also to work with us human beings as we navigate from being in that kind of more docile winter state to a more active spring state, and hence it is my personal belief that we should wait until at least February before we start our New Year's resolutions. Instead, you use January as a planning time and we're kind of coming towards the end of January and it's kind of still quite cold where it is, where I am. It could be lovely, warm where you are, which is great, but anyway, we are going to find ways to get the best out of this time of year for you. So in a moment, like I said, joining us from Thailand, we will have Sanu Banu Rajan.
Speaker 1:I did a bit of research on Sanu, and Sanu is known as a spiritual leader. He runs various workshops and coaching sessions, and his journey began in India at a young age is when he discovered spirituality. His curiosity about this led him to study humanitation under a renowned teacher in Northern India, which, for two transformative years, inspired him and kind of plant seed as the aim to teach in a modern, universal way. Sanu also deliberately chosen a solitary lifestyle for a while so that he could kind of really put together all what he had learned. I will let Sanu explain a bit more about his work and how he's helped people, but I was watching on YouTube where he was talking to students or he does talks around universities in India. So really give him back to the community and helping to inspire others along the way.
Speaker 1:On his website it says Brochial to me is all about adaptability Because, let's face, it changes the only constants in life. Your capability to adapt determines how graceful or harmonious of a life you live. Okay, so about further ado. Please welcome Sanu Banu Rajan joining us all the way from Thailand. So welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for coming. So today we're going to talk about controlling your language to transform your life and, having reviewed your life so far via your website, et cetera, I thought who better to speak about it today than yourselves, sanu? So first of all, would you mind explaining a little bit about your life's experience and your journey so far to our listeners?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been passionate about transformation, self-transformation and personal development for a long time in my life. So for the last 12 years I kind of was on a mission to kind of create an inclusive spiritual sort of way in which people can integrate these principles without having to take in too much dogmas or needing to take on completely alien beliefs to make these kind of things work in their life. So along the journey I got proficient in many mind technologies. Hypnosis captured my imagination. So I worked really deeply with conversational hypnosis, all kind of hypnosis that is verbal and non-verbal in nature. So it kind of really dawned to me how much of this knowledge should not be remaining in the scope, within this context of therapeutic work or something like that, where there is immense potential for laymen, if someone could incorporate these things into a way that doesn't demand someone to be and adapt these kinds of crafts or something like that.
Speaker 1:And I know your grandfather. He inspired you with public speaking, or could? You talk about that as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my grandfather. He was a mathematics professor and he passed away a few years ago. It's actually, in fact, his ring, his wedding ring, that I'm having on my finger right now. So yeah, so he kind of was a big influence when it comes to teaching me about communication Communication not just about the words that you communicate, so about how you communicate the voice, the way we use our voice to convey things, and how to use our whole body when it comes to doing that. It's just a big sort of like a pathway for me when it comes to being really engrossed in human communication and what is really possible within its context, and how can we all be better at it, you know, and things like that.
Speaker 1:I think that's a really good thing to strive for, because communication is, as the saying goes is, key, and I have so many misunderstandings. I do it in different ways. People communicate, and I was really interested when I was watching one of your videos and where you were saying on the lines of if someone communicates something and it's in a way that I don't know, maybe sometimes we jump to conclusions or assumptions and to have a bit of more wonderment and go with the flow and I thought, yeah, that would solve so many problems. So that was a wonderful thing that you shared to the world. How did you come up with that conclusion?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't take any credit for any of these things and principles or methodologies or anything that I'm bringing. I kind of pick it up from along the way from so many different places. But the principle I took from general semantics, where it comes from the idea that we are not mind readers. Where we are not mind readers but we kind of think we are. We just feel like if something happens, we know oh, that means so and so and we make assumptions and we start making like a chain of inferences. So this is something Alfred Kowinsky in general semantics.
Speaker 2:He explored this idea about the chain of inferences that we make all the time to make sense of what is going on. So instead of falling for the default inferences, you can simply stay on the level of information and curiosity, so that being like another pathway. So you are kind of creating within here, so that you have a different way of behavior, like an internal behavior too. So, but that creates a different sort of place of place you go also because in your mind, because once you start making inferences it's only moments before things gets really personal and we are not really grounded in who we are and we are not able to shop at our best and meet the situation and kind of bad results come out as a result of our participation with the situation.
Speaker 2:I would say so, if we can cultivate this kind of qualities of staying on the level of information, just like if someone makes an expression, instead of reading into it like, oh yeah, of course she never liked anything, you know. So just going into conclusion, you can just be like, hmm, she made an, she made an expression like that, I wonder what it could be, you know, and just really being genuinely curious. You know, because there is a variety of reasons other than the reasons that you assume. That is plausible, you know. But we kind of function from our assumptions are facts, from that operating place we function from.
Speaker 1:So it's just to bring in that sort of a again, that sort of space where you can be curious and there can be other possibilities for things other than the one that we cook up, you know it's a great way to be, it's, it's guess is stepping out of being less judgmental and be more present, to kind of catch yourself when you think, oh no, she's not spoken to me, it must be because she doesn't like me, instead of thinking actually oh, I'm curious why exactly.
Speaker 2:Curiosity always brings us to the present moment, because we cannot be curious about anything other than when we are being present so controlling our language.
Speaker 1:So I would say that control the language is how we speak externally and interning like the way, the way we are, but controlling.
Speaker 2:I would. I would say not controlling, I would use the word influencing influence and better.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, influence and our language to transform our life, and I'm always just briefly touching on that. Could you explain a bit more about that and how it can help us?
Speaker 2:yeah, in in psychology when we are speaking about the self, we kind of put it on sort of like a three basic sort of categories. So one of the categories, the proto self. The proto self is a basic understanding we have in our mind about our dimensionality of our body. Where is the edges of our body and so and so, so that we can operate and function through the world with by just kind of knowing like where, where you are, and what you can just do and what is possible and no possible and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:You know so that's proto self.
Speaker 2:So then we have the autobiographic self. So the autobiographic self is the. It's all the stories that we tell to ourself about ourselves to make sense of ourself in the world. So that's what autobiographic self is. So in spirituality we kind of put it on a single term as ego or thoughts or something like that. So this is basically. We are storytellers, so it all becomes a story. So it's just the stories through which we understand our self and make sense of our self in this world. So that's autobiographic self.
Speaker 2:And then, so that's where I believe there's a lot of influence that we can easily leverage, because it is up within our power to make a shift in the stories that we are telling to others and to ourselves. We can make a commitment to changing the stories and it is within our reach. So what about it of itself? If you change those stories, of course your life will always shift, because these stories essentially are like maps which we are following and which kind of directs us to how we engage with situations and so on. So because we kind of have a story about how so and so situations happen, or I just really cannot handle that. I would be really struggling and suffering. If that happened, that would be terrible. And then let's just say, that kind of situation with all those criteria is emerged and now you have your map on how to engage. So that's the thing.
Speaker 2:So these stories can either hold you back or help you rise up, or either these stories can help you strive forward or you can just you can.
Speaker 2:You will lay low in life because of these stories. So either these stories can help you thrive or it can be self-defeating in nature and we make a habit and get wedded to these stories and believing these stories to be the facts of who we are, and becomes extremely difficult to transform and move with life when you get really strongly attached to those stories, especially if it's self-defeating once. And December 1st, and then, of course, apart from that, there is the core self, which is basically who we are at our barest. So that's basically the essence of I am and I can. So there's two things a sense of being and also a sense of agency. So there's two things that comes with core self. It's not just simply being, because when you are being, when you're really being, you also have a sense of being in your personal power, a sense of I can, a sense of competence comes with it, doesn't come with one other, because there's no nothing there, right at your core self.
Speaker 1:And if we get kind of attached to a language of story that isn't serving us. I guess that's the second of your courses and help people. How can you change that? Because some stories can be kind of really tightly knitted to our beings from a young age, depending on life experiences or all kind of blocks or blind sides that we have on things. How would you suggest kind of change those stories?
Speaker 2:The basic premise also I'm adopting here from general semantics. The principle is the map is not the territory, so the map being the story that we have about the situation and the situation being the actual thing, the territory. So the map is through which we relate to the territory.
Speaker 2:So, the aid there. The map can serve us in that relating it helps us navigate through the territory better, or the map is not serving us and is taking us to all bad places and there's no options and you just have simply tricky roads and you know, yeah, it doesn't really give you much choices, there's no scope. So the thing is to realize fundamentally that the map at its best is good for relating but not for representing. So it's not the truth. The territory holds the truth, but you don't get to have the truth of the entire situation, because there are so many interdependencies that you are conscious of and that you are things that you know and things that you don't know and things that you might never know in a emerging unfolding, because the life that we live in is way more dynamic and complex than we think, than that we can think. You don't get to have all of the facts of a situation in our hands. So at best we have a map. So once we can acknowledge that it helps us be able to take that kind of a step back and ask those kind of questions Is this story useful to me? Do I love it? Do I enjoy the story? Because you can see just like how you would try on a dress when you go to a dressing store and you would put on a dress and you're seeing how you feel in it also not just simply looking at the embroidery workers or something like that. You're also seeing what gives you that feeling so you can buy yours. Just making a habit or creating a journal for your personal narratives. So that is something that I would advise to start from, where you pay attention to the stories of yourself that you're telling to others and you have different stories and there are certain people only with whom you share certain stories and there is, like certain stories that are serving you and you know that because when you tell that stories, literally in your body, you feel like you can and you feel yourself in your power. That's the literal, embodied feeling of being connected to your power, is the essence. When you're telling a story that is kind of rich and now rushing, and so you make a habit, it's basically, we are becoming a better. It's like becoming a good connoisseur of wine tasting. So you're becoming a good connoisseur of linguistics or semantics. So you're paying attention to the words and how they taste in your body, so the felt sense that the words carry. So we have a semantic reaction to the words within the stories. So if you change the words, you change the literal physiological phenomenology that you're experiencing. Your experience of yourself literally changes as the story changed.
Speaker 2:So they found this when in the late 1970s they brought in a lot of people who had a lot of traumatic experiences happen in their life. They brought these people together and it was an experiment where they all had to write down over the course of like 30 days, like the event, the traumatic event that happened. So at the end of 30 days a group of people they had like a huge result from it. They felt like it completely changed this experiment. And for some other group of people they had like literally felt no change from it. So then they went into looking at what was the differentiating factor between these two groups and the factor was the change in the story that they had about the event.
Speaker 2:So the story changed really over the course of that 30 days for the people who felt an enormous shift. So they experienced something called trauma growth, which we don't really often hear about much. We hear so much about PTSD but we don't really hear so much about trauma growth. So there are people who grow after a traumatic event and that's basically comes from this. They kind of taking it as a strength. So they ally with their strength that the strength that allowed them to handle that traumatic event.
Speaker 2:So, instead of ally with the weakness. So this is both within our choice to ally with our weakness, like how we were a victim, how we didn't handle, how poorly we had, or we can do something about it, or we can ally with the strength. Oh, you know what I did handle, how over I handled it, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now, right, so you literally can go into okay, so how did I handle that? So what? How did I handle the way I handled it? What are the strengths that I brought into the table that allowed me to handle it? How did I acquire them? So now you're seeing yourself through the lens of competence, so the story starts shifting and you're deliberately bringing about the chef also recognizing the stories that you have about yourself as a profound impact on your life. So you are also yeah, you'll be more cooperative with making shift to the story when you realize it's for your own better purpose, right.
Speaker 1:That's also very useful. And just making that shift and seeing that it is a learning thing rather than as being a victim yeah, that's going to help so many people and if they can learn that through your work as well, that's going to be fantastic.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:So, sunil, you've touched on it. I can see some of the answers to this question, but how are your teachings different and how are they more accessible for these times?
Speaker 2:So most of the models that's out there when it comes to the mind, approaches with the mind is a prescription model based intervention. So we take the problem for the problem. See your, take it problem as a problem and treat it as such and we are finding or bringing solution to counter the problem. So the approach is different in the sense that instead of it being a prescription based intervention, it's more of a description based intervention. So we are realizing the problem is within the description of the problem itself. So we are finding the organization of reality within the description and we are making changes to the organization of reality and see what's how, what emerged when we make the organization different, when we conceptually organize that thing differently Brilliant. For example. I give you an example like, for example, I can be waking up and I can be asking myself what should I be doing today? Bye, and a lot of people tend to ask this kind of questions, you know when they wake up and they end up feeling like an immense sense of responsibility on their shoulders and like a huge list and end up overwhelmed and not doing anything. So it is also in the organization. You see, the question is what should I do today? If it implies there are some things that is the correct thing to do and there are some that are not. And you definitely want to do the correct thing to do. So that's in place to the what should. So also, even when you say what do I have, you know, what do I have to do today? Well, I have so much things to do today.
Speaker 2:But we say these kind of things, you know, without realizing what we are doing. But when we say I have, we are saying I'm a victim of circumstance because you know, I would have in a free world and a free show is, I would have done so many things. But you know what? My hands are tied and I'm a victim to the circumstance. I had to do this.
Speaker 2:And it's just like it has these connotations, you know, these presuppositions that's hidden within, like the language that we speak is only a sort of a structure, that is a deeper structure beneath and those are. It's like the words are like the tip of the iceberg that we see and the concepts that are attached to the words are kind of like the part that we don't see, but they move us. So it's not really the words that move us, it's really the concepts through which we make sense of those words. That's really moving us from the inside. So, for example, in this scenario, in a person is asking what should I do today? If they change their question, they wouldn't be procrastinating so much. If they change the question to what would I allow to do today? This is it, or what would I enjoy doing today?
Speaker 1:Well, a glorious switch of mindset, and exactly you know this next section is it's about sharing with the listeners. What if there's anything that you wished everybody knew like, so that you can help them in somewhere? So is there anything that you wished everybody knew in the world?
Speaker 2:I wish everybody knew that very soon that we have choices in our life, you know, in in all situations, because when we don't find ourselves having any choice, then we usually tend to feel like a victim to the situations, and I would not want anybody to feel like a victim. So the place where choice is really found is usually in the very way you are looking at the situation. You know you don't have choice in changing the way you are looking at it and that brings in a varieties of different choices Just when you change it. So it's just a historic principle. The only two places where you have true power is in the concepts and the choices. But the concepts that you choose dictate the choices that you find so beautiful.
Speaker 1:It's all about the lens, and about the lens and how we perceive it Exactly.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful.
Speaker 1:I would really like to talk about, just say I'm a listener and I'm listening now and what I'm listening and I'm liking what I'm hearing. So how can people work with you? How can they reach out and contact you? Can you explain about the courses and what you have to offer to our listeners? And I know you work with international guests as well international clients.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So people who really want to work with me, like as working with me personally, they can reach out to me in my website, spiritualogiccom, so it's wwwspiritualogiccom with one L, so it's like spiritualogic.
Speaker 1:I'll put notes in the show notes as well, so the people.
Speaker 2:So it's like spiritualogiccom and for all the people who are right now watching the podcast, I have a gift for all of them. So they can all go to the website wwwpodcastgiftnowcom and they can put in their email and they will be able to watch like seven or eight hours of professional video footage of me giving talks here in Thailand.
Speaker 1:That's a wonderful gift. I know I listen to that love gift, so that's fantastic.
Speaker 2:And also my Instagram and YouTube handle is wisdomwithsanal, so that's that.
Speaker 1:Oh, fantastic. I was looking at your website. It looks great and there was some inspiring case studies on there with different people, and also when you help the children with your talks, that's a really lovely thing to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when I'm in India, I teach in universities, so I usually go to many universities and spend like a week in each university, Give like 10 hour modules on various topics self-worth, self-esteem, you know so many varieties of topics.
Speaker 1:It's such a lovely thing to inspire the next generation because they are as I say a curative. We're not taught as children well, not often. Maybe it's changed a bit now about self-worth and you know just one thing as a child can make us feel like we're not worth it. So hearing someone like yourself is going to really help a lot of people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would like to continue doing that. Like you know, once in a while, during the season time, just go to India and, you know, just teaching universities For some life. You know what I can do.
Speaker 1:Is there anything that you wish we'd cover today which you'd like to speak about now?
Speaker 2:I would encourage everyone to be more open and be more curious with life, with who we are, with where we are going after all of this, with all of it, and just be curious about it, because we have been given so many stories and so many truths so far and it is easy to just take these truths and move through life and find life increasingly boring, you know, and it's better to be in a place of curiosity that is, wisdom in knowing that I don't know. So I would encourage everyone to be more curious with life and know that our perception is not really the truth, but it's more about how useful it is when it comes to what we co-create with the universe, and just be able to be flexible enough to change your perspective, if that's what it takes for you to show up at your best and meet that moment and create good food missiles.
Speaker 1:And that's possible at any age, isn't it? We can switch and construct stories and kind of get stuck ways.
Speaker 2:And next time you catch yourself telling those self-defeating stories, you know, after saying it, you just tell that you know what. I don't do that anymore, totally just saying it, because we are like wizards. You know, as we speak, we create. You know just the very act of you just saying, in your power, you know what, I don't do this anymore. That's powerful, you know. That's so powerful because that's you in your power, saying I do or I don't right. So that's powerful. So you're saying I don't do this anymore and I, because I choose that, I choose to be that dude who is, you know, grounded in her power and see herself in her, you know, as a hero in her life and allies with her strengths rather than her weakness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you just say it out loud. That's the magic and it's not about just saying the spells, it's literally. We are magicians. Everything we speak, all the word. Science is now catching up and discovering that they have powers, field our words and stuff like that. So definitely, all these ancient spirits of people, they were like really peculiar with the words they spoke and because words have power.
Speaker 1:That's why I'm going to write my notebook. I don't do this anymore, so whenever a negative or like a story that doesn't serve me comes into my mind, yeah, what a way to step into your personal power, dear listeners of. What a joy we've had today to have Cineal Banu Rajan joining us all the way from Thailand.
Speaker 2:I can just give you a small kick view, oh my word, that is stunning.
Speaker 1:Look, the beaches is literally out your window.
Speaker 2:I really like it. Life is just incredible over here. Look at that.
Speaker 1:Look at that and the viewers who are watching the video but listen to the podcast. This is stunning. And the sea, wow. Oh, that's beautiful, oh, I'm jealous, I'm jealous. It's cold here. I've got my picture.
Speaker 2:So I've been kind of living here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do not blame you at all. I do not blame you to Cineal.
Speaker 1:No, so just giving you a taste of paradise Wow, look at that in the mountains as well. So you've got all that elements there. Cineal, thank you so much for joining us all the way from Thailand. Do stay tuned, listeners. As always, we'll have a meditation inspired by today's show. But thank you very much, cineal Banu Rajan, joining us all the way from Thailand. And do check out this website. Show notes will have all the details. So, thank you so much and, as promised, here is your meditation inspired by today's show.
Speaker 1:Top tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross-legged on the floor with a nice straight back always nice to sit on a block or a cushion Well, that's not available for you. You sit in a chair with a back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching. You're doing something that requires you concentration. All you need to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you.
Speaker 1:If you're doing the meditation, let's begin. Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance. So allow your mind to be completely in the moment, completely in the now, and be open to giving up the battle of struggling with mindfulness. Instead, embrace it with a sense of fun, a sense of being. The thoughts may cascade around, trying to drag you here and there, but instead notice any dreams that you have, anything that pops into your head Mindfulness, mindfulness, mind full of less, mind full of less means does not mean that you should never think, but in this moment can you just be present, mind full of less, mindfulness. You are already loved and always will be. Lots of people already love you. The mind from the zone full of hope and purpose. You can bring more into your day.
Speaker 1:Mind full of less, mind full of less I exxample it flies my mindfulness muscle, the more I am able to place myself in the presence. Mindfulness means to let go. Let go. So, whatever's happened in your mind, just let it flow, flow, flow, mindful of less, mindful of less. There's times and places to think and fret and care and be, but there's also times where you can set yourself free, mindful of less, more mindfulness, bbb. Allow yourself to be free. Subtle changes can make big difference. Do a little bit of self-reflection. Switch each negative phrase into a positive one.
Speaker 1:So, as you go about your day, mindful of less, mindful of less, but also be the watcher of your thoughts and if your mind starts to take you into a place. That isn't right for you. Allow, allow, allow, but think mindful of less, mindful of less, mindful of less. I am love Say this to yourself out loud. I am love. So, each time the mind feels so full to bursting, so full to bursting, pause, reflect and be. Allow yourself to be free with a mindful of less. You don't need to carry so much thought like heavy cement blocks. Instead, put them down. Allow, allow the mind to be full of less, trust in yourself and know mindfulness is obtainable. So start to take some deep breaths in and out through the nostrils. Slowly does it as you come back into the moment, come back into the room, come back into the present and go forth mindfully enjoying your day. And just remember, whenever you feel that you're thinking too much, you can always use that phrase mindfulness, mindful of less.