![Girish Jha on Mindfulness and Eastern Wisdom.](https://www.mysticmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/MysticMag-Girish-Jha.png.webp)
Girish Jha – mentor, teacher and guide – shares some of his worldly insights with MysticMag and reveals his approach to holistic healing and well-being following the Eastern wisdom approach and philosophy.
Girish Jha, what can you tell us about snippets of your life journey that impacted you the most?
It is the applied philosophy that is realized of Eastern wisdom in my day to day living. It helps me with my personal, professional and social excellence. Eastern wisdom is very simple, we start our journey with peace and happiness which is our essential nature. I never discuss my somewhat difficult early years in India because it serves me no purpose.
Since I was introduced to Eastern Wisdom, my life changed course, and therefore the lives of hundreds of thousands of others too, through my coaching and mentoring. This for me has impacted my life the most – how people have changed and released their stress and grief from their lives. Even people I worked with twenty or forty years ago are still in contact with me and continue to refer people to me for coaching.
How did you transition from your scientific background to one of holistic health and well-being?
Can science tell me what is honesty, kindness and peace beyond the body mind complex? Can science bring emotional freedom? We talk of emotional dependence and objective reality. When I started receiving my coaching from many Himalayan Masters, I realized that there are two kinds of knowledge; one is objective, to understand the phenomena of the world, and that is where science is based. However, is there a science degree out there that studies ‘who am I?’ , what is my true nature? – No, and this is because it is a subjective reality. There is no science that deals with this – the second form of knowledge.
The knowledge of Eastern wisdom aims at self-discovery, understanding, knowing and realizing your true nature – permanent peace, happiness, love and wisdom. When my Master made this clear to me, I was very inspired and continued in the scientific research with reference to yoga, ayurvedic healing, reading, relaxation, mindfulness and meditation. I decided my journey should now be totally dedicated to the Eastern wisdom.
The beauty of the Eastern wisdom is that it finds who you really are – Are you your body? Are you your gender? Are you your name? The answer to all these questions is NO! When we explore layer by layer, we find our true nature. This nature is of pure consciousness. When ‘I’ stops being attached to the body and mind, and instead is attached to pure consciousness you bring an end to suffering and live in that state of peace and happiness and love.
How do we live a life void of impurities?
When we talk of impurities, we are talking of impurities of the mind. According to the Eastern wisdom, these begin with strong likes and dislikes on the impulsive and instinctive level that result in judgment and detachment. Attachment and detachment cause desire. Desire means I am seeking something outside for peace and happiness. Once this desire is fulfilled, we want to repeat it, or if it is not fulfilled, we have anxiety and it causes a kind of delusion in the mind.
All these factors contribute to the impurities of the mind or emotion. Eastern wisdom makes us understand logically and not blindly. We come to learn that these impurities can be left behind, and once this takes place, we are not left with a void but with self-fulfillment. This is when your real self is realized – you can become more creative with peace, love and happiness.
You become a better person when impurities have been removed, not only to yourself, but then consequently to others too.
What are your preferred healing modalities and how do you navigate with your clients?
My students do a little or no marketing at all. All my clients come through word of mouth. Eastern wisdom includes many forms of yoga, reiki etc.…I use all the modalities, or whatever is required to meet the client’s needs. I personalize each practice. The first session starts with the entire life history of the person and the challenges that have encountered. I start with a four step relaxation mindfulness practice. I talk about the principle and how this can help them get rid of the suffering, grief and challenges that they have. Every session involves a brief talk, followed by practice, and then they must share their experiences and whether it is helping them or not.
The next session will change depending on their response. I may introduce another principle, or I may intensify the previous practice. They should do this practice daily – it is theirs to keep. Eastern wisdom is so vast so I usually book clients for ten sessions or ten weeks.
I customize these practices and sessions using my experience and expertise accumulated over the last 40 years.
99% of my clients renew their ten sessions and do 20, 40 and so on, and this is because it is a continuous journey to help yourself raise the level of awareness, and strive for personal, emotional and personal excellence.
Would you describe Eastern wisdom and philosophy to be the way forward?
For thousands of years, the wise men and women of the East have been studying the nature of reality and how human beings evolved from 8.4 million species. Through their years of contemplation and reflection, meditation and other related practices, they have discovered that there is one reality behind and beyond gender, age, color, nationality. These people are called Guru, which means removing ignorance and knowing the reality. They have a deep understanding of the world and our place in it. Their insights have been passed down through the ages, becoming a tradition called eastern wisdom. They continue to provide guidance and inspiration for those who aspire for self-discovery. The wisdom of the East has much to offer us in terms of the end of suffering in life and awakening to permanent peace, happiness, love, truth and wisdom. , and it is worth taking the time to explore it.
Yes. When we say Eastern wisdom, we mean self-discovery. We mean ‘who am I?’ We have to be 100% clear of who we are and this enhances the exact nature of the world outside. We have more than 3000 Masters who lived before Jesus was born. Eastern wisdom has been around since the dawn of time and there is a clear continuation of the Master and disciple tradition.
What does meditation represent to you and your life?
Meditation or mindfulness has been my life for the last 43 years, and I have perhaps missed this daily ritual 5 or 6 times in the last 40 years. Because I have been practicing for so long nothing happens if I do miss it. You have to practice meditation until the knowledge of the real self is realized, so even if you don’t practice you remain in the same state.
The ultimate goal of meditation is to remain in that same state of mindfulness 24/7 without having to practice necessarily. It is always good to practice and to continue the journey because we live a social and physical life. Continued practice also leads to many revelations and they help you teach, coach and mentor others. They help the seekers, or the beginners to understand.
We can get to a point where we no longer identify ourselves with our body and therefore, age matters not. We are not our bodies. The ‘I’ that was the 5 year old is the same ‘I’ as the 50 year old, 80 year old…In the Western world we live in the delusion and misunderstanding of these notions. The entire journey of Eastern wisdom is to remove ignorance, misunderstanding and delusion. This is what Buddha taught and this is what I will continue to strive to give others.
Want to find out more about Girish Jha, visit https://www.girishjha.us/ or www.girishjha.org follow on https://www.facebook.com/Mindfulness4YOU/