How Are Your Pies!!
Modern psychologists have found four principal parameters that determine our success and happiness Physical Quotient (PQ), Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Emotional Quotient (EQ) and Spiritual Quotient (SQ), which form the acronym PIES. Interestingly, four activities integral to Vedic culture nourish all these four dimensions of the human personality.
1. PQ – Prasad –Sometimes people think of prasad as the small morsel of sweet handed out after religious rituals. However all the food that is sanctified by offering to Lord Krishna with love, as mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita (3.17), becomes prasad, the mercy of the Lord. So if we offer our whole meal, made of lacto-vegetarian foods, to Krishna, then all of it can be delicious and nutritious Prasad, that enhances our lifespan, strength and health.
2. IQ- Svadhyhaya - Real intelligence is not just the ability to process information, which is primarily what we learn in academic institutes. Intelligence is the ability to discriminate between the short- term and the long-term, the material and the spiritual and the harmful and the beneficial. This intelligence is increased by studying, under the guidance of a guru, the time-honored manuals for holistic living like the Bhagavad-gita.
3.EQ- Satsang – Real satsang is the association of those who have sadachara (exemplary behavior). The abilitytoresponsibly
manage our own emotions and maturely respond to the emotions of others – the essence of EQ - comes by observing and imbibing the example of selfless saints. By their purity, maturity and sensitivity, these saints inspire and encourage others to discover God in their own hearts and thus become godly, loving and caring
4. SQ – Sadhana – Our daily spiritual discipline, sadhana, rejuvenates us through contact with God and helps us stay focused on our life’s goals - spiritual and material. The easiest and most effective sadhana in the current cosmic age is chanting of the holy names of God. The sound of the holy name awakens us, souls, to our eternal spiritual glory as beloved children of God and eventually, by reviving our pure love for God, reinstates us in our eternal home, the kingdom of God.
So are you baking your PIES to improve their taste?
By Chaitanya Charan Das (BE E&TC)