Being a philanthropist, RVM believes in not just sharing his material wealth, but more importantly, the knowledge that he has acquired over the last 20 years. His goal is to share his knowledge through books, talks, seminars and other creative ways.
RVM started his professional life at the age of 16 by starting an unconventional advertising agency and then branched off into the family owned retail business at 18. He soon became India's most successful retail entrepreneur.
At the age of 20, RVM started the Humanitarian Trust to reach out to the suffering humanity and to transit people from a life of misery to a life of happiness. Soon, the Humanitarian Transit Home and the Humanitarian Hospital, a 100 % free hospital, was set up with his benevolent support. Details of The Humanitarian Home and Hospital can be viewed at www.humanitarianhands.org and www.humanitarianhospital.org
This is one amongst the many books of knowledge he plans to share with the world. Information on RVM's obsession - The Humanitarian Network can be viewed at www.humanitariannetwork.org
The achievement that has given RVM the greatest inspiration is the building of the 65 foot statue of Lord Shiva in 1995. The temple, located on Airport Road, Bangalore, draws thousands of devotee's everyday from across the world. RVM dreams of spreading the power of faith and to build hope and courage through faith in God. Information on the Temple is available atwww.shivmandir.org.in
RVM has now started writing spiritual lyrics and singing bhajans (devotional songs) at the Shiva Temple. This is without any professional training, purely by the grace of God.
RVM, the philosopher, believes in PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). He walks his talk by living positively for a meaningful purpose.
RVM has given up his retail empire so that he can dedicate his life to a better cause. He has decided to set a trend – to live life with a purpose. He has now become a professional trainer with the aim of touching the lives of people from all walks of life. He has realized that amassing wealth is not the sole purpose of life; eventually we leave everything behind when we depart. Therefore, his books, his talks, his philosophy and his personal example tell us that life is not meant just to exist, but to live purposefully, joyously and cheerfully before the journey is over.
To know more about the author, visit www.rvm.co.in
The dictionary defines philosophy as a system of values by which one lives. Therefore, philosophy is nothing but thoughts, principles and guidelines by which we live.
A philosophy becomes a set of time-tested principles one lives by, to achieve success in life.
Very often, we don't know what our philosophy is, but the fact is that we are living life based on some values and some priorities. Subconsciously we have a philosophy, but we have not identified what this philosophy is. We have not chosen the philosophy; it has just become our way of living. As we grow from childhood to youth, from our school, peers, and from home, we tend to pick up certain beliefs and values, and our entire life is built on these.
There are some people who don't know what their philosophy is – they are just living life as it comes. While others who want to live life in a particular way, who have a direction, who want to intelligently decide what their life should be, have a Life Philosophy. They either create their own philosophy or their philosophy is influenced by the life of some people whom they consider great or admire in their sphere of life. Therefore, a philosophy becomes like a pathway of life. Whether we know it or not, we start traveling the journey of life on this path, on this philosophy, because it is based on our value and belief system.
If a philosophy is intelligently chosen and if it is crafted by our own will, then the philosophy becomes a map or a blueprint of our life. We start living our life exactly as per the map that we have drawn out, as per the blue print that we have crafted and then our life starts moving in the direction of our philosophy. Different people have different philosophies. While people may adopt the philosophy of others, an individual may decide to live life in his own unique way and this will become his Life Philosophy.
A philosophy is built brick by brick. It starts from the mind, where the mind machine manufactures thoughts. These thoughts lead us to action. The actions become habits and the habits become our destiny. However, it is these very thoughts which are born in the mind, that become a philosophy. It is often said that, “As a man thinketh, so does he become.”
We become what we think all day long. Alexander the Great thought of conquering the world and he kept thinking about being the greatest conqueror. These thoughts led him to his actions, but before that, they built his ‘conquering philosophy’. Similarly, we build our philosophy through our thoughts. When we keep on thinking particular thoughts, these thoughts become very strong influences in our life; they become our beliefs and our values. We attract into our lives that which we think constantly about. A set of such thoughts revolving around our beliefs and values then becomes our philosophy.
Why should one have a philosophy? Can one not live life without having a philosophy? Is it necessary for one to have their own specific philosophy in life?
While it is not necessary for one to have a philosophy in life, it is very important to have one. Not having a philosophy means living life without planning how one would like to live it. It is just like constructing a building without a blue print or a plan. It is like going on a journey without a map.
If we live life as it comes, then we are not living life the way we want to live it. But, if we live life with our own philosophy, then we have chosen to live by certain values, certain beliefs and certain principles which are important to us. When we have a philosophy in life, we live with a purpose; we live life with a meaning.
A philosophy is like a motor to a boat – without a motor the boat is just drifting, controlled by the winds. But, the minute a motor is added, the boat has control over its direction and it zooms ahead in the direction that it seeks. Therefore, a philosophy takes one towards the achievement and success one desires in life. It directly focuses upon what one seeks rather than just doing whatever comes one’s way.
A philosophy gives meaning to life. However, some people like to have a philosophy and some don't. There are some people who believe that a philosophy controls them and forces them to live in a specific way. This is a paradox because a philosophy is not forced upon them. A philosophy is a choice. One can choose one’s own philosophy and can even change it. Therefore, it is not something that is forced upon us. It is our own choice and it is up to us to live our life as per our philosophy.
Some people build their philosophy at a very young age, sometimes as early as nine or ten years. Some don't do it even in their teens. There are others who don't have a philosophy in their youth or even at forty and then there are those who go to their grave without a philosophy. They have lived, that's what they think, but in reality they have existed. They have not walked through life at a pace they have set, they have been pushed through life and they have lived based on circumstances, and on others' priorities, because they did not set their own beliefs, values and priorities. Therefore, the sooner one adopts a philosophy in life the better, because it gives one a head start to move in the direction of one’s life goals.
A philosophy is not fixed, in the sense that it can be changed. However, a philosophy is not like Lego blocks, changed and rearranged every other day. A Life Philosophy is a way of living. Therefore, one cannot go on changing their way of living because it will affect life itself. While a philosophy can be modified, it should be modified only after a lot of reflection of one’s principles, values and priorities.
Aphilosophy can actually make life exciting. It can give joy, it can give a sense of achi