We are all part-time Buddhas: Dharmacharya Shantum Seth

Dharmacharya Shantum Seth, Buddhist scholar and practitioner, addresses the audience during his session 'Talk on Mindful Eating' at Business Today MindRush event in Gurgaon on Dec 14, 2013.

Seth begins the session by telling a Zen story about a man riding a horse. "When asked where he's going, he says, 'I don't know - ask the horse'.... That is how we live our lives, driven by our circumstances. So it is important to live mindfully, and to be mindful of ourselves and our bodies... This is why meditation and mindful eating are important."

Seth says he uses his telephone as a bell of mindfulness in his life. He lets it ring three times-stop, breathe and smile. "Anything can become your bell of mindfulness. Inserting the key in the lock of your door at home can be your bell of mindfulness."

"The food in our plate is also a sign of the universe that supports us... It reminds us that everything is interconnected. Mindfulness develops the areas of the brain that control memory and the experience of stress... Indian gyaan is now being confirmed by scientific studies in the universities of the US."

Dharmacharya says, "We are all part-time Buddhas. We all have the potential to awake. We need to become mindful of each moment... Practice is key, not some magical manifestation, just as Roger Federer did not become arguably the greatest tennis player suddenly. It took practice."