Arisings: The Art of Life Series

© Copyright 2014 Advent AM Monyatsiwa.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4907-2583-3 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-2585-7 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-2584-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901297

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Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Preface

PART 1: ARISING & FALLING BY PEOPLE

Arising By Falling

Falling By Arising

Conclusion

PART 2: ARISING BY PEOPLE

Introduction: The Art Of Dealing With People

The Futile Artifice Of Falling By People

The Artistic Science Of Arising By People

Conclusion

PART 3: ARISING BY ONESELF

Introduction

Arising By The Self-Management System

Arising By The Artistic Life

Arising By The Art Of Success

Arising By The Mathematics Of Life

Arising By The Art Of Financial Freedom

Conclusion

PART 4: ARISING BY GOD

Introduction

Religious Injunctions

The Religious Relief

The Inherent Natures

Conclusion

Concluding The Book

Author Biography

The Author’s Other Publication

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the total well-being of my mother, Tshepo N. Monyatsiwa; to my country, Botswana; Africa and to all the Third World or Developing Countries of the world, where wisdom of the things I write about is scarce. And of course to everybody else in the world willing to learn from The Art of Arising in Life.

Acknowledgment

I am deeply indebted to my respectable nation of Botswana, hoping to add to its solemn rule of democracy and its freedom from civil wars; to my beloved and admired mother, whom without her persistent love, guidance, support, and encouragement, I would have given up on life and my dreams a many times over; to Best Kaisara and Tshepo Monyatsiwa for their significant contribution in inspiring me to write this book; to my aunt Fellinah Lebotse for helping me edit the book draft; and of course not forgetting all my relatives and friends around the world; my acquaintances, my past situations, things, places, and countries like America and Japan which have contributed to my wisdom and growth in my arising in the art of my life. But my greatest acknowledgement and gratitude goes to God; Without His Unfailing Grace, I Can Accomplish Nothing. Blessed Be His name.

Preface

If you have been intrigued by the elephant’s picture of this book’s front page and how it may relate to the message in book, well, I hoped that you would. Let me explain it to you: I actually drew the picture myself for my final IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams back in high school. And in that year, I was the only person in the entire country to get an A star in the subject of art because of it. So as you might imagine, I am very proud of it. Anyhow, in order to help you decipher and grasp its meaning and message in this book and without limiting your own artistic and creative acumen, think about the following points while studying it:

1. Adaptability: The different elephants in their different environment and with different colors show that elephants, like chameleons, develop their colors according to their environment. For instance, an elephant staying in the dusty Kalahari deserts will look different from the one living in the water-saturated Okavango Deltas. Thus, we too must learn to adapt ourselves to our environment for the sake of smoothening our life’s journey.

2. Stages of Life: Liveliness, sickness, old age, death. If you look closely at the elephants, you will notice that their different colors also symbolize the stages in their lives. For example, the elephants with dull and faded colors represent aging and ill health while the bright and dark colors represent health and vitality.

3. Falling and Ignorance: The elephants sinking into the water could represent a person’s falling or drowning into ignorance, dearth or whatever unfortunate situation you can think about.

4. Awareness and Enlightenment: The elephants rising from the water represent the arising concept in the book. They could also symbolize that a person is emerging from the depths of poverty or failure to success and victory. Or they could simply denote that one is arising to enlightenment or spiritual awakening; it all depends on how you see things.

You see, perception depends on the senses of the observer, so feel free to judge the picture according to your own eyes; your personal discernment and understanding. As you continue to read the book, keep the picture at the back of your head so that it can help you comprehend the concept of arising better.

In terms of the contents in the book; you will find that I keep referring to The Art of Life, Arising by Falling. That is an impartial and complete book of a series of volumes which contain a holistic approach to your total growth; mental, emotional, physical, social, financial and spiritual development, that is in fact your total well-being.

It enlightens you on how to become an artist of life by showing you how to arise within failure, poverty, and suffering to painting your very own destiny of success and contentment.

"Arisings," however, is the Volume 1 of the series and is a much more concise, specialized and unique book in its own way, in that it focuses only on the arisings part of your overall rise to success and triumph by emphasizing the art in which you can:

1. Arise by Falling

2. Arise by People

3. Arise by Yourself, and

4. Arise by God

Hence, its name "Arisings."

At this instant, let me inform you that the last chapter on Arising by God is personally my most important chapter. The reason is that it shows you how to arise beyond the material and temporary things that only satisfy you fleetingly in this life time; to arising by God into the transcendental and everlasting realms that not only satisfy and help you to succeed in this lifetime but also prepares you for the next.

The chapter, although it shows you how to overcome and arise from any unfavorable circumstance by the way of God, it does NOT in any way make this volume a religious book meant for religious people alone.

By considering ALL the mentioned four parts of arising and enacting them into your life, then this book will not only enlighten you on how to become an overcomer by showing you how to arise within defeat and dearth to victory and prosperity. But it will also show you how to arise yourself into a life of peace and contentment in both your current life circumstances and your future providences, regardless of your religious or unreligious beliefs.

Part One

Arising

by

Falling

ARISING BY FALLING

I had a dream once, and in this dream I was falling into a deep and seemingly bottomless pit—the abyss. Out of fear, I closed my eyes tightly. With my heart in my mouth, I anticipated and imagined the sudden feeling of death as my body and brain were about to splatter all over the rocky rock bottom. Surprisingly, the longer I continued to fall, the more comfortable I became. I opened my eyes slowly and so naturally, and to my delightful surprise, I found myself soaring into the clouds, arising by falling. What… ? I woke up in utter astonishment. I have thought deeply about this weird but gratifying dream for almost ten years since then.

Now, because I will be using the term arising a lot throughout the book, it is best that I explain it to you that you may understand how I use it. Firstly, according to the MacBook Pro dictionary, to arise means:

1. (Of a problem, opportunity, or situation) emerge; become apparent; come into being; originate.

2. (Arise from/out of) occur as a result of;

3. Formal or poetic/literary get or stand up.

The way I coined to use the term is such that, whenever you see the word, you must imagine that you are getting up after you have been tripped by some of life’s stumbling blocks such as problems, failures, and adversities. So then you are emerging from problems to solutions; from failures to victories; from adversities to opportunities; from poverty to riches; from sorrows to rejoicing; from distress to peace; from dearth to abundance; from disappointments to fortunate appointments; and most importantly from dissatisfaction to contentment and from delusions to enlightenment.

Yet in all arisings, you must remember that, There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are things that defile a man (Mark 7:15). This is the secret in arising—it comes from within yourself.

Life is more or less an individual journey with but one destination, SUCCESS. The way in which we reach for this destination is through a combination of temporary successes and temporary failures. Everyone’s journey toward their destination is filled with ups and downs including emotional experiences of adversities and triumphs. Sometimes, one either succeeds or fails and hence they may feel happy or sad, victorious or defeated, inspired or discouraged, respectively. It is in conclusion to this observation that I have the temerity to say, Our modern life is a continuous back and forth process of arising from poverty or failure to temporary prosperity or success. That means, we continually arise and fall then fall and arise again and the cycle goes on and on.

Very few individuals have the ability to retain success when they achieve it because very few know and understand the process to its attainment. I use the word success in this context for the sake of simplicity in writing but keep in mind that success depends on individual goals. Success could easily mean the satisfaction in one’s social, financial, or spiritual life and not just limited to material possessions alone.

I strongly believe that all failure originates from the mind. One initially fails by accepting defeat in his mind for if it were not for that, he would keep trying until eventually, he succeeds. In other words, a man cannot become a failure unless he first accepts defeat in his mind. For as long as one has a sound mind, there is never any reason to give up trying to succeed.

Yet, even those without a sound mind can use the minds of other men and or resources such as experience, internet, and books depending on the level of their sanity to raise themselves to success. Therefore, to succeed is simply a matter of not allowing the mind to see defeat as the end of the road but take it as a stepping-stone to success. It is because of this mindset that some men arise by falling while others fall by arising.

My personal life, which I will write a story about in the future, is a clear example of how I dealt with what could have been a devastating failure in my life, after failing to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Especially that I had sacrificed many opportunities, for financial success, material possessions, fame, family, and marriage for that one opportunity. This could have resulted in me leading a life of embarrassment, lack, depression, and misery, but even worse, I would have been labeled a complete and total failure in life. Throughout this book, you will discover how I arose in situations where most would be falling because:

You see,

My Down Moments are my best Possibilities for Growth,

My greatest Pains are a way to develop my greatest Resistance,

My worst Failures indeed highlight my Success,

My Losses, my best motivation to Achieve.

My Suffering, my best time for gaining true Wisdom,

My worst Struggles in life indeed are a door way to Greatness,

My closed Doors are but an opportunity to seek fresh Ideas,

My troubles create my Legacy.

My Loneliness, my teacher of Self-Reliance,

My Risks, my opportunities to reinforce personal Initiative,

My Criticisms, my way to learning more about Myself,

My enemies, my inspiration to act in Love.

My Fears are the keys that unlock my Courage,

My Solitude, indeed my time to seek peace and Enlightenment,

My Hunger, a chance to realize the impermanence of the Body,

And my Death, a time for my soul to move on Further!

You see,

It is by getting burnt that I learn to stop playing with fire.

It is by getting punched in the face that I learn to protect myself,

It is by getting things wrong that I learn the right way to do things,

It is by lowering my body first that I can lift myself off the ground.

It is by climbing up the hill that I develop the strongest forward motion,

It is by taking a step back that I can see clearly that which is close ahead,

It is by pushing the biggest rocks in life that I develop my strongest will and character.

It is clear that to advance to higher altitudes in life we must first experience the low falls.

The ground is the base in which we can push ourselves off to the moon.

You see, we Arise by Falling!

In the cycle of poverty, unless I know how to arise by falling I will continue in it, moving from one moment of poverty to the next. The difference between the rich and the poor is this; the rich know how to arise by falling, they never get acclimated to falling, rather they collect all their failures and use them to create a ladder in which they will climb their way up to success. The more the failures, the higher the ladder of success will go! On the other hand, the poor get accustomed to falling and thus keep falling deeper and deeper into the depths of poverty.

Winners never quit because they know that losing a battle does not mean losing the entire war. They do not see losing a few attempts as the end of their journey. Instead they see losing as a necessary ingredient for rising to greatness. On the other side, losers are bothered by losing and lament over their losses; thus, subconsciously focus on failure which as a result attracts more failures to them. In other words, just like positive thoughts attract positive thoughts, negative thoughts also attract negative thoughts.

You need to be careful of the thoughts you indulge your emotions in as they will magnetize other thoughts like them. Instead, counter every negative thought with a positive affirmation to yourself. For example; if something bad or some accident occasionally happens to you and you find yourself thinking; I am always too clumsy when… then immediately rebuke yourself and instead say to yourself When this… happens, I never panic because everything always goes according to my plans! I refer to this as positive self-talk, which I talk about in detail later.

I have learnt that all that is possible and capable of being done by any human being is possible to anyone, anywhere at any time! No matter where the mind is, it is always capable of arising beyond that situation as long as one has control over it and does not allow it to get trapped in the misgivings of the emotions in the negative appearances of that situation. The capacity of achievement depends on the capacity of the mind that wants to achieve.

It is important to realize that most of what we perceive as problems is first perceived in the mind. The problems we perceived or created in the mind cannot be solved by the same mindset that perceived or created them. The mind must arise from that situation regardless of whether the current situation in that person’s life is worsening or not. This is why I say, "Arise by falling."

If what you tried to do did not work out but instead caused you to fall into the path of failure, then rather than accepting that as defeat and seeing yourself as a failure, realize that your plan of action may have not been viable and that your mind is not ready to accept that as defeat. You can opt to view those unviable plans as a learning process for you to better them in the future. One should know that, that apparent failure will one day highlight your success and encourage many people going through the same difficulties.

One of the practical methods I use to cause my mind to arise above my current problematic situation is that; I look at myself through the eyes of a third sane and rational person and imagine how that person would deal with my current situation. Or I imagine what I would think and do had I not been in the middle of the problem and was in fact the one advising another person in that similar situation.

My experience has proven that doing so causes my mind to be rational in an irrational situation and to remain sane in a situation that would otherwise lead it to insanity. This has always worked for me and though it is not guaranteed it will also work for you, just try it and see. If it works for you, that is good, but if it does not, then I encourage you to take this example as an inspiration for you to discover your own methods to arise from whatever problems you may be in.

When you put your attention on any negative situation, you block your mind to find a solution to rise out of it. In other words, when you cloud your eyes with tears over the situation you are in, you will most assuredly fail to see the next opportunity when it shows up in front of your tearful eyes. The best thing is to ignore or detach your emotions away from the negative circumstances before they lure you into a jeremiad over them. This is the only time when they say, "Ignorance is bliss." The stratagem is: To remain optimistic in any pessimistic condition.

To be assertive and not apprehensive,

To be creative and not competitive,

To be cognizant and not benighted,

To be tolerant and not bigoted.

To be prudent and not mindless,

To be decent and not heedless,

To be affable and not hateful,

To be lovable and not harmful.

To be decisive and not hesitant,

To be expressive and not reticent,

To look within and not make excuses,

To be strive without and not make ruses.

To be enlightened and not be in delusion,

To be acquainted and not be in confusion.

To strive for celebrity and not fall for mediocrity,

That way you can arrive in prosperity and not fall into poverty.

The trick is to skillfully outwit the cunning methods of suffering, misfortune, poverty, lack, adversity, among others. You do this by first understanding that its process is always by descent and that every difficulty possesses in it the seed of a great opportunity. This means, whenever you find yourself falling or failing in your endeavor, take a step back, review your plans, rethink your mental attitude and move forward before you fall too deep into failure. No man suffers by succeeding unless he is in delusion, but many arise by falling and see opportunities for a comeback in every setback. Once this is understood, then it is much easier to view the art of arising in this manner:

Failure as a necessary ingredient of Success,

Downfall as a possibility for Growth,

Pain as a way to developing Resistance,

Losing as a motivation to Win.

Suffering as a time for gaining Wisdom,

Struggling as a part of the road to Greatness,

Closed doors as openings to finding fresh Ideas,

Troubles as valuable experiences to Overcome.

Being lonely as a time to learn Self-Reliance,

Risk-taking as a way to develop Personal-Initiative,

Being criticized as a moment of self-reflection,

Having enemies as a chance to practice Love.

You see, in Fear, you unleash Courage,

In Solitude, you savor Peace and Freedom,

In Hunger, you take Control over the Senses,

In Death, your Soul is Free from the limitations of the Body.

The trick is to always see Falling as a time for Arising!

The Art of Responding to Defeat:

Always keep in mind that there are four kinds of ways in which people respond to defeat, the first three are common in society and the last one only a rare few use it:

First