Author and International Speaker

Points of Balance : 24 Ways to Enrich Your Life

By Mansukh Patel and Chris Barrington

The authors of “Points of Balance”, Mansukh Patel and Chris Barrington, first met at university during the mid-1970’s.  It was during these university days that Chris was introduced to Mansukh’s extraordinary parents, Chhanganbai and Ecchaben Patel.  On the surface, Mansukh’s parents seemed like any other Asian couple who had left their indigenous backgrounds in India and Kenya, to live in Britain during the late 1960’s.
However, no matter what was happening around this special Asian couple, they always remained calm and content, and at ease with their surroundings. 

What was their secret?

“Points of Balance” reveals the wisdom of the ages taught to Mansukh Patel and Chris Barrington during these university years.  They learned how to approach life with the utmost poise and balance.  Under the guidance of Mansukh’s parents, these two university students integrated the “24 Guidelines for Successful Living” that have worked for people for thousands of years, and will undoubtedly continue to do so for millennia to come.

What are these “24 Guidelines for Successful Living”? 

1) Non-violence:  How to live non-violently?  How to live without being a slave to the “reactive mind”?  Mansukh Patel and Chris Barrington state the importance of association.  Do we associate with good people (or media), who live by high standards and feed us with high thoughts?  Or do we associate with angry or violent people (or media)?   It’s our choice! 

If we want to live non-violently, then the advice from Mansukh and Chris is to cultivate the habit of good association.  Choose to watch or read things that nurtures us.   We have to make choices about what we eat, the things we buy, and what we watch.  Mansukh’s parents taught that when the diet is pure, the heart and the mind will also be pure.

2) Truthfulness:  Truthfulness is about being real; it’s about seeing things as they are.  Being truthful requires courage to be totally honest with oneself.  

Mansukh and Chris observe that many people fill their lives with so much activity, that there is little time left for looking at themselves.  The result is a distinct lack of self-awareness.
How to develop this self-awareness?  Reflect on your every interaction and ask yourself: was what I said clear?  Did I put the needs of the other person first?  Was my intention to create something beautiful? Was I compassionate?

3) Not Stealing:  The nature of the ego is to grasp at everything around it.  We call this the “wanting mind”.  It is always creating preferences for what it wants, and for possessions. 

Mansukh and Chris advise that when you find your mind telling you that you need something, simply ask yourself the following questions:  Do I really need this?  Do I want this for myself, or will it benefit anyone else?

When you ask these questions and look at yourself in this way, you start to understand the ego’s grasping nature.

How to overcome “the wanting mind?”  Mansukh and Chris state: “When you enter the mode of giving, you leave the mode of wanting.  Learn to give things away!”

For more information, please visit: Points of Balance, by Chris Barrington and Mansukh Patel

Related material:

Dru Bhagavad Gita, by Chris Barrington, John Jones, Savitri MacCuish, Mansukh Patel, compiled by Yamuna Loyal

Dru Bhagavad Gita home study course, by Chris Barrington and Yamuna Loyal

Dru Bhagavad Gita DVD series, by Mansukh Patel