Any activity should always engage the 3 H model of Heart, the Head and the Hand. The same has been advocated by western scholars of today. The concept is that while doing any work, you should ask the head for choices and then refer these choices to the heart to choose one and finally order the hands to carry out that action.

Deepak Chopra also talks about this in his book ‘The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success’. He writes that conscious–based decisions are the best decisions. Before taking any decision he recommends asking the body for the signals of comfort or discomfort and if the signals of discomfort are perceived, then one should not carry out that action.

All the above concepts come from our ancient Vedic knowledge. The two main mantras of our times are the Mahamritunjaya Mantra and the Gayatri Mantra.

The Mahamritunjaya Mantra is from the Rig Veda and needs initiation for attaining any Siddhi. This is the greatest reliever from all evils and reads as under: Aum Trayambakam Yajamahe, Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam; Urva Rukamiva Bandhanan, Mrityor Mokshiye Mamritat. It means we worship Shiva – The Three–Eyed Lord, who is fragrant and nourishes all beings; May he protect us (bandhanan) from all big (urva) diseases (aarookam). May he liberate us (mokshiye) from death (mrityor), For the sake of immortality (mamritat, amrit); as the cucumber is automatically liberated, from its bondage from the creeper when it fully ripens.

The meaning of the mantra is the importance of the third eye and the benefits of its opening. The two eyes are at the level of the physical body. The third eye means the eyes of the mind and the eyes of the soul. It also indicates that in difficulty one should look inward from the eyes of the mind and ask for choices. Like the cucumber, one should choose the good ones and drop the bad choices.

The mantra for the conscious–based decision comes from Gayatri mantra: Om Bhur Bhuvaha Suvaha Thath Savithur Varenyam Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayath. It means we meditate on the glory of the Creator; who has created the Universe; who is worthy of Worship; who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light; who is the remover of all Sin and Ignorance; may He enlighten our Intellect.

It talks about the importance of conscious–based decisions and its directions to the intellect to choose the right and not the convenient actions.

The Gayatri Mantra is the Vedic prayer to illuminate the intellect. Gayatri is considered as Vedasara –– "the essence of the Vedas." Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge–yielding faculty. As a matter of fact, the four mahavakyas or ‘core–declarations’ enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayatri mantra.

Choosing the right decision from the consciousness was later defined by Buddha. He taught that before any action ask yourself the following four questions and if the answer to any of the question is no, then avoid that action. These four questions are: is it the truth, is it necessary, will the actions bring happiness to you and to others.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this write up are my own).