Srinivas Bhat is a life enhancement mentor at Kamalaya, a wellness retreat located on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand. Hailing from India, Bhat was a monk for 14 years and he is trained in esoteric meditations, spiritual philosophy and helping people manage their emotions.
Drawing on his profound understanding of life and the human mind, he helps people realize their full potential. Bringing almost 30 years of experience, he offers both online and in-person therapy sessions, and he specializes in coaching people through issues as varied as managing stress and burnout, and coping with change.
He speaks to Livehealthy about why the secret to happiness is looking inside and being aware of your emotions, and why so many people are being held back by the ‘five viruses’ of human behaviour.
How did you create your approach to help people?
It is only possible to really help people if we can go beyond the idea of helping. A person needs to be ready to help themselves.
I believe nobody can help anybody. Help can happen only if it is the right timing for it to happen. People just need to ask ‘how can I be happy?’
I’ve been doing this for 28 years, but I see myself in every student. All teachers must never forget to learn. You can either participate with the flow called life and all it’s different seasons, or you don’t.
What happens if we don’t participate in life?
We resist life and start complaining and blaming everyone. We go too much into our own heads. But we all deserve to be helped. My approach reflects how I participate in my own life journey.
Ultimately, it all boils down to whether you really believe that you deserve to be helped or not? Some of us say that we want to be happy, but at a deeper level, we may be completely closed off to life itself.
To begin our journey, we need to become conscious of the truth. I always start by helping people become conscious of the fact that they may be unconscious.
People come to Kamalaya wanting to lose weight or release their traumas, but they may not have the energy that is needed for them to solve these issues.
As children, we are free, but as we grow up, we are programmed to be controlled, and in pain. Healing and growing is usually not a comfortable experience to go through, but then what’s the use in saying I want to be free if I’m not willing to pay attention to the truth? That’s where the journey begins.
Are we all controlled by things in our past?
I’ve met very few people who only have lovely and happy things in their past. But we can’t blame our parents, because they are controlled by their past as well.
It’s like if you are living in a house, and you’ve decorated it perfectly. But you have no idea about the things that are underneath the carpet, and no matter how much you try to make it look pretty, sooner or later, you must face that it’s not as beautiful as you might want it to be.
It’s about looking at the things that we keep in our deepest layers, what I call the unconscious. The unconscious impacts the way we speak, the way we act, and the way we manifest things for ourselves. All of us are extremely powerful because we are co-creators with the universe. Everything is influencing everything else, so we have to pay attention.
How vulnerable you can be with yourself determines how much you can enhance the quality of your life. It is only while our fears and traumas are unconscious that they can take a grip on our life. If they are conscious, and held with enormous respect and compassion, there’s no way they can control us.
How do you start to face your problems?
It’s all about what’s happening inside. We’re living in a society where being vulnerable is not popular or encouraged, and that’s because not many people know the power of it.
We must be completely, innocently and sincerely observant of whatever is going on within us. It’s not about learning something new or certain teachings and philosophies. That’s what fascinated me for 30 years.
What is most important is uncovering what is already there within yourself. When somebody does that, it feels as though the whole universe is out to help you. That’s when the rocket can be launched.
Why is it important that we pay attention to our emotions?
As a society we are always ready to help others, but we don’t necessarily do this within ourselves. We should be conscious of the sources of our feelings and work on them so that we can manifest beautiful things for ourselves. To understand this can be a huge breakthrough.
We don’t give priority to ourselves, and that’s the most unfortunate thing. We’ve been programmed in this world to think it’s not okay to have not-so-nice feelings. Ultimately, it’s all about energy. You won’t have any energy left to embrace the truth if you are using it all to resist life or blame people.
You also can’t be present if you have all this noise within you. But embracing the truth brings a release of energy that is love, intelligence and creativity. Many people are denying themselves that energy.
What is your theory of the ‘five viruses’?
The five viruses are complaining, blaming, comparison, self-pity, and feeling like a victim — habits that each of us have. When we are unconscious, we are driving blindly, and that is very dangerous. We may be engrossed with feeling sorry for ourselves, comparing ourselves to others, or complaining about anything and everything.
If we don’t pay attention and embrace whatever is going on, we pile up more problems for ourselves. That’s why it’s called viruses because we go round and round, and end up asking a bunch of wrong questions that life can never answer. Life can only answer if we ask the right questions. It’s a huge turning point if somebody observes these viruses, because getting sucked into them drains so much of our energy.
It’s about reviving ourselves. So many people are not interested in life, and they seem older than they are because they look as though they’re carrying the whole burden of life, or the world itself. In some ways we are not in control of anything that is happening, but in some ways, we are because we have the option of paying attention and beginning our journey.
When we work on ourselves, we naturally begin to feel good inside and that inevitably helps the world around us, too. If we live a life that is rooted in authenticity rather than trying to impress, we can make a difference.
