People have heard many miraculous and not so miraculous things about Shri Hanuman, many times erroneously referred to as Monkey God, including by the President of America, Barack Obama, who keeps a statuette of Hanuman as part of his lucky charm collection in his pocket.

Whether Hanuman was a monkey or vanara, referring to people who lived with nature in the forest, there are numerous stories of Hanuman which could inspire or at least provide learning lessons. As a young boy I had chosen Hanuman as my personal deva, or ishtadeva, to whom I used to offer sweets after my annual exam results were announced. I started wearing a dhoti-kurta on the days I went to offer sweets. That skill of wearing a dhoti kurta has remained with me even today. Many a time it is not as important what one believes when one performs a particular action, but rather the lessons one learns in performing the action. The lessons are for the life where the beliefs are for the moment.

Hanuman’s Background

Hanuman was son of Kesari, a vanar king of Sumeru, for which there are several claimants in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, and Anjana, a wise woman with said to descend from the gods. It is known that Hanuman was born with blessings from Shiva and Parvati, and also was helped by Vayu devata. All of them are well grounded in mountain, forest, and air. In other words, Hanuman was influenced mostly by nature and was connected to indigenous peoples with wisdom derived from their connection to nature.

A Hanuman State of Mind

A Hanuman state of mind is that of someone who is bereft of ego and arrogance. “Hanu” means to kill and “maan” means the ego. That is why one sees and hears about Hanuman being very powerful, yet always seen with folded hands and humble in service. There are stories about him receiving a curse such that he would forget the extent of his power. However, given the Hanuman state of mind, arguably this curse may in fact be considered a boon. Certainly going by his great accomplishments and virtues, and the following he has even today, his traits can easily be considered as footsteps of success.

Hanuman Syndrome

Hanuman ji’s humility and determination are considered part of his real character that led him to win any mission he embarked upon. In the infinite states of consciousness, most people are focused on only a limited track of consciousness, and are in fact not aware of the existence (ego) of the other domains of their consciousness until they are reminded of them by someone they believe and trust, such as parents, teachers, a guru, etc.

Children and students are particularly susceptible to this very same Hanuman syndrome – they are vulnerable in that they are unaware of the hidden capacity and potential within them. Beyond children and students, this is the Hanuman syndrome that all of whole humanity suffers from. This syndrome can only be treated by wise and caring teachers or elders, who remove the syndrome with inspiration and infusion of courage through a series of steps to build confidence via knowledge and practice. This is what was done by Jamvant, represented by as a Rikshraj and mansputra of Brahma, the creator of the universe. Jamvant is not an ordinary bear, but rather an individual with power and adaptability of a bear. He, along with Hanuman and Parasuram, has the unique distinction of being present in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata. In other words, for Hanuman syndrome to be removed, an extraordinary teacher or guru is needed, who can awaken an individual’s hidden consciousness and remind them of their true power.

Hanuman’s Approach

Once Hanuman syndrome is treated, a person can achieve extraordinary feats. There is nothing that such an individual cannot do. One’s approach becomes that of improvisation rather than strategic and tactical. Since they are capable of doing anything, they do not sit down to plan and process in-the-box goals. They actually begin to do what needs to be done, notwithstanding what may seem impossible to others.  They think out-of-the-box and become resourceful. This is what Hanuman did when Lakshmana was hit with the Shakti weapon of Meghnad. When Sushen (an Ayurvedic Vaidya) prescribed the Sanjivani from the Himalayas as the only cure to revive Lakshmana in less than 12 hours, everyone in Rama’s army had given up, except for Hanuman, freed of his syndrome. He was the only one who could leap forward to the Himalayas without any hesitation or preplanning, driven only by what needed to be done. He did not spend a semester learning the geography of the Himalayas, ask for a GPS to reach there, or demand a long lesson on different types of plants, shrubs, and herbs.  Solutions-oriented and action-biased, he gave no excuses.

He reached the Himalayas after overcoming intentional hurdles thrown in his way, as represented by Kalanemi, which also means the perimeter of time. Symbolically it means that Hanuman had to cross the limit of time to reach the Himalayas and return. Once there, he could not identify the Sanjivani from many other medicinal herbs. He decided right then and there to bring the entire mountain so that Sushen could pick what was rightly needed.   This is the Hanuman approach to living. Once awakened of one’s hidden capabilities, one does not expect everything to be favorable and in place to do one’s duty. In the Hanuman approach, you do whatever is needed to accomplish your objective. If the world’s current systems and organizations do not allow one to do right things, then let us begin changing the world, whether it is for peace, food, health, equality, education, or the planet.

Go ahead try the Hanuman approach, and let the world know the results!