6 UTSAV GANDHI campus@technewsiit.com TechNews | Tuesday, October 16, 2012 CMC hosts etiquette lunch to aid students during business meals By Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR Ever been invited to a professional meeting that happened over a meal, and your apprehension or naiveté clearly expressed itself at the meal table? You spilled food over the table, had little idea which piece of cutlery to use from the assortment available on the table, didn’t really know how to handle those gazillion text messages and tweet updates, and didn’t know how to manage the bill. Lunch and dinner meetings are common in the professional world to gauge the confidence of the prospective client or employee over an informal atmosphere and the perfect opportunity to make a clean, natural impression without the pressures of a formal oflice environment. Unfortunately, coming out of college, students don’t really have the etiquette training to make the most of such opportunities as they may encounter. Considering that, the Career Management Center hosted an Etiquette Lunch on October 4th in the Armour Lounge in Hermann Hall. The speaker, from the Global Sales Division team of AT&T, was exceptionally well—trained in teaching etiquette and covered a wealth of topics from dress to handling cutlery to cellphone etiquette. For just ten dollars, students also had the chance to devour a sumptuous meal catered by Sodexo. The workshop is highly recommended, so keep an eye on the CMC calendar to see the next one announced soon enough. Email them at cmc@iit.edu if you have any questions. Photos courtesy of CMC Vedic Vision Society: Prism of Consciousness By Sneha Saraf STAFF WRITER “Prism of Consciousness” was a lecture where the speaker, Nityananda Pran, talked about the three modes of material nature and how they impact everything we see around us, as well as everything we don’t see — like our consciousness and perception. This material world is governed by the three modes of material nature: sattva (mode of goodness), rajas (mode of passion), and tamas (mode of ignorance). All the variety in nature, comprised of various species—and even variety within our own species, is due the combination of these modes in various ratios and proportions. The mode of goodness is said to be the window to transcendence, and is characterized by morality, knowledge, dutiful work, and detachment from the fruits of one’s actions. The mode of passion is characterized by competitive spirit, attachment to the fruit of one’s work and selfishness. The mode of ignorance is characterized by sleep, laziness, procrastination and dulled senses. Together, the three modes act like color filters over a white light; they each affect and cover the natural consciousness of the soul with the unnatural traits characterized by the various modes of nature. According to the Vedic classification, there are 8.4 million different species. Pran explained that this is due to the many combinations of the modes of nature which affect the consciousness. The life form and consciousness we are born with depends on the karma that we have accumulated over time. The karma that accumulates is based on what actions we perform under the influence of the modes; however, these modes don’t just influence the life we are born into; they influence us constantly and we accrue and expend karma with every action and activity throughout the course of the day. For example, we may feel happy about something in the morning, but end up feeling very different by early afternoon, depending on the mode that affects us. Our free will is always there, and the modes act upon us according to the way we choose to use that will. Karmic cycle is perpetual — no one escapes it, except a person who makes a conscious choice for a spiritual alternative. It is a lifestyle of spiritualizing one’s existence while living in harmony with nature. Such persons gradually overcome the effects of the three modes of nature by eventually restoring their original loving relationship with the source of everything. Nityananda Pran went on to describe how certain activities can appear when predominated by various modes. He described what charity under the various modes can look like: a person in the mode of goodness gives charity “out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person”. One who is in the mode of passion — on the other hand — gives charity “with the expectation of some return or with a desire for fruitive results, or in a grudging mood”. Think of somebody who donates money to an institution and asks that a building or tree be named after them. One who is in the mode of ignorance gives charity “at an impure place, at an improper time, to unworthy persons, or without proper attention and respect.” Each of the activities is interconnected with the others; for instance, one cannot practice eating in the mode of ignorance and perform work in the mode of goodness. Nityananda Pran also explained that most of our actions are performed under a mixture of the three modes — they are not purely under the mode of goodness, passion or ignorance. When we are acting more under the mode of goodness, the effects of the other modes of nature become minimized, and it becomes easier for us to strive for God— consciousness, or that platform beyond the influence of the modes. By attaining this platform, we gain the ability to perceive things as they are, rather than being colored over by the filters. Next week’s lecture will continue to cover this topic by explaining how we can practically begin to move beyond these modes of nature and the karmic cycle. All discussions are video—recorded and available on the facebook.com/vedicvis. l3 H+.I.II SII A Register at: tinyurl.com/towertour The tour will include pizza/light lunch, an overview presentation by Mehdi Ganji, ECE Ph.D. candidate followed by a guided tour of the building ...out in time for your next class! F" Two sessions available: WED. OCT. 17 THURS. OCT. 25 12:40-1:50pm Each group is limited to 20 people. Open to Students, Staff, and Faculty. Questions: campussustainability@iit.edu Brought to you by "T WISER, Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation, and Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability.