The intriguing thing about neurosciences and psychology is its existence even before its discovery. Common knowledge tells us that Neuro Linguistic Programming is a  recent concept coined in the 1970s. Yet, when we look back at mythology, we begin to realise that NLP is indeed the study of what worked (and what continues to work).

Today on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, let’s examine how NLP happens to be in alignment with the wisdom of the scriptures.

Let’s begin by having a look at five concepts from the field of NLP as demonstrated in Lord Hanuman’s life.

1. State management:
   State management is emotion management. Lord Hanuman was known for managing his emotions really well. Be it at the time of getting Sanjeevani, or while saving Devi Sita, his emotional states helped him to achieve his outcomes.

2. Anchoring:
   Lord Hanumana’s “Jai Shree Ram” became a war-cry or slogan of strength and is even used today in day-to-day life.

3. Goal-setting:
   Hanumanji’s mission to find and rescue Devi Sita, Lord Rama’s wife, is an example of achieving the goals with outcome orientation. NLP, provides the tools to set clear, specific goals and develop strategies for achieving them. Lord Hanuman had set his goals with such immense clarity about the outcome (i.e. to save Devi Sita), that he even went to the extent of burning the Lanka to attain this outcome.

4. Identity level:
   One of the famous lines rendered by Lord Hanuman is: राम का हूँ भक्त मैं, रूद्र का अवतार हूँ, अंजनी का लाल हूँ मैं, दर्जनों का काल हूँ, साधुजन के साथ हूँ मैं, निर्बलों की आस हूँ, सद्गुणों का मान हूँ मैं, हां मैं हनुमान हूँ।

(Translation: I am Devotee of Ram, I am Incarnation of Rudra, I am Son of Anjali, I am End of Evil, I am Company of Saints, I am Hope of the Weak, I am Respect of the Virtues, Yes I am Hanuman)

From an perspective of the 6 Logical Levels in NLP, these are all powerful identities that Lord Hanuman identified himself with. When you associate yourself by creating stronger identities (“I am” level statements), you empower yourself to attain higher levels of success in life.

5. The Presuppositions of NLP:

The NLP Presuppositions (also known as the Beliefs of Excellence) can easily be found to have similarities with the learnings from various mythological scriptures. Let’s see here how some of these NLP presuppositions can be connected with the beliefs of Lord Hanuman:

a. People have all the resources they need to achieve their goals:

Lord Hanuman’s ability to cross the ocean, find Devi Sita, and defeat the demon king Ravana are all examples of his resourcefulness and determination. He never relied on finding help and rather became the help by discovering strength in himself by taking challenges head on. This tells us that we all have our answers/solutions and resources within.

b. There is no failure, only feedback:

Lord Hanuman’s various setbacks and challenges throughout his mission to find Sita could be seen as feedback, which he used to adjust his approach and try again. For example, when he was captured by Ravana’s soldiers, he used the opportunity to gather information and learn more about his enemy.

c. People are not their behaviours:

Lord Hanuman’s ability to see the good in others, even when they were acting in harmful ways, demonstrates his understanding that people are not defined by their behaviors. For example, he was able to see past Ravana’s violent actions and recognize his intelligence and cunning, which helped him in his mission to find Devi Sita.

History repeats itself – that’s an age-old adage. While looking back at Lord Hanuman’s life, we can not only find traces of NLP, but hopefully, after reading this, we all can find a little glimpse of Lord Hanuman in us.

Happy Hanuman Janmotsava.

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