Friday, November 30, 2007

on tour with Sri Sri (upto 12thmarch 2008)

 

   Date(2007)

  Location

  19th - 26th Nov

  Bangalore, India

  30th Nov - 5th Dec

  Brussels

  6th - 7th Dec

  Ethiopia

  13th Dec - 18th Dec

  Bangalore, India

  20th Dec - 31st Dec

  Germany

  30th Nov - 4th Dec

  Brussels

  5th Dec

  Germany

  6th - 7th Dec

  Adis Adaba, Ethiopia

  10th - 12th Dec

  Hassan, India

  13th Dec

  Tumkur, India

  14th - 16th Dec

  Bangalore, India

  17th Dec

  Mysore, India

  18th Dec

  Bangalore, India

  19th Dec

  Trivandrum, India

  19th - 22nd Dec

  Chithradurga, INdia

  24th Dec - 3rd Jan

  Germany

  4th - 5th Jan

  Delhi, India

  6th Jan

  Hyderabad, India

  7th Jan

  Hubli, Vizaq, India

  8th Jan

  Tanaku

  9th Jan

  Vijavada, India

  10th - 18th Jan

  Bangalore, India

  23rd - 25th Jan

  Davos

  27th Jan - 17th Feb

  Bangalore, India

  18th Feb - 20th Feb

  Germany

  21th - 24th Feb

  Canada

  25th Dec - 2nd Mar

  Los Angeles, USA

  3rd Mar

  Germany

  4th Mar

  Mumbai

  5th - 8th Mar

  Surat

  9th - 12th Mar

  Mumbai




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Who is Guru? + Experience sharing from Pakistan (You Tube Video)


Who is Guru?..

"Just enter the door of the Master and come home. Only the Presence
of the Master will bring fulfillment to all your relationships. The
Presence is vast, infinite, stable and centred."

~~ H.H. Sri Sri Guruji

Gurudev

Words by themselves are inadequate to express what a master or a Guru
brings to one's life. His presence, his love, his grace and his
shining light can uplift one from the miseries and the sorrow that life
brings us. One knows one has come to master when there is a sense of
completeness; the feeling of a child peacefully sleeping on the
mother's lap without any worries.

Gurudev chants a Sanskrit shloka every time he starts a discourse. It
means that Ishwara that is the Divine, Guru the Master and Aatma the
Self are one and the same.

When the sadhak (spiritual seeker) is ready on the path, The Guru
himself manifests. Many seekers chant, meditate and do other spiritual
practices, but they find a lack. They feel the need for somebody to
guide them on the path. Sometimes on the path, one feels lost. There
is emotional disturbance, confusion, guilt and there are doubts. You
need somebody to say with reassurance: "Yes, this is the path. You
just be there. It dosen't matter if you fall this way or that way, I
am with you."

It is like mathematics. The technique is taught, but still certain
problems may be going wrong, and the teacher comes around and shows you
where you are going wrong. And, then you've solved it! To learn an
ordinary subject like mathematics, we need a guide. So on the spiritual
path, the need for a guide; a teacher is so much greater! Somebody who
is like a friend with whom you can share inner most feelings, who is
disciplining like a father and caring and loving like a mother. Maybe
one in a million many not need a master, a Guru. They may be able to
walk the path alone, but the majority needs a Guru.

The Guru comes to the disciple. The disciple never goes to the Guru
because he does not know who the true Guru is. One who is ignorant
cannot know what knowledge is! It is like the divine has itself
manifested in the human form. We are comfortable relation to a physical
form. So, when that is the state, the Divine manifests in the physical
form that is the Guru. He takes one along the path and then when the
disciple is mature enough, the Guru lessens the dependence on the
physical form and the craving for the physical form. Even though the
craving is very beautiful, the Guru takes the disciple beyond those
limitations and starts showing him increasingly that `I am with you!
I am your very Self, your Aatma! Guru is antar tam; the inner essence
that dispels all the ignorance and darkness in our lives.

And, the Guru also shows you that `I am in everybody.' The Guru
is speaking, acting and manifesting through each and every particle of
creation. In fact, Guru means that which is vast, boundless. His body
is the entire space. Fortunate are the ones who really come to the
master!

`Tumhi sarva prana sa pranadhar saratsara' – `You are
everything; you are even the source of my life breath, the very essence
of my life.' Being without a Guru is like a ship in the endless
ocean that has lost direction. Fortunate are those who graduate from
being a disciple to becoming a devotee. The disciple has a goal in
life. He wants to get enlightened or get knowledge, but a devotee does
not want anything.

The Guru tatva is infinite. Any amount of explanation is not enough.
Talking about it is beautiful, but feeling the Presence goes beyond mere
words. The language of the enlightened masters is silence. The very
Presence speaks. The master discourses in the silence and all the
doubts are dispelled.

Jai Gurudev..

=================================================
 
Experience sharing from Pakistan - An old video, but interesting.
 
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Ashram satsang and knowledge session with sri sri on 23/11/2007

Ashram satsang and knowledge session with sri sri on
friday
23.11.07


 
............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ..

Q and A with sri sri

Sri: Nahi …Light ki zaroorat nahi..abhi meditation
karenge…what is the time?...8.10- 8>15?
How are you all?...Mast hai…

Basic Course Participants kahan hai?...U all are
enjoying…?..YES…

Corporate course participants? ..Uall are
enjoying?... YES…

Organizers from different parts of india ?..U all are
enjoying..?. .YES…

How are ur meetings going on?..

What about others ?...Everybody else..Sab log khush
hai..?...YES…

Dhyaan kar lete hai…Look at the moon…

And we continued to go deep in guruji's guided
meditation on moon…

After the meditation…

Sri: Was it good?...How many people liked
it?..EVERYONE? ..

Now what shall we do?...talk a few things..

Q: guruji can u say something about the NANDIGRAM
experience…
A:Yesterday we spoke on that ..

Q:hmmm…any questions?.. .

Q: (was in kannada…so not mentioning the details)

Q:What is the importance of hard work?..
A: Smart work is necessary ..not only hard work

Q: in kannada once again…

Sri: Har mohale mein satsang hona chahiye (every
colony should have satsang)..thats why in old times
they used to say.."NAGARSANGKIRTA N"..PRABHAT
PHERI..means they would go to every house in the
morning and take them along to join satsang..Mahatma
Gandhi used this practice to the maximum benefit..

Q: Swamiji does a human being recognize himself?
A: The one who recognizes himself is a human
being..and the one who doesnot recognize himself is
not even an animal..Even a Dog recognizes himself..One
child asked me guruji..why and how animals can make
friends without the problem of language across any
country or border..then why we human beings need a
language to make friends…on which I answered to him
that Human beings also know one language across the
globe..THAT of SMILE..even if they don't understand
each other's language thet understand the language of
smile..

Q: Guruji..something wrong is happening at my
home..everyone is very afraid at home…I am here in the
course…Mummy has asked to ask you
A: Say OM NAMAH SHIVAYA..tell them all to say OM NAMAH
SHIVAYA..and do meditation.. everything will be ok

Q: How to become a smart worker from a hard worker
A: Tigdambaazi karke nahi…if u do any such trick, it
will all be out in short time..We take pride in the
fact that WE DID HARD WORK ..aree..if you are
intelligent enough then why di u need to do HARD
work..( everyone laughs)..SMART WORKER is the
One who does not take a long time to do a great
work..In short time who do great work are Smart
workers..

Q; ..Again in kannada..

Q: Guruji ..if ashram is our home why do we have to go
back after the course is over?
A: You cant stay at home all the time, you have to go
out for work.

Q: Guruji will u talk something about atma, atmahatya
and punarjanam?
A: Yes its true that those who do atma hatya( suicide)
their soul lingers around for sometime and gets a body
later again.Its like you are feeling cold and whatever
shawl you are wearing that also you remove..then you
feel more cold.For the removal of whatever karmas and
misery , you get this body this means, if we remove
and destroy that means only ,then whats the use…

Q: How can I know that I will be taken care of?
A: Whatever you sow shall reap.If you say to yourself
that everytime I am fighting, that karma you sow for
yourself.wake up and see if all 365 days did u
fight?..You know we eternalize the problem .If you say
that you are always wrong, you throw that seed in
universe and that comes to you. To know that you are
wrong, you have to be aware that you were right some
moment.Everybody is sick in Bangalore we say…how can
all the people in Bangalore be sick?..

Take a fresh look at life…If 10 times u fail, 11th
time you may succeed…Put the positive thought in your
mind.Dont say that my mother is angry everyday, say
that ya today my mother will not be angry- put this
sankalpa in your mind and may be 1st day 2nd day 3rd
day it wont work but 4th day it will.

You utilize the power of your consciousness, instead
of being the victim of your situation, you should know
that you are the central point.

Q: People do so much wrong on the issue of dowry..how
can we help?
A: Those who do wrong in the name of dowry do it out
of ignorance,they have not been educated properly,
they are the victim of their own cravings and vaasnas
.Its easy for us to punish such people , but it will
be a great work if we can remove that animal instinct
from such people and bring out the human instincts in
them.Previuosly there were Purohits in every village
who would take care of ever body, Purohit means
someone in a village who is a well wisher of
everybody..but these days everyone is entangled in
caste creed and religion.By hatred we cannot amend
things..hatred gives birth to hatred…only by
compassion can we convert hatred into love..The
meaning of giving a term( sazaa) is also this
only..people are given terms in jail and closed behind
them only with the intention to get an improvement
in them

Q: why do we get the fruits of previous life's actions
in this life. And what iof we are doing something
wrong in this life without even being aware that we
will bear its fruits in future?
A:When we sow a seed of coconut tree , the tree grows
in say 10yrs or so..when we sprout a lentil say moong
it grows the next morning , but when we put our hand
in fire, we get burnt immediately…
That's why in bhagvad gita, Krishna tells
arjuna..karmon ki gati bahut gehri hai {< the momentum
of karma is deep enough( I cannot translate more
closer than this)}…we cannot understand it so easily,
many intellectual people also could not understand it,
so don't try to understand this. Just know that some
karmas give fruits now and some give later.

Then a team of YLTP participants from Karnataka just
waived to guruji..

And followed a long discussion from guruji's side on
kashmiri issues and here guruji mentioned that all
the kashmiri pandits and dogris and other minorities
should unite in Kashmir to make the situation better
for themselves in that state.Many things were spoken
on this issue , the details of which I cannot write
here in exact verbatim.

Q:All Human beings make mistake ..have you ever made a
mistake guruji..?
A: yes ( laughs)..sometimes I say why did I start this
whole thing

Q: Spiritual fanatcism also occurs these days with
materialistic fantacism.A lot of young people now a
days are going for a spiritual drive and leaving their
families.Previously it was said first we have to go
through brahamcharya then grahast jeevan then
sanyas..now a days many youngsters go directly for
sanyas…?
A: Some people like to take high jumps and leaps,but
that is not for everybody.If some people are mature
enough, they can, but not everybody..they may
fracture their leg in such event( laughs).yes,
youngsters should definitely take their family's
advise.But sometimes family people are also
miserable.If you want to get miserable, you can be so
whether single or married.If you are in knowledge ,
you can anyway be happy, whether single or married.





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Love's wisdom + Faces of infinity ( Knowledge sheet )

LOVE'S WISDOM....

LOVE'S WISDOM

I chant the name of my beloved in every breath. The beloved is
faultless - perfect. But being in love I have lost my reputation.When
there is so much love, you take total responsibility for any
misunderstanding. You may express dismay for a moment on the surface.
But when you do not feel that in your heart, you arrive at a perfect
understanding. You are in a state where all problems and differences
slide away and only love shines through.

Usually we get stuck in our differences, because we have lost sight of
ourselves. In the name of love we try to manipulate and control the
other person. This is natural that when we love somebody, we want them
to be perfect.

You can never see the pits in the ground from the top of a hill. From
a plane the earth looks so smooth. So also from a state of elevated
consciousness, you do not see the pitfalls in others. But if you come
to the ground you always see the holes. And when you want to fill the
holes, you have to see them. You cannot build a home being airborne.
You cannot till the land without looking at the pits, filling them,
removing the pebbles....

That is why when you love somebody you find all the faults in them.
But finding faults destroys love. Instead of filling the pits we run
away from them. When you love somebody and see their faults, stay with
them and help them fill the pits. This is wisdom.

========================================================
 
Knowledge Sheet 132 - Faces of Infinity
Dec 18, 1997
Bangalore Ashram, India

You have many faces. Only you don't face them. When you come face to face with your faces then conflicts, confusion and chaos arise in you.

From time to time in different phases, different faces appear. As you come close to your Being, all the faces melt and leave you as the Space that you are.

At the gross level, you identify yourself as somebody. At a subtle level, you identify yourself as some energy or an incarnation of some angel, saint or prophet.

When you go beyond even this identity, you are whole, holy, Brahman - Purna Brahman Narayana.
Jai Gurudev
 

 

http://gurujiskripa.blogspot.com/

 




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Monday, November 12, 2007

10 WAYS TO RISE YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS


10 WAYS TO RISE  YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS

1.Forgive yourself and others:

Life is too short to hold on to regrets, grudges, miscommunications,
or disappointments. Free yourself by forgiving and letting go of any
negative energy you're holding on to about yourself or others. The
process of forgiving yourself and others will result in your feeling
light and free; it will raise your vibration.

2. Practice gratitude and appreciation:

Whatever you focus on grows. So, when you focus on every thing in
your life you feel grateful for all and the wonderful people you
appreciate, the universe hands you more to feel grateful about.

3. Live each day as though it were your last:

Then you will be living in a state of light, love and unconditional
contribution. What would you say to the people you care about?

4.Meditate or pray:

You open up a direct link between yourself and the spiritual realm
when you meditate or pray. You will come closer to your creator
energy, raise your vibration experience, peace, clarity, joy and
connection, as well as a perfectly balanced state between your
mental, physical, emotional and spiritual realms.

5.Suspend judgment:

One judges another to feel less guilty about one's own misgivings.
Judgment energy is dense, dark and heavy. On the other hand,
unconditional acceptance is light, free and accepting. Let go of
judging and criticising yourself and others. Everyone is on a
different path and some appear to be farther ahead on their path than
others. Neither path is better nor worse than another. Raise your
consciousness to one of acceptance

6. View every experience as a gift:

If you look back at occurrences in your life, you can easily see how
even the worst situations you experienced in your life ended up
teaching you invaluable lessons and therefore resulted in putting you
in perfect place for your continuing development. When you view every
experience — the good, the bad, and the ugly — as a gift, life flows
more like a gentle, inspiring breeze.

7. Stay consciously aware of all your thoughts and feelings:

It is easy to fall into negative patterns of complaining and feeling
like a victim of society and your life. When you catch yourself in
the negative zone, don't feel badly about it and beat yourself up.
Simply choose to switch your consciousness to one of gratitude and
positive thinking.

8. Treat your physical body as your temple:

Your body is the only vehicle you've been given for this ride called
life. The better you care for your body by eating a healthy, balanced
diet, and by implementing a regular exercise routine, and by giving
your body the rest it requires, the more you will experience
increased energy, vitality, joy and freedom.

9. View the world through the eyes of a child:

Children are enthralled by the process of observing and experiencing
the wonder and beauty in every single thing. They can't get enough.
Look at every tree, sunset, cloud and human being as a child would
and you'll be in a constant state of wonder, joy, surprise,
acceptance and enlightenment.

10.Give love, love, love from your heart:

It's all about love. Love is the highest vibration. Allow yourself to
receive love unconditionally from others. Give love from your heart
unconditionally to yourself and others and you will experience the
highest state of consciousness possible.

JAI GURU DEV

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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

KNOWLEDGE + DIWALI Article

 
 
 
HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL - RAJESH GEHANI
 
 
Knowledge Sheet 129 - Memory
Nov 27, 1997
Bangalore Ashram, India

It is memory that makes you miserable or wise. Memory of events and experiences of the changing finite binds you, and memory of your nature liberates you. Memory of the ever changing relative, however good or bad, brings bondage. Memory of the non-changing self elevates awareness. Memory of past events and worldly concerns constricts the vastness of the self. It is all a matter of where you are, of what you are. If you are ignorant, it is because of your memory. If you are enlightened, it is because of your memory.

Forgetfulness of the trivial is ecstasy.

Forgetfulness of the infinite is misery.

Q. How does one get rid of unpleasant memories and limitations?


1. Know the impermanent nature of the world and events.

2. Know the non-existence of past events right now and accept them.

3. Be dispassionate and centered. Memories of Self are gained by service to the noble.

4. Increase prana - So Ham! So what!!

5. Have Divine company / presence.

6. Go to the moon!!

Jai Gurudev
 
 
 
 
GURUJI ON DIWALI
 

Diwali festive mood is nearing..

let us see what Sri Sri says on Diwali...... ...

* Time and space are infinite.
* Grains of sand are countless.
* Atoms in the universe are innumerable.
* So also the stars, the galaxies.
* The same is with the life on this planet. Neither is there a
beginning nor is there an end, because it is all spherical. A sphere has
neither a beginning nor an end, nor a goal, nor a direction. Truth has
no direction, no goal. Truth itself is the goal and truth is infinite.

Feeling or experiencing the infinity within this finite body, living the
timelessness within the time span of life, uncovering the bliss within
the misery. This is what you are here for.

Today is Diwali - the Festival of Lights. The streets and buildings are
lit up with colorful lights. The four aspects of Diwali:

1. The lights: Symbolic of spreading the Knowledge.

2. Fire crackers: When the explosion happens outside, the explosion
inside is diffused.

3. Gift exchange and distribution of sweets: Sweets dispel the
bitterness and renew the friendship.

4. Feeling abundance: Brings awareness and gratefulness for what one
has.

When true wisdom dawns, it gives rise to celebration, and in celebration
you may lose focus or awareness. The ancient rishis knew this so to
maintain awareness in the midst of gaiety of celebration, they brought
sacredness and puja to every celebration.

Celebrate the Knowledge and feel the abundance, for "those who have
will be given more"!

 

 

 

YOU ARE ALWAYS CONNECTED TO GOD

YOU ARE ALWAYS CONNECTED TO GOD

Q: How can one be spiritually connected on all levels of consciousness
at all times without any doubt?

A: Whatever is there is all spirit. Spirit is nothing but energy. So,
if you understand in that perspective, everything is made up of
energy. You are always connected with God. There is not a single
moment when you are separate from God or spirit. Even if you don't
want, you can't be unconnected. Even if you want to be disconnected,
you can't. That's God that is spirit.

So, spiritual plane is not a moral plane pr a mental plane. It's
beyond those. It is ever existent and there all the time, all the
time. Trying to connect to it, we accumulate pressure. We feel we are
not connected. And all spiritual practices are to bring home this
awareness, "Yes, I am connected". Recognition, you are that already.

Now, what is the doubt and when does the doubt arise? Your doubt
strengthens your faith. You never seem to doubt your dreams. Only in
waking state of consciousness
your doubt arises. Have you observe this? In a dream you are on
horseback and the horse is flying in the sky. You don't ever doubt
whether it is possible or not.

You never doubt it. In dream there is no doubt, everything seems to be
okay. Doubt is the sign of intellect. Whenever intellect pokes in, it
gives rise to a doubt. Only, we have to understand this phenomenon.

And your doubt cannot be answered by some one else by questioning.
Impossible. Every effort to clear a doubt will give rise to so many
such doubts. Doubt is a big
question mark. This question mark is also so closely connected to the
point where sorrow also arises in life. Have you watched or observed
or asked why you are so happy? Have
you asked why there are beautiful things around? Why there are so many
colors and such wonderful things in creation? But when there is a
pinprick and pain you ask why. Of all
people, this happens to you? Why this difficulty? Why this pain or
suffering? You can drop every question, you can drop every doubt.
That's a step of the enlightenment. A
Master or teacher never answers all your questions. He just sees that
you could drop your doubt. Every question can be transformed into a
wonder.

See, what is the difference between a question and a wonder? Think on
this. "Oh, See! How colorful this is !?" You are questioning there but
does not expect an answer.

That's a wonder. Question that arises in joy is wonder. Wonder always
comes out of joy because it is your nature. You are joy. Question
comes out stress, tension, sorrow, and an answer is given.

See, many people go to ask different questions and then they are not
really satisfied with the answers. That will produce more questions in
the mind. So, it's a multiplication of questions over a period of
time. ANUTTAROBAVA, the answerless.

The answerless is a state of joy. That is the spiritual plane where
you wonder every moment, wonder what is there? What is this? Wonder
brings joy in life. When you have nothing to wonder and you are
intellectualizing everything and you have understood everything, there
is no joy in life; it is as good as death.

Children when they are so enthusiastic, they keep asking questions,
they keep wondering. They are not particular about what answer you
give. Whatever is said, they are happy with it, they are satisfied. In
fact, they are wondering. They are wondering at everything. A child
wonders looking at its own hands and fingers. A professor, who thinks
he knows everything, doesn't wonder about anything; see his face, see
his life-it's so dull. He knows everything there is to life; there is
no energy, no enthusiasm.

One who knows and knows not, is wise. This is a saying in India. One
who knows not and knows that he knows is a philosopher. It's like a
psychologist. Psychologist has
never studied his own psyche, his own mind function, never meditated
and never gone into the depth of mind. Simply studying about it in
books will not help. A true psychologist should go within and see
every level of consciousness and experience them.

Then, he has really studied psychology. Everywhere in the world they
simply study but not practice psychology, experience what
consciousness is. So, drop this idea that you want to be connected.

Every spiritual experience cannot come with intellectual analysis. It
can only come out of feeling it. You feel in the depth of your heart
that you are connected. And if you feel in the depth of your heart you
are not connected, do some deep meditation, do some breathing, Kriya
and the experience will tell you, "Yes, I am connected."




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Q & A with Guruji - 1st Nov. Session


*1st November 2007 **Bangalore* * Ashram*

*Question and Answer*

*Question:* Guruji what quality of the Buddha appeases you the most?

*Guruji:* If you look at Buddha's life nothing seems unappealing to you.
Even with Sri Rama and the same with Bhagwan Mahavira!! They all lived in
Satwa, and in total Satwa everything that we do is perfect, every action and
every thought. Your whole existence becomes an example.

*Guruji talks on the Vedas:*

The story of the Vedas happened like this that, Ved Vyasa, one of the most
venerable ancient Guru, went to Brahma for knowledge. Brahma showed him the
entire mountain of knowledge and said, "take whatever you can"! Vyasa went
to the huge mountain but it was impossible for anyone to carry the whole
mountain. He took whatever he could by his hands. There came out the four
Vedas!! They are the Rig veda, Shama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. In
the Vedas again there are several sub division. There are 18 Angas. Like the
astrology(jotishsha stra), the grammar(vayakarana) , the karanas(logic) ,
Chandashastra (Music), Virukta (words), Kalpa, siksha. And again in the
Shiksha there are 6 upangas. They are Vaisheshik darshana, Sankhya Darshana,
Yoga darshana, Karmadarshana etc.

And in the Yogashastra, there was one called Patanjali, who attained the
height in the yoga. He was the master of the Yogashastra. When we say Yoga,
we just don't mean a few asanas(exercises) , we mean uniting. When the mind
unites with the soul, when the body unites with the breath, and when the
soul unites with the paramatma, yoga happens.

There is this story on Maharshi Patanjili. There were thousands of disciples
of Maharshi Ptanjali. One day they were all at the session with Maharshi.
Maharshi had a rule that there will be a curtain in between Maharshi and the
student. No one was supposed to see the Maharshi. This continued. The
students were taking knowledge from the preceptor and the preceptor
showering the knowledge to the disciples. One day something happened! One of
the students wanted to go to the toilet. He thought why disturb the Guru
anyway the Master will not able to see (since there was a curtain in between
them)!! He silently slipped off the class and went to the toilet. On the
other hand, among the rest of the students, one felt the terrible urge to
see the Maharshi. He whispered to the other fellow disciples that they
should see their teacher, and the teacher being all compassionate will
definitely forgive them and will not be upset on then.

So suddenly one of the disciples got up and removed the curtain. And as he
removed the curtain off, there happened a terrible disaster!! Everyone who
were present there turned into ashes!! All the disciples who were present
infront of the Maharshi Patanjali just turned into ashes!! In the meantime
the only disciple who had gone out to the toilet returned. Maharshi told the
student that he had done a great mistake by going out of the class without
the preceptor's permission!! And now the boy has to undergo a curse!!
Maharshi cursed him to be a Demon(Brahmadaitya) and that he should sit on a
tree and write down all that he learned from Patanjali. The boy immediately
turned to a demon and went up the tree and started writing that entire he
learnt from the Maharshi. He was writing on the leaves of the tree. It is
said that there was a goat sitting at the base of the tree. The disciple who
turned a demon kept writing on the leaf and throwing each leaf on the ground
and the goat started eating all the leaves one by one!!

Now who are those disciples who turn to ashes? Why did they turn to ashes?
Why was that only disciple saved? Why did he become a demon? Why was he
asked to write all that he learned? Why the goat did eat away all the
leaves? These are the questions that you should think and ponder.

There are two kinds of disciplines.

A) Sashana

B) Anusashana

Sashana is some discipline which someone else impose on you. Like you pay
taxes. (laughter) Most of the times you like to avoid such rules. Given a
chance you would like to break the rules.

Anusashana is self discipline. When you impose on yourself. Like you brush
your teeth! No body is going to fine you or take you by hand coups if you
violate the rule. You may loose some teeth maximum that may
happen!!(Laughter! !) Like fasting on Saturdays, or Mondays or some people
don't eat sour taste on the Friday for the sake of the Santoshimaa! ! This is
something that you inspire yourself to do. Do you see what I am saying? That
is anusashaana.

So the first sutra of the Patanjali Yoga Sutra says "Ataha Yoganusashana"

The second sutra says, "Tada yoga chitty Bitti Nirodaha"

There are seven levels of existence. The body, the breath, the mind and
memory, intellect ego and the self. In the mind there is memory. Even when
we close our eyes, we are thinking so much about the other events. Events
that has already happened. Like again in the dream. In the mind when the
thought stops flashing, yoga happens!

The third sutra of Maharshi Patanjali is "Tada drishte swaroope avasthanam"

You know many years back in Karnataka, when villagers used to go for watching
a movie, they used to get so involved with what was happening in the movie!!
Like if the hero was getting beaten up they would be throwing stones on the
screens and sometimes go ahead and tear off the screen itself!! (Laughter!!)
The women would do the entire make up and when they come to the movie and
see that their favorite heroin is in trouble and crying, even they start
crying!! Their entire make up goes off! (Laughter!!) They get so much
involved with the movie. Do see this?

So when the focus shifts from the scenery to the seer, from the object that
you are watching to the one who is watching, yoga happens.

Anybody has any questions?

*Question:* Guruji you mentioned in Asthavakra Gita that gandhiji preached
non violence but he died a violent death. That may be what he believed in
his life. But Guruji even Jesus died a violent death while he was preaching
only compassion and a love and non violence to people. Why is that?

*Guruji:* You know its not just one life. It's about several live times.
Life has many many forces! Also because it carries a lot of impression of
the past!!

*Question: *Guruji what is the relation between Panchakosha and seven layers
of existence?

*Guruji:* You find the relation and tell me. (laughter!) Find whatever
relation you want to!! It is related. Like the Anandamayee kosha is the
inner most in 7 layers but in the Panchakosha it is the outermost.

*Question: *Guruji how can I see you in everyone and everything?

*Guruji:* No need to see me in everyone and anything! Just be natural and be
yourself!! That's enough!

*Question:* Guruji how to be centered?

*Guruji: *First find out what is it that is taking you off the centre?
Living in the present moment keeps you in the centre. When you say "oh that
person has behaved with me like this etc, he is no good", know that you are
not in the centre. Centered means free from opinion. If you have a fight
with someone and the next moment can you go and again stand in front of that
person and forget about the old fight? It's ok if you pick up a new fight!
(Laughter!!) Because if you are picking up the old fight, knows that you are
not centered. Life is a mixture of everything, pleasant and unpleasant. If
you are sticky with the pleasant or unpleasant then you are not centered.
You know people who can love intensely can also hate intensely. It's just an
emotional swing. When you can go beyond love and hate, you can truly be
centered. You everything has its opposite. Like love has its opposite as
hate. Pleasant has its opposite as unpleasant. Only devotion has no
opposite. Having devotion is being centered. Let it be anything. It could be
your devotion towards science, music, to your parents, children, wife, and
husband. Then you are centered!

*Question:* Guruji how to let go in the mind when someone insults you?

*Guruji:* When you see your whole life as a dream then you experience
freedom. Your intellect experiences freedom. And you are very witty when
your mind is free. Have you all experienced being witty at some point of
time in your life? In such a state, you are not angry, you are not
ambitious, and you are not obsessed and fearful. So what is the state of
your mind then? You are calm. So in such a situation, when someone is
actually insulting you, you can be witty, and turn the whole situation! So
it neither affects you nor does it affect the other person!!


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Q & A's with Guruji in 2nd November 2007


*2nd November 2007***

*Bangalore** Ashram*

* *

* *

*Guruji:* So we saw that there are two kinds of experience Pleasant and
Unpleasant.

There are 5 kinds of Brittis that is responsible for the unpleasant
experience.

*Pramana*

*Viparyaya*

*Vikalpa*

*Smriti*

*Nidra*

How to stop these brittis?

*A) **Abhyasa (by Practice)*

*B) **Vairagya (by Dispassion)*

The next sutra says, "*Tatra sthitobhayase* "

By establishing in the self, on the seer permanently. By just being in the
moment. The mind vacillates between the past and the future. We need to
bring the mind in the present moment. And how do we bring the mind in the
present moment? By practicing yoga (abhayasa). It does not happen in one
day! It needs practicing continuously. One or two days you may drop out, but
it should not be the other way.

You know someone asked a person, "Why are you crying?" The person replied,
"I am not crying, my face itself is like that!" (Laughter!!) When you
complain from morning till night, then your face becomes like that grumpy!
There are some parents who go on scolding their children. After a while it
doesn't affect the children at all. They become thick skin! Like a buffalo.
So whatever you practice consistently then that becomes like your nature. If
you cry, scold and have negative thoughts that becomes your practice. It
becomes almost like your nature! Do you see what I saying?

'*Nirantar*' continuously… Not to leave it practice for a long time. You
know these priests in the temple are so used to continuous chanting, they
hardly feel any thing. Its like a part of the daily activity. While if you
look at the visitors who go to the temple, they offer with so much devotion
that they have better experiences that the priests! Auspicious ness.
Similarly when you sit for meditation, just know that it is a very very
auspicious thing that you are doing. When we do it with sacredness then we
become strong within us. When you fold your hands, you know you join your
hands, infront of the deity or anyone, it means you are joining your mind
too. This means that the mind is also uniting! Sacredness! For example, if
you pick up a book, if it is any other book you can casually pick up. But if
it is a book like Bhagwat Geeta, or the Guru Granth sahib, you pick it up
with so much of reverence. Automatically your mind unites, it gets focused.
Do you see this? The mind gets attached to the sacredness!

In India we pray to the river, this way you feel the river is sacred then
you pray to the river. You don't contaminate the river. You keep it clean.
Similarly, the mountains, you feel sacredness towards the mountains, then
you don't try to blow it up by a dynamite burst! Then we even pray to the
women, and this way you feel sacredness towards women. Also when you see
sacredness towards the cows you protect them, right? You don't kill them.
Therefore when we see sacredness, then the consciousness starts revering
back, starts respecting. Yoga is unity. You are uniting with your beloved,
which is your self. You must make it a practice to do yoga continuously.

*Abhayasa (Practice)*: Whatever you practice, it becomes a part of your
nature. Like for example it you practice sleeping in the afternoon then
wherever you are you will feel sleepy. Whether you are in the office, or in
the bus or anywhere, you feel sleepy. Similarly if you inculcate the habit
of smoking then it's difficult for you to leave it. I heard from certain
people, that initially when you start smoking you don't like the taste. But
just to show off you start it with the influence of some friends. Then one
day it becomes your habit! Then it starts smoking you! Similarly alcohol!
Man gets cling on to the negative very easily. To get attached to the
positive it takes time. Gunas (good values) are our very nature. It is in
our very system. We are made up of something which is only good. But it is
hiding somewhere.

*Vaigagya (Dispassion) *: When does greed come to our mind? Some people tell
the others "Do this and you will become a millionaire. " Immediately the
person agrees, "oh really? Ok ok I'll do it!" if you want to make someone
greedy then just make the person see or hear something! (laughter!!) With
more greed the mind wanders.

There are two kinds of greed

A) Greed towards the object and

B) Greed towards the human being, which is called lust.

The more the greed increases the more one burns out within. To calm the burn
one needs to get dispassion. Until the mind focuses towards the truth you
don't be dispassionate. So longing for the object is called Avairagya. And
the longing for the truth and knowledge takes one forward in life. All the
crimes all over the world are happening because of the greed! Therefore when
the mind is under total control then it is centered and that state is called
dispassion.

Apart from these two that we have spoken there is one more. In this state
when someone gets more than the person had thought of. Then the dispassion
dawns in you. The mind shifts from trivial things. For example you like
sugar; you are eating sugar, and then suddenly gives you gulab jamun! Then
you get dispassionate about the sugar. Similarly if you are holding to a
torch and there is bright light from somewhere, will you still hold on to
the torch? No, you will let go of it. That's why they say that when you get
a Divine love in love from a Guru in your life then small trivial things
don't attract your attention any more! The great Shankaracharya said, I am
so totally immersed in my self that I have no time to look into what's
happening in others life! And there is no two! Who else should I look into?

There is yet one more kind of Vairagya. It is called Smashan Vairagya. In
this state, whatever you cannot achieve in your life you get dispassionate
about it. And you say"oh it was no good"! That which you did not get in your
life, because you could not do it, you thought it's not worth doing it!

Will end it here for today. Does anyone have any question?

*Question:* Guruji I have just finished the Part I program and I feel that
the Sudarshan Kriya is the best scientific process of releasing stress from
one's system. I think the course should have the mane of the 'Science of
breathing' instead of the 'Art of living'!! What are you comments?

*Guruji:* (Laughter) you know not too many people appreciate science, but
everyone loves art. I can tell you among 6 billion people in the
world, 5.99billion people appreciate art. Even the scientists love
art. The top
scientists of the world are either a piano player or a guitar player or a
something. Ever our President Sri Abdul Kalam plays Veena! However the ideal
situation is where we have a balance of both science and arts. So I thought
in this way Art of Living will reach out to all the people who are in need
of the science. Look at this turban, (Holding a decorated colorful cloth
turban in His hand), this turban is made by some of our devotee girls, and
then they pasted some shiny decorative things on it. Is n't it a beautiful
art? Life when appreciated becomes art! Otherwise it lands up in a lot of
crime. Today there are so much crime all over the world because people have
forgotten to appreciate life! But I'll tell you a real secret! I never kept
the name 'Art of Living at all'!! Initially when we started, people were
coming up with several names! Some called, 'way of life' then some one said,
'real way of life'!! yet someome again came up with the name 'real art of
life' (laughter!!) Further that got changed, then someone said, 'real art of
living'. In course of time the word 'real' got dropped off and we are left
with the "Art of Living"!!

*Question:* Guruji can I ask you a simple question? What is the truth?

*Guruji:* (Laughter!!) Can I give you a simple answer to that? That, which
is not false, is the truth. And what is false? That, which is affected by
time and space. There has been this absolutely mind boggling definition
given by the great "Adishankaracharya" . It is like this, If I say, "it is
raining now". Will this sentence be true tomorrow? Will this sentence hold
good day after? No! Again when you are dreaming, You are dreaming something
and you feel that whatever is happening in the dream is true!! Like I heard
about this scientist who dreamt all night of fighting with a lion and woke
up with a broken leg, because he was kicking the wall all
night!!(Laughter! !) I am explaining it a little long and elaborate though
the question was simple! (laughter!!) Shankaracharya said, "Trikalabhaditam
yat satyam". That which is not affected by the time and space is the truth.

*Question:* Guruji how does one wake up before this life gets over?

*Guruji:* Are you awake now?

*Devotee:* No.

*Guruji:* You are not awake now? That means you are awake. If you are lying
down with your eyes closed and not sleeping then you will know that a
question is asked and you will answer. That's exactly you are doing right
now!

*Question:* Everywhere we go the only topic of discussion is global warming!
How do we react to it? What is that we need to do to combat it?

*Guruji:* It's true. We need to think about our actions related to
pollutions etc. But I tell you often people make it exaggerating. Do you
remember how the situation was during 1999 end of December? So much we
heard!! All the computers will shut down! Everything will clash! There will
be famine!! People got scared and were buying large quantities! So many
things! In India it was much less, but I tell you in the US and other
countries, it was horrible! Some people hype up and take advantage of the
insecure mind of the common people! Similarly AIDS is another issue. There
are some reports which say that 50 crore people are suffering in this
country!! (Laughter!!) Unbelievable figures!! There are 100 crore people in
this country and out of that 50 crores are suffering AIDS?!?! Is that
something you can digest? I tell you there are several crores of money the
NGO's and the govt. is getting from the foreign financial institutions.
Where are the money going? There is this place called Vidharva, an NGO
collected huge fund by saying that everyone in that village has AIDS!!
Thankfully the villagers in that village were very strong. They chased those
people out! I tell you India is in a much better position.

*Question: *Guruji, how to handle transition in life?

*Guruji:* With patience and perseverance. There are two things that can
happen.

1.) When there is a quick transition, you are too shocked. In that case
anyway you don't handle the situation, the situation handles you!

2.) The second thing is when the transition period is slow, even then if
you look at it the situation is actually handling you! Take it easy and move
through it!

*Question:* Guruji I am forgetting what I learnt yesterday since I am too
much in the present moment! What should I do? How should I write exams?

*Guruji:* (Laughter!!) But the more you are in the moment the more your
intellect gets sharpened! You know while I walk several people talk to me.
There are some people who think that oh Guruji did not listen to me! I often
point it to them and tell them you are telling this to me for the third
time! I can also tell the places where you told me the ather two times!!!
 
 
JAI GURUDEV
 
RAJESH
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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Guruji on Diwali + Every stone is precious + Art of living radio


Diwali festive mood is nearing..

let us see what Sri Sri says on Diwali...... ...

* Time and space are infinite.
* Grains of sand are countless.
* Atoms in the universe are innumerable.
* So also the stars, the galaxies.
* The same is with the life on this planet. Neither is there a
beginning nor is there an end, because it is all spherical. A sphere has
neither a beginning nor an end, nor a goal, nor a direction. Truth has
no direction, no goal. Truth itself is the goal and truth is infinite.

Feeling or experiencing the infinity within this finite body, living the
timelessness within the time span of life, uncovering the bliss within
the misery. This is what you are here for.

Today is Diwali - the Festival of Lights. The streets and buildings are
lit up with colorful lights. The four aspects of Diwali:

1. The lights: Symbolic of spreading the Knowledge.

2. Fire crackers: When the explosion happens outside, the explosion
inside is diffused.

3. Gift exchange and distribution of sweets: Sweets dispel the
bitterness and renew the friendship.

4. Feeling abundance: Brings awareness and gratefulness for what one
has.

When true wisdom dawns, it gives rise to celebration, and in celebration
you may lose focus or awareness. The ancient rishis knew this so to
maintain awareness in the midst of gaiety of celebration, they brought
sacredness and puja to every celebration.

Celebrate the Knowledge and feel the abundance, for "those who have
will be given more"!

Jai Gurudev!!
 
 
Every Stone is Precious

A sculptor in a temple uses all types of stones.
Certain stones he uses for the foundations. These never appear outside.
From certain stones which are good to carve, the sculptor makes the
walls and pillars of the Temple.
From other stones he makes the steps.
Certain stones become the tower of the Temple.
Only those stones which are extremely suitable for carving will become
the Deity and be installed in the Temple.
When the stone become a part of the Temple, it no longer remains a
stone, it becomes a sculpture, a piece of art, it becomes the Living
Deity.

In the same way many people come to the Master. According to the degree
of their surrender they are installed by the Master.
All are essential.

If there were no steps, how could a person reach the Temple?
If there were no foundation, how could the Temple be there at all?
What can a tower do without pillars?

For a sculptor, each stone is precious and valuable.

~~~ Gurudev - Sri Sri
 
 
 
Listen to your fav. bhajans online. Art of Living Radio.
 
http://www.aolcbe.org/


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just for a laugh : The Wheels of Life.....

Just for laugh.. The wheels of life.
 
 
__,_._,___

HOW TO GIVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK PROPERLY?

HOW TO GIVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK PROPERLY?

Here's How:

1.   Get your emotions under control. You don't want to critique someone else's actions when you are angry or upset. You are likely to say something you don't really mean or to react poorly to something that is said to you.

 2.   Find a private place. No one wants to receive negative feedback in front of others. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but that should be a last resort. Take a meeting in your office, call the person into a vacant conference room, step into the lunch room if it is vacant.

 3.   Focus on their actions, not on the person. You create an immediate barrier when you criticize the person. Focus instead on what you want to change. Focus on their performance.

 4.   Be specific. It does no good to tell someone 'you have a bad attitude'. You need to identify specific actions the person took or specific things they said if you want them to understand.

 5.   Be timely. Negative feedback should be given as soon as possible after the event. If you see an employee being rude to a customer, don't wait until their annual performance review to tell them. How many other customers will they have angered in the meantime? Call them into your office right away.

 6.   Be calm. Don't yell and scream. The other person will become defensive and won't hear what you are trying to tell them.

 7.   Reaffirm your faith in the person. This reinforces step three, but here you tell them that you still have faith in them as a person and in their abilities; it's just their performance you want them to change. Say something like "you're a good customer service rep, so I'm sure you see the need to be more patient with customers".

 8.   Stop talking. After you have told the person what specific, recent actions were inappropriate, and why, stop talking. Give the other person a chance to respond to or refute your statements. Listen to what they have to say.

 9.   Define positive steps. Agree on what future performance is appropriate for the employee. If there are specific things the employee needs to start doing or needs to stop doing, be sure they are clearly identified. If there is something you need to do, perhaps additional training for the employee, agree on that as well.

 10.   Get over it. After you have given the negative feedback and agreed on a resolution, move on with the job. Don't harbor ill will toward the employee because they made a mistake. Don't hover over them out of fear that they may make another mistake. Monitor their performance as you do all employees, but don't obsess.

 Tips:

Giving negative feedback is never easy, but if done properly it isn't unpleasant.

What we Need:

  • A private place.
  • A calm mind.
  • Patience.
  • Our sense of humor.
!!  Jai Gurudev !!





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