Dhamaka and Utsah

All happening and going great!!! Have got the first of the registrations today...awaiting many more.

YES! - My first experience

Just finshed a YES! program in Kaggadasapura. There were very few kids but the speciality of the course was that it was held bang in the middle of exams/tests. None of them missed even a single day, even if it was their most difficult subject's exam the next day.

Arvindh took the course for the first 3 days and later Ashok, Vivek and me took over. It's an entirely different experience sitting on the chair and being Guru ka tota. And when you read the experiences of the youth, you really feel special - special that the Master has chosen you.

Some snaps...

Navratri Again...

Its the time of year when ashram wears an extra festive look. The chants of the mantras, the fragrance of flowers and chandan, the charge in the air...Ah!! all so amazing!!
Its the time of Navratri and following is the Navratri message by Guruji...

There are two attitudes that we have to pay attention to. One is when we go inward, we say everything is Ok. Not a blade of grass moves without Divine intervention. God has kept us like this, so let it be so. Everything is Ok.

This is the attitude when you have to go inward (Nivriti).

When you have to come out and work (Pravritti), then you see perfection in even small details. Wherever you see imperfection, you have to pay attention on how you can correct it. Find out ways to improve on all the things.

So while acting, we see where we can improve and what we can change.
When we retire into meditation and say that everything is perfect, only then we can go in.

Usually when people close their eyes and go inward, they say, ‘This is not ok, that is not ok and find fault with everything’. They can neither meditate, nor be quiet. And in activity, people think that everything is fine the way it is, why do we have to do anything about it? Then, we are at a loss.

So when we are acting, we see what we can do and when we have to retire we say everything is Ok. This attitude will help you go deep in meditation.

I want nothing nothing
I do nothing
I am nothing

These are basic principles of meditation. We have to pay attention to this thing.

So Navratri will start from tomorrow. These nine days are nine days of inner connection to the Divinity.

In these nine days, let us keep all our small, petty things, petty desires, requirements, our small small issues that bother us - all in one side and just say to Divine, 'Let thy will be done. I am yours, let thy will be done'.

With this conviction, when you move forward, doing your practices you will lack nothing. All that you need, will just come to you naturally, spontaneously.

So we move into our sadhana, our practices with a trust that we will be taken care of, we are being taken care of.

Navratri is a time when all those needs- physical, mental and spiritual, are taken care by the Divine. At the same time, help each other, help all those people who need your help. It is nine nights, it is very auspicious and it is uplifting to the spirit.

Yagyas (pujas) are done from thousands of years to bring peace, prosperity, to dissolve all the negative karmas and to uplift the human spirit. It has been practiced from a very long time.

It is best not to engage yourself in all other socializing, talking wordly things with people. Just be with yourself. If at all you speak, only speak some knowledge or bare essential things. It is better not to sit and gossip. But these few days its best to be in Divine knowledge.

Q. Once you said that by doing seva all our problems are solved. I have come here for seva, will my problems be solved?
Sri Sri: Yes, definitely they will be solved. For all our problems to be solved, two things are needed: one, is our effort (purushartha) and the other is Grace (krupa). God is within us. We are the embodiment of absolute consciousness (chaitanya swaroop). There is nothing separate from us. It is within us, in our form. What we do outwardly, to do pooja, is to create an atmosphere. But the purpose of all this is to be bring the vision inwards to the self.

Q. Could you please explain why we pray to Shiva, even though Shiva is called the destructor?
Sri Sri: Shiva is not just the destructor; Shiva means the transformer, the consciousness which is advaita, which is non-dual, the one consciousness, Mahadeva. The Shiva pooja- Rudrapooja is the most ancient yagya which unites all the five elements, through chanting and using the five elements. This ceremony is done to uplift the human consciousness.

Q. What is the goal of our life?
Sri Sri: This is a question you should ponder on. What is it that you want? It is a very important question. Ponder on the answer - what is it that I need? Then all that is important in your life will stand and the unimportant will fall. Then what you think is important, within that (category) you prioritize again and again and again. And when you ponder on that and when nothing remains then you are the goal. Till then its good to keep doing this.

Q. I don’t know how to pray, I understand meditation but I don’t understand prayer. How does one pray?
Sri Sri: Meditation is the finest form of prayer. Prayer is ‘Oh God give me this, give me that’ or ‘Oh, I am so thankful to you because you gave me that or this’.
But meditation is just reposing and that is the best form of prayer. Prayer happens when you are utterly helpless or when you are very grateful. There are two situations in your life. Either you are so helpless, when you have no other way. Like if you are very thirsty and you need water, you say please give me some water. Please help.

Asking for help is one form of prayer.
Thanking is another form of prayer.
And the third is just reposing, being quiet.

The third is the most supreme type of prayer.

You can be grateful for all that you have had, that is a sort of prayer. You don’t have to use particular sentences or phrases or verses for it.

The yagyas that are being done here is not just some sort of prayer. It is a technique, a procedure. You don’t need to understand what those chantings mean. The chantings, the vibrations have an impact on our whole body, mind and the environment. That is the most important thing about yagyas. It is not asking God for this thing or that. It is just chanting those shlokas. Hearing the chantings is even more beneficial. You don’t need to chant with them. Simply listening to it, itself creates the vibrations in the consciousness.

Q. Where are Shiva and Shakti?
Sri Sri: Both Shiva and Shakti are within us. You sit as though you are sitting in an ocean of bliss, in the ocean of cosmic energy, Divine energy, Shiva energy, Shakti energy. That is what is meditation.

For more knowledge from Guruji visit the Wisdom Blog.

Slowly descending…

Its been 3 days since I returned from TTC. All this time I am just reliving the moments of TTC. It was difficult for me to get back into the office mode. It was difficult to accept the fact that I need to sit in front of a monitor for 8 hours in a day when there is so much work (seva) to be done. I was wondering if I should quit and become full time. Thoughts like ‘Why should I work?’, ‘Why do I need a family?’, etc kept popping in and out. But each time something like this would happen, Guruji’s words (not verbatim) that ‘Each one has a role to play’ kept coming back to me. And gradually the TTC hangover is wearing off!! Today I could put in some useful work in office. I need to pull up socks here – the project is starting in full swing and I’m the least equipped person.

Meantime, I managed to collect a couple of amazing songs that I heard in TTC. Naiharawa and Saiyyan were easy (got from Kailash Kher’s albums). You fill up my senses (TTC1), Tu Maane Ya Na Maane Dildara, Shaboon Ke Jungle Mein and Duma Dum Mast Kalandar were a little difficult. I had to extract the mp3 from the video. I am still looking for Tumse O Jori and Shivoham (both my TTC1 favorites). Need to update my iPod with all this.

Back from TTC

Its pretty difficult to describe a TTC. The experience, the learning, the fun, the masti, the knowledge… is so much that words fall short while writing about them.

And since I was doing the Art Excel and YES TTC, the masti, fun and dance just doubled. Mala with her child like enthusiasm, Shreya with her accents and imitations… the Awesome Twosome. Top it with the experiences of Children’s Kriya and the YES Home Kriya, 4 Padmasadhanas - totally mind blowing. To this add some dance, Arabic and Chinese music, all AE & YES games, 3 birthdays with cake and chocolates, playing pranks on the Hindi group and Part 1s (the ‘aratis’), organizing a fun fare, screening of a movie, etc – that was my TTC 2. It felt more like an extended party than TTC.

Now I’m back to office and all I can think about is the memories of the TTC. I look at the watch and think, ‘Oh! this time we were doing sadhana/dancing/yoga nidra…’.

And…I can now take Art Excel and YES courses. Honored to be an Art of Living Teacher – ‘Guru ka tota’ like Rishi Nityapragyaji says.

Off to TTC…

I’m off to TTC. 15 days in the Ashram!!! Awesome!!!

I couldn’t write more about my TTC1 experience…but hoping I’ll be able to write about my Phase 2.

I got my TTC 2 call letter yesterday.

Just downloaded the Windows Live Writer. This is the first post using Writer.

Jai Gurudev!!

Found this Guruji's picture on Raj Waghray's blog. Simply loved it. The radiant all-knowing smile, the majestic stature, the elegance, the ease,the...WOW!!!! Words fail to descibe HIM!!!

Another 'After a long time...'

I'm back after another sabbatical. The sabbatical was wonderful as it was filled with my Master...I attended Navrathri completely, almost all the homas, did seva during Navrathri, assisted and organized an Basic course in Kaggadaspura after that, then went for an Advanced course with Guruji during Diwali. I also had the house warming ceremony of our new apartment in between all this.

The advance course as usual was amazing and its timing couldn't have been better. I had a lot of doubts, apprehensions and botherations and all of them were taken care by Him in His own unique way. Bhakti, Seva and Knowledge were reinforced.

The house warming ceremony went well. We over estimated the guest count and so some food went waste. Also Arvindh was at his elemental best - present only for the important part of the function and absent for the 'back-stage' work. My patience was tested again.

Work front - nothing much. Work isn't as interesting as it used to be few months ago. Looking for some options.

Art of Living Marketing Model - Study Link

In one of my earlier posts I wrote about the Art of Living marketing model. Well, there is a formal study on this. For more read this.

Its a nice study but for a layman who reads this will just know that AoL or Guruji is just making loads of money and will not understand where the money is used. When I discussed this with Arvindh yesterday, he said that AoL and Guruji are way beyond people's thoughts. Yes, when you are at that level where He is now, there will surely be people who think negative about Him. But the important thing is that He loves all and accepts them as they are!!

Art of Living Marketing Model

The guest editor for today's Times of India is none other than H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I grabbed a copy (we get Hindu at home) from a newspaper stall on my way to work. Luckily, I got a seat in the bus and could read some of the articles. There is a report about TOI's experience in having Guruji in their office. There He talks about various things - criticism, marketing, WAR, and 'The choice is yours, blessing is mine'.

The marketing part caught my attention - it reminded me of my Greenpeace days. (Main Greenpeace ke liye chanda ekhata karti thi.) Here is an excerpt from the paper

So how does he react to charges of being well marketed Guru? "Its like commentary after the match is over", he shrugged.
"People can study the movement's success and turn it into a marketing model now, but no model was designed to make it a success."

During one of our pep talks, Rahul (my boss at Greenpeace) had mentioned about the marketing model of Art of Living (I hadn't done the course then). He asked us to observe the dedication of the volunteers of the foundation and imbibe that in ourselves. He was awed by the enthusiasm and energy of the volunteers. He used to ponder on the theory of getting volunteers to do the marketing not employ people for marketing. The whole lesson to be learnt according to Rahul, is that - You make such an impression on the person you talk to that he/she should next become the ambassador of Greenpeace.

Now I look back and smile at those words. Yes AoL is a indeed a great marketing model that needs some study, but what people sometimes don't understand is the grace behind the model.

Tamil and me

From my childhood, I have been surrounded by Tamils. Well if you grow up in Bangalore you'll have at least a couple of Tamilian friends. But Tamil never invoked any interest in me, no offence please but I have always resisted learning the language.

In school, I had 3 close friends (Anitha, Arati and Nita) or best friends like we called them then, who were Tamilians. During my middle school, I spent a lot of time with Nita and picked a bit of Tamil from her. Then I picked more Tamil from Anitha - we used to study together during 10th standard. In college, Sowmya and Sumana represented the Tamilian community in my life. But we always spoke in English and I was happy to forget whatever Tamil I knew. But I watched Tamil movies. With filmmakers like Mani Rathnam, its difficult to keep away from them.

Then came Arvindh. I agreed to meet him because he was from Bombay and thought that he would speak Marathi. He said that they (his forefathers) were Kannadigas settled in Tamil Nadu but he was born and raised in Bombay. He spoke a bit of Marathi, fair enough. But after marriage I felt that its the other way round - they were Tamilians who spoke a bit of Kannada - they speak Kannada with a Tamil accent and a lot of Tamil mixed in it, they watch only Tamil channels and movies (Hindi and English too, but no Kannada), they read Tamil magazines - I'm the only one in the family who can read Kannada!! Once one of his uncles suggested that I learn Tamil, I smiled and resisted.

In MS also, my roommate was Mallika, a staunch Tamilian. But my resistance was almost broken when I decided to go to Chennai for my MS project. The project was too good to resist. I dug out whatever little Tamil I knew and picked up some more words. I managed pretty well. I could negotiate with the auto drivers there, bargain at shops or basically, learnt enough to survive.

I almost broke my resolve when Gurudev spoke to me in Tamil. I understood whatever he said and answered in my limited Tamil. I decided it was time to break the resolve, but the interest faded when the next time I spoke to HIM, it was in English and thankfully HE answered in English.

But that urge to learn is creeping in again. The resolve not to learn is turning to resolve to learn. I am slowly and consciously picking a few words here and there and registering them in my memory. Who knows, in a couple of months, I might speak fluent Tamil. So much for my resistance!!! All it needed was Sri Sri.

Advance Course

Just back from an Advance Course (Art of Living Part-2 course). If I have to describe it in one word - ZHAKAS!! And for once I could do most of the processes and meditations completely, 'Giving 100%' as Swami Vishnupada said. One of Gurudev's hard hitting talk on seva was played. Man HE was so subtle and yet so firm.

And the silence this time was really amazing and complete. All this thanks to my roomies. All of them maintained such good silence that there was no chance of being disturbed. Oh...my roomies..a bunch of really cute people...Priya, Seema and Pavitra. Well, I've made 3 more friends for my life.

And the most exciting part - Gurudev met us twice and He gave His typical all-knowing smile twice to me. He had invited some naxalites from Nagaland. When they came on stage He was all praise for them for they were caring for Nagaland so much. He gave them fruits and all His love. The transformation was immediate. When they came in they had rigidity and hatred written all over their face and when they left the stage, they were totally soft and smiling. One of them then recorded the whole Q&A session too!!!! Thats how our Master works!!

After four days of satvic food, my stomach refuses to digest the crap I eat. Hopefully it'll get back to digesting crap in a couple of days.