MasterTip on Relationships

Such depth and clarity only Sri Sri can give.

Q: Guruji, you have told us how to be in a relationship. Please tell us how to come out of the relationship.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have already come out of it! When you want to come out of it, it is already gone, it's already done! Isn't it? 
Main thing is to relate yourself to the universe, to the Divinity. If you have a relationship with the Divine, you have a relationship with everyone. Then the question of establishing or breaking a relationship with anyone does not arise. In attempting to break also, one may get stuck badly. The more the mind tries to break away the more it gets pulled towards the relationship, and experiences pain. 
You neither want to stay nor leave. 
In leaving one feels as though some comfort is being lost, and in staying, the pain gets too intense and it is hard to stay on. So it is better to secure a relationship with the One. This way, relationships with everyone else is automatically established.




Q: Guruji, I am in love with a girl who wants me to prove my love to her by asking for expensive gifts. You had said that love is absolutely free, but this one turned out to be extremely expensive for me!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Come child, just learn the lesson! What love and friendship is, you will learn within a few days, as you grow older. 
Maybe she is testing you to see how much you can sacrifice. Love does demand sacrifice. So maybe she wants to see how miserly or generous you are.
The true lover can never be greedy. A lover is joyful, peaceful, and generous. But that does not imply that you squander all you have. Use your discrimination.

I was reading http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/what-sri-sri-said-today and thought I must enhance my blog, found the above answers just too good.

Cheers

Lighter....n....lighter....n....lighter.......en LIGHT en ed!

Did she talk? That definitely wasn't a talk. What was she doing? Did she do anything at all? Or was it just happening? Whatever was spoken was extracted from the consciousness, wrapped in the warmth of her heart and delivered with precision through her head. I was in awe of this perfect amalgamation of the three levels of communication [ref: Principles of Communication by H H Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji], head-2-head, heart-2-heart & soul-2-soul.

I came back with concepts in my head, either thrashed or rectified, heart filled with love and kindled with trust and the soul absolutely free.

How can someone, sitting so comfortably, with such ease and effortlessness, inspire others to take the effort to break out of their comfort zones! Note that my previous statement is punctuated by an exclamation and not a ? because I am in wonder!

The words were direct, there was nothing to read between the lines. However, there was a lot to feel and absorb between the lines. Like chocolate on the nut, her words were cocooned in the love that she is. When she was answering questions from the audience, I could sense the compassion that she felt for us, and like a mother who feeds her young one, she was serving us food for our souls and enbalming our hearts.

Her take on 'Thinking v/s Doing' was brutally punitive. But there was a fatherliness in the loving way with which she encouraged us to take risks,  she sounded like a messenger from God, reading out God's guarantee letter! Oh man, when she spoke about the Blueprint made by God for each one of us and how he makes us realize that, I had goosebumps.

The way she explained about blame, with the example of the stain on the robe, made so many things clear all of a sudden. "When someone points to the stain on your robe, don't burn their finger, instead feel grateful that they made you realize there is a stain. And know for sure that the stain is on the fibre. The fibre is as it is, a little water and a little soap of knowledge will remove it."

She was so emphatic about not being hard with ourselves. "Don't try to behave enlightened just because you got the highest knowledge overnight." 

"Its ok, its ok, everything is ok." This was so reassuring.

Such authenticity, sincerity and genuineness can exude only from a being who has the first hand experience of what she is talking about. The pinnacle of love is devotion, says Sri Sri. When she explained her 'nu-nu-na-na' funda with those kisses and cuddles, I melted. My love for her transformed into 'Bhakti'. And am longing ever since.

The meditation that followed was as restful as a sleep of a century and it seemed as if the Master HIMself was sitting there.

It was as though she was directing the music of our minds like in an orchestra with the conductor's wand, which I was realizing, as the session progressed, was a magic wand. The cobwebs in my intellect have been cleanly swept. Very subtly, she has repaired and fine tuned something inside. Not just years, but lifetimes of load seems to have been shed off the shoulders of my ego. 

I feel 'mukt' [free], so light, so light, I feel EnLightened.

Love you Rajshree.

Pranams and gratitude.

Why should I know WHY?

Did Warren Buffet know what he was doing would make him the richest man in the world? Did Sachin Tendulkar know that what he was doing would make him get hailed as the God of cricket? Did Newton know that thinking about the apple would revolutionize the world of physics?

Most management and self development Gurus claim that one needs to set goals and rationally plan to achieve them. I would like to ask them, "Did their life work out as they had planned it?" Has your life taken the same direction you wanted or wished or intended or desired or dreamed or envisioned?

Man made objects and programmed them with some system and made their behavior predictable. One can tell that the 9.55 slow local from Ghatkopar will definitely reach CST Mumbai by 10.30, of course, if nothing untoward happens. A stone if thrown in water will definitely reach the bottom. However, the laws of the body and the mind are completely different. And it amazes me to even begin to think as what would be the laws of the spirit? Or are there any?

Today scientists are talking about Dark Matter which comprises more than 80% of the universe. The Rishis  in India, said the same thing centuries ago. An invisible force [Adrishya Shakti] governs life. The unseen is at work, was what His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji once commented in a Satsang.

If its my spirit that enlivens the matter in me and makes it function, if the unseen is making things work, if what is beyond the perceptible is almost 100 times of the known universe, if an invisible force governs most of my life, if Love moves the world, then any attempt to quantify, logically analyze, rationalize, plan is blasphemous!

Its foolish, simply absurd, completely insane to let oneself be an illusion that one can comprehend by one's finite brain and the infinitesimal intelligence it contains, the infinite creation, and even be moronic enough to predict its movement. Its like wanting to count the stars in the sky with a handful of pebbles, its like wanting to hold the ocean in your palms, its like wanting to express to your beloved, in words, how much you exactly love him/her.

If words can contain what you have experienced then, I must say, you are living a very shallow life! Life is beyond the realm of the senses. The infinite organizing power of the Divine Intelligence is beyond the domain of comprehensible existence. The mystery begins where logic ends. And its to be lived and wondered at, rather than questioned and understood.

I am glad I don't know why I am doing what I am doing, and know equally well that I will never know it too.

Any attempt to know is Ignorance,
jumping into the unknown is Faith,
dropping the knowing is Wisdom,
merging with the unknown is Love,
trusting that HE knows is Surrender,
experiencing that I am part of the unknown is Yoga,
realizing that the known and the unknown is one, is Enlightenment.

However, I don't know. ;-) Its a beautiful I DON'T KNOW.

:-)

Jai Gurudev

Reaching Heights

I had never imagined life moving like Rajdhani Express suddenly, till it was standing on the platform. Got lucky to get an offer to be the PR & Communication Executive of a guy who co-ordinates all the YES!+ activities of Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, Germany and various parts of India…from taking YES!+, YES!+ DSN courses, workshops, etc to training the teachers for making the best use of their potential for enlightening millions of lives...Mr. Saleel Pulekar, Faculty Art of living...i wonder…what did I do to deserve such big responsibility?

Resigned from the job I was doing in Noida the very next day, booked my tickets for Mumbai…life was not the same anymore…

Each and every moment became exciting, unpredictable and adventurous. N I was getting amazed more and more…

The Surat trip at Diwali gave me the exposure which I never got In my life!! Being with the directors of YES!+, the founders of WAYE…Khurshed Batliwala and Dinesh Ghodke ..oooohhh!! Bawa’s cooking and his presence…Dinesh Bhaiya’s smile and caring attitude, and the way they walked, the way they talk, the attention they pay to each and every detail, took my heart away. Blend of simplicity with centeredness , being the same with the rich & poor, in crowd or with a handful people, commendable…made me learn so much in an unspoken manner.

It was a three star accommodation where I got my stay…quoting it as somebody’s house would be an understatement. A big Mansion with a beautiful Garden in the front, lovely interiors with all luxuries. Huge kitchen where 15 people can do bhastrika easily…a fridge carrying souvenir from places all across the globe… and what to say about the comfortable oval bath tub..a place to sit and pamper yourself, and I use to ponder…how these rich guys maintain the good looks all day!

Dressed up and went to meet Guruji in one of the Jazz standing outside, understanding what the rich feels and how they function on the way..

Guruji just came in his full vigour and walked the Ramp showering his blessings which gave me goosebumps sitting on the VIP sofa. With a blessed feeling of contentment of having a Guru who knows whats the best of best for you I closed my eyes.

The night was as comfortable as being under a cozy blanket on a chilly winter morning.

Morning, after attending the pds, where the master was emphasizing on the importance ayurveda and Geeta..of providing vocational training to villagers, etc went to Dumus..a big farmhouse of a devotee with Bawa and Dinesh Bhaiya, WAYE team, where I experienced being in the home theatre for the first time ever. Having Bhajiya’s in the farmhouse!!

So much happening in so less time, it made me wonder, what could have been better than this?? If perfection is to be defined it has to be this…The blend of guru with dev…

Thank you so much Guruji…

Jai gurudev.

Anumeha

DCE YES+ DAY2

Heart upside down???????? then join yes+….……. creativity conducive to promote such a workshop…….neways the day  started with some beautiful energetic songs….….. participants were cracking jokes and so were asked to share it with everybody to grab their attention.

It was the day of their first  SUDARSHAN KRIYA which was an integral part......... it had almost consumed 50% market share in terms of my mind space regarding what it actually is…they claim that you really have to try and do it before you can realize what is so different..Some critics claim it is the immensely good PR department behind it that helps them to promote Sudarshan kriya to the whole world. And Pupils from every guru and adepts of every form of meditation make the same claims as to how the encounter with the person or meditation changed their lives.

Meditation has become very crucial for all of us to beat stress and  continue with our rat race but how can we do that….hmmmm may be by concentration OR learning it the yes+ way relating with nature, its beauty, different rythms in nature and how everything is moving with it….

Initially even I was’nt   in favour of them boasting so much about it but the positivity was volatile when I entered again……….if one takes a close look one could see their faces glowing with big smiles on their faces.

Continuing with the process there was a Q & Answer round …..it was didactic…… though I always try to keep inquisitors at bay but the way teachers answered all ques showed how brilliantly they were aimed at making the knowledge drain down in their mind because the kind of examples that were given helped each one of them to relate and retain the knowledge properly……

Benjamin franklin once said that “energy and persistence conquer all things”………and as it is all of us are full of energy but one question that arises is - do we actually use it for the right purpose or in right direction????

The day was full of different games, fun and masti intended to bring out their potential to the fullest......because if you give your best  all the time, somehow things will work out in the end…everybody running, banging into  each other…I was wondering why is this athletic training being given here…

but still they were laughing and enjoying like anything….it was as if somebody had switched on the ‘lets be kids again’ button in them… ……..

I wanted to have some personal interactions with the teacher but he was never left alone...not even during the breaks.












Apart from his efficiency  the most amazing part was that after every 5 min the teachers would crack some joke with use of aphorisms and instigate laughter so that the attention of the students remain intact……. taking names and aptly using the mike was commendable…even the volunteers were very committed in taking care of everything sincerely  except for the puddles on the way, no lights on the entrance or should I first say that there was no proper entrance……excellence in mediocrity was taken very seriously I guess………newayz the protracted smiles on their faces was just perfect to end  the second day of  yes+ saying-- Yeh Experience Scintillating tha.

DCE YES!+ Day 1

I bumped into a freelance journalist at the Siri Fort Auditorium when I had been there to attend a talk by H H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I invited her to write about YES!+ events. Here is her first cover story.

MY EXPERIMENT WITH SPIRITUALITY YES+ WORKSHOP
DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
11TH-16TH OCT
Day 1
A very beautiful pandal with open roof, greenery all around and a pleasant weather . All this was very impressive to start with. As soon as I entered, the first thing that grabbed my attention was this big photograph of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji with a garland on it. Participants were gazing at his picture with an inquisitive mind. Batting my eyelids and wondering, I just went and sat at the back. 

Looking at the male female ratio of the workshop I really thought that may be it was because girls there were sensible enough not to go for all such things. Looking at different posters there I came across one which claimed that “ the all new most endangered species that is the stress free yes+ youth” which was funny and interesting.

Two men wearing kurta pyjama, smiling in a strange way, serenity on their face and a white teeka on forehead. The environment was all white and calm. In a very affable manner they introduced themselves Saleel Pulekar and Rohit Ranjan (another teacher with very attractive hair). 

The session started with getting familiar with everybody. Huh…looking at their expressions I could make out that whenever they came across anybody they wondered that ‘talking to you is definitely not on my priority list’ but since they were there to learn something new, they were all for it……… then some rules were introduced.






I was told that a little self knowledge goes a long way, on YES+ you get a lot. 




To begin with it is generally said that Listening is a skill as it requires a lot of practice…..but what a paradox it was looking at some participants sitting there as red flag listeners- the one who just shut there power of listening because they feel they know everything.














Then comes …. MIND - which actually just lingers either in the past or in the future. Saleel sir gave a very good example to make them understand that ‘quality of your life depends on your state of mind’…….it was very vivid.




Moving on…they were introduced to a new breathing technique and pranayam. For me breathing only meant one thing just inhaling horrible pollution inside and exhaling out anger and obviously with some involvement of oxygen and CO2

Next a process took place in which all of them had to discuss about the challenges they face in life, their dreams and aspirations. many of them floundered during the process but very enthusiastically they shared their wishes expecting them to be fulfilled as we all know that angels despite there casual silence do exist.……during this process It was as if I and a few of them had schizophrenia for a while. 




The knowledge session included a lot of things that have been heard or read somewhere before. .and Sitting with the future engineers of our country , interacting with them made me realize that they were doubting a lot things just because its not simply denial but some of us are a bit selective about the reality we accept…………………



I would summarise the day 1 of YES+ as - 'Yeh experience subtle tha'.

A course that put the ship of my life on course

Doctrines, dogmas, concepts, conventions, patterns are an integral part of the psyche of a set of people who work for an organization, whether commercial or otherwise. Art of Living is no exception. It has taken me 14 years to realize that a spiritual 'Organization' has nothing to do with 'Spirituality'. However ironical and absurd it may sound, its a hard learned fact.

White dresses, chandan on the forehead, untimely meditations, plastic smiles, flaunting miraculous experiences, unwarranted sweetness in speech, exaggerated expressions of devotion (bhav), saying 'Yes' without proper thought and commitment, etc had become my lifestyle. Its a Maya (illusion) created by the  utterly misguided and ill-mentored volunteers.

Then 'Bawa' happened to me....in 2001!

Masks started shedding and concepts started crumbling. Ideologies loosened their grip on my intellect and the sweet samskaras started getting washed away as though in a stormy river with detergent in it. Doctrines and dogmas were sent tumbling downhill.

It was all happening step by step, layer by layer, petal by petal, day by day I was experiencing a steady, though sometimes exponential, transformation.

I am resisting very strongly now, the waves of praises surging in my heart for Bawa, as all those golden memories of spending time with him since 2001 are flashing, some vividly and some vaguely. I am sure they will erupt on my blog like a volcano of words packed with emotion and impregnated with knowledge, very soon.

Right now I wanted to tell you guys that the YES!+ course was a high point, a steep uphill-cum-downhill transition, on this path of transformation. 28 June to 04 July, 2005.

It brought my focus back to my body making me realize the importance of health, stamina and fitness. It accelerated the above mentioned transformation at the levels of mind, intellect and memory. And it did not stop there. It, first punctured and then fine tuned, my ego.

When Lord Buddha destroyed the ego of the scholarly disciples of his time, they got enlightened. They got established in the next and last level of their existence - the SELF. The enlightenment for me was, 'there was so little implementation of the knowledge I had got used to talking about in the courses I was teaching.' Too much of Shravan and Manan and hardly any Nidhi-dhyasa was being practiced.

A very significant and mandatory switch had got initiated. I had been brutally exposed to the grass roots reality of life. A re-union with my spirit had happened.


It was an abundantly practical and yet a profoundly spiritual experience.
Saleel, the Art of Living teacher had got back his dearest closest beloved... Saleel.......... just Saleel!!!

Thank you Bawa-n-Dinesh, thank you YES!+.


My Guru keeps giving me 'Zarurat se jyada and Samay se pehle'.

Gratefully yours.

Jai Gurudev