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