Saleel Pulekar

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 f...

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 detergen...

Where Silence meets Dynamism & Knowledge meets Fun... that is YES!+ Where Passion meets Focus & Risk meets Faith... that is YES!+ Where Simplicity meets Excellence & Adventure meets Talent... that is YES!+ Where Surrender meets Responsibility & Contentment meets Creativity... that is YES!+ Where skills are Nurtured & the Being is Empowered... that is YES!+ Where the Heart Cares & the Spirit Shares... that is YES!+ Where the Teacher is a Friend & Wisdom is the Bond... that is YES!+ Where the Mantra is Meditation & Sharing is a Celebration... that is YES!+ Where Love for Self extends into Service to the Other & Dreams become a Reality... that is YES!+

Sunday, 20 June 2010 Satsang @ Bangalore Ashram After explaining a few verses from Ashtavakra Gita in Kannada, Guruji said, "Today we have lot of people from Tamil Nadu (and of course the elated Madrasis cheered), so today no Hindi, no English, I will talk in Tamil (this was like offering Idlis and Dosas with a double helping of curd rice to a hungry Tamilian)." A few excerpts from his Tamil talk are given below.  And if you are wondering how I could make sense out of the curvacious tongue twisters? Well, the twists and turns were ironed out by our superb camera guy GauriShankar (who is the official cameraman of WAYE) and better known for his lead role in Anand&Benaifer, the rocking superhit YES!+ Musical performed in the 1100 people YES!+ course in Mumbai and now to be performed at Summer Magic! A 2 hour and 40 min non-stop stomach aching comedy interspersed with world class singing and Yollywood (Yes!+ ka Bollywood) dances, complete with action, suspense, family drama,...

As I stepped out of the wood-and-hay clad meditation hall in our Vasad ashram in Gujarat, I was still in the 'hangover' of the intoxicating Guru puja chant by Bhanu didi, my being was graced by the sight of my Guru looking invitingly at me and walking, as though gliding like a cloud. With a welcoming smile he said, "Saleel, tujhe pata hai main tujhe Germany bhej raha hun." There was such a personal touch in that statement. I was delighted. Two and a half months in Germany were quite challenging. It taught me acceptance and patience. My daily reading of Yoga Vasishtha helped me a lot. I am grateful to Vikram Hazra for having recommended my name to Guruji. And I had a wonderful time with Vikram in Germany. This is the first course I taught which was organised by Christoff Glaser. It was conducted in our beautiful ashram in Bad Antogast. The below pic was taken when the entire batch went for a walk in the Black Forest in the Alps, which is where our ashram is located, ve...

September 1999. It was the first time I was attending a DSN course. Rashmin, Rajesh Jagasia, Harshal and a few of our common friends we all were on it. I think it was the first one in Mumbai. Arunaji from Gujarat was our teacher. The intensity was increasing as each day progressed. I had decided I will be repeating this course at the earliest, to be able to assimilate its intensity. One of the partcipants took permission to go to his house for a while and come back. We all were surprised at his courage to even ask for a break in DSN course!? He looked very happy after he returned. The course got over and he shared his experience. "I went home to see if my mother was alright. She had just got discharged from the hospital after a serious illness and nobody was at home. To my surprise she scolded me for taking a break from the course and said, "A man in white robes and long hair and beard came and gave me medicines. I am fine. You focus on your course, come on go asap." ...

We started a YES!+ course in IIT Delhi on Thu 02 Apr. I learnt that when I give my 100%, when I put my heart, mind, body and soul, to the fullest of my energies and enthusiasm in an action, then I am able to EXCEL; actually I EXCEED my EXPECTATIONS. I experienced this in the way I conducted the first session of the course. Jai Gurudev PS: The 3rd day got over today...50 smiling happy participants are brimming with LIFE

We were campaigning for YES!+ in IIT Delhi. Around 5 pm we took a break, sat to have maggi and biscuits at a Nescafe joint. And grace manifested as a spontaneous musical message. Of course its a very old famous Bollywood number (originally sung by Kishore Kumar), but the adaptation turned out just perfect! Watch it here: JHUMROO TALKS Cheers Saleel

The YES!+ in Akola had an extra filling - a picnic to a small hill station called Muktagiri. It has a white marble Jain temple. There are more than 50 small temples with idols of all the Tirthankars. Here are some more pics. http://picasaweb.google.com/ask.saleel/PicnicMuktagiri Love, Jai Gurudev Saleel

Check this exciting photo album which says it all, take your time to read the captions carefully!! Watch it as a slideshow to Enjooooyyy! http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ask.saleel/AurangabadYESDevgiriTrek Cheers! Saleel