Thursday 30 April 2015
Tropical Sunshine Smoothie http://vegrecipes.artoflivinguniverse.org/2015/04/tropical-sunshine-smoothie.html
HAL Joins Hands with IAHV to Rejuvenate Kumudavathi River http://artoflivingupdates.artoflivinguniverse.org/2015/04/hal-joins-hands-with-iahv-to-rejuvenate.html
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Have the courage and determination to achieve those dreams that are dear to you. Many a time people who dreamt big were ridiculed, but they remained strong to achieve their goals. Do something creative. Not a year should go by without your doing something interesting and creative. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Wednesday 29 April 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Q: How does the individual work when their individuality has already dissolved?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: These are two dimensions. We live an individual life and at the same time we also lead a bigger life. When you sleep what is happening? Your individuality has dissolved into cosmic nothingness. When you wake up, you have your roles to play. Similarly when you meditate, what happens? You are dissolved. And when you come out of meditation into action what happens? Individuality exists.
So life is a combination of the individual and the universal. There is one aspect in us which is universal.
In the Upanishads there is a beautiful story. It says: two birds are sitting on one branch. One is watching, another is eating. Similarly inside you, there is one thing that is universal, that is just watching, that simply exist. There is another thing that acts: the individual self. Are you form or formless? You are both! Your body is form, mind is formless. Right? Someone may say, ‘How is it possible? Either you are form or formless. How can you be both?’ This is wrong logic.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Q: Man creates wealth for security or insecurity?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Wealth is the means but if it becomes a means in itself then it becomes insecurity. If it is used as means then it definitely will help people more.
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Thursday, April 30, 2015
You have to create the much needed space for someone to grow and you should persuade them and not impose your ideas on them. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Managing Conflicts
Tell me, where is there no conflict, except in meditation? Why have you been given intelligence? Nature has given you intelligence, and your intelligence has a job to do. If you have no intelligence, then there is no conflict.
So, if you are given intelligence, then it is for your intellect to resolve the conflict. Just let it function. You simply have to let your brain function. It is the brain that has created the conflict, and I tell you, it can resolve it too.
If you say, ‘No, I cannot resolve the conflict’, then get into one of the four categories of people who come to me. If you feel so miserable, surrender, then you will get the help.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Know that you are pure and your heart is clean. In the company of the pure you are also purified. All your past karmas are dropped. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Tuesday 28 April 2015
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Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Q: How well does being religious help me in my spiritual quest?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is a different dimension. A little bit of religiosity is good in life. It adds a flavor which is needed both for yourself and for the society to continue.
You don’t need to go to a temple, a church or a mosque to pray and meditate. But just imagine if nobody goes, what will happen to all these temples? If everyone says, 'God is in my home, in my heart, and everywhere sit', for one generation it is okay, but what will happen to the coming generations? This whole system will collapse.
We need to preserve this ancient system and ancient culture itself, the world heritage. So temples are not just a place to find God, it is also a place of socio-cultural activities. So even in that sense, I feel it is good to keep that heritage alive.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Q: I want to know if I bless another person does their negativity pass on to me? If so then what is the solution.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, don’t worry. Just say Jai Gurudev and that’s it.
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Transformation can only happen through understanding and not by imposing. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
When people criticize you, you should just listen to them. If there is something good in it, take it and if there is nothing good then just leave it, ignore it. They can comment, so what! You should not lose your equanimity. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Monday 27 April 2015
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Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Q: I have never practiced yoga, but I have always been impressed by the relaxed state of Gurus and yogis. Speaking as a Catholic, what do you say to those leaders of monotheistic religions, senior clerics in my own faith who say that yoga has its origin in Hinduism and Pantheism and being focused entirely on the physical aspect of the body can undermine Christian prayer. Therefore, it is not necessarily the right approach to spirituality for Christians. Is being a devout Christian compatible with the practice of yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: By eating Chinese food, we do not become Chinese. Listening to Beethoven, does not turn you into a German. When we can accept food from every part of the world, music from every part of the world, technology from every part of the world, why to single out wisdom that can bring you inner peace, without interfering with your own faith or belief system? This is my question.
No doubt, yoga has its root in Hinduism. Actually, Hinduism is a way of life. Patanjali never talks about many Gods or pantheism. Patanjali simply says - there is the body, the mind, the breath, and the life-force; attend to all of this. We should welcome wisdom, irrespective of its source, as long as it does not conflict with our traditions.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Q: I want to know if I bless another person does their negativity pass on to me? If so then what is the solution.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, don’t worry. Just say Jai Gurudev and that’s it.
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
When the sun is rising just gaze at the rising sun. At that moment, there is a shift in the universe from night to day, and in that shift the mind also easily shifts from the mundane to something ethereal, to something beyond. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Monday, April 27, 2015
Being Ridiculed?
Handle it with humor. If he ridicules you, you stand up and smile. Thank him and laugh with him. If you are made an object of fun, be happy about it. Tell him, ‘You’re having a lot of fun at my expense!’
The friendly tone of your acceptance will change the whole environment. If he makes fun of you say, ‘Sir, you’re becoming very funny these days.’ Compliment those who try to ridicule you and see what happens.
You don’t have to keep a big red face and move away with a heavy heart. Humor is something which can grease any situation. This is what we must learn. Whether you are a manager or an assistant or an employee or an employer, you should know how to carry along tough situations with humor.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Monday, April 27, 2015
People who irritate you, in some way or the other can bring about the best in you. When everyone around you is wonderful, you don’t need any skill to handle a situation. It will only happen when there are people whom you think are unreasonable. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Sunday 26 April 2015
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Monday, April 27, 2015
Q: I have never done yoga in my life? What is yoga? Is it a meditation? Is it different postures of the body? If that is so, what are the scientific linkages between those things and what happens inside which leads to such dynamic effects in the form of resolution of conflict and giving us peace of mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First, I would like to refute your first statement that you have never done yoga in your whole life. You have done it as a baby, but you don’t know it. Not a single child on this planet has grown up without doing yoga.
Babies, when they sleep, they are in the Chin Mudra while sleeping. In any part of the world you see, when babies are lying down they lift their legs first, and then they go on their belly and try to lift their shoulders. To some extent every child has done asanas on this planet.
Then coming to the breathing pattern - the way we breathe is different from the way a baby breathes. A baby has a stress-free mind, a happy mind. All the science of yoga is already there in a baby and as babies, we have all been yogis. We are just going back to our roots.
Yoga has eight limbs; there are eight steps to it and one among them is physical postures. But, the central teaching is maintaining an equanimous state of mind.
'Samatvam yoga uchayate' - yoga brings equilibrium in the mind. When you can do any action with mindfulness, you are aware of what you are saying or doing, this makes you a yogi.
See, science is a systematic logical understanding of what is. In that sense, yoga is a science; it is a systematic understanding of the subject. Knowing ‘What this is’ is science. Knowing ‘Who am I’ is spirituality.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Monday, April 27, 2015
Q: I have met you a number of times. But for the first time I feel that you are tired and are stressed from pressure of the whole responsibility of the universe.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Of course, responsibility is there on the shoulders. You all can share it.
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Monday, April 27, 2015
On full moon day, when you look at the moon your breath becomes musical. Looking at the moon, the prana in you becomes musical and life becomes harmonious. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Do You Want People to Change?
Why do you want to change their nature? You change. When you change they may also change, or they may not change! We need to learn to see life from a broader perspective. Then things make much more sense to us.
Why do we try to change people? It is because they are hurting us. And the more we want to change someone because they are hurting us, they are not going to change, I tell you.
If you really want them to change, you have to wish for their welfare, because what they are doing is not good for them. And if that is your intention, with that wish they will change. I tell you they will change. Your every prayer will make them see things differently and behave differently. So that’s the power of your intention.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Saturday 25 April 2015
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Q: Could you talk about the Vedas and the aspects that they give this creation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, the story about the Vedas is very interesting, it's a mythological story. Once a Rishi did a lot of penance, and so the Lord of creation appeared before him and he asked him, 'My dear, what do you want?' The Rishi said, 'Give me knowledge'. So Brahma showed him a huge mountain and said, 'This is knowledge, take as much as you can'.
So this sage went and he grabbed as much as he could, but he could grab only four handfuls of that mountain, and they say, that became the Vedas. So Vedas are infinite. It is said Ananthavai Veda (infinite is the knowledge). So Rishi Veda Vyasa took a few handfuls of knowledge and organized it as four different aspects:
1.Rig Veda: Pure knowledge
2.Yajur Veda: The applied science, all action oriented. It is all about karma (ritualistic aspect)
3.Sama Veda: All about love, devotion, music and singing
4.Atharva Veda: Material sciences like Ayurveda, and about the knowledge of the stars, moon, planets and galaxies. All of this is present there.
So one is pure spiritual knowledge, another is action-oriented knowledge, another is music, and the fourth is material science.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Q: Do you think people in this room would make better decisions if they had a yoga class every morning?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is the first right decision.
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Sunday, April 26, 2015
The dawn and dusk are the best time to relieve ourselves from the mundane and to get a foothold in ethereal, in the subtle, and in the most beautiful realm of the creation. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Knowledge Sheet of H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Life Is a Game
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Saturday, April 25, 2015
Life Is a Game
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Take life as a sport. Life is a struggle when you have no knowledge. With knowledge, the same life which you considered as a struggle turns out into a sport. In sports, you are happy, whatever the outcome. When you feel that the journey itself is a struggle, then nothing is satisfactory, even victory is as disastrous as failure. But when you see the journey as a path, as singing and dancing, the approach lightens up.
When people are joyful, they sing and dance, and keep going round and round, simply. There is no purpose in going all around a place. When you are walking straight, you have a purpose or a goal that you want to reach. But when you are going around, it is a game. Like horse racing being done within a track, it is just a game. A racing horse is not supposed to reach somewhere. Similarly all the planets are going round and round. They are giving you the message: it is a game.
The ancient Rishis called life a Leela. Leela means a game, or fun. They never saw it as Sri Rama’s Sangharsh or struggle. They said Ram Leela. When life is like a game, the whole thing, the whole approach lightens up in both senses; you feel light and it lightens you up as well.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
When people are joyful, they sing and dance, and keep going round and round, simply. There is no purpose in going all around a place. When you are walking straight, you have a purpose or a goal that you want to reach. But when you are going around, it is a game. Like horse racing being done within a track, it is just a game. A racing horse is not supposed to reach somewhere. Similarly all the planets are going round and round. They are giving you the message: it is a game.
The ancient Rishis called life a Leela. Leela means a game, or fun. They never saw it as Sri Rama’s Sangharsh or struggle. They said Ram Leela. When life is like a game, the whole thing, the whole approach lightens up in both senses; you feel light and it lightens you up as well.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Why should you not harm others? That is because it is the same as you harming yourself because they are part of you (like your arm is part of your body). - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Friday 24 April 2015
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Saturday, April 25, 2015
Q: I am from Russia. What types or kinds of punishment should we apply in a company?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It depends on what kind of atmosphere prevails in the company. If the atmosphere is very friendly, congenial, and more of a celebratory or joyful, then a little indifference towards a person itself is good enough. Otherwise, whatever strict measures need to be taken then it has to be taken. I would say, give three chances, if the person doesn't improve, show them the door. You cannot run a business like a charity and charity cannot be run like a business.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Saturday, April 25, 2015
How to deal with narrow minded people around?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: With a broad mind. Don't do tit for tat. Don’t loose your happiness just because someone behaved in some way. Educate and ignore.
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Every day, a little bit of breathing exercise to calm down the mind and also meditation twice a day will enable you to live a life which is full of joy, happiness, compassion, love and divinity. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Friday, April 24, 2015
Is the Theory of Evolution Correct?
Actually the whole world is just appearance. It appears to be so. You should read Yoga Vashishtha. You will get more idea about it.
When you keep a spoon inside the water, half of the spoon appears to be bent. If you ask me when did the spoon bend, what do I say? It didn’t bend, it appears so. When does it start to appear like that? It appears like that anytime!
Similarly, this idea of something got created at one point of time itself is erroneous, because the whole Universe is an appearance in Consciousness. When did the mirage get created? What do you say? It never got created, it appears to be like that!
Like a tennis ball for example. Where is the beginning of a tennis ball? It never begins in the first place. Can a ball begin somewhere or end somewhere? Every point is the beginning and every point is an end. That’s why this Universe is called ‘Anaadi’ (beginningless) and ‘Ananta’ (endless).
Usually our thinking is linear - everything should begin and everything should end somewhere. But when you go into higher knowledge, it is about appearance rather than beginning or ending. This is the beauty of Vedanta philosophy, this is how it is different from all other theories that we think of the world.
See if you go to Hawaii which is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, miles and miles all around there is nothing. Now if someone starts researching - how did a coconut plant come there? Someone will say, ‘Oh from Malaysia, maybe a coconut fell in the water, it travelled all the way to the Hawaiian Island and then it became a tree’. There is no proof for this, but yes, all the fauna and flora are present in Hawaiian Islands. There are many trees, and people were also there.
So, to me it seems very absurd when people say that the first human being was born in Africa and then he travelled to Constantinople, and from there Aryans came and invaded India, and so on. All these theories are rubbish because we want to see one point from where the tennis ball began.
If you see from a quantum physicist’s or from a real rational scientific view point, you will find that in the whole creation things have happened in many places simultaneously. Nature can make a coconut plant grow in Kerala and in Hawaii at the same time! It doesn’t have to export a coconut from Kerala all the way to Hawaii or vice-versa!
Now they have found that there is water on the surface of Moon and Mars. Somebody will come up with a theory that at some point of time the Moon became a part of the Earth and then water from came there, because we try to think linear. We have to think spherical, then things will make much more sense.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Friday, April 24, 2015
When things are falling apart, if you think that in spite of spiritual practices things are falling apart, then you are not thinking right. If you lose that, you won’t even have the strength to go over the tough periods. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Thursday 23 April 2015
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Friday, April 24, 2015
Q: What is the relevance of eating satvic and Ayurvedic food? Usually I like rajasic food more than satvic food.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: With rajasic food, you will have a similar rajasic mind-set as well. Do you know what a rajasic mind-set is? It is like a yo-yo. You jump up or you go down. Either you are too happy or you are too down, this is the impact of rajasic food. You can have it sometimes, no problem.
If everybody is so flat and equanimous all the time, then there is no charm, nothing happens. You need a little bit of rajas here and there. That makes life more colourful. But when you find that it’s too much to handle, then come to satvic food.
You know, I recently read that in California, they did some experiments in a prison. They gave the prisoners only vegan food for two months (vegan food means: no dairy or meat products). Vegan means vegetarian without milk or yoghurt. Total vegan food was given to the prisoners for a little longer than two month. They found that the crime that the prisoners used to do repeatedly commit come down by 97% percent. A lot came out of the crime mind-set. It's very interesting.
See, India is with such a huge population, almost three times or four times the population of US and one third of the land-mass. If India did not have this satvic mind-set, India would've become a place with the highest amount of crime. Thanks to the ancient culture, it has kept people in a very solid state of mind.
There is an ancient proverb, 'Jaisa Ann Vaisa Mann', which means, as the food you eat so is your mind. That's why I encourage satvic food. This knowledge is there somewhere from ancient times, though it is fading away. Crime is increasing in India like never before. Still, there’s something which is keeping the harmony in this country, in this society. It can only be attributed to this lifestyle.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Friday, April 24, 2015
Q: Is there a higher purpose to art?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no purpose to art. It is an expression of happiness. For the onlooker, art brings a sort of solace and comfort. For the creator, it is just an expression
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Friday, April 24, 2015
Education is not just information, it is building character. It is building a personality. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Universal Love
From birth we have known love to be directed from a person. Love gets personalized from birth. A child opens the eyes and looks at the mother and starts feeling that love.Association kindles the feeling of love inside of you. But when it matures you start understanding love is not just an emotion, it is your very existence.
Love directed towards an individual is one aspect of universal love. First a person stimulates the love inside of you, then when you go deep in meditation you will find that love doesn't need any stimuli from outside, it is already existing everywhere.
Actually we are floating in an ocean of love. It is like when you are in a bath tub, you feel the heat or cold as you get into it the tub. But after a while you get used to it, and you don’t feel it anymore. Same way when you get into a hot pool, for the first few moments, you feel the heat. Then you don’t feel the heat, you get used to it.
In the same way, the personalized love in the beginning kindles that. Once it is there it assumes the universal form. So you may not feel it but still it will be there. Individuals remind you that there is love in the universe, and you are love.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Ayurvedic diet tips to keep you cool and calm this Summer: https://www.facebook.com/AOLUniverse/photos/a.157877484236715.33042.154033551287775/977132478977874/ …
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Thursday, April 23, 2015
I tell you, the world has a lot of love and compassion and very less cruelty. You’re not in an abandoned world. You’re in a world with a lot of love and belongingness. Have confidence in the goodness of society and of people. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Wednesday 22 April 2015
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Thursday, April 23, 2015
Q: It's hard to say 'I belong to you' to a near and dear one. But it feels easy to say it to a stranger, why?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Your near and dear ones are yours anyways. Why would you tell them, 'I belong to you’? They'll think you've gone mad. You can't wake up in the morning and tell your mother, 'Mummy, I belong to you'.
Your mother will think, 'What has happened to my kid?'.
Which is why we say here 'Kuch maan ke chalo, kuch jaan ke chalo, sabko gale lagate chalo'. This means ‘believe certain things, know certain things and embrace everyone and move ahead’.
We cannot know everything about everything in the world. This is impossible. It is impossible for a person to know everything about the universe. And we can't totally leave everything on faith, this is also not possible. A person who is intelligent will not be able to accept everything on faith, some things he will try to know, but some things he will have to take on faith.
If someone says, 'Oh look, this is poison, if you eat it, you'll die', and if you say, 'No I won’t take your word, I'll try it and see', then you may not be there anymore to share your experience. In such situations at least, you should accept.
There are different types of people and different ideologies in society. The entire universe is a play of diversity. We have to take all of them along.
http://qnawithsrisri.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Q: You are our role model.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: But I model all your roles!
http://guruoneliners.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Compliment those who try to ridicule you and see what happens. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://srisriravishankarquotes.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Intention, Attention and Manifestation
When you have an intention and you put your attention on it, then manifestation happens. Anything that you want to do happens only through intention. Even to come here, you intended that you want to go to ashram. So, that very intention took your body to get into the car and drive through all the traffic and you landed here. So first intention, then attention and then manifestation follows.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
Tuesday 21 April 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Handling Teenagers
There is an old Sanskrit proverb which says, ‘Praptetu shodase varshe, putram mitra vada chareth’. If your son or daughter becomes 16 years you should no longer be their parents, but you should become their friend. You should befriend them and understand their mindset and their difficulties.
Transformation can only happen through understanding and not by imposing. You cannot impose your ideas on your children, or for that matter on anybody. All that you can do is place your ideas before them.
If they are doing something wrong, you should make them aware of the ill effects of it. If someone is getting into drugs, take them to drug rehabilitation centers and show them how (drug addicts) are suffering there. Ask them, ‘See where they have landed. Do you want to be like them?’ This is what we need to ask them.
Transformation can happen only through education, and education can only happen if you have accepted people and understood their position and predicament and create a space for them to grow.
You have to create the much needed space for someone to grow and you should persuade them and not impose your ideas on them.
Just look back and remember when you were a teenager. When your parents used to force some ideas on you, did you like it? No, right? From generation to generation there is a certain gap that comes whether you like it or you don’t. It happens. The skill is to bridge the generation gap. This is the first step.The second step is to bridge the gap between cultures.
In India, the culture changes with every 200 miles. It is the same even in Europe. We need to think about how we can bridge these cultural differences and religious differences. I tell you, it is very simple to do. You just need to have purity in the heart and a sense of belongingness with everybody. Whether the other feels that way or not is none of our business.
The path of spirituality is when you feel no one is a foreigner and everybody is belongs to you in spite of what they are and how they are.
http://knowledgesheet.artoflivinguniverse.org/
.@SriSri being welcomed at @Europarl_EN now! The Yoga Way talk to begin soon - http://www.artofliving.org/webcast #YogaInEP
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
If you really want them to change, you have to wish for their welfare, because what they are doing is not good for them. And if that is your intention, with that wish they will change. I tell you they will change. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
http://gurupunch.artoflivinguniverse.org/
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