Sunday, 30 June 2013
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Subtle ego is when you have the feeling that ‘I have no ego’. When you feel that ‘I am the most down-to-earth and humble person alive’, then that is the subtle ego.
See, if you find that there is some ego in you, never mind, just keep it in your pocket. If it is there, let it be there. It is alright. Why do you want to get rid of it?
If you try to get rid of the ego, then that will become another big problem for you. Because then you will say, ‘See, I have overcome my ego!’ Then that is the subtle ego. You cannot overcome ego by destroying it. Just be natural. Ego dissolves in the naturalness of your being.
GURU ONE LINER
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you like it when people judge you all the time? No, isn't it? Then why judge others?
SUTRA OF THE DAY
knowledge sutra of the day
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
GURU PUNCH OF THE DAY
Handling Stress
Do you know what stress is? Too much to do, too little time, and no energy, that is called stress.
So, either you increase your energy, or reduce your work load. You obviously can’t reduce your work load, or increase the time, but you can increase your energy levels. If your energy level is higher, then you can do the job easily.
All these breathing techniques help to increase the energy levels. Just do ten minutes of pranayama breathing in the morning, and then you can go and do any work. When you come back from work, do another ten minutes.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Uttarakhand Floods: Various ways to volunteer in relief actions
Dearest Ones,
Find above the various ways in which we can volunteer and join hands with the relief actions being undertaken at Uttarakhand.
“I urge more volunteers to come forward for the Uttarakhand relief work,” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Click on the link below to go through the updates on how the art of living volunteers are working tirelessly to bring relief to victims of Uttarakhand flood.
www.artofliving.org/uttarakhand-floods-immediate-call-relief-action
QnA WITH SRI SRI
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I think you have a lot of free time. You have to get busy. This is too young an age to get crushed. You have not even blossomed like a flower yet, you are still a bud. Don’t let anybody crush you now. There is a time for it. Now focus only on your studies. Charm everybody but don’t stay, move, that is the formula.
GURU ONE LINER OF THE DAY
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, I am like this only!
SUTRA OF THE DAY
KNOWLEDGE SUTRA
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
What Sri Sri said today
June 10, 2013
Bangalore, India
Q:Gurudev, you said there is freedom in giving away your rights, and nobody can take away what is yours. Now, if somebody takes away my rights to something, should I just wait believing that it is mine and it will come back to me, or should I fight?
Sri Sri: First of all, if you believe someone has taken away your rights, you should correct your thinking. If it is your right, no one can take it away from you. You should stand up and take your rights.
This I have said in Hindi: Drop your sense of authority over something.
If you say I have the authority over something, just drop the authority. Here, authority may be the right word to use. Do you see what I am saying? See, when you give your authority to your loved one then it definitely comes back to you.
Often, we want to exert our authority on others by force.
For example, you have authority over your wife, but if you do not exercise your authority over your wife and instead give away your authority to her, then that brings freedom.
Are you getting what I am saying?
You have a right over your children. What I am saying is, don’t exercise your authority over your children, rather give away your authority to them. That brings freedom to them.
If you do not force your authority on your loved ones then that brings freedom.
Suppose you are a school teacher, you definitely have an authority over all the kids. Now if you exercise your authority over the kids, they will run away. Isn’t that what usually happens? Similarly, say you have 50 employees working under you and you exercise your authority over them, then the work place will not be a pleasant one for them. So instead you should give away your rights.
Who can give away their authority? Only one who has full authority with them.
One is like giving charity, while the other is like trying to give when you do not have any money in the first place.
What you are saying is, ‘How can I give when I do not have any money to begin with?’ What I am saying is, ‘You should give some charity’.
So you can only give when you already have owned the right fully. Got it?
You can give away your rights only when you know it is yours in the first place. If somebody has snatched away your rights then you should fight it out with them. But if you have given it to them then that is a different issue. Then that is called love. Giving away your right to someone else is an act of love, but if someone has snatched away your right then you have not given it to them at all. Then you should fight and take it back. Did you get it?
Now what do you do? Do you wait to claim back your rights?
Suppose you have a home and some gangsters come and snatch your property from you. Should you just give away your rights over your property? I would say no. You should stand up against them, get a good lawyer, go to the police and do all that is needed to get back your rights. But before you die at least give away the right (over your property) to somebody otherwise it will go to government, or it will be left unclaimed.
At least you give away your right to your property to someone before leaving this planet.
Q:Gurudev, I get bad dreams at night, and this happens very frequently. I am afraid. Please help.
Sri Sri: There is no need to fear. Just chant Om Namah Shivaya before sleeping at night, or Jai Gurudev, or you can say both and then sleep.
See in our country, and in other countries around the world, before sleeping, children were made to say prayers, is it not? Does anyone follow this now-a-days? How many of you here do it? (A few people raise their hands)
See, very few sitting here follow this. Before sleeping all of you should pray and make the children pray too. Chant one shloka (prayer verse), or take the name of some deity you revere, or just offer thanks to God for the day given to you.
There is no need to pray in Sanskrit only. Even saying a prayer in Hindi will do. God does not only know Sanskrit. He understands your regional languages as well. So just pray. What is important is the feeling.
So before you sleep join your hands and pray, ‘Thank you God for the gift of today. Bless me that I may sleep well tonight and may my day tomorrow be good’.
So you may recite a few lines like this. Or you may just remember God, and chant any name of the Lord that you know. You can chant the name of your deity or your Guru, or any saint. Pray and surrender everything to them and go to sleep.
In the ancient days, children would pray to their mother and father and then go to sleep. But nowadays children don’t have such devotion towards their parents.
If parents keep fighting with each other the whole day then how will the children feel like praying to them? They think, ‘The parents keep fighting with each other, how we can treat them as God?’
If you do not believe in God, or any other deity, then also it is fine. There is no compulsion to believe in God. In that case sit silently with yourself for a few moments and just quiet the mind. Simply remind yourself, ‘My soul is eternal and I am pure’.
In the Ashtavakra Gita, it is said, ‘Aho Aham Namo Mahiyam’, this means, ‘I bow down to myself’.
We can say this (bowing down to oneself) only when there is no sense of guilt within us. Thinking this way, just relax within yourself. You should do this much at least. So meditate for some time and then sleep. Then you will not have bad dreams and you will have good quality sleep.
Q:Why does Lord Brahma have no temple except in North India?
Sri Sri: Lord Brahma has no temple because he has finished his job and has already created the world too. Why would people worship him when his job is done? See, the temples were made much later. Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Maheshwara (a name of Lord Shiva) are different energies all in one. It is said, ‘Brahma Shivomeya Astu Sadashiva’ (from the verses of the Linga Purana, a Hindu mythological scripture dedicated to Lord Shiva).
Q:Dear Gurudev, there is a friend of mine who is working in a government factory. She has not received her salary for the past seven months now, but she is still smiling. She has asked me to convey this to you Gurudev.
Sri Sri: Yes I know this. It is so surprising that some people who are working in government offices have not gotten their salary for the whole year. How do they pay their bills? The same is the case with some airlines.
I was surprised to know that some airline crew were working but they did not get salary for eight to nine months. This is total irresponsibility. These people cannot leave their jobs because they don’t know whether they will be able to get another job or not. So they keep working with the hope that they will get the salary soon, one day or another. Let us all pray that they get their salary soon.
http://www.artofliving.org/what-sri-sri-said-today
Knowledge Sheets: Success in Business
Knowledge Sheets: Success in Business: In any business setup you need to motivate people. The way we motivate people, is by giving them a salary raise, or a bonus, or good tra...
KNOWLEDGE SHEET
Success in Business
In any business setup you need to motivate people.
The way we motivate people, is by giving them a salary raise, or a bonus, or good transport.
But these motivations do not stay too long. It lasts only for a couple of months, and then it starts fading away. We need to inspire people. It makes a very big difference.
All this can happen when the trust we have in ourselves becomes stronger; trust in our ability. Then our social capacity automatically becomes stronger, and then success is guaranteed.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
GURU PUNCH OF THE DAY
Friday, 28 June 2013
QnA WITH SRI SRI
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, we must never support injustice. You can forgive them once or twice. But if they do this repeatedly, then you should stand up against them and show them what they are doing is wrong and bring them to the right path.
But you should do this with cheerfulness and not because it is troubling you. One who is doing something wrong is harming himself and not anyone else. So you should try to help them understand this. When children do something naughty, a mother slaps them once or twice. Why? Is it because the child has hit her or insulted her in any way? No. It is because the child’s bad behaviour is going to harm him, which is why the mother scolds him.
For example, a child sits in a mother’s lap but also kicks her at the same time. Does a mother ever get upset because of this? No. Instead, the mother feels happy. But if the child does something wrong, or insists on doing something wrong, like playing with a knife, then the mother hits the child so that the child does not harm himself.
This is how you should understand.
GURU ONE LINER OF THE DAY
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you do business, listen to your mind. And when you live life or do some social work, then listen to your heart. When you are with your family, listen to your heart.
SUTRA OF THE DAY
Knowledge Sutra of the Day
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Knowledge Sheets: Sri Sri throws light on Key to relationships
Knowledge Sheets: Sri Sri throws light on Key to relationships: Relationships can either take the form of strength or weakness depending on the mind. If the mind is strong then relationships can be like...
Sri Sri throws light on Key to relationships
Relationships can either take the form of strength or weakness depending on the mind. If the mind is strong then relationships can be like a gift to us, but if the mind is weak and not in control, then relationships can feel like bondage.
How would you like to see yourself - happy and bubbling with enthusiasm or dull and difficult to please?
Often you like to be pleased, appeased and cajoled. So you put up a tough, upset face and act difficult to please. If a person has to appease and please ten people all the time, it will be so tiring. People who keep a long face and expect others to cajole and appease them make others run away.
Lovers often do this. They expend a lot of energy in cajoling and this brings down the joy and celebration of the moment. It is okay for you to show your upset mood or tendency once in a while, but doing it over and over again is taxing for you and the people you love.
If you feel low, appease and please yourself. Your need to be appeased by someone else is the sign of grossness. This is the root of ignorance. If you want attention, all you get is tension.
There is a secret about relationships. Women should never make their husband feel small.
If you tell your husband, ‘You are like a vegetable, good for nothing. You are a lazy goose!’ his self esteem goes down and he really becomes good for nothing. However, hopeless or weak he is, you should always tell him that he is the best. You should pump his ego.
The whole world may say that he has no brains, but you should not say that. As a spouse you should say, ‘You have the best brains in the world.
Just because you don’t use it, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have any.’ In the same way, men should never pour cold water on women’s emotions. For women, emotional bonding is very important.
You should never complain about her parents, her father or her mother or sisters or brothers. If she herself complains, you keep quiet, don’t say anything.
If you oppose her parents, you will be in trouble and if you side with them, she will feel left out. Either way you are in trouble, so keep quiet. Simply move away from there or change the topic.
If in the relationship, both come from a sense of giving then there will be no problem. But if both want to take, there will be fights for sure. ‘I am here to contribute, what I can do for you?’ - your relationship will last longer with this attitude.
Similarly, don’t be feverish about a relationship, just relax and you will find your relationship with people will improve and become better. If you are like a leech, clinging on to somebody and bugging them, even though you say all nice words, that person will run away from you because they can’t handle it. One aspect is to give love, and another is to know how to handle love, receive love as well.
It needs only a centered, enlightened person. You have to be very much at ease with yourself. If you are at ease with yourself, everyone will be at ease with you.
Just be yourself. Be natural and simple. Relationships develop naturally. If you try to build a relationship that is when you become a little artificial and unnatural.
You like someone to be very honest, open, natural, unassuming with you. That is exactly what others also want from you. If you are a boss, what type of assistants or subordinates would you like? Someone who is open. And that is also what your boss wants. Don’t try hard to impress your boss, or impress your girlfriend or boyfriend. That is when everything goes wrong.
The best is to be yourself, natural, to be forgiving and to be in the present moment. It makes a big difference.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
GURU PUNCH OF THE DAY
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Vedic Wisdom Program 2013
The dates for the Vedic Wisdom Program 2013 at our beautiful Bangalore Ashram have been announced! Please help us SPREAD THE WORD to all those that might be interested...
This year the program will be open for participants from all over the world, both males and females! A unique opportunity to learn more about the ancient Vedic knowledge and how it applies to and is relevant in today's modern world...
To read about the first Vedic Wisdom Program that happened last year, people's experiences, etc see: http://artoflivingsblog.com/vedic-wisdom/
For more details on this year's program, the eligibility criteria, and other details, or to register for the program, please visit: http://www.artofliving.org/bangalore-ashram/vedic-wisdom
Your life is infinite. You are as old as these mountains and you will remain forever. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is okay, the mind is like that only. This is where knowledge is important. Knowledge is like holding on to a life jacket in a storm.
That is why it is called storms of emotions. The ancient people have compared emotions to an ocean; it is like an ocean and you need to learn to swim across this ocean. Knowledge is the life jacket. So when you get tired of swimming, just put on the life jacket and you will make it to the shore. Just imagine, if this knowledge is not with you and you are stuck in a problem, then what condition will you be in? What would you do?
If you had never done any meditation or pranayama, never listened to any knowledge, and you get into a situation where your mind is entangled with some girl or boy, then what would have been going on in your mind? You would have become mad, isn’t it? Be thankful that you at least have this knowledge. Knowledge is what will help you cross over safely. For example, if somebody insults you, then the knowledge point kicks in, ‘Don’t be a football of others’ opinion’. This comes automatically. From somewhere or the other, a ray of knowledge arises within you to save you, to raise you above the event. Does it happen or not? (Many in the audience speak out in agreement).
See how it happens for so many people. (Devotee: Gurudev, just give blessings) Yes, when have I not given blessings? I always give blessings, but you need to come with a bigger vessel. You come with a small cup and say, ‘Please give me two litres’. You have to make your vessels bigger so that I can give you four litres instead of two litres. You bring such a small vessel that can hold only ten millilitres, keep aside two litres. Grace and blessing have their own place, without them nothing works. You will keep getting it. Along with it, we will also have to make our own efforts. We have to increase our capacity to receive.
GURU ONE LINER
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, getting out of illusion is the truth about life.
SUTRA OF THE DAY
Knowledge Sheets: Anugraha (Grace)
Knowledge Sheets: Anugraha (Grace): Anugraha (Grace) Anugraha means grace. Nothing is possible in life without anugraha. When you receive a lot without making efforts for i...
Anugraha (Grace)
Anugraha (Grace) Anugraha means grace. Nothing is possible in life without anugraha. When you receive a lot without making efforts for it, then it is said that you are blessed with anugraha. Do you understand what I am saying? Usually you work hard at your job and then receive your salary. So you say, ‘I have earned my money’. But if someone gives you a gift, you do not say, ‘I have earned these gifts’. Can something that is earned be called a gift? No. You receive gifts without any efforts. So when you receive a great gift or an award that you feel you did not deserve, then that is called anugraha. When we receive something that we are not deserving of, or which exceeds our capabilities, then that is what is called Grace. When we see that in our life, we have received far more than what we deserve or are capable of, then gratitude dawns in us. We become thankful, complaints disappear and abundance grows. A person who is grateful never experiences lack of anything. Who experiences a lack in life? One who thinks that ‘I am so capable yet I got nothing’. Being grateful means all your complaints in life simply disappear. When you have this feeling in your heart that you have always received more than what you asked for, or more than what you deserved, then deep gratitude arises in you. When there is gratitude, there will never be a lack of anything in life. For such a person, whatever he wishes for will keep getting fulfilled. || Jai Guru Dev || |
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
What Sri Sri said today
June 08, 2013
Bangalore, India
(Below is a continuation of the post Everything Is An Expansion Of That One)
Lord Krishna says, ‘Sa taya shraddhaya yuktas tasyaradhanam ihate. Labhate cha tathah kaman mayaiva vihitan hi tan’. (7.22)
Lord Krishna says, ‘When a person worships whichever demigod, he surely receives the merits of his worship (from those demi-gods), as arranged by me. Do not think that there is some other person other than Me who bestows the fruits of devotion. All fruits of devotion come through Me (as all demigods are forms of Myself). This is the law of Nature’.
There is a law of nature. If you put your hand in fire you will naturally get burnt, and if you put your hand in water you will feel its coolness.
So Lord Krishna says, ‘Everything operates per laws of Nature, and it is I who has created these laws of Nature. This is why, I am (through the laws of nature) the one who bestows everyone with the fruits of their devotion. It is I who decides the merits that one must receive based on their actions, and not anyone else. I am the One (pure Consciousness), yet I am expressed through different forms’.
He says, ‘Antavat tu phalam tesham tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam. Devan deva-yajo yanti mad-bhakta yanti mam-api’. (7.23)
When people desire for small things, it shows that their intellect is very limited.
This is because once they receive these small things that they desire for, it all comes to an end in a short time.
Throughout their lives people desire for small things, like a promotion, or more money, or a more fulfilling relationship. But all of these are very limited (meaning: all these cannot give everlasting joy or contentment).
So people who keep making efforts towards such desires, and who spend their whole lives in achieving these desire are not intelligent. This is a sign of a limited intellect. We cannot say that they are foolish in doing so, but this is surely a sign of lesser intelligence. They make so much effort for very small gains in life.
By being devoted to the scenery (meaning having narrow goals, or desires for small sense pleasure), one only reaps short lived results. But one who is devoted to the seer (meaning the Self as a witness) within him receives eternal gains. The fruits of such devotion (of being focussed inward) never diminish.
So the creation (or life) is a process to shift your focus from the (limited) scenery back to the seer.
You place your faith on the scenery (here referring to the form of Divinity one prays to) because you get something from it. But whatever you gain is because of the devotion you have within, which is the devotion of the seer. Whatever one receives in life is due to their devotion (shraddha). Devotion always comes from within (the seer).
Whatever we receive in life is because of our devotion, and what we receive depends on the kind of devotion we have, to some demigod or goddess, or to a Guru, or to God. So what is more important: the scene or devotion? It is said that devotion alone is important.
And where does this devotion come from?
This is where Lord Krishna says, ‘Any devotion that one has comes from Me and Me alone, for I am that pure Consciousness. Those who pray devotedly to different demigods and goddesses become one with them, but My devotees attain Me’.
Those who believe in the Self receive self-knowledge. Those who believe that the demigods are separate from the Lord and worship them alone attain those demigods and merge with them. So Lord Krishna says, ‘One who is completely devoted to Me alone attains Me and merges into Me’.
So who is this Me? – This is what Lord Krishna explains in the next verse:
‘Avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah. Param bhavam ajananto mam-avyayam anuttamam’. (7.24)
He says, ‘My Divine form which is eternal, unparalleled and beyond the material realm is My Para-Rupa (transcendental Divine form) which is not visible to the naked eye. Those who are unaware of this, and who think of Me as being limited to my (visible) physical body, or a personality are foolish. I am the Divine power and not a person. I am the pure Consciousness present everywhere. They do not know this Divine form of Me and look at me from a limited perspective’.
What does seeing in a limited way mean? It means getting stuck in little things like, ‘Oh, he looked at that person and he didn’t look at me. He spoke to that person and he didn’t speak to me’. This is all very petty behaviour.
In the Indian tradition it has always been said that you should not look at your Guru with your (limited) human intellect. This is because if you do, then you get caught up in petty thoughts like, ‘Gurudev saw him but did not look at me. Gurudev spoke to someone else but not to me. He speaks more to this person but less with me. He loves others more than me’.
Do not get stuck in such thoughts. All these come because of the limited human intellect.
Once you are with the Guru, then that is it! Just know that your devotion and His love for you are total and complete. Do not doubt or question it one bit. Do not think whether the Guru loves you or not because the Guru is a Shakti (power) and that power loves you very much. There is no other option because love is its very nature.
In the next verse He says, ‘Na-aham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah. Mudho 'yam nabhijanati loko mam ajam avyaya’. (7.25)
Lord Krishna says, ‘I am not visible to everyone, and this is because of My own Yoga Maya (delusions about one’s abilities as one moves higher on the path of Yoga). It is because of this that everyone is not able to recognize Me. One who knows Me is surely an intelligent person, and one who does not, is ignorant’.
What would you call someone who looks at the sun and then asks you, ‘Is this the sun?’ When the sunshine is falling on your head, when its heat is burning the earth around you, would someone still ask such a question? The proof is so self-evident.
So Lord Krishna says, ‘Because of My Yoga Maya, not everybody can see Me. In this entire creation, I am the Avyaya (eternal principle or the underlying cause of all causes) behind everything that happens. I am not diminished by anything and I am not enhanced by anything. I remain unchanged. I am never born and I do not have any end. A foolish person is unable to understand this. One who has even a little intellect knows from within that I (as the Self or pure Consciousness) am neither born nor can I die. I have never experienced birth or death, although people around me are constantly growing old and changing with age. But when I am unchanging, how can I die?’
It is only that which is constantly changing that can die.
There is something within us that never changes. Every one of us has experienced this at some time or the other, in some measure. If we focus more on this unchanging aspect of our self then this realization dawns, that we are eternal. We will always be there.
So here, Lord Krishna speaks about that Atma Tattva (the soul or the self). He says that one who knows this Atma Tattva is truly intelligent.
In the next verse, Lord Krishna says, ‘Vedaham samatitani vartamanani cha-arjuna. Bhavishyani cha bhutani mam tu veda na kashchana’. (7.26) He says, ‘I know everything. I know all that has happened in the past, I know all that is happening in the present, and I know all that will happen in the future as well’.
The Self deep within us knows everything. It has the knowledge of events that happened in the past, and all that will happen in the future. That which has the ability to know is the soul.
So Lord Krishna says, ‘I know everything and everyone, yet everyone does not know Me. There is only One power that is capable of knowing everything, and that is the Self. So the objects in the creation appear different, yet none of them truly know Me. Yet I know them all’.
People often ask, ‘If all this is true, then why don’t more and more people across the world walk the spiritual path?’
Lord Krishna explains this very clearly by saying, ‘The foolish ones cannot know Me. There are very few intelligent ones in the world and they alone are capable of knowing Me. The very sign of being an intelligent person is one who knows Me’.
http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/what-sri-sri-said-today
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Suppose you are the husband or wife of a person who is being loved unconditionally by somebody else, would you like it? Come on, this is not love, it is an emotional entanglement, get out of it.
Be firm and solid where you are, in yourself. Don’t try to break somebody else’s family; better you keep out, okay? There are 7 billion people on the planet; nearly half of them are unmarried. You will find somebody better than the person whom you are entangled with. I understand, when you are emotionally attached, nothing else comes to your head; you are in a bubble. You are in a little world of your own, thinking, sitting, talking, eating, sleeping, you think only about that person, you go crazy. This is the moment when you should remember that one day you are going to die. When you become aware of death, suddenly this moha, this illusion that you have gotten entangled into, leaves you. You should just remember about your own death. Knowledge of death sometimes makes life very intense, and very well founded. Otherwise, we live as if we are going to live here forever.
SUTRA OF THE DAY
Knowledge Sheets: Signs of Success
Knowledge Sheets: Signs of Success: We need to remember that one of the signs of success is a big smile, with confidence. Confidence that we can face any challenge! This c...
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you become aware that you were ignorant, that itself means your ignorance is gone. An ignorant person does not think of himself as ignorant at all. Just like how you realize you were asleep after you wake up, in the same way, an ignorant person realizes his own ignorance only after he comes out of it. There is so much nectar in this knowledge. We can go on discussing it for hours together.
‘Sarvam Vasudevam iti’, remember that everything around you is (a form of) Vasudeva. Whatever kind of devotion one has, it has come to you by Vasudeva’s grace alone.
GURU ONE LINER
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My dear, I brought it along when I was born. I think this was my nature. I don’t know, but since the time I gained a sense of this world, it has been like this. The world looks both new and old to me. Everyone seems my own, and nobody is a stranger to me.
Art of Living Vacancy: Urgent Requirement of US IT Recruiter
Art of Living Vacancy: Urgent Requirement of US IT Recruiter: Urgent Requirement of US IT Recruiter for US based company providing global staffing services Location: Bangalore Experience: Mini...
Knowledge Sheets: Love Rules The World
Knowledge Sheets: Love Rules The World: It is love that rules the world. The core of the existence rules this Universe. Like the sun is the center of the solar system and it r...
Love Rules The World
It is love that rules the world. The core of the existence rules this Universe. Like the sun is the center of the solar system and it rules all the planets, the very core of your life is ruled by love. Beyond your changing body, thoughts, feelings lies the very core of your existence which is very subtle, very delicate. That consciousness, the core of existence is responsible for this whole Creation. There lies the Lordship.
A bird feeds its young out of love. A flower blossoms because of love. Ducks hatch eggs out of love. Cows take care of their calves out of love. Have you seen monkeys? How they care for their young ones! Love is in-built in Creation. That is how the whole Creation functions. What you call as in-built is the core of consciousness. That is why Jesus said, “Love is God and God is Love.”
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
GURU PUNCH OF THE DAY
When water is falling with a lot of force, you cannot stand underneath it, you will lose your head. So, you need to control the tap. If you open the tap with full force and keep an empty bottle under it, the bottle will remain empty. You have to open the tap only so much such that the bottle gets filled.
Similarly, when you love somebody unconditionally, do not express it all at once. They will run away.
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
WHAT SRI SRI SAID TODAY. What Is Swadharma?
June 07, 2013
Bangalore, India
Q:Gurudev what is Swadharma, and how do I know what is my Swadharma?
Sri Sri: : Swadharma is that action which is in accordance with your nature. It is acting in accordance with your skills and talents, your own nature (svabhava), and that which you are responsible for (karma) .
Any action that does not make you feel afraid or restless is Swadharma. That action which you feel compelled to do, without which you feel restless is swadharma. Now do not misunderstand this and say, ‘I feel restless if I do not drink alcohol’. No! Not at all.
Every time you feel restless, it not always because of Swadharma. But at the same time not following your swadharma always makes you feel restless.
That is why it is said in the< Bhagavad Gita, ‘ Swadharme nidhanam shreyah paradharmo bhayaavahah’ (3.35).
When we do something without authenticity, just to show off to another person, that is when we feel fear. Because such action is not genuine, it does not come from the heart. But when we do something that is authentic and from the heart, then there is no fear.
When someone speaks lies, they definitely feel scared somewhere inside. But someone who speaks the truth does not feel scared at all. In fact speaking the truth and abiding by it brings so much strength to you, isn’t it? This is what Swadharma is.
When we follow that which comes naturally to us in our life, then it brings abundance and prosperity to us. When we flow in accordance with our nature, we grow from within. Any action that uplifts us is our Swadharma.
Dharma is that which hold the mind, intellect, memory and our inner soul together in harmony. Growth comes when we follow our swadharma.
Q:Gurudev, in the Gita you have said that God is everywhere, but how can experience this practically in everyday life?
Sri Sri: See, these are two aspects to knowledge. One is Bodha – the knowledge itself, and the other is Vyavahara – meaning following the knowledge and experiencing it practically.
You know that in your house, the doors, tables and chairs are all made of wood. But you cannot use a table for a chair, nor can you use the chair in the place of a door, isn’t it? Although the cot, the door and table are all made of the same substance (wood), still you cannot use one in place of the other, because practically they are each different from the other and have their own uses.
In the same way, there is one God present in both the young and the elderly. But if you say that they are all one (by the same God) and start touching the feet of young children and blessing the old people, then they will think you have gone crazy. They will think there is something wrong with you. So the way you behave has to differ from person to person. You cannot behave in the same way with everybody. But you should have a feeling of Sambhaava – meaning to see the one Divinity within everyone and everything around you.
When you understand this knowledge of,Advaita (Indian school of philosophy that stresses on non-duality) and kept in your heart, then you become more firmly established in the Self. Only then will you come to this conclusion that though there is the same soul (Consciousness) within everyone and everything, yet you have to treat everything as per its own nature (meaning to discriminate wisely yet see the underlying oneness of everything around oneself) .
Q:Gurudev, no matter what I do to please my husband he is never happy. He keeps finding faults in me. What should I do?
Sri Sri: If you know that this is his habit then why are you getting so disturbed? Accept him and move on. Keep yourself happy. If you do not get disturbed by his behaviour then he will start to change.
Every person has some or the other negative quality in them. And these negative qualities are also there to push your buttons, so that you become strong. Once you become strong, then they will start to change.
In life, everything changes, and there are some things that do not change. We need to accept both these situations.
Q:Gurudev, cow slaughter is on the rise in India. Can any stringent laws be passed in Parliament by which this can be banned?
Sri Sri: It is unfortunate that the percentage of cows present in India today is just 20% of what before independence. The animal wealth of our country has reduced to a great extent, and is much lesser today than what it used to be.
We are facing a big shortage of milk in many places in the country. You must have heard that the sweets sold in some of the markets in North India are not safe for consumption at all. They mix urea and some other chemicals to manufacture the sweets. There is so much adulteration happening in such places. People add chemicals to make Khoya (a natural additive obtained from milk that lends thickness and solidity to sweets) which they then use to make mithai (Indian sweets). So many people have died because of this, and still many people are suffering. People resort to adulteration only when there is a shortage of basic materials. If there is no shortage, there would be no adulteration. Then it would be more expensive to practice adulteration (using expensive chemicals and artificial substances).
We have to make efforts to increase the animal wealth of our country, and also strive to increase the numbers of cows in our animal population.
Recently I came across a research in which they have identified the difference between the milk from the Indian cows and the milk from the cows imported from Europe.
The protein that is found in the milk of imported cows is called A1 protein. A1 protein causes high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, etc. A lot of diseases happen because of A1 protein. On the other hand, there is another kind of protein also, called the A2 protein. .
The A2 protein is found in mother’s milk, and it is also found in the (Indian) cow’s milk and the goat milk. So a mother’s milk, goat’s milk and Indian cow’s milk are the same (in composition). Do you know how? In India, for many years the cow has been respected and revered as a mother. So this consciousness or thought in our tradition has changed the DNA of the cow to generate A2 protein rather than the A1 protein. The milk from the Indian cows is so potent and useful that it is also used as a medicine for the treatment of cancer.
So cow slaughter should be stopped at any cost. A strict law should be passed against this, but more importantly, people also should be made more and more aware of these facts.
Q:Gurudev, yesterday you said that the divine takes care of everyone, then why is there poverty, why there are floods?
Sri Sri: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Imagine a situation when there are no problems in the world.
You go to see a movie and in that movie there are no problem and no tension. A man gets up, eats, goes to work, comes home and goes to sleep, and does the same thing every day. Will you go and watch such a movie? Will you enjoy such a movie?
When do you enjoy a movie? When there is a villain in it, or some tension, or some problems in it. Then you come out and say, ‘This is a very good movie’.
In the same way, this world is like a movie for God. Anyway nobody dies from floods. They all come back in another body.
We also need something to do. Just imagine if there are no problems in the world, everybody is healthy and happy, then there will be no room for compassion. Who will you have compassion towards? Compassion and all other values will disappear.
So problems are here in this world so that we realize our purpose in this world.
Q:How do I get over my crushes? It is very easy for me to like someone and that troubles me?
Sri Sri: I think you have a lot of free time. You have to get busy. This is too young an age to get crushed. You have not even blossomed like a flower yet, you are still a bud. Don’t let anybody crush you now. There is a time for it. Now focus only on your studies. Charm everybody but don’t say, move, that is the formula.
Q:Gurudev I once read in a book called, Autobiography of a Yogi that in the Himalayas there are Yogis who travel from one place to another using some special technique. Is this true? If yes, can we experience it?
Sri Sri: No, there is nothing like this. You go to the Himalayas and search all over but you will not find any such thing.
Q:Can we ask you some rapid fire questions?
Sri Sri: Yes, go ahead.
Who are you?
Good Question to ask yourself.
Who were you in your past life?
That is a secret, I will tell you some other time.
What is and who is God?
What and who is not God.
How should we feel god?
Just be quiet. Don’t worry about him, let him worry about you.
How can the world be violence free and stress free?
By spreading The Art of Living.
What is future of Earth?
Bright with people like you.
What is religion?
Religion is that which puts you in the right track.
What is Truth?
That which cannot be defined and which cannot be avoided.
What is positive and what is negative?
Positive is what elevates you, and negative is what puts you down.
Who is Guru?
One who answers this question.
What is mind?
That which is asking the question.
When you feel tension during studies, just relax. And all students must eat carrots.
Especially those who are wearing spectacles, you need vitamin A and that comes with carrots. So start eating more carrots.
Proper food is very essential. If you eat properly you will not fall sick. We fall sick because we don’t eat well. Most of the time we want to eat food that is tasty, and not that food which is good for the body. We should eat food that is good for the body.
Two to three times a week, take one or two Neem tablets. It is very good for the stomach and the nervous system. Do you know, in Mahatma Gandhi’s Ashram they would keep Neem Chutni every day, because it is good for the mind, the body and the stomach. It also improves the immune system of the body.
Triphala is also good very for the body. All the imbalances in the body get cured with Triphala.
So we must take some of these Ayurvedic medicines, they are good for the body. And we must also do some chanting.
Today, I read in an article that Om is not just a mantra, it is a medicine as well. So we must chant Om every day; at least three time.
Chant Om Namo Narayna or Om Namah Shivaya every day. These are called Maha Mantras. We must chant mantras every day.
So eat good food, use medicine, chant mantras and keep on smiling.
Problems are there in everybody’s life. They come and go. No problem stays forever. So have this faith that I will get whatever I need and keep moving forward.
http://www.artofliving.org/what-sri-sri-said-today
Monday, 24 June 2013
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is a good question. We hear about bomb blast regularly. This is intolerance; the culture of non-violence is missing. That is why we all have to do our work. Don’t you think so? Shall we all together do some work? In India also, unfortunately, the politicians have spoilt this situation. Instead of providing general education to people, they encourage communal-based educational institutions, which only nurture such extremism. It is so unfortunate.
This kind of religious extremism has to end, otherwise the world will not be a safe place. Respect every religion, honor everybody. You don’t have to say that only my way is the way to God, everyone else is going to hell, only I go to heaven.
These kind of people create hell for everybody else. These are the people who think they are doing service to God by eliminating the not-religious. This is so unfortunate. Children need to be educated. Otherwise, they grow up thinking only this is the truth, that everybody else are non-believers, and they don’t have right to exist. This type of mindset is dangerous.
How many of you think this is the problem? We need to change this mindset, bring in a broad spectrum of understanding, and we all have to work for it. As we are speaking, there is a program happening in Iraq. The Health Minister and Sports Ministers came, inaugurated our course in Iraq that the youth organized.
Today, they did the second Sudarshan Kriya, and there has been a complete transformation in their understanding. These youth now want to reach out to the public, make them undergo yoga, meditation, and Sudarshan Kriya. This is very good news. We have to do this; we have to reach out to more people.
GURU ONE LINER
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are at the right place and listening to the right words. Only the one who is liberated can liberate you. Are you getting what I am saying?
KNOWLEDGE SUTRA
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Knowledge Sheets: Dispassion, Passion and Compassion
Knowledge Sheets: Dispassion, Passion and Compassion: We need three things in life, Dispassion, Passion and Compassion. Often, we think dispassion is being so dull, boring, and uninterestin...
Dispassion, Passion and Compassion
Dispassion, Passion and Compassion
We need three things in life, Dispassion, Passion and Compassion. Often, we think dispassion is being so dull, boring, and uninteresting; that is how these so-called dispassionate people are, lifeless. No, that is not dispassion. To me, dispassion is that which is full of life, full of enthusiasm.
There is an old saying in Sanskrit, ‘What pleasure, what joy is there that dispassion will not bring to you?’
This means that dispassion will bring to you all the joy that you would ever want in life.
You need passion. Your breathing in is passion, your breathing out is dispassion, and in between is compassion.
If you have only passion, you get burnt out and frustrated. People who have too much passion, they do things and get burnt out. Do you know why? It is because they are holding onto it. They put their heart and soul into it. They put so much strain, and still they don’t get anything in their hands. That is a sorry state of affairs.
This can change with dispassion, and that is why dispassion will make a big difference.
So, passion when you work, dispassion when you turn inward, and compassion all the time, is the key.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
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