A clear bias against Art of Living. With 60% vote, Ashram still not included in "Seven Wonders of Bangalore".

Well you would regard a prestigious paper such as the Times of India and its subsidiary Bangalore Mirror to be unbiased and free. There is proof that it is not so.
If you remember, Bangalore Mirror had sometime taken up the charge of identifying "Seven Wonders of Bangalore."
Out of the seven Wonders selected, it had conveniently left out the Most Beautiful and Peaceful Ashram, Sri Sri Ravi Shankas's abode out of the list.
Bangalore Mirror had asked people to vote through sms and online for their favorite wonders.
I just found this xls sheet of the total number of votes casted, names of people and their choices.

You can see the sheet in the link:
(Respecting the views of many readers, I have removed the link as the excel sheet  contains a lot of phone numbers and email ids of Art of Living devotees. To prevent misuse of the contacts, I am not providing the link here. )


This is a snapshot of the excel sheet file:

You can see that out of the 3044 total entries, 1695 people have voted for the Art of Living Ashram.

An entry which gets more than 60% vote for a contest does not get a place in the top 7 ? Isn't that ridiculous ?

My question to Bangalore Mirror is simple : If you don't want to take public opinion in your judgements then why do you do the farce of telling people to go and vote for the nominations ?

The most popular Art of Living Singer : Poll Results

The undisputed king of Satsang Rock - Vikram Hazra

Well, the latest poll that concluded here received a tremendous amount of participation from the entusiastic readers. Thank you all for voting.

Well the question was simple enough.. Name your favorite Art of Living Singer!
A total of around 130 votes were cast and the results are here to see..

Looks like Vikram Hazra and Rishi Nityapragya are the favorites of devotees. Vikram Bhaiya is also my favorite singer. A gandharva born to be an instrument of spreading knowledge through music.

New Poll: Which is your favorite knowledge tape series?

Its on the sidebar. Do vote. Jai Gurudev.

The Art of Living Course Review

Its not an enviable job - Sri Sri speaks candidly..

One of the most busy humanitarian of our times. Meeting millions of people everyday. How does he manage to do this? Many of us must have thought about how his schedule would be. What would it be like to be Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. In one of the most candid talks, in the video Guruji talks about how he manages to look at everyone and smile at them. How some devotees do gimmicks to grab attention. And about the hyperactive Art of Living volunteer.

Some of the interesting things he says in the video are:

"Whenever I am with a person I'm with them 100%" - Sri Sri

"Do you think it is an easy job? I tell you it is not at all an enviable job." - Sri Sri

"And there are some others who just want to draw attention, they do all sorts of gimmicks." - Sri Sri

"Our volunteers are hyperactive sometimes. They do kind to everybody else other than me." - Sri Sri

"When people ask me 'Do you watch movies?' I say "I'm watching movies everyday! I can't find a better entertaintment!"

Satsang with Students at SSRVM Bangalore

We had the oppurtunity and good fortune to be invited by the principal of SSRVM in Vidyaranyapura, Bangalore to conduct a Satsang for the Children there. I knew from the beginning that it would be a rocking experience.

First  Impression

First of all, having seen the Sri Sri Bal Mandirs, I did not expect SSRVM  to be so huge and Majestic. The SSRVM compound and building was nothing short of an international school. It was one of the most professionally managed schools and yet the human touch could be felt in every nook and corner. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had inaugurated and blessed the school some time back and the Principal there Mamata ji told us a story about his visit.

When Guruji came

This is a story when Guruji had come to the school. 

Guruji came to the school and entered the classroom which was in the ground floor and right near the entrance. As soon as he entered, he asked the Principal "This is classroom for which standard students ?"

" For Kindergarten ( K.G. ) Students "

"Oh, But the windows you have put are so high, how will the children see outside ? Do one thing, lower the windows height and put a slide from which they can slide outside to the playground."

The child who never grew up !

The Satsang

As soon as we entered the hall filled with a couple of hundred children, I could feel the vibrating and pulsating energy in the atmosphere. It was a feeling that makes you float in the air without any reason. The kids were super excited to see my Guitar and they were not shy to show their admiration openly. Sometimes with embarassing consequences :)

Right from the first line of "Ganesh Om.... Ganesh Om..." the kids joined in. And How ! They were all very familiar with the Bhajan and with all inhibitions shed (which they anyhow don't have  any ) started singing and shouting at the top of their voices. The result was nothing short of what happens during Navaratri Homas in the Ashram.

We all floated in the Satva. Drifted into a wonderful land of devotion, joy and gratitude. With all the bubbles of joy all around us, the Satsang was clearly one of the best that I have attended.

The power of Sankalpas.

Desires keep arising in us. We hardly have any control over them. Just when we start feeling a bit hungry, a desire to indulge the taste buds arises. No sooner that we have eaten a full meal, a desire to have some dessert arises. The dessert is emptied and a desire to watch some TV arises... and so on and so forth. If we observe with great attention then our life is nothing but a great flow of desires arising and our running behind fulfilling it, thinking that at the end of the fulfillment of the desire is that elusive Bliss that we are searching for. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says "Desires fulfilled or unfulfilled, leaves us empty handed." How many times in our life, a fulfillment of a desire has given us great satisfaction ? Desire simply implies that we are looking for joy in the future and not "Right Now!".

Power of  Sankalpas

"Sankalpa" is a Sanskrit word which means "Thought, intention, or will directed toward a specific outcome". 


Someone asked Guruji : ( September 1 2010 )

Q.What is the importance of sankalpa (intention) and how to strengthen it? Does the world move on sankalpa?

A. The mind is full of sankalpa and vikalpa (imagination, fancy). Each work gets done through sankalpa. Even the act of moving our arm is preceded by the sankalpa in the mind. If twenty sankalpas arise in the mind then nothing gets done. When the mind is peaceful and restful then our sankalpa is powerful. 

The sankalpa of a weak mind is weak and that of strong mind is strong. 

We can make our mind strong by sadhana (spiritual practices) and knowledge. Then the sankalpa will also be strong. The wise makes one sankalpa in fifty days whereas the ignorant makes fifty in a day.

The more Sadhana, Seva and Satsang we do, the more fulfilled we feel. Hasn't it happened that after an Advanced course or a refreshing meditation or a meeting with Guruji we have felt "I don't need anything, I'm just so full of joy and love right now" The frequency with which this happens is a measurement of how much our mind is in the present moment. This means less Sankalpas per day and each of our Sankalpas become very powerful and greater chance of fulfillment. If more and more we feel that " All I want, I already have !" then more will come our way.

The Yogis and Rishis of Yore  lived in this state of Gratitude (in varying degrees) and fulfillment so they had the power of not only fulfilling their own wishes  but also of others by granting a boon. This is very scientific and experiential truth. We can all do our own experiments with this. Modern scientists and thinkers are realising the importance  of this and coming up with books and movies ( e.g. The Secret ). 

The one word which really will see to it whether your Sankalpa will materialise or not is " INTENSITY " .The more badly you want something, the quicker you'll get it.

A holy man was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him.

“I have looked for God everywhere and I didn't find him. Can you show God to me ?"


The holy man jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the holy man finally pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to get his breath. 
When he eventually quieted down, the holy man spoke. “Tell me, what did you want most of all when you were under water.” 
“Air!” answered the man. 
“Very well,” said the holy man. “When you want God as badly as you want the air, then you'll find him ! ”

What time do you do your Sadhana? - Poll Results

Ever since I started this feature of conducting a poll on the sidebar of this blog, the response has been amazing. Thank you all who vote on the polls.

The results are not very surprising. Out of the 65 people who voted on the poll, only 50% do their Sadhana in the morning.
23% do not have any fixed timing. Hmm.....
And we have 3 really early risers who do Sadhana at Brahma Muhurta between 3 am to 6 am.

P.S : Do vote on the new Poll on the Sidebar.
If you would like to conduct a Poll on a particular question, leave a comment below, if it is noteworthy, I may run the Poll.

A memorable Satsang at Hubli. An unforgettable travel

Just came back y'day from Hubli after being a part of a wonderful Satsang there. Hubli is a town in the northern part of Karnataka approximately around 8 hrs by train from Bangalore. Me, Pankaj and Saket left from Bangalore on Saturday and Apurva and Sanket had made all the wonderful arrangements there in Hubli for our comfortable stay and khana-peena. Roma and her family were wonderful hosts( just like any Art of Living family would be ).

The best part ( ummmm... may not be the best but certainly "unforgettable") was the travel. We boarded the Auto from my house to the station only to find that the Auto meter runs faster than Chetak of Maharana Pratap and when we reached the station just barely in time to catch the train, fate caught us in between the desire to hang on to righteousness of not paying the fare which was almost the double amount and the desire to just pay and board the train. A very unruly mob of about 20-30 auto drivers shouting at us at the top of their hoarse drones to pay up solved the dilemma. We paid the money and got into the wrong compartment of the train to discover that we had forgotten the ticket in the house itself.
Anger of being forced to pay double meter of Auto, getting into wrong compartment , no ticket in the hands and a moving train made sure that we were reminded that "Present moment is inevitable" and "Accept the situation as it is and take action".
Fortunately, the booking was done online so we just had to pay up Rs. 50 and be done with it.
Reached Hubli at 11 am the next day.

The 2nd Yes+ course in Hubli had just ended ( Apurva had managed to enthuse the young dynamos with the awesome energy typical of a Yes+ course). Many were there who were attending a Satsang for the first time but I could see it from their eyes that they were grateful for the knowledge the got and later on joined full-on to  shake a leg or two with the volunteers. We also did a short meditation.

Saket, Me with the guitar and Pankaj on the Tabla

Sanketh, Apurva (the organisers) and Me with a Strawberry.

The unforgettable part was the travel back to Bangalore. Taking our own sweet time to have the Post Satsang dinner , we soon realised that there was no bus seats available ( yes, our faith was strong enough  not to book the tickets till the last moment). After furiously approaching every Private Travels for 5 tickets to Bangalore, we finally managed to get it. The 5 seats on the last of a below Average KSRTC bus would be our home for what appeared to me as Eternity.  

We left at 11 pm, at 2 pm I woke up to find that there was a deafening silence all around, the bus was not moving and so were the other vehicles, everyone was fast asleep including the driver. After a furious attempt to catch a few kannada words from two people talking outside, I came to know that there was and accident some 2-3 miles ahead of us and the traffic would not move unitl 5 hours. It happened exactly like that. For 5 hours we were there. The Bus, motionless and still as an Ancient Relic provided as much leg space as that provided to the unlucky chickens at KFC poultry. And for those of you who have not travelled in Indian Buses for long hours, let me tell you that leg space is least of the problems. The concept of a loo is virtually non-existent. If you are lucky, you'll find by some furious searching, a small sign saying "TOILET" pointing to a dingy room with a hole in it. 

As it is evident from the description above, it is the perfect set-up for practising the Art of Living course points. All of it. And some more. We reached Bangalore at 3 pm after 16 hours in the Bus.

But as I sit here in the comfort of my room, all that uncomfort seems so unimportant and most often very funny. I can laugh over it. But the joy of sharing some moments of meditation and knowledge of the Guru with others makes it all worthwile. 

Auguste Renoir was a famous painter. Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. One day a friend of his watched the elder painter working in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out: “Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?”

Renoir answered simply: “The pain passes but the Beauty remains”

Jai Gurudev,

Love,

Vivek

The Attitude of Gratitude. Devotees pour out..

Gratitude is the king of emotions. It is the one feeling which makes an individual blossom and brings peace and prosperity in our lives. Guruji says " Angels long for the tear of a devotee. Moments of intense gratitude are the moments that you have really lived your life".

So bidding goodbye to 2010, I decided to do a experiment : I put up a photo in Facebook which read :

And the response was phenomenal. Nearly 50 people commented expressing their gratitude. I want to share these comments with you.

The last comment very much sums it up. If you did not get a chance to express your comment... you can do so in the comments below....
Lets continue our Attitude of Gratitude.!
Jai Gurudev.

The best posts of 2010.

I have been writing quite consistently in this blog for some time now. The beginning of  2010 witnessed a lot of neglect to this blog from my part. But the latter part of 2010 saw some really great responses to my posts. Also mentionable are the wonderful emails that I got mainly for the Satsang -Bhajans book that I had compiled. So a quick flashback, here are some of the posts which according to the responses were amazing and you can definitely look forward to enjoying these posts if you have already not read it.

Looking forward to your encouragement and support from YOU to keep writing in the NEW YEAR 2011 ( probably in my own domain :)

1. Google Earth - Changes in the Art of Living Ashram landscape. :Some really cool insights into the way our Ashram has evolved in the past 10 years or so.
2. Divine Souls I : Swami Suryapada : An Article on Swamiji.
3. Michael Fischman : First meeting with H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : This post was really appreciated by a lot of people. It contains one old Photo of Guruji when he was very young and travelling with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
4. Funny things out here : Some really belly-wrenching funny things that I've written.
5. Holi with Guruji : Some very colourful moments.
6. Different moods of Vishalakshi Mantap.: Some cool photos of Art of Living Ashram.
7. Stumbling into Infinity - A review : A wonderful book by Michael Fischman.
8. Satsang - Art of Living Bhajans Book pdf ( Free download ) : Took some good  deal of work to get it done. But the response given by all who came across it was thrilling.


Also an all time favorite post in this blog is The Art of Living Blogs. A collection of most of the blog and website related to the Art of Living.

Have a happy and a prosperous new year to you and your dear ones.
Jai Gurudev.

Your Guru knows what you need.

I was inspired to write this post by a video which I saw in youtube.

Many a times we feel that the Guru does not know about our specific problems and issues. Many times we feel disconnected. Many times we clamour for a more "PERSONAL" attention from the Master. It becomes difficult to understand whether we are really lagging behind in our spiritual growth or just the ego is begging to stick on.

It is common to see people who have newly discovered this bliss unearthed by the techniques taught by the Master to feel angered, or left out or hurt . The single complain is " He is not giving me personal time."

If you are in a spiritual path then hasn't this happened to you?

Guru is just a reflection of your infinite self

Gurudev says "The Guru is not just a personality. Guru is the presence."

We can understand it this way... Realizing that the difference between individual bodies is just a temporary and realtive notion ( Maya ). The reality is that we are all one and there is no two. Advaita on non-dualism taught since the dawn of this creation cycle by Rishis and sages like Adi Shankaracharya, his four disciples, Brahmananda Saraswati and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,  all points to the fact which modern physics has just been able to start realising that everything is connected and everything is energy.

So Guru is a complete manifestation of that Shakti, the energy. All the practices we are doing is for the realisation that we are already connected to the Guru Tatva and the difference between the Guru and the disciple only exists in the mind of the unrealized disciple. Looking towards the Guru more as a presence eases our mind and gives us an opportunity in realizing the fact that the Guru is all around us at all times. Protecting and caring for  the disciple. How many events have been created for you to realize this?

Guruji was celebrating his 2010 birthday in Germany. Out of thousands of people present there, Guruji was able to make out that there was one old lady in the crowd who had pain and was suffering. He first gives a sign for the volunteers to help the lady. When no one understands the sign given by him, he himself gets up and helps her to be comfortable. You can see the flood of gratitude in the face of the old lady.

The Guru knows what you need and when. You just have to have faith!

Jai Gurudev.

  

Favorite Art of Living Course : Poll Results

Readers will recall that I had run a poll on the above topic. Well the results are out. Only one thing is certain. The Advanced course is a big winner. 53% said that the Part II course is their favorite. A total of 30 people voted. Thanks to all who participated in the poll. There's a new poll on the side bar. Do vote on it. 

Jai Gurudev.

Walking the Path - A Book on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

It has been Amazing Reading this book . In the lines of Stumbling into Infinity, It contains so much knowledge. Rather than a Biography, it is like a collection of knowledge given by Guruji. The Author also shares some experiences with the Master and the knowledge coming out of those events. Written by Frederique Lebelley, the French journalist & author, it is definitely one of the better reads.

An Excerpt :

The voice of the Master leads the community in meditation, eyes closed, through the mythical frontier of time. Counting the last minutes...  It is going to be New Year..

"New possibilities are opening up to this new age... Welcome these new possibilities... Four and a half minutes to go ... Four minutes...Just two minutes... One minute only! Thirty seconds.. Chant Om!"

 The tremendous vibration of the thousand voices seems to bless the entire earth, and greets the next three hundred and sixty-five coming "today".

"Tonight and tomorrow, remind yourself of all the people to whom you must be grateful for something. Think of what has been given to you by them."

And Gurudev adds "Before going to sleep, cover yourself with a blanket of grace. Wake up tomorow with a smile..."

Amateur fireworks are organized outside, in the snow. Everybody gathers to watch them. But Gurudev goes up to the first floor to see it... I followed him with a few others. Elbow against elbow at the windowsill, we overhang the group of disciples, with their heads raised now towards him, now towards the plumes of sparks banging in the black night.

So near the forest, the powder is thundering with a power amplified by the resonance chamber of the trees, so much so that it releases a mini avalanche between the trunks. Everything seems to me very beautiful. Utter happiness! Gurudev is resting his shoulder against mine, as he often does with the clarity of his innocence. I look at him; his face is serious, displeased. he worries, "Oh, We are going to wake the birds up!" To make his intentions known to the firework operators, he goes away towards his apartment, and says again, "We are disturbing the birds!" Nobody other than him had thuoght about that. Even in an atmosphere of celebration, when everyone seems caught up in the fun, the Master keeps an attention and a sensitivity to everything around him. 

Go and Read this book today! It is available in the Bangalore Ashram Divine shop. You can also buy the book from Flipkart in the link below:

Google Earth - Art of Living Ashram (2004 vs 2010)

Well, if you have not used Google Earth yet. You must. The first time I used it, I could not believe how such a premium software service is available to everyone for free. Its like you can have a look at each and every home on the earth just from the comfort of your computer that too without paying a dime. Google Earth is a free service from Google. You need to download and install it and it starts working like a charm.
 A few years back I had tried locating our Ashram ( The Art of Living International Centre ) on Google Earth and was so thrilled to find the majestic VM looking like a white cream pie. I just then realised how so much green cover was there all around and inside the Ashram. The buildings were very few...

To view Ashram on Google Earth:
Latitude: 12°49'32.43"N
Longitude:  77°30'31.37"E

Well, the reason I'm writing this post is that, Google has just announced its fantastic new feature known as "historical imagery" where you can view the google earth image of that location at any date in the past starting from the day Google Earth started keeping records. You can learn more about this new feature from HERE.

For our Ashram, they have records since 2004. So I was very excited to see the changes that our Ashram has gone through in the past 7 years. Ashramites should definitely check this out!!

Ashram on July 2004.

Ashram on November 2010

So what's changed? 

* I used to think that because of so much construction... the green cover of Ashram is depleting. I couldn't be more wrong... See how much green you see in the Second picture... Also the trees have become big and healthy! The trees around VM and amphitheater have become adults and a lot of new ones have come up!

* Impossible to miss is the Big Green Shed! The Yagnashala. Without it It wouldn't be possible to have 15000 people under one roof.. would it?

* Just below the Yagnashala across the road is the new hall., forgot the name but the Yes Plus Play Anand        and Benaifer was rehearsed here!

* The buildings behind the Amphitheater!

* The Divine Shops Madhurya and other buildings.

* Oh My god! The entire Aparna was not there in 2004!

* Panchakarma building has become majestic comparatively (on the left)

* The new Canteen (the current one) Vishala was constructed making way for the old canteen to be the Darshan Place!

* Ganga Kutir - Still all the same! So Cute!

Talking about our dear Ashram brings so many memories of hearts being blossomed, eyes being filled, desires being fulfilled, smiles being stretched, buttons being pushed, knowledge being soaked, throats being choked, hugs being shared and souls being touched. All because of the Grace of the Master! 

Also Have a look at the following two images showing the lake near the Gurukul in the Ashram..

Ashram Lake 2004

   Ashram Lake 2010

By HIS grace, Did you notice how the muddy pond in such a short time has been transformed into a lush green Lake, so pure and graceful. Has that not happened in your life?

Guruji effects..

Silence is the goal of all answers. If an answer does not silence the mind, it is no answer - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

How to be always happy? Drop the "always" and you will be Happy! -Shri Shri Ravi Shankar

"Don’t wait for the best person with the best qualities to be in love. Just love them and bring out the best in them.." - Sri Sri

“My job is to create the temptation to go deep in yourself” - Sri Sri

"When you come to a Guru, seeking ends. Blossoming Begins." 

- Sri Sri

HAPPY BLOSSOMING!!!!

Divine Souls II: Rishi Nitya Pragya

When it comes to Rishi Nitya Pragya ji, only one word comes to mind "ENERGY!". He is a dynamite! Specially when he is on the stage and has a mic in his hand. One of the two Rishis whose grace has flowed through us from the Master ( the other being the awesome Rishi Vidyadharj ji) he has shown by his own life  how an ordinary human being can attain the heights of spiritual wisdom and balanced living through dedication, devotion and surrender. 

Rishi is a Sanskrit word which means "A divinely inspired poet or saint". Nitya means "Ever" and Pragya means "Alert". It fits perfectly. Ever conscious of the need of others and supremely aware of the happenings in the surroundings Rishiji sets an example for everyone to follow. If there is anyone who can be given the title of "ever-alert" then it is Rishi Nitya Pragya ji.

Rishi Nityapragya 

Young Rishiji 1993

Biography: Born as Nitin Limaye in Gujarat, India, he has done his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering and was used to a lifestyle with fast bikes and doing gigs in musical bands until he discoverd something deeply spiritual when he met Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the age of 21.  

He says " I was a chemical engineer and I searched for the meaning of life. I felt this structure, this conditioning given to us by society cannot be the purpose of life.This search took me to a lot of places and somebody told me about the Art of Living course. During the Advanced Course I met Sri Sri and I knew I was home!"

Rishi Nityapragya shortly became an Art of Living Teacher and began organising and teaching the Part I Program of the Art of Living. Gifted with a melodious voice, his speciality seemed to be in mesmerising the crowd with his wonderful and energetic rendition of the Bhajans during Satsangs. He has taken the simple talent and mixed it with grace to produce an effect which can only be experienced when he is singing on stage.

Guruji bestowed upon him the title of 'Rishi' to declare the high level of spiritual capacity he has developed. Today he travels around the world teaching the Advanced Meditatioin Course and Divya Samaj Ka Nirman. He is most famous for his energetic satsangs which is packed with deep wisdom and sharing of his experiences and learnings from life.

 In this video Rishiji speaks about Vrittis or tendencies of the Mind.. Really amazing knowledge...

Rishiji Singing in a Satsang...





Some Photos of Rishi Nitya Pragya:

Rishi Nitya Pragya Ji with Prince Charles

In an ecstatic mood during a Satsang

If you have any unique experiences with Rishi Ji , plz share them in the comments below!

The call of the Guru.

A poem by His Holiness Shri Shri Ravi Shankar.

Michael Fischman - First meeting with His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Michael Fischman is one of the first Art of Living teachers and his experience with Sri Sri goes back to the days when Guruji was still travelling with Maharshi Mahesh Yogi. He has written his experience of nearly 30 years of the Art of Living in his super fantastic book Stumbling into Infinity. I had earlier written a review on this book
IN THIS ARTICLE.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar when still travelling with Maharshi Mahesh Yogi.

In the video below taken in one of the book reading sessions Mike recounts his tale of his first meeting with Guruji. How just the first look from the masters brought out flood of emotions and tears. For me, the most touching sentence he spoke in this video is " It was not the technique that blew me away. It was the Love!"
If you are a devotee, you'll know the truth in this statement. Jai Gurudev!

Beginnings(the video) - The initial days of The Art of Living and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Just came across this wonderful video broadcasted by The Art of Living Channel in Youtube. If you have not yet subscribed to it, its high time you do because they have some great stuff over there.
I have waited for this video for a loooooooong time. Not exactly a biography.... but it recalls the initial days of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's people's movement and mission of putting a smile on every face...
The video has wonderful photograph clips some very rare and never seen (atleast by me).....  
It's just a thing of awe that one person (or 'THE' ONE) could bring such a difference in so many lives around the world... Enjoy the video... Jai Gurudev!



"The sun rises and there will be light everywhere!" 
                                      -Maharshi Mahesh Yogi

The Value of listening to Knowledge.

What do we do most of the time ?
If we really sit and take account of the 24 hours given in one day and categorize them, what would we find? How much time is used (?) for acquiring a living (earning money), how much time is spent in resting, how much time is spent on entertainment, how much time is spent on eating, talking, gossiping and the other myraid number of things we as humans do!
How much time is spent in service? How much time is spent on meditation? And how much time is spent in the company of the wise... listening to knowledge ??

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says "When you go to heaven, only two question will be asked - How much love you gave and How much knowledge you gained ?"

Guruji has given so much knowledge on so many topics all ranging from the subtlest philosophical connotations to the solutions of simple practical issues of daily life! How much time do we spend  listening to knowledge?
I have noticed that my life has moved so smoothly and effortlessly in love, joy and devotion when I have made the habit of listening to the knowlegde tapes ( Bhakti Sutras, Yoga Sutras, Ashtavakra Gita etc.).
Sri Sri says "When life gets stuck, you have to go to Narada, he will connect you to the centre!"


Let us move in knowledge, let us take out time to listen to knowledge. Jai Gurudev.