Interaction with Shri Saleel Pulekar (YES+, DSN and TTC Teacher)

We had a wonderful interaction with Saleel bhaiya here in Sanjaynagar, Bangalore a few days back.
Thanks to Arnab for recording this for posterity.

Do you want to commit suicide?

We all fell depressed some time or the other. Mood swings are common multiple times in a single day, or perhaps in a single hour. But have you contemplated suicide? Not just as a passing thought but actually thought/planned of doing so? 

If you have then you need to read this answer of Guruji:

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Suicide:

Q: Guruji, due to some worldly problems, I want to commit suicide. 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Absolutely not! Before doing this, come to me, seek my permission, then do it! I will tell you from where to jump and how to commit suicide. Don't make this decision on your own. I need you! Why are you losing your life? What do you need, tell me? Bread (roti), clothing, and a home? I am willing to give all that to you for all your life. You can just sit around. Have no worries and do my work. You will get respect, honor, knowledge, everything that you want. What is the reason that you want to commit suicide? You couldn't get married, that is why? Or because you got married, that is why? In both the situations, I will help you.

 Don't worry. If you are not married, I will get you married. If you are already married, I will talk to your husband or wife. If they don't understand, I will advise you to take sanyas. Move forward. What will you achieve by committing suicide? Suicide should absolutely not be committed. All those who feel the slightest doubt or have such a feeling, immediately show them my photograph and tell them, 'Look, don't go without his permission, otherwise you won't get entry up there as well!' You will be hanging in between, neither in this world, nor in the other. Why do you commit such an act? First take permission, get the visa !

Art of Living Presents "The Enlighten Tab"

The sheer amount of video, audio and print materials related to The Art of Living and the teachings of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is staggering. If you are a volunteer or a teacher of the Art of Living then you must have surely dreamt of having all the knowledge tapes, albums , books  etc in your collection. This is now possible through a tablet device which is not yet released but available for pre order.

Introducing "The Enlighten Tab":

Basically it is similar to other Tablets but comes pre loaded with 16 GB worth of knowledge talk videos, Bhajans Albums and E-books. So you can use it as any other tablet for browsing etc. The Operating System being Android 2.3 makes it even better to run all the apps available in the market. Also you can connect the tablet to the TV and watch videos etc.

Worth checking out!

Features -
Android 2.3
1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor
512 mb RAM
16 GB inbuilt memory
7" WVGA Wide Screen
Capacitive 5 Point Multi Touch Screen
Wifi & Bluetooth enabled
Mini HDMI port
USB port
Micro SD slot
Expandable Memory upto 32 GB
3G Using USB Dongle
Front Facing VGA Camera for Video calling






English Promo:

Hindi Promo:

Poems of Kabir I

Saint Kabir was the original Rebel. At a time when Hindu Muslim unity and tolerance was at its lowest, Kabir spoke about the one true God and gave the wisdom of Advaita in his own way. He wrote poems which an ordinary villager could understand and yet today the same poems are the subject of study of the highest philosophers and thinkers. Was Kabir way ahead of his time? I think He was beyond time.

Living in this mundane existence when sooner or later we find nothing makes any sense and we are searching for a string to hold on to, the poems of Kabir provide that solace and guide us. His words are sharp like an axe which cuts religion, dogmas, rituals and all ideas that we have created about truth into pieces. When temples are destroyed Hindus get angry. When Muslim rituals are criticised, they don't like it. But Kabir doesn't care. He will state that which he experienced. The truth and truth alone.

Some time back I was fortunate to have attended the first ever Kabir Fest here in Bangalore. The organiser Shabnam Virmani and team had done a terrific job. A Festival entirely dedicated to the work of Kabir. So there were concerts and documentaries and it was marvellous. The atmosphere in the concerts were similar to an Art of Living Satsang. People dancing and singing and "MAST" in their own self..

Two of the best finds in the Fest were Folk singer Prahlad Tipanya  and  Pakistani Sufi Singer Farid Ayaz.

Prahlad Tipanya is one of the most compelling folk voices of Kabir in India today who combines singing and exposition of Kabir in the Malwi folk style from Madhya Pradesh. He has toured the US, and in Feb 2008 was felicitated with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

In 1978, at the age of 24, Prahladji first heard and was captivated by the sound of the tambura, a 5-string plucked instrument. He was a village schoolteacher, and singing was not a family tradition. But this became a defining moment for his life. Through the tambura, Prahladji encountered the world of Kabir. The words of this fifteenth-century saint-poet are sung in village after village by hundreds of bhajan mandalis, whose members have kept alive an unbroken oral tradition of singing Kabir’s poetry for 600 years. Prahladji entered this world of all-night bhajan sessions as a learner. Over three decades later he is a household name, his cassettes and CDs heard in countless public and private places. Many acknowledge him as having powerfully contributed to a resurgence of Kabir oral traditions and music in Malwa.

"Kahaan se Aaya".  In this poem, Kabir speaks about awareness, breath, body and Guru.
Beautifully he puts the importance of being aware of the body and the breath.
Fearless as he is, Kabir tears apart Hipocrisy in spirituality. First he talks about the Kazi who talks about God but after sometime without showing any compassion goes and smashes the chicken's head on the rock. In another paragraph, he talks about the 
Pundit who wears the garland , Tilak and does fasts and pilgrimages. But lost in the outer rituals he is not aware of his own body.


And how can I miss him saying "Satguru mile to Bhed Batave, Khul Jave Antar Khidki" ( When you get a Satguru, He will tell you the secret and the inner window opens up )


So has the inner window opened yet ? :)


About Ustad Farid Ayaz in the next post...

Candid interview with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Though the interviewer is a little irritating in the suit. Guruji shares some close tidbits. So worth it.