New Year Eve

As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well. Often, our diaries are full with memories. See that you don’t fill your future dates with past events. Allow the space for creativity to dawn. Celebration of the New Year allows you to be wise. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on. In the past year, how many days were you in sanyas? How many days were you struggling, being caught in maya? Turn back and remember the whole year. Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything. Do not go away from anything. At the same time, let your attention be on the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga. A poor man celebrates the New Year once a year. A rich man celebrates each day. But the richest man celebrates every moment. How rich are you? If you celebrate every moment, you are the Lord of Creation. Review the year while you celebrate. This is your homework. Compare your performance in the year before last and smile.- Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

TESTING

Testing is part of ignorance. You only test that of which you are not sure. If God is testing you, that means God doesn't´ know you well enough. How could people ever think that God is testing them? God does not test you because he knows you in and out and your past, present and future. He knows your strengths and weaknesses and he alone gives you strength. He doesn't test you. Only you can test yourself. Only when you do not have confidence, then you test. If you are confident, why would you test? If you are testing yourself, you do not know yourself. Are you testing God? God will never pass your test because He will never show up for your test. If He shows up for your test, then He is not God (laughter). Whether you get this or not - just laugh! - Sri Sri

Businessman

The Divine has given you all the small pleasures in the world, but has kept the bliss to Himself. To get the highest bliss you have to go to Him and Him alone. Don't be too smart with the Divine and try to fool Him. Most of your prayers and rituals are just attempts to trick the Divine. You try to give the least and get the maximum out of the Divine and He knows. He's an astute businessman; He will trick you even more. If you go underneath the carpet, He will go underneath the floor. Be sincere in your attempts. Do not try to outsmart the Divine. Once you get the bliss, then everything else is joyful. Without the bliss, joy in anything in the world will not stay. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

GOD IS MANY

Sri Sri: Why should you think God is only one? Why can't He also be many? If He has made man in His own image, what image is He? An African, a Mongolian, a Caucasian, a Japanese, a Filipino? Why are there so many types of man, and so many varieties of things? There is not just one type of tree, not just one type of snake, cloud, mosquito or vegetable - there is not just one type of anything, so why should God be only one? How could this consciousness that manifested this whole creation and loves variety, be monotonous? God seems to love different varieties. He must be of infinite variety Himself. God can manifest in many names, forms and varieties. Some schools of thought may not give God the freedom to appear in His many forms. They want Him in one uniform! You change your appearance to suit the occasion. When such is the case, how could you think there is no variety in the Spirit. The ancient people knew this and that's why they cognized the Divinity as infinite qualities and forms. The Spirit is not dull and boring. The Spirit which is the basis of creation is dynamic and ever changing. God is not only one, but is many!!! When you accept the variety of Divinity you cease to be a fanatic or a fundamentalist. Tommy says God is many, God is One, he made so many just for fun. || Jai Guru Dev ||

Awakening God

Sri Sri: Who Wakes Up First? You Or God? You wake up first. God is still asleep. When you wake up first, you experience pain and pleasure. You become aware of the shortcomings of the world and its beauty. Then you cry for help and seek the ultimate and then you wake up God. And when God is awakened in you, there is no "two." When both God and you are asleep, there is inertia. When the "I" is asleep, there is no experience. God is in you in seed form. When he wakes up, you cease to exist. God is asleep in every particle in this universe. It's you who wakes up first and then you awaken God. And when God wakes up, neither you nor the world remain. The rishis made a mockery. They created a practice of awakening God every morning. They call it Suprabhatam service. Many find this ridiculous because they don't understand the depth of it. Only awakened God can see that God is asleep everywhere. [Laughter.] Brinda: Why should we wake up? Sri Sri: Because you are not asleep. If you were asleep, how can you ask the question? Bill: Once you are awake, can you go back to sleep? Sri Sri: If you have not had tea, of course. Bill: Who wakes us up? Sri Sri: You figure that out. || Jai Guru Dev ||

Owning God!!

Sri Sri: Suppose you go to God, get a boon, and walk away. When your intention is to get a boon, then you are in a hurry. Another person who knows he owns God is not in a hurry for anything. Infinite patience comes up in him. When you know you own God, you are not in a hurry to get something out of God. Your hurry to get something throws you off balance and makes you small. Have "eternal wait," infinite patience. When you have infinite patience, you will realize God belongs to you. Either through awareness or through practice you reach the same spot. Question: What do you mean by "owning God?" Sri Sri: The Divinity belongs to you. It's not like shopping at the supermarket in a hurry and rushing back home. When you see the whole store is at home, you are not in a hurry to shop. You are at ease. Question: To develop patience do we just observe the impatience? Sri Sri: Just observe the thoughts and feelings and don't regret about it. When you know you are part of the divine plan, you stop demanding. Then you know everything is being done for you. You are taken care of. Usually we do it the other way: we hurry the mind and are slow in our action. Impatience means hurry in the mind; lethargy means slowness in action. Patience in the mind and dynamism in action is the right formula. || Jai Guru Dev ||

Just Feel Generous

When You Feel Stuck In Life And Not Growing, Bombarded By Desires, When There Is Dryness, Lack Of enthusiasm, no juice, what do you do? Here is the solution.... FEEL GENEROUS.... right away, not tomorrow. Either a princess or a pauper can feel generous. Generosity is the quality of the spirit. When you feel generous your life becomes abundant, full of compassion and love. Question: Is generosity the same as being grateful? Answer: No. Gratefulness always has self concern. You are grateful because you have something or you get something. Generosity is an expression independent of external circumstances. No one can make you feel generous. That is something that you have to do yourself. Essentially, generosity is not an act. It is a state of consciousness, but it cannot but find its expression in an act. Question: What about passion? Answer: Passion indicates scarcity. Dispassion is abundance. Dispassion without generosity makes you self-centered, causes more dryness. You dont´ have to think about what you have done in the past. That only brings doership. Just feel generous. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Friendly By Nature

Examine your friendships, they are often for a cause. There are several reasons for your friendships: 1. You make friendships because you have common enemies. Fear and threat to survival can bring people together. 2. You make friendships because you have a common problem. You talk about your problems and become friends. For example, sickness, job dissatisfaction, etc… 3. People get together because they have common interests. For example, through business or a profession (doctors, architects, social workers, etc…) 4. You make friends because you have common tastes. You have similar tastes in sports, movies, entertainment, music, hobbies, etc… 5. People become friends because of compassion and service. Out of compassion and pity for someone, you become friends with them. 6. People become friends merely because of long-term acquaintance. Brave are those who nurture friendships for only friendship’s sake. Such friendships will never die nor become soured for it is born out of one’s friendly nature. Only through wisdom can one become friendly by nature. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Freedom from Groups

Normally in the world people with similar tendencies group together; intelligent people group together, fools get together, happy people get together, ambitious people get together and disgruntled people also group together to celebrate their problems! (Laughter) There is a saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” The disgruntled people get together, they complain and pull each other down. A frustrated person cannot be with someone happy because the other is not dancing to their tune. You only feel comfortable when the other person is in tune with you. Intelligent people do not feel at home with foolish people. Foolish people feel that intelligent ones are not humane. One with wisdom feels at home with the disgruntled as well as the happy, foolish and intelligent. Similarly, people with all these tendencies also feel at home with the wise. Just turn around and look at what goes on in your group – are you grateful or grumbling? Take responsibility to uplift the people around you. That is Satsang, not just singing and leaving. The wise person is like the sky where all birds can fly. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Freedom From Groups

Normally in the world people with similar tendencies group together; intelligent people group together, fools get together, happy people get together, ambitious people get together and disgruntled people also group together to celebrate their problems! (Laughter) There is a saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” The disgruntled people get together, they complain and pull each other down. A frustrated person cannot be with someone happy because the other is not dancing to their tune. You only feel comfortable when the other person is in tune with you. Intelligent people do not feel at home with foolish people. Foolish people feel that intelligent ones are not humane. One with wisdom feels at home with the disgruntled as well as the happy, foolish and intelligent. Similarly, people with all these tendencies also feel at home with the wise. Just turn around and look at what goes on in your group – are you grateful or grumbling? Take responsibility to uplift the people around you. That is Satsang, not just singing and leaving. The wise person is like the sky where all birds can fly. Sri Sri Jai Guru Dev

Tendencies And influences

Life moves by dual (two) factors: inner tendencies and outer influences. Inner tendencies form your attitudes and behavior, while external influences makes strong impressions in your mind. Often your tendencies generate external situations. And situations around you can form tendencies within you. This is what is called Karma. Both these factors - the tendencies from within and influences from outside, can either be beneficial or harmful. It is the awareness that filters the outer negative influences and it is the awareness that corrects and annihilates the unhealthy inner tendencies. This awareness is called Gyana. The purpose of education is to develop this awareness, so that you can be selective about your tendencies and influences. It is practically impossible to resist the external influences and the inner tendencies without raising one’s consciousness. This can be gradual or sudden. And that is how a human being has both free will and destiny. Freedom is when you have a say about your tendencies and your influences. And only awareness and impeccable devotion can bring this freedom. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Nigrah, Agrah, Satyagrah & Duragrah

Nigrah means control. Agrah means insistence. Satyagrah means steadfast determination. Duragrah means blind adamancy, reckless stubbornness. These four will give you progress when practiced for a limited period of time. They give limited results, positive or negative. But if they stay on for a longer period, they eat away the potential of life. One has to transcend all these four to attain peace. Freedom is when you transcend all four. They are inevitable to streamline life but you need to transcend them to be free. Give your own examples and discuss nigrah, agrah, satyagrah and duragrah. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Your Golden Cage

Honor reduces the freedom. Your fame, honor and virtue can limit your freedom. Nobody expects a good person to make a mistake. So the better person you are, the higher the expectations people have of you. It is then that you lose your freedom. Your virtues and good actions are like a golden cage. You are trapped by your own good actions, for everyone expects more from a good person. Nobody expects anything from a bad person. Most of the people are stuck in this cage of prestige and honor. They can not smile. They are constantly worried about keeping up their prestige and their honor. It becomes more important than their own life. Just being good or doing good to keep the prestige and honor is worthless. Prestige and honor can bring more misery in life than poverty. Many desire fame, but little do they know that they are looking for a cage. It is an art to be dignified, and yet not be suffocated by it. Only the wise would know this. For the wise one it is natural to be in honor, and he has no concerns even if it falls apart. Despite having fame or prestige, he will live as though he has none. A wise person can handle any fame without feeling suffocated, for he is crazy too! By doing good in the society one gains prestige, then enjoying the prestige and honor, one loses their freedom. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Sutras

Life becomes a game! The first step to fun is relaxation. What tires you is anxiety and ambition for tomorrow. The anger and hatred of yesterday are also clogging our mind. In the same way feverishness pulls down our enthusiasm. In deep relaxation, you will find everything funny. Life becomes a game! Conflict and Resolution Conflict is always emotional. Resolution is intellectual. Emotional conflict can’t be dealt with emotions. Similarly an intellectual argument cannot be dealt with the intellect. The emotional side of it has to be considered. If you observe carefully there is a stream of emotions behind an intellectual argument. Life is a fine balance between the emotions and the intellect. When to use what, is the real wisdom. And how do you gain that wisdom? The answer is meditation, meditation and meditation. Self Realization The desire to have self realization - This is the highest desire, the only one worth pursuing. Whether you acknowledge this or not, everyone has come to this planet with this desire. If you have recognized this it’s very good. Trust Trust in yourself. Have faith in your choice of actions and the path you would be following. If you don’t trust yourself, how can you trust the Master? It is enough to have faith in your self. A Master or a Guru does not remove the doubt, but He creates more doubt. The more you burn in the fire of doubt, the stronger you come out to be. Truth is never afraid of doubt, and truth can never hide. Atheists It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited. So some people prefer to be atheists. But atheism is not a reality, it is just a matter of convenience. Jai Gurudev

Drop your Self Image

"How do you make everyone happy?" Guruji : "Become me." "How do we become you?" What stands between you and me is your self image. Your self image restricts you from being me. Self image whether good or bad causes misery. When you think good about yourself in a very subtle manner you think bad about others. Then anger, jealousy, hatred - everything follows. When you think bad about yourself you feel low and again you start getting angry and you hate everyone else. If you think good about yourself you are in trouble and when you think bad about yourself you are in greater trouble. So drop your self image. Jai Gurudev

Te Rational Mind

We Usually Do Only That Which Is Purposeful, Useful, And Rational. Everything You See, You See Through The rational mind. But an intuition, a discovery, new knowledge goes beyond the rational mind. Truth is beyond the rational mind. The rational mind is like a railroad track that is fixed in grooves. A plane has no tracks. It can fly anywhere. A balloon can float anywhere. Some people step out of the rational mind in order to rebel against society. They want to break social law but for the ego's sake. They do it out of anger, hatred, rebelliousness, and wanting attention. This is not stepping out of the rational mind (though they think it is). We step out of the rational mind when we do something that has no purpose. Accepting that, as an act, makes it a game. Life becomes lighter. If you are stuck with only rational acts, life becomes a burden. Suppose you play a game without a thought to winning or losing, just act irrationally. Making an act without any purpose attached to it - it is freedom - like a dance. So just step out of the rational mind and you will find a greater freedom, an unfathomable depth, and you will come face to face with reality. Reality transcends logic and the rational mind. Until you transcend the rational mind you will not get access to creativity and the infinite. But if you do an irrational act in order to find freedom, then it already has a purpose and a meaning. It is no longer irrational. This knowledge sheet has already spoiled it's own possibility. Break the barrier of the rational mind and then find freedom for yourself. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Usefullness Of Fear

Nature has put an amount of inbuilt fear in all living beings. This fear makes life defend itself, protect itself. Like salt in the food, a little bit of fear is essential for people to be righteous. Fear of hurting someone makes you more conscious. Fear of failure makes you more keen and dynamic. Fear moves you from carelessness to taking care. Fear moves you from being insensitive to being sensitive. Fear moves you from dullness to alertness. Total lack of fear may lead to destructive tendencies - a distorted ego knows no fear. Neither does the expanded consciousness! Whereas the ego dismisses the fear and moves in a disruptive manner, the wise one acknowledges the fear and takes refuge in the Divine. When you are in love, when you are surrendered, there is no fear. Ego, too, knows no fear. But there is a difference, like that of heaven and earth, between these two types of fearless states. Fear makes you righteous; fear brings you close to surrender; fear keeps you on the path; keeps you from being destructive. Peace and law are maintained on the planet because of fear. A new-born child knows no fear - it totally relies on its mother. Whether a child, a kitten or a bird, when they start becoming independent they experience fear which makes them go running back to their mothers. This is inbuilt by nature to sustain life. So, the purpose of fear is to bring you back to the source!! - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

What Enhances Your Beauty

WHAT ENHANCES YOUR BEAUTY? When your mind is ,not complaining. ..responsible. ...courageous. ...confident ....and hollow and empty, you are inexplicably beautiful. A person who cannot correct or act has no right to complain. And when a person can correct or act, he will never complain. Complaining is a sign of weakness. Complaining is the nature of utter ignorance where one does not know the Self. Complaint takes away the Beauty that is inborn in you. And it shows up more on the one who is on this path. Worldly mind is a complaining mind; Divine mind is a dancing mind. Just complaining without indicating the solution is irresponsibility. When the solutions are not workable, finding alternative solutions is Courage. For external beauty, you put on things; for real Beauty, you have to drop all the things. For external beauty you have to have Make-up; for your real Beauty you only have to realise that you are MADE-UP! Jai Gurudev.

FAITH AND REASON

Reason is reeling in the known. Faith is moving in the unknown. Reason is repetition. Faith is exploration. Reason is routine. Faith is adventure. They are completely opposite, yet an integral part of life. Not having faith itself is misery; faith gives instant comfort. While reasoning keeps you sane and grounded, no miracle can happen without faith. Faith takes you beyond limitations. In faith you can transcend the laws of nature but it needs to be pure. Faith is beyond reason, yet you need to have faith in your own reasoning! (A sentence to be pondered on.) Faith and reason cannot exist without each other. Every reason is based on some faith. Whenever reason or faith breaks, confusion and chaos prevails which is often a step for growth. There are two types of faith. Faith out of fear, greed and insecurity; and faith born out of love like the faith between the mother and the child, the Master and disciple. Whereas the faith out of love cannot be broken, faith out of fear and greed is shaky. An atheist bases himself on reason, and a believer on faith. A believer uses God as an insurance policy! He thinks he is special. In the eyes of God there is no "mine" and "others"; all are the same. An atheist rationalizes to keep his eyes shut to reality. Death shakes them both! When someone close dies, an atheist eyes are opened, and a believer's faith cracks. Only a Yogi - a wise one - remains unshaken. For that person has transcended both reason and faith. You need a balance between faith and reason. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

RENUNCIATION AND LOVE

Only one who has renounced can truly love. To the degree you have renounced, to that degree you have the ability to love. Often people think those who renounce cannot love, and those who love cannot renounce. This is because so-called renunciants do not seem to be in love, and so-called lovers are very possessive and are in need. True love is non-possessive and brings freedom, and renunciation is nothing but freedom. Only in freedom can love fully blossom. When in love, you say, "I want nothing for me." Renunciation is, "I don't want anything. I am free." In love, there is no other need. Renunciation is having no need. Love and renunciation, although appearing to be opposites, are two sides of the same coin. McQueen said -- They are the same side of the same coin. (laughter) Tara asked -- Does this mean the lover renounces his beloved? Guruji responded -- You renounce the attachment, the possessiveness. Renunciation doesn't diminish love; it enhances it. Only renunciation can sustain love and joy. Without renunciation, love turns into misery, possessiveness, jealousy and anger. Renunciation brings contentment and contentment sustains love. Without renunciation one gets discontented, frustrated, sad, fearful, suspicious and analytical. And the whole soap opera begins. And this is what we find in society, don't we? The so-called renunciants have run away from life frustrated and disappointed. Real renunciation is born out of knowledge and wisdom, knowledge of life in the background of time and space and in the context of this magnanimous universe. Jai Guru Dev.

SOUND FAITH

Have faith in the sound and move on to have faith in the silence. Have faith in sound when it is pleasant and have faith in the silence when the sound is unpleasant. When some one says something bad you immediately believe it and the mind becomes more disturbed. Believing in an unpleasant sound creates more turmoil in the mind. In that situation shift your faith to silence. Have faith in the sound, like the chanting of mantras. People seem to have more faith in chatting and gossip rather than chanting and knowledge. Have faith in the knowledge and chanting and have faith in silence. - Sri Sri Anecdote: On the day of the full moon, Sri Sri visited the ancient temple of Kollur where there was an elaborately decorated chariot of the goddess being pulled around the temple. Explaining its significance, Sri Sri said that each one of us is like a chariot carrying the power of God within. We are the real chariot of the Divine. Our body is the chariot and the soul is the deity which is being pulled around the world to purify. || Jai Guru Dev ||

The Arrow Of Faith

Sri Sri: It is only through merit that you can have faith. When you lack faith, happiness is neither in the inner nor the outer world. Happiness springs forth from faith. Happiness is forgetting the body consciousness. Pain or sorrow is holding on to the body consciousness. Whenever you are happy you don't feel the body and when you are miserable, you have aches and pains. Question: Then why in meditation is the attention taken to various parts of the body? Sri Sri: For an arrow to go forward, you have to pull it back. In the same way when you take the attention to the various parts of the body, it frees you from body consciousness.

Knowledge And Faith

KNOWLEDGE AND FAITH In science you have knowledge first, and then faith follows. In spirituality, faith comes first, and then Knowledge follows. For example, the knowledge that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are good for plants came through science, and people had faith in it, and all over the world they were used. And then another knowledge came that they were not good and the faith shifted to organic farming. The same with antibiotics. The knowledge brought faith, the knowledge changed, and then faith changed. The knowledge and faith of science is of "happening." In spirituality, faith is first and Knowledge comes later. Like Kriya, Yoga, and meditation -- first you have faith and then Knowledge follows. For example, if you do pranayama faithfully then you get the Knowledge of the prana; if your do your meditation faithfully, the Knowledge of consciousness follows. Even an illiterate, through faith, attains deep Knowledge. Vinod: Human is the best composite material. (Laughter -- this is the NASA scientist mind.) Punditji: Science considers even human as matter, and spirituality considers even earth as mother, even rivers and mountains as living beings. Science regards life as matter and spirituality regards even matter as life. Jai Gurudev.

False Security

False securities do not allow your faith to grow. When you have dropped your securities, then your faith grows. When you buffer your life with securities, you keep the faith away. It is the faith that brings perfection in you. Faith is the greatest security. If you have all the material securities and not have faith, you will still reel in fear. You have to let go of all possessions in the mind. False security is keeping things where they don't belong. It is an illusion of security because of having a job, a house, friends. Keep the house where it belongs, not in the mind. Keep the money in the bank or in the pocket, not in the mind. Keep friends and family where they belong, not in the mind. The Divine is your only security. Faith is realizing that you always get what you need. Faith is giving the Divine a chance to act. Your body belongs to the world. Your spirit belongs to the Divine. - Sri Sri

Enlightenment

The Knowledge acquired by a human being cannot be measured or judged by external behavior. Someone may behave as though they have absorbed all the Knowledge but internally they have not. The reverse is also true. Someone who seems to have not changed at all may have absorbed a lot. Ordinary people would just look at the behavior, but the intelligent looks beyond and is amazed by the play of the consciousness (Brahman). Behavior affects relationships. Attitude affects behavior. Knowledge or ignorance affects attitude. Grace brings forth Knowledge. Your inside is like a tree; in some seasons barren and at other times blossomed. Enlightenment is beyond seasons like the evergreen coconut tree which yields throughout the year. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Shortcut

If you think you are stupid Then...... you know who you are. And if you know who you are...... You are enlightened! And if you are enlightened , Then ......you are certainly not stupid . If you think you are intelligent , Then you don't know who you are. And if don't know who you are..... Then you really ARE stupid! Better realize your stupidity ....and Be enlightened! !!!!!.... .[laughter] - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

The Bodhi Tree

Buddha got enlightened under the Bodhi tree. He then stood up and watched the tree from a distance for seven days. He took sixteen steps towards the tree and under each step, blossomed a Lotus flower. This is the legend. The Bodhi tree is symbolic of both sansara (world) and Dharma. The Lotus flower symbolizes clarity, dispassion, love, beauty and purity. It is only when you are detached in life can you watch the sansara and all of its plays. When you witness the sansara, every step you take is benevolent and impeccable. When every action of yours is preceded by witnessing then every move you make in this sansara becomes perfect and significant. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

A Friend And An Enemy

In the company of your friends, you lose your centeredness. Your enemy puts you back in yourself. Your friend sympathizes with you and makes you believe in matter. Your enemy makes you feel helpless and takes you to the spirit. So your enemy is your friend and your friend is your enemy! Krishna said to Arjuna: One who is unfriendly everywhere (including himself); his consciousness is stable and awareness is established. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

A Tiny Atom

The "I" or ego in you is a tiny atom. If this atom is put with the body, the matter, it identifies with the matter. If this atom is put with the Being, the Infinite, it identifies with the Infinite. When this atom, this ego, is associated with the material world, it becomes mundane. When it is associated with the spirit, it becomes Divine. It becomes shakti when associated with the Being, the Self. It becomes miserable when identified with the body. You see, in a huge atomic reactor, it is just one tiny atom that is exploded. In the same way, in our whole body, there is just one little tiny atom of "I". And when this "I" explodes, that is when it becomes the light of the Self. Usually we say, "I am miserable, " or "I am happy". Shift this atom from identifying with the body and the conceptual world, to identifying with the Real World. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

COMMUNICATION

There are three modes of communication: in head to head communication you talk, in heart to heart communication you sing, and soul to soul communication happens in silence. When you meet with people, often you communicate from head to head. When you are with nature, you start singing, you communicate with nature from your heart. Often when you are with people you keep talking, blabbering, and you keep the communication on the level of the head only. But when you are with nature, you start humming and your communication comes through the heart. And when you are with the guru, you go blank and forget all the questions. Then communication comes through the soul in silence. When you meet with people, you like to remain in the head, you seldom sing with people (other than when it is organised). Your ego obstructs you from singing. Many do not feel comfortable singing with people. When you sing with people then you descend to the heart level or feeling level. Some feel comfortable just listening to music. Some feel comfortable singing only when they are alone. Some sing to draw attention or to charm others. Some only want to join in when all the others are singing. All this singing comes from ego. Bhajan means sharing, sharing from the deepest level of our existence. Bhajan is authentic sharing. If you could sing with people, then your ego shatters. Children can sing with people for they do not have ego. To sing with a stranger you have to be free of ego. Ego doesn't let you sing with a stranger. Head level is safe for the ego -heart level breaks the ego - soul level dissolves the ego. All communication gaps happen because of ego. Exercise: when you are with people, rather then chatting just start singing and you can feel the shift of energy that is happening. If you want to have more fun, greet a stranger with a song. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Discomfort

An Awkward Situation Why do you feel awkward? And how do you get out of it? If you have always been the center of attention, and are suddenly sidelined, you may feel out of place. Similarly if you have always been on the side lines, and are suddenly pushed to center stage, you may experience restlessness. If you are used to ordering, and suddenly have to take orders, or, if you usually follow orders, and you are made to give them, you may feel out of place. A very busy person with nothing to do, or a laid back person who is faced with a lot of responsibilities may experience restlessness. Very often, feeling out of place blocks the reason and distorts the logic. If the situation you are in is inevitable, tolerate it. If it’s avoidable, walk out of it. If you feel that it can expand your abilities, smile through it. Every awkward situation increases your comfort zone. Every awkward situation is a test for how deep you are in the Knowledge. Love something of an awkward situation. This will increase your comfort zone. When your comfort zone increases, no one will be able to push your buttons and you will become so centered and unshakable. Jai Gurudev

Enthusiasm

What is enthusiasm? Enthusiasm means to be connected to God within. When you are with your source, you can only be enthusiastic. Apathy is when you are away from the source of life. You cannot be but enthusiastic when your mind is totally in the present moment. You should know that dispassion is not apathy. It is simply a broader perspective of reality. Dispassion is moving towards the source. Dispassion simply means the way back home. It is the journey towards the source, which is a reservoir of enthusiasm. When dispassion and enthusiasm co-exist, that is the secret of perennial enthusiasm and profound dispassion. Though they appear to be opposite, they are actually complementary. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Dependence,Independence,Interdependence&Oneness

DEPENDENCE, INDEPENDENCE, INTERDEPENDENCE AND ONENESS The body is dependent on the whole creation. In society, somebody has to make clothes, produce electricity, drill for oil. The body cannot be independent of the world. For the body, dependency is absolute. When the Spirit identifies with the body, then it gets pinched and looks for independence. Mind, intellect, ego - they all look for independence. In looking for independence often you get stuck in the ego and become more miserable. Most people are not aware of their dependency. When they become aware of their limitations and dependency, the desire for independence arises. Independence cannot be achieved unless you start moving from within. When you move within, you discover that you are interdependent. Individual Self/Soul/Jeeva is interdependence and in fact every wise person knows that everything is interdependent and that there is nothing like independence. On one level dependency is a harsh reality. On another level, it is an illusion because there is nothing else but the Self. It's only when you don't feel oneness, belongingness that you want independence. The Self being non-dual, there is no question of dependence or independence. One who asks for independence is a beggar. One who knows that it is an illusion is a King. When the sense of belongingness is not well founded, then there is a volatile state in the life of a seeker. Then the ego finds some excuse to revert to smallness. It is not yet totally soaked in the totality of knowledge. As it is not used to it, the mind finds every little excuse to revert back to the ego and to be aloof and independent and separate and it would find any small fault and blow it out of proportion. Be aware of these tendencies and come what may, be strong in the commitment to the Satsang, the Path. Jai Gurudev.

WHAT IS LIFE???

What Is Life? Often when you are happy you feel life is a dream because you do not believe in the reality of it. When there is misery you feel life as a burden. And we take trivial things very seriously. But one who has really gone through the pleasure realizes that pleasure is a burden. And if you have undergone misery thoroughly you will realize that life is a dream. In every miserable condition you have been walked or carried through and you realize life is a dream. When you see life is dream a burden or a joke only then can you be centered. And when you have really gone through misery you have really seen life as a dream. And in between the pain and pleasure life is all a joke. Life is very uncertain. Before it takes you away, realize it is a dream, a burden or a joke. Someone asked: What about life is a joke? Answer: A joke you do not question. If you question a joke, it is no longer a joke. Do not question a burden either. It is a waste of time to question life and its events. The burden makes you go deep. It gets you to the core of yourself. Realization of a dream wakes you up. And seeing life as a joke makes you light. The only certainty is that life is a dream, a burden or a joke and only when you realize this can you be centered. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Organization And Devotion

Organization And Devotion Organization is control. Devotion is chaos! Organization needs attention to details, a material awareness. Organization is being worldly. Devotion is getting lost, forgetting the world, being in ecstasy. These are opposite in nature. They don't go together, yet they cannot be apart or exist without each other. No organization can arise without devotion. When there is so much devotion, you simply want to organize. Devotion brings faith, compassion, and responsibility. With responsibility and caring, you want to give knowledge, wisdom, and love. Then organization happens. So organization exists through devotion. If you are devoted, you won't just sit. The nature of devotion is to give. If you think you are devoted and you are not caring for the world, then you are merely selfish. Real devotion means being one with the Divine, and the Divine cares for the world. Often you lose devotion in organizing. And often in the name of devotion you create chaos and disregard the organization. You have to be a saint to be both in organization and devotion. If you have both, you are on the mark. So . . . Get lost and be guided! - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Three Modes Of Communication

Three Modes of Communication There are three modes of communication: in head to head communication you talk, in heart to heart communication you sing, and soul to soul communication happens in silence. When you meet with people, often you communicate from head to head. When you are with nature, you start singing, you communicate with nature from your heart. Often when you are with people you keep talking, blabbering, and you keep the communication on the level of the head only. But when you are with nature, you start humming and your communication comes through the heart. And when you are with the guru, you go blank and forget all the questions. Then communication comes through the soul in silence. When you meet with people, you like to remain in the head, you seldom sing with people (other than when it is organised). Your ego obstructs you from singing. Many do not feel comfortable singing with people. When you sing with people then you descend to the heart level or feeling level. Some feel comfortable just listening to music. Some feel comfortable singing only when they are alone. Some sing to draw attention or to charm others. Some only want to join in when all the others are singing. All this singing comes from ego. Bhajan means sharing, sharing from the deepest level of our existence. Bhajan is authentic sharing. If you could sing with people, then your ego shatters. Children can sing with people for they do not have ego. To sing with a stranger you have to be free of ego. Ego doesn't let you sing with a stranger. Head level is safe for the ego -heart level breaks the ego - soul level dissolves the ego. All communication gaps happen because of ego. Exercise: when you are with people, rather than chatting just start singing and you can feel the shift of energy that is happening. If you want to have more fun, greet a stranger with a song.

Heat Of Knowledge

For your prayer to be answered, the desire has to be intense. The greater the intensity of desire and the later it gets fulfilled, then greater will be the gratitude. lntense desire leads you to devotion. For desire to get intense, time and the need for the desire are required. The feeling of gratitude is so overwhelming after the fulfillment of desire that it's achievement loses its charm and significance. The son of a farmer in India had a life-long desire to go to England and he prayed deeply for it. Even the news of his trip to England materializing filled him with immense gratitude -- he did not even care whether he went or not. Often people think that they are unfortunate if their desires don't get fulfilled quickly. lntense desire can frustrate you or make you prayerful. In prayerfulness, there is gratitude and devotion. Any intense experience makes you whole. Your consciousness is like corn. With the heat of Knowledge, consciousness pops ups and becomes white and fluffy. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

You Are Pure Electricity

Desires for sense pleasure are electric in nature and they get neutralized as they move towards the objects of senses. If, by your skill, you could move them within you towards the centre of your existence, another dimension of everlasting pleasure, thrill, bliss, and undying love will all be yours. Lust, greed, power and jealousy are also powerful because they are nothing but energy and you are the source of it - the pure electricity. Dedication and devotion keep the purity of your electricity and they move you upward. Realizing you are pleasure or electricity yourself your craving subsides and serenity dawns. Remembering that you will die makes you alive now, free from cravings and aversions. The wise is always careful not to get entangled and dizzy in the mind. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Interdependence

The body is dependent on the whole creation. In society, somebody has to make clothes, produce electricity, drill for oil. The body cannot be independent of the world. For the body, dependency is absolute. When the Spirit identifies with the body, then it gets pinched and looks for independence. Mind, intellect, ego - they all look for independence. In looking for independence often you get stuck in the ego and become more miserable. Most people are not aware of their dependency. When they become aware of their limitations and dependency, the desire for independence arises. Independence cannot be achieved unless you start moving from within. When you move within, you discover that you are interdependent. Individual Self/Soul/Jeeva is interdependence and in fact every wise person knows that everything is interdependent and that there is nothing like independence. On one level dependency is a harsh reality. On another level, it is an illusion because there is nothing else but the Self. It's only when you don't feel oneness, belongingness that you want independence. The Self being non-dual, there is no question of dependence or independence. One who asks for independence is a beggar. One who knows that it is an illusion is a King. When the sense of belongingness is not well founded, then there is a volatile state in the life of a seeker. Then the ego finds some excuse to revert to smallness. It is not yet totally soaked in the totality of knowledge. As it is not used to it, the mind finds every little excuse to revert back to the ego and to be aloof and independent and separate and it would find any small fault and blow it out of proportion. Be aware of these tendencies and come what may, be strong in the commitment to the Satsang, the Path. Question : How about self-sufficiency? Answer : Self is sufficient and efficient. . . . [laughter] - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Three Modes Of Communication

There are three modes of communication: in head to head communication you talk, in heart to heart communication you sing, and soul to soul communication happens in silence. When you meet with people, often you communicate from head to head. When you are with nature, you start singing, you communicate with nature from your heart. Often when you are with people you keep talking, blabbering, and you keep the communication on the level of the head only. But when you are with nature, you start humming and your communication comes through the heart. And when you are with the guru, you go blank and forget all the questions. Then communication comes through the soul in silence. When you meet with people, you like to remain in the head, you seldom sing with people (other than when it is organised). Your ego obstructs you from singing. Many do not feel comfortable singing with people. When you sing with people then you descend to the heart level or feeling level. Some feel comfortable just listening to music. Some feel comfortable singing only when they are alone. Some sing to draw attention or to charm others. Some only want to join in when all the others are singing. All this singing comes from ego. Bhajan means sharing, sharing from the deepest level of our existence. Bhajan is authentic sharing. If you could sing with people, then your ego shatters. Children can sing with people for they do not have ego. To sing with a stranger you have to be free of ego. Ego doesn't let you sing with a stranger. Head level is safe for the ego -heart level breaks the ego - soul level dissolves the ego. All communication gaps happen because of ego. Exercise: when you are with people, rather than chatting just start singing and you can feel the shift of energy that is happening. If you want to have more fun, greet a stranger with a song. Jai Gurudev.

Own Something Magnanimous!!!

Man has a tendency to own things. When he owns something small his mind stays small, his life gets stifled and his whole consciousness is immersed in his house, car, spouse, children and such. A recluse leaves his home and goes far away. There also he starts owning his asana, rosary, books, concepts and his knowledge. The owning has simply shifted from objects and people to ideas and practices. But a wise one knows that he owns the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, all of space and the Divine in its entirety. When you own something big then your consciousness also expands, and when you own something small then all the small negative emotions start coming up such as anger, greed, etc. I wonder why people do not feel connected to the sun? The very existence of life depends upon the sun. Perhaps it is the lack of awareness that one refuses to acknowledge and own one’s connectedness to the macro-cosmic universe. The Rishis in ancient India, the Native Americans and the aboriginals from all over the globe have insisted that you can feel connection to the sun, moon and the directions. When you own something magnanimous your consciousness also becomes magnanimous. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Janmashatami , A New Perspective

Janamashtami: A new perspective Janamashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Ashtami is significant as it indicates a perfect balance between the seen and the unseen aspects of reality; the visible material world and the invisible spiritual realm. Krishna’s birth on Ashtami signifies his mastery of both the spiritual and material worlds. He is a great teacher and a spiritual inspiration as well as the consummate politician. On one hand, he is Yogeshwara (the Lord of Yogas — the state to which every yogi aspires) while on the other, he is a thief. The unique quality of Krishna is that he is at once more pious than the saints and yet a thorough mischief-monger! His behavior is a perfect balance of the extremes — perhaps this is why the personality of Krishna is so difficult to fathom. The avdhoot is oblivious to the world outside and a materialistic person, a politician or a king is oblivious to the spiritual world. But Krishna is both Dwarkadheesh and Yogeshwar. Krishna’s teachings are most relevant to our times in the sense that they neither let you get lost in material pursuits nor make you completely withdrawn. They rekindle your life, from being a burnt-out and stressed personality to a more centred and dynamic one. Krishna teaches us devotion with skill. To celebrate Gokulashtami is to imbibe extremely opposite yet compatible qualities and manifest them in your own life. Hence the most authentic way of celebrating Janamashtami is knowing that you have to play a dual role — of being a responsible human being on the planet and at the same time to realize that you are above all events, the untouched Brahman. Imbibing a bit of avadhoot and a bit of activism in your life is the real significance of celebrating Janamashtami Jai Gurudev.

TODAY IS KRISHNA'S BIRTHDAY!!!

TODAY IS KRISHNA'S BIRTHDAY: BIRTH OF THE CENTER OF ATTRACTION Krishna means the most attractive . . . It is the divinity that is the most attractive; the energy that pulls everything to it. Krishna is the formless center which is everywhere. Any attraction from anywhere is coming only from Krishna. Often people fail to see the spirit behind the attraction and merely hold on to the outer shell. And the moment you try to possess the shell, you will see Krishna has played a trick and you will be left with an empty shell in your hands and tears in your eyes. Be clever like Radha -- don't be tricked by Krishna. Krishna could not escape from Radha, for her whole world was filled with Krishna. If you can see that wherever there is an attraction, there is Krishna; then you are Radha, you are in your center. The mind moves towards beauty, joy and truth. Krishna tells Arjuna, "I am the beauty in the Beautiful, the strength in the Strong, the wisdom in the Wise." In this way he arrests the mind from moving away from him. Krishna reveals this Knowledge to Arjuna because he is Anasuya. Next week we will see what is Anasuya. Jai Guru Dev

Expansion Of Consciousness

Consciousness moving on the surface of the body is stimuli, which cause pleasure. When consciousness shrinks, then the sensation of pain and suffering arises. Suffering is the shrinking or contraction of consciousness. When consciousness moves through the body in limited channels, pleasure is experienced. Repeated enjoyment of the stimuli causes inertia and dullness. Often cooks don't enjoy their own food. Listening to the same piece of music loses the charm, people in the sex industry don't enjoy sex. If the stimuli are observed, then consciousness expands and becomes peace. With awareness the stimuli lose their significance; whether they exist or not makes no difference. When the sun is there, then whether the candle is lit or not makes no difference. To realise that all pleasures are just stimuli and that you are more than the stimuli brings freedom. Pain is nothing but consciousness wanting to expand and to become free. Freedom basically is liberation from the craving of the stimuli. Pain is not a permanent state. The natural tendency of consciousness is to expand, to become bliss. Like the natural tendency of water is to flow downward, and the natural tendency of air is not to be under pressure, the natural tendency of consciousness is to expand and to be at peace. Like the person who is an insomniac and has forgotten how to sleep, most of us have forgotten to be at peace and in bliss. Question: What about the pleasure in Satsang? Answer: The pleasure of Satsang takes you towards expansion. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

SPLASH!!

Guruji held up a pistachio nut and asked every one. "What is this?" Everybody said, "Pistachio." Guruji held up a pistachio nut without the shell and asked every one, "What is this?" Everybody said, "Pistachio." Guruji then held up the shell and asked everyone, "What is this?" Every body said, "Shell."Guruji said, "As the nut with or without the shell is pistachio, similarly spirit with or without the body is God. But just as the shell without the nut is not pistachio, the body without spirit is not God. Spirit is certainly God because it is present everywhere. The body is certainly not God because it cannot be present everywhere." When someone asks you, "Are you God?" Who is the question addressed to? As it is only the spirit that answers, you have no choice but to say, "Yes!" There was a blissful glee on everyoneÒ³ faces.God is within the body and God embodies the whole universe. Those who have eyes will see. (When asked, "Are you God?"- This is the best answer.) || Jai Guru Dev ||

BLESSINGS!!!

Make your home God's home and there will be light, love and abundance. Make your body God's abode and there will be peace and bliss. Feel your mind as a toy of God and you'll watch and enjoy all its games. See this world as play and as a display of God Himself and you will repose in the Non-Dual Self. Blessing comes to you in many forms. If you are generous, blessing comes to you as abundance. If you are hardworking, blessing comes to you as happiness. If you are lazy, blessing comes to you as hard work! (Laughter) If you are pleasure loving, blessing comes to you as dispassion. If you are dispassionate, blessing comes to you as knowledge of the Self. Sri Sri

DIKSHA

DIKSHA Initiation is called "Diksha". In Sanskrit "Di" means intellect. "Ksha" means the horizon r the end. "Diksha" means transcending the intellect. Education is called "Shiksha", the horizon of discipline - total discipline. Discipline is needed for education. "Diksha" is needed for meditation. A Teacher gives "Shiksha". A Guru gives "Diksha". A Guru takes you beyond intellect to the Realm of Being. It is a journey from the Head to the Heart. Blossoming beyond the intellect is "Diksha". If you do not go beyond the intellect, you will not smile, you will not laugh. Once "Diksha" happens, you are happy, blissful and contented; and thirst for knowledge is quenched. Totality of Discipline is "Shiksha" Totality of Intelligence is "Diksha" JAl GURU DEV

Freedom And Discipline

FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINE Freedom and discipline are opposites and complementary. The purpose of defense is to protect freedom. But is there freedom in defense? Do soldiers have freedom? No, they are totally bound, not even allowed to put the right foot down when told the left foot. Their steps are measured and they are unable even to walk with a natural rhythm. There is total lack of freedom in defense. That which has absolutely no freedom is protecting the freedom of the country! So it is with the police; they protect the freedom of the individual. But are they free? Discipline protects freedom. They both go hand in hand. Understand this and go ahead in life. You have some restrictions and it is this that allows you freedom. You can choose to focus either on freedom or discipline, and this makes you happy or unhappy. Freedom without discipline is like a country without a defense. Fences should be fences; a fence cannot be built all over the property. If your fence is all over, how can you build on the property? That state of high absolute freedom is too difficult; we need to be very practical. Yes, there is a state of unlimited bliss, the freedom Advaita talks about. The Advaita Knowledge has been totally misused or used according to one's own fancies and conveniences. There must be awareness in the mind, love in the heart, and righteousness in action. Love and fear are two possibilities that put you on track. The Jewish religion put fear as the main thing so that life could improve. Nature induces fear at a certain age in a child. When a child is very young, it gets 100 percent time and love of the mother. The child has no fear. As the child grows more independent it becomes cautious. Nature brings in an iota of fear. With freedom, the child starts walking carefully. Fear of losing freedom also brings defense. The purpose of defense is to eliminate fear. On this path Knowledge is your Freedom and also your Defense.

Balance And Discipline

BALANCE AND DISCIPLINE People who are free, regret that they don't have discipline. They keep promising that they will become disciplined. People who are disciplined look for the end. (Discipline is not an end in itself, it is a means.) Look at the people who have no discipline; they are miserable. Freedom without discipline is absolute misery. Discipline without freedom is suffocating. Orderliness is monotonous and chaos is stressful. We have to make the discipline free and the freedom disciplined. People who are in company all the time, they look for the comforts of solitude. People who are in solitude, feel so lonely and want to be in company. People who are in a cold place want to be in a warm place. People who are in a warm place love something cool. This is the dilemma of life: Everyone is looking for perfect balance. Perfect balance is like a razor's edge. It can only be found in the self. There is no road to this town and there are no steps to this house. How do you get in? Figure it all out. Jai Gurudev.

GURU IS A CIRCUIT BREAKER!!!

*Guru is a circuit breaker* A city without streets, a king without treasure, a merchant without business and a life without a guru are all considered the same. Why the emphasis on guru? Why do you need a guru? Life sometimes seems very complicated. There is pleasure, pain, happiness, suffering, generosity, greed, passion and dispassion. When our life is full of such opposing values, our mind sometimes becomes unable to handle these complications and just breaks down. It is then that you need wisdom to guide you through troubled times. Guru is that wisdom. You might have noticed you give great advice when you are not involved in a situation but the same is not true when you are in trouble. This is because wisdom dawns when you are out of the mess. Guru is one who is out of the mess. He watches the chaos, amidst the chaos. Guru is like a circuit breaker. When you cannot handle life, your guru comes and saves so that you remain sane and balanced. If there is a compelling desire that bothers you, your guru is there to offer solace. You offer all your desires and pain to your guru. Having a guru means being able to relax and smile all the time, walk with confidence, be fearless and have a vision. That is wisdom. *Guru is a tattva* -- an element, a quality inside you. It is not limited to a body or form. Guru comes in your life in spite of your refusing or being rebellious. The guru principle is so vital in life. There is an element of the guru in every human being. That wisdom in each has to be invoked, awakened. When this element is awakened, misery in life disappears. In our consciousness, wisdom comes to life when guru tattva comes to life. When we have no desires of our own, then the guru tattva dawns in our life. Wake up and see that our life is changing every moment and feel grateful for whatever you have received. *Guru Purnima* is to review your growth. This review will give you encouragement. If you think you haven't grown enough on the spiritual path in the past few years, then you have not utilised the knowledge. If you feel you are stuck somewhere, then the realisation that you are stuck is also growth. That is why we celebrate Guru Purnima. It is the day when the devotee arises in full gratitude and feels grateful for the great knowledge he has received from the Master. It is time to review how much knowledge you have ingrained in your life and how you are growing in knowledge. This may bring about a realisation for scope of improvement, which in turn will bring humility in you. Be grateful for the way this knowledge has transformed you. Just think how you could have been without this. Gratitude and humility together make bloom a genuine prayer inside you On Guru Purnima, remember all gurus of the past. When your life is full, you get a feeling of gratitude then you start with the guru and end up adoring everything in life. On Guru Purnima the devotee wakes up in full gratitude. The devotee becomes like an ocean moving in itself. Guru Purnima is a time to celebrate and rise in devotion and gratitude. JAI GURUDEV!!

What You Are Not Here For

VIVEK When you follow fun, misery follows you . . . When you follow Knowledge, fun follows you. * * * * If you say that you have no one in this world, then you are disowning me. And if you disown me then I cannot do anything for you. What is Vivek? Vivek means knowing that everything is changing. Time and again you have to awaken to this -- that the world, the people, our body, our emotions, are constantly changing. When you experience sorrow, understand that Vivek has been overshadowed. Question: What am I here for? Answer: Find out what you are not here for. 1. You are not here to blame. 2. You are not here to cry. 3. You are not here to sleep. 4. You are not here to show off. 5. You are not here to fight. 6. You are not here to be miserable. 7. You are not here to be angry. 8. You are not here to worry. - Sri Sri Jai Guru Dev.

You Are Priviledged!!

Among all planets in the solar system, the earth is privileged to host life in its many forms, and among all the species, humans are most privileged for they can host the Knowledge. Among all the knowledgeable ones, you are most privileged. .... guess why. Again and again you remember that you are peace, you are love, you are joy and that you are hosting the Creator. If you don't realize that you are the host, you live like a ghost. The under-privileged are those who do not realize that they are privileged, and so they also host, but they host all the negativities. Like the birds returning to their nests, again and again come back to your source; only there can you realize that you host the Creator. || Jai Guru Dev ||

You Are Priviledged!!

Among all planets in the solar system, the earth is privileged to host life in its many forms, and among all the species, humans are most privileged for they can host the Knowledge. Among all the knowledgeable ones, you are most privileged. .... guess why. Again and again you remember that you are peace, you are love, you are joy and that you are hosting the Creator. If you don't realize that you are the host, you live like a ghost. The under-privileged are those who do not realize that they are privileged, and so they also host, but they host all the negativities. Like the birds returning to their nests, again and again come back to your source; only there can you realize that you host the Creator. || Jai Guru Dev ||

Joy And Desires

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Joy & Desires "A desire kills joy and all desires aim for joy." This couplet needs to be pondered over and over; for a whole lifetime is not sufficient enough to digest this knowledge. Whenever happiness has disappeared from your life, look deeper and you will see it is because of the desire. And all that we desire is happiness! No person, animal or creature desiring unhappiness is ever born, never has it happened before and never will it happen in the future. When your small mind gets tired of running here and there, of wandering everywhere, it reaches a conclusion, "My desires have killed my happiness". Thus a person who has conquered his desires in called "Mahavira". || Jai Guru Dev ||

Noise Of Non Violence

Sri Sri: Often violence comes with noise. Non-violence happens in silence. People who are violent make huge noise; they make it known. People who are non-violent are quiet. But the time has come for people who are non-violent to make noise so that the violence will quiet down. The message of non-violence has to come loud and clear so that it can be heard from a young age. A sense of shame has to be connected with anger and violence. The reason for violence in young people is a sense of pride in anger and violence, not a sense of shame. People feel proud that they are violent or angry. They think it is prestigious or a status symbol to be aggressive. Aggression is not thought to be a quality to be ashamed of. This promotes aggression and violence in the whole society, and when aggression and violence are promoted, human values diminish. Some movies and modern music glorify frustration, anger and revenge and make these a role model for children. We need to promote human values especially love compassion and belongingness loud and clear. Speak to groups or through your local media in the newspaper and on TV and create as many Art Excel and Art of Living courses in your area as possible. David asks :"If people are ashamed to be angry, won't that keep them unnatural and set up resistance in them that will persist?" Sri Sri: "If they are not ashamed, they will feel a free license to get angry and violent. Sometimes resistance is a good thing (Like resistance to disease or resistance to bad habits)." || Jai Guru Dev ||

Softness & Forcefulness

Guruji: Certain types of people are soft and their softness comes out of lack of courage and forcefulness. There is yet another type of softness in people and this softness comes out of maturity, magnanimity, and the knowledge of the Self. The people who are soft out of lack of courage suffer a lot. And sometime or other they become volatile. Similarly there are two types of forcefulness in people Ö aggression or assertiveness. Some people are forceful in an aggressive manner out of weakness, lack of strength, or out of fear. Others are forceful out of care and love, out of compassion. David: Aggressive control and aggressive support. Guruji: So look into yourself and become aware of what type of softness and what type of forcefulness you have. || Jai Guru Dev ||

Focus And Attention!!

Focus sharpens the mind and relaxation expands the mind. Just an expanded mind without sharpness cannot bring the holistic development. At the same time, just the sharp mind without expansion causes tension, anger and frustration The balance between the focused mind and expanded consciousness brings perfection. Both Sudarshan Kriya and the Advanced Course techniques are aimed at developing such consciousness which is sharp and unbounded Seva and commitment play a major role in this. Also, food and attitude have an effect. Expanded consciousness is peace and joy. Focused consciousness is love and creativity. A point of focused consciousness is Individual self. When every atom of the expanded consciousness becomes sharp, focused, that is the awakening of Divinity. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

YAGNA!!!

Yagna creates energy, energy creates consciousness, awareness. Heightened awareness brings you close to the reality and the reality is a witness. To realize that everything is happening you need heightened awareness. And to bring about heightened awareness you have to increase the prana. Prana can be increased through: 1. Fasting, fresh food 2. Pranayamas, Kriya, meditation 3. Silence 4. Cold water baths 5. Total exhaustion, not letting sleep take over 6. Emotional peaks 7. Presence of the Master 8. Singing and chanting 9. Giving without a givership, service without a doership All of these together is Yagna. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Window Shutters

To the degree that you are awake, everything around you brings you knowledge. If you are not awake, then even the most precious knowledge does not make any sense. (Suddenly there was much noise from outside and Kiran went to shut the window.) To the degree that you are awake, everything around you brings you knowledge. If you are not awake, then even the most precious knowledge does not make any sense. (Suddenly there was much noise from outside and Kiran went to shut the window.) Sri Sri: Awareness depends upon your ability to shut your windows. When there is a storm you need to shut your windows, otherwise you will get wet. When it is hot and suffocating inside, you need to open your windows. Your senses are like the windows. When you have the ability to open and shut your windows at your will then you are free and you are awake. When your windows cannot be shut or opened, you are bound. Attending to that is sadhana or practice. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Padmanabha - The Lotus Navel

Different organs of our body are governed by different devas. The solar plexus is connected with the sun, that's why it is called "solar" plexus. When the first rays of the sun fall on the solar plexus, it is very good for your body. Doing Surya Namaskar ("sun salutation") yoga asana in the early morning is very good. The solar plexus has a profound impact on the central nervous system, optic nerves, stomach, and what we usually call "gut feeling." It is the second brain in your body. Usually the solar plexus is slightly bigger than an almond. Studies have shown that with the practice of yoga, meditation, and Sudarshan Kriya, the solar plexus can become as a large as the size of the palm. Then it performs better. It balances the body functions. When the solar plexus expands, the intuitive mind works better. The mind becomes clear and focused. When the solar plexus contracts, one feels horrible, sad, depressed, and all the negative feelings come. Krishna was called Padmanabha, meaning "whose navel is the size of a lotus flower." If you become Padmanabha, you become absolutely creative. Brahma, the Creator, is born out of a blossomed solar plexus. These days, the solar plexus remains small, but the tummy keeps getting bigger. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Overcoming Events

All the problems that you face in life are because you attach over importance to the events. The events grow bigger while you remain smaller. Say, for example, you are riding a motorbike on a busy motor way and in front of you there is another vehicle emitting exhaust fumes. You have three options. 1. You can complain, somehow bear with it, and still follow the vehicle. 2. You can slow down or wait for some time to allow the vehicle to move far away from you. 3. You can use your skill, overtake the vehicle, and forget about it. As in the first case, most of you stick on the events and are miserable, like inhaling fumes throughout your journey. In the second case, you don't get permanent relief, as another bigger vehicle might come in front of you. Like that, running away from events is not the permanent solution. However, wise people use their skill and grow over the events. If the vehicle is in perfect condition, the skill is effective. Conditioning the vehicle is sadhana or practice. And skill is the grace of the Guru. The mistakes that you have made in the past have made you humble; you need not make mistakes in the future to become humble. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Drop Your Intentions

Sri Sri: A strong tendency to keep doing something, whether important or unimportant, becomes an impediment to meditation. Doing starts first with an intention and then translates into action. Though intention springs from the Being, when it becomes doing it doesn’t let you settle down. All intentions, good or bad, trivial or important, need to be dropped for meditation to happen. Vijay: But isn’t dropping all intentions itself an intention? Sri Sri: Yes, but that intention is the last and necessary intention. Dropping the intentions is not an act – just the intention to drop the intentions itself serves the purpose. Dropping all intentions even for a moment brings you in touch with your Self – that instant meditation happens. While you sit for meditation you have to let the world be the way it is. The repetition of meditation is to habituate our system to be able to stop and start activity at will. The ability to do this consciously is a very precious skill. || Jai Guru Dev ||

Impressions And Expressions!!

Do not make an effort to impress others, or to express yourself. Your effort to express yourself becomes an impediment. Your effort to impress someone also becomes futile. If you do not try to impress, expression comes naturally. When you come from the self, your expression is perfect and your impression lasts for ages. Often you don't seem to have a control over your impressions and expressions. Wisdom is selecting your impressions and expressions. Enlightenment is when you do not take any impressions at all, whether good or bad. Then you "master" the art of expression. Many impressions in the mind cause: ~ Confusion ~ Distraction ~ Chaos ~ Lack of focus ~ and finally, derangement of the mind. Nature has inbuilt in us a system through which it releases some of the impressions - through dreams, and through meditation. Excessive expression loses the depth and luster, the serenity of yourself. Meditation erases the impressions and improves the expression. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

As You Sow So Shall You Reap!!

DNA, 4th April, 2010 H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar When you cannot understand whether justice has been done or not, you need to look beyond your limited framework In life, you may find that sometimes people who are doing wrong are enjoying instead of being punished, while those who are doing right, are suffering. In this situation, your mind might question - where is God? Why is he supporting the wicked? What is he doing when the one doing good deeds is facing trouble? Such a question arises when you see an event in a limited framework. No good action will yield a bad result. Or, no bad action will yield a good result. This is the law of Karma. As you sow, so shall you reap. If you have sown a mango seed, a mango tree will grow, but along with the mango tree, some thorny bushes may come up. It is not the mango seed that brings up the thorny bush - the thorny bush comes because of the seeds present in the manure brought from somewhere else. Your mango seed will bring mango fruit, in due time. In the same manner, though someone may have sown a thorny bush, some groundnut or moong sprouts may grow amidst it, because those seeds were already present before you sowed the thorny bush. When you cannot understand whether there is justice or not, you have to look beyond the limited framework. This could be the reason why Jain philosophy does not even accept the judge. They simply say the whole world is governed by the law of cause and effect - they call it the Law. Law appears to be impersonal, like a rule, or like a principle in nature, but when law assumes a personality, a persona, then one calls it God. So from this perspective, there cannot be injustice; and if there appears to be an injustice, there are people who are bringing justice - this is also part of the law. For example, if someone gets a disease, there is someone else who has the cure for it. If the person with the cure knows that somebody is suffering, it is his dharma to bring them relief. The awareness of dharma also has a role to play. Karma is always dynamic, in the sense that there is perception and there is action. Whenever you see a bad karma or someone suffering, you need to help them. That is your dharma. If you do not follow your dharma, then you incur bad karma for not having done it. There is someone else who needs to put you back on track - to set you right is their dharma. Karma and dharma go hand in hand. The world is not a linear mathematics. It is a complex mathematics. See God as a movie director, rather than as a judge. He has no ill-feeling for the villain and no special favour for the hero. Each one is playing the role designed by the director. If the director wants to make the movie a tragedy, he will punish the hero. If he wants a happy ending, he will make the hero win over the villain. In either case the director is happy and doing justice to the movie. In the end, both the villain and the hero are rewarded. That is why, in the Puranas, every villain who dies also goes to heaven. After so many years, when the Pandavas reached heaven, they found Duryodhana already sitting there happily. Our perception of suffering, of good and bad, will always be relative. God does not come within the purview of relativity. He is the absolute reality - Sarva Sakshi - a witness to all that is. Sri Sri Jai Gurudev

Worship

Do not worship or idolize worship. Idolizing without a sense of belongingness is always futile. Such worship only causes fear and distance. And there are others who are paranoid about worship. They get irritated by seeing others worshipping. The modes of worship or idolizing may be different in different parts of the world. Some worship the pope ; others worship the pop stars. Some are crazy about the politicians. Look at all the children. They worship their heroes all over the walls. Just adoration makes you a fan. Having a sense of belongingness and seeing the Divinity in those whom you adore, makes you a saint. Raghu: You mean we can see Divinity in a pop star or politician. Guruji: If You can;. a Divinity that is distorted (laughter). Those who worship without a sense of belongingness and those who are against worship are in the same boat as both are clogged with fear. In the Bible, it says, " I am your God. And you shall have no other before me. " The same is said in the ancient Indian scriptures. One who worships God as separate from the "I am" consciousness is dull headed". And " Poojo aur na deva". Do not worship other Gods. The offering, the offered and the offerer are all ONE. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Respect

When someone respects you, it is not because you possess some virtues, it is because of their generosity, their greatness. If you say God is great, it makes YOU great. God is anyway already great, you saying so doesn't affect God. When you respect someone, it only shows your own magnanimity. How many people you don't respect in the world, that much less is your wealth. If you respect everyone in the world, that much more is your value. Wiser is the one who respects everyone. Question : But Gurudev, you can't respect a terrorist! Sri Sri : You have to respect a terrorist too because he shows you the way at his own cost. Respectfulness is a quality of refined consciousness. Respect for the Self is faith. Faith is being open. If you are open, you are close. If you are close, you cannot but open up. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Free Will Or Destiny

When people consider the past as free will they are filled with remorse and regret. When they consider the future as destiny, lethargy and inertia set in. A wise person will consider the past as destiny and the future as free will. When you consider the past as destiny, no more questions are raised and the mind is at ease. And when you consider the future as free will you are filled with enthusiasm and dynamism. Of course there will be some uncertainty when you consider the future as free will, and some anxiety, but it can also bring alertness and creativity. Consider the past as destiny, the future as free will and the present moment as Divinity. Question: How do we remove the anxiety? Answer: By having faith in the Divine and doing sadhana. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Pointing out A Mistake

A lady came to Guruji and said that her husband lied to her. She was very upset. Guruji asked "Why does your husband lie to you? Because he loves you, and is afraid to lose your love or hurt you. If he did not love you, he wouldn't lie to you!" Do not tell a person a mistake he knows. What's the use of pointing out a mistake that he knows he has committed? By doing this, you will only make them feel more guilty, defensive or resentful and this will only create more distance. You should only point out the mistake of a person who does not know, but who wants to know. Do not point out the mistake of a person who knows but doesn't want you to know. Often people know the mistakes that they have committed, but they do not want you to tell them. Think of the usefulness of your comments. Before pointing out the mistake of a person, see whether your comments in any way will help to improve the situation, foster love or bring harmony. A magnanimous person would not pick on the mistakes of others and make them feel guilty. However, they would correct them with compassion and care, not through words but through attitudes. - Sri Sri

Always????

How to be happy always? Forget about always, then you are happy. In wanting to be comfortable always, one becomes lazy. In wanting perfection always, one becomes angry. In wanting to be rich always, one becomes greedy When we do not realise that only life is for always, then fear comes. This projection of the nature of self which is "always", on the temporal which can never be "always", is called Maya. All ways do not lead you, only one way leads you. If you remove always from your dictionary then everything is alright Drop "always" and all will be right - that is intelligence. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Aishwarya & Madhurya

In the world, usually where there is Aishwarya (Lordship), there is no Madhurya (Sweetness) and where there is Madhurya, there is no Aishwarya. Where life has blossomed fully, there is both Aishwarya and Madhurya. Aishwarya means Ishwaratva – Lordship of that which IS. Wealth, too, is referred to as Aishwarya because wealth does command a certain amount of authority. Can love and authority co-exist? Only in a fully blossomed Being, there is both Lordship and Sweetness. There was Aishwarya in Sri Rama, but only glimpses of Madhurya. Parshuram's life shows only Lordship, but no Madhurya. Buddha manifested more of Madhurya – the sweetness, and less of authority. But Krishna manifested both Aishwarya and Madhurya. So did Jesus. There is Lordship when they said, "I am the way!" And there is Sweetness in their expression of Prayer and Love. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

Be Awake To Be Dynamic

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Be Awake To Be Dynamic When you are in a rush, you are unable to properly perceive things. Often you are in a rush in life. This takes away the charm, thrill and beauty from your life. You can never be close to the Truth when you are in a rush because your perception, observation and expression become distorted. The rush to enjoy robs the joy from life. All the rush that you have in your life only denies the joy and freedom of here and now. Often one does not even know why one is in a hurry. It almost becomes a biological phenomenon to be in a rush. Wake up and become aware of the rush in you! Anne Farrow says: Wake up and slow down! (Laughter!) It is ridiculous to be in a rush to slow down. Just being aware of the rush itself will take care of it. Slowing down does not mean lethargy or procrastination. It is easy to be in either extreme of being in a rush or being lethargic. Feverishness arises out of lack, a need to achieve; whereas dynamism is an expression of fulfillment. The golden rule is to be awake, and being awake you cannot help but be dynamic. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||