Mistake As Not A Mistake

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Mistake As Not A Mistake Blessed are those who don't see a mistake as a mistake....! !!But it is hard not to see your own mistake. Outwardly you may justify yourself or prove your innocence to someone else, but a mistake pricks a conscience. Do not justify yourself. Instead, feel the prick of the mistake. That very pinch will take you out of the mistake.A mistake means something that brings misery to you in the long run. So why would someone knowingly commit a mistake?While pointing out a mistake to someone, do you consider him as separate from you and go on pointing out his error or do you make him feel a part of you? When you point out a mistake to someone, does it make him more stressed, or does it create more awareness in that person? Often you do not point out someone's mistake when it is required. Not pointing out a mistake -- with due consideration to time and place -- is also a mistake.

When you make a new mistake, it is not a mistake; you have learned a valuable lesson. But when you keep doing the same mistake over and over, it is a BIG mistake. A mistake simply means you have missed taking a lesson that has come your way.Do not lament over your mistake. Just take the lesson from it. You will not be judged by your mistakes, but by your virtues. Mistakes are of the earth. Virtues are of the Divine.Wise is the one who learns from others mistakes.Less wise is the one who learns from his own mistakes.The fool keeps making the same mistakes again and again and never learns from them.

Sri Sri

Jai Gurudev

Let It Be

Let it be---

Sri Sri Ravishankar

Times of India, Feb.12 - 2010

This Valentine’s Day, make the Divine your valentine. See the Divine in your valentine and make the divinity your valentine. Have the same love for everyone, with different flavours. You cannot behave the same way with everyone, but you can love all of them. Love transcends behaviour and etiquette.Abiding in the Self, you become the valentine for the whole world. Spirit is the valentine of matter and matter is the valentine of the spirit. They are made for each other. If you hold on to matter and do not respect the spirit, then matter is not pleased. If you honour the spirit, then you will care for the world, and when you care for the world, it will take care of you.Keep your heart in a safe place; it is too delicate. Events and small things make strong impressions on it. A precious stone needs a setting around it - gold or silver - to hold it; in the same way wisdom and knowledge are the settings that will hold your heart in the Divine. To keep your heart safe and your mind sane, you cannot find a better place than the Divine. Then the passing time and events will not be able to touch you; they will not create a scar.There are three kinds of love. The love that comes out of charm, that which comes out of comfort and divine love.The love that comes out of charm does not last long. It comes out of unfamiliarity or attraction. In this, you lose the attraction fast, and boredom sets in. This love may diminish and bring along with it a fear, uncertainty, insecurity and sadness.The love that comes out of comfort and familiarity grows, but it has no thrill, no enthusiasm, joy, or fire to it. For example, you are more comfortable with an old friend who is a familiar person rather than with a new person. Divine love supersedes both the above. It has an ever present newness. The closer you go, more charm and depth come to it. There is never boredom and it keeps everyone on their toes.Worldly love can be like an ocean, yet an ocean has a bottom. Divine love is like the sky which is limitless. From the bottom of the ocean, soar into the vast sky. Ancient love transcends all these relationships and is inclusive of all the relationships. Let love be. Don’t give it a name. When you give it a name, it becomes a relationship, and relationships restrict love.Often, one experiences love at first sight. Then as time goes on, it decreases, decays, turns into hatred and disappears. Ancient love never decays. Although its mortality rate is high, love dies very young. After a few days, weeks, months, or years, it dies. In society, you say love is never a tree, it is a seasonal crop.When the same love becomes a tree with the manure of knowledge, it becomes ancient love that goes from lifetime to lifetime. That is our own consciousness. You are not limited to this present body, this present name, this present form and the present relationships around you. You may not know your past, your ancientness. But just know you are ancient, that is good enough.Pain goes with love. Because you love someone, even a small action can hurt you. And in hurt, you feel very delicate, very deep. Love also creates the same sensation. Separation creates the same symptom. If you don’t love somebody, you will never feel hurt by them. Understand and accept this. Then that hurt will not turn into a sore feeling. Rather, that very hurt will take you deep into dispassion and meditation.

When love glows, it becomes bliss;

when it flows, it is compassion;

when it blows, it is anger;

when it ferments, it is jealousy.

Let love be. Don’t give it a name!

Jai Gurudev

Immortal Love Is Within Reach

Immortal Love is within reach---

Sri Sri Ravishankar

Deccan Herald, Feb.8 - 2010

Some say the purpose of life is to ensure that one doesn't come back to this planet because it is bereft of love. They feel if there is love then why is life so painful? All that one want in life is love. Every human being is longing for a love that doesn't die out, a love that doesn't cause pain, a love that grows and stands forever. By taking a multilateral view of life, one can see life in a different way and realise that the purpose of life is to achieve this kind of love and blossom in that ideal love.Suppose you are immensely successful and have all the riches at your command but there is no love in your life, then life would not really be worthwhile; it would appear barren. But still most of the people lead a loveless life. Have you ever thought why this happens? It is your ego that prevents you from achieving that love. As long as there is ego, there cannot be love. And when there is love, there is no sign of ego. What is ego? Ego is simply being unnatural. Half knowledge brings ego but when knowledge becomes complete, ego drops and simplicity dawns.The question arises that if the ego is so unnatural then why does every human being have an ego? We have the ego because it is necessary in some way for our growth in life. That doesn't mean it should not have been there from the very beginning. Ego is necessary, but with knowledge you can now grow out of it. In the Narada Bhakti Sutras one sutra says: "Knowledge is one of the aids to uncover the naturalness". Through observing oneself and deep into ones self in meditation one can overcome ego.Often, when someone shows a lot of love you do not know how to respond, you feel obliged and bound. This is because you are not natural. There is an ego coming in between. The ability to receive genuine love comes with the ability to give love. The more you are centered and natural and know that love is not an emotion it is your very existence, the more you feel at home with any amount of love expressed in any manner. A seed has a covering or shell over it, and when you soak it in water, it sprouts and then the shell peels off. Similarly, the ego is a necessary unnaturalness that develops as you grow. When you were a child of two or three years, there was no ego; you are in a state of total, innocent, blissful love. Then the ego forms a cover. Knowledge uncovers this shell and make you a child again; natural, simple and innocent. When you are natural, simple and innocent, there is no ego. The ego is not a substance; it is a non-substance, much like darkness. Darkness is only lack of light. There is nothing called an ego that has substance. Ego is just a lack of total development, a lack of total understanding. It is just a lack of maturity or lack of knowledge.

Jai Gurudev

Wake Up To Universal Consciousness

Wake Up to Universal Consciousness

Sri Sri Ravishankar

DNA, Feb.7- 2010

This whole creation is a play of Shiva, the dance of one consciousness, one seed, which has manifested into a million species in the world. The whole world moving in an auspicious rhythm of innocence and intelligence is Shiva. Shiva is the permanent and eternal source of energy, the only eternal state of Being.

Shivratri is when the Shiva tatva and Shakti become one.There is a story related to Shivratri, about the union of Shiva and Shakti. The primordial and dynamic energy is wedded to the transcendental. Shiva is the silent witness, the chidakasha and Shakti is chitti or chidvilasa, the energy that plays and displays in the infinite space. Shiva is the formless Being; Shakti is the manifestation in the field. This is the recognition of the dual aspect of matter and energy, prakriti and purusha, the dravya and guna - substance and its qualities. Recognising the underlying non-dual nature of Brahman is Shivratri.Shivratri is the night to celebrate the wakefulness of one universal consciousness without falling into the unconscious sleep state. It is an occasion to awaken the self from all sorts of slumber. The jaagran in Shivratri is not just forcing oneself to be awake or singing bhajans aloud. It is about keeping awake and being inward and being consciously aware of the inner rest that sleep anyway brings everyday. When you surpass a certain layer of sleep, the rest in samadhi or Shiva sayujya happens.Shiva is symbolically represented by the linga. The Divine is beyond any gender, so the Divine is called Ekalinga, or one gender. That one gender is the Self, the Atma. Beyond the body, mind and intellect, and beyond likes and dislikes, that Self is only one, it is Ekalinga.Shiva has been associated with destruction. Transformation can only happen after destruction. Shiva is that factor of transformation.Shiva is a very simple lord, he is innocent - Bholenath. One just needs to offer bel-patra [leaves of the vilva tree] to him. But in this simplicity is a deep message. Bel-patra offerings signify the surrender of all three aspects of ones nature - Tamas, Rajas and Sattva. You have to surrender the positives and negatives of your life to Shiva and become free. The greatest offering is yourself. To offer ones self is the key to happiness in life.Kailasa is the legendary abode of Shiva. Kailasa means where there is celebration. So wherever there is happiness and celebration, Shiva is present. Whether in sanyasa or sansara, you cant escape Shiva. Feeling his presence all the time is the essence of Shivratri. Lord Shiva is always depicted with eyes closed with a snake around his neck. He may appear to be sleeping but this indicates his inner state which is fully awake, like a snake.He is always painted blue in pictures. Blue signifies the vastness of the sky. The moon on his head depicts everything within him. So all the ghosts, dead, devil, everything is included in his gana. In Shivas procession all types of people are present. So also in this world, all belong to that supreme soul. It is said “Sarvam shivamayam jagat”. This whole world is Shivamaya.Shivratri signifies being aware of everything you have and being grateful about it. Be grateful for the happiness which leads to growth, and also for sadness which gives depth to life. This is the right way of observing Shivratri.

Jai Gurudev

Be One With The Universe

Be One with the Universe---

Sri Sri Ravishankar

The Pioneer, Jan.30 - 2010

There are five types of restlessness. The first is due to the place you are in. When you move away from certain places, streets or houses, you immediately feel better. Chanting, singing, or the innocence of children playing and laughing can change this atmospheric restlessness. If you chant and sing, the vibration in the place changes.The second type of restlessness is in the body. Eating the wrong food, eating at odd times, not exercising and overworking can cause physical restlessness. The remedy for this is exercise, moderation in work habits and following a simple diet.The third type of restlessness is mental restlessness. It is caused by ambition, strong thoughts, likes or dislikes. Knowledge alone can cure this restlessness; this includes seeing life from a broader perspective, knowing about the Self and realising the impermanence of everything. If you achieve everything, so what? After your achievement, you will die. Knowledge of your death or life, confidence in the Self and in the divine can all calm down mental restlessness.There is also emotional restlessness. Any amount of knowledge does not help here. Sudarshan kriya helps. With it all emotional restlessness vanishes. Also, the presence of a guru, a wise person or a saint, can help calm emotional restlessness.The fifth type of restlessness is rare. It is the restlessness of the soul, when everything feels empty and meaningless. Do not try to get rid of this feeling. Embrace it! This restlessness of the soul can bring genuine prayer in you. It brings perfection, siddhis and miracles in life. It is also needed to get that innermost longing for the divine. Satsangs and the presence of enlightened people soothe the restlessness of the soul. Do not look for the divine somewhere in the sky. See god in every pair of eyes, in the mountains, water, trees and animals. See god in yourself. Heightened awareness brings you close to the reality. For this you have to increase your prana. When you have reverence for the whole universe, you are in harmony with the whole universe.

Jai Gurudev

Action And Reaction

ACTION AND REACTION Action is out of conscious decision. Reaction is out of impulsiveness. Impulsiveness creates a chain of Karma. Reaction, as well as non-action, both create karma, but a conscious action transcends karma. Conscious action does not create new karma whereas non-action can create karma. For example, a soldier shooting in war does not create a karma; a policeman using tear gas does not create a Karma, and if you are a doctor and you do not give medicine to a patient in need, you are incurring a karma. Through knowledge and devotion, transcend all karmas and be free! Jai Gurudev.

Consciousness

EXPANSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS PEACE 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. What about the pleasure in Satsang? The pleasure of Satsang takes you towards expansion. JAl GURU DEV

Weekly Knowledge #299 COMMITMENT AND CONVENIENCE A commitment can only be felt when it oversteps convenience. That which is convenient, you do not call commitment. If you just go on your convenience, your commitment falls apart causing more inconvenience! If you keep dropping your commitment because it is inconvenient, can you be comfortable? Often, what is convenient does not bring comfort, but gives an illusion of comfort. Also if you are too stuck in commitment, and it is too inconvenient too often, you will be unable to fulfill your commitment and it will only generate frustration. Wisdom is to strike a balance between convenience and commitment because both bring comfort to the body, mind and spirit. A seeker of knowledge should forget about convenience, so should soldiers, rulers, students, seekers of wealth and all essential service providers. Those who want to be creative and adventurous transcend convenience. Those who are ambitious and have a passion for a goal do not care for convenience. To the wise their commitment is their comfort. Whenever their commitment is shaken, their comfort is also shaken. To the lazy, commitment is torture though it is the best remedy. Commitment will always bring comfort in the long run. Question: Are there any commitments that can be given up? Answer: Yes. Sometimes when you are committed without a vision, you feel stifled when your vision expands. Such commitments made with shortsightedness can be given up. A smaller less important commitment can be given up for a greater commitment. Commitment to the means can be given up for the sake of the commitment to the goals. When your commitment brings misery to many in the long run it can be given up. Knowledge 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

Celebrating

Weekly Knowledge #327 Bangalore Ashram 18 Oct 2001 India HONEY Let the wind that blows be sweet Let the oceans flow honey Let all the herbs and plant kingdom be favourable to us Let the nights be sweet and let the days be sweet Let the dust of this planet be sweet to us Let the heavens and our forefathers be sweet to us Let all the trees be laden with honey Let the Sun be sweet to us (Let all the radiations be favourable to us) Let all the animals be sweet to us Let our food be favourable to us Let all our thoughts and our speech be sweet like honey Let our life be pure and divine, Let it be sweet like honey. New Flash: The One who has made our life sweet as honey is in silence!

Blessing

Weekly Knowledge 203 Bad Antogast 13 May 1999 Germany

BLESSING

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. Jai Gurudev.

Enlightenment

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Enlightenment Enlightenment is beyond seasons like the evergreen coconut tree.Sometimes the question comes up "What's the use of all these courses? Your behavior has not changed!"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 relationshipsAttitude affects behaviorKnowledge or ignorance affects attitudeGrace 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

The Most Beautiful Spot In The Universe!!

Weekly Knowledge #34 Honolulu, Hawaii 01 Feb 1996 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SPOT IN THE UNIVERSE There is a place you can come where everything is beautiful. Tourists go from place to place looking for beauty. They try to take beauty from that place. They only get tired and tanned. Yet the most beautiful spot anywhere is right here. When you come here, you find that wherever you are, everything is so beautiful. Where is this place? Don't look here and there. Where do you go? Within you. When you come here, then any place is beautiful. Then wherever you go, you add beauty there. If you are unhappy, even the moon is irritating to you. Sweet things are nauseating, music is disturbing. When you are calm and centered inside, noise is musical, clouds are magical, rain is liquid sunshine. Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe. Then you find that every day is a vacation and a celebration.

Jai Gurudev.

What Enhances Your Beauty??

Weekly Knowledge #99 Bangalore Ashram 30 Apr 1997 India 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.

Austerity

Weekly Knowledge #180 Bangalore Ashram 19 Nov 1998 AUSTERITY Austerity is often mistaken to be poverty, self-denial. It is neither.Austerity comes out of maturity. It is a sign of social health. Often people who practice austerity are resentful of richness. This is a very pitiable state. Such austerity is not born out of maturity but out of compulsion. The true austerity has tolerance for richness and is never resentful. In fact, one who is mature will have pity for one who is not austere. Austerity is not against celebration and just vanity is not celebration. Celebration dawns in the spirit. Only one who is rich in spirit can practice austerity. One may be rich materially but if he is poor in spirit he can neither celebrate nor evolve. Poverty of spirit is vanity. Austerity brings freedom from the pride of vanity. But taking pride in austerity is again a vanity ! Austerity comes out of abundance, and austerity brings abundance. If you feel a lack in any area of life, immediately start austerity. Austerity not only brings freedom but nurtures sharing and caring. JAI GURU DEV

ImportantAnd Unimportant

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Important & Unimportant So many people are stuck with what is "important". Why do you always have to do only that which is important? Most people are caught up thinking about what is important.For something to be important, there need to be many things that are unimportant. So you cannot eliminate unimportant things. It is important to have unimportant things to make something else important. (Laughter.) Things are either themselves important or they make other things important. So that means everything is important, and. everything is unimportant.When you realize this fact you become choiceless.When you say something is important you are limiting your vastness.

A journalist asked me, "Why is it important to breathe?" "Why is it important to be happy?" "Why is it important to have peace?" These questions are not relevant at all. Why should you always look for what is important? Something that is unimportant can contribute to something that is important. And what is important and unimportant changes with time and space. Food is important when you are hungry and unimportant when you are full.When something is inevitable you don't categorize it as important or unimportant. It is beyond choice.

"Everything is important" is karma yoga. "Nothing is important" is deep meditation.

- Sri Sri

Jai Guru Dev

The Power Of Gratitude

The Power of Gratitude---

Sri Sri Ravishankar

The Deccan Herald, Jan.11 - 2010

Beauty has many aspects. Gratefulness is one such aspect of beauty. When you don’t feel a sense of lack, then you feel grateful. You cannot be grateful and feel lack. The two cannot co-exist.When you feel lack, grumbling begins from some corner. If you are grumbling, the negativity will increase. For those who do not have this knowledge, there is no way out of their grumblings, because once they start grumbling, they keep grumbling throughout their life. They feel some lack today and tomorrow they feel something else is lacking. There is no end to it. It is then that demand arises and when demand arises, your mind doesn’t think clearly, doesn’t focus clearly, doesn’t function properly; and naturally you tend to lose everything.That is why Jesus said, "Those who have will be given more; as for those who do not have; even what they have will be taken from them."

If you are grateful, more things will flow to you. And when you complain and grumble, even what little joy, peace or love you have come into this world with, will be lost. This is the law of nature.This explains why grandmothers in India have a habit of saying, "Everything is full." If something is less than full, or empty, they never say, "This is empty, we don’t have this." They will say, "We have a lot of this."Not having is just an attitude in you; it’s the direction you are moving in. You sow the seeds and they grow; they become plenty. If the seed itself is a seed of lack, only lack will grow. Open your eyes and see what you have been given! When you recognise through this knowledge what you have been given, then you become grateful. In that gratefulness, everything grows, life grows.Similarly if you just concentrate on lack, lack will grow because you feel lack.Love is at its peak when there is no demand, no craving for it. Whomsoever you love, first of all know that they love you very much. If you doubt in somebody’s love, then no matter however or whatever, you receive from him or her, your doubt grows. If you want to be close to someone, first begin to feel that they are already close to you. Whenever you ask people whether they trust you, you already doubt their trust. You grow in doubt. There is no limit to it - there is no end to being convinced of someone’s love for you, someone’s trust in you.Gratefulness comes with knowledge. Knowledge that the divine loves and cares for you, that is why he created this beautiful universe. Feel grateful about whatever nature has bestowed upon you. Have faith that this entire creation loves you. When you have faith, life becomes full. And in that faith, there is knowledge, there is opening, there is joy, there is beauty.

Why did Communism flop? It was a great policy which said -‘those who do not have, give to them’. So, it gave them. But then what happened? Yet, the nation a whole became poorer and poorer, even on the material plane. Because the whole consciousness was flooded with a sense of lack.

Without knowledge, without the wisdom, there is no progress; and even the most beautiful gifts in life, turn ugly.

Be grateful and see how everything flows to you.

Jai Gurudev.

A Long Deep Breath

A Long, Deep Breath---

Sri Sri Ravishankar.

Only a healthy bud can blossom and only a healthy being can succeed.So what is being healthy? If you are feeling rough inside, then you are not healthy. If your mind is stiff and not calm, you are not mentally healthy. When the emotions are rough, you are emotionally not healthy.To attain a perfect state of health, one has to remain mentally calm, steady, and emotionally soft. The state of health has to flow from the innermost of your being to the outermost, and vice versa. That state is called swaasthya in Sanskrit.Swaasthya means health. It also means being in one's self. Ancient people said that we exist in five sheaths. The first is the environment, the atmosphere. It is the prime body. Then there is the physical body.Then prana, that is the life force energy. Then there is the mental sheath - that has the thoughts, emotions and ideas. There is also the intuitive body , the instinct, with gut feeling. It is much more subtle in nature and effective.When an illness arises, it comes first in the thought form, then the sound form, and then it manifests in the light form or in the aura. It is only then that the illness manifests in the body.So how do we bring good health to our system? First of all, find out for yourself whether you are healthy. Health is (having) a disease-free body, a quiver-free breath, a stress-free mind, an inhibition-free intellect, an obsession-free memory, an ego that includes all and a soul that is free from sorrow.The holistic approach of wellbeing includes exercise, breathing and meditation. Breath is synonymous to life. If your breath is hot, quivery, shaky, not straight, not easy, you can predict that you will be sick. The main purpose of meditation, pranayama and related breathing practices, is that they increase prana or the subtle life energy. When you are able to handle breath, body gains good health.If you observe infants, you will be amazed at how balanced their breath is. As they breathe in, their belly comes out and as they breathe out, their belly moves in.But the more nervous and tense you are, you will do the reverse. When you breathe out your tummy will come out and when you breathe in, it goes in. But as we grow, we tend to lose this natural rhythm with which we are born. By attending to our breath, we can regain that balance.Breathing is the first act of life and its the last act of life. In between, the whole life we are breathing in and out, but not attending to the breath.Ninety per cent of the impurities in the body go out through the breath because we are breathing 24 hours a day. However, we are using only 30% of our lung capacity. We are not breathing enough.The mind is like a kite and the breath, a thread. For the mind to go high the breath needs to be longer. Your breath gives enormous energy and it also helps in increasing the prana, ie, the life force energy. There are four types of energy - energy from food, energy from sleep, energy through breath - that you can learn through the breathing exercises which will energise every cell of the body.And then, a few moments of pleasant mind through meditation give a lot of energy. All these are important for our overall wellbeing. The immune system can be boosted by attending to the breath and by attending to the breath you can easily handle your mind as well.

Jai Gurudev

Living The Mystery Of Life!!

Living the Mystery of Life---

Sri Sri Ravishankar.

If you want to lead a life full of joy and happiness, forget the past, worry less about the future and live in the present.What is the purpose of knowledge? Purpose of knowledge is to make you feel that you dont know! If knowledge makes you feel that you know it all, then it has not fulfiled its goal. The more you know, the more you become aware of the unknown.There is one I dont know that comes out of ignorance. But when one goes through knowledge then it becomes a transformed “I dont know. " This I dont know is wonderful. This is how you can turn every question into a wonder. The difference between a wonder and a question is that a question is associated with sorrow and restlessness whereas wonder is an expression of joy.The purpose of knowledge is to create awareness of the Being. This creation is enormous and infinite. It is a mystery. Mysteries are not to be understood but to be lived. Love is a mystery, sleep is a mystery, your mind is a mystery and all that you see around is a mystery. Your life is also a mystery. Trying to understand mystery is confusion, but living it fully is called enlightenment.What is your life? In the time scale, millions of years have passed and millions will come in the future. After all, how many years are you going to be here on this planet? Maybe 60 years, 70 years or 100 years? Your span of life is insignificant. It is not even a drop in the ocean. In terms of space you simply dont exist! This understanding dissolves the ego. Ego is ignorance of your reality, ignorance of your existence. Just open your eyes and see, who are you? How are you on this planet? This brings awareness and then you do not worry about small things like, this person said this thing to me and how could he do that to me, etc. You will see that all the smallness will simply drop away.Ignorance has its necessity. Ignorance keeps the joy in the game. In a game if you know the result before you are playing you wont be playing sincerely. If you know whether you are going to win or lose the game there is no charm in playing. The game is joyful when its results are unknown. Nature is so kind and loving that it does not tell you about your future and does not remind you of your very old past. But, even with the short little memory it has given, you try hard to make your life miserable!Have you noticed that the mind is not at all stable; it is like a roller coaster, crowded with thoughts going up and down. This is because you want to know all the time. You try your level best to understand your feelings and your emotions and get into more and more confusion. This is what has happened with psychology today. It tries to explain to you why you feel the way you feel. The question why arises always when you are unhappy. Nobody ever asks, why am I so happy? or why is there so much joy and beauty in the world? Everyone wants to understand, why am I not feeling good? or why this pain is given to me? The more you try to understand and try to dig it; you seem to understand it less and less. The mystery deepens and there is just an illusion that you know all. But thats for a short while.Just be in the innocent state of I dont know! and you will feel the mind becoming quiet. This makes life simple.

This life is a beautiful mystery. Just live it! It is only when you live the mystery of life that joy dawns.

Jai Gurudev.

Atheism

Atheism is when one does not believe either in values or in the abstract. When an atheist comes to the Guru, what happens? You start experiencing your own form and discover that you are indeed formless, hollow and empty. And this abstract non-form in you becomes more and more concrete!!! The guru makes the abstract more real and what you thought as solid appears to be more unreal. Sensitivity and subtlety dawns. Perception of love, not as an emotion, but as the substratum of existence becomes evident. The formless spirit shines through every form in creation and mystery of life deepens, shattering the atheism. Then the journey begins and it has four stages. The first stage is Saarupya (to see the formless in the form) Ö Seeing God in all the forms. Often, one feels more comfortable to see God as formless rather than with a form, because with a form, one feels a distance, a duality, a fear of rejection and other limitations. In life all of our interactions are with the form, other than in deep sleep and in Samadhi. And, if you do not see God in the form, then the waking part of life remains devoid of the Divine. All those who accept God to be formless use symbols, and perhaps love the symbols more than God himself! If God comes and tells a Christian to leave the cross or a Muslim to drop the crescent, perhaps he may not do it! To begin with loving the formless is possible only through forms. The second stage is Saamipya (closeness) Ö feeling absolutely close to the form you have chosen and reaching out to the formless. This leads to a sense of intimacy with the whole creation. In this stage, one overcomes the fear of rejection and other fears. But this is time and space bound. The third stage is Saanidhya - feeling the presence of the Divine by which you transcend the limitations of time and space. Then the final stage Ö Saayujya Ö is when you are firmly entrenched with the Divine. It is then you realize you are one with the Divine. There is a total merging with the Beloved and all duality disappears. THIS IS THAT AND THAT IS THIS.

Jai Gurudev.

Self Confidence And Ambition

Ambition indicates lack of self-confidence! When you know you can achieve something easily, you are not ambitious about it. You are simply confident about it. Your ambition indicates challenge and uncertainty, which is contrary to self-confidence. So one you have total self-confidence you cannot be ambitious!! At the same time a person who lacks total self-confidence cannot be ambitious either!! For ambition to be, one must have a little bit of confidence and total ignorance of the Self. It is next to impossible to have total confidence without Self-knowledge. With the knowledge of the Self, there is nothing left to achieve, for the entire nature of existence is mere play and display of one's own consciousness. People take pride in being ambitious. The wise man will only smile at them. Ambition can never be for something you know you can achieve effortlessly. You can only be ambitious about something for which you have to put effort, which poses a challenge and of which you are not even certain you will be able to achieve or not. Moreover it takes away the joy of the moment. With the Self-knowledge nothing is challenging to you, nor you need to put any effort. Nature is ready to fulfill your intention even before they arise, giving you no chance to crave or desire. Nature does not allow the wise to have a desire (ambition), and the unwise to fulfill or get rid of the desire (ambition). Do you still want to be ambitious ? Or is your only ambition is to get rid of ambition !! (Laughter)

Jai Gurudev.

We Must Practise Meditation Regularly Why????

Every cell in the body has the capacity to hold infinity. While a worm also eats and sleeps and wakes and performs its daily activities, there is no point in living like that. We must tap the full potential that nature has bestowed on us, the potential to hold infinity in every cell of the body. For that we must practise meditation regularly. ( Refer 4 different states of Samadhi / meditation - Sri Sri )It only takes few minutes every day. And once imbibed into the daily routine, meditation is no more a burden or a chore. Meditation is like a seed. The better a seed is cultivated, the more it flourishes. Similarly, the more we practise meditation, the better it cultures the entire nervous system and the body. Our physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with ``prana''. And as the level of ``prana'' in the body rises, we bubble with joy. The culturing of meditation into our system is normal. Some people call it the higher state of consciousness, I call it the normal state of consciousness since we are endowed with the ability to live in that state. Meditation helps in two ways : 1 : It prevents stress from getting into the system and simultaneously helps release already accumulated stress. 2 : Regular meditation also leads to happiness and fulfillment; to sensitisation of the sensory organs (thereby intensifying the experiences of seeing, tasting, feeling, etc.); and to greater intuitiveness. With the assimilation of meditation into daily life, the fifth state of consciousness, called cosmic consciousness, dawns.Cosmic consciousness is perceiving the whole cosmos as part of oneself. When we perceive the world as a part of us, love flows strongly between the world and us. (Love again is not an emotion but a state of being. It is not a melodrama expressed by endearments but our very existence.) This love empowers us to bear with the opposing forces and the disturbances in our lives. Anger and disappointments become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish. Usually we tend to let go of pleasant emotions and cling to the unpleasant ones; 99 percent of the world population is prone to doing this. But when the consciousness becomes free and cultured with meditation, this tendency of holding onto negative emotions is the first thing to disappear. We start living in ``the moment'' and let go of ``the past''. This is important because no matter how good the people we interact with, there are bound to be misunderstandings in any relationship. Once a little misunderstanding crops up, our emotions get distorted and a host of negativities follow. But if we are able to let go and focus on the ability of consciousness to revel in the glory of every moment, we are shielded from all the above. The truth that every moment is supportive and complimentary to our growth dawns on us. Thus, attaining higher states of consciousness does not require any complicated strategisation; one just needs to learn to let go. A person in a higher state of consciousness is expected to know everything. But while the mind and the consciousness possess the ability to know everything, do they really need to know everything? All knowing'' simply means being conscious of the essence of all you know. In this state, both knowledge and ignorance co-exist and complement each other. For instance, while playing a game, it is not knowing the result beforehand that makes the game sincere and fun. If one knew the result even while playing, the players (and the game) would lose their intensity. Similarly, if you know that a friend is going to let you down in ten years' time, it will affect your relationship with that person today. If everything in life progresses smoothly and as per plan, life won't be fun. After all, the fun of a story is in its suspense. And anyway, what is the big deal about this one life? Just 60-80 years? It is nothing. You have had many such comings into this world, inhabited many bodies, done many things. One life is negligible. When you realise this, little things will cease to bother you. Every up and down in life makes this play of life more interesting. When you open yourself to the consciousness in any particular moment, you perceive the innumerable activities taking place in the universe in that very moment â” people are waking, sleeping, preparing for bed, driving, working; chicken are hatching, frogs croaking, virus and bacteria are infecting people and zillions of things are happening in that one moment in this infinite creation and yet the consciousness knows everything. Deep inside, each person knows about everything in this world. This knowledge is present in every person. You are a part of this whole phenomenon. As your consciousness opens and the whole system gets physically, mentally and spiritually elevated, your life becomes worth living. A higher state of consciousness will not drop on your head from heaven one fine morning. The sapling of consciousness is within you and it needs to be nurtured with simple techniques of meditation. Some palm trees yield in three years, some in ten years. And those that are not nurtured never yield! They simply exist... The confluence of knowledge, understanding and practise makes life complete. When you grow into higher states of consciousness, you find that you are no longer thrown off balance by different situations and disturbances. You become beautiful yet and a, delicate and beautiful blossom capable of accommodating different values in life without any conditions. 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