Turn down the volume...

An Advertisement shows Ranbir Kapoor asking the tele-viewers to do, this diwali, something never done before! That is turn down the volume by avoiding noisy crackers. I feel so proud that I have been doing this since last 14 years.

It makes an economic "non-sense" to buy noisy crackers and burn them down in matter of seconds. Now-a-days you can hardly buy any good crackers in Rs.1000/-. And what ever you buy in that amount can be burnt down in just two minutes. Wooooooshhhh... You money worth thousand rupees just vanishes in thin air... that too polluting it, making the air difficult, for the people with respiratory problems, to breath.

It happened exactly 14 years ago, when my dad had to sit at home because of the lock-out at the company dad worked at. No salary for one month. That too during diwali. We had to face very dire circumstances. My family had to live life with a very tight fist that month. Even the daily newspaper had to be stopped. That diwali, I decided not to buy any crackers, The money that had been kept aside for crackers, I used it to buy clothes. And asked dad to save the money that was to be spent on clothes to keep the family-fire burning. It was my first lesson on austerity. That diwali taught me a very precious lesson. You do not need riches to enjoy the moment. In fact, One needs nothing to enjoy the very moment. Because joy is the very essence of the moment.

Since then I have celebrated every Diwali by buying new gadgets, clothes, games CD etc. etc. but not the crackers. They simply cause noise and sound pollution. Its up to you to choose wisely what to do? Diwali is the festival of lights and celebration. Not a festival of cacophony and suffocation! If I can celebrate 14 Diwali's without bursting crackers. So can anyone! Finally its your decision... Isn't it?

Jai Gurudev.

Conquering my fears!

An incident that happened with me on Sunday made me realise that FEAR per se is an illusion. It is what we cook-up in our mental kitchen. I swim regularly but in 1.5 meter dept of the pool. The deepest end of the pool is 2.0meters. That's were my feet do not touch the pool floor. I had a big mental block of going to the deep end. In the pool I swim the majority of the crowd is at the shallow end (1m. deep) And at the deepest end there are hardly 2 to 3 swimmers. So I always wished to reach that end one day. Yesterday was the day! My friend, Nikhil, coaxed me towards the deep end. I mustered great courage and moved forward. The experience after reaching the deep end without breathing-in the water was ABSOLUTELY EXHILARATING!!! Its true that Dharr se age badho, Dharr ke age Jeet hai! (Move beyond fear, Success lies beyond fear.) I have a goal of completing 4000 meters of freestyle swimming in one shot. And conquering the primal fear has helped me move ahead towards completing the goal. If any one of you (readers) are interested in knowing the techniques or tips on swimming then you can mail me at the address given in the Mail Me section (on the right-side of the blog). Jai Gurudev!

Swimming with Intensity?!?

Have you ever done swimming with intensity? Well, I just did it... On Aug 2, 09 I participated in the picnic to a water resort near Ambernath. My love with water is unparalleled. I can even make out the proximity of the water body just by smelling it. I'm not kidding!! When we reached the water resort, we first did our long kriya in a nice cool open-hall. After kriya we had a swift breakfast. Everyone was eager to take a plunge in water. After a hot cuppa coffee, everyone got into their swimming clothes and started entering the pool. Most were crazy to enjoy the thrill of the water slides. Some wallowed in the other pool. I have no problem with water or staying in water except that I didn't know to swim then. We also had company of Savita di. Before entering in water she said how each volunteer should become. She said that if bawa tells us to take a course in Andaman, you should not hesitate a bit by thinking how to go there, how to take a course in Andaman, in the midst of the ocean! That was actually the seed of my intensity! I entered in the pool only due to one reason. It was shallow enough for me to stand in pool. I played in the pool, checked out the water slide by slipping down over them, did all that the resort had to offer. Then while in the pool, I firmly decided that I will join swimming class ASAP!! I came out of water just before Lunch. Lunch was a gastronomic delight! It was the best buffet lunch I had. Everyone savored the scrumptious Lunch. Especially because everyone was famished after so much of fun in water. After I came home, I declared my intentions to my parents. Father's expression was like; OK Finally you want to learn it, good. Its still not late! Then I joined Yash Gymkhana. Most people who knew to survive in water told me that I should have joined KDMC Swimming Pool. But I do not repent my decision. It's ultimately a municipal property, who knows how the coach will be. Well, At least in Yash, I (and Aman) have a good instructor. At first, I thought 45 min. in pool would be too short time for practice. But the Leg exercises in pool made me change my opinion. For the first four days, I was completely exhausted when I came out of the pool. But I entered the pool with the undying intensity. I practiced with passion. Although my legs were aching, I continued with the leg work. Then on the fifth day, I untied the safety float off my back and checked out if I could still propel myself in water? VIOLA! EUREKA! Om Namah Shivaya! I was moving ahead!! But there is still along way to go, because I was practicing without the float in the shallowest end of the pool. I still have to learn it completely! Very soon, I will be fulfilling my dream of swimming like a pro! All with the grace of the master ;-) Very soon

Q n A with Guruji

Dear Ones. Jai Gurudev.These are amazing. Q: Why do we feel that something is lacking inspite of having everything? Sri Sri:Thats lack of knowledge. If you have knowledge and love, you won't feel any lackings in life. Q: Guruji in one of your books you have said that "God is an illusion",how? Sri Sri:I have never said "God is an illusion", I said "Surrender is an illusion", because anything you surrender anyway belongs to HIM only. Where is publication department?( Huge Laughter) Q: How can we give in our 100%? Sri Sri:Meditation is deep relaxation. 100% activity precedes or follows meditation. Q: When you know maya is an illusion, does it cease to exist? Sri Sri:A. Is your question a reality or an illusion. Q: What is truth? What is love? Sri Sri:Truth is that which does not change. To know what is truth, you need to go through all that is not true. So, all that changes is not truth. Life is a quest to find what is truth, don't be in a hurry. Truth can be realized in deep meditation and love is truth. They are two sides of the same coin. In short, truth is that which never changes and love is that which is undescribable. Q: Beloved Guruji, this course is so wonderful. How can I keep this wonderful state at home? Sri Sri: Don't try to hold on to the state of mind. Integrate wisdom in day to day life. Sometimes up & sometimes down. They'll come & they'll go. Q: Don't you get tired of wearing white all the time? Sri Sri: No. Because I am colourful myself! Isn't it? Q:. Dear Guruji, What to tell people at home who are very suspicious of what I am doing here? Sri Sri: When you go back give them gifts, show them all the nice pictures, give them a big smile. The depth of silence, the depth of meditation no one can know unless one has experienced himself. What beautiful wealth we all possess in our Self, that we have not explored. Every human being can go into that depth of meditation. That little experience, little skill to do that is missing. We are so fortunate to go into such stillness within ourselves. Q: How do I free myself of old & boring patterns in life? Sri Sri: The more whiter the cloth is, a small dot stands out. As you move into unconditional love, small imperfections in you become unbearable. The small moods of the mind can't touch the Self. Q: How many people are there in the world right now? (Question not complete...) Sri Sri: Tell me how many hairs you have on your head! There is no count. There may be few teachers. Knowledge is hidden in everyone like rice is hidden in paddy. Every child comes into the world with that innocence. We have to remove these outer veils, curtains that have been put on our mind.. Q: Missed the question. Sri Sri: When a baby tastes sweet, it wants to taste sweet all the time. It wants it again. You don't need to do anything too much. Only as much as is necessary. Q: I want to go deep in Meditation. What can I do? Sri Sri: This is an old question. You have already gone deeper. Q: Today my Seva was garbage cleaning & all I found was Paradise! When are you going to give me a proper job? Sri Sri: I don't have a job myself! Okay. Smile at everybody. Every morning give yourself a smile, come what may. Smile more. Take life easily. All will be provided. It's happening, no? Our prayer, meditation has such an impact, such an effect,that things happen before you desire. You need to strengthen yourself in Knowledge. Three types of peace are needed: First is material peace. If there is fighting around you, you cannot sit and stay peaceful. You need peace in your environment; Second you need peace in the body, in the mind. Third thing is peace in the soul. You may have peace in the atmosphere, you may have health in the body, to an extent peace in the mind, but if the soul is restless, nothing can comfort. So that peace is also essential. Only when all the three types of peace are there, can peace be complete; without one the other is not complete. So that which gives rest from all the three angles - physical, mental and spiritual, is ratri. And Shivratri is transcendental Divine consciousness, which brings solace to all layers of consciousness. Shivratri is where the shiv tatva and the shakti become one. Like mind, like memory, like intellect, Shiva is also a tatva. Shivratri is auspicious because it is more alive in the environment. That's why you don't sleep in the night, people say to be awake". Q: Lately I have begun to enjoy silence a lot. I feel like being silent all the time. Is this right? Sri Sri: It is alright for sometime. You can meditate and keep silence for sometime during the day, but not always! Q: Why do we come behind you like the mice ran behind the pied piper? Sri Sri: That's what I wonder too! [Looking behind Him] Anyway, there is no one behind me, all of you are sitting in front of me! We keep everyone in front of us and we push them forward! I am behind you! Q: There is a saying that even if God grants a boon, the priest denies it. Why is this so? Sri Sri: Mmm...so that you become the priest? What is the priest's role? He is the middleman between you and God. Why do you need a middleman? You deal with God directly. Maybe this is the reason why..... Q: After seeing you, I don't feel like going to temples to worship the idols. Sri Sri: It is okay....initially we need forms to worship and we gradually move towards worshiping the formless. The Divine is present everywhere. Q: What is the meaning of "So Hum" ? Sri Sri: What is the meaning of a seed? It means the whole tree, the roots, the leaves, the fruits, the flowers etc. Similarly the meaning of the mantra is everything in life, the tree of life. Q: I used to suffer from depression. After doing the course, I have become enthusiastic about life. I too have desires now to dress up and live life like others. Are these desires going to be obstacles for spirituality? Sri Sri: If you want to dress up for yourself it is fine. But if you want to do it because others are doing it, then... Why do you have to compare yourself with others? You do whatever you have to do. Q: Parents often complain that the youths who come to ashrams are brainwashed. They lose interest in their careers etc Sri Sri: If you are talking about other ashrams, I don't know! It is better that the youth get into satsangs and meditations rather than negative habits like drugs, drinking etc, isn't it? At least here they are on a positive track. Q: Both cows & buffaloes give us milk. But only the cows are worshipped. Why is this? Sri Sri: That is a good question! Maybe because when you worship, the one being worshipped should realize that they're being worshiped! You know, buffaloes are a little slow in realizing it. Maybe that's why! You know, when we worship, we do it for ourselves not for the one being worshiped. When we worship someone, we want them to know that we are worshiping them. That's why we see that there are no temples for Brahma. He is the creator. His job is completed. So nobody bothers worshiping Him. Vishnu is the maintainer, His work is still going on; that's why we worship Him! And we're scared of Shiva, after all He is the destroyer so we worship Him also! Q: I have been chanting Vishnu Sahasranaama from quite some time. But lately, I feel sleepy while chanting it. What to do? Sri Sri: Don't worry, He also sleeps! Q: What is more important: intelligence or innocence? Sri Sri: Both are important. Why do you want to choose one over the other? Q: What is life? What is death? What, if any, are the similarities between them? Sri Sri: What is life? You are finding out now. What is death? You will find out in the future; you will not miss it! And when you know both, you can compare and find out the differences or similarities between them! Q: I need to believe in a God. But I need some miracles as proof in order to believe. Sri Sri: Just look around! Everything is a miracle! A seed sprouts and grows into a huge tree. Is that not a miracle? When I was visiting Chennai last year, they brought a little boy who was born deaf. I just tapped him on his head and he started making noises. The next day, they brought 20 boys! Now, miracles happen naturally, and spontaneously. It cannot be forced. When everything falls in place, miracles happen on their own. Q: What is the difference between Veda and Vedanta? Sri Sri: Veda is knowledge. Vedanta is the end of knowledge, the ultimate knowledge. (He spoke more on this, but I can't remember all that He said.)

To B'lore with Eunuchs!

Travelling in the Indian trains and not pestered by the "Chakkas" or the Eunuchs is quite impossible to think. Well, that happened actually in the train I took to bangalore. In the partition next to ours were a family of Eunuchs travelling from Mumbai to Bangalore with reserved tickets. When ever any Eunuch would barge in the train to get some alms they would squeal with joy when they would see "Apne biradari ke log" (poeple of our kind). They would sit with their mates and spend time chit-chatting. These gate crashers would then ask a tea vendor to pour out a couple of cups for their travelling friends! The travelling eunuchs would have it free of charge.

Moreover people travelling with them got a chance to interact with them and listen to their stories. Their lives are nothing less than a challenge, momen to moment. But there are few advantages they have that ordinary people do not have! When I overheard their conversation, then I just felt that they too are human. What if our guru's knowledge touches them. Will that be able to bring change in their lives. Or is it only for the "normal" people like us? Nahh.. They too are taken care of!!

A Single point

It is amazing about the way a profound knowledge points hits you. And trust me, it hits hard! But it does not come for those who just sit idle in its anticipation. Some work has to be done to "earn" it. A simple yet profound knowledge point(kp) hit me today during lunch. The KP that I always follow is Living in the present moment. Every time I remind myself this one point and relish every moment I live! Yesterday, a YES!+ Teacher, Ambarish was sharing a dialogue from a Bollywood film, Chandani chowk to china. It was something like this, "It is not the 1000 techniques which you know that bothers me. It is the one technique that you have practiced 1000 times that bothers me" On the similar line I realized a KP. It goes like this:

It is not the thousand knowledge points that one has learn't that matters. What matters is the single knowledge point that one has lived a thousand times!

I was super elated after realizing this! O.A.K.

Promise Delivered albeit delayed!

I had promised long back that I will strike back in the blogosphere with loads of new things. But I found myself actually with loads of work. On the eve of the day when I planned to start writing blogs, I found a msg lying in my inbox. I never knew that the msg would take me to Moradabad, UP, India. Well, the trip started with an absolute indecisiveness. The train we (Anita, Yogita and me) boarded was Dadar Amritsar Exp. but it was nothing less than the mumbai locomotives, packed to its brim! We had decided to return home if it was not for a pot bellied TTE, who encouraged us to travel in the train with a wait listed (unconfirmed) ticket! And the journey continued and we reached Moradabad! At Moradabad, we took up the task of organising a huge satsang of 7,000 people in Moradabad's Railway Stadium. It was the first mega event for Moradabad-ians! During the work I witnessed countless miracles, unbelievable feats of marvel, North Indian delicacies, Time spent with Rishi Nityapragyaji! and People with a huge heart. The volunteers there treated us in a very royal way! I always wondered, whenever some swamiji or rishiji would talk about the miracles they experienced, whether they were true? But now, after a stint in Moradabad, I will agree to their last word. It is 100% true that when you do the work for divine, divine takes care of you! Make no mistake about it!!! After returning home on Guruji's B'day (May 13), I was occupied constantly in some work, that kept me tied. So today, taking out time from my busy schedule, I decide to pour out some words on the blog. One more nice thing happened with me! A few days before returning back to mumbai, I decided to meet my li'll cousin sis, in New Delhi, whom I did not see for last eight years! She asked me to join Facebook, yet another social networking (socnet)site. I actually spend less time on such social networking sites. But on her behest, I did join. But to my surprise, I found that lots of YES!+ youth religiously use facebook as an online communication tool! I then found that I was spending around 2 hours a day on facebook adding them to my friends list. Well, Now I understand how such (socnet) helps in keeping people connected. Here's a link containing fotos of Moradabad! Copy paste the link below in your browser to view the album: Trip to moradabad! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=797&id=100000005163816&l=5aadba0725 O.A.K.

Yet... My mind was calm

For the first time in my life my pocket got picked by a professional PP (Pick pocket-er). All the five points of YES!+ were utilised yesterday. The day began early as I had the to appear for the last paper of third sem of MBA. It was the most boring subject of all for me; Human Resource Management. The first principle I applied was "Accept the situation as it is." I gave my 100% for the subject and got good score in the exam. (Exams are online hence score appears after the paper is submitted) Then I realized that I had given two commitments in evening at the same time. I had to miss one for the sake of other. One was the satsang with Harshal Bhaiyya and Rishi Vidhyadharji. And the other was a small, personal but important meet of 20 min with my YES!+ Teacher. I was in dilemma where to go. I realised "Opposite values are complimentary" One gained, other missed. Shortly, I got to know that the meet was not possible that evening. Then came the evening. The satsang was one of the best I ever experienced. The QnA of Rishiji was par excellence. While returning home from the mumbai local train, somebody made my pocket very light. For a moment I was shocked! This was one of the worst I ever experienced. Again "Opposite values are complimentary" Then other people in the train told me to get down and catch the PP. What a hell of an idea!?! As if the PP told me to meet me down on the platform! It would have been really stupid if I heeded their advice. So I didn't become "Football of their opinion". Then I thought why should I bother knowing who PP-ed my pocket. He's gone anyways. Even the money I lost could be regained soon. I then thought, Guruji always protects this loved one's. Now what happened? Why did guruji let this happen? Then a superb thought sprang in my mind. "Do not find intention behind guruji's style of work." Mysterious are the ways of the master, they say. Even after an eventful day, my mind was steady and calm. It was like, 'I got PP-ed, So-what?' A little "So-ham So-ham" and things are normal. After all this, I feel that I am so lucky that I have a master who really cares for me. All he wants from us is a GENUINE, True to heart, Smile! Well, If you are one of those who have not yet done the YES!+ course then, do not wait. Do it soon. The points above are explained along with a breathing technique named sudarshan kriya(TM) Do it ASAP because you die only once! Jai Gurudev O.A.K.

Message Monitor

That's what my guru make me realize every moment. Just few minutes back I used internet enabled messaging service to send Guruji's quote. Due to the limited character support, I had to change few lines. But guruji didn't want me to send edited text. Everytime I clicked "post" it would give error message. Then I found another quote that would fit within the limit. That was typed exactly as guruji said. Later when I clicked post it went off smoothly. I realized that guruji takes responsibility of every word he says. If anyone has typed wrong message that just does not work! Isn't it amazing how guru works? Jai gurudev O.A.K.

My childhood...

I recently received an email from my friend. After reading it, I started wondering how we have changed the way we live. I loved this mail so much that I decided to post it here. Following is the excerpt from the mail: How did one survive growing up in the 70's, 80's and 90's? We had no seat belts, no airbags and sitting in the back of a truck was a treat. Our baby prams had the most gorgeous lead based colors. No such thing as tamper proof bottle tops. Opening kitchen cupboards was a breeze as safety locks were unheard off. Cycling was like a breath of fresh air. No safety helmets, knee pads or elbow pads, with plenty of cardboards between spokes to make it sound like a motorbike. When thirsty we only drank tap water, bottled water was still a mystery. We kept busy collecting bits & pieces so we could build all sort of things and we were fearless on our bikes even when the brakes failed going downhill. We were showing off how tough we are, by how high we could climb trees & then jumping down…. It was great fun…. We could stay out to play for hours, as long as we got back before dark, in time for dinner… We walked to school, or sometimes we even rode our bike. We had no mobile phones, but we always managed to find each other…. How? No one knows… We rushed to help neighbors when they were in trouble, now we do not even know who stays in our neighborhood! We lost teeth, broke arms & legs, we got cuts and bruises and bloody noses, nobody complained as we had so much fun, it wasn't anybody's fault, only ours. We ate everything in sight, cakes, bread, chocolate, ice-cream, sweet sugary drinks, yet, we stayed skinny by fooling around. And if one of us was lucky to find a 1 litre coca cola bottle we all had a swag from it & guess what? Nobody picked up any germs. We did not have Play Stations, MP3, Nintendo's, I-Pods, Video games, 99 Cable TV channels, DVD's, Home Cinema, Mobile phones, Home Computers, Laptops, Chat-rooms, Internet, etc ... BUT, we had REAL FRIENDS and not the virtual friends or avatars!!!! The present generation may boast of the ultimate and real feel games, but we have played the real games in real environment and not in the virtual environment. We used to do summer job and earn pocket money to buy colas and ice candies. Now kids go to "Second life" or "Sim city" and earn virtual money to buy virtual merchandise. We called on friends to come out to play, never rang the doorbell, just went around the back… We loved being let loose in the big bad world…without bodyguards… We played with sticks and stones, played with the top and "vitti-dandu", doctors and nurses, hide and seek, soccer games, "Lagori" or the seven stones, over and over again… When we failed our exams we were given a second chance by simply repeating the same grade…without visiting psychiatrists, psychologists or counselors… Such were the days… We had freedom, success, disappointments and responsibilities. We lived it all. Most of all, we learned to respect others. Now I know why it is said "Old is Gold" Jai Gurudev O.A.K.

How the master saves you...

There are times when you want things to happen in a certain way. In simple terms, there are expectations! But the master has better plans for you. They may be good for you, even though you may not prefer it. Yesterday, I planned to go to the YES!+ course in kalyan to volunteer (assist the teachers). Also I had promised my friend to take him to the course on my bike. My friend, Krishnan, who sings fabulously at satsangs suddenly calls me up to come for a satsang to play guitar. Hmmm... What will happen if I do not play guitar at satsang, when we have a singer like Krishnan? I thought. I continued with my plan to go to the course venue. Then Krishnan calls me up again and says desperately, "Dost, I really need you badly for satsang. You please bring your guitar." OOOKKK!! I am still not sure why I agreed to him and detoured towards satsang. I asked my friend, reluctantly, go to the course venue by train. Everyone at satsang enjoyed, except me. My mind was at the course. All of a sudden a wave of thought entered my mind. I was to ride my bike all the way from dombivli to kalyan for the course. Anything could have happened! What if my friend and I met with an accident. There is one thing I learn't from this incident. There are no such thing as co-incidences. Everything is planned by the divine. I was destined to be at the satsang. My friend was destined to attend the long kriya. But anyone can fall prey to bad events anytime (depending upon their karmas). Guruji knows very well how, when, where to save you from a befalling calamity! You just need to trust the divine and keep doing the good work! Jai Gurudev! O.A.K.

Finally, Its over...

Haaa.. This is what probably the experience of mukti! I am talking about my MBA exams which I finally completed for this semester. Have you observed your state of mind after the last day of exam. Hardly anyone may feel unenthusiastic at that time! You sometimes just do not know what to do. There is so much excitement!!! If one can feel so ecstatic after a simple matter like examination gets over how much ecstasy may be in getting complete salvation or Mukti! I wonder. O.A.K.

Achieving the impossible??

"Hhhunhhhh..... That's impossible!" You might have heard this quote umpteen number of times in your life. Haven't you? Have you really questioned the impossibility? Especially when you start to do a good work there a zillion people all set to discourage you! They seem to pull you into the darkness of despair. What is the way out? Simple... Take a deep breath in... Connect to the divinity... and drop your worries knowing that divinity will take care. Now you may question how do we connect to divinity? Simplest way is to do an Art of Living Course. The harder way is to know that the creation is not different from the creator! and divinity is always ready to help you if your appeal is sincere. To tell you one example: There is a YES!+ course that would be starting from the 20th of November 2008 in Dombivli. 20th Nov is a very special date. Why??? The mahurath for marriage that ended in may, this year, has started from 20th till 29th of this month. And all the brides and grooms who were desperate to get married have booked every hall in town. Even the smallest hall built in Dombivli was booked for marriage. One hall proprietor ridiculed us by stating that our search would be futile as no one would offer us any hall and asked us to reconsider... changing the dates of the course. NO WAY I said in my mind. This course was already postponed as bawa was taking a big YES!+ in mumbai earlier this month and all the Dombivli teachers were busy assisting that course! We started with one hall we had in mind. Madhavashram Hall. We were told that hall was not availabe on sat. and sun. Rest of the days were available. So we had to look out for the "HOT" days (Sat. & Sun.) of marriage season. We (Ram and I) did not lose hope. Then suddenly a thought struck to my mind. I told ram why not check out schools and Mandir (Temple) halls. Most of them are not let out for marriage parties! But it was late in afternoon. We had to quieten the growling stomach. After lunch we started out on the "Hall-Hunt". Ram called one of our Basic course volunteer who gave us a list of few temple-halls. They were not halls in true sense. One was the Raghavendra swami vrindavan hall. We entered the temple and asked one person on the office counter about our requirement of the hall on saturday and sunday. He blindly said no. That the hall is not for any functions. We dejectedly came out of the temple. Then I told Ram that anyway we are not getting this temple hall, why not ask him once again that we are organizing a "dharmic" course which entails meditation and yoga! And we have come from art of living foundation! That did the trick! The old guy at the counter called a much younger fella named Guruprasad. Guruprasad seemed to know many of our teachers and also knew our master/guruji. He agreed to give us the hall provided there were no prior engagements with other party. By evening we got the confirmation that the hall was available for Sat. & Sun. We got the news of confirmation while walking on the road. We jumped, squealed, danced when we heared the good news! Wooww Now tell me what's impossible. It was once said by a saint, that if you deserve something, AND that "thing" does not exist in this universe... Then that "thing" will be specially created for you. Mark these words. They are true! That's why do not ask to god what you desire. Always ask what you deserve. Because you never know... What you deserve may be more than what you desire! Jai Gurudev! O.A.K.

A breath of life!

After an adventurous journey from Dombivli to Shirali and from shirali to Bangalore, I finally found the breath of life... An Internet connection. I must admit that I have become an Internet addict. But seriously, Internet provides such sophistication in life, that I find I absolutely indispensable! Another breath of life was the visit to shirali math. An ashram for chitrapur saraswat bhramins (CSB). Its the community I belong to! It is a very tiny community with just 22,000 CSB's spread all over the world. Yes! Only 22,000 people left in my community. Just like Parsi community, ours too is a very small and conservative community. Most of the chitrapurs, also addressed as "bhanaps" are well placed in the various fields, living in complete abundance of wealth. Around 2000 years back a clan of people used to live by the banks of river saraswati. Thats how our ancestors were named "saraswats". As the river started drying up the group started shifting towards south of india and settled mainly in the present day karwar and uttar kanara areas. The main language of saraswat bhramins is konkani. It is beautiful scriptless language. It initially had very close semblence to sanskrit. Even today the konkani vocablary uses some sanskrit words. Wisdom and scholarly trait runs in our blood. Our ancestors occupied highly coveted posts of treasurer and custodians, administrative ministries of the famous kings and queens. Even today, although there are very few CSBs left, most of the CSBs are holding high profile posts in various fields of study. SBs are also well know for their peaceful nature and Diplomatic & Political shrewdness. The diplomatic nature of the community has warded off many battles with mighty empires. I feel so proud to belong to the community that has always preserved the culture and tradition of the bhagwat dharma. Our community also has a lineage of swami or guruparampara. It is said that the parampara runs directly from the disciples of H.H. adi shankaracharya. And shirali is the place where the samadhi of all the gurus is kept. It is really beautiful place which reminds me of the Art of Living Ashram. When I saw it I felt it like a miniature AoL Ashram! It has got a lake, a yagnashala, goshala, a dining hall, meditation hall and the most important guruji's kutir. This math was built during the british days. Legend says that the East India Company had planned to build a huge camp in the surrounding area as it was a strategic location, hence had no intention to let our ancestors build the ashram. But one glance of our guru made the Queen take back her order! That's the might of divinity !!! The homa my family performed at the math was superb. Some of the pics are uploaded in the slide show! The most fortunate event was to see the "protector of our family" the Snake god, in shirali! It was said that Divine knowledge and wisdom was offered to our clan by the serpent of shiva called Ananta. Over the period their worship was neglected. And their stone statues were soon forgotten relics. But, this neglected attitude only invited the wrath of the snake lord. Soon the families started experiencing great difficulties. Then the swamiji asked us to start worshiping the snake idols again. This entailed some archeologial digging of the burried snake idols. But with the grace of the master it took only few weeks to find out snake dieties. And miraculously, the health, wealth and prosperity started welling up in our lives! The main temple of the serpent is found at Ananteshwara, Vitthal. This place is near Mangalore. We also had time to visit Honnavar Creek, Murudeshwar Shoreline & its famed Shiva temple & Idugunji Ganapati. Here is the slideshow of all the pics!Enjoy! Jai Gurudev! O.A.K.

Circuit: True Volunteer

Yesterday, I was watching "Munnabhai MBBS" on TV at dinner. In that movie the character of Circuit played by Arshad Warsi is really mind blowing. Looking at his dedication towards his "bhai" Munna, I felt that every volunteer in AoL should be like him.

In one scene it's shown that Munna is with all the Med. students in the dissection room. The Prof. is teaching students about dissection. But  the teacher is falked by the students and munna cannot see what's happening. Then the prof. rudicules him by asking him to get another body for himself to learn!

He immediately calls circuit and asks for a body. The reaction of circuit is worth noticing. Then Circuit says his famous line, "Ho jaayega bhai. Tension nahi lene ka bhai! Aapun hai na!!" (That will be taken care of, bro, take no tension. I'll take care of it) He quintessentially displays one golden sutra. Accept people(situation) as they(it) are(is)!

If every volunteer accepts the challenge the way circuit takes it, then the AoL work will be so superb. What do you say?

O.A.K

P.S. I have started a new blog on the tips & tricks of photography. Now a small puzzle. You need to find out the name of the blog I created for photography. After reaching that blog make sure you post the comments there. I am sure that a true photography enthusiast will find it out! 

QnA with Bawa-Dinesh

On Saptami of Navratri (6th Oct) all the yes!+ battalion gathered in Mahavira In Vishalakshi Mantap. Bawa & Dinesh were to meet all the yes!+ people. It was a pleasure meet. This was very hilarious session. Q.   What's the difference between a Rishi and a Swami. A. Rishi has a "She" in it, while swami has only "ME". Infact a married swami is called Rishi! Q. Why does bhav come into guruji? A. The divinity is there in guruji. Most of the time, divinity Bhaav khata hai, navratri mein bhav dikhta hai! It is said that when guruji comes into bhav at that time all the negative emotions and karmas are washed that instant. If you are meditating at the moment guruji gets bhav, then you can witness a huge shift within you! Some QnA that happened on the YES!+ & UTSAV courses: Q. Why is it that participants are discouraged from saying "I don't know" during the course? A. By saying "I don't know" you enter your comfort zone. You put on weight by eating more and not excersizing. And you say "I don't know how my weight increased?" It shows that you don't want to know how you put on weight. There are however certain questions that are nature's mystery. Like laws of karma!

More will be added soon...

Jai gurudev. O.A.K.

The Gardner in the mind.

A gardener sows the seed and waits... Waits for the seed to sprout. This will always happen provided there is enough water, proper soil, sufficient sunlight and air for the plant to grow. Can a gardener be impatient for the plant to grow ?? No! Every seed takes its own time to sprout. A coriander seed will sprout in a day or two. A coconut seed may take months! Gardener is aware of the requirement of every sapling he has sown. Same is the case with our mind. Every thought is a seed. The thought that comes in your mind right now will manifest sooner or later. This is called sankalpa. Every sankalpa like a seed manifest and takes its own time to manifest. Divinity know what is best for you and when to give you what you ask for, just like the gardener! Not only your actions effects your karmas, even your thought affects your karma! Sounds scary?? No need to worry. In fact this is a superb mechanism created by divinity! Let me ask you one question. Do you have a cell phone with you? I am sure that you did not have the cell phone 10 years back. But you might have always wished to have one. THAT is the seed of sankalpa. The cell phone that you are having with you right now is the manifestation of that sankalpa! Everything you do, everything you say, everything you think of is being recorded and is being manifested. That's why is said in narada bhakti sutra, Be aware of you actions, speech and feelings. Let me tell you a story; There was a little child, maybe 2 year old. It had learn't only one word "MAA" It would call everything MAA... Be it his dad or a wall clock or his toy. Once it happened that the child was playing in the kitchen near the fire. The kid lost the balance and was about to fall in the fire when the kid shouted "MAAAAAA....." His mom came running and saved the kid from falling into the fire. Then the kid realized that if he shouted MAA.., his mom would come running near him. So after sometime the kid shouted "MAA..." His mom did not appear! He shouted again, "MAAA..." A little louder this time. Again his mom didn't turn up. The kid went to his mom with a dismay on his face. Smilingly his mom said, "Son, You can't fool your mother! I know when you are in problem and when you are making mischief!" In the same way do not think that you can fool divinity or guruji. Guruji knows that you are doing every second. When you call for help is really genuine then divinity will come to your rescue without fail, no exceptions. But if you think you can fool the divinity, then you've had it!! This talk was given by a Maharaj from Rishikesh who invited by guruji for navratri. Jai Gurudev! O.A.K.

Bawa's Message

At every Navratri, Bawa & Dinesh meets the YES!+ Warriors. This time the agenda of the meet was to preserve mother nature. First and foremost thing to do is to stop eating people eating non veg food & promote vegetarianism. Bawa told us that a hotel in chandigarh (maybe pune, I m not sure) was converted into a Vegetarian hotel. It so happened that few people from YES!+ approached the hotel owner and asked him to stop making non-veg. dishes. He didn't listen. So the YES!+ group went to the hotel with 400+ people. They asked the hotel owner to give them veg food for all else they will just go away. The next day the hotel owner converted the hotel in to a veg. hotel! I also have an article about how non-veg diet has caused poverty, hunger and misery on this planet. It'll soon appear on this blog! Secondly, Start using cloth bags. We all know that plastics are non-bio-degradable. How far can we eschew plastic in our daily life. So instead of focusing our attention on banning plastics, start promoting cloth bags. Cloth bags are durable, can be washed and bio-degradable. When bawa was telling this I came up with an idea. There are so many villages where people want employment. If you can take an initiative to get the cloth bags stitched from those villagers you can get the cloth bags for as cheap as Rs.10/- per bag. You can also ask the shopkeepers to sell their products in these cloth bags. You can also get the logo of WAYE printed on it. A nice opportunity to become an entrepreneur! Next bawa told us to stop using Incandescent Light bulbs. If you are still using those bulbs then please start using CFL (Compact Flourescent Light) Bulbs. They save 80% energy. That means lower energy consumption. And lesser load-shedding! Lastly, Plant trees. Instead of just planting a tree and forgetting it, adopt a tree. Bawa has planted a tree and named it "Tarzan Batliwala" A research says that the amount of oxygen a human being intakes during its lifetime can be provided by just 16 trees. So for every person on this planet there should be at least 16 trees planted! There is a lot to talk about this plan. It will appear in the next post. Till then just ponder how you can contribute to the wellness of the society? And do not forget to take responsible action. Jai gurudev! O.A.K.

Back with a bang

This navratri at ashram was like a bang on the door. I mean, a loud bang that wakes you up from a deep slumber! Never in my life has it happened that five days of attending the Homas changed the way I lived my life. Many of my close friends will now unanimously agree that I have become more expressive since Navratri! Well, what magic does this Navratri behold?? Well, that's a mystery to be experienced!! The whole episode of experiencing the navratri at Bangalore ashram is like a bountiful blessing. I have some amazing experiences to share. The first experience started in the train. Our fellow passengers were a group from dharavi. While discussing our plans of hiring a rickshaw from the station, we were cautioned about the malicious intent of the rickshaw drivers! One from their group narrated how an ashram-ite was about to be robbed by the crooked-minded rick driver just when he saw guruji's photo in the ashramite's wallet and left him unscathed! We were about to change our plans when we hit upon a concrete idea. We planned to hire a tata sumo. When we reached Bangalore city Jn. we were famished. We came across a hotel where the prices seemed reasonable. We collected our food parcels and had food in the tata sumo which we hired. The sumo driver drove the vehicle so skillfully fast the we were at the gate of the ashram with in mere 50 min!! Then came the real challenge. Accomodation! Getting accomodation, during navratri, within the ashram premises is a daunting task. Soon our fears manifested. We were allocated "The Khoday's ". Khodays is around 4km far from the ashram area. Although there was shuttle service (Bus), it meant getting up early and be ready to catch the bus in the morning. Initially we were given Dormitary at khodays. It was a big hall with generous amount of ventilation(Read cold morning breeze). The bathrooms and toilets were 100 meters away from dorms. I just prayed that atleast we could be given rooms at khodays instead of dorms!!! Then a volunteer from ulhasnagar (Ashish) appeared. He collected our tags for the entry. We just hoped the we get upgraded. AND Lo Behold!!!! We were given rooms! Atleast we could spend nights in warmer rooms! The Pic below is the view of Khodays. ***************** Then came the most precious moment of my life... Meeting guruji personally. It was navami(ninth day) i.e. 8th Oct. We were, as usual, in masti mood. We were really desperate to meet guruji. Then a news wafted to us that guruji has left his kutir without his car. It meant HE was walking, meeting everyone! We (YES!+ Gang from dombivli and mulund) decided to maintain discipline. You might have heard guruji say umpteenth times... "Sit down. I will meet you all" We really did that, we sat on the path were guruji was to pass by without any commotion or chaos! We could see in distant our master was walking towards us. Where ever people made chaos guruji would move away quickly. In front of guruji were some security guards who were clearing the path. They saw our discipline and were really impressed and commented, " These kids have really maintained order" Guruji saw this and spent almost 5 min with us!!! We showed HIM Anatarag* pass. He took the pass and observed it for a minute. HE beamed and said, "Hey! you were the people who came at the Mumbai University na??" We all squealed with excitement. At mumbai university the crowd was so much that it was almost impossible to have a glimpse of guruji, but guruji knew that we were there to see HIM!!! HE later told us that we must always work in team and blessed us all by giving a "Taali" The moment he touched I felt like I was waiting for this moment for millions of lifetimes! ************** More experiences will soon be posted!! * Anantarang is a fun-filled musical event with songs, dance and blissful satsang with Krishnan Keshvan, Harshal Pulekar and Vishwas Bhaiyya. This event is organized by youth of YES!+ & WAYE. This event for which we sought blessings of guruji is on 25th of October 08, Saturday at Savitribai Phule Auditorium, Near BSNL Telephone Exchange, MIDC, Dombivli East 421202. The event will start 7:30 pm onwards. Donation amount for each pass is Rs.100/- This is going to be a very special event, so do come with all your friends! For enquiries and passes... [ Information withheld. Details will be soon published.] O.A.K.

Who's Priya Kalbag?

...my dad stood with "magazine-with-cover" in his hands and asked me, "Who is this Priya?". "Why is it written Priya Kalbag?"... *** It was during the Bangalore ashram YES!+ adv. course. Bau told us that the wonderful magazine like rishimukh is facing losses due to "under-subscription". He requested (Ordered, you can say) every participant to subscribe for the rishimukh. Some participants jumped ahead to collect the subscriptions. (I doubt whether they have subscribed the mag.!) They rambled all the books available, tore out the papers in all possible 2 dimensional quadrilaterals and started scribbling the details of the participants for the subscription. My earlier subscription was about to end so I decided to subscribe one for myself. I wrote my real name "Omkar Kalbag" with my real Residential address and handed over Rs.200/- to the volunteer. Today I got the magazine delivered by the postman. Dad received it while I was at office. When I reached home my dad stood with "magazine-with-cover" in his hands and asked me, "Who is this Priya?". "Why is it written Priya Kalbag?" I took the magazine cover and saw that instead of my name, it was printed "Priya Kalbag". I was stunned for a moment! Did any girl play stupid prank on me. My dad is a little orthodox in such matters. Then I remembered that i had subscribed for magazine at YES!+ adv. Course. There was such a chaos among the volunteers while getting details, someone might have goofed up my details and made Priya belong to "Kalbag" family! My dad and me were rolling with laughter later. Jai Gurudev! -- O.A.K. Tree