What's the value of your "Peace of Mind"??? Part I

Guruji has no need to test us, because he knows us very well. However, he puts us in such a position where we start doubting his divine existence? At times of trouble we pray hard, but prayers seem to be unheard by HIM. But no! HE is there to take care of even the silliest of the blunders we commit. The situation he puts us in always has a lifeboat. At anytime you feel you cannot handle it anymore, all you need to do is surrender. He takes care of the rest! That’s his “Role”. To make you realize that you are nothing without him. To make you realize that you are everything with him!


An incident that happened with me, yesterday, is just an example of what you just read above. I play guitar at Satsangs. One of the YES!+ teacher and close friend of mine, Ravi Kadam, asked me meet him at the Dombivli Station by 6:45pm so that we could go together for Satsang. The Satsang was at Kalyan, just two stations next to Dombivli. We both had train tickets and were waiting on the platform for the train. The slow train was so slow that, it seemed to take eternity to arrive. On the fast track, a train, “relatively empty” just passed by. Then a train arrived, “L'horrible: Ambernath Local”. It was so crowded that the ribs would have got crushed and our Bon Ami Ravi persuaded me to board the Ambernath Local.

The crowd was hostile. It was so much packed that even an ant would have found it difficult to pass through. And to my sheer craziness I boarded the train with my delicate piece of wood called guitar. The next challenge was to move from the one end of the door to the opposite end as the platform of Kalyan was to come on the other end. But my movement was restricted by the guitar I carried. I clutched my guitar with dear life. I made a barricade of flesh and bones to avoid the mindless people from throwing their obnoxious weight on the guitar. To my utter disappointment, I could not get down at Kalyan. I could not even move an inch forward. Then I decided to get down at the next station Vitthalwadi. But my fate had something else in store. The situation repeated. I moved partly towards the other end but could not get down. The train moved. Now I had to get down at Ulhasnagar. I prepared myself to get down at least at this station. Somehow, the divine grace (Read the Maddening crowd) managed to purge me out of the train. I almost tumbled out with my guitar.

The first thing I did after getting down at Ulhasnagar was to check the condition of the guitar, Any Torsioned “nuts”?... Sprained “neck”?... Cracks or ruptures on the body?... Any broken Strings?... NO!
But that had no effect on my boiling blood. In my mind, world war III had started. I already had some "problematic issues" with Ravi which I wanted to discuss and sort out with him. Frankly they were unresolved till that time. Over and above that, despite knowing that fact that the Kalyan local (The train which took eternity to arrive) would have deposited us directly to Kalyan, he took me on a hell ride in Ambernath local. My mind began to think how selfish Ravi was. He conveniently got down at Kalyan and left me in distress with my guitar. I knew he would not wait for me much and would walk off calmly as if nothing happened. My “Buttons” were pushed too deep!!!

I also knew Ravi would get anxious, a little, and would place a call. But my mind was not ready to hear his voice so soon. Enraged, I switched off my mobile. I crossed the bridge to the other end to go home. Yes, I did not want to go to Satsang now. So I got on the other platform and sat on the bench.

Now, I saw that my hand was almost trembling with anger. That very moment I realised that I was not being myself. I knew it was time to apply knowledge!... What I did then was amazing...

Part II

The world is not going to end in 2012

The reassuring voice dispelling fears of an apocalypse in that year brought a collective sigh of relief to the audience at the SMX convention center.
"We are going to see 2013, as good as 2012," declared international humanitarian leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The spiritual head of the UN-affiliated The Art of Living Foundation gave this assurance not as a prophet but as a social activist who has taught people of different traditions and faiths the "art of living" through techniques that calm the mind and instill self-confidence.

It was a question begging to be asked amidst the anxiety generated by cataclysmic changes in the earth, fanned by a viral marketing hype for an upcoming disaster movie called "2012" directed by Roland Emmerich.

Forecasts of this cataclysmic or transformative event are based mainly on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21 or 23, 2012, the so-called ancient Mayan calendar prophecy.

It is not a doomsday scenario but a new beginning in humanity's consciousness, explained Sri Sri, echoing what the modern-day Mayan elder, Guatemalan Chile Pixtun, has been saying about the prophecy.

"During this time, the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era," said the white-robed Indian teacher, a namesake of the popular Indian musician, called Sri Sri (meaning His Holiness) by his students.

"We are going to see a new consciousness developing, that of humanism," he told a small media group that he met before his public talk.

Unfounded fears

He recalled similar events in the past that stoked similar unfounded fears.

"Remember 1999, featuring the famous Nostradamus prediction? The second millennium came and the world is still existing."

"Remember the fall of communism? It took another 20 years to bring capitalism to collapse."

"Today, we live in a culture of caution and uncertainty of the times where banks can no longer be trusted. We live in a time when one's savings and livelihood can be wiped out overnight," he said.

He enjoined people to seek inner peace in the midst of a dynamic changing world, "to develop new attitudes and new ways of coping with the difficulties and hardships we are facing such as disasters, typhoons and flooding."

Ignorance creates problems

Saying that ignorance creates problems, Sri Sri travels to nearly 40 countries every year, committing to his role of "educating people, removing prejudice, teaching compassion."

Sri Sri was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2008, in recognition of his work in peacemaking and conflict resolution in such areas as Iraq, Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Cameroon.

Before coming to Manila for his second visit, he was in Bangkok, Thailand, to speak at a Unesco conference about the need to eliminate a major social disease—depression—indicated by the growing incidence of suicides and drug abuse.

He said he was visiting Manila to see for himself the trauma relief efforts of AoL's Philippine volunteers on the victims of the recent twin calamities of "Ondoy" and "Pepeng."

Trauma relief

Local AoL volunteers have teamed up with the Red Cross to provide not only food but also trauma relief workshops, called the Breath, Water, Sound program, for thousands of people in the evacuation centers. The course consists of breathing exercises and sound meditation with lots of drinking water (for detoxification) to help manage stress.

Volunteer Denise Celdran has conducted the course for 12 street children that Childhope street teachers had gathered at the Museo Pambata. She remarked that the children don't have the judgmental intellect that too much education can sometimes bring.

"They are open and accepting and treat everything as fun and games," she said.

Every Saturday, for two to four months, the kids ranging in age from 7 to 13, learn breathing exercises and meditation in addition to regular schoolwork conducted by the Childhope street teacher. They are taught how to still the mind and feel safe within themselves.

The children were presented to Sri Sri during his public talk. The street teacher reported how they have shown a remarkable transformation, particularly in attention span and attitude.

Major social disease

Sri Sri considers depression a major social disease. "Conflict and stress steal human satisfaction, " he said.

His approach places sustainable development and social uplift side by side with value education.

Through programs that help people rid themselves of stress and inspire them to see the bigger meaning of life, Sri Sri has been successful in making violent aggressors calmer, happier and less prone to destructive emotions.

People who came to listen to his public talk, called "Let Love Win," did not hear a lot of words being said but were treated instead to two hours of destressing into music and positive affirmations.

It was long enough for Sri Sri to make his point: Why worry about 2012


Courtesy: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091108-234915/No-apocalypse-in-2012-says-guru

Charging Cell phone battery... Wirelessly!!!

Imagine a situation... You are in the Express train, and your cell phone runs out of juice. You normally would set to find the Charging terminal in the train. But to my experience on years of traveling in the train, most of the charging points are "screwed up" and unusable. You then hop from bogie to bogie in search of a "perfect point". Finally, if luck is in your favor your phone gets refueld else you end up wondering how all the passengers seem to have chosen the very time to charge their cell when your cell is out cold?

There are many times in our lives when the cell phone is indicating low battery and we are desperately seeking a way to get the cell phone charged like a thirsty fella searching for a glass of water...

Very soon the "finding a charging point" would be a thing of the past. Enter the world of Wireless Charging.In near future you may just have to enable your bluetooth and pair it up with the "Recharger" Bluetooth. You Cell phone will be then ready to rock the world! That's quite like the stunt taken out from Sci-Fi Movie, you'll say! Well no...

The idea of wireless power transmission is not new. In 1899, Nikola Tesla wirelessly transmitted 100 million volts of electricity 26 miles to light 200 bulbs and run an electric motor. However, at that time direct current (DC, which is the wired method) and alternating current (AC) were competing technologies. DC, backed strenuously by Thomas Edison, emerged the winner.

But how does the Wireless charging work? For that we'll have to learn the technical basics.

Lets get Technical!!!
Wireless charging is any of several methods of charging batteries without the use of cables or device-specific AC adaptors. Wireless charging can be used for a wide variety of devices including cell phones, laptop computers and MP3 players as well as larger objects, such as electric cars. There are three methods of wireless charging: inductive charging, radio charging and resonance charging.

Inductive charging is used for charging mid-sized items such as cell phones, MP3 players and PDAs.
In inductive charging, an adapter equipped with contact points is attached to the device's back plate. When the device requires a charge, it is placed on a conductive charging pad, which is plugged into a socket.

Radio charging is used for charging items with small batteries and low power requirements, such as watches, hearing aids, medical implants, cell phones, MP3 players and wireless keyboard and mice. Radio waves are already in use to transmit and receive cellular telephone, television, radio and Wi-Fi signals. Wireless radio charging works similarly. A transmitter, plugged into a socket, generates radio waves. When the receiver attached to the device is set to the same frequency as the transmitter, it will charge the device's battery.

Resonance charging is used for items that require large amounts of power, such as an electric car, robot, vacuum cleaner or laptop computer. In resonance charging, a copper coil attached to a power source is the sending unit. Another coil, attached to the device to be charged, is the receiver. Both coils are tuned to the same electromagnetic frequency, which makes it possible for energy to be transferred from one to the other.The method works over short distances (3-5 meters).

At least my mom will be pleased to know this as she dislike the wires dangling from the electric point. Also the wires add pretty decently to the clutter on the desk.

Enjoy the freedom of Clutter Free life!

Guru Parampara: The Lineage of the enlightened masters!!!

Spending even few hours with bawa and dinesh is sufficient for anyone to get loads of vital information and profound knowledge. They both always have something new and fresh to share with the youth, inspiring them to work for the betterment of the society.

Yesterday, Bawa shared a gracious story of our guru parampara. Guru parampara is the lineage of the enlightened masters. The lineage is actually very very long. But it is said that Adi Shankaracharya revived the hindu bhagwat dharma.  And the lineage continues from him.

Shanakaracharya had four disciples. First was Padmapada. It is said that once when Shankaracharya called Padmapada, who was walking at the opposite bank of the lake, he ran across the lake without any hesitation. And wherever his feet fell on the water the lotus sprang up to support his feet. Hence the name Padmapada. Second was Hastamalaka. Malaka means berries. Holding berries in the hand is very easy. Similarly for Hastamalaka living life was as easy as holding berries in the hand. Hence the apt name.

Third was Vatikakara. Vatikakara was very erudite person. He engaged a debate with Shankaracharya which went on for fifteen long days. There was a tie between the two even after fifteen days. So vatikakara's wife then came up with an idea. She put a garland of flowers on both, announcing the a tie between the two. The same evening, She surprised everyone in the audience by announcing Shankaracharya to be the winner. When questioned how she arrived at the decision she said that the flowers which she put on her husband had wilted due to the body heat which rose due to the agitation he had in mind although he did not reflect it.

Fourth was Trotakacharya. Trotakacharya was like a dumbo amongst the four. He was not interested in learning the scholarly texts. He would immerse himselfe in the service of his master. He would make food dor him, prepare his bed, and attend to all his needs. However Shankaracharya would never start his discourse without his presence. Trotakacharya would usually dose off to sleep during the discourse. But Shankkaracharya would never ever start the discourse without Trotakacharya. Once it happened that Shankaracharya was waiting for Trotakacharya to attend the session. Other three disciples were getting impatient waiting for him. Trotakacharya soon enters the hall singing the most difficult raga, in the utmost difficult meters, and that to the song which speaks of the philosophy of the master (guru) in only Ten lines!!!

It is said that when you do seva of the master, then even in that service, you get the knowledge which master wants you to get.

Our lineage decends from Trotakacharya. The names of the guru in our lineage after Trotaka is not known but it transcends down to Bhramanada Saraswati. Then to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, then to H. H. Sri Sri RaviShankarji.

And from Guruji to Bawa and from Bawa to Me (and all of us). Well, Make good use of the opportunity you have got!