Thursday, November 5

Still looking inward -- an update

One of my favourite songs, by Joni Mitchell, is Both Sides Now -- which talks about how life is full of paradox, humour and change (the same three principles which are outlined so well in the movie The Peaceful Warrior) and concludes with "I guess I don't know life at all" And yet, this is a note of optimism and wonder, not despair or frustration -- there is so much to live through and imbibe each moment of every day -- wish one had the luxury of only studying throughout life!


In the past few weeks, I have been busy teaching not only a Part 1 course, but also several thought-provoking sessions with AOL teachers and volunteers. At each step, we were overwhelmed by the depth and magnitude of the knowledge which Guruji has been transmitting to us so simply and effortlessly all these years, and which seems impossible to absorb. It's like the salt doll exploring the nature of the ocean -- in knowing the ocean, it loses its own identity, and then its last grain ceases to exist, it is nothing but ocean.


On more terrestrial terms, I have been re-evaluating my life in terms of changing paradigms of technology (shall write more on this later -- TED has some interesting views on it) and relearning my entire way of organising my life -- work, sports, family -- everything operates
on different rules these days, and often it is just the abject refusal to adapt to these changes that insulates and eventually isolates us from a teeming ocean of life and activity around us.


I'm particularly impressed with the new iPhone, which has taken the whole concept of user interfacing to an otherworldly level -- now this is often the only thing I carry with me, replacing a notebook/planner, camera, ipod, laptop, novels and magazines! Increasing amounts of my work are stored in a virtual "cloud" that I can freely access and share from anywhere at anytime.


Basically this frees me up to "be creative" at all times -- not just when I am with paper and pen or guitar and recorder and so on. At the same time, it also pains me that most of India lives in such poverty and deprivation while a very select few of us enjoy cutting-edge technology and its apparent attendant benefits. Our goal must be to reconcile these conflicting areas of our countrymen's lives before we can truly call ourselves "developed".


I also finally joined Facebook, almost exclusively for my schoolfriends and family; and it has been rewarding having all of them in such a close virtual loop. Sorry, but I have closed off FB access to most people, as I still feel that my public interaction is best served through this blog, and through your questions and responses.


My band's sound continues to evolve, and an uncanny energy has pervaded recent concerts, even corporate audiences have been stunned into reverie, as a palpable Grace floods the hall and elevates each soul.


What next, I ask, along with all of you?
And the answer is still a wonder -- I don't know :)
Jai Gurudev

Monday, November 2

God for the disbelievers soul by Sri Sri

Article:
You have always thought of God as a father, up in the heavens   somewhere. But can you see God as a child? When you see God as a  father, you will want to demand and take from Him. But when you see  God as a child, you have no demands. God is the very core of your existence. You are pregnant with God. You have to take care of your   pregnancy and deliver this Child into the worl d. God is your child  who clings onto you like a baby till you grow old and die. This child clings on to you crying for nourishment. Sadhana, Satsang and Seva are the nourishment.


It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited. So some people prefer to be atheists. But atheism is not a reality, it is just a matter of convenience.


When you have a spirit of inquiry, or are in search of truth, atheism falls apart. With a spirit of inquiry, you cannot deny something which you have not disproved. An atheist denies God without first disproving it. In order to disprove God, you must have enormous knowledge. And when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot disprove God For one to say  that something does not exist, one should know about the whole universe. So you can never be 100 percent atheist. An atheist is only a believer who is sleeping In fact an atheist is someone who has a concept of God For a person to say, I dont believe in anything, means he must believe in himself so he believes in himself about whom he
does not even know

An atheist can never be sincere because sincerity   needs depth and an atheist refuses to go to the depths. Because the  deeper he goes, he finds a void, a field of all possibilities he has
to accept that there are many secrets he does not know. He would then   need to acknowledge his ignorance, which he refuses to do, because the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts doubting his atheism.

A   doubt-free atheist is next to impossible So you can never be a sincere and doubt-free atheist. When the atheist realises his ignorance, what does he do? Where does he go? Does he go to a Guru? What does a guru do to him? 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 the 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)   ie, seeing God in all the forms. Often, one feels more comfortable seeing 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 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) ie, 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 of 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 is Saayujya, ie, when you are firmly
entrenched with the Divine. It is then that you realise you are one with the Divine. There is a total merging with the Beloved and all duality disappears.

Take care of your God Atheists lurk around the corner Doubts, disbelief and ignorance are the atheists in your mind so you better take care

Sent from SriSri iphone App

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, October 23

YouTube - ArtOfLivingTV's Channel

Check it out people -- this rocks!

http://www.youtube.com/artoflivingtv#p/p/



Thought for the day

Q: How can I free myself from the polarity of dependence and independence so that I will be free for real?

Sri Sri : There is nothing called total independence in life. Forget about it. If you are thinking "I want to be totally independent" -- you are not. Till the age of 15, 16 or 17years you were not independent. You were born dependant. Somebody had to lift you up. Somebody had to change your diapers. Somebody had to wash you. Somebody had to feed you. Somebody had to bathe you, put you to bed. You were born dependant and in the end will also remain dependant. When you die you are not going to cremate your body. When you are sick somebody has to attend to you. You cannot operate yourself. You cannot be your own doctor. After 50 – 60 years, it becomes so obvious that you are dependent on somebody. To some extent you can't say I am totally independent. Somebody has to do something for you. Just the fact that you pay them some bills, it doesn't mean you have become independent. You are just getting it done as an exchange. You are helping them a little bit but you are still your dependant on them. Suppose no one wants your bills, nobody wants to work for you, what will happen to you? Because you have some paper bills and people want those currency bills it gives you an illusion that you are independent. Money gives you a false notion that you are independent. You may have money, but what if nobody wants money, then what will happen to you? You are dependant. So life is a swing between independence and dependence. At the same time you are independent to think, you are independent to act, you are independent to have a say over you feelings, control your feelings, if you want to feel good, it is your choice. If you want feel bad it is your choice.

You should listen to the Ashtavakra knowledge. I have spoke about it in this. Life is a combination of both independence and dependence. If you want to be kind you are totally independent to be kind. If you want to have good manners you are totally independent to have good manners. It doesn't depend on others. If you want to speak sweetly its totally dependent on you to do that. If you want to blame somebody or be rude to others you are totally independent to do so. You have to choose what you want to be independent about and what you want to put yourself through. You may think financially you are independent, but I tell you if you cannot endure certain derogatory remarks from one of your friends or family or someone, you are not independent. If someone blames you or tells you bad things about yourself then you will come to know how independent or dependent you are. If you are really independent then nothing can bother you. You move with zeal, with vision, with a smile.

http://www.artofliving.org/intl/wisdomblog/tabid/183/Default.aspx



Saturday, October 17

Happy Diwali...

.....from houseboat in Kerala!

Thursday, October 15

Pt Nityanand Haldipur's concert in Mumbai

My favourite flautist, Pandit Nityanand Haldipur, will be performing on Monday the 19th October 2009 at 6.30 early morning in "Diwali Pahat" at SPJIMR Auditorium of Bhavans' College, Andheri (W) for Bhavans Cultural Centre. Shri Omkar Gulvady will accompany him on the Tabla.
He has very kindly invited all of us to the concert. It's free and open to all, and is a rare opportunity to be in the presence of a true maestro. 
I'm feeling bad that I have to miss it since I shall be travelling in Kerala, but I do hope you all would go there in large numbers. It's also a very deep meditative experience listening to his flute at that early hour, so sadhaks should also take advantage of it!

Tuesday, October 6

Ottmar Liebert's new album

Do check out this new offering from one of my favourite guitarists; it's actually available for free download, though he requests all of us to support a specific charity

http://www.ottmarliebert.com/rose/



Tuesday, September 29

An Inter-Religious Dialogue: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar & Maulana Wahiduddin Khan






War & peace, it's in the mind
The Times of India, 26th September, 2009

Islamic scholar and peace advocate MAULANA WAHIDUDDIN KHAN and Hindu spiritual guru SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR talk about jihad in the Qur'an and Kurukshetra in the Bhagavad Gita. Sadia Khan, the Maulana's 24-year-old granddaughter, adds a youthful perspective with her questions. The dialogue was moderated by Narayani Ganesh

TOI: What do the Qur'an and the Bhagavad Gita say about violence and conflict resolution in the context of jihad and Kurukshetra?

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan: Let's discuss the misunderstanding of the term jihad. Jihad is an Arabic word that has neither a mysterious meaning nor relation to any sacred duty. Jihad is a simple word; it means to struggle, to strive. Jihad is to achieve a positive goal in life through peaceful means.

The Prophet of Islam has said: "Do jihad against your own desires." That is, doing jihad against yourself. So jihad means to control your desires. Jihad is to discipline your own behaviour. The Qur'an says: "Do jihad with the help of the Qur'an" (25:52). The Qur'an is a book of ideology; it is not a weapon. So doing jihad with the help of the Qur'an means to try to achieve one's goals through an ideological struggle.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: The perpetual enemy of an enlightened person is agyaan or ignorance and desires. The shatru or enemy is desire. Our own mind behaves as both friend and enemy. When you have control over your mind it is your friend; when you don't have control, the mind is your enemy. The mind is the cause of your bondage and liberation. The mind you have no control over is frustrated and so is self-destructive. That is the mind you need to wage war with before dealing with outer war. Before getting into outer war Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: There is Daivi Sampath and Asuri Sampath — those that take you to higher evolution and those that take you down — the divine versus the demonic aspects in you.

MWK: You're right. According to the Qur'an every individual must inculcate spirituality in himself to control his desires. You have to win over yourself by seeking guidance in divine knowledge enshrined in the Qur'an. To control one's desires with the help of spirituality is the gist of all religions.

TOI: But isn't the desire to control desires also a desire?

SSRS: Don't you put alum in water to clean the water? After it cleanses the water, the alum dissolves itself. Similarly, one desire of the highest helps overcome lower carnal desires and then dissolves itself.

MWK: The desire to control is a positive desire. We try to discipline our negative desires through positive thoughts. The most important thing is to be positive always.

TOI: How does one reconcile higher spiritual goals like enlightenment with the responsibilities of daily life?

SSRS: Highly regarded spiritual goals should not be thought of as being too highbrow and impractical. And bookish knowledge alone is not enough. You need to also connect to day-to-day life and its responsibilities. You need to have a bigger vision and know also that it is possible to achieve that higher goal with the help of spiritual experiences. For instance we find that children come up with great ideas — but they might suddenly find that their ideas are not working out and that it is difficult to be honest, to speak the truth… they become frustrated. At such times spiritual and religious reinforcement becomes necessary. To close the gap between idealism and practicality, spirituality is necessary. Youth can greatly benefit from spiritual guidance.

MWK: Coming back to the subject of jihad, every aspect of life involves (peaceful) struggle. Islam wants us to always remain positive. This goal can be achieved only through continuous spiritual effort. This is called jihad in Islam. But jihad is different from qital. Jihad is peaceful resolution while qital is to go to war. In Islam, war is permitted in defence alone. No other kind of war is allowed in Islam.

SSRS: I'd like to add one point. There is the chatur upaya or four ways: Sama (tolerance), Dana (forgiveness), Bheda (indifference) and Danda (to wield the stick). When the first three ways fail, one has to be strict to deal with injustice or unrighteousness. All the four upayas are used to discipline children, too, because discipline is absolutely essential in childhood as well as in a larger sense in society. It is not violence, but a stringent method to deal with the necessity of defence and discipline.

MWK: All these are part of peaceful struggle. But qital refers only to war in case of armed aggression from outside. But even in qital you cannot kill non-combatants. Also, in Islam there is no room for guerrilla or proxy warfare or for undeclared war or aggression. At present some Muslims are engaged in violent activities, which they claim to be jihad. But these people belong to non-governmental organisations. In Islam, only the state is allowed to go to war; all non-state warfare is unlawful. Even proxy wars between governments are unlawful.

SSRS: I totally agree with you — the two big epics of India, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, had wars as prominent features but they are called "Dharma Yuddha" — where righteousness reigns. The parties fight till sunset, and after that they visit each other's camps to enquire about each other's welfare. These wars were not waged in an inhumane manner; they kept virtues and values intact. When Rama fells Ravana in the battle, he tells his brother Lakshmana: "Go, learn from Ravana." And when Lakshmana goes to Ravana to learn as a pupil, Ravana gives profound knowledge to him. Thus wars were fought because of inevitable reasons and to uphold righteousness and defend the people.

MWK: In Islam, there is no war against injustice. The problem of injustice must be resolved only through peaceful means. The only exception in this regard is when a country is attacked. Then, it can wage war in self-defence.

Sadia to SSRS: You say that youngsters have grand goals but they soon find themselves facing frustration and that spirituality could help them achieve their goals. Could you explain how?

SSRS: Spirituality gives you strength; it helps you become more enthusiastic; it increases your energy levels and gives you a broader understanding of life. You would be able to face conflicts and resolve problems peacefully. Spiritual guidance could give you broader vision, more hope and faith and enforce the importance of service to others. When you serve others, your problems appear small and you can handle them better. It will help you to cope better with setbacks.

Sadia: OK, so how different would that be from going to a psychiatrist?

SSRS: Well, psychiatry might be a modern version of what was once only spiritual counselling. However, spirituality would possibly do more than help you resolve your current problem since it promotes the importance of service and looks beyond the situation at hand. Psychiatric counselling, in the process of helping you recollect and remember past anger – maybe anger at parents, friends or the system – in order to overcome it, might end up making you even more angry! Or, at best it could provide you temporary relief, but the soul remains dry. Spirituality, on the other hand, nourishes you from deep within.

Sadia: Dada, what would you say?

MWK: I'm not an expert on psychiatry but as far as my knowledge goes, psychiatry is an external discipline, just like other disciplines, while spirituality deals with your inner capacity. So when you try to unfold your inner potential you become spiritual. Perhaps this is the difference between internal and external healing.

TOI: In Islam, God is perceived as being formless whereas in the Hindu tradition, there is a whole pantheon of gods in human and other forms. There is the concept of ishta devta.

SSRS: God can be adored in all forms. He is also formless. Ishwara is Satchitananda. He is chaitanya, consciousness, beyond name and form but he can be adored in 1,000 names and 1,000 forms. However, whatever devta you choose, your chant says divinity is beyond form as well as it represents form: One in All and All in One. When propitiating Ganesha, the chant says: "You are Rudra, You are Shiva, You are Vishnu, You are Devi…" So in one form you see all aspects but for purpose of celebration you might choose a particular name and form for convenience. Many aspects of the Divine are forgotten, so these are ways to remember them. You cannot understand Vedic rituals without understanding Vedanta, the ultimate knowledge. Maulanaji?

MWK: There are two different concepts of God: the impersonal God and the personal god. The impersonal God is a philosophical concept of God, which has become a part of different religious traditions. Some Sufis have also adopted this concept of God, in the name of Wahdat al-Wajud. The concept of a personal god is called Tauhid. That is, there is no God but One God — "La Ilaha Illa Allah." Most philosophers were believers. In Islam, the Creator and the created are two different entities. In monism, both are one and the same.

SSRS: God is considered Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. There is Purusha and Prakriti, personal and impersonal. The Ashtada prakriti are: Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and ahankar or ego. Personal form is important for ishta devta but that's also the One universal God, the Devta. The Vedic concept is of saakaar and niraakaar, that we are a combination of form and formlessness — the body has form, the mind is formless. The universe is a form of the Divinity. Yet the universe itself is not God. But Divinity also is part of the universe. It lives in it and comes out of it as well. In the Bhagavad Gita chapter 9, Sri Krishna says: "The whole of this universe is permeated by Me as unmanifest Divinity, like ice by water and all beings dwell on the idea within Me. But, really speaking, I am not present in them." This is pretty much in tune with quantum physics.

Source: The Times of India




Thursday, September 24

Phir se Mamu!

My sister Aditi and her hubby Aakash had their first baby on Sep 22.
Here are the first pics of my nephew Siddhant :)

Friday, September 11

Watch us on ETV India


The Art Of Living Bureau of Communications is happy to announce the launch of Season 2 of Yuva Bharat Special Episodes with The  Art  of Living on ETV Channels. These special episodes are in the form of  a 20 part series to be  aired on 11 channels of ETV Network every saturday, starting coming Saturday, i.e. 12.9.2009 as per following telecast schedule
 
Channel Name
Telecast Time
(Monday to Saturday)
ETV- Bangla
09.30a.m
ETV-M.P.
10.30a.m
ETV-U.P.
10.30a.m
ETV-Bihar
10.30a.m
ETV-Rajasthan
09.30a.m
ETV-2 (Telugu)
11.30p.m
ETV-Oriya
10.30a.m
ETV-Gujarati
08.00a.m
ETV-Marathi
09.30a.m
ETV-Urdu
10.30a.m
ETV-Kannada
11:30p.m
 
 
     So on the above mentioned timings the special episodes will be aired for 20 weeks as per following episodic details:
 

                            Episode-1 (telecast date 12-09-09)

 

Guruji on imp. of humanism and compassion 
Byte of Student Niharika Kakdesharing her experience in Art Of Living.
Nadisodhan-by  Dinesh Kashikar 
Profile feature on  Bawa & Dinesh 

 

                            Episode– 2 (telecast date 19-09-09)

Guruji on Yes +
Experience of art of living Students(Kanisk, Abhilasha, Mohit Lalwani)
Youth Programs of AOL
Dinesh Ghodke on life is short but eternal 
 

                          Episode– 3 (telecast date 26-09-09)

Bawa & Dinesh on Love  
 

                          Episode– 4  (telecast date 03-10-09)

Guruji on youth culture & values (2.56 mm.)
Sanjay Mazumdar – Gausala story (6:45 mins)
Bawa & Dinesh on healthy Food & Environment  
 

                          Episode– 5 (telecast date 10-10-09)

Guruji on success
Bawa & Dinesh on success
 

                          Episode–6 (telecast date 17-10-09)

Guruji on youth leadership & youth participation 
Radhika Chandle and her experience in Art of Living. 
Vikram Hazra on youth empowerment (11.26 mins) 
 

                                      Episode– 07 (telecast date 24-10-09)

Guruji on importance of guide
Prajakti Desmukh – Her experiences with the Art of Living
Bawa & Dinesh on Guruji's Knowledge Sheets.
 

                                    Episode–8 (telecast date 31-10-09)

Living in harmony -Bawa & Dinesh on Life style
 

                                      Episode–09  (telecast date 07-11-09)

Guruji on individual's quest for spirituality
Students bytes (Twinkle Sethi & Shravanth
Vikram Hazra (The promise of spirituality)
Shalini Singh byte (How art of living brings the positive change in you)
Bawa & Dinesh on Anger
 

                                      Episode– 10 (telecast date 14-11-09) 

Handling Failures.
Guruji on Success & Failure
Bawa & Dinesh on handling failures
Jitendra Bansiwal (law student, Jabalpur) –Anxiety problems 
      

                                      Episode– 11 (telecast date 21-11-09) 

Guruji on youth culture & values 
Bawa & Dinesh on Life Sutras 
 

                                      Episode– 12  (telecast date 28-11-09) 

Guruji on healthy Food Habits & Spiritual Practices 
Bawa & Dinesh on Controlling Anger
Feature on Kusum Mussadi - Her experiences with the Art of Living
 

                                      Episode– 13  (telecast date 05-12-09) 

               Understanding Traditions-I

Guruji on Indian heritage & culture  
Bawa & Dinesh on Indian culture & rituals
 

                                      Episode– 14  (telecast date 12-12-09)

Bytes of students(Ratul Arora, Harshit, Pranab)
Dinesh Kashiker demonstration of relaxation techniques
Bytes of (Justin & Jack Johansson

                               

                                                 Episode– 15  (telecast date 19-12-09)

          Understanding Traditions-II

Guruji on youth, Indian heritage & culture 
Bawa & Dinesh on Ancient Scriptures
Bawa & Dinesh on nature of Guru 
Bawa & Dinesh on sadhana, seva & satsang
 

                                      Episode– 16   (telecast date 26-12-09)

Guruji  "nurture our roots & broaden our vision"   (2.46 mm.)
Bawa & Dinesh on commitment
Bawa & Dinesh on (aim & fantasy)/(creativity)  
Experience in Art of Living -Sunithi Damani — the professional billiards player   
 

                                      Episode– 17  (telecast date 02-1-10)

Bawa & Dinesh on Astrology & Vaastu Sastra
Bawa & Dinesh on Astrology & Vaastu Sastra
Profile of Saurav Ghosh, Table Tennis champion, His experiences in the Art of Living
 

                                      Episode– 18 (telecast date 09-1-10)

Guruji on dreams & practical wisdom
Bawa & Dinesh on Reality/Fantasy/ Dream/Goal
Shridhar Mahuli byte (Benefited from Art of Living )
Vikram Hazra on Satsang
Dinesh Kashiker – on relaxation techniques  
 

              Episode– 19  (telecast date 16-1-10)

Guruji on Tabacco & prevention
Vikram Hazra on culture of meditation
Vikram Hazra on civic sense/citizenship  
Dinesh Kashikar on 'Bhaastrika' & 'Nadisodhan'
 
                                                The above mentioned plan is subject to change as and when, as per some special telecast requirements. For further information about the programme "Yuva Bharat", you can log on to the ETV website www.etvyuvabharat.in