Last Friday was Guru Poornima and I was fortunate to be present in the local celebration at Hospet where Shri Naikji conducted a special Guru Puja and sang some scintillating bhajans.
Attached image has Guruji’s message (transcribed in Hindi) I do not have the exact english translation, so if any reader of the blog can kindly translate and leave the translation in English, I would greatly appreciate it.
Both Lepakshi and Kabini were travel trips, but I was at Hospet to conduct an Apex program and very fortunately the customer wanted the course between 7 and 3.30PM leaving me free for the evening and I utilized the opportunity to visit Hampi twice. I had heard about it several times, but this was my first visit to Hampi and I now know why everyone makes such a great deal about this place.
And for the first time I wished I had a camera with me.
The place is stunningly beautiful and no words nor any camera can do any justice to the place. I could never imagine that there could be such a beauty in ruins!! And the vivid image of the Vijaya Vittalla temple ensconced within the miles and miles of stunning hillocks! (See this pan-image to get an idea of ruins of Hampi) Just can’t wait to get back to this place with my family!
Last week we drove down to Lepakshi - a small town in Anantapur District of AP and about 120Kms (~ 2 hours of drive) from Bangalore. Worth a visit to take a look at the architecture marvel of the Veerabadhra temple. Pack your own lunch for there is hardly any place for the visitor at Lepakshi.
And then it was onto Kabini for a night’s visit. This was our second visit to Kabini and it was worth it. The weather mercifully held up and we did get to see quite a few animals including a new born baby elephant and a whole lot of birds!
I leave for Hospet tonight to teach the Apex program and have a busy rest of the month with couple of more courses scheduled, so posts will be slow to come by!
Recently saw a big snake crossing the service road in HRBR layout and last week a 7 feet long snake made its way into one of our friends house and then I come across this post:
Every moment around Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a lesson in the Art of Living!
I heard this latest story from Sangeeta Jani-Recently a big King Cobra had been lying inside a water pipe in Guruji’s Kutir.
When Guruji realised that the the snake had not moved for a couple of days, he had the snake gently removed from the pipe and called a veterinary doctor. The doctor diagnosed the problem as that of food poisoning. Guruji was so concerned about the health of the snake that he had the snake moved to an intensive care unit in a veterinary hospital in Bangalore.
This is another glimpse of our master’s unconditional love. His love is constant, be it male or female, rich or poor, human or animal.
I am taking some time off from the Industry to volunteer with the Art of Living Foundation. I have been wanting to do this for long. In my first few posts on this blog I wrote:
For the last 2 years or so, there has been a deep yearning to give something back to the society in whatever way we could. We started off with contributing to organizations and causes in whatever modest we way could. However there was always this feeling that by donating money itself, one is really not doing a service……
Things changed over time in the last four years since I wrote that sentence, only that the yearning to do something more concrete for the society deepened. I dabbled with NGO’s and charities including a venture of mine that failed to fructify due to finances. At the same time, I started getting more and more involved with Art of Living, listening to Guruji, meeting Him and being in His presence to the extent possible. As my practices deepened, I began to experience a deep sense of peace and reverence for life and the realization that we are all connected. And one fine evening in April 2005, Guruji said “Become a teacher” and my life took a different turn… It was in late 2007 that I was blessed to teach the ever popular Part 1 course part time.
But that was just the begining of making a difference in people’ life! And then the thought began to surface that I should probably take a sabbatical to teach the courses and spread the joy and peace of being still! I bounced the idea off with Meena and had her full support and then in discussion with my brother and sister-in-law it got more and more firm.
I wanted to do something more…. and the more I thought about it, it became clearer to me that it was not possible for me to sail in two boats at the same time and do justice to either of them. I don’t know how many hundred times Meena and I discussed this option…over and over again..Trust me, this wasn’t an easy decision to chuck away a well paying job to volunteer full time for a year. The loss of pay apart, I am still not sure how this will be received in the Industry when I chose to return.
Anyway, no major decisions are taken with Guruji’s blessing and knowing that He does not encourage people with responsibilities to quit their job….I approched Him with a great deal of hesitation in March and told him about my plans. He agreed and the decision was sealed that instant!
It was only in June end that I was able to resign and move ahead.
So here I am finally living my dream and passion! I am also looking at this period as a time for deeper introspection, renewal and growth. Will continue to blog occassionally as usual!
Bawa and Dinesh, senior Art of Living Teachers have started writing about their experiences with Art of Living in their outstanding blog titled Sounds Interesting. Bawa and Dinesh are phenomenally good teachers and human beings. If you get a chance to take a course with them, don’t miss it for anything.
There are few blogs and postings criticizing Guruji and the work the Art of Living does and I have experienced it personally too when when people come and talk negative and I have always smiled and let it pass because as Guruji says “The purpose of words is to create silence”. Today’s post in Bawa’s blog is about a Q&A session with Guruji recently in Germany, where Guruji was asked about the negative writings in the blogosphere. Here is the complete transcript:
There are various online blogs and forums where some (misguided?) people post defamatory and inflammatory things about Guruji… He was asked about this in a recent Satsang, someone who happened to be there wrote an account… Here it is:
In a satsang at the Art of Living centre in Germany last night, someone asked Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: “Guruji, I have observed that Guruphiliac seems to follow your every move and then write negative things about you. Why are they doing this?”
This is the gist of what Guruji said: I have inherited an ancient lineage and my job is to further its cause. Neither by thought, nor through word, nor by deed, have I ever done any harm to anyone, nor will I ever do so in the future; it is simply not in my nature. Nobody can expose me because there is nothing to expose: I stand tall, clean and naked in front of the whole world.
I do whatever maximum good I can, and I inspire others to do so. These people who keep writing about me simply cannot leave me alone - they must be in deep love with me! (laughter) When they keep comparing me with other people all the time, I must have made a very deep impression on them. I cannot help it if they can’t get over me - that’s the way I am! If I am that bad and fake, they should simply be able to ignore me and move onto the truth –why are they are holding onto me, again and again?
If they are trying to teach me a lesson, if their intention is to correct me, then I’m sorry, I am incorrigible! (laughter)
If their idea is to stop people from coming to me, and if people do stop coming just by reading these blogs, then I really thank them; it is good for me, it reduces my responsibility! If they think I am doing this for publicity, they are unaware of the disadvantages of popularity. I pity them. Celebrities enjoy only popularity, but spiritual leaders have a huge responsibility with that popularity. People do not go to celebrities for guidance and blessings, but with spiritual leaders they do.
If they think I have no right to exist on this planet, then they can crucify me; I am afraid neither of death nor of being defamed. I am not afraid, because nothing can destroy me.
We do charity with the hard earned money from our courses. We are, of course, rich with people and with good character, and I am ready to share this wealth with anyone.
Lest they understand that their hatred is nothing but love standing upside down.
It was sunny and hot today afternoon, but it was cool and airy inside the VM! Needless to say, it was the Master himself leading us all into a deep meditation. Don’t know where the 30 minutes flew away… The joy of being in His presence and meditating with Him is priceless!
“I love what I do, I love the people I work with, I care very much about the value of the work I create, and I don’t need more money than I have. This is not revolutionary philosophy. It’s just common sense.”
Ms. Sandra Boynton quoted in this article.
Several of you written to ask me as to why I stopped posting. The answer is simple, I don’t write if I don’t feel like it. So the mood for the last few weeks have that been of introspection and not of expression.
I wanted to introduce you all to a new blog by Vikram Hazra - a senior faculty of Art of Living Foundation. If you haven’t heard Vikram sing and watched him play Guitar, you have missed something! Checkout his blog Footsteps To Freedom
Meanwhile, I am going on a break out from the city to the Hills and to see some wildlife. Catch you later with some pictures next month
The other night, at my cousins place, while dialling 011, I dialled 911, the minute I dialled, I realized I had called 911, I disconnected even before it rang. To my surprise the 911 squad was there at the doorstep within 5 minutes. Talk of being embarrassed!
Meanwhile, I had this wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Art of Living Part 1 course happening in New Jersey. It was such a wonderful coincidence - a part 1 course happening within a miles radius of where I am staying. Got to meet some wonderful people!
As I prepare ready to depart from US, the weather doesn’t look good. I hope the flight does take off on time!
