Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 64🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 " अविद्यास्मितारागद्धेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः " " Avidyasmitaaraagdweshaabhiniveshah kleshah "  Avidya asmita raga dwesha. Dwesha is hatred. Hatred or aversion brings an unpleasant experience. Aversion brings the same misery as craving. Both craving and aversion are sources of misery. Abhinivesha is fear - fear of the unknown. Though intellectually you may know everything, you will have a bit of abhinivesha. This fear exists even in scholars. Nature has imposed these fears in everybody. If they become thin, you will be evolved and if they remain thick, you will stay unevolved. These fears and miseries have four stages. The first stage is when they are dormant in you The next sutra is prasupta avastha. T...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 63🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 Ignorance is considering that which is changing to be non-changing. We try to control others' mind. This is not possible. Someone may have loved you yesterday. But, they need not love you today or tomorrow. They would not know this themselves. You expect an enlightened behavior from everybody around you and when you do not get it, you become unhappy. You may not be behaving in an enlightened way, but you expect everyone around you to be enlightened and have unconditional love for you. A person who loves you unconditionally is rare - one in a million. But you expect it from everybody around you. This expectation makes you unhappy. This is what everybody is doing, consciously or unconsciously. Sometimes, t...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 62🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 " तपः स्वाध्याया ईश्वरा प्राणिधान् क्रियायोगः "  " Tapah swaadhyaaya ishwara pranidhaana kriya yogaha " This is the yoga of action. But when you are doing something, you should think that you are not doing it. You should be a silent witness. There is a depth in you, a silent corner that does not change. All the activity is taking place in this silent space. Every atom is revolving around the nucleus and all the planets are moving around. Yet, there is silence. The purpose is this is klesha tanukarana - to refute the suffering or misery in life. Samadhi bhaavanaarthaha - and to bring out samadhi, harmony and equanimity in life.  What are the root causes of misery in life? Avidya, asmita, raga, d...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 61🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 Ishwara pranidhana. How can love for Lord blossom in us?            The first step is to see Lord as different from you - Lord and me. Two are needed for surrender - when you feel that there is Lord of all virtues and that you are nobody. In this nobody-ness, the union takes place. The realization dawns that all is the Lord and then that all is me, me, I, I ; that the universe is Lord's, your body is His, your mind with all its conflicts and your mind with all its beauty is also His. This offering itself is a technique which brings you back home.            Ishwara pranidhaana brings you samadhi, or ecstasy in that meditation. Offering candles, ...

Question - Gurudev, why should we convert the bad into good? Gurudev Sri Sri - Our nature is to help. Our nature is to bring light. Our nature is to bring comfort to others, and make everyone feel happy. We can’t be in anyway different from that. If you ask alum, 'Why do you clean the water?' It will say, 'It is in my nature'. If you ask sun, 'Why do give light to people?' It will say, 'That is my nature'. If you ask a star, 'Why you twinkle in sky? It doesn’t help anybody'. It will say, 'That it is in my nature, to twinkle'. So it is our nature to help others, and to bring comfort to life. Every individual is in search of happiness. Even people who are doing bad things, are doing it in search of happiness. It is just that they don’t know that they won’t get it. If they knew that they won't get happiness by doing bad things, they would never do it. They are doing all the wrong things simply because they do not know that th...

*Chapter 1 - The Mind Facing Inwards Is Always Happy* *Day 4* We can realise our self to the extent that we raise our energy. The first sutra is "Chaitanyamatma". You are alive, but you are living as though you were dead.  Sleeping, eating and talking - you are like one who walks in his sleep. Often, mothers feed milk to their half sleeping children, who do not remember anything later.  In the morning, they complain that she did not feed them food or milk. We also live like this, as though we eat while we are asleep and continue to slumber.  We do not have knowledge of ourself. How do we get knowledge about ourselves and about the soul? Knowledge grows as our energy rises - "Chaitanyamatma."  This is the first sutra. If we succeed in this sutra, then we can reach our goal and raise the energy in the body and in life. The moment our energy is low, our speech gets confused, and we become lazy. When you talk too much your energy lowers, and you get bored....

Question - Gurudev, what is your message on India’s 75th Independence Day?  Gurudev Sri Sri - There are two types of freedom - one is political freedom, that we got 75 years ago. The other freedom is to overcome our mental and emotional slavery. This can happen only through education and culture. This is extremely essential. In this country, if we do not achieve the freedom of thought, if every individual’s thinking and understanding doesn’t move forward in a new way with respect to our old beliefs, we will remain weak. To get rid of our weaknesses our youth will have to move forward, and the freedom of thought, freedom of culture, ethical and moral adherence, and patriotism, all these need to blossom in our lives. These are within us. We need to recognise and strengthen them further. This is what we are working towards. On this Independence Day, let us remember the sacrifice made by generations and move towards a self-reliant, drug-free and violence-free India. Let us ...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 13* Look at a child five or six years old or a toddler of three to six months. They are filled with enthusiasm. It overflows from every cell of their body.  Compare children with grown-ups and see if enthusiasm increases or decreases with age. Are we really living when we lose enthusiasm? From the age of 20, we started to slowly die. Today, this starts at 15. Dying starts as soon as you lose enthusiasm, and life is over by the time we reach the age of 50.  Although there is no enthusiasm left in life, still we call it life. Today, college students have no enthusiasm. They have already grown old, and have lost their enjoyment of life.  After the television age started in India, people began maturing very quickly and now life passes very fast. The people of the last two or three generations were so enthusiastic even at 60-70 of age.  They are not totally gone, but if you observe the majority of people in schools, colleges a...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 12* The mind is such that if we have to scold someone we pick up the phone right away and shout at him without caring what time of day or night it is.  You may not be aware if the person on the other end of the phone is listening or not. He may have hung up, but once you have shouted you are at peace.  The mind wants to do bad things right away. The energy in you that moves you to act, also will lead you to a state where you are a witness and do not even desire to act.  Consciousness blossoms when you are a witness. Then even amidst all your actions consciousness will continue to blossom. So drop all your concepts and put in your full efforts.  Suppose you are unable to do this because of weakness, or you do put in your 100%, but restlessness increases. When you direct your attention to your energy centers, the world that you have created disappears. The question arises, if one rises to a higher position only by hard work...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 11* Why is skill needed? Skill is not needed to be unhappy. Skill is needed only to avoid misery. Yoga and sadhana are the path to overcome misery.  Yoga does not only mean physical postures. When you are surrounded by light, there is no question of darkness. Where is misery when you are drowning in joy? Where is poverty if you are rich inside? So never sav, "I will do sadhana only when God asks me to do it." or I will meditate only when Gurudev makes me meditate."  Has Gurudev not invited you? Does God not want you to do sadhana? God is shouting at the top of his voice. All the rishis from Maharishi Vasa's time are calling to you in one loud voice, inviting you. They have spoken so many times, "Move ahead. Wake up. Stand up'. We say, "Let it happen if God wishes," only when we do not want to act. If you want to do something good, do it immediately, but if you want to do something bad, brush it aside. O...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 10* Effort and continual practice are required in both worldly and spiritual matters. Some people say, "I will go on a pilgrimage when God desires," or "I will go for sadhana only if Guruji makes me go."  This happens only when the mind is not firm and is wavering in its commitment. You do not apply the same rule to other areas.  For instance, you do not say, "I will eat only if God feeds me," or "I will see the movie only if God shows it." Only by working hard and applying full effort can you experience good samadhi.  A lazy person never reaches samadhi. Therefore, satsang, sadhana, and seva, all three are very important. When you do these, you enter into yourself, into sivatattva. Then it becomes easy to experience love and knowledge. We treat our wishes and God's wishes differently. We accept things according to our convenience. When you succeed in something, you say, "I won by putting in ...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 9* The whole of life is a struggle to find contentment. You will never find contentment in any object or any situation.  Your very nature is contentment. In order to realise that, you should exert your full effort. Do you know what happens to your body when rajas, or restlessness, increases?  It does not allow you to sit quietly, at ease. Instead, you fidget, rustle about, squirm, move your legs and tap the table. Sitting in the lawn you pluck the grass and pull leaves from bushes - playing like a monkey. This happens because of rajas, unsatisfied physical and mental powers. So to satisfy them we must do some activity. Some people think that just by sitting quietly, meditation will happen, but it is not the case.  Only the person who works well can sit to meditate. There is a misconception that it is the idle people who meditate, pray and sing to God.  An idle person can never meditate. In fact, the person who works hard ...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 8* When will life be full of joy? We bargain for a little of this and a little of that, wanting that such and such should happen. These are our main worries. To free our consciousness, which is bogged down in petty worries. When we put in our best efforts, we do not worry whether or not our work will be successful.  What does worry mean? It means that we have not worked to the best of our ability. Imagine that you are playing football or running a race.  If you put in your full energy, you will have no regrets. If you do not put in your 100%, then you may think, "Oh. I could have done better."  A person who gives his full efforts knows, "How could I have done better? I did my best and am prepared to accept the results.  If I get the fruits I will be fine, and if not, then too I will be happy." When you completely apply your energy, fully using actions, speech and mind, you become full.  Bhairava means fullness. Dissa...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 7* Go to the root of knowledge, silence. Carefully observe and distinguish the different ideas, thoughts or worries that arise in your mind.  Then observe one thought, then one sentence and then one word. Then separate that one word into letters and look at each letter carefully.  When you do this, your worries will disappear. Practice this for one week and you will understand that when we hold onto the silence that is in between words, then worries vanish.  Where there is no sound or words, there are no worries because words are the root cause of worry. To transcend them is to reach silence.  Move from knowledge to the highest knowledge. A mantra, a sacred sound, is defined as a mantra is that which, when repeated constantly, clears your mind from worries and protects you. Knowledge is bondage, and it is impossible to gain knowledge without words. We need the help of language to understand what we are worrying or not wor...

My name is Gunjan Malhotra and I did my first AOL course in 2008.I would now like to share with you all, a realization, an experience, that took me miles ahead in achieving my all-time dream! Initially, as a fresher into the AOL family, I was not particular about doing my Sudarshan Kriya. I was very laid back about it as back then and I did not feel it’s importance and would seldom do it. By profession, I am a model. But three years back, I would not be able to say that. It all started in 2011, when I began my journey to stardom. I started going for audition after audition with the hope of getting the right break. At every audition, the story remained the same:better looking girls, stiffer competition-lesser motivation. I had now reached a point in time, when I was 500 auditions old but success wise, I was still at zero. I had not managed to bag even one assignment. In spite of putting in all my efforts, the results only disheartened me. This was the bitter reality. I was a...

I would like to share with one and all a sweet story of my life. I am a Hindu girl who married a Parsi boy, in the year 1995. We had a Court marriage. We now have two children as well, who follow both the religions. Encouraged by my Gurus’ words, that now my boys have 2 religions to benefit from, I introduced spiritual practices taught in AOL into their lives, in order to keep them on the right path, and mould them well. Having gone through a lot of turbulent times, while I swam against the tide, I finally found my saviour in SRI SRI in 2005. Still swimming against the same tide, albeit with a Smile(that happens when you find a GURU), I realized that following what HE said, and eventually becoming an AOL full time teacher while continuing my dental practice for 4 hours a day, I had seen and was moving towards the shore, which I never imagined actually existed. All my dreams had been realized, in just a span of 3 odd years since I met my GURU – SRI SRI. But we all know and h...

It was when I was 12. This crowd gathering was sitting in one corner, and it looked like everyone is meeting after ages, like a typical Punjabi family discussing about what each other’s children are upto! There was a sense of eagerness in the crowd as I witnessed some eyes continuously stray towards the staircase, as if some celebrity were to walk down through it. It was the welcoming of my Uncle’s baby girl. Ekta With Sri Sri As my eyes rolled up, I saw a man walking down the staircase. A man in a pure white robe, with a long beard, having a smile which was one of a kind. The walk was nothing less than a Celebrity’s. And suddenly, the crowd was full of smiles, the smiles I had never seen on their faces. They all started to jump and rush to reach this man and I had no clue of what was going on. What a chaos it turned out to be! But this man and His smile remained unaffected by the crowd. It was as though He was loving the chaos He had created. Little did I know that this wo...

I see life as a miracle. The blooming of flowers, colours in nature, the diversity in flora and fauna is all a matter of wonder and an absolute Miracle.    Being on the path I am ever so grateful for this miraculous journey of life. I feel each moment is a Miracle, it’s just a matter of opening our eyes and seeing life with a sense of wonder that miracles manifest again and again.  Sharing one such miracle of Grace in my life for which I am so very grateful to my Guru, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Guru Poornima 2004 : An auspicious day to honour and commemorate one's Guru - a day of gratitude and joy in every Sadhak’s life. It was a day full of excitement as i was so looking forward to attending the Guru Poornima satsang with my friends in the evening. It was around 4 pm that evening, as I was readying my saree whilst simultaneously finalising pick up points for the long drive to the venue, that my husband Satish complained of extreme discomfort in his ...

when Guruji had come to Poona, I had a burning desire to meet him. I had gone for the event with a lot of hope and excitement. The first miracle is that on the night of the Devi Pooja, my friends and I got an opportunity to sit on the stage just behind Guruji’s seat and later, after the Pooja, when I met Guruji, I got a hug from him. This was the best hug of my life. The second miracle is that the next day when a friend of mine named Kunal and I were standing in the line to meet Guruji, Kunal just told Guruji that “Divesh wants to meet you”. After this I got a lovely surprise because Guruji said, “HA MEIN ISKO MILA THA” (Yes, but I have met him) and then he gave me a rose from the bouquet he was carrying. The third miracle is that just a few days ago, before the trip, I was sitting at home and thinking of meeting Guruji and also clicking a photograph with him and then showing this photo to my family. I really was hoping to get this opportunity soon. After the trip, I receiv...

I was suffering from facial warts. Warts are small projections on the skin caused by the human papilloma virus. Homeopathy is known to be the only treatment for them. I was suffering for nearly 6 years. I had to change three doctors and I even did a minor surgery to get rid of them and yet they were resurfacing. All the medicines were proving to be ineffective. I had lost all hope. Subsequently I had a good fortune of running into the Art Of Living programme where they taught me the Sudarshan Kriya. After about three weeks of doing the Kriya daily, I happened to glance in the mirror to check how my warts were doing. What I saw, amazed me and I shall never ever forget the look I had on my face as I looked into the mirror. All the warts had disappeared completely. It was really unbelievable. I was trying to figure out what had caused it. Suddenly it struck me that the Sudarshan Kriya which I was doing daily had done it. I was feeling a mixture of gratitude and surprise. All t...