Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Our food, lifestyle and practices play a major role in the balance of Vata, Pitta and Kapha elements in our body. An Ayurveda specialist can help you understand your body type and guide you on the do's & don'ts for your body type to live a healthy life. You can consult our specialists online.  Visit https://bit.ly/oc-ssah to book an appointment.

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Art of living has only 5 basic principles, yet it can change our lives and improve the quality of every day life so much. Here they are:  1. You know there are ups and downs in life. Pleasant things happen, unpleasant things happen. The first principle is: In all situations, keep the balance of the mind. Often what happens, when things go our way, we are so happy. But when things don’t go our way, we get depressed and angry. To maintain equanimity is the first principle. 2. The next principle is to accept people as they are. Accept difference; it could be temperament, ideology, whatever. Accept them as they are. A very important principle. 3. The third principle is, don't be a football of others’ opinions. Don’t worry what others are thinking about you. In fact, nobody has time to think about you. Look into yourself and see what is right and what is not right for you, by yourself. 4. The next point is, don’t see intention behind others' mistakes. Very important. Ins...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷              Chapter 3              The grace of the divine      🌻 Day 20 🌻 Lord Yama said, “The wise realise the timeless Self through meditation. It is beyond all perception, hidden in the cave of heart, leaving pain and pleasure far behind.” The Self which is hidden in the cave of heart, knowing that one goes beyond pleasure or pain. Just remember, pain means going away from the Self. Peace is getting in touch with the Self. The whole creation is made up of one substance. your friend and your enemy, both are made up of same substance.is it shocking? You are made up of same substance which your enemies are made up of, which our friends are made up of. There is no two. It is all made up one substance, come on relax! There is no other than you on this planet, or anywhere else. Now to say this, Yama had to first say, “See beyond logic.” Because our own intellect, our...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷               Chapter 3             The grace of the divine      🌻 Day 19 🌻 You don’t know how the mind escapes and finds a way out. It reason’s out everything. So, even when an instructions is given about the nature of the self, the mind is clouded with aversions, cravings, disappointments, angers – any of these emotions, and the instruction doesn’t get registered. It doesn’t filter down. It doesn’t ring a bell. The right situation for this is the mind being hollow and empty.  The Lord of Death says, “May we have more seekers like you.” It’s not just a student who is blessed to have a great teacher. A teacher also feels happy and blessed to have a student who sees beyond logic and scholarship. When you think your logic is very strong, you don’t see light on other side. “I am right. I am so good.” Then you make others the culprit, the world as culprit. A teenage girl ...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷               Chapter 3        The grace of the divine       🌻 Day 18 🌻 Vismayo Yog Bhumika Wonderment is the preface of yoga. It is the first step for unity with divinity. You can go and look at the Grand Canyon and say, “Wow! My God, this is super” because that’s all you can do there. You cannot bring it home, it’s impossible. Everything that is magnanimous in this world is beyond your ability to capture. But the ego wants to capture things. It even wants to possess and capture the Guru. “Guruji, you do what I say” Instead of, “I will do what you say.” To be a Guru is not an easy job. Once in Lord Rama’s kingdom somebody threw a stone at a dog. Rama’s kingdom was considered to be very non-violent and there was truth and justice for all. In that kingdom a dog was walking on the street and somebody threw a stone at the dog and chased it out. The dog went to ask for justice – an...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷                Chapter 3        The grace of the divine       🌻 Day 17 🌻 श्रवणयापि बहुभिर्यो न लभ्यः श्रृण्वन्तोऽपि बहवो यं न विद्युः । आश्र्चर्यो वक्ता कुशलोऽस्य लब्धा आश्र्चर्यो ज्ञाता कुशलानुशिष्टः ॥ Just wake up and see there are millions of people even in this city. Among those millions, only a few get a chance to hear about this. A few walk on the spiritual path. Among the few who hear, only a few really grasp. It is a wonder how some people can speak about it with skill. It is such an abstract thing; some skill is needed to talk about it. And that’s wonder how some people are able to express it. It’s a skill and it is even a greater wonder – how some people are skilfully able to imbibe it! Lord Krishna said in the Gita, “Among millions of people, only a few will walk on the spiritual path. Among those who walk, only a few will know me.” Few are those who really reach th...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷                   Chapter 3                The grace of the divine         🌻 Day 16 🌻 स त्वं प्रियान्प्रियरूपांश्च कामान् अभिध्यायन्नचिकेतोऽत्यस्त्राक्षीः । नैतां सृङ्कां वित्तमयीमवाप्तो यस्यां मज्जन्ति बहवो मनुष्याः ॥ दूरमेते विपरीते विषूची अविद्या या च विद्येति ज्ञाता । विद्याभीप्सिनं नचिकेतसं मन्ये न त्वा कामा बहवोऽलोलुपन्त ॥ “You have chosen liberation when pleasure was offered to you. They both have got different uses. One who goes for liberation, pleasure also comes to him. One who goes only for pleasure, only misery comes to him. Not only does he get misery, he is deprived of the highest! You have chosen the path of liberation, so you will get all other pleasures as well. They follow you.” What is certain is that the one who chooses this path of knowledge is lucky in the sense he gets both. But if you have chosen only pleasure, yo...

DAY10  🌹 Ishavasya Upanishad 🙏🏻 The Password to Divinity.  continued... Just observe and reflect on the small incidents in your life. All this knowledge is not intellectual gymnastics. It is for you to look inwards and ponder on your own life. "Am I absorbing this? What is the cause of my depression, my anxiety? First of all, I don't believe there is a Power all around me! And then that it is mine and It is protecting me!" This faith is missing. Secondly, there is a tendency to grab more. What more do you want to grab? Knowledge?  "If there is nothing material, then I want grab more knowledge more spirituality. " Come on. Relax. Once you are on the path, once you are sitting in Upanishad with the Master, relax. Still if you keep running , it is like running inside a train. If you keep running inside a train,it is not that you will reach faster. If you get up and walk in the plane because you are in a hurry, the plane is not going to land any f...

DAY9 The Password to Divinity. Kurvanneveha karmani  Jijivisecchhatam Samah. Now here there are two type of action. As I said, one, in which you want to gain something, even happiness from the action, you are mistaken- the result will be contrary to your expectation. Just act because you cannot be here without acting. Channel your energy in doing something or you sit and get restless. Restlessness is also an activity. If you do not channel your energy in some activity physically, mentally or emotionally, that same energy is going to turn inwards, and turn into restlessness, agitation, dejection in you. People who are engaged in any type of activity in society, not wanting anything in return feel much happier. It is like letting out the steam. Steam gets generated in the course of life and it needs to get channelized. Steam cam make food for someone. Steam can bring heating. It can do many things. In the same way our energy needs to be channelled doing something usefu...

DAY8  🌹 Ishavasya Upanishad. The Password to Divinity.  Tena bhunjitha. No, you enjoy. The world is there to enjoy but not clinging on to it, renouncing it, letting go, you relax. When you relax, you are able to enjoy better. Ma grdhah kasyasviddhanam Don't covet other's possessions.  When everything is done by God, what is the purpose of my living? This question on the purpose of life passes through every mind, the so called intelligent mind, at least. If you consider yourself intelligent , this question must come to you at some point or the other. It should have bugged you actually. Is life just eating, sleeping and doing your routine? Is that it? What is the purpose? What am I here for? I am sure this question has come into your mind. What's the purpose of life? The seed has started sprouting. Don't be in hurry. It is very good. This question must pass through your mind. It invokes the Spirit in you. But hold on. Though you don't want to do anyth...

DAY7  🌹Ishavasya Upanishad 🙏🏻 The Password to Divinity.  continued..... This power, this energy which is right here, right now in everything, has potential. That is ISA, that is the Divinity and what is the password for it? Leave the grip with which we are holding onto the material here. When you are holding on to the material, it is like holding your fist - it is limited. You have to loosen it up. When you open your hand, the sky is the limit. What your mind holds onto, what it grabs is the thing that gives you pleasure or that which gives you pain. It holds both. First your mind latches on to anything in this universe that gives pleasure. When it is latching on to a limited something the Infinite becomes obscure. Not that it is not there, but it is obscure because you are occupied. On a beautiful evening as you are watching the sky, a small dust particle comes into your eyes and that's it! It blurs the whole vision, you can't see the sky anymore. This is wha...

DAY6  🌹Ishavasya Upanishad 🙏🏻 The Password to Divinity . Isavasyamidam sarvam Yatkinca jagatyam jagat.  There is other notion in which people say " God willing .... If God wishes let it happen." If God is responsible for everything in this universe then God is responsible for anything that anyone does. Why should I be punished? Where do you come in the picture then? If everything is done by God, then God alone takes punishment as well. There is a karta, the doer and a bhokta, the enjoyed and both go together. They are two sides of the same coin. It is misuse of knowledge when we say "I am not the doer but I am the sufferer. I am suffering the consequences but the doer is somebody else." That is impossible. The doer is somebody else. " That is impossible. The doer of the action and the enjoyed of the consequences of the action are one and the same..... Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji Ishavasya Upanishad 

DAY5 🌹Ishavasya Upanishad. The Password to Divinity.  Isāvāsyamidam Everything here... Then the question immediately comes how can God be in Osama bin Laden? How can God be in Hitler? How can God be in something that is bad? You as a physicist, a quantum scientist - Does Osama biatomsp have atoms in his body or not?  Does he have atomsp or molecules in his body or not?  Was there energy in him or not? We are caught up in this concept - good or bad, right or wrong. As long as you are in this duality, you can never know God, forget about it. If you are caught up in the movie between the hero and the villain, you can never know the director. A director honours the hero as much as he hours the villain. Wake up, wake up and see! Then you rise to another dimension, a dimension, which is beyond good and bad, right and wrong, which purely places before you the Existence as it is and there is no escape from it. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji Ishavasya Upanishad ...

Ishavasya Upanishad - the first of the Upanishads. DAY4  🌹Ishavasya Upanishad. The Password to Divinity. The concept of God is something that has baffled this planet from time immemorial. People who say there is God have a concept and people who say there is no God also have a concept. Otherwise they can't say there is no God. The atheist also has a concept of God to be able to say that God does not exist. You pity them sometimes because they don't know the existence of Upanishad. They don't see the wisdom here.  OM isavasyamidam sarcasm Yatkinca jagatyam jagat  Tenant tyaktena bhunhitha Ma grdhah kasyasviddhanam ( All this, whatsoever moves or is stationary in this universe, is indwelled by Isha. Through renunciation enjoy, do not covert any body's earth.) This entire universe is permeated by the Divinity. It is not a God who is sitting somewhere whose finger you are trying to catch and he runs away. God is not a person, someone who created this world ...

DAY3  🌹Ishavasya Upanishad. The Password to Divinity. The Rishi says Shanti, Shanti, Shanti - three times. At the first level, when your environment is disturbed you cannot think about or contemplate on knowledge. The environment needs to be congenial. Then your body - mind complex needs to be fit. And then, peace at the third level, the level of the Self or Being. Chanting balances our left and right brain. Left brain is logic, right brain is music. People who are emotional love to repeat things. When you are in love with somebody you like to say " I love you " several times, not just once. But a left brain person finds it funny and unpleasant. What is the point in repeating? Repetition appears to be boring when you are in the left brain.  The same repetition is so palatable when the right brain is active. Repetition has been a part of all learning from ancient times. Logically understand the knowledge yu receive and then to turn it into wisdom, the knowledge y...

DAY2 🌹Ishavasya Upanishad. The Password to Divinity. Shanti mantra says Poornamadaha. This is one of the greatest gifts to humanity.  The concept of zero comes from this very shanti mantra. In linear mathematics you will always find that when something is taken out lacks.  If you take out furniture from this room, this room minus that furniture will not be the same as before. This is linear thinking. But the Rishis give you a completely different outlook to life, spherical thinking - That is full and this is also full! This fullness has come from that , that still remains full.  A mother gives birth to a baby. The baby is complete and the mother is also complete. Just because the baby is born, the mother is not lacking in something. In fact it has added to her glory. This is the concept of zero without which nothing could have happened on this planet -Science could not have progressed. The origin of the concept of zero is in this very shanti mantra. From th...

DAY1 🌹Ishavasya Upanishad  "The Password to Divinity" Om Purnamadah Purnamadah Purnat purnamudacyate Purnasya purnamadaya  Purnamevavasisyate Om Shanti Shanti Santihi. Upanishad means sitting close, sitting near the master-the student and the teacher sit close.  It is not just physical proximity. It is mental or emotional proximity. Only when there is connectivity can knowledge flow. When there is no connectivity -the student is at one level and the teacher at another, then they are speaking in different languages and knowledge cannot blossom. You can get information but for knowledge to get into you, there needs to be mental closeness, spiritual closeness, a sense of belongingness and that is Upanishad -sitting close. Today the issue in the world is that students in the the colleges or children in classroom are on a different rhythm than the teacher. So, they only pass on information, there is no transfer of knowledge.  For knowledge to get transferre...

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Question - Gurudev, What is your take on the meat industry? Why is the Vegetarian diet getting more popular these days? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji - Meat industry, I would say is outdated now because people have started understanding how our whole system is made for vegetarian food. We are herbivorous because our immediate ancestors, the monkeys, are vegetarians. There is a substance called Ptyalin in our saliva, which is only present in the saliva of herbivores. If you were meant to be carnivorous, your teeth and enzymes would be different. Ptyalin, which is only found in herbivorous animals, would not be in your saliva. A horse is vegetarian; have you ever seen it eating meat? Elephant, the most powerful among animals, is vegetarian. As you can see, most domesticated animals are all vegetarians – mostly! You should look into the mechanics. Our human system is made for vegetarianism! Vegetarian animals have long intestines, which is not the case for carnivorous anima...

Question - Gurudev, what is the purpose of fear inbuilt in human consciousness? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - Nature has built a little fear into all living beings. This fear makes life defend itself, protect itself. Like salt in food, a little fear is essential for people to be righteous. Fear of hurting someone makes you more conscious. Fear of failure makes you more keen and dynamic. Fear moves you from carelessness to taking care. Fear moves you from being insensitive to being sensitive. Fear moves you from dullness to alertness. Total lack of fear may lead to destructive tendencies – a distorted ego knows no fear. Nor does one with expanded consciousness. While the ego dismisses fear and acts in a destructive manner, the wise one acknowledges fear and takes refuge in the Divine. When you are in love, when you are surrendered, there is no fear. Ego, too, knows no fear. But there is a difference – like the difference between heaven and earth – between these two types o...

Question - Gurudev, I have heard in the news that a group of naxalites somewhere in India have given up the violent path of using guns instead embraced the path of non-violence after learning Sudarshan Kriya. Can you elaborate what changed in them before and after doing the Art of Living course? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - Let me share a recent incident, I was in Bihar a few days ago (from when this was said). Around 100 youth from different villages and rural areas had come to visit me there. Three weeks back, before they all attended the Art of Living Happiness workshop, they had made up their mind to take up guns and arms to claim their rights by force. They had decided to adopt the Maoist (Naxalism) way of life. In the Art of Living Happiness Program, they practiced Pranayama, they meditated, and they experienced such a big change in their lives and their perspective. After finishing the workshop, they all came to meet me. Their eyes were moist and they said, 'G...

Question - Gurudev, today while doing gardening seva, I sprayed natural insecticide probably killing a thousands of bugs. How does this fit in with karma and non-violence? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar Ji - Don’t worry, you can kill a mosquito (or bugs), no problem! You see, violence is the act that you do with anger or some selfish goal. When animals prey for their food, it is not called violence. They are just doing their dharma. Similarly in your body every day, millions of bacteria are dying. It is happening as a phenomenon inside of you, otherwise you cannot survive. The moment a harmful bacteria enters your body, all your white blood cells attack and finish it, and that is how you get a cold. What is done for survival or safety is not called violence. Violence is the act done with negative emotions like anger, jealousy, hatred, greed, arrogance. Otherwise, when you breathe in and breathe out, you are killing many germs, does that mean you should stop breathing? When you ...

Question: How to face Rahu and Shani Mahadasha (astrological planetary positions that bring forth a very hard phase of time)?   Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji :  Don’t think that Rahu Dasha or Shani Dasha are bad. If you are on the spiritual path, and if you practice meditation, all these Dashas will do only good things to you. People think the Shani Dasha is very bad. Shani Dasha pushes you towards the spiritual path. If you are stuck in small things, it relieves you from there and puts you on the spiritual path. If you are already in knowledge and wisdom, Shani Dasha doesn't do anything wrong. In life, there are ups and down. Some good thing happens. Something which you don't like happens. But every incident is an opportunity for you to grow stronger. So, don't worry about Rahu Dasha or Shani Dasha.

Question - Gurudev, why do you always ask us not to base our life on someone else but in knowledge? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - Life is full of interruptions. We need to keep moving. We park ourselves somewhere and then we move again. Now if you park in a wrong place, you need to move sooner, and if you park in the right place, you have freedom to move when you want to. Similarly, you have to park your mind in a safe place. If you have parked your mind in your own garage, nobody can tell you when you should move it. But if you park your mind in somebody else’s garage, they will be after you. Don’t give your life’s authority in somebody else’s hand. If you do, you will have no freedom. And when you lose freedom, the next thing you lose is love and compassion, because someone who is stifled cannot express their compassion or love. So, take care of the car called mind which drives you. You should drive the mind rather than the mind driving you. Wisdom empowers you to drive...

Question: Gurudev, can wisdom happen instantly? Is it the same with enlightenment?   Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji:  Yes, it can be gradual also! The other day, someone was telling me, “Gurudev, suddenly, I realized that I am happy all the time now, which I never was before!” A sudden realization comes that gradually you have become more and more happy. One day you find yourself saying, “I am so happy, so centered; nothing can shake me, nothing can take my smile away!” And then you are there! Sometimes, there is a flash of lightning, and suddenly you see things, and then it disappears. Sometimes it is like when the sun rises, dawn comes first, then gradually darkness disappears, and day dawns very gradually, and that stays! So both phenomena are there. For some, it can come as an electrical transformation, for others it could be a gradual change. Sometimes you don’t even notice it, but one day, you say, “Wow! Aho!” Just like what is said in Ashtavakra, “Aho! Yes...

Question - Gurudev, Why is it absolutely necessary to have a Guru in one's Life to realise the Self? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - Let me explain this by narrating a story. 10 people were going from one village to another. On the way they had to cross a river. After crossing they wanted to be sure all were there. Each one started counting but counted only nine. They were very distraught and began to cry for the loss of the tenth. A wise man came along and asked them "Oh my dear friends, why are you crying?" "We were ten but now we are only nine," they replied. The wise man saw they were ten, so he asked them to count. Each counted nine but left out himself. Then the wise man made them stand and count, and he said to the last person, "You are the tenth!" And they all rejoiced for having regained the tenth. Similarly the five senses and the four inner faculties (mind, intellect, memory, ego) all lament when they lose sight of the Self. Then...

Question: Despite knowing that I should not miss my daily kriya, the gap is increasing. What should I do? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji :  Never mind. If you cannot do kriya, do some pranayama. If you cannot do that, just sit and meditate. If you cannot mediate, then just think about the time you have spent here; think about the knowledge and the words I have said to you. If you say that you can’t do anything, that is not acceptable; you can at least do something! If you have no time to meditate, then at least listen to some knowledge when you are driving the car; there are a number of CDs. When you listen to the knowledge, your consciousness expands. But don’t take this as an excuse not to meditate. You should sit, close your eyes and let go. When you become so deep and peaceful, your brain and perceptions become different. It makes a big difference. When you cannot even meditate, at least remember the knowledge, at least feel connected!

Question - Gurudev, How can I be more likeable? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - If you truly want to be liked by others, I would say one should remember these 5 things. 1. Don't judge others First thing is stop judging people. Look back and see how often you are judging others. 2. Stop seeking attention and recognition Second thing is, wanting attention and recognition will also stop you from being liked by others. You do what you want to do, don't expect recognition from others. Then you will be liked by people. 3. Showing one-upmanship in your dealing with others can be detrimental Third thing is, don't brood over the past or dig the past and ask others for explanations. If you are pointing fingers at others and showing their mistakes again and again, then you won't be liked by others. 4. Honesty Fourth thing is honesty, don't try to be goody-goody all the time. Be honest, be straight forward but not rude. That's a very delicate balance there. 5. S...

Question - Gurudev, Sometimes I feel like leaving the normal life and just come and stay in the ashram. What should I do? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar Ji - I would like you to live the normal life. I want to make the whole world into an ashram, and you want to leave the world and come to the ashram? What does an Ashram mean? A place where you get some care, love, food for thought and some food for your stomach. So you can make your own homes ashrams. Invite people, give them some good knowledge and give them some food, and if you do this a lot, then every home is an ashram. I want people in the ashram to go out and start centers wherever they are, make their homes as lighthouse of joy, knowledge and love. When will you come and stay here? What will you do? Even I don’t stay in one place. I keep travelling across the continents. So you don’t have to leave the world and come and live here, if you have some responsibilities. But you are most welcome to come and stay sometime, re...