Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

*Chapter 9 - Living In Truth* *Day 42* We saw how there are many layers in the subtle world as well. Just as this material existence is diverse in nature, so is the subtle world of consciousness also.  How, after we die they become the ancestors, the pitrs, then ghandarvas, kinnaras, yakshas, devas, and then siddhas. Like the material medica of the world, the book in which it is all prescribed which medicine is for what.  For example - Iodine for thyroid, milk thistle for liver, basil for your respiratory system. The entire medical science rests on the laws of materia medica, that a particular substance connects to a particular part of the body.  Otherwise medical science will fail. Every substance has got a definite effect on a definite part of the body. A lot of research in this direction on the levels of consciousness has also been done. A particular animal brings down a particular cosmic ethereal vibration on the planet. If one particular animal becomes extinct from t...

*Chapter 8 - Beyond Miracles*  *Day 41* Question - If the infinite self wants to see itself in its true nature without form, what's the purpose of attaching itself to this body and all forms that we sense? Why not remain at all times without attachment? Also if the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into? Gurudev - Do you know what pulsation means? It is what the heart beat is. It expands and contracts and only then it pulsates. Life is pulsation. It's an expansion, contraction, expansion and the universe is pulsating like this.  So when it is going like this you feel it is expanding, but you don't see it coming down like this. There is a pulsation because the universe is alive and anything that is alive has pulsation and pulse. Nadi means the pulse and pulse is the dual action, the manifest to the unmanifest and unmanifest to the manifest, the form to formless and formless to form. This swing that's what the universe is. -  Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Sha...

*Chapter 8 - Beyond Miracles* *Day 40* Question - Gurudev, can you say something about the people in the picture of the Holy tradition and their connection to you and the experience of enlightenment? Gurudev - This is an artists depiction of millennia of great masters, and from ages, they've selected just a few of them who came from time to time and portrayed them in the picture.  Not everybody is there from the millennia. The few of the Rishis who are depicted in that are Narayana, Padmabhava, Vasishtha, Shakti, Parashara, then Vyasa. That side of the stream has a little gap between them.Vyasa, Shuka, they're all different.  They are great Rishis of the holy tradition. Some other time we will describe all the different works they have done. Parashara is an exponent of astronomy and astrology, the movement of planets.  7000 years ago, it was written how many moons are there for Saturn, how far away they are and precisely when exactly they are going to transit ...

*Chapter 8 - Beyond Miracles* *Day 39* Question - Gurudev, how is it possible to give 100% and yet, some how keep the attention connected inwards on the seer? When I give my 100% doing the task my attention is powered on the task and at this point the seer is lost in the scenery. Gurudev - Do them at different times. Don't try to do it simultaneously. Do them at different times and when you are proficient in both, you will find the border simply diminishes.  It fades away spontaneously and naturally. For now don't try to make a mood that you are working on being a witness - “I am getting lost in the job, no, I want to be a witness”. Don't make such mood just be 100% in whatever you are doing and before doing the work and after finishing the work for a few minutes, shift to the seer from the scenery.  Don't leave this and don't leave that, grow simultaneously in both of them. The Ishavasya Upanisad says, "One who goes in this alone will go in to a da...

There was a time in my life when the only thing that used to go on in my mind, how to commit suicide. I was tired and frustrated and I just wanted life to end. I used to keep thinking of several ways by which I could commit suicide. One day I was told about the Art of Living Part 1 course. I went for it and believe me, after doing the Kriya only once; I fell in love with it. When I came back home after the course my mother was very surprised to see me. She said that I am looking cheerful and energetic. I told her that I am going to make Guruji my spiritual Guru. Since then I became a dedicated devotee. The Sudarshan Kriya has all by itself changed my life. Earlier, I used to feel very tired, lazy and lethargic. I used to get irritated very soon and even the smallest things would irritate me. I would not talk much; just remain silent all the time. My mother would also wonder why I always looked tired and pale. She would always tell me to talk and get some liveliness in me. But at that t...

When Sri Sri had visited Punjab (India) in November 2010, I went from to Ludhiana from Jalandhar, where I study, to meet Him. I was new to the city and Art of Living as well. My brother and me wanted to attend the Satsang with Guruji. I really enjoyed myself and got to take His blessings as well. After the Satsang ended, Guruji left the venue. We saw that all the cars were fully crowded and everyone we knew had left in their vehicle. The main town was far from the ashram which is on the National Highway. We decided to take a lift when out of nowhere a man came in his car and offered to give us a ride. We sat in the car and traveled for another kilometer. He dropped us on the highway as he had to take the other route. Always Taken Care Of It was dark and there were no buses or auto rickshaw’s in sight. Luckily, another car came and two brothers who were in the car offered to give us a lift. Turns out, they had also attended the satsang with Guruji. Their father was also in another car b...

Question - Gurudev, why do you think attaining spirituality is necessary? Gurudev Sri Sri - It is because you want to be happy unconditionally, you want peace which does not get disturbed by small things. And this is quite natural. Wanting spirituality is as natural as wanting deep rest, as wanting to be loved, as wanting comfort and happiness. The definition of spirituality in Sanskrit is attaining greatest happiness, attaining greatest freedom (Nirvana) . It is natural. Like water flows down, and fire goes up, human beings want enlightenment.

Question - Gurudev, a lot of people want to sit in front of you during satsang, and often it leads to some battles. Does it matter how close we sit to you if you are everywhere? Gurudev Sri Sri - I tell you a secret, they simply don't know that more blessings go to the people who are the back (laughter). They should drop this 'Me' and allow everyone a chance to come to the front. ‘Yesterday I sat, today let someone else sit’. This should be the attitude. Unless you have a role to play, you are singing or you are a translator. Otherwise, give space for others. That shows that you have digested something of what you heard, else all the knowledge that you have heard is gone.

Question - Gurudev, how to love someone who I do not understand? Gurudev Sri Sri - As a baby is born, it looks into its mother's eyes, and starts loving the mother. The baby does not know anything about the mother. It does not know the name of the mother, or the school she went to, what subjects she studied, or how old she is. The baby does not even care, it does not even know. In the same way, the puppy or the dog in your house does not know you. If the dog knew you, perhaps it would not love you.

Question - Gurudev, can we donate our organs after death? What is your opinion on this? Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes, after death we can donate the organs of our body. There is nothing wrong in it. People say, 'Oh, if you give your eye, you soul won't go to heaven', all this is not true. Didn’t Bedara Kannappa (a hunter who proves his extreme devotion to Lord Shiva by plucking out both of his eyes and donating them to Lord Shiva) donate his eyes? He donated them to Shiva when he was still alive. Dadhichi gave his spine to Indra. Similarly there is nothing wrong in donating the organs of our body for good cause. You don’t need to be concerned about it.

On 24th February, 2013 my daughter and me were returning home on a two wheeler from another devotee’s house when we got into an accident as another vehicle crashed into ours. My daughter, who was driving, lost her balance and the scooter tumbled. I remember standing up and running after those who hit us but they did not stop. When I looked back my daughter was still on the road and was unable get up. Somebody handed me my mobile phone and bag. I felt like nothing worse could happen Finally by midnight, after twin X-Rays, the doctor told she had multiple fractures in her right knee. I was numb with pain and sorrow watching her writhe in pain. Since I became an Art of Living teacher, I have been so sure that Sri Sri is looking after me, where ever I may be. It was very bewildering for me, to think about how this could happen, especially because a month ago she had gone to the Bangalore Ashram (International Art of Living Center in India) for her Advanced Meditation Course. I called up my...

I really don’t know where to start from when it comes to sharing miracle stories because they are endless. Life itself is a MIRACLE after meeting Guruji. I belong to a Brahmin family where chantings, poojas and homas carry a lot of importance and having some Guru in life has a lot more importance than that. But somewhere people don’t know whom to consider their Guru and they go crazy for whole life in search of HIM. But they say it is better to have a Guru in your life; life becomes a celebration. I started celebrating life since December 2010, till then I was just surviving. You always love and remember those who stand by you in your problems. My life was a mess and my journey with The Art of Living started with lots of problems in life. I had two AOL teachers at home and I still wasn’t able to do any course. After waiting for 4-5 years, I got an opportunity and my questions answered through a dream. I was very much connected to AOL without any of the courses because I heard Guruji on...

You always see those surreal moments in the news and movies, where people survive near-death experiences.  But it doesn't cross your mind that it could happen to you one day. I went for a cooking competition in which my sister was participating.  It was held on the rooftop of a well-known mall in Nairobi. All the participants were supposed to report to the mall by a certain time.  But we left home after the reporting time, reaching the mall quite late. Before leaving home, I thought about going later with my cousin and other sister.  But then I just had a gut feeling that I should go now. We reached the mall, and I had to return a shirt that I had bought earlier.  I told my mother to come along with me, but she said that we'd go after the competition finished.  We were lucky that we didn't enter the mall, because about 10 minutes later, we heard gunshots and saw hundreds of people storming out of the mall.  It was a moment of confusion, assuming that i...

In the year 2009, I read about Art of Living and finally got a chance to take up Part 1 course in April 2012. Since Sri Sri has walked into my life, miracles have happened in so many ways. I have no words to express my gratitude to him. In March 2013, during Shivaratri (festival celebrated every year in reverence of Lord Shiva) I took up a Sankalpa (intention) and the biggest miracle then happened to my mother.  My mother is from Pontianak, Indonesia. She met my father in the 70’s and and they reside in Malaysia. 40 years have passed since my mother last saw her family, she couldn’t go back to her homeland due to financial constraint and also transportation was not as advanced during those days. Her eldest brother visited her 3 times in those days but after we shifted to a new place we had lost contact with them.  My mother helps in volunteering at a local Buddhist association. One day her fellow volunteer friends decided to organize a leisure trip to Pontianak, Indonesia. I h...