Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Chapter 3 - The Four Approaches To Practical & Spiritual Life  Day 7  Dana, that is surrender. Surrender is the most misunderstood word in the world today. Surrender is not slaverv. surrender Is not something vou can force upon someone, surrender Is a happening.  Surrender happens out of love, gratitude and trust. When there is fear, drop the fear. The dropping of the fear happens with the trust, and that is surrender. If doubt still remains, do nothing, just watch.  Breathe, meditate. That will clear your doubts out. There is no other way to come out of your doubt. Four types of doubt will arise in your mind. The first doubt is about yourself, ‘Don't think this is for me. There is still time for me. I think I should go very slowly. Maybe it is not the right time’. ‘It doesn't suit me at all, I am not the person for it. I can never have it. I have my old patterns. I will never come out of it’. These things, doubting the very self, doubting your abilit...

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 would...

Question - Gurudev, if peace is our nature then what makes violence arise? Gurudev Sri Sri - Weakness or fear is the root of violence. The fear of extinction or rejection causes violence. Stress causes violence. Stress is also a kind of weakness. Stress or tiredness and no strength is weakness and causes violence. Lack of of one's strength causes violence. You can think about what are the things that cause violence and you can make a list. Attachment also causes violence. Extreme passion without wisdom can cause violence. You hear all these stories in the newspaper. Two people who initially love each other and they later become so violent to each other, that they kill each other. Haven't you heard of these things? All over the world, you hear of people who have fallen in love and then later stabbed each other. It's unbelievable. So wisdom is essential. Just love or passion is not enough. Love without wisdom is misery. If you don't have wisdom and are not bal...

Question - Gurudev, out of 20 minutes of meditation, I can meditate only for 1 minute, the rest of the time I feel I am talking to you. Am I dreaming or are you really talking to me at that time? Sometimes I open my eyes slightly to see if there is someone. Gurudev Sri Sri - It's okay, you can do the 2% meditation. Look, sometimes, with eyes closed, we start dreaming and get transported into the fantasy world of our mind, which is called the Manorajya. With eyes open, we are in the outside world. In between the two is silence. Not too much of the outer world and not too much of fantasising also. We need to meditate in between these two.

Once a Crow, holding on to a piece of meat was flying to a place to sit and eat peacefully.  However, a flock of eagles who were flying nearby started chasing it. The crow became scared and anxious. It started flying higher and higher, yet the much stronger eagles were after the poor crow.  Just then Garuda saw the plight and pain in the eyes of the crow. Coming closer to the crow, he asked, "What's wrong, dear? You seem to be very disturbed and in terrible stress?" The crow cried, "Look at these eagles! They are after me to kill me". Garuda being the bird of wisdom spoke, "Oh my friend! They are not after you to kill you! In fact, they are after that piece of meat that you are holding tightly in your beak. Just drop it and see what happens." The crow followed the advice of Garuda and dropped the piece of meat, and behold, all the eagles in a mad rush flew towards the falling meat. Garuda smiled and said, "The pain is only till you hold on to it. ...

 "I" Once, Socrates was walking on a beach. He noticed a weeping child standing on the shore. He went to him, put his hand lovingly on the boy's head and asked, "Why are you crying?" The boy said, "I want to fill this ocean in the cup, but it does not fit in my cup."  Hearing the child's words, Socrates went into dismay and started crying himself. Now it was the child's turn to ask : "You're crying too, but where's your cup?"  Socrates replied, "My child, you want to fill the entire ocean in a small cup, and I want to fill the knowledge of the whole world in my small mind. Today you have taught me that the sea cannot fit in a cup, I was getting restless in vain."   Upon hearing this, the child paused for a moment, then threw the cup away into the sea and said, "O ocean, if you cannot fit in my cup, then my cup can fit in you." Socrates fell at the child's feet and exclaimed, "thanks to you, I have ...