Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Miracles are a way of life when you are with the Master. On our flight from Bangalore to Germany  Suddenly the aircraft took a long deroute of over 40 minutes, making us wonder why? Gurudev was in deep mediation at that time, but suddenly He got up and went straight to the cockpit (by requesting the crew). The pilot informed Gurudev that the GPS signal was lost and it was showing wrong directions. Infact, the GPS system was hacked and the airplane was being directed towards the Russia Ukraine war zone.  They were doing their best to figure out some solution and were also in touch with other airlines. Gurudev asked them to show the screen of the GPS and the moment Gurudev saw the screen it started aligning. Taking our aircraft back on our route. In the images shared one can clearly see the de route taken by the aircraft.  We realised we are all safe in the hands of our beloved Master.   Guru Grace Gracefully experienced  *Alka Vishwas Mulk...

Many devotees were waiting in a que outside the hotel waiting for Gurudev's Darshan as He returns from COP28 session. Looking at the queue, an Iranian man passing by (also staying in the same hotel), asked a devotee: "is there a wedding happening?" Devotee replied: "No, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is coming" He walked ahead saying "Oh, alright" then saw some devotees ahead in the same line wearing t-shirts promoting the 8th Dec event with a big photo of Gurudev.  He stopped and asked "who is He?"  Devotee: "there's a grand meditation event happening with Gurudev, you have to come, our motto is One world one family" Man: "wow can I take picture?", He was in hurry to go somewhere else urgently but still he just stood there and joined the darshan line and started saying "this was the worst & most stressful day of my life, (tears started rolling down his eyes) I was searching for a window, if there wa...

Key message points, from *Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar* at the Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai. 8th Dec 2023. There is more and enough negativity in the world. Don't add fuel into the negativity. We should not shy away from negativity and stay isolated. Be like a doctor. He stays in midst people who are sick but doesn't get sick. It is easy to label people that they are negative and stay in isolation. That shouldn't happen. Let's go in midst of people who are not keeping well, depressed or negative and not get affected by it at the same time. Send positive message in social media. Sending negativity it is not going to help you or anybody. Generally we talk about our problems to everybody. We eternalize and generalize our problems. ( Everybody is like that.. I always makes mistakes etc. ) Practical steps 1. Spread positive message 2. Stop eternalize problems 3. When someone is not happy, it with a long face. Dont just walk past. Stop. Take couple of minutes to tal...

Weekly Knowledge 237 Bad Antogast 20 Jan 2000  Germany   EVOLUTION: NOT PART OF THE SELF Are you evolving? If you are evolving, you are not in the Self. And you are not out of the Self, because nothing can exist out of the Self. (Laughter) Broadly they can be put in these 5 catagories. There are six distortions that do not exist in the Self. 1. Expansion -- Prasarana. Expansion indicates there is already something into which something expands. That which expands cannot be the basis for expansion. 2. Contraction -- Akunchana. Contraction means something shrinks from something else. Self does not withdraw or shrink from anything, so contraction does not exist in the Self. 3. Evolution -- Vriddhi. Evolution is becoming something which it is not already. Self is the same, so it cannot evolve. 4. Decay -- Kshaya. There is no devolution or decay in the Self. It doesn't get old or stale. That's why, when you are close to your Self, you don't feel that you are aging. 5....

Weekly Knowledge 238 Dallas, Texas 27 Jan 2000  USA VARIETIES OF SPIRIT Why should you think God is only one? Why can't He also be many? If He has made man in His own image, what image is He? An African, a Mongolian, a Caucasian, a Japanese, a Filipino? Why are there so many types of man, and so many varieties of things? There is not just one type of tree, not just one type of snake, cloud, mosquito or vegetable - there is not just one type of anything, so why should God be only one? How could this consciousness that manifested this whole creation and loves variety, be monotonous? God seems to love different varieties. He must be of infinite variety Himself. God can manifest in many names, forms and varieties. Some schools of thought may not give God the freedom to appear in His many forms. They want Him in one uniform! You change your appearance to suit the occasion. When such is the case, how could you think there is no variety in the Spirit. The ancient people knew t...

Weekly Knowledge 239 Oslo 03 Feb 2000  Norway PROBLEM Guruji says: There is no problem that cannot be solved!!! Someone says: I have a few I can give you. (Laughter) Guruji says: When you have a problem and you think it cannot be solved, then you have accepted it then it is no longer a problem; it is a fact. For example: Suppose you think it is a problem that the ocean in Norway is too cold. Obviously, you cannot heat the ocean. If it cannot be solved, you accept it and it's no longer a problem. Only when you are searching for a solution is there a problem and so there is no problem that cannot be solved. (Laughter) The moment you realize there is no solution, a problem ceases to be a problem. The solution is the tail of every problem. Solutions come to you when :- You are calm and collected  You use intelligence You are not lethargic but active  You have strong faith in Divine law Kai says: If you don't want any problems, you can have a Guru. Sheila says: If ...

Weekly Knowledge 240 Bangalore Ashram 10 Feb 2000 India Worship Do not worship or idolize worship. Idolizing without a sense of belongingness is always futile. Such worship only causes fear and distance. And there are others who are paranoid about worship. They get irritated by seeing others worshipping. The modes of worship or idolizing may be different in different parts of the world. Some worship the pope ; others worship the pop stars. Some are crazy about the politicians. Look at all the children. They worship their heroes all over the walls. Just adoration makes you a fan. Having a sense of belongingness and seeing the Divinity in those whom you adore, makes you a saint. Raghu: You mean we can see Divinity in a pop star or politician. Guruji: If You can;..A Divinity that is distorted ( laughter) Those who worship without a sense of belongingness and those who are against worship are in the same boat as both are clogged with fear. In the Bible, it says, " I am yo...

Weekly Knowledge 241 Bangalore Ashram 17 Feb 2000  India FEEL THE PINCH A devotee asked Guruji: Please forgive me if I have committed a mistake. Sri Sri: Why should you be forgiven? You are asking for forgiveness because you feel a pinch and you want to be free from it, isn't it? Let the pinch be there. The pinch will not let the mistake happen again. Forgiveness removes the pinch and you keep repeating the mistake! Question: How do you know a mistake is a mistake? Sri Sri: A mistake is something that gives you a pinch. If it hasn't pinched you, it is not a mistake at all. It is the pinch that irks the consciousness and that pinch disallows the mistake to be repeated. Be with the pinch and not the guilt. It is a very fine balance. Question: What is the difference between guilt and pinch? Sri Sri: Guilt is about a specific action and pinch is about a specific result or happening. You can only feel guilty about what you did and not about what happened. But whatever ha...

Weekly Knowledge 328 Bangalore Ashram 29 Oct 2001 India   Drop Your Intentions   A strong tendency to keep doing something, whether important or unimportant, becomes an impediment to meditation. Doing starts first with an intention and then translates into action. Though intention springs from the Being, when it becomes doing it doesn’t let you settle down. All intentions, good or bad, trivial or important, need to be dropped for meditation to happen.   Vijay: But isn’t dropping all intentions itself an intention?   Sri Sri: Yes, but that intention is the last and necessary intention. Dropping the intentions is not an act – just the intention to drop the intentions itself serves the purpose. Dropping all intentions even for a moment brings you in touch with your Self – that instant meditation happens.   While you sit for meditation you have to let the world be the way it is. The repetition of meditation is to habituate our system to be able to stop a...

Weekly Knowledge 329 Bangalosre Ashram 31 Oct 2001 India Aishwarya and Madhurya In the world, usually where there is Aishwarya (Lordship), there is no Madhurya (Sweetness) and where there is Madhurya, there is no Aishwarya. Where life has blossomed fully, there is both Aishwarya and Madhurya. Aishwarya means Ishwaratva – Lordship of that which IS. Wealth, too, is referred to as Aishwarya because wealth does command a certain amount of authority. Can love and authority co-exist? Only in a fully blossomed Being, there is both Lordship and Sweetness. There was Aishwarya in Sri Rama, but only glimpses of Madhurya. Parshuram’s life shows only Lordship, but no Madhurya. Buddha manifested more of Madhurya – the sweetness, and less of authority. But Krishna manifested both Aishwarya and Madhurya. So did Jesus. There is Lordship when they said, "I am the way!" And there is Sweetness in their expression of Prayer and Love. 🌻Jai Guru Dev🌻  *Hindi translation* साप्ताहिक ज्ञ...

Weekly Knowledge 330 Taipei 09 Nov 2001  Taiwan Volunteer Who is a volunteer? One who comes to help, without being asked to help; one who is self-motivated, inspired, becomes a volunteer. There is the possibility of the inspirational motivation going down in a volunteer, which could bring frustration. Usually volunteers come from the space of demand rather than humility – this dilutes the quality. Another slack that could happen to a volunteer is that they could slip away from commitment, thinking there is no ‘boss’ – "If I like it, I do it; if I don’t like it, I don’t!" It is like the steering wheel of a car – if all the tires say they do not need steering, then the car cannot run smoothly. If you want to construct a building, you have to accept the authority of the structural engineer. All these can only be overcome by being more grounded in spiritual knowledge. A volunteer devoid of spiritual dimension is utterly weak. 1) A volunteer needs to stick to his commi...

Weekly Knowledge 332 Bangalore Ashram 23 Nov 2001 India Seva There are five types of seva. The first type of seva is when you do not even know that you are doing seva. You do not recognize it as seva because it is your very nature - you cannot but do it! The second type of seva is what you do because it is needed in that situation. You do the third type of seva because it gives you joy. The fourth type is done out of your desire for merit - you do seva expecting some benefit in the future. And the fifth type is when you do seva just to show off, to improve your image and to gain social or political recognition. Such seva is simply exhausting, while the first type does not bring any tiredness at all! To improve the quality of your seva, regardless of where you start, you must move up to higher levels of seva. 🌻Jai Guru Dev🌻  *Hindi Translation* साप्ताहिक ज्ञानपत्र ३३२ २३ नवम्बर, २००१ बंगलौर आश्रम, भारत सेवा सेवा पाँच प्रकार होती है। # पहले प्रकार की सेवा वह है जब तुम्ह...

Weekly Knowledge 333 Rishikesh 29 Nov 2001  India Confidence with Humility: The Rarest Combination One of the rarest combinations in the human personality is the co-existence of confidence and humility. Often people who are confident are not humble and people with humility are not confident. Confidence blended with humility is most appreciated by everybody. Question: How can confidence be developed in one who is humble and humility in one who is confident? Sri Sri: When you see your life from a bigger context of time and space, then you realize your life is nothing. When you are humble you need to see that you are unique and dear to the Divine, which brings confidence, and when you realize you are insignificant, that brings confidence. When you have a guru, you cannot be arrogant. Your guru gives you confidence and also brings humility in you. The weakness in humility and the arrogance in confidence are removed. You are left with confidence and humility! 🌻Jai Guru Dev?...

Weekly Knowledge 334 Rishikesh 07 Dec 2001  India Dreaming the Impossible Question: Guruji, how can we control daydreams? Sri Sri: Dream in the night! (laughter) What is daydreaming? You have a desire but you do not have the faith that you can achieve your desire - that is what you call daydreaming. You can control daydreaming by having a strong goal and believing in it. Like the scientist who wanted to go to the moon and kept dreaming about it - for him it was the goal of his life but for others it was daydreaming. Either you drop that it will not happen or you believe! When you do not know yourself, your potentiality, you have no faith and confidence in your dream. Once you have faith and confidence in your dream, it is no longer a daydream! 🌻Jai Guru Dev🌻  *Hindi translation* साप्ताहिक ज्ञानपत्र ३३४ ७ दिसम्बर, २००१ नई दिल्ली, भारत असम्भव का स्वप्न प्रश्न- गुरुजी हम दिन के सपनों पर कैसे नियंत्रण पा सकते है? श्री श्री: रात में स्वप्न देखो। (हंसी) दिवा स्वप...

Weekly Knowledge 335 Bangalore Ashram 16 Dec 2001  India Respect and Ego There are two types of respect. 1. Respect that comes to you because of your position, fame or wealth. This type of respect is impermanent. It can be lost once you lose your wealth or status. 2. Respect that comes because of your virtues like honesty, kindness, commitment, patience and your smile. This respect, no one can take away. The less you are attached to your virtues, the more self respect you have. If you get attached to your virtues, you look down upon everybody else and they (the virtues) start diminishing. Non- attachment to virtues brings the highest self respect. Often one confuses ego with self esteem. Ego needs the other for comparision, self esteem is just confidence in oneself. For example, a gentleman claims that he is thorough in Mathematics or Geography, this is self esteem. But to say that I know better than you, that is Ego. Ego simply means lack of respect to the Self. Ego up...

Weekly Knowledge 337 Bad Antogast 27 Dec 2001  Germany Letting Go of Control Many have a problem of letting go of control. This results in anxiety, restlessness and it sours relationships. Wake up and see, are you really in control? What are you in control of? Perhaps a tiny part of your waking state! Isn’t that so? You are not in control when you are sleeping or dreaming. You are not in control of thoughts and emotions coming to you. You may choose to express it or not, but they come to you without your prior permission! You realize that most of the functions of your body are not in your control, and the same for your life and the whole universe. Similarly, do you think you are in control of all the events in your life or in the world? That is a joke! When you look at things from this angle you need not be afraid of losing control, because you have none! Whether you realise it or not, when you let go of your sense of control that is when you truly relax. Your identific...