Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

On the 15th of April, I was in Rishikesh. My aunt Rekha was with me. We were there to take Gurudev’s Darshan. After taking a bath in the river Ganga, we got ready to go to the “Art of Living Centre”, which is situated on the banks of the holy Ganges. It is the most beautiful place in the world as per me, so we decided to do our short Kriya there.   Just as we were about to start the Kriya, suddenly I heard Guruji’s voice, for nearly 30 seconds. Before I could begin to wonder where Guruji was, I heard a girl’s voice crying for help. She shouted “Help help!” On learning that someone needed to be rescued, aunt Rekha and I sprung up from our places and went towards the girl. On reaching the point, we saw that a girl was floating in the river, and almost sinking. So I immediately caught hold of the girl’s hands and took her out of the water. After resting for about 3 – 4 minutes, she told us that inspite of being a swimmer, she was not able to save herself and keep afloat, as the for...

Sri Sri has once again gifted me with yet another beautiful Guru story – a memory for a lifetime. Well, it had been more than 4 years since I had done my first course. Ever since then, I had seen the pictures of Bangalore Ashram and heard loads of experiences of devotees, especially from my brother. I had this strong desire to go there. I knew that my mother would not give me the permission to go there so easily. In fact, I had asked her several times, but she refused to let me go. I had been praying really hard to Guruji to make this dream of mine, of visiting the Ashram, come true. Many a times, I would look at His photo and say to Him, “I know my mumma would not allow me to go, but I will wait for the day when you would invite me to the Ashram, miraculously.” Finally, the Divine conspired the same. I had planned to go to USA and had applied for visa the previous month at Delhi. I was rejected at that time because of which I got really disheartened. My visa counsellor sug...

10 tips for a happy married life by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 1. Remember that marriage is a commitment to walk together “Marriage is an institution of patience, sacrifice, caring for each other, and sharing. Our ancient people spoke about saptapadi– the seven vows of marriage one takes in life. The hallmarks of a happy marriage are – a sense of commitment, co-operation, compassion, caring, and less ego. The relationship can bring us strength or weakness depending on the mind. If the mind is strong then relationships are a gift to us, but if the mind is weak and not in control, then relationships can feel like bondage. If you hold each other’s necks, it will feel like bondage. If you walk together, shoulder-to-shoulder with each other, it will serve as a support. So be a support to each other, be a companion, and move forward.” 2. Be available for each other instead of demanding “In a marriage, you should consider the other person as your own part – like your arm or leg....

Five secrets of fulfilling relationships Sri Sri Ravi Shankar unravels the secrets of nurturing and maintaining a relationship What are the secrets of a relationship? How does a relationship develop? First is the attraction. But, if you get what you are attracted to too easily, the charm goes away. However, if it becomes just a little bit difficult to have what you are attracted to, then you develop love for it. What happens when you fall in love? When you love someone, you give yourself to that relationship, and start making demands on that relationship. The moment you start demanding, love diminishes. Then you say, “Oh! I have made a mistake.” Now there is struggle and pain to get out of it. And after you have got out of it, you get into one more, another one, and the story repeats.  The golden three The way to make relationships long-lasting is through the right perception, the right observation, and the right expression. Often people say that nobody understands them...

Question - Gurudev, if our consciousness is so powerful, then why doesn't it heal our body ailments and why do we need doctors and medicines. What is the role of the soul in the body. Gurudev Sri Sri - Body heals, not just with medicine. You give someone medicine and do not let them sleep, then see if the body heals. Impossible. Deep rest is required, and meditation is one such rest. Our body is not used to meditation from the very beginning, or due the circumstances and surrounding, the conditioning of the body is such that medicines also have a role to play. That is why Ayurveda is also a part of the Vedic wisdom, and not just mantras and yoga. Yoga and Ayurveda both have an equal share in keeping the body healthy.

He showed me the truth that Guru is a caring essence, and that no matter how busy things around Him get, He knows. He always Knows.In all the busy-ness, He is still looking out for you, shares RUCHIRA ROY, blogger and former journalist with The Economic Times. This fascinating narration is a story of oneness, read on.  The doubting Thomas that I was, I used to harbor many misconceptions about Gurudev. One was, Gurudev must be too busy to care about me or my problems. After all, I am just one among the millions of devotees all over the world, some who have served Him longer and with more dedication and commitment. Why would he bother about me? I knew Gurudev was not an ordinary man but I was yet to come to terms with what happened to me on 5th March, 2016. Of course He did not look at me, as my pet peeve had always been, but He looked out for me.  We were a week away from one of the biggest events of the year-the World Cultural Festival that was going to witness the...

Chapter 2 - Beginning The Spiritual Journey  Day 8 If you do not know love at all, you cannot understand it at all. You have to know love, and when you know love, then you can understand what bhakti is. And there is not one creature on this planet that doesn't know what love is.  So how do you get to the goal? One needs to go to a saint, and one such saint was Narad. In ancient times Narada was known to be a troublemaker.  The name Narad means he is here, he is there also, he is on both sides. He is with this party, he is with the other party, also. He says something here, something there also and bridges them both.  Even today in India, if someone is playing both sides you say “Oh you are like Narad.” You are here, you are there, you are everywhere. But he always ends up doing good for both parties. That was the skill of Narad.  It means that two parties, which appear to be completely opposite, are both comfortable with Narada. And he somehow bridge...

Chapter 2 - Beginning The Spiritual Journey Day 7 If you ask yourself a straight question, “What is it that you want in your life?” It will boil down to one thing and that is love. Behind every desire there is love, isn’t it?  Yet, life cannot move an inch without love, life has sprung from love, moves in love, and its culmination is also love. Yet we see that life is full of problems. Sometimes if there is no love, then life seems to be better because then there are no problems.  Love comes with this tail called problems. If you love objects more, then that becomes greed. If you love people more, it is entanglement. If you love yourself too much, that is ego-centrism, arrogance. If you love someone too much, then jealousy comes behind that.  Whether jealousy, greed, lust or anger, there is love present underneath. Love, when it ferments, becomes hatred. Love, when it gets distorted, becomes fear. It is love that causes fear. It is love that is the cause for a...

Chapter 1 - A Bridge To The Divine Day 6 In the world, as well as in spiritual matters, act towards that which nourishes this love, accept that which moves you in the direction of this love and be indifferent to that which is not supporting this love, because life is full of opposites.  In life both things, events will happen, those that will support your hatred and destroy love, and those that will destroy hatred and support love, because the field of activity and life is full of opposite values.  The same occurs in the scriptures, too-one scripture will authenticate this and another will authenticate that and if you go into all this, you may get really confused. Even in the name of dharma people can make a lot of mistakes.  If Jesus was crucified, he was crucified since it was thought that he had been blasphemous - that he had committed a blasphemy against God. If the activities in the world become an obstruction for your growth, then act skilfully.  Of...

Chapter 1 - A Bridge To The Divine Day 5 Often love is thought to be between two-one and the other. When there is another, you don’t feel totally one with the person. You always question and doubt the other person’s love for you.  If you doubt whether the other person really loves you or not, you will be unable to love them unconditionally, unable to merge with them. Certain things you have to take for granted.  One thing is the love of the other person from whom you want love. You have to take it for granted. Even if the love is not there, you must feel that it is there, means feeling totally one with the other.  That is divine love. Be indifferent to anything that appears to be opposing it. It might happen that you are in love with God, and sometimes things happen that don't seem to show that God is really in love with you. But ignore those things.  A saint was once spreading the message of God in villages. One rainy day he came back home and found that...