Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Gurudev always says the Divine is dwelling inside you and He takes care of you. I decided to test this phenomena in an experiential way. I started practicing surrendering each and every activity of my life to the Inner Divine for continuously 41 days to make it as a habit. In the morning before starting Sadhana, I would surrender that whatever action or activity I do today will be because of Divine will and it is all His action only, I am just witnessing His action. Ever since I dropped and surrendered my entire life to the Divine, I was able to go deep in my meditation. The entire feeling of reverence is very difficult to explain in words. In the beginning, I doubted if this surrender will prevent me from carrying out my everyday responsibilities. However, I just kept moving forward with the knowledge that a Karma Yogi has to work without attachment, surrendering to the Divine will and wherever necessary using our own intelligence also. Days turned into weeks, I started t...

Ten years ago, I attended a Satsang at Vishalakshi Mantap (Central Dome of the Art of Living International Center Bengaluru). It was my fourth week at the Ashram and I did my YesPlus Advance Course, Blessing Course and Gurupuja Phase I. I did my sadhana, meditation, chanting and seva. I even had the chance to meet Gurudev together with the YesPlus International Group. But yet, I was restless.   That evening at Vishalakshi Mantap, Gurudev was entering the hall and a crowd was drawn towards him. Somehow, I managed to squeeze into the crowd near the entrance. Gurudev walked past me. People were all around me. Gurudev ignored me again, I thought. Then I panicked. “Guruji!” I called out with hope. Gurudev gave a start and stopped in his tracks. Slowly, He turned around. He searched the crowd with His eyes and stopped when He saw me. Time stood still. His presence drowned out the crowd. Slowly, He broke into a happy smile. I can’t remember now whether I returned His smile. Then, Gurud...

When Gurudev was in Denver, I took a last-minute trip to meet him. I loved the entire event and I was extremely grateful that I got this opportunity to be with Him. The key event of America Meditates – the meditation led by Gurudev himself, ended at 8 pm and I had a flight to board by 9.50 pm. Like any other Art of Living super devotee, I had no doubt that I was going to take that flight home that night. My caring roommate dropped me to a suitable place to take Uber, at a convenient place away from the venue. However, Murphy’s law was super strong that day. It all started with the Uber pool ride I took which made the driver go back to the venue increasing the ETA by a huge margin. After dropping the fellow passengers (who were an amazing company) we finally reached the freeway. To our dismay, the freeway was showing a detour. My kind driver said he will end his ride for the day so that Uber does not add more passengers en route. At this point, I was getting tiny panic atta...

I am Manisha and I have been an Art of Living devotee since 2015. My life has become full of happiness and joy after becoming a part of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s vision of a One World Family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). I would like to share my experience how I received the greatest assistance when I needed it the most. A few years ago, I lost my mom. I was the only child and I did not have any relatives. There was absolutely no one to assist me. Even then, the Almighty took care of me & I was accommodated at a centre for orphans. I was grateful since I got a place to live. However, I was unsure about my career and my future as I had always been ambitious. Worriedly, I spoke to the caretaker of the centre. After hearing my interests & dedication, she offered to take responsibility of all of my educational needs. She made me join school, took care of my studies, and later also enrolled me in college where I was professionally trained as a nurse. It was during my ...

My name is Divesh Sharma & I am an Art of Living follower since 2015. Life with Gurudev is always so protected, so special & so full of amazing moments.   A few years ago, I had gone to the Art of Living International Ashram in Bengaluru for a holiday. On the day of the Darshan line, I went to the secretariat to get an appointment for meeting Gurudev — who would want to miss this opportunity! As soon as I reached the Darshan hall, I was informed that it was not going to be a one-to-one Darshan but instead a group Darshan where Gurudev will be on the stage. Since I am visually impaired, I was really disappointed. In the hall, there were 2000 people, all eagerly waiting to see him. Finally, Gurudev entered the hall. Surprisingly, shockingly, amazingly, He came straight to me & started talking to me! He patted me on my head with a lotus, then patted my cheek & then pinched my cheek & after meeting me, He turned around & left the hall. It was like,...

After two months since I completed the Art of Living Happiness program, my teacher insisted to do the Advanced course at the Bangalore Ashram. I grudgingly registered, considering my health situation at that time & my finances.   In those 5 days, there were many times when I cried and felt like running away from the ashram. However, Gurudev had different plans for me and I ended up doing the Sahaj Samadhi course also along with the Advanced course! Here are a few instances of how I felt His grace moved things for me – Whenever I was at the edge, my teacher used to appear by my side, out of nowhere and I was taken care of. As a part of Seva during the course, we were assigned to clean dishes. I panicked! I can hardly hold my food plate without straining my back injury. So, I prayed to Gurudev to watch over me until the course ends. Post lunch, we were washing utensils and I was swept away by the joy of doing Seva! After a while, a sudden desire to eat payasam (that was served...

Few months ago while traveling in the local train in Mumbai, a lady who was seated next to me asked me to lend an extra pair of earrings to her, if I had any! She had to go for an interview. I didn’t have an extra pair and the ones that I wore were artificial but my favourite. However, I didn’t have any interview and could have gone to office without earrings too.   Almost instantly, I recalled an experience shared by Bhanu Didi in one of the books wherein Gurudev would distribute His belongings to the needy and come home with an empty bag. So I gave away the earrings that I wore as her interview seemed more important than my usual day at work. In my heat, I knew that Gurudev would be aware of even this small incidence. With this earring gone, I could also now buy a pair of diamond earrings that I always wanted to have. However, the earrings that I gave away were really nice in terms of design and I couldn’t find them again. Today morning, I suddenly saw an old picture of mine w...

Once Guruji was returning to the German Ashram from Caracas, Venezuela. However, due to unavailability of a direct flight to Frankfurt, he landed in Paris before going to the Ashram. It was a surprise visit for all Parisians. It also happened to be Guruji’s birthday according to the Hindu calendar. So a surprise satsang with a cake was planned in the hotel where he was staying.   At around 6 pm, about 150 people had gathered, who had about 1 hour notice to reach the venue. It was a beautiful, intimate satsang and birthday party. One of the volunteers asked Guruji, “How did this plan for Paris come up?”. It seemed like a very mundane question. Here’s what Guruji said – “There are plans at many levels. There is a room plan, what colour to paint the walls, where to keep the flower vase? Then there is a house plan, street plan, city plan, country plan and so on at various levels of detail. The biggest plan is that we are all here at the same time, one in saudi arabia, one in Germany...

I had a beautiful experience during Mahashivratri 2020 at Bangalore Ashram!   I was having a very rough time in my personal life and was even losing faith in Art of Living, even though I have been associated since 2013. I am doing PhD from IIT Delhi and University of Queensland (Australia) so work pressure and high expectations from professors and peers was a challenge and due to it I even left doing kriya in between thinking I didn’t have the time, which is never the case. But somehow I regained little faith back after doing 3 days Padmasadhana and went to Bangalore ashram during Shivaratri. I had bought a gift for Gurudev (a very beautiful, expensive one) whole heartedly and thought to myself whether He will even take it or not, whether I will be able to reach Him in the Darshan line or not. But when I sat in the amphitheater, after going in “bhaav” (devotion) He sent Swami Purnachaitanya (who has been my mentor in personal life) straight to me and he said “Gurudev ha...