Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

The Pithraj Tree (Aphanamixis polystachya) is a medium sized (about 20m tall), evergreen tree from the family Meliaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, including Singapore. Its name has roots in the Greek aphanos, invisible; Greek mixis, mating; Greek poly, many; Greek stachys, branch, referring to the much-branched male flowering shoot. The tree has long imparipinnate compound leaves (that is having an unpaired terminal leaflet), alternately arranged and made up of 9-21 leaflets, each leaflet being oblong-elliptic, and wavy on the margins, with an acute tip. Flower clusters occur in leaf-axils. Flowers have 5 nearly circular sepals,. Its female flowering shoots are up to 110 cm long, while male and bisexual flowering shoots are up to 50 cm long. Its sweetly scented flowers are 4 x 9 mm across and produced in panicles, with cream to yellow coloured petals. Flowers are pollin...

SudarshanKriya opens us a new dimension to your life.  You begin to live life to fullest and celebrate everything that comes in your life. * Sudarshan Kriya: wonderful, indescribable, a deep healing relaxation. Sudarshan is made up of two words, His and Darshan. Suu means beautiful and visually. The meaning is to see the Action that means, a good job. Thus, Its full meaning is to see oneself or look good. The most important and integral part of the basic course of the Art of Living is the Sudarshan Kriya. The knowledge and practice of Sudarshan Kriya, are carried out, during the course, of course, to develop. It is a very specialized technique and is completely practical and most importantly, The result of the Kriya experience is immediately received by the student. Sudarshan Kriya, is a special and sequential technique for breathing. It is an unexplained respiratory process. In Sanskrit, its means true, philosophy has a meaning of vision and action means purification. Who uses, th...

Here's one of my dearest stories! Eversince I heard experiences from people who did an advance course (Advance Meditation Program ('AMP')Art of Silence course at Triveni Ashram in Dec 2019 wherein Gurudev met everyone and conducted some sessions, I had been really very jealous and was super desperate to experience Gurudev's session at AMP. Soon after this, an AMP got announced at Vasad Ashram, new year special where Gurudev was going to come for a session too...in first week of Jan... Gurudev was going to be in Germany and then in Gujarat...I immediately took the first step of enrolling and little did I know, it was just beginning of enhancing my longing to meet Him. Things weren't working out well at office and I couldn't seek leave for the course and told Gurudev, even if you come, how will I speak to my senior for leave since my senior got an idea of my resignation thoughts. Well, Gurudev extended His stay in Germany and couldn't come to Vasad...

In the year 2013, I was 29 and having many health troubles. My friends suggested various healing treatments and Art of Living was one of it. I had never heard of it by then, and decided to join on a whim. The only thing I asked the lady when I paid was whether it can heal my joint pains.  I even gave her a smirk, when she said “yes”. After I joined the course, I could hardly sit, and could not do the warm ups either. Somehow, with the tender care from my teacher and my persistence, I finished the course. By the end of it, I was able to walk on toes and heels and do slight warm ups. My teacher still states me as an example 🙂 Though I was not aware, people around me started noticing the changes in me. Also, that was the first time I saw the frame of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the hall. I was not drawn to it so I was actually relieved when teacher said, “you need not believe in Him, just believe in your Sadhana (everyday practice)”. On the last day I looked at the photo and ...

Question - Gurudev, how to ensure that a person does not take you for granted in a relationship? Gurudev Sri Sri - Don't worry about it, it is quite natural. People take you for granted because they think you belong to them already, and so they only attend to people who are guests. You are a part of the family, why should anybody tell you, 'Have you had coffee? Are you going to eat now?' It is not normal. If someone asks a little too many questions, then also you will doubt, 'Why are they giving me so much attention. Something must be wrong.' You start doubting. The other day, one gentleman told me, 'Gurudev, when attend to my wife, and be a little nicer to her, she starts doubting, she says that there is something wrong and asks me, 'What is the matter? You must have done something wrong. You are not being honest.' If I am normal, then she says that I ignore her. What to do Gurudev?' So when someone wants to doubt you, in any case, they will start d...

My parents had gone to Rishikesh once, as Guruji was there. That day was an extremely auspicious one, which had come after 400 years. Guruji, along with other devotees, were going to take a dip in the holy water of the River Ganges. My relatives Sumit and Dipti had also decided to go to Rishikesh via road because they couldn’t get the train tickets. They were very excited, and all this while I was at home, relaxing on the couch. Dipti di asked me why I wasn’t coming along.  I told her that I was excited to be home alone for two days and party the whole time. She intelligently convinced me to come by saying she would even sponsor for my whole trip. A free road trip sounded good to me so I decided to go as well, thanking Guruji. I got ready quickly and we left for Rishikesh. We discussed many Guru Stories on our way. Talking about Guruji is always the best thing you can do in your life. It automatically brings a smile on your face. Even just thinking about him is enough. ...

In the summer of 2014, we were living in Boston. My husband got a new job offer from Amazon. We were not sure whether to accept it as the position was based in Seattle and would require us to relocate.  We came to know that Gurudev was going to be at Boone Ashram during Guru Purnima and decided to seek His guidance. My husband met Gurudev and told him about the job offer. Gurudev did not say anything . He just kept His hand on my husband’s head and walked away. After Guru Purnima celebrations, while driving to the Charlotte airport from Boone, we decided to accept the offer. Next step was to decide about relocation so I called up a friend of mine who I knew was looking to buy a house and told her that we may be selling our house. On Monday, my friend came, saw our house and made an offer! So, with our own house sold, we decided to look for a new house in Seattle. We spent a full day looking at various options. At the end of an extremely tiring and frustrating day, we de...

Question - Gurudev, how to get rid of negative habits of the mind? Gurudev Sri Sri - Good company. The real friend is one with whom you sit for some time, you talk negative and then you turn positive. A bad friend is one with whom you talk a little negative and the negativity becomes much bigger. So, first is good company, second is pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation and third is to cleanse the body. Sometimes, if your bowel movements are not good, if your intestine is hard, it affects the head also. Sometimes, you need to do some cleansing of the body as well. Cleanse the toxins or go on a diet. Ayurveda, Panchakarma - all these will help.

I did my first course in 2012 in Chicago. Since then I had the urge of meeting Sri Sri. To my surprise my Art of Living teacher gave us the news that Guruji will be visiting Chicago for the NONVIO tour.  I was overjoyed after I heard this news and now I had the desire to sing for our beloved Guruji, but was afraid if I would be given a chance to do so. But none the less I decided to try my luck and requested my AOL family if I could sing at the convention. But I didn’t get a confirmation to sing for 2 months and my desire to sing was only increasing so now instead of worrying I did what is best to do and it always works, I SURRENDERED TO GURUJI. I told Him “I want to sing for you, now u take care of it”. As soon as I surrendered I got a green signal to sing at the convention the following day itself. This was not it; there were many more surprises for me. I was informed that we could stay at the same hotel where Guruji would stay and in addition to it we would even be g...

On 22 November, 2012, which was a very special day of my life, I entered into the magical world of the Art of Living.  I did the Part1, Yes!+ and DSN courses. I heard a lot about the Advance Course, but did not get a chance to do the course because it was a full day course of four days and somehow I was not able to take leave for it. My craving for doing the course was increasing day by day. One day, Saleel Bhaiya, who was my Part1 and DSN Teacher happened to talk to me and suggested that I go to the Ashram for an Advance course with Guruji. I liked the idea very much but my mom and dad refused to give permission to go alone so far. Later on, fortunately, they agreed to send me to Bangalore on Maha Shivaratri with my friends. I was happy in doing the course in Mumbai only, but Guruji always gives me the best, so He wanted me to do the course in the Ashram so that I could have the best experience of this course. In order to reach the Bangalore ashram, I needed to travel ...

I don't know how to show my gratitude to Gurudev for all the blessings He has poured on me and my family. This is one of the most wonderful incident that I want to share with you all. It was 28 th of April 2016.  Morning when I woke up I could not move my left hand and left foot The left side was paralyzed (I knew it only later). Till the previous night I was normal, did all the work and also finished 90 percent of the packing to go to Ashram to attend the AMP for teachers from 1st May. But now all of a sudden I am unable to move. Quickly my husband and daughter took me to the nearby hospital and immediately medical help was given, starting from MRI scan which showed a clot in my brain and doctors had to decide on the line of treatment.  Waking up by 6 and finding myself in the ICU in an hour - I could not comprehend anything nor accept the situation and was resisting everything that was being done by the nurse staff. Suddenly after a few minutes of resistance it...

Question - Gurudev, when love turns into bitterness, what to do? Gurudev Sri Sri - Just wait, don't react, the bitterness will turn back into love again. You often see that the people for whom you have done so much, they turn bitter. And you expect everyone to be in an enlightened state, that is not possible in the world. Everyone is not just going to be smiling and accepting you as you are, and unconditionally being in a giving and loving space. That is not possible. You will have to face reactions, and you should face it, that is all.

Few years ago we devotees from Bharuch, Gujarat were going to Ahmedabad for Dhanlakshmi Homa and Satsang with Gurudev, in tempo traveller bus. But on Express Highway, our bus broke down and we were nowhere to go as we were in between the Express way. Driver called the help line and also his mechanic friend from Anand, but all this was going to take time and everyone wanted to reach the venue on time. So we decided to stop the buses of GSRTC so that we can reach Abad and then we can go by taxis, but getting lift was in vain 20 minutes passed and no halt of any vehicle then we prayed, "Guruji help". Within a minute a tempo came and took a halt, and asked what happened and we told him whole story and also told that we all have to reach Nikol, in Ahmedabad. He said he is going from there only and will drop us there. We all got so happy and all of us climbed on the open roof tempo and had an enjoyable and memorable ride. He dropped us just in front of the venue. Hum ja...

Question - Gurudev, sometimes the expectations of people around me and my own expectations from myself don't let me be natural. What to do to become natural? Gurudev Sri Sri - Only sometimes, not all the time, isn't it? If it is all the time then I will give you a solution sometimes it is okay. As you grow more in wisdom, as you see the dream nature of the world - that everything is like a dream, everything is passing, everything is changing, then events will bother vou lesser and lesser. The onlv wav to be untouched by events is to see the whole phenomenon as a dream which is passing.

Question - Gurudev, if doing nothing brings us so much joy and happiness, then why should we do anything at all? Gurudev Sri Sri - Your nature is such that you cannot stay for too long without doing anything. You know, bliss is always found or realized in the contrast of events. When you are doing something and when you put in your 100% efforts, only then do you realise the value of not doing something. See, when you are active and dynamic, only then does deep rest happen to you. If you are simply lying in bed the whole day and are doing nothing, then you will not be able to sleep at night. So it is essential to do what you have to do. We have certain karmas to do, and once the karmas are done, then in between the states of doing and being in activity, we do experience that state of not doing anything also.

Question - Gurudev, you said we come to the Ashram and regenerate - why is the world not an Ashram? Gurudev Sri Sri - To me the world is my Ashram. But when you come in a physical place, or in an Ashram where there is always meditation happening, that place holds those vibrations. See in your home, there is a place for dining, a place for resting, and a place for garbage. Like that, in the world, there is a place for everything. I would love everyone of you to make your home an Ashram. And what is an Ashram? It is a place where there is wisdom and where there is love. It is a place where anybody who comes is welcomed and given some food so that they can come and relax. If you can create such a power then the whole world is an Ashram. In fact, when you go and be with nature in the forest or in the woods, it is all an Ashram only. I say that every tree in the world is in my own garden; in my own ashram. This is the fact, but sometimes when you feel that this is not helping, that you need...

Question - Gurudev, how compatible are love and dispassion for a life companion? Gurudev Sri Sri - You need both, passion and dispassion in life. Usually we think, 'When I have passion, how can I have dispassion? If I am dispassionate, how can I be passionate about anything?' This is what the normal concept is in the minds of people. I tell you, it is not that way. It is like, breathing in is passion, breathing out is dispassion and in between the two, is compassion. You need all three. You need to be passionate about something in life, otherwise you will go into depression. Be passionate about knowledge, be passionate about doing seva, be passionate about thinking, or about anything. Some passion definitely needs to be there in life. You can have a passion for wisdom as well. So passion is essential. Dispassion is essential as well. Without dispassion there is no joy, no happiness. You will be miserable if you do not have any dispassion. And of course, compassion is needed in ...

Question - Gurudev, how to get a faith that never shakes? Gurudev Sri Sri - If it is true faith, let it shake. Truth will never go, and if the faith is with the truth, let it shake. It will never get lost. In fact, you should doubt as much as possible. You can say, 'Don't doubt', only when a thing is not a genuine thing. If it is genuine gold, I tell you, go on scratching as much as possible. But if it is just rolled in gold, or gold polish, then you say, 'Don't scratch too much because it will disappear.' With true gold, any amount of scratching will not make it go away. Doubt is simply lack of energy. When you are high in energy, where is the doubt? Doubt comes when the energy is low. True faith is that which you shake a 100 times and it still stays on. That is true faith, and it will remain.

Question - Gurudev, is taking a divorce a hindrance on the spiritual path? I am very upset with my life since I got married. Gurudev Sri Sri - See, give your marriage 100%. If your marriage works that is good. If it doesn't work, if both of you are miserable and there is not even an iota of joy there, then there is no point in hanging onto such a state of misery. Then amicably both of you should tell each other, 'You have your way and we will still be friends. As I said, don't take a decision with any up-surging emotion. From a calm and collected mind think and see what you want.

Weekly Knowledge 177 Vancover, B.C 28 Oct 1998  Canada Appreciation When do you appreciate someone? When they do something that is unusual,not ordinary, and not their nature. Isn't it so? For example, when a wicked person doesn't create a problem then you appreciate them. Or, when somebody you think is not good does a good act, then you appreciate them. Also, when a good person does something extraordinary, then you appreciate them. If a child made you a cup of tea, you would appreciate it, but if a mother made the same cup of tea, you would not likely appreciate it because it is a normal act for her. In the same way, you appreciate getting a ride from someone you don't know, but you don't necessarily appreciate it from a bus driver. In all these cases, those acts are temporary, out of character, or not their nature. So when you appreciate someone for something, you imply that it is not the way they are usually. Robin:- What if a person wants to be appreciated? Sri Sri ...

Weekly Knowledge 168 Hamburg 26 Aug 1998 Germany EXPANSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS PEACE Consciousness moving on the surface of the body is stimuli, which cause pleasure. When consciousness shrinks, then the sensation of pain and suffering arises. Suffering is the shrinking or contraction of consciousness. When consciousness moves through the body in limited channels, pleasure is experienced. Repeated enjoyment of the stimuli causes inertia and dullness. Often cooks don't enjoy their own food. Listening to the same piece of music loses the charm, people in the sex industry don't enjoy sex. If the stimuli are observed, then consciousness expands and becomes peace. With awareness the stimuli lose their significance; whether they exist or not makes no difference. When the sun is there, then whether the candle is lit or not makes no difference. To realise that all pleasures are just stimuli and that you are more than the stimuli brings freedom. Pain is nothing but consciousness wantin...

When the heart is full of greed then the 6th sense (Intuition) won't work. When you are pure in heart then it will work. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Watch "Everything You Need To Know About Sixth Sense, Intuition & More | Gurudev" on YouTube https://youtu.be/ewffnDz62jw

Knowledge is ancient & eternal but the presentation of knowledge & reach of knowledge needs an organisation & that’s what the 'Art of Living' movement is all about. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

🪄Gurudev mentioned about this book also in today's meeting.. https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Journey-Within-Essentials-Living/dp/B0BYZDCZDN

Awaken Your Sixth Sense -Meditation & wisdom with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar https://event.us.artofliving.org/us-en/sixthsense/new-jersey/

Question - Gurudev, in your book titled Living the Mystery of Life, you have said, 'Work in this world but do not allow it to enter your head. Can you please explain this once again. Is it the same thing as dispassion? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji - This is exactly what we did now in the last guided meditation. When the eyes are open, we see the scenery, and when we close our eyes and our mind then there is another world. Did you notice this? So meditation is the way. See, suppose you are sitting and thinking, ‘Oh, my daughter-in-law did this. My son did not respect me, etc.', you can sit and think about this the whole night, the whole of the next morning and the whole of the next day and it will all just bother you. What I am saying is, whatever they did, let it be out there. When you close your eyes, you be in your space. Do not let the world outside bother you. It is difficult, I know, it is not that easy. But that is the direction we must proceed in. There ar...