Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

In December 2009, I embarked on a journey that would forever change my life. Having been a part of the Art of Living community for just over four years,  I was eager to attend an advanced course in Rishikesh, in the divine presence of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Rishikesh’s serene and spiritual ambiance was the perfect backdrop for a spiritual sojourn. I arrived in Rishikesh a day before the course was set to begin, not only for the mandatory course registration but also because I held a deep desire to seek Gurudev’s blessings, even if it meant just catching a glimpse of Him. However, things didn’t go as planned. Gurudev was engaged in meetings, and I was informed that the chances of a darshan were slim since it was already past 10 PM. I felt a wave of disappointment, but I refused to give up. Wandering by the Ganges, I looked at Gurudev from a distance and silently wondered what it would take to meet Him that night. Tears welled up in my eyes as I yearned for this ch...

I’ve had several amazing experiences since Gurujis’ presence in my life. I ask a question in my mind and pat comes the answer. I’m out of town thinking of Him, and there He appears on some random channel, at some random time, while I’m flipping the channels. I cannot count these occasions – there are just so many. But there was one incident that really resonates in my heart, and truly makes me feel that while there is the Divine in everyone, Gurus like Sri Sri are drenched in the Divine spirit. A few years ago, my husband suffered from a sudden drop in potassium levels. He looked bloated, and so I took him to the hospital. He was admitted to the ICU and I was alone, sitting outside the ward. The doctor told me that I was lucky to have brought him in at this time because it could have led to a cardiac arrest otherwise. They needed to do an angiograph, they said. Maybe a block had to be removed. Now my husband has other health problems as well, so I prayed fervently that angioplasty was ...

– I live in America, and I have been facing a difficulty in breathing from my left nostril since 2 years now, and since last April, my left nostril was totally blocked. I couldn’t relate to what was happening, but in January 2014, my doctor said that it was not normal to have polyps in one nostril only, and it could be something really dangerous, like a type of benign tumour which in rarest cases, can be malignant too. I just could not believe it, as I have always been a healthy person. I became extremely restless and tensed due to this whole situation, but then I took to my last and final resort – I started doing my short Kriya, which I had not done since a long time, and contacted the Art of Living centre faculty in my area and started doing my long Kriya as well. As usual, the Art of Living teachers helped me in strongly facing my situation to a great extent. Meanwhile, I somehow felt very much at ease through this whole chaotic situation, as though there was divine intervention. I ...

आयुर्वेद –मीठ शेंदेलोण (सैंधव), पादेलोण, बीडलवण, सांबरलोण आणि दर्याई मीठ असे आयुर्वेदामध्ये मिठाचे पाच प्रकार सांगितले आहेत. शेंदेलोण (सैंधव), पादेलोण, बीडलवण, सांबरलोण आणि दर्याई मीठ असे आयुर्वेदामध्ये मिठाचे पाच प्रकार सांगितले आहेत. आयुर्वेदाच्या अनेक औषधांमध्ये सैंधव(मिठा)चा वापर करतात. स्वयंपाकघरात, तर कुठल्याच अन्नपदार्थाला मिठाशिवाय चव येत नाही. त्यामुळे अन्नपदार्थामध्ये याचे महत्त्वाचे स्थान आहे. परंतु याच्या अतिवापरामुळे विविध आजारांची लागण होऊन जीवन बेचव होऊ शकते, म्हणून सावध रीतीने मिठाचा आहारात वापर करावा. सैंधव मीठ हे खाणीतून मिळते. सैंधव हे आरोग्यास हितकारक व त्रिदोषशामक असते, म्हणून चरकाचार्य सैंधवाला सर्वात श्रेष्ठ लवण (मीठ) असे म्हणतात. आपल्या दैनंदिन स्वयंपाकघरातील वापरावयाचे मीठ हे सामान्यत: समुद्रातून मिळविलेले असते. डॉ. श्री .नितिन जाधव .संजीवन चिकित्सक. डोंबिवली. 9892306092. गुणधर्म मीठ हे अग्नी प्रदीप्त करणारे धातुवर्धक, कृमिनाशक, रुचीकारक बल्य असते. परंतु त्याचा वापर हा योग्य प्रमाणातच करावा. ते अजीर्ण, उदरशूळ (पोटदुखी) व गॅसेस या विकारांवर उपयुक्त अ...

My son is very sweet and creative. He has a rare combination of interests. He had completed his post- graduation in Design management in 2010 and searched for a job in the same field, but did not get it. So he started staying at home and doing something with software applications or watching some funny videos on YouTube on his computer. His sleeping and waking hours were abnormal (at least to me). He used to sleep at 3 or 4 in the night and mostly woke up at any time after 12 during day. Gradually he would not want to mix up even with his neighbours and this had become his routine. Following this he lost interest and didn’t want to study any further for any specialization.  Then slowly he started his own company, an online magazine for social issues. Though he was not a software professional, he learned everything himself that was related and necessary for his online website through web tutorials and through discussions with online friends and my husband (who is a computer professi...

Art of Living came into my life at a time when I was in a totally miserable condition, when I needed a helping hand from the Divine, as I had given up all hope. My father died in 2007, in my own arms. It was very hard for me to face this loss as I was extremely attached to him. After spending almost a year in utter grief, another major problem surfaced, Marriage. I would feel horribly lonely and sad most of the times, as marriage was not working out in my life.  I had no companion with whom I could share my pain, with the hope of reducing it a bit. I felt extremely victimised by life. I kept asking the question “Why me?”, for which I got no answer in return. I was in a pathetically depressed condition. One fine day, my sister, who was staying in America then, called me and told me about AOL, and asked me to join the Course too, that was happening in my area. She took a promise from me that I would join the upcoming course in Gwalior. I had no reason to say no, and I started to gath...

After taking a one year break from work, I was eager to get back to my career. I was searching for a well-suited job. In the beginning, I was rejected after a bunch of interviews. It was disheartening but I told myself to keep my momentum up. I chanted Om Namah Shivaya every day along with an audio recording of my Guru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It helped keep up my positivity. Finally, I was selected for a job that I thought I really wanted. I knew it was because of the Guru grace.  I expressed my gratitude to him in my usual habit of praying and talking to one of Sri Sri’s photograph. I was satisfied knowing I won’t remain jobless. However, the thought of this job did not bring me much joy. My family was delighted, though, that I wasn’t just sitting idly and wasting my time. I was reluctant to join the organization. I attended one of the pre-hiring orientations and I realized this was not the place for me. I wouldn’t be able to adjust with and adhere to their terms. I returned home w...

I never had the guts to speak to Guruji. I used to make plans about things I would ask him, things I would tell him when I would meet him. But when I would be near Him – ‘woosh!’ my mind would go blank. All the planning would go in vain and I would just flash a smile and say Jai Gurudev! This happened very often, so much so that I was jealous of all those who seemed to tell him hour-long stories! Once, he was at the starting of the line and my mind was doing the usual planning. It seemed to be a repeat telecast of what my darshans used to be.  But what happened different here was, just as He went past me, I half shouted to him “Guruji will you always be with us?” He slowly turned back and said “Of course, I will always be with you!” Few weeks had passed since this incident. I was back in my normal life, which seemed eventless. I had my classes, which were sort of hectic. One fine evening I was walking home with a friend after few hours of class-room session. All of a sudden, she st...

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 suggested ...

The biggest u-turn of my life started when I met Guruji. Initially, I was not aware of what He really is, so when I did my first Art Excel course eight years back, I never realised the importance of it. I just took it lightly like any random activity done by a child. But I was blessed with Guru’s Grace and once again after I completed my schooling, I came across the Yes+ Course, suggested by my uncle. I finally successfully completed the course after several attempts made by my uncle and cousins who had experienced this grace before I could.  I wasn’t really interested in doing it but my Yes+ teacher was always behind me. She was the one who always pushed me towards this grace. The year 2011 was filled with too many ups and downs in my life. That was when I realised the true importance of having a Guru in my life. I was very depressed; always worrying about certain things that I could not resist thinking about. It was bothering me every day, every hour, every second. I was totally ...

My name is Deepa Singh and I am a Yoga teacher. I stay in Mumbai. I have been into Art of Living for the past ten years and life has been a blissful journey since. However, there is only one sad feeling that kept bothering me, which was that I have never gotten to meet my Guru face to face and talk to him. In all these years, I was only able to have eye contact with Him, as there are always so many devotee’s waiting to take his blessings.  I always complained to myself, that when will I get to talk to Him properly. A part of me kept thinking, if I don’t meet Him, will He even know me? Then one day, a relative of mine had come home and he told me that he had managed to get a meeting with Gurudev. He had sent an email to Him because he needed to talk about some important personal matters, and he got an appointment to meet Guruji in the Bangalore Ashram. While I was very happy for him, this made me even sadder. Luckily for me, the very next day I got a call that Guruji is in Mumbai an...

When Gurudev says that I am with you when you sit with eyes closed for meditation, it is so true.  I was out of station for a holiday. The resort where we were staying had a long balcony attached with every room. We could step out of the room and sit there but the only thing missing was that the door could not be locked from outside. The latch was inside the room and it could be locked only from inside.  I had to do my Sudarshan Kriya in the morning so I thought this would be the best place in the resort to do my Sudarshan Kriya, without catching much attention of outsiders and without disturbing my family in the morning. All I had to do was just step out of the room and sit for meditation.  The next morning I got up a little early while my family was still sleeping. I tip tied outside. I closed the door but couldn’t lock it as there was no facility to lock it from outside.  I was using a clean towel as a mat to sit for Sudarshan Kriya. As I sat starting with naadi ...

I was looking for job opportunities in Bangalore and went home for a few days as I was feeling home sick. I was happy to see and meet my parents and friends but from inside I felt tensed, was thinking if I would get a job or not, and was constantly praying to Gurudev.  As I was at home, I was relaxed and had left my preparation for the interviews. All of a sudden, I got a call from an MNC saying that I had to attend their written exam the next day. I had to rush to Bangalore and didn’t have the time to prepare well, and couldn't go through my study notes even once as I was informed only the previous night.  Next morning when I reached at my room, I cried and asked Gurudev to be on my side. I completed my 1st round of exam which went on very well and the topics that I had revised long were asked. Finally I was happy. After a week I got a call from the company asking me to attend the second round of the interview. I prepared well and went, but couldn't perform well. I was depres...

I would like to share with one and all a sweet story of my life. I am a Hindu girl who married a Parsi boy, in the year 1995. We had a Court marriage. We now have two children as well, who follow both the religions. Encouraged by my Gurus’ words, that now my boys have 2 religions to benefit from, I introduced spiritual practices taught in AOL into their lives, in order to keep them on the right path, and mould them well. Having gone through a lot of turbulent times, while I swam against the tide, I finally found my saviour in SRI SRI in 2005.  Still swimming against the same tide, albeit with a Smile(that happens when you find a GURU), I realized that following what HE said, and eventually becoming an AOL full time teacher while continuing my dental practice for 4 hours a day, I had seen and was moving towards the shore, which I never imagined actually existed. All my dreams had been realized, in just a span of 3 odd years since I met my GURU – SRI SRI. But we all know and have exp...

"Through The Master's Eyes" 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 h...

*Guru story at Sangri-La, Dubai 6 DEC 23* 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 search...