Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Dropping the past is the true offering. The Divine does not want any gift from you. The Divine only wants your worries. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

Forgiving someone shows one's compassion. Asking for forgiveness shows that you recognise your mistakes, and that you resolve not to repeat them in the future. Now to say, 'Only if he/she asks me for forgiveness will I forgive them', this is of a lower form of forgiveness. The highest form of forgiveness is to realise that the other committed a mistake out of ignorance, and having a sense of compassion for them. Forgiving others with a sense of compassion is the best form of forgiveness. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

Accept. Then you can act better. If you don't accept, emotions rise, intellect is clouded and actions become regrettable. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

When you think negatively about yourself, you feel depressed and become angry and hate everyone else again. If you think good about yourself, you have problems, and when you think bad about yourself, you have even more problems. So drop your image. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

If you are a taker of happiness you get misery, if you are a giver of happiness you get joy and love. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

Kolkata, India 17th April 1997 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You   Day 83 - Bhajans When you sing bhajans, the vibration of sound energy gets absorbed into every atom of your body. This enkindles the energy in you and brings up the consciousness. Your entire body gets soaked in energy. Transformation happens.  A microphone absorbs sound and converts it into electricity, the body absorbs sound vibration and converts it into consciousness. If you sit and listen to gossip or violent music, then that energy gets absorbed by your body and does not give a nice feeling.  When you hear the knowledge or chant with all your heart, that elevates your consciousness. An ancient proverb in Sanskrit says that the words of Rishis and enlightened ones are translated into experience immediately. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji Celebrating Silence 

Bangalore Ashram, India 1st October 1997 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You Day 82 - Satsang The mind that seeks pleasure cannot be centred. When you are centred, all pleasures come to you anyway, but they cannot charm you any longer because you are the source of the charm. The mind that seeks pleasure can never achieve the highest.  If you enjoy drowning in your suffering, you cannot be centred, you are far away from the path. If you are after pleasure, forget about satsang. Why are you wasting your time? This is the Art of Leaving. You either seek pleasure or come to me. Question - What should we do when people talk negatively? Gurudev - From your side, give license to everybody to talk about anything, about anybody, anywhere, at any time. What type of time do you give the Divine?  Usually you give the time that is left over, when you have nothing else to do, when no guests are coming, there are no parties to go to, no then movies to watch, no weddings to attend. S...

Bangalore Ashram, India, 24th September, 1997 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You Day 81 - Seeker You can only seek that which you know and when you really do know, you already have it. You cannot seek something you do not know. Whatever you seek and whenever you seek it, it is always only one and the one is what you are already. So, you cannot seek something you do not know and when you know what you are seeking, you already have it.  When you seek the world, you get misery and when you want to find the way out of misery, you find the Divine. A man lost a penny and was looking for it in a bush when he found a huge treasure. He was not seeking treasure but only for his lost penny. In the same way, when you seek something you may get something else. The truth, or self, cannot be sought directly. There are 6 signs of a seeker : 1. An acknowledgement that one knows very little. Many people think they know without really knowing or they become trapped in their limited knowledg...

Stockholm, Sweden, 13th August, 1997 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You Day 80 - Sadhana (Continued) Usually, the solar plexus is slightly bigger than an almond but with the practice of yoga, meditation and Sudarshan Kriya, the solar plexus can become as large as an apricot. Then it performs better and balances the bodily functions. When the solar plexus expands, the intuitive mind awakens and the mind becomes clear and focused.  When the solar plexus contracts, you feel miserable, sad, depressed, and all sorts of negative feelings come. When the first rays of the sun fall on the solar plexus, it is beneficial for your body. Doing Surya Namaskar yoga asana, sun salutation in the early morning is an excellent way to expand the solar plexus.  Krishna was called Padmanabha, which means “whose navel is the size of a lotus flower”. If you become Padmanabha, you become absolutely creative. Brahma, the Creator, said to be born out of a blossomed solar plexus. These days, th...

Bangalore Ashram, India 26th November, 1998 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You Day 79 - Sadhana (Continued) Yagnas are the ancient methods of enriching the subtle, to purify the individual as well as the collective consciousness. Yagna has 3 aspects - 1. Deva puja - Honouring the Divine in all forms. 2. Sangatikarana - Hastening the process of evolution by unifying all the elements and people in creation. 3. Dana - Sharing with others, giving freely what one has been blessed with. Yagna creates energy and energy creates consciousness, awareness. Heightened awareness brings you close to reality and reality is a witness. To realise that everything is happening you need heightened awareness. And to bring about heightened awareness you have to increase prana.  Prana can be increased through - 1. Fasting and fresh food. 2. Cold water baths. 3. Total exhaustion, not letting sleep take over 4. Emotional peaks. 5. Singing and chanting. 6. Pranayam, Kriya and meditation. 7. Giving...

Trinidad, Caribbean 15th January, 1997 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You Day 78 - Sadhana All the problems that you face in life are because you attach too much importance to events. The events grow bigger while you remain smaller. Imagine you are riding a motorcycle on a busy road and in front of you there is a vehicle emitting exhaust fumes.  You have 3 options. You can remain behind the vehicle, complain and somehow bear with it. You can slow down or wait, allowing the vehicle to move far ahead. Or you can use your skill, overtake the vehicle and forget about it. As in the first option, most of you stick on the events and are miserable, inhaling fumes throughout your journey.  In the second option, you do not get permanent relief, as another bigger vehicle might move in front of you. Running away from events is not a permanent solution. Wise people use their skill to surmount the event. If your vehicle is in perfect condition, skill is effective. Conditioning the...

San Jose, California,  United States 11th July, 1996 Chapter 2 - The Path To The Goal That Is You Day 77 - Surrender (Continued) Self reliance requires enormous courage. When there is nobody else or you want to depend on yourself for everything, you need a lot of courage. Surrender takes less courage. A person who cannot surrender cannot be self-reliant either. If you don’t have enough courage to surrender, then it is not possible to be self reliant, you simply fool yourself. If you do not have a hundred dollars, you cannot have a thousand dollars.  Even a little fear is detrimental to self-reliance. Self reliance contains surrender. Fifty dollars contains ten dollars. Often people think that surrender is a way to escape from their responsibilities, then they end up blaming the Divine for all their problems. In fact, true surrender is taking total responsibility for everything.  How? Take full responsibility and then pray for help. Surrender eventually leads you to self-r...