Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 11🌿   Give Everything And Take Nothing                    🌱 Day - 58 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 अष्टावक्र उवाच अविनाशिनमात्मानमेकं विज्ञाय तत्त्वतः । तवात्मज्ञस्य धीरस्य कथमर्थार्जने रतिः ॥ अात्माज्ञानादहो प्रीतिर्विषयभ्रमगोचरे । शुक्तेरज्ञानतो लोभो यथा रजतविभ्रमे ॥ Janaka was a king; an emperor. He had to govern, and was concerned with the welfare of the entire country, all the people, animals and crops. The complete responsibility of this was on his shoulders. Someone who does not have any responsibility, who does not even care to do anything, can just do whatever he wants to. If he wants, he can earn; if he doesn't want, he can be idle. But, the head of an institution or a country has to plan and look into everything. In a country, economics comes first. Law and order...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 11🌿 ~ Give Everything And Take Nothing ~                    🌱 Day - 57 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 Janaka asked how the businessman get drowned in these tidal waves. The individual Self, the soul, is trying to do business all the time. What is business? Giving less and getting more. You buy something for two rupees and sell it for three or four rupees. That is business. Otherwise, how can a business thrive? If you buy for more - buy for four rupees and sell for two rupees - that is no business! Business means giving less and taking more. Love is the opposite. Love is giving everything and taking nothing. The limited mind always does business anywhere - even with one's own life; even with the breath. We don't even breathe properly. A soul is trying to do business. The limited m...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 10🌿            ~ Storms Of Emotion ~                    🌱 Day - 56 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधावाश्चर्यं जीववीचयः । उद्यन्ति ध्नन्ति खेलन्ति प्रविशन्ति स्वभावतः ॥ It's so beautiful. Eight to ten thousand years ago, Janaka shared the same experience and said it so beautifully. 'I am so taken by surprise. It's awesome. It's so wonderful! In my Self so many different lives are springing up, playing and dissolving in me. By its very nature, it's me who is coming in this person - as this person, as that person, as all these people and personalities with lifestyles, acting in various dramas and soap operas. They rise and clash with each other.' Just sit and watch wrestling matches on the television. Can you feel as if both of them are y...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 10🌿            ~ Storms Of Emotion ~                    🌱 Day - 55 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ चित्तवाते प्रशाम्यति । अभाग्याज्जीववणिजो जगत् पोतो विनश्वरः ॥ "My individual Self, or personality, simply dissolves into my big nature which is my true nature." Every storm that comes into your life widens your horizons, makes you deeper and more powerful. Every storm destroys some smallness in you; something that was very small. Jiva. You think you are an individual self with likes and dislikes. But a storm comes in your life whether you like it or not. It lashes you and pulls you out of your likes and dislikes. This has happened, and is happening. Every storm is a blessing. It cuts you, destroys you and finishes you off. You cry. If y...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 10🌿            ~ Storms Of Emotion ~                    🌱 Day - 54 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 नाहं देहो न मे देहो जीवो नाहमहं हि चित् । अयमेव हि मे बन्ध अासीद् या जीविते स्पृहा ॥ अहो भुवनकल्लोलैर्विचित्रैर्द्राक् समुत्थितम् । मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ चित्तवाते समुद्यते ॥ There cannot be an ocean without waves. Every event touches life somewhere on its surface. It creates movement. Take all that comes with both your hands. Don't say that it is impossible or not possible for you. This thought of something being not possible means that you are resisting. This is making the storms stay for long periods. Stand there with your arms open. Say, 'Whatever storms come, let them, I'm here.' You grow out of them. You become bigger. That is crucifixion. Crucifixion...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                      🌿Chapter - 10🌿            ~ Storms Of Emotion ~                    🌱 Day - 53 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 Life is found to be caught up in storms so very often. And you are not yourself when you are in a storm. You don't know what to do. At those moments all your practices, concepts, ideas and ideals fall apart. Your devotion, your love and all the beautiful things you cherish in your life, simply don't seem to be there or mean anything. You are under the influence of a big storm. A whirlwind rises in you and throws you off balance. Even when the storm has subsided, the very memory of it disturbs you even more. What do you do? Nothing is helpful. You sit, close your eyes and try to meditate. But the mind is all over the place. You feel as though you are in a...

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                       🌿Chapter - 9🌿          ~ Ego Dissolves In Love ~                    🌱 Day - 52 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 अहो जनसमूहेऽपि न द्वैतं पश्यतो मम । अरण्यमिव संवृत्तं क्व रतिं करवाण्यहम् ॥ People want to run away into the forests in order to avoid other people. A fearful person always wants to be amidst a group of people. There are others who cannot tolerate people and wish to be alone by themselves. These tendencies rise and fall in you. You don't want to be with people; yet at another time you can't be alone. What if I told you to be yourself - without talking or communicating with anybody; to be in silence? You can't be that either! After a few days, you start making signs with your hands, looking at people, holding their hands and walking around doing things....

💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐         🌺 ASHTAVAKRA GITA🌺                       🌿Chapter - 9🌿          ~ Ego Dissolves In Love ~                    🌱 Day - 51 🌱 💐☘🌾☘🍀🍁🍀☘🌾☘💐 शरीरं स्वर्गनरकौ बन्धमोक्षौ भयं तथा । कल्पनामात्रमेवैतत् किं मे कार्यं चिदात्मनः ॥ This body, heaven and hell, bondage, liberation and fear, are the makings of your own mind. This body has been made by your mind, your mind first, then body. Concepts of heaven and hell are also creations of the mind. It is not the act. Your mind thinks this is heaven and that is hell, and goes in that direction. Heaven for someone may be hell for somebody else. Hell for someone may be heaven for someone else. An alcoholic would imagine all types of alcohol in heaven. That is what heaven is. It's also mentioned in some religions, not to drink alcohol here, because you wi...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 64🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 " अविद्यास्मितारागद्धेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः " " Avidyasmitaaraagdweshaabhiniveshah kleshah "  Avidya asmita raga dwesha. Dwesha is hatred. Hatred or aversion brings an unpleasant experience. Aversion brings the same misery as craving. Both craving and aversion are sources of misery. Abhinivesha is fear - fear of the unknown. Though intellectually you may know everything, you will have a bit of abhinivesha. This fear exists even in scholars. Nature has imposed these fears in everybody. If they become thin, you will be evolved and if they remain thick, you will stay unevolved. These fears and miseries have four stages. The first stage is when they are dormant in you The next sutra is prasupta avastha. T...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 63🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 Ignorance is considering that which is changing to be non-changing. We try to control others' mind. This is not possible. Someone may have loved you yesterday. But, they need not love you today or tomorrow. They would not know this themselves. You expect an enlightened behavior from everybody around you and when you do not get it, you become unhappy. You may not be behaving in an enlightened way, but you expect everyone around you to be enlightened and have unconditional love for you. A person who loves you unconditionally is rare - one in a million. But you expect it from everybody around you. This expectation makes you unhappy. This is what everybody is doing, consciously or unconsciously. Sometimes, t...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 62🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 " तपः स्वाध्याया ईश्वरा प्राणिधान् क्रियायोगः "  " Tapah swaadhyaaya ishwara pranidhaana kriya yogaha " This is the yoga of action. But when you are doing something, you should think that you are not doing it. You should be a silent witness. There is a depth in you, a silent corner that does not change. All the activity is taking place in this silent space. Every atom is revolving around the nucleus and all the planets are moving around. Yet, there is silence. The purpose is this is klesha tanukarana - to refute the suffering or misery in life. Samadhi bhaavanaarthaha - and to bring out samadhi, harmony and equanimity in life.  What are the root causes of misery in life? Avidya, asmita, raga, d...

🌹PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS🌹                          🌀CHAPTER - 8🌀         ~ The Veils Of Misery ~                 🌀DAY - 61🌀 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 Ishwara pranidhana. How can love for Lord blossom in us?            The first step is to see Lord as different from you - Lord and me. Two are needed for surrender - when you feel that there is Lord of all virtues and that you are nobody. In this nobody-ness, the union takes place. The realization dawns that all is the Lord and then that all is me, me, I, I ; that the universe is Lord's, your body is His, your mind with all its conflicts and your mind with all its beauty is also His. This offering itself is a technique which brings you back home.            Ishwara pranidhaana brings you samadhi, or ecstasy in that meditation. Offering candles, ...

Question - Gurudev, why should we convert the bad into good? Gurudev Sri Sri - Our nature is to help. Our nature is to bring light. Our nature is to bring comfort to others, and make everyone feel happy. We can’t be in anyway different from that. If you ask alum, 'Why do you clean the water?' It will say, 'It is in my nature'. If you ask sun, 'Why do give light to people?' It will say, 'That is my nature'. If you ask a star, 'Why you twinkle in sky? It doesn’t help anybody'. It will say, 'That it is in my nature, to twinkle'. So it is our nature to help others, and to bring comfort to life. Every individual is in search of happiness. Even people who are doing bad things, are doing it in search of happiness. It is just that they don’t know that they won’t get it. If they knew that they won't get happiness by doing bad things, they would never do it. They are doing all the wrong things simply because they do not know that th...

*Chapter 1 - The Mind Facing Inwards Is Always Happy* *Day 4* We can realise our self to the extent that we raise our energy. The first sutra is "Chaitanyamatma". You are alive, but you are living as though you were dead.  Sleeping, eating and talking - you are like one who walks in his sleep. Often, mothers feed milk to their half sleeping children, who do not remember anything later.  In the morning, they complain that she did not feed them food or milk. We also live like this, as though we eat while we are asleep and continue to slumber.  We do not have knowledge of ourself. How do we get knowledge about ourselves and about the soul? Knowledge grows as our energy rises - "Chaitanyamatma."  This is the first sutra. If we succeed in this sutra, then we can reach our goal and raise the energy in the body and in life. The moment our energy is low, our speech gets confused, and we become lazy. When you talk too much your energy lowers, and you get bored....

Question - Gurudev, what is your message on India’s 75th Independence Day?  Gurudev Sri Sri - There are two types of freedom - one is political freedom, that we got 75 years ago. The other freedom is to overcome our mental and emotional slavery. This can happen only through education and culture. This is extremely essential. In this country, if we do not achieve the freedom of thought, if every individual’s thinking and understanding doesn’t move forward in a new way with respect to our old beliefs, we will remain weak. To get rid of our weaknesses our youth will have to move forward, and the freedom of thought, freedom of culture, ethical and moral adherence, and patriotism, all these need to blossom in our lives. These are within us. We need to recognise and strengthen them further. This is what we are working towards. On this Independence Day, let us remember the sacrifice made by generations and move towards a self-reliant, drug-free and violence-free India. Let us ...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 13* Look at a child five or six years old or a toddler of three to six months. They are filled with enthusiasm. It overflows from every cell of their body.  Compare children with grown-ups and see if enthusiasm increases or decreases with age. Are we really living when we lose enthusiasm? From the age of 20, we started to slowly die. Today, this starts at 15. Dying starts as soon as you lose enthusiasm, and life is over by the time we reach the age of 50.  Although there is no enthusiasm left in life, still we call it life. Today, college students have no enthusiasm. They have already grown old, and have lost their enjoyment of life.  After the television age started in India, people began maturing very quickly and now life passes very fast. The people of the last two or three generations were so enthusiastic even at 60-70 of age.  They are not totally gone, but if you observe the majority of people in schools, colleges a...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 12* The mind is such that if we have to scold someone we pick up the phone right away and shout at him without caring what time of day or night it is.  You may not be aware if the person on the other end of the phone is listening or not. He may have hung up, but once you have shouted you are at peace.  The mind wants to do bad things right away. The energy in you that moves you to act, also will lead you to a state where you are a witness and do not even desire to act.  Consciousness blossoms when you are a witness. Then even amidst all your actions consciousness will continue to blossom. So drop all your concepts and put in your full efforts.  Suppose you are unable to do this because of weakness, or you do put in your 100%, but restlessness increases. When you direct your attention to your energy centers, the world that you have created disappears. The question arises, if one rises to a higher position only by hard work...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 11* Why is skill needed? Skill is not needed to be unhappy. Skill is needed only to avoid misery. Yoga and sadhana are the path to overcome misery.  Yoga does not only mean physical postures. When you are surrounded by light, there is no question of darkness. Where is misery when you are drowning in joy? Where is poverty if you are rich inside? So never sav, "I will do sadhana only when God asks me to do it." or I will meditate only when Gurudev makes me meditate."  Has Gurudev not invited you? Does God not want you to do sadhana? God is shouting at the top of his voice. All the rishis from Maharishi Vasa's time are calling to you in one loud voice, inviting you. They have spoken so many times, "Move ahead. Wake up. Stand up'. We say, "Let it happen if God wishes," only when we do not want to act. If you want to do something good, do it immediately, but if you want to do something bad, brush it aside. O...

*Chapter 2 - Energy Centres* *Day 10* Effort and continual practice are required in both worldly and spiritual matters. Some people say, "I will go on a pilgrimage when God desires," or "I will go for sadhana only if Guruji makes me go."  This happens only when the mind is not firm and is wavering in its commitment. You do not apply the same rule to other areas.  For instance, you do not say, "I will eat only if God feeds me," or "I will see the movie only if God shows it." Only by working hard and applying full effort can you experience good samadhi.  A lazy person never reaches samadhi. Therefore, satsang, sadhana, and seva, all three are very important. When you do these, you enter into yourself, into sivatattva. Then it becomes easy to experience love and knowledge. We treat our wishes and God's wishes differently. We accept things according to our convenience. When you succeed in something, you say, "I won by putting in ...