Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Mishri or Crystallised Sugar Did you know that Mishri, Kallu Sakkare in Kannada or Kallkand in Tamil, is crystalized sugar, a confectionary in India since ancient times when Lord Krishna used to be treated by his mother Yashoda with Mishri mixed with white butter?   Mishri in Hindi, Kallusakkare ಕಲ್ಲುಸಕ್ಕರೆ in Kannada, Kalkandu in Tamil, with raw sugar as its base. in a crystalized form, though not strictly a sugar candy, is known since ancient times in India (and also in Persia). It is prepared from khand (pressed sugarcane juice) boiled with water and evaporated. When prepared in a porous mud pot it is called Kus Mishri. It is marketed in two forms, white and red Mishri, though more expensive than the double refined white sugar.        The process of turning raw sugar cane juice into mishri imparts many beneficial properties to it like making it alkaline, cooling in nature, light and easier to digest. It is generally mist...

Ritucharya  Did you know that Ritucharya is an immunity-boosting diet regulation of rules or regimens according to six seasons (Ritus) in the physicians realm of Indian Ayurvedic medicine?  Ritucharya consists of Ayurvedic lifestyle and routine to cope up with the physical and mental impacts caused by seasonal changes. 'Ritu' means "season" and 'charya' means "regimen," combined to mean "teaching of the seasons". It encompasses all of the slight modifications one should make in their usual diet regimen with each season. It is said to bring variety to the constitution based regimen as the seasons change over every few months each year. The word "Ritu" is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word Ṛtú, a fixed or appointed time, especially the proper time for sacrifice (yajna) or ritual in Vedic religion; this in turn comes from the word Ṛta (ऋत), as used in Vedic Sanskrit literally means the "order or cours...

Tinospora cordifolia or Amrutha balli Did you know that Tinospora cordifolia or Amrutha balli, a herbaceous vine of the Indian subcontinent was used during the 2020-22 COVID-19 outbreak in India, as recommended by the Ministry of AYUSH as a home remedy for immune support? Tinospora cordifolia or Amrutha balli, which is known by the common names heart-leaved moonseed, guduchi and giloy, is an herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to the tropical areas of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is used in Ayurveda over centuries in the belief that Tinospora has medicinal properties to treat various disorders. Tinospora cordifolia, also called Heart-leaved moonseed in English is known in Indian vernacular langauges as: Amrithavalli, Amritha, Madhuparni, Guduchika, chinnobhaava in Sanskrit; Amritaballi ಅಮೃತಬಳ್ಳಿ, Ugani balli ಉಗನಿ ಬಳ್ಳಿ, Amara ಅಮರ in Kannada; Giloe, Gurcha in Hindi; Galac, Garo in Gujarathi; Nerinjil in Malayalam; Gulvel in Marathi; G...

GURUDEV Today in Satsang 🌸Tribal cultures are World Heritage. I have travelled across the World and I have seen, you will be surprised to see there is common thread! Big mind / consciousness has put common thoughts across the World. I congratulate the Ministry of Tribal Affairs that they are preserving our Tribal Culture. 🌸Save your mind at all costs. At the same time, see how best you can help & make others happy. 🌸"प्रश्न: गुरुदेव, हम धरती पर क्यों आये हैं? गुरुदेव: परेशान होने के लिए नहीं आये है, किसी और को परेशान करने के लिए नहीं आये हैं, ऐसे जो नहीं करने आये हैं उसकी सूची बनाओ, फिर तुम्हे पता चल जाएगा कि तुम क्यों आये हो, और ना भी चले, तो भी ठीक है।" 🌸प्रश्न: गुरुदेव हम अपने प्रेम को कैसे व्यक्त करें? गुरुदेव: एक पुष्प यह नहीं सोचता कि मैं सुगंध कैसे फैलाऊँ? अपने-आप ही हो जाता है। प्रेम, कृतज्ञता, आँखों से व्यक्त हो ही जाता है। 🌸प्रश्न: गुरुदेव, मैं अपनी आयु आपको देना चाहता हूँ, कैसे दूँ? गुरुदेव: भगवान ने जितनी आयु दी है, वह पर्याप्त है। गुरु को तुम्हारी आयु नह...

Why must we donate? People are ready to buy expensive clothes for themselves, people are ready to spend a huge amount on their holidays, but they are not ready to give one cent to others for a service project. At least 3 percent of what we earn, we should keep aside for charity work. This converts 97% percent of your earnings into good money. If you want to use 100% on yourself then that is no good! If the money needs to be pure, it can only be 97% or less (laughs). You are free to use 97% on yourself, but 3% to 5%, you should keep aside for donation. This is because whatever you earn is never enough for yourself! You ask anyone, they all feel, "Oh, there's shortage.” Everyone finds a shortage. So it is not wise to say, "First I will do everything for me and then I will donate to others." We have to do both. It is collective growth that we must aim for. Though it is said “Anna daanam param daanam, vidya daanam atah param. annena kshanika trupthi, yaavat jeevancha vid...

Question - Gurudev, I have a girlfriend and we truly love each other and want to get married, but she is a Manglik. My parents are against our marriage because of this. Please tell me what to do. Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar Ji - Look, if your parents believe in this and they have a strong feeling for it, then as you sow, so shall you reap (meaning: what you believe in, is what will bring the outcome). But if you say, 'God is beyond all that, and I have deep devotion in the Divine, and he will pull me out of all this', then it is a different thing. So you have to take steps in agreement with everyone. Whenever any Yagna (fire ceremony), or any auspicious work is to be done, the first step is to know everyone's agreement. In the beginning only, they generally ask, 'Is everyone in agreement to do this work? ' If everyone is in agreement then everyone will participate. So, all of you, sit down together and look at the situation and make a decision. If all of you feel tha...

Question - Gurudev, I joined the ‘Art of Living’ Happiness Program in the beginning of this year and my health improved drastically. I feel much better doing the Pranayam, exercises and Meditation. I was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago and treated myself with good results. How is this even possible? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - You know what they have found through research is that we have 300 DNA genes in the body, which are responsible for heart problem, cancer, diabetes and all this, and when we do Sudarshan Kriya and pranayama, this helps in suppressing those genes from being active. The scientists have come out with this. Moreover, I went through an article recently that somebody has sent. In a hospital in New York, they have asked to chant ‘OM’. They’ll make you chant ‘OM’, make you relax and do some meditation before they treat anybody for heart problem. So, pay attention to your health - A little bit of exercise, yoga and some meditation will help mainta...

Why Me?...❤ I walked into a hotel and after going through the menu, I ordered some food. After about 20 mins a group of guys and ladies walked in & ordered  theirs. To my dismay, these folks got served first.  I watched as they began to eat & laugh heartily.  I even overheard one of them bragging about how connected he is to everyone in the hotel and I felt mocked. I decided to leave as I was unable to take it anymore,  I called the waiter. He calmly told me: "yours is a special order, being prepared by the chief chef himself.  Their orders were prepared hurriedly by students on attachment because the top chefs are busy with yours Sir. That's why they were served first. Please have some juice as you wait".  I calmed down & waited patiently. Shortly after, my meal was served by 6 waiters. Unknown to me, the owner of the hotel (who happened to be an old long lost friend of mine) saw me when I entered and decided to surprise me. She changed my simp...

Ancestors have the capacity to bless you. They have more ‘life’ than you, because their spirit, freed from the limited body, can know; can cognize; can bless you. You can feel their presence.          So when you pray to them, they can grant you certain boons. They are able to bestow unto you to whatever extent they are powerful. Ancestral worship can be found from China to Latin American countries. In the Christian tradition, there is All Soul’s day ,where you respect the souls and ask for their blessings. This is one of the reasons why bodies are buried behind a church; to make that place more powerful. Ancestors have got one more unit of power and are called Pitras. - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 

Question - Gurudev, what is the meaning of being natural? Is it doing whatever comes to the mind & doing whatever one feels like? Gurudev Sri Sri - No it is not doing whatever that comes to your mind.Doing whatever comes to your mind without any attention, awareness or thought would be foolish. Whatever comes to your mind should pass through the test of intellect or wisdom. Being natural is feeling at home; feeling at home even in adverse situations. You know when everything is good you feel at home but when things do not go your way you don’t feel at home and you want to run away. So feeling at home in every situation, is what it means to be natural!

Question - Gurudev, the global warming issue is so serious nowadays, disasters happen everywhere. As a resident on this planet what should we do? I feel sad when I see people suffer, what more can I do to help better this situation? Gurudev @SriSriRaviShankar ji - We have to create awareness. Join the ‘Art of Living’ band wagon as we are everyday going and planting more trees, creating awareness about not using/minimising the usage of plastics, creating awareness in people about this. To check global warming, more and more people need to turn vegetarian. Environment is a really serious issue. You should all plant trees, use less refrigeration, and turn to vegetarianism. Scientists feel that if the whole world stops butchering, the entire green house effect issue will be resolved. One slaughter is equivalent to the cutting of five hundred trees for it releases that much methane. The amount of feed used for one animal can be used to feed four hundred people. Go vegetarian, stay healthy a...

Question - Gurudev, Some dreams don’t come true in spite of putting efforts. What should one do? Gurudev Sri Sri - You keep putting your effort. There is a proverb ’Try and try again and at last you will succeed.’ So, perhaps you don’t succeed the first time or second time. Yet if your intention is strong, it will happen.

*Chapter 6 - Experiencing Infinity*  *Day 30* Question - Gurudev, the intellect only works when you store memories or is it taking out from any memory? Gurudev - The intellect has this unique ability to connect with not just memory but also mind. That's why it perceives new things. It connects with memory, which is already stored and it connects with consciousness, which is intuitive.  So, the intellect is in the middle - it takes from the outside, it takes from the inside - the past memory and it takes a little bit from somewhere deep within also. That's how intellect can create many new things in the world.  A new poem does not come from memory. It doesn't come only from an impression of an experience, it comes as an intuition. How does a new scientific discovery happen?  R&D specialists should know this, that a discovery happens because the intellect is awake - it is taking information through the senses, it is using the memory and it is utilising the intuitiv...

*Chapter 6 - Experiencing Infinity* *Day 29* Question - The second question was memory. You mentioned how at different times, different things are stored in the memory. How does the memory work? Gurudev Sri Sri - The strongest experiences get stored in the memory more predominantly than others, but then there are some experiences which are very superficial that also get imprinted in the memory.  For example you just had a casual conversation with somebody and sometime in the dream you hear that conversation which really was nothing. So, the way the memory works is very complex.  That which gives you a lot of joy and pleasure gets stored and that which gives you pain gets stored. That which appeared to shake your ego, identity gets stored and that which seemed to boost your identity gets stored more than others.  Then sometimes some superficial events, incidents, impressions just get imprinted there simply. If you wake up in the morning and you observe sometime...

*Chapter 6 - Experiencing Infinity* *Day 28* Question - Gurudev, just like we get rid of a rotten apple, when we find a rotten apple we say okay, throw it away. So, lets say you are surrounded by twenty people and you love them all, but there is one person who is really disturbing your peace. You don't hate them, but you can not say, I will probably not see them tomorrow. Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes definitely. You have the choice. You should do that, but dont keep thinking about the person all night and all day. You know, that there are some people who are not so fit to be in that place.  So you show them their place but with a smile, with ease. That is the difference. Instead of getting stuck thinking about them and trying to repair them or questioning," Why is this person like that?" So they are.  They may grow tomorrow. It doesn't matter but they are part of the same consciousness. So, we need to balance these two worlds. That's why you need that bravery...

The first miracle I experienced with Guruji was during my first Sudarshan Kriya in my Part 1 Course. I'd had an accident in 1998 where I had fractured two bones on my right knee. They had healed well but I had been told by the doctor to avoid sitting on the floor. But being a nursery school teacher I could not avoid sitting on the floor so I had started having a problem with my right leg.If I sat down I could not get up without support.When I joined the Part 1 Course in 2000, I was a bit apprehensive and was under the impression that I couldn’t meditate. But wonder of wonders after the first Sudarshan Kriya, I was out for almost 35-40 minutes. I was told that was Samadhi meditation. After the Kriya, before I went into meditation,I felt a person’s leg touch mine. All the 45 people in that course were unknown to me. After meditation, as I opened my eyes, a young girl comes up to me and asks me if I have hurt my right knee as Guruji had asked her to heal it. I was shocked as no one th...

There was this one late evening, me and my mother were going back home from a meeting at the Art of Living center, Jaipur. There was joy and enthusiasm in the air, as Sri Sri was to visit Jaipur (a city in India) and there was full-fledged work going on for the same. Banners & hoarding had been put across the city. While driving, we came across a circle and began looking for the event banner (though I had already seen it at many different places). I could only see one big hoarding of some FM channel, but my mother saw the one for our AOL event, with Guruji’s picture on it. This led to an argument between us. I was telling her that there was no hoarding there, while she said there was one! By then, we had already gone half a km away from the circle, and were on the main road. My mother was still adamant on showing me the hoarding and told me to stop the car. So I parked the car at the side, though that was a pretty narrow road and only one vehicle could pass at a time, so I parked i...

Gurudev came to Delhi on 18th March, 2014 and his flight was supposed to land at 4:00PM. As I couldn't leave office before 5:00PM, I thought I would go to meet him after he reaches Vasant Vihar where he was supposed to be staying.  To my surprise and his wish the flight got delayed by 2 hours and by that time we could easily reach airport and meet him. So we reached at the airport but we did not have any conveyance to go from the airport to Vasant Vihar.  Before he landed he even fixed that and we got a car arranged. Guruji finally landed and we met him at the airport and went behind him to Vasant Vihar. We reached just in time when he was there and I again got a tap on the head with the bouquet of flowers he was holding.  Then he went inside and we waited in the hall amidst hundreds of people. He finally came out in the hall and took our hearts away. As he rightly says he is a "Chit Chor" (who steals the heart too).  On being asked to meet one to one, Gurudev replie...

Question - Gurudev, Lord Krishna says, “I ensure the victory of dharma. We can take the help of adharma (injustice)”. Can a lay man adopt this method? Gurudev Sri Sri - You have some idea in your mind, and you are asking an indirect question and expecting a direct answer from me. When I give you a direct answer, you will apply it indirectly. I am not going to get caught. Why you should not do something wrong? Let us understand this first. If you do something wrong, it will take away your sleep, you peace of mind and it will destroy your health. Something will prick the mind. When something keeps pricking the mind, then you are unable to do anything creative, and you become unhappy. Why you should not cheat others? It is because you don't want anyone to cheat you, isn't it? Anything which you do to someone comes back to you. This is the karma principle.

Question - Gurudev, how can I get purer? Even though I am doing Sadhana, Satsang and Seva, I do not feel very pure. When I see people who are arrogant, rude and proud, especially Art of Living people, I feel very sad. How do I get rid of this? Gurudev Sri Sri - You are saying two things. One you are saying that others are arrogant, others are not okay and the other thing you are saying is you are not okay. This is just mirroring; you are mirroring in both sides. I would say if you feel that you are impure, pranayama and proper food will help. If you still feel that you are not okay then just go on a fruit and vegetable diet for a couple of days and just sing and chant. When you are sitting in satsang and singing how can you say that you are impure? There is no way. Don't you feel when you are sitting in satsang that how much ever impurity you might have felt in the mind, it all got lifted up? There is nothing better than knowledge which can purify your mind, your soul and your spir...

Question - Gurudev, as a human being, is it possible to love without desire, lust, attachment, jealousy, or the fear of loss? Is it possible to love without any of these things? Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes, when there is love and wisdom, none of these negative tendencies will come close to you. However, if there is love without wisdom, all these things that you mentioned, will all attack you at once.

Question - Gurudev, how do I always be happy and not get entangled by the boundaries set by body mind and thought? Gurudev Sri Sri - If you drop this always, you will be happy. Never mind if you are unhappy for a little while, so what? If you think I should never be unhappy, then that becomes a cause of unhappiness.

Question - Gurudev, the blankness (absence of thought) that we feel when we are with the Guru? Is that the ultimate that we should crave for? Gurudev Sri Sri - There is no 'we should crave for. It is a natural phenomenon. You want the best, isn't it? Wanting the best is a natural phenomenon for every human being. And it is important to have the faith that only best will come to me.

Bakula (Mimusops elengi) Did you know that Bakula (Mimusops elengi ) or Bakul is an Indian tree, a prized collection of gardens, the harbinger of ‘basant’ or spring in India with therapeutic benefits, finds mention in the ancient scriptures of Ayurveda as well as in Kalidasa’s lyric poem Meghduta?  Bakula or Bakul (बकुल), with botanical name Mimusops elengi, with common names such as Spanish cherry, medlar, and bullet wood, widely popular for its scented flower called 'Bakula pushpa', is typically an Indian tree which ushers spring season in India and is a prized collection of gardens. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree, apart from being native to India, is found in tropical forests in South Asia, Southeast Asia and northern Australia. The flowers of Bakul have a very sweet, refreshing aroma, thus attributing to their frequent mention in romantic contexts in lyrics of Kalidasa's Meghaduta, It is commonly planted as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics. It is also...