INDIA is more than we know !

INDIA

is not only a land of snake charmers, Miss Worlds, best sportsmen, technology, outsourcing, spirituality, and all contrasting views, but it is also a land where esoterism has emerged very boldly amidst a mixed cultural rainbow of all creeds, castes, mentalities, societies of people...the faith and the faithless, the poor-yet-happier and the rich-but-unhappy, the intellectuals and the street-smarts, the mythological legacies, thehardcore political dramas and ever-compelling excellence stunts in today's flattened world...this is India and much more.

This thought recurred to me after I viewed an article by a Mr. Rawat, excerpted in www.carolbowman.com


I should remark to sceptics, "The truth doesnot change according to out ability to stomach it." ~Flannery O'Connor

There are many more documented stories in Carol's site..and worth a look, to broaden our horizons and break our preconceived notions and "opinions" regarding the flow of things in this world.


Infact the second part of what I want to mention about is more explosive in its revelation....

but let me start with the man himself :

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." -ALBERT EINSTEIN


Enlightenment: Interview (Excerpts) with Sri Ananda Giri

Sri Ananda Giri is one of the most prominent representatives of the Oneness Foundation. In this interview, from his tour in the USA, he is explaining the Golden Age Foundations view on the status of the world and the humanity of today, and how it can be changed. Radically.

"
What is the message and main teachings that you are bringing today to the spiritual seekers of America?

I have come to bring neither a new teaching nor a new philosophy of life; we already have received a huge number of teachings from different Saints, Sages, Mystics, Philosophers and great thinkers from different schools of thought. The world is full of philosophies, religions, esoteric teachings (revealed to the world), spiritual practices, techniques of self development, etc., that set forth beautiful theories and ideas of how we should live or what do we have to do, to find true "Happiness" in our lives. The question that I ask you is that after so much reading and listening to different teachings, is there any real change in our lives? Or, are we just changing techniques and philosophies, that keep us in rapture for a period of time, and after a while we find them impossible to follow and practice? Giving up finally the possibility to attain a real and deep change in our lives?

If you are not giving us a new teaching or technique, what should we expect from Foundation for World Awakening?

We, as a spiritual movement, ask you two questions:
1. Are you suffering? And,
2. Do you want to be free from this suffering?
If your answer is affirmative to both questions, we embrace you, and then our Foundation can help you.

What do you mean by "suffering"?

In many moments of our lives we found ourselves experiencing feelings of boredom, loneliness, depression, pain and conflict in our human relationships, lack of motivation, and sometimes meaninglessness in many of our daily activities.
These feelings make us suffer, because they come generally with anxiety and uncertainty, and we don't know if we will ever be free from these emotions and feelings.
Inside of us questions arise like: Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? Will I find happiness and love in my life or is it just a dream? Where am I going? Is there any hope for a change or do I have to give up? What is living? Do I do what I really want, or do I feel like a slave of the impositions of society? Will I ever experience the real psychological and spiritual freedom? And so on and so forth...

What would happen if somebody comes and tells you that he has none of these questions, because he feels happy and in peace and that he has found everything he has searched for?

Not everybody is a spiritual seeker in this world. The truth is that only a selected group of people is in a real search in their lives. We as human beings are suffering from a severe illness, which is not necessarily lack of love, hatred ness, pride, greed, envy, covetousness or egoism, but we are suffering with an even greater illness, which is "lack of awareness" of what is happening inside us. Most of us walk in the streets without knowing, why we are going to our jobs, from where comes our urge to success, why should I go to the shopping malls every weekend, what makes me buy the latest car model that just appeared in the market, what is it that moves me everyday to action, why should I keep myself constantly busy, etc. If everything is fine and if I were really happy, for sure I would not have the necessity of keeping my mind constantly busy with ideas and projects for the future. If we contemplate for a moment we will see that real happiness and joy is only found in the present, but constantly we keep ourselves busy doing things for acquiring happiness and peace in the future, we are running after a moving train, which we can never catch.
The sincere spiritual seeker, first of all, is aware of this issue and feels the urge to find a way out of this stressing and anguishing situation. He has begun to see the lack of love and peace in his life, the lack of harmony in his family and personal relationships, and the lack of truthfulness because he is always involved in lies and hypocrisies in order to be accepted in this society. In the beginning, a spiritual seeker feels disgusted and sick of everything, and this is what really transforms him into a real and deep seeker of meaning, into a "Spiritual Seeker".

I am sure that many people who are reading this article would like you to go deeper and give us more clarity into what is the difference between Reformation and Transformation.


What we know today as change and personal development is basically Reformation.

Modern man has been greatly influenced by the paradigm of Science, which has come into fruition as an analytical and rational mind. We are perceiving the world, other people, things and nature from the standpoint of ideas, concepts, a mixture of concepts-ideas, or images that have been created in our minds through the past experiences that were significant in our lives. Therefore, any change that occurs in us is basically a change that manifests itself in the level of our concepts, ideas, beliefs and mental schemes.
The teachings we have received from great masters such as Christ, Buddha, LaoTse, Mohammed, Sri Krishna, Confucius and many other great Saints, Mystics and Sages, have been transformed into mere concepts and ideas, and that is the reason that, despite the clarity manifested by these great beings, it was and it is so hard to put them into practice and follow them wholeheartedly. There is always a conflict between the teaching and our inner nature. The teachings may be wonderful and we see the truth in them, and we know that if we could apply these great truths in our lives all the human problems and sufferings would be solved. But is almost impossible to follow them because our nature is different, and it is not natural for us to love unconditionally as Christ did, and it is not natural for us to feel detachment from desires as it was for the Buddha.
If we go more deeply we see that the inner nature of these great Masters was different, their Consciousness was different. For them, what they preached and taught was natural; it was part of their inner nature and drawn from their own experience.
A real inner change means Transformation, and it is not a change in the realm of concepts and ideas but in your inner world. Your whole perception undergoes a deep change; your consciousness has been altered.

Please, reveal to us in more depth the inner process that occurs in this journey of Transformation.

In this, the journey of Transformation, changes in the inner nature begin to occur. At the beginning of this journey very often there is an internal crisis, because our inner structures of thought start falling, and our ideas, concepts, creeds and mental schemes change.
Much of what we have created in our minds, images, conclusions, prejudices, our perceptions of the world, how we see ourselves, our friends, our family, and life itself, starts breaking down along with the security that we put on those images.
Slowly we begin to see reality, as it is, without masks, without false protections, we begin to perceive things as they really are.
In other words, what we start experiencing is not a growth or an accumulation inside of us, but a loosening of the attachments, images, concepts, ideas, sensations, to which we have been tied up and that has given us a false security until today. Remember, "Transformation is the journey of Liberation"; it means you begin to feel more light and free because you have given away a lot of unnecessary weight.

Therefore, if we are not experiencing this process of structures falling, does it mean we have not begun this journey?

Yes, that's right. That is why I have said that many who say that they are transformed and think they are spiritual beings are just fooling themselves, because they have been accumulating and building up, hence the unlearning process must be even harder.
Remember, this is the journey of humbleness and humility; it is not a competition to see who is more evolved.
Sri Kalki says in one of his Supreme Truths "Life is a process of learning and learning is unlearning". It means that if we are not unlearning (the falling of mental structures) everyday, Maybe we are not living at all!

As this process of unlearning begins to occur in our lives, when does this unlearning process end or, we must be completely void? And if it is so, does it mean that we should lose the notion and memory of ourselves?

The answer to the first question is yes. We must be completely void and until this occurs we should go on unlearning what we have accumulated in our lives. Our purpose of incarnation in this planet is to begin our Spiritual Awakening, and there is no other reason for being here. I see that you do not understand the unlearning process, and I am going to explain it further. If we go deeper into the world of memories, feelings and experiences of the past, we will see that the remembrance of some past experiences carry with it a strong emotional charge and others do not. This emotional charge affects us now in the present. Through our life we have had positive and negative experiences that made a strong impact in our memory, like the first years of our life, childhood, years at school, University period, etc. These past experiences determine our present conduct and behaviour, and how we perceive the circumstances of our daily life. To be able to experience the present as it is, without an emotional charge from our past, and to feel really free in our daily decisions, we must be liberated from our past experiences that carry a strong emotional charge. Therefore, the unlearning must occur at this level, this does not mean you would forget who are your parents and your friends, and that you are going to lose your memories; but you are not going to be attached to them. Attachment to these images that are charged with strong emotional feelings is what keeps you enslaved, and keeps you away from freedom and from being spontaneous in the present. Through this unlearning you are liberated from your past traumas and bad experiences such as fear, anguish, creeds accepted blindly by you and that you have never questioned, and ideas of ourselves that limits us just to certain activities, which makes us feel we are not able to realize our real self, and does not let us apply the whole creative potential that we have inside of us.

If I am aware of the necessity to begin the journey of Transformation, what is the next step I should take?

After being aware of the necessity and the desire to change, you should see that every intent and effort to change your inner nature might just produce reformation and not bring the true Transformation into your life. If we go deeper into the nature of our mind, first we will see that our mind is constantly planning and programming events, keeping under control and order the situations and events that are going to occur in the day, in the week, in the month, in the year or even in the rest of our life. If a change must occur in our inner world we must realize that every change in our feelings, perceptions and emotions have the characteristic of being natural and spontaneous in nature. Every experience is spontaneous; it is not planned or organized. I do not plan to get mad at my wife, husband or friend, neither do I plan to feel glad or happy today. I do not program to feel depressed on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and be happy the rest of the week. Therefore, the nature of the experience and of the inner world (feelings, emotions, sensations and perceptions) is spontaneous and natural.
After seeing the necessity of a change and Transformation, I should also realize that the key to success is not in my hands and in my own efforts, because something spontaneous must occur, an extraordinary experience must occur, a transcendental experience, a divine and mystical experience must be given to me to get the state of Transformation and Liberation.

...

Where and when was this movement born?

Foundation for World Awakening was born in 1991, in Madras, India.

How many followers do you have around the world?

Over 15 million.

Where are the followers of this Foundation?

Ceylon, United Kingdom, Sweden, Ukraine, Argentine, Chile, Uruguay, Russia, India, Brazil, United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Ecuador, Singapore, China, Australia and other countries from the former Soviet Union.


What are the statistics concerning the growth of the movement?

It is growing in such an astonishing manner that we can no longer have an accurate statistics. From what we know, it is the fastest growing movement in the world.

What do you think is the reason for such an incredible growth?

Today we are experiencing a unique phenomenon on earth. And each man and woman that walks on this planet must discover it. The coming of Sri Kalki is very important and is a milestone in the evolution of man and of our planet. Our beloved Sri Kalki is the source of the innumerable insights, realizations and the source of the highest mystical experiences that are awakening the mystic within the hearts of the seekers.


You talk about the beginning of a new Age, and that we are at the dawn of this Age, is this the so-called Age of Aquarius by the astrologers?

It is the dawn of a new Age, The Golden Age; the Age of Aquarius is a small age inside the Golden Age. All the changes that are beginning to occur in our planet are representative of the dawn of this new Age, changes in the level of perceptions in man; perceptions of himself, of the Universe and the Creator; changes that make us enter into different stages of growth and comprehension of reality. From the standpoint of astrology we can see a new planetary and zodiacal cycle for this planet Earth. Behind these observations there are profound meanings that will become clearer as we experience the trends that will affect our lives completely. So this is a phenomenon that affects not only the planet but affects YOU. You will feel it in every cell of your body.

What are the changes that we will experience?

Many changes are occurring right now in our planet, starting with the physical changes manifesting in the ecological environment that surrounds us. Climatic changes, changes in ocean currents, and strong changes in the atmosphere that affect the Earth and all the living species in it.
As these changes are manifesting and many more are to come, something begins to happen to us at a psychological level, the creeds we have, the social, economical, political and cultural systems begins to shake and collapse. You just have to open your eyes to see that we are coming near a cliff, we are in crisis and in a society that sooner than later is going to break down. Society is a blend of ideas and beliefs, perceptions kept alive for some time, and today it is in crisis. Our social, economical and political system is based upon ideas and beliefs; there is absolutely nothing real in which we have put our hopes and securities. Looking back in history we see that each ideology in some moment has fallen down because a new one takes form, the new is more real and closer to what man perceives as truth at that given moment.

Then, what is this new idea or ideology that man is going to develop as a new perception?

This time it is a completely new and distinct change. If we see and analyze the current situation of young men throughout the world we can appreciate with more clarity the phenomenon that is occurring today. The teenage period is characterized by an idealistic feeling, there is a profound search for truth and there is born a deep longing to keep their ideal alive. Seeing the actual state of teenagers we find that they are living in confusion, where all the ideas have lost power, and there is a general sense of boredom, meaninglessness and a total loss of identity with society.
This phenomenon that we see very clearly in this example is what brings us to an even deeper change, because a new idea does not attract us anymore. We had very bad experiences with ideologies that lead us to move to a non-believing state. If you go inside your heart you will discover that you do not want another idea that will control your life for a brief time, after which you will have to change it again. We are frustrated with it and we want something more permanent and real.
Therefore this is the moment where each one of us must move from ideas and beliefs to a personal discovery of the real truth.

What is it that we have to discover?

Basically there are three discoveries that must happen to you. In the first place, you must begin to discover yourself and know who you are. Secondly, start discovering the secrets and the great mysteries behind creation that are revealed to you as you begin to discover yourself. And the last and most important one is to begin the greatest and more wonderful journey that man has ever undertaken, which is to meet God personally.

What do you think about the future of the planet and man?

There is a truth of Sri Kalki that says: "Spiritual Regeneration is the cause of physical and psychological degeneration". It means that every change and difficulty we are experiencing today has its roots in the spiritual plane, therefore man is entering into a new state of consciousness, where it will no more be difficult for him to love and have peace in his life, because this will be his natural state.
...
What will happen to our society after many people have begun their journey of Transformation?

Imagine for a moment a society where each one of us will take care of everyone else. We will be a society where the sick, the poor, the handicapped will receive help and love from the rest...At last we will be a universal family where there will be no divisions between countries, religious groups, social and economical classes, because we would not be wearing our masks that are born from fear, we will know each other, not from lies, but we will relate with others from true love. Where the welfare of the rest will be more important than personal welfare there man will meet with what has been his quest and dream, which is to feel himself as a part of a whole, and to be able to experience a real communion with his existence, the Universe and the Whole.

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The research has culminated into ONENESS UNIVERSITY. www.onenessuniversity.org
Why I chose to speak about it suddenly today..perhaps because this in itself is the highest form of technology that the Universe manifests...have we noticed, that to change the grand , visible, gross schema of undesirable things in world (be it HIV/Cancer/mutation), we plunge towards the SOURCE, the SOURCE being the smallest units of every creation...and thence forth sprang molecular biology, nanotechnology, genetic engineering and on. So to know this Creation, we need to know ourselves first. And this process is called SELF-KNOWLEDGE. And Foundations like Art Of Living and Oneness University have made some groundbreaking research, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sri Amma Bhagavan have brought our minds and collective consciousness together, and we are lucky to be living in such times, when information is at our fingertips, consciousness of individuals are rising, and the world is transforming into a knowledge-based, one single planet.
I can recommend thats,
" Even if you're on the right track , you'll get run over if you just sit there."
Let us not sit back and get run over..let us "Turn our faces to the Sun, and the Shadows (of past civilisational mistakes) fall behind us"