Tree Plantation Drive by YES!+: June 5, 2010

When Art of Living Bangalore's YES!+ team took charge in different parts of city, with AoL teachers, BBMP, and other responsible organizations like Vee Technnologies, the outcome was more than 100 new trees in a few hours, across parks!

FAQ: On an average, a human being utilizes resources of 16 trees in a lifetime.

Have you adopted your tree yet? :-)

Contact your Art of Living city coordinator and get started now.

www.artofliving.org

What's common to the MEDIA, POLITICIANS and EKTA KAPOOR? :-)

Some of my friends argue (from lack of anything valuable to contribute to conversation) ...why does ART OF LIVING charge money for the courses?


I gently remind them about how much they have invested (money + time + energy) in their graduation, and how much returns and satisfaction quotient they are reaping today. And the ridiculous disproportion in Investment versus Returns. :-)


And they immediately know that all this is because of the lack of spiritual education so far...


The greatest point to remember is that, "spiritual education" which is the most important aspect of education is often neglected...results are obvious to one and all, and I needn't elucidate that.


Oh, btw spiritual education broadly means "knowledge of self, knowledge about mind, balanced lifestyle with a holistic combination of prosperity"...in fact all spiritual people are prosperous-- in wealth, in thoughts and in magnanimity of attitude.


"Anything that helps you become unconditionally happy and loving is what is called spirituality." ~ Sri Sri


Something I came across recently...and feel I must share with you...


"The idea that all spiritual education should be free, or the notion that spiritual training was free in ancient India is a fallacy. Spirituality is also an education and all education needs to be paid for. Those who know their history know that people in Vedic times had to “invest” far more to get a spiritual education than we do today!

The concept of ''Dakshina'' is from the ancient Vedic times.

The vow of poverty is a concept alien to our land. Here, the primordial Guru, Lord Narayana is wedded to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Material progress goes hand in hand with spiritual growth. There are some pseudo intellectuals and historians who...praise only the dead and abuse the living."

Aptly captured here...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6032081.cms


WHAT IS THE MEDIA DOING?


Silly goofy media...

sensationalizes a bullet and not the incredible work done by AOL in more than 165 countries in just 27 years!

politicians are the outdated PJ nowadays...and media is the new joke of the day.

Remember the last time, the media sensationalized that the commisioner's dog has run away....yes we all remember that !

But remember any time that AOL was highlighted for completely transforming Asia's largest slum...or creating a model village (in Maharashtra:  https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~gumma/inspire/Kapshi.doc) in the history of the world....or Sudarshan Kriya curing thousands of patients from migraine/asthma/depression/homicidal tendencies/Cancer....or how AOL volunteers are still working in tsunami zones and Naxal-torn jungles of Chattisgarh ??

No the media wont portray that...because the media is the new PJ of the planet.


Politicians and media seem to have become the new series of Ekta Kapoor package in real life :-)




Oh, btw...the donations paid for the AOL courses are utilized in thousands of service projects across the world...from disaster relief to rural women empowerment....from free children education to saving the environment.

http://www.artofliving.org/

I'm sure some of you will appreciate this, and invest in your own health (physical, emotional, mental) through the incredibly simple and powerful ART OF LIVING courses (my personal favorite:  http://yesplusevents.org/) , and at the same time, contribute to the revolutionary service activities happening through the Art of Living.

Its only one family...we call it a ONE WORLD FAMILY (Vasudhaeva Kutumbakam!)

"Do not sell your smile, even if the whole world is offered in return for it." ~Sri Sri

YES!+ Program

What keeps NASA astronauts and Asia’s best cardiologist stress-free?

How do Google employees at PaoAlto balance life and work?

What gives the world’s best snooker player an additional edge over competition?

Do I have to struggle to become successful in life?

Do I have the ability to handle any situation in life…with a smile?

Welcome to YES!+ Program and Upgrade your life skills.

YES!+ stands for Youth Empowerment and Skills Workshop for students and working professionals between the 18 to 30 age group. It’s a one of a kind, life skills workshop which is specially designed to give deep relaxation and easy-to-practice, practical tools to lead life with success.

·                  Do my relationships handle me?

           For a change let me learn to handle my relationships.

·                  How can I give 100 per cent to life in the right direction?

·                  How to cultivate intelligence in my life without losing my innocence?

·                  Take a break from the madness of the world outside…Re-live life in your terms!

Whether you are a busy corporate, an ambitious student, or simply in need of a shift, YES!+ will leave you feeling lighter and ready to face any challenge with greater clarity and ease.

It enhances excellence and health in ALL ASPECTS of life: professional, personal, academic, physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.

CORE COMPONENTS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PROGRAM:

v    Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY):  A rhythmic breathing process that brings clarity to the mind, enhances creativity, kicks out personal mental barriers, gets rid of unhealthy habits, and increases focus and concentration levels tremendously.

v    Challenging sessions to strengthen and energize the body and increase stamina

v    Interactive Processes that are fun and provide practical wisdom to dealing with unpleasant situations at work/life

v    You’ll learn Ancient techniques:

ü  To enhance focus and concentration without stressing the mind

ü  shortcuts to time management

ü  for enhanced productivity at work

v    A 20-minute daily breathing and meditation practice upon completion of the program

The upcoming YES!+ @ Bangalore:

       

Trainers: Smriti and Sahil Jagtiani. (Sahil is an International trainer for the Art of Living International Foundation, an Entrepreneur, and an International Singer and Musician.)

 Dates: 11- 13 June

 Timings:  8:00 a.m. - 12 p.m.

 Where: ManandiSamskruta Sadan Hall, Jayanagar 5th Block, Bangalore
Age Criteria: 18–30 yrs + "those Young at Heart!"

Contact Us: Krishna 09884761590, Gaurav 9886279368

Email- smritisahilyesplus@gmail.com

Visit www.yesplus.org For testimonials: http://www.yesplusevents.org/testimonials/

Strangely, over-saturated intellectuals today need testimonials from organizations to believe good things, so here goes...(bcos nothing should stop you experiencing the most freeing experience you can have, in life) Please check the testimonials of various Organizations.

Also, share this link with your friends, family and colleagues. You never know whose life you may help Transform!

    

A new series of universal knowledge

Just browse through "your" topic...you will find something that clicks :-)
Knowledge from the Source

What Sri Sri Said July 4th 2002 Austin USA Public Talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbSfXjBS8Rw

Sri Sri Conducts a Meditation - June 28th 2002 Chicago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w86_4zTTvXQ

What Sri Sri Said June 28th 2002 Chicago, USA Public Talk, Q+A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u155UokpJXU

What Sri Sri Said July 19th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang - The Significance of Yagyas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C50G8jJ_Tzo

What Sri Sri Said July 19th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang and Knowledge - Desires and Shraddaa(Faith)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huMtBg-DaE4

What Sri Sri Said Jan 15th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang Q and A and Birthdays

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNnhWcymJiE

What Sri Sri Said Jan 15th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang - Speaks on Overcoming a Broken Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16LuXJ2ucDE

Sri Sri Sings a Bhajan Jan 15th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_QG6-609VM

What Sri Sri Said Jan 15th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang - Dealing with negative Emotion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPzs17OBE3c

What Sri Sri Said January 7th 2001 Canada Eve Satsang Q & As

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrhKr1-g3SA

What Sri Sri Said Jan 4th, 2001 Canada Q and A - Speaks on Same Sex Attraction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EektMq5mVwU

What Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Said Jan 4th 2001 Canada Q and A: Sex & Spirituality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYanZqJ9zg0

What Sri Sri Said Jan 4th, 2001 - Speaks on Dealing With Loss of a Loved One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlSoCgxhcv4

What Sri Sri Said Jan 4th 2001- Canada Q and A Sessions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaoeLWOiJnA


Love,
Gaurav

Bangalore's Mall Culture!

THE MARKET

...is awash with rotten apples which go unnoticed to most consumers...most of us look forward to THE Sunday, and when its here, we waste half the day sleeping late (which topsy turvies the biological clock and metabolism...wow! what a dumb thing to do...), and one third of the other half, we waste inside a supermarket....especially if you walk into one of those noisy Big Bazaars...I compare the confusion to what probably chickens feel when they are crammed into cages inside factory farms! Loudspeakers babbling away about last minutes discounts...and frantic mothers trying to parallely manage crying kids and shopping carts @ same time...! and you'll find the local boys loitering inside...passing comments at so-called babes....!

The experience becomes worse when you are more aware of the air inside...its cluttered with thoughts, thoughts, thoughts...all thoughts of confused, weekend-starved professionals...who end up buying junk in that confused state of mind...and the air inside is stiffling! You know that when you step outside........

Personally I feel the shopping mall culture is killing off the good old Bangalore....and another chain of "environment and health" side-effects are on the way because of these malls, the same way that IT has done to Bangalore in the past!

The reasons most people go to malls:

1) Because suddenly you have nothing better to do...

2) You want to meet your friend, at a mall...and once you meet him/her, you both are clueless what to do

3) If your friend is same sex, and you are straight then you'll both stare away at the opposite sex...this is similar to what we have done when we are at home...stare away blindly at the TV..while eating, while studying, while entertaining guests, sometimes even just to fall asleep!!

4) If your friend is same sex, and you both are gays/lesbians, you'll stare at the same sex...LOL

5) If your friend is opposite sex, then you'll do either of the following:

     a)  You are "just friends" with her, so she'll point out all the so-called hot guys, and you'll point out all the so-called hot girls

     b)  You "friend" is your girl friend?? Oops...then you'll probably peek glances at the babe who just passed by...a subconscious fantasy will probably make you take a second peep!

6) You want to shop for yourself....apparel...food products...home needs...and in the process you will take home one or more plastic bags which you will dispose irresponsibly! You will fight for your currency change with the autorickshaw wala who drops you home, but you will not fight for the planet nor educate the rest of the zombie shoppers who are also taking plastic bags by the dozens!!

7) You want to eat at McDonald's (or KFC if your love towards your own body and environment is lost!) and feel good about all the goo that's going into your delicate system. And if you are one of those fast-food young mothers who use toilet papers (yuck!), then you will definitely pump your little child's system with generous doses of unhealthy McVeggies, McChicken...I promise you that your child has higher chances of:

        a)  getting early puberty
        b)  becoming dumber and dumber at studies
        c)  becoming more aggressive with age
        d)  getting chronic diseases: including gastritis, obesity (most common), heart diseases, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, Type 2 diabetes and worst of all, WEAKENED IMMUNITY!

If you tell me, "Oh, but I just take my son/daughter to eat junk "once in a while"."

I tell you, Every weekend is NOT "once in a while"!

Real communication has become passe, with more and more malls, and their fast food joints spreading like cholera...in fact most conversations nowadays are very focussed....on MONEY or GRATIFICATION. Gratification includes DOING NAUGHTY THINGS ON BED!

Definitions are also changing:


X    Love for this funny cult of people is not love any more. It is "making love".


X    Contributing to the planet means building software for foreign monopolies, that become cash cows for the already-rich foreign tycoons.

X    As children, we played with toys, now most of you have stopped playing with toys...and started playing with human emotions

X    Doing a random act of karmic kindness means helping the beggar woman (who will in turn give the money to her drunkard husband)


X    Music means loud, metal, anti-Christ bands who exhibit suppressed emotional imbalances at rock shows, and invite a couple of alcohol brands as well to heighten the short-term madness


X    Quality time with parents means dragging them to the nearest mall to buy you that latest watch or jewellery or gadget.

Bangalore and its mall culture (includes fast food, rock bands, smoky pubs) are drugging the minds of promising youth...

...Software code is more poetic than Rabindranath Tagore's poetry

...Bloody Mary and McDowell's is more refreshing than healthy herbal juices

...Junk food is more gratifying than home-made organic food

...Singing about heartbreaks (followed by getting drunk) is more soothing than spending time meditating or helping someone

...Urban Agriculture means Farmville on facebook

...Higher grades in high school mean a promising engineer or doctor or lawyer (as if we don't have enough unemployable ones already)

What is the purpose of your life? 

To get into IIT? To get out of IIT? To get into Infosys? To get out of Infosys? To get married and create a generation of fast-food dependant children? To leave a huge property behind that has your younger generations spilling blood over?

Is the purpose of your life to struggle?

Is the purpose of your life to:

• lose  health working for a foreign MNC?
• lose self-esteem by becoming a successfully "placed" MBA?
• lose the priceless wealth of Vedic scientific knowledge that has survived millenniums, and inspired scientists and world leaders since the times of Archimedes?
• lose the spirituality that has held together the magnanimity of the Indian civilization: the most prosperous, the oldest and the most welcoming of all civilizations?

If you want to break the chain, and do something worthy of becoming a legend...start with something very simple. And the simplest thing is to love yourself more, enrol for an Art of Living YES!+ workshop, do good to this planet, and care for more and more people around you. You will live a regret-free life that will inspire many lives around you.

VISTA INDIA: EDUCATING THE GIRL CHILD, EMPOWERING THE RURAL WOMAN

Dear One,

I wish to introduce a major project headed by Pitaji, as we lovingly call R S V Ratnam—father to the Guru of Joy- His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Today, at the age of 88, through the noble project VISTA INDIA, He has reached a milestone no man or woman of his age would have done, to educate and empower the girl child. Today, he has identified 33 more villages for this work. Current project is ongoing at Sirsi village in Karnataka. Ladies are educated to be able to read, and are taught to stitch and tailor clothes, and jute bags. These are promoted by the Art of Living International Foundation, and all revenues are given back to the women, thus empowering them for this project that does this for our society:

·  Creates interdependent women self-help groups

·  Provides a platform for free education for the rural girl child

·  Supports the jute and cotton industry of India, thus brings holistic, eco-friendly products with Indian artistry into the limelight

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We require more sewing machines. Each costs 3000 rupees. This makes a very significant contribution from you.

Spiritually, a small contribution like this out of your earnings purifies the wealth. And what better way to contribute, than for a cause that is coming to fruition under the aegis of an 88 year old freedom fighter whose dedication is a lesson to be learnt and a cause worth joining.

As a donor, you will enjoy 80G tax exemption. This means 50% tax exemption on your contribution, recognized by the Income Tax Department of India.

If your contribution as an individual or a group or as an organization exceeds 50,000 Rupees, you are eligible for 35AC Tax Exemption, that is, 100% tax exemption.

Through cheque: In favor of “VISTA INDIA”. Please write your name and address at the back of the cheque.

You may also send cash. If a group of two or more donor pool in money for contribution, each donor will receive 80G certificates.

In either case, please mention your name and address (with phone number).

Contact me on gauravnath.vision@gmail.com, once you have readied the cheque or cash.

Love, best wishes

Gaurav

Re-living Life

Are you a college goer?

A fresher?
A corporate professional who picked up smoking during college days and the peer pressure of "acting" cool?
A rebel who rebels in all the wrong ways that cause long-term damage to your own health?

I am sure after reading this blog by Jitesh, you will re-think why you started smoking in the first place. And why not meditation?

Simply because it is a sincere and innocent request to stop smoking and start re-living! :-)

And for the intelligent people like me and you too (if you are a non-smoker and you meditate everyday), we know what a HIGH meditation gives to the system! It is intoxicating.

By meditation, I mean the real meditation. Cos most people have this misconcept about meditation:

"close your eyes and imagine toony lights...concentrate..Concentrate...CoNcEnTrAtE! cOnCeNtRaTe! ConncennnTrAAteee!!! Boom! Bang! KaBoooommm! "
I'm sure you'll wake up with a splitting headache and disappointment because you didn't see disco lights going zigzag with eyes closed...No! thats not meditation. Meditation as GuruJi says, is "DE-CONCENTRATION"! and the EFFECT of meditation is "CONCENTRATION".

So simply relax, call any Art Of Living volunteer, and register for a YOUTH EMPOWERMENT and SKILLS (YES!+) WORKSHOP (if you are young at heart!). I promise You, it'll be the best investment you'll have ever made in your life.

Time to Re-Live the few beautiful remaining years of this life in the Best Way! Let's learn the Art Of Living!

Dont Postpone Your Happiness

Deccan Herald, 22nd March, 2010

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Don’t postpone your happiness

Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is money, power, or sex, you get into it for the sake of happiness.

To be happy, we seek something. But despite getting it, we are not happy. A school-going boy may think that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and therefore happy.

If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in their job or business, and you will see he is waiting to get a perfect soul mate, to be happy. He gets a soul mate, but he now wants to have kids to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. How can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own? Ask those who are retired, and done with all their responsibilities; are they happy? They long for the days when they were younger.

There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking that, “Ill be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second is saying that “I am happy come what may!” Which one do you want to live? All of one’s life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It’s like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep.

How many minutes, hours and days have you spent your life being really happy from within? Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.

Happiness is living in the moment with joy, alertness, awareness and compassion. It is being free from within, feeling at home with everybody, without barriers.

Life is 80 per cent joy and 20 per cent misery. But we hold on to the 20 per cent and make it 200 per cent! It is not a conscious act, it just happens. Don’t judge and don’t worry about what others think of you. Whatever they think, is not permanent. Your own opinion about things and people keeps changing.

So why worry about what others think about you. To find harmony, it is not as if you have to physically seek it somewhere for years and practice. At some level, to some degree, everybody is meditating without being aware of it. There are moments when your body, mind and breath are all in harmony.

These are moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or are on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it. When your mind is in the present that’s when you achieve yoga. The art of living lies in the present moment. Happiness is a factor that we have to consciously pursue.

"Jai Gurudeva"

(Maintain the INNOCENCE of a DEVA and Cultivate the INTELLIGENCE of a GURU)

What is killing India?

What is killing India?

Peep into this post and give yourself a weekend reality check....

·         Pesticides and fertilizers- India is the world’s largest user of fertilizers and pesticides. Look at Bangalore: sparrows have dwindled, no doubt. But now, even the crows say No to the city.

India has been the country with the most advanced forms of irrigation and most holistic way of agriculture. Ancient Indian agriculture systems like the Vedic Farming alone, yields far more superior crops, fruits and vegetables, than any damned fertilizer or pesticides any scientist can create…and without the damage that is caused by fertilizers and pesticides.

What happened after Independence?? “Independence"?...where’s the Independence?

·         Genetic Engineering- Just the south of India alone grows 150 varieties of rice! The smart way of agriculture is to grow different crops at different times on same soil…one type of crop enriches the soil for the next different type of crop to grow, thus allowing the soil to recuperate.

…But GM crops turn the agricultural soil sterile, and do not allow other crops to grow. This destroys the precious earth and leaves the farmers and the government defenseless at mercy of patenting laws. Patenting laws prevent farmers from saving crops.

·         Plastic:  Who invented the damned plastic?  The world lived just as comfortably before plastic was invented.

·         Bureaucrats: In terms of education quotient, politicians share the lesser blame compared to the so-called educated bureaucrats who are sucking up India and using politicians as pawn. If you feel responsible towards your country, what can you do? Write your Civil Services exam, become a responsible IAS officer. And while you are doing that, come to an Art Of Living workshop, tap enormous personal energy levels and broaden your capacity to take responsibility for yourself and for this planet.

·         Education: We have enough unemployable, and poorly conditioned lawyers, engineers and doctors in this country: we don’t want anymore! We need our ancient system of education back which the British systematically wiped out, so that they could fuel religious feuds, misconstrue the caste system, train Indians as lab rats who learn the following plagiarisms:

o   Galileo discovered that the Earth goes round the Sun’s orbit. (WRONG)

o   Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity. (WRONG)

o   Pythagoras discovered (a+b)² = a² + b² + 2ab. (WRONG)

o   Oppenheimer discovered the atomic bomb. (WRONG)

o   Drs. Steptoe and Edwards invented artificial insemination. (WRONG)

o   Archimedes of Syracuse discovered the value of “Pi”. (WRONG)

o   …I could go on and on.

All of the above and more were inventions or discoveries already made by ancient Indian scientists who were also spiritually enlightened meditators...such is the magnanimity of the world's grandest and most prosperous ("prosperous" in all senses) civilizations.

The bottom line is, our real Indian education system of Gurukul was systematically stolen by the English centuries ago, and plagiarized to form the Catholic system of modern education, and enforced upon us and the rest of the world during their colonization conquests.

·         English medicine (alopathy): Given the plethora of negative side-effects on the body and continual abuse of environmental resources, pharma companies have no real claims to philanthropy, except that English medicines come handy only in emergency situations when it is ok to pop a pill. Some facts here for Indian consumers.

You thought painkillers were a fantastic invention? Wrong! Painkillers dilute the nervous system’s ability to experience real pain in the pain areas of body. It simply postpones the cause of the disease.

You thought anti-depressants are the best boon to mankind?

Wrong! Anti-depressants (...and psychiatrists) only postpone chronic depression to a later time, and this only snowballs into worse depression and suicidal/homophobic tendencies. What’s the solution? No brownie points for guessing: It is MEDITATION.

If you are stressed or depressed, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga alone can solve the problem. If you are not stressed or depressed, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga alone can give you that extra energy burst (with heightened awareness) to do more in less time, at work or at home.

You thought alopathy cures the disease?

No! Alopathy in most cases treats just the SYMPTOMS, not the root cause. :-(

What’s  the cure?

Meditation and ayurveda.

Ayurveda attacks the CAUSE behind a disease, not the symptoms. And with zero side-effects…zero environment footprints.

And Panchkarma treatment ensures that diseases cannot touch your subtle body (that’s where diseases start incubating)

I couldn’t have found a better explanation of disease and health:

"Dis-ease occurs when any level of our existence is not at ease. Health is a disease-free body, a quiver-free breath, a stress-free mind, illusion-free intellect and obsession-free memory, an ego that includes all and a soul that is free from sorrow." – Sri Sri

·         Computer Games: This doesn’t need elaboration. We all know what it has done to whole generations of kids and teenagers across the globe! some facts

·         Junk Food: Carbonated drinks drain the body’s precious calcium and weaken digestion. Junk fast food: we all know what it does. I am amused that all we took from the west was coke and burgers, whereas in fact, we have much more to learn:

ü  Team work from the Japanese

ü  Precision from the Germans

ü  Presentation and marketing from the Americans

ü  Frankness and warmth from the Africans

ü  Etiquette and manners from the British

ü  Human and spiritual values from the Indians.

...choose a healthy lifestyle. Life is about living, and living is an art. ;-)