Delightful article on The Art Of Living International Foundation

This is easily the most impartial yet a very stirring article on the Art Of Living, its values, projects and the source of all the happiness and positive transformation over the world-- His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar , the Guru of Joy.
A must read for just about anyone!

The River Ganga was man-made

I remember once, some years ago, my pen friend from NJ, wrote asking- Ganges is a sacred river to the Hindu religion, then why does it stand so polluted? I could only chuckle sadly with two thoughts,... one: what is dear to you, you often tend to over-do it....this happens from lack of awareness. second: most people don't know about the effort that went into channelizing the mighty river, ages ago! Read this for more.

Non-vegetarianism and religious sacrifice

Animal slaughter is the worst act of misinterpretation that religious zealots promote. What the religious scripture mean between the lines, and what religious pastors, saints, ulamas mandate, are two very misconstrued practices.

In fact this blog post signs off on a very very eye-opening note. And this CONTEXT isn't just about Islam, its about Christianity as well as some Hindu sects. And it rests upon an educated reader to disillusion his/her mind if it is clouded by the herd mentality, and driven by stimulation of the senses.

An intelligent and responsible person will know that the capacity to enjoy the senses is limited. It will eventually tire one in the end. But the capacity of one mind to contribute to restoration of the planet is enormous...not limited by space, nor by time. Because when one's intentions towards other beings we share the planet with, and towards the planet, are genuine, then a dam of inspired following bursts, and it becomes a revolution with a far-reaching ripple effect across the planet and across centuries. It eventually shapes the face of the civilization and fosters a healthy evolution for all.

You know, the quality of your life depends on the state of your mind. And the food you eat affects the state of your mind just as strongly. And since that pastfew decades, we must admit we have made the wrong choices. Perhaps this is why today, it is perceived as desirable to be more angry, to be more aggressive, to be more self-centered, to be more violent. Perhaps this is because we have molded our younger generations from an intelligent civilization that is peaceful, that respects and CO-EXISTS with all life forms, into an animal civilization that encourages mindless rape of the environment. Do you remember how, yesterday, as children in a classroom, we were shunned if we lost our temper or got violent. What do you see today? More and more aggression...more and more depression..more and more suicides.

Where are we headed?

WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?

As Khurshed Batliwala (lovingly called Bawa) says, "Tomorrow we may end up with education systems where every child must be accompanied by a bodyguard. Ironically, we wont even know if the body guard is trustworthy." Where we are headed today, reflects the choices we have made about our lifestyle in the past. It is more strongly about CHOICES WE ARE MAKING TODAY about our lifestyles. Getting back to the talking point here non-vegetarians are more prone to diseases, more aggressive, short tempered, impatient, and certainly the biggest contributors to global warming (how?? educate yourself: goveg.com). If you are a cool teenager reading this, I would like to meet you 20 years from today..when the coolness quotient in your health equation translates into (God forbid!) impaired memory (from never having meditated..thanks to our bigotic education system), low immune system (from years of eating eggs and drinking milk that had been injected with antibiotics at farms), host of chronic health-issues, out-of-control aggression at work place, inability to function as a team, broken/abusive relationships, depressive thoughts....

I don't want this for you. Why do you want this for yourself?

Your weakness in attitude towards making intelligent and truly cool choices becomes weakness of character. IF you DO NOT make a balanced, intelligent choice for yourself, for your life, for the lives of people around you, and for this planet, then tomorrow you may become a weak link in evolution. And your future generations (or luckily, you yourself), shall experience the chain-effects of non-vegetarianism, abuse of natural resources, herd mentality, and inaction as well as wilful action.

Make good choices in life... become strong. Then... strengthen others. Grow together. Life is short. . .make a meaningful choice. Now and Here.

Mmmmmmm...India

Check this link: WOW!

India is truly the greatest (in knowledge of sciences, of spirituality, of life and living), yet humblest and most accepting of all the countries that ever existed in civilization. I feel humbled to be born to such a great nation whose sages of the ancient past have been illuminators to the formation of newer cultures and religions of today world over; whose sages have been masters in both science and spirituality; on whose lands so many races, friendly or unfriendly, have been welcomed like one would welcome Gods (atithi deva-or bhava); on whose lands today so many religions and castes co-exist despite the differences; on whose lands there is a never-ending abundance of wealth (in all aspects) despite multitudes of foreign invasions- this nation has survived it all- and continues to prosper. I cannot but only count my blessings that I have been born on its lands. The greater gratitude I feel is to be taken on the path of universal knowledge, emotional-physical-mental well being,
unconditional love, greater belongingness, and of course a very very cool Guru- the Guru Of Joy.
Life is an endless celebration today!

FRIENDSHIP OF THE WORLD- CLIMAX :-)

I'll share the best known-secret in the world now: a simple, effortless nd revolutionary breathing technique called SUDARSHAN KRIYA

Its an advanced form of meditation which "successful+happy" people swear by...Abdul Kalam, NASA, AIIMS, NIMHANS, the European parliament, Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, they have sworn by it.

Meditation is conscious relaxation, or, restful awareness. It flushes the mind of recurring negative thoughts and emotional garbage, and is a powerful tool for healing the body, mind and spirit. Meditation gives you a rested mind free of negative emotions and stress and enables you to take more balanced decisions, with heightened awareness.

A monarch butterfly that flutters its wings in the rose of gardens of Lalbagh (Bangalore) causes a stir in ocean currents off the coast of …now think this: what would be the effect of a crowd of 1.12 billion Indians meditating in their own homes everyday? Scientists have observed that group meditation causes a dip in the stress levels of the environment all around it for miles together. And it has been proved that it affects the energy levels of people you come in touch with, it dilutes negativity and ill-intentions and gives more energy to all positive possibilities, and creative thoughts and intentions.

And we are all well-evolved human beings with good intentions inside us, who want to be live life 100% and enable health and life to flow to everyone around.

With this thought in mind, the Youth Empowerment and Skills (YES!+) series of workshops were designed. YES!+ teaches practical all-aspects-covered meditation and breathing techniques .

Drug de-addiction centers, alcoholics groups, suicide counselling groups, juvenile detention centres, and such similar philanthropic organizations are doing their part for the youth who are into alcohol, drugs, smoking, who are suicidal, violent, and so on. But 27 years ago, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, lovingly called as the Guru of Joy, knew the need to intervene at the stage before all these issues of substance abuse, depression, STDs, suicidal or homocidal tendencies start.

It does not make sense for counselling NGO's to wait for a teenager from a dysfunctional family to get into depression or smoking. It isn't meaningful to wait for a relationship breakup to lead to promiscuous sex or substance abuse, before alcoholics anonymous or AIDS groups intervene. Even more, its stupid shortsightedness to wait until a youngster under academic pressure resorts to suicide, before philanthropy starts. Instead it makes all the sense to intervene before drugs, alcohol, smoking, depression, violence or suicide attempt happen. This is ALSO what YES!+ does.

Your intellect may argue: But I am a normal person.

Ok dear, but "normal" is a subjective term.

I am successful.

Ok dear, but "at what cost are you successful?" How many times in a day do you smile without a reason?

I am happy.

Ok dear, you are happy because you have this and that. Will you still be happy if unfair coincidence snatches away the things that makes you happy?

Let's get practical.

YES!+ facilitates my life with SIMPLE and PRACTICAL techniques that makes me dynamic on o-u-t-s-i-d-e, unshakeably calm i-n-s-i-d-e. Its a shortcut from The Head To The Heart!

. . .head-to-heart is important so that:

...success can never cloud the intellect

...over-ambition may not eat one's true happiness away

...lack of awareness may never overstep simplicity and respect for the environment

...and power may not corrupt one.

For me, YES!+ workshop has been the most fulfilling experience of my life, and I simply cannot keep this off-the-charts Happiness Quotient with me..I want everyone to experience this equation of "success = unshakeable smile + unputdownable enthusiasm".

The rest of the stuff in life....job, relationship, money.....will automatically follow......like byproducts of your "YES!" mind (as Bawu sayz :-))

I see more sense in YES!+ today after the recent terrorist bloodbath at Mumbai. Youth are a symbol of energy...potential..enthusiasm...change.....and an innocence-intelligence balance. I invite you to enrol for the next workshop happening in your city or country and collectively EXPRESS our solidarity as youth of one world against any diabolical extremist force that threatens our peaceful coexistence. Your participation to this workshop will add value to your life, empower you to do all the good things you always wanted to do, and add your voice in tribute to our brave soldiers who have laid down their lives in unconditional valor for us.

Besides meditation and loads of fun, practical skills will be taught in interactive workshops that attend to all levels of existence (includes restoring the healthy bounce back to body, and developing a uncluttered super-mind that can relax and focus @ same time, and also influence the environment effortlessly). These techniques are right now being practiced by millions across the globe, and its healing effects have been tested and validated by researchers, doctors and scientists world over. Something that we have not learnt at school/college/offices, but which are essential for effective and stress-free, positive living. And learn it for a cause…to be stress-free and spread good vibes at a time when we need more of acceptance, good vibes and action, not words or lame complaints. It is time now to respond and not react.

“One peaceful mind attracts harmony in situations and people around. Six and a half billion peaceful minds create an unshakable civilization.”

FRIENDSHIP OF THE WORLD

My Friends

I wish to communicate heart-to-heart with you today on an issue of paramount importance. We share the friendship of human kind. Recently a thought crossed my mind, what is the true meaning of our friendship? Is it only coffee, movies, gossips, dates, breakups, advice...or is there something more valuable? To be clearer, let me say this:

Of all the 6.5 billion people on this Earth, you are not reading my blog by coincidence. There isn't anything called coincidence, there are only reasons not coincidences and the reason isn't just sharing commonalities or celebrating differences, the reason is also to uplift each other through rough times, and dilute negativity with good company (sat-sangh). Today is a ripe time that we stood by each other in sangatchadvam (working together), because our national security and the world’s state of calm is at stake. A bunch of 20 jokers are able to trigger mental, physical, emotional, financial and administrational quakes in financial capital of our country with a population of 1.12 billion!

Isn't it time for good people to act too?

A virtual dissection of a terrorist’s psyche reveals a silent victim. He is a victim of some childhood trauma, some misleading concepts (concepts of religious feverishness or leftism-- the communist mindset that left hundreds dead in Russia). Fill this innocent child's mind with stress and teach it to divide people—on basis of religion, caste, economy, gender, politics, country, bias and prejudices, concepts about how things should be or shouldn’t be. Add the fuel of misinterpret Jihadi concepts to this mind filled with untapped energy…and you can get a full fledged miss-channelized terrorist product.

One more step: Equip this mind with state-of-art guns, and it will go to any extent to execute its misled goals........at any cost.

Now... think of youth like you and me—good people in comparison. How do we react to terrorism?

We meet.....we light candles. We call celebrities to talk about it and grumble about it.....and talk more about it? We don’t act, we only talk about it until it becomes an intellectual entertainment.

The tragic paradox is, you lose your sleep if your laptop breaks down, but not when an innocent man, woman or child is gunned down elsewhere! Are we so lost in our small closets that we have become insensitive to our world.

If you feel a little stirred and responsible, then I ask you to join me in friendship of the world, to eliminate this stress that creates a terrorist or prompts a 10-year old to suicide (academics) or leads a college youngster (with a dysfunctional family or a recent breakup) towards unhealthy emotional ventilation (drugs, alcohol, smoking, aggressive behavior, short temper).

Let's admit it: even with our IIT degrees, and MBA's we know very little about our own minds, and even little about how to handle it. But clarity in thoughts are important every moment of our day, isn't it?

The trick as His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar shares, lies in our breath: the breath and the mind are connected. Just as a string guides the kite, the breath guides emotions in the mind...happy thoughts: effortless breathing, angry thoughts: rough shallow breathing!

Unless we uncondition our system of all negative impressions, our immense creativity and richness of life remains unexplored. Remember the choice Morpheus offered Neo: blue pill......or red pill...

So what's the solution to it?

  Next post :-)

Recent Snapshots from Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES!+)

Make LIFE a CELEBRATION !

Bawa and Dinesh...Directors of World Alliance for Youth Empowerment ~WAYE~

Meditation is seeing God in Oneself

You are not the body, you are not the mind, you are much more than that.

Yoga is meditation in motion....especially when you smile in each posture ;-) *wink* *wink*

True celebration is on the inside...not the outside.

Sattvic intellect brings desired results effortlessly...
Sattvic fun refreshes and rejuvenates you, it doesn't leave you drained....

Making LIFE an expression of Inner Silence and Outer Dynamism- YES!+

Sudarshan Kriya gives one the ability to be Relaxed and Focussed @ the same time!

SOUL TO SOUL COMMUNICATION IS SILENCE

The YES!+ Workshop continues to empower youth in over 40 countries (...and counting) with a YES attitude towards life and challenges...it successfully collimates the untapped energy in youth which is being diffracted in negative ways...

The techniques that are taught in the workshop INSTANTLY rids the mind of negative behavioral patterns like:
depression and loneliness,
low self-confidence and stage fright,
substance abuse, smoking, suicidal tendencies,
aggressive behavior, short temper, impatience, intolerance,
lack of sustained interest in studies, poor memory,
stress and low energy levels.

These techniques are something no one taught us in school, at home, at college or at work but which are life-supporting to our education, our career, our relationships and the quality of life we live!....thus these become a lifetime asset.



You make friends the world over...connecting to youngsters who have risen from mediocrity to excellence in life...and friends who uplift and support each other in knowledge and unconditional love~




It teaches simple yet powerful practical techniques (benefited more than 20 million people across 151 countries!) to:

• boost the body's immunity and energy levels,
• flush out emotional garbage,
• enhance the happiness quotient,
• do more in less time (time management) -- without getting stressed,
• be successful+happy,
• be 'focused + relaxed' at same time,
• take responsibilities,
• handle relationships: with oneself, with parents/teachers/boss/colleagues/friends,
• interact inhibition-free, effectively and assertively at all levels with people,
• take balanced decisions,
• live life 100%

Maintain INNOCENCE....

.... Cultivate INTELLIGENCE !

Broaden your Vision...Deepen your Roots. ~ Sri Sri




The Sudarshan Kriya is part of the workshop, and is taught as curriculum/credit course at Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur, Guwahati, Mumbai), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), MIT, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Indian Business Academy (IBA), Symbiosis (Pune), Harvard and Stanford, GeorgiaTech University, University of Virginia, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), GooglePlex (California), IBM, National Insitute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), All India Insititute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and so on...the count of happiness quotient + health quotient + success quotient has dramatically improved in all participants within just 6 days!