Dance To Your Tune

There was this person, who was so fed up with life, trying to be a perfect parent, perfect friend, perfect everything. Making it a first person account – The problem was in trying to live my life on someone else’s terms and making a mess of what I was, masking my strengths and gradually forgetting my true self.

Why live life on terms as defined by others. Other’s perception of perfection should not and does not indicate true perfection. Perfection is a very personal characteristic based on our own abilities and thoughts – so why lose sleep over our inability to match to standards prescribed and set by others. It is better to dance to our own tunes and not to other’s. Concept beautifully demonstrated with the following story and read on…

The little rabbit stood alone, watching the other rabbits around hop and skip in the forest. They were playing her favourite rabbit game. Try as she might, each time she attempted to join in, she tripped about awkwardly. When this happened, the other rabbits laughed at her and called her “Riya” (Graceful inSanskrit).

Soon even she forgot her real name. In moments when Riya was alone, she danced around the trees with ease. She was as smooth and graceful as any ballerina. An old owl sat high above one night, watching her intently. The moonlight streamed through the treetops like a soft spotlight and he sat and watched as little Riya moved in and out of the moonbeans.

Finally he said, “Riya, you are more graceful than any creature I’ve ever seen.” Riya was startled that someone had been watching her; but listened carefully to the wise owl’s words as he continued. “You have carried this beauty within you all this time, but locked it inside when you tried too hard.”

Often we are too intent on proving ourselves and pleasing others. The harder we try the more impossible the task becomes. We begin to lose our identity and all sense of who we really are and what we can do.

Then comes the power of robbers who through negative talk, remarks and jibes would rather have us believe that we cannot. Some of us may be fortunate to run into those like the old owl, the power enablers and facilitators, who bring back to us a sense of who we really are and what we are really meant to be. They help us see the beauty that is locked away inside, the potential that we all have. Others finally realize that they have two who can always be counted on. The first themselves and the second-nature, which never call us names or whispers behind our backs. We come to a point when we begin to be honest with ourselves.

We see the truth that we are all creatures of our times, that imperfections and faults are part of every being’s life tapestry and that all elements are woven into our lives, some frozen in time and others still open to inside work and shaping out. Then in a moment of great discovery we embrace all that is part of ourselves.

Like Riya we learn to dance and celebrate our wholeness. We become less obessed with the scorn that can be heaped on us by others. The negative is drowned by positive images. We realize like Riya that nature is our friend. Nature waits patiently. There is no pressure to be anyone else than who we already are. We relearn the dance of life. All the while we have just tried too hard.

Grace is not some sophisticated word used only for artists or models on a catwalk. It is the ability to live life on one’s own terms, the ability to kindle true life in others, the strength and courage to overcome those who would control and manipulate us. Sometimes grace in living comes after repeated failures. The rabbit Riya picked herself up when she came to a sense of her true self.

Many walk through your life, but few leave footprints on your heart. Take long spells of rest in nature. Become like Riya the rabbit who found that she had an identity of her own, so precious, that she had to first discover it by herself. And then when you discover your true identity and your own voice, become a power broker in this world, for gentleness and understanding.

Yes this is what His Holiness Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar and The Art of Living did to me – transform me into Riya, the ever graceful.

Q n A by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: How can I convince people who take drugs to let go of them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Bring them to a Sudarshan Kriya class. When they do the breathing and when they find the inner joy coming into them, they will give up. Many people have given up; in thousands.

Q: What is the purpose of life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One who knows will not tell you and someone who tells you does not know.

This very question is useful. The question itself uplifts your spirit and creates a journey for you. So keep the question, it is very precious. One day you will discover it.

Spend a few minutes in meditation and do some good work in society. Help those who are in need. Then everything will open up.

Q: What to do if I cannot let go of a very painful relationship? I just cannot let go.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Okay, what can you do? Hold on to it!

How much can you hold on? Sooner or later you have to let go and the faster you do it, the better it is. And what can help you to do it faster is wisdom. Wake up and see everything is changing. Meditation will definitely help. I usually say that we repair the broken hearts here. It gets back to the very same position it was in the beginning. No scars and no pain.

Q: Dearest Guruji, you said that anything that changes is not true, but the universe is changing every moment. Is this also not true?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you talk to a quantum physicist that is what he will say.

Professor D’Hoore from Germany is one of the greatest scientists of our time and he said something interesting. He said, ‘I studied matter for forty years only to know it doesn’t exist.’

I said, ‘this is what we say in the Vedantic philosophy, the same thing.’

Q: How can I find the true love in me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you relax you find that you are love. You are made up of a substance called love. Love is not just an emotion; it is your very existence. It also gets expressed in emotion but in reality our consciousness, our mind and our spirit is made up of love.

Q: Is it possible as a normal human being to love unconditionally?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, as a child you were doing it. As a child you were expressing such a love.

It is possible.

Q: Is complete freedom possible?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes!

Q: Dear Guruji, please advise me how to cope with a loss of a very dear one? It has been very traumatic. Doing the Sudarshan Kriya and sadhana for the past sixty days has helped me a lot but still I am unable to get over the loss.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just be with it; don’t try to get over it. Time will take care.

Q: Guruji, is worrying about the future something totally wrong?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, worry about the future of the whole planet and worry about the destiny of humanity. Worry about human values, worry about the increasing corruption, worry about all these big things. I also worry about the planet.

But worry should not take away your smile, your enthusiasm and your energy to do things now.

Q: How can we know that we are following and fulfilling our destiny?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Something in your gut feeling will tell you.

How do you know if you have eaten enough? How do you know you slept enough? In the same way when you are doing the right thing your heart will tell you, ‘yes, I am doing the right thing.’

Q: How to overcome sadness, depression and negative thoughts?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sudarshan Kriya, meditation and knowledge will help.

Q: Why do you wear a beard?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I am too lazy to shave every day. I thought I can spend that time doing something else.

In India, people who are in the spiritual field, either they shave everything or keep everything. This is the uniform, so I prefer to keep everything.

But it is not a big deal, tomorrow I can take everything off, but I won’t change. I will be the same.

Don’t go by one’s external appearance and dress, this is secondary. What is primary is what is inside. How pure the heart is and how clear the head is; clarity and purity. And remember we are all born with such pure hearts. I have maintained it that is all the difference. Many have not maintained what they were born with, but I maintained it somehow. I refuse to grow up!

Q: Dear Guruji, could you please talk about abortion.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I have no opinion about it.

Q: What is the difference between sleep and meditation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sleep is dullness, meditation is awareness. Both give rest but a different quality of rest. After meditation when you come out, you feel very soft and very nice in your whole body and mind. After sleep you could feel a little heavy and a little dull. Could be, not necessary.

What is Upanishad? - By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sitting close and listening is Upanishad. Upanishad is a collection of discourses of high knowledge, and the manner it was transmitted from a Master to students is very interesting.
One of the Upanishads beautifully brings this out well. Once a boy went to his father who was also his Guru and asked, 'What is God?' To which the father replied, ‘Food is God’, for everything grows from food, everything is sustained by food and when there is a lack of it, everything dissolves and everything again becomes food.
So the boy went and thought about it for several months, understood all about food and came back to his father, and again asked ‘What is God?’ The father said, ‘Parana is God’. The boy went, thought and understands all about prang, how it is going in and out of body, how many types of prana there are and read all experiments about prana. He again came back to his father and asked, ‘What is God?’ The father looked at the child’s face, so glowing and so vibrant. The father said, 'Ok, the mind is Brahman, mind is God'. The boy went and thought till he found the ultimate bliss.

Notice, that the student didn't complain to the teacher that he was earlier told ‘Food is God’ but later something else. He simply came and again asked the question. So this is an ancient way of teaching, step by step – food, then prana, then the mind, then the inner spirit, then the universal spirit, Bliss. Bliss is Divinity, the space. You are like the space. Then he said, 'There is no difference between you, me and the infinite self. We all are one. The Self, Guru and the universal energy are not different. All are made up of one substance.'
Today if you talk to scientists who study the string theory, who study quantum physics, they will say the same thing that is said in Upanishads. In the Upanishads, it was said thousands of years ago that 'God is not a person, sitting somewhere up in heaven but God is present everywhere. He is omnipresent and omnipotent, the energy of which you are also made of, everything is made up of.' Don’t confuse God to be a person, somewhere sitting up in heaven. Godliness is your own nature.
God is Vibration. God is Love. God is Truth, Existence. God is Beauty.

Check out other talks by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Art of Living shop.

The Power of Intuition

Intuition

There are three type of knowledge or information you get.

One is through the five senses. You see and you get some knowledge, you listen and you get knowledge, you smell and you get information, through taste you get information, and through touch. The five senses bring you some knowledge. Most of our knowledge is gained by these five senses. Now this is one type of knowledge.

The second is through the intellect. The knowledge gained through intellect is superior to knowledge gained through the senses. Science is knowledge gained through intellect. See, what all you see from your eyes is the sun is setting, but what you learn through science is sun doesn’t set. It is the earth which revolves. You have not seen the earth revolving through any of the five senses, but through intellect you understand that the earth is revolving and that it is revolving around the sun. This is the intellectual knowledge through intellect which is superior to the senses. Like in a beaker of water you keep a pen, what do you see? The pen is bent. That is the perception, but the intellect says “No!” It is not bent it is an optical illusion. This is the knowledge through the intellect.

Now these two levels of knowledge are much more inferior to a third level of knowledge. That is intuitive knowledge. That is knowledge from the spirit that comes from silence. It cannot be verified by the senses or the intellect. Knowledge which comes beyond these two is another level of knowledge. So life begins when you tap into that level of knowledge. Till that time it is existence.

Now, how would you tap into this level of knowledge? The level of knowledge which is not through the senses, nor through the intellect, is the question. For that you have to let go of the knowledge of the senses and the intellect and relax. The moment you let go then what you gain through senses, cravings and aversions they stop. All your cravings and aversions are about the five sensory perceptions. It cannot be anything beyond that.

For some time you say, ‘Now I don’t want to see anything, I don’t want to hear anything, I don’t want to smell anything, I don’t want to taste anything, I don’t want to touch or know anything; I’m just going To Be.’ Then intellectual concepts, judgments, decisions, to all that you say, ‘I don’t even need to know anything, I don’t care for anything.’

Letting go of concepts is the second step. How should this be? How that should not be? Things should be like this and things should be like that... all these intellectual perceptions. Or,”Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path? Am I on the right track? Should I go on?”... All these things, drop them and only then silence begins. And when silence begins then the knowledge from the third level dawns and that knowledge is called Ritambhara knowledge. The true knowledge that comes from beyond the intellect is the intuitive knowledge.

Everyone has got this ability and you have experienced in your life this gut feeling, knowledge from somewhere, which you cannot really make out what it is. Somewhere, you feel this is the right thing to do and something happens in your tummy. And that knowledge comes up at that time but then you don’t honor it. Many times we stick onto the intellect or sensory perceptions.

Sometimes, your intellect says, “This is wrong, what I am doing?” But, you don’t listen to the intellect you keep doing the wrong things. How many of you have this experience? What you do? You stick on to the sensory and ignore the intellectual knowledge. And then what happens? You sometimes go beyond your intellect. Your intellect is saying something but your inner gut feeling is saying something else. And you’re feeling says, No!, there is something different, something more”. We ignore that and we stick onto the intellect. That’s how many times your judgments have found to be a failure.

How many of you feel your judgments have been wrong? But sometimes, beyond your judgments you have seen and you have taken a step and have been happy about it. In spite of your intellect saying ‘No’, something says ‘Yes’. Something else triggers and that is what happens when there is faith and that’s when the faith comes up. Sometimes, your mind says, “No!, I want to quit doing all this spiritual practices, I don’t care for that, I don’t care for hopes”. Many people do this, try to quit but something deep inside, the impressions, samskaras, some good karmas just make you keep going and then you are back on track. And then you are happy. You feel, ‘Good thing I didn’t do it, I didn’t walk on my impulse.’ How many of you have had this experience? Those are the moments when something beyond your intellect has taken over and worked.

When we started Art of Living, in the very beginning I could see that there are millions of people who were going to come on this path. I was just 22 or 23, something like that; just out of my teens. I said, ‘No I don’t want to start’. My intellect would say ‘No, so what? Someone else will come and do all this and take care of everybody’. I had no ambition, no desire to start any movement at all. I was happy, I’m happy now also, but I thought why would I take on some headache, I don’t want to. I was a little shy also but my intellect was always saying ‘Oh, no!’. But then everything kept happening because when the TM movement was there and they wanted me to be there. They were all very friendly with me. So it was difficult for me to say ‘No’ to my friends, and then all the elders were there and I was sort of attached. I said, ‘No!’, I don’t want to start the Art of Living; I fought and fought.

had everything, I didn’t need anything. I had no lack. I was flying around in helicopters even in those days. I had seen all the wealth I could see those days. And, if I have to start something from scratch, the intellect was saying ‘no’. But something beyond that was saying ‘yes’.

Start on Personality Development

It can be hard to start on personality development. There are many different things you need to consider. Personality development that make a difference run the gamut from improving your manners to improving your sleeping, eating and/or exercise habits. You can develop yourself in many different ways, depending to what you wish to improve. Identifying things that you want to improve and making progress on them will give you self confidence, especially when others notice the changes.

Avoiding decisions means missing opportunities in the arena of self improvement. You should not fear making decisions even if you do not feel as sure about it as you would like to be. When you make the right decisions, you will increase personality development. Even decisions with less favorable outcomes are useful because they allow the decision-maker to learn from the mistake. If you make a wrong choice at one point, then you will ensure that your next one will be better.

Read good articles about self improvement. You could well derive some great, life-changing ideas from the right books in the field. It is always best to check the reviews for a book. Self improvement books can be very poorly written.

Know the obstacles you face before you hit them. This is very hard for many people to do. Even so, identifying personal weak points is a critical initial step in order for them to be dealt with. It’s easier to move forward if you take care of what is standing in your way.

There are things you can do throughout the day to accomplish more work while at your job. One thing that you should do is to take frequent breaks from your tasks. Taking breaks is not a waste of time. It will help you stay relaxed and focused on what you need to accomplish.

You must be able to lead if you want to develop personality. Leadership has many definitions, but many people think of it as “influence.” Examine the events in your life related to leadership. Are there events that have had major impacts on your life? How did those experiences change you? What attributes make you a good team player? By carefully evaluating these questions, you can increase your awareness of your ability to function well in a team setting.

If you take care of your health you will be able to get the most out of your self improvement. You can do this by getting a sufficient amount of sleep, exercising frequently, and maintaining a healthy diet. You will have more energy if you are in shape, and therefore will be more successful in your self improvement efforts. It may seem simple, but sometimes the simplest things in life are actually the most difficult.

You cannot provide care for others unless you care for yourself. No matter how far along you are in your personality development journey, you need to relax and reflect every once in a while.

Art of Living campaign to protect girl child

Art of Living, a humanitarian organisation founded by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, has launched a month-long nationwide campaign to protect the girl child through awareness and commitment.

"The campaign focuses on female feticide, malnutrition, abuse and violence against girls, lack of access to education and child marriage," Art of Living said
in a statement here Saturday.

Designed to inspire people to pledge support to the girl child and influence decision-makers who can impact policy related to girls and women, the campaign will be conducted in cities identified as gender-critical such as Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Bongaigaon in Assam.

"In our culturally and traditionally rich society, when crime against girls and women is rising, it is our duty to put an end to violence and discrimination against them," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told a gathering of 1,000 people who took pledge in the Art of Living ashram here.

Unicef India's communication specialist Manisha Mishra was present on the occasion.

A cross section of society spanning schools, colleges, universities, state governments, corporate houses and non-government organisations (NGOs) are participating in the campaign to end discrimination against, and abuse of, girls and women.

"Girls are often seen as a burden. Let us pledge to commit to treat them with dignity and respect, to teach our sons, brothers and nephews the value of girls," Mishra said at the event.

Being at the forefront of social transformation, Art of Living has initiated a number of projects over the past eight years for the girl child's welfare, including 383 free schools in 18 states across the country, covering 33,590 children, with half of them being girls.

"The campaign is about changing mindsets and we are hopeful that faith as an important influencer will bring about this change," said Vandana Khurana, a participant.

As the rising incidences of violence and crime against girls and women are causing concern to all, the Art of Living's "Celebrate the Girl Child" pledge and campaign are designed to convert the concern into a socially-relevant action.

Read More for Art of Living on firstpost

Learn to be in Bliss from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Gurudev, Buddhists say they do not believe in God. Even Lord Buddha said that we must not worship idols. Now He too was an enlightened being, so what did he mean by that?

Sri Sri: Lord Buddha never talked about God. He never really entertained any discussion on God. What He said was – the first thing is to realize that there is misery. People keep denying there is misery, many don’t even recognize it. Many a time if you talk to a sick person, he will say “I’m perfectly healthy and fine”. The more egoistic the person, the greater is the denial.

Many times people are very miserable from within, but they wear a mask of cheerfulness or even act confident and dominating on the outside. They will keep pretending as if everything is fine, yet you can see the misery drip from their faces. Every part of their body reflects anger, bitterness, hatred and misery. This is what Lord Buddha has said – that there is misery. Recognize it, and then there are remedies for it. If someone says being miserable is my nature, then nobody can do anything about it, not even God Himself. So misery is not our nature, it comes because of samskaras (past life impressions) or karma. And this can be removed by other samskaras. One remedy for this is Pratyahara (one of the eight limbs of Yoga which means to exercise control or restraint over the senses and withdraw them inwards). Another remedy to this is meditation. So through meditation, pranayama, and Satsang we can be liberated from the miseries. It is then that we come to realize that our nature is happiness, bliss. Just as light dispels darkness, our powerful soul as consciousness within called Atma-shakti removes misery. On the path of Sadhana, all negativity and distortions such as fear, anger etc. fall away. The goal of Sadhana is get immersed in that indescribable bliss which is part of our very nature.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar sharing one line : Lord Buddha said the same things that are said in the Upanishads. There is a verse:

Na karmana na prajaya dhanena tyagenaike amrta tvamanasuh |
Parena nakam nihitam guhayam vibhrajate yadyatayo visanti ||
(- Sanyasa Sukta, Maha Narayano Upanishad, 4.12)

It means: Neither through one’s actions (Karma), nor by begetting noble progeny (referred to by ‘Praja’ in the verse above), nor through wealth (Dhana) can one attain the Supreme Lord. Only through sacrifice and renunciation (Tyaga) can one attain immortality (Amruta). This is what Lord Buddha has said as well. If you read the Upanishads carefully and then read that Lord Buddha has said, you will find they are the same. There is no difference at all.

That is why Shri Adi Shankaracharya is often called Prachanna Baudha (a hidden or unproclaimed Buddha, meaning an enlightened one), because whatever he said seemed to be so similar to what is mentioned in Buddhism. So there is no difference between the Sanatana Dharma (another name for Hinduism) and Buddhism. The principles are nearly the same. I won’t say that they are exactly the same, but they are very close indeed. Buddhism advocates Shoonyavaad (the realization that “everything is nothing”; Shunya meaning Zero or nothing in Sanskrit), while Vedanta advocates Poornavaad (the central belief that “Everything is One and whole”). In Buddhism the first important step is the realization of misery, while in Vedanta they say that there is no misery. They say – ‘Wake up and see! You are full of joy (the Self as bliss)’.

So in Buddhism when misery disappears, joy is seen and in Vedanta when joy (of the Self) is realized, misery disappears automatically. So going from bottom to top and top to bottom, these are two different approaches. But the goal is the same. Even in Vedanta, it is not said that one should necessarily worship idols. It is said that worshipping the Atma-deva (referring to the Self as the Divine deity housed within the temple of the physical body) is the highest form of worship. But to begin with, one needs an environment, an atmosphere for reaching that stage of worship. This is why there is Puja. Ultimately at one point you see everything as the expansion of yourself, everything appears as a manifestation of that one Self. When one realizes that there is no difference between the world and the Self (Brahman) - which is present everywhere, in the trees, in the idols, in the earth, in water, in the blue sky; then one can worship anything and anywhere (meaning: to reach a stage where one sees everything as the manifestation of the one divine Self).

Even in the Rudra Puja, there is a rule that ‘Na Rudram Rudram Archayeti’’ which means until you become Lord Shiva yourself (realize your own true divine nature), you cannot worship the Lord. So you should first become God and then worship Him. It means to be firmly established in the Self. So it is said to worship God after becoming God, being established in your Self. Puja is just a play, it is a leela (a game), a way of expressing this deep feeling of worship.