Giving sustains Life!!!

Life is all about giving and not taking - I often hear this phrase from His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I had not dwelt upon this much until now and suddenly a new thought related to this came about in my meditation today.
The very first technique that we learn in the Happiness Program taught by Art of Living is Pranayama. Interestingly in this Pranayama, we breathe out a little longer than the duration of the breath in. Right there we learn to give out more than what we take in - What a subtle lesson!
At the level of body, Guruji emphasizes the importance of Seva (Service) which is nothing but giving away one's physical effort to the benefit of others.
At the level of mind, Guruji always instructs to empty the mind and to give away all the garbage to him.
By the way of giving away at every level of our existence, we become free. Due to our tendencies, we are in the habit of taking and in turn holding on to things. What we don't realize is whatever we hold on to becomes a burden. Letting go makes us free. That is the Art of Giving. I would say if what you tend to hold on to is something positive, give it away to people which is termed as Service and if you tend to hold on to something negative, give it away to the Guru which is termed as Surrender. In Either case, Giving is the way of Life and it sustains Life and makes you Free!!!

Travel and you will know what it is to be on the Lap of God!

Recently my Guru has started a new Project to enroll 5 Pratinidhis (Representatives) from each village of India so that His vision can reach every part of the country down to the grass root level. If you have been following my Guru, you would know this is not a new idea. For the past 35 years through Art of Living as an organization His vision has already reached more than 40000 villages all over India and several social projects have been already carried out, the recent addition to the list of Projects being the River Rejuvenation Project where Art of Living rejuvenated about 35 rivers most of which had dried out decades ago not even leaving its traces on the land, but now flowing back again with its original glory. Though these projects are still being carried out in full swing, not all villages in India have been touched. India as a country has close to 7 Lakhs (700 thousand) villages and this new project will make 35 Lakhs Pratinidhis and this is a huge number that we are talking about here. I as one of the Teachers in Art of Living listened to Guruji talking about this project and it sounded quite overwhelming at the beginning and at the same time I felt my mind being blown away with the Greatness of such a vision. Only such a Mahaveer (Brave person) can even think that big.

And I set out on my journey to touch as many as I can passing on the message of my Guru and enrolling people who were ready to align with Guruji's vision in order to Transform the whole nation and bring back the cultural, spiritual and social richness to its ancient peak and beyond. I along with few other fellow teachers picked up just one district named Charamajanagar in Karnataka to begin with. What appeared to be an almost impossible task started turning out to be one of most memorable sweet experiences I have ever had in my whole life! We started seeing the Greatness among people in every village we entered. I have personally visited more than 10 countries and I have even lived and worked in some, but never have I witnessed the welcoming smile, hearts filled with love and the devotion to the existence to the extent we witnessed in these villages. People especially the children were rejoicing our presence, hosts were serving us in abundance and the nature welcoming us with all its beauty. Though we never set off our journey with much of a plan, we literally felt that everything was already planned well ahead of time by HIM. There were many instances which again and again provided ample evidences of such a MASTER plan.

One of the villages we visited recently was Dasanapura on the banks of the River Cauvery in Kollegal. We noticed there was a bridge constructed recently across the river which was yet to be inaugurated and we were on that bridge admiring the beauty of the mighty river in the afternoon time. I felt that we should sing Bhajans along with the village people here in the evening. But we did not know a single soul in this village (or so we thought!) and on the way out of the village I noticed a very small eating place attached to a home and the owner of that place who looked quite old waved at me with a lot of love that was quite evident. I waved him back and told him we will return in the evening. He nodded. And we did come back in the evening and knocked at the same place and this person came out and looked so happy to see us all once again. The moment we told him that we wanted to sing some Bhajans, without a moment of hesitation, he started guiding through the way to a central place in that village, inviting everybody on the way to that place. He was almost 70 years old, but I could see that his enthusiasm was unmatchable. We had one of the greatest satsangs (Bhajans sung in the company of sincere seekers) and he along with one more person enrolled right away to be a Pratinidhi aligning with Guruji's vision! His shop was so small that not more than 5 people can sit at one time even to drink tea, but he served us tea for all of us without expecting anything in return and he happily sent us off!

Another instance was a visit to the village named Timmarajapura. We drove by to the village which appeared to be so small from the main road. We just saw about 7 or 8 people gathered to have some snack in a mobile eating place. I just got out of the car and spotted a very old man standing with his grandchild in his hand. I just went ahead and told him that we are from The Art of Living and that we have been singing some bhajans going around villages. Immediately he invited us to his home and with absolutely no hesitation I agreed and our team followed him as he led his way to his home. We realized the village was not that small as was seen from the main road after all. As we entered his home, we saw his son who was about 35 years of age and we had no idea what to expect. As we introduced ourselves to him as being from Art of Living, immediately to our surprise he started narrating a Guru Story involving his friend who happened to work at the Art of Living Ashram. His friend had once got stuck in the forest and he happened to encounter a wild elephant which stood right in front of his car. He was so scared not knowing what to do and as a last resort prayed to Guruji and to his great surprise the elephant apparently just raised its trunk, blessed him and just went away. As we heard this story it was quite evident that Guruji had already chosen the people who we needed to meet and all the things were already planned by HIM. Another important information that the person shared with us was the presence of "Nakshatra Vanam" (Forest of stars signs) in the Art of Living Ashram that he noticed when he had visited the Ashram and this information was not even known to some of us. This was apparently a set of plants/trees which were corresponding to the 27 star signs and they have an enormous significance and impact to the environment as a whole. This person was actually telling us about the significance as well. On the top of this, one of the teachers who was with us had craved for a tea just about 10 min before reaching this village. And this mother of the family served us such a wonderful tea along with all other savouries. Thus it was quite evident that we were there just as an instrument to get this person enrolled as the Pratinidhi and on the way of being that instrument we were being served by HIM while we were resting in HIS lap.

With all these experiences, I am just reminded again and again of the words from my Guru - " You do my work and I will do yours, and every need of yours will be taken care of". This is something that my Guru fulfils every moment and this has been the experience of every devotee of HIS.

Happy Vijaya Dashami!

There is no sound as precious as Om!

As you might have noticed, all sounds are made during the breath out and not breath in. While breath and sound has a very close relationship which I will elaborate upon in a while, do you also know that breath and emotions have a very close connection too. Have you noticed how your breath is when you are angry? Yes it is quite fast and short. Have you noticed the breath pattern when you feel Happy and peaceful? It is Slow incoming breath and you don't even notice it going out. Such connection though it is quite but natural, it has also been always a one way street where you feel a certain way and the breath changes. But Sudarshan Kriya taught by The Art of Living taps into the fact that when you breathe in certain pattern it has a profound say on your emotions and you are able to manage your emotional well being so naturally and easily.

Coming to the topic of the connection between breath and sound, every breath in energizes the body and every breath out gives you relaxation. Every sound made also as I mentioned above is a result of breath out. But have you noticed that every sound made has different effect on your body-mind complex? When you shout at a person out of anger, that sound drains you, whereas when you praise a person, those words actually uplift you. This is why praising is a divine quality. We praise somebody not to impress the other person. The very act of praising raises the energy in your system. This is the secret of hymns sung to the Lord. The Lord is not going to be extra happy with your few words of praise. It is for your own benefit that you need to praise the Lord or in general everyone and everything whenever you get a chance.

It is astonishing to notice the ancient scriptures have totally mastered the art of praising. You may have come across Lalitha Saharsranama, Vishnu Sahasranama, etc. These are nothing but 1000 different praises of various Gods and Godesses. After chanting all the names your feel electric at the end of it! This practice of praising has been in place in every culture throughout the world and they are being followed even today.

In Indian tradition, the seers of the past had even identified to the extent of knowing which particular sound carries what kind of energy. In fact in the language of Sanskrit, every word's pronunciation carries the meaning of the word itself by virtue of the sound produced. This is the reason why even if you don't understand some of the chantings in Sanskrit, it does not matter and it bestows the complete effect of the chant just the way it would if you know the meaning of it. And you might have noticed most of the chantings start with the sound Om.

Om is a phenomenon by itself and not just a sound. Om is the only sound that completely raises the energy of the system whereas all other sounds have a certain energy loss associated with them. In my opinion Om by itself is a Pranayama - the act that raises the subtle life force called Prana in the system. The act of chanting Om is amazing that while breath in itself energizes the system, the chanting which is while breathing out in turn also increases the energy in the system. It is all the way upwards movement of the energy and hence Om chanting itself uplifts One's energy levels to the peak. Often it makes one spaced out! Which is why Om is always associated with other chants like Om Nama Shivaya or Om Namo Narayanaya to make a person well grounded in spite of the uplifting energy. This is so scientific that one can write a complete thesis just on the sound Om itself! Om as you might have noticed consists of 3 syllables- Aah, Ooh and Mmh. The sound Aah has a prominent effect on the lower part of the body including the Genetals, abdomen and stomach. This sound is responsible for both the creative and procreative energy. The intuition that arises primarily from the solar plexus is strengthened by this very sound. The sound Ooh has a prominent effect in the chest region and it energizes the subtle force responsible for all the maintenance activities of the physical body including the functions of the heart and lungs. The sound Mmh is responsible to destroy the ignorance and bring about clarity in One's thoughts. In Hindu religion, these sounds are attributed to the gods - Brahma for the creative energy, Vishnu for the maintenance energy and Shiva for the destruction of ignorance. These sounds combined together becomes Om which bestows all the above said effects in combination. There is no sound which is as precious in the world as Om. Every region and religion of this world has this sound or something closer to this sound in their respective languages and customs. For example, Sikhs, Jains and Buddists chant Om as is while Abrahmic religions chants them as Amen, Ameen or Shalom. Nevertheless ancestors of any custom or religion never have missed realizing the profound effect of one sound which is Om!!!

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti! Jai Guru Dev!!!

தேவரின் மொழியை போற்ற தொடங்குவோம்!

தமிழ் எனது தாய்மொழியானால் சமஸ்கிருதம் தேவரின் மொழியாகும். சமஸ்கிருதம் என்னும் மருந்தை தமிழ் என்னும் தேனோடு உண்பது பண்பு. நமது பாரதி செந்தமிழை தேனோடு ஒப்பிடுவதும் இதற்காகவேதான் என்று தோன்றுகிறது. மருந்தை நேரடியாக உண்பதற்கு மிகுந்த வைராக்கியம் தேவை. ஆனால் அதே மருந்தை இனிமையாக அருந்துவதற்காகவே தேன் சேர்க்கப்படுகிறது. அவ்வண்ணமே தேனாக அமைகிறது நமது தமிழ் மொழி சமஸ்கிருதம் என்னும் மருந்தை அருந்த. ஆனால் சமஸ்கிருத்த்தை தமிழிலிருந்து முற்றிலும் அகற்றிவிட்டால் அதில் மிஞ்சுவது வெறும் தேனின் இன்சுவை மட்டுமே. நமது தேகத்திற்கு வேன்டிய அதிஅவசியமான மருந்து நமக்கு கிட்டாது. இதனால் நஷ்டம் அடைவது தமிழ் மக்களாகிய நாமே. 

இதை அறந்தே வள்ளுவர் அவரது முதல் குரளிலேயே சமஸ்கிருதத்தை சேர்த்தார். "ஆதி" மற்றும் "பகவன்" என்னும் வார்த்தைகளை பயன்படுத்தினார். தமிழுக்கு சமஸ்கிருதம் ஒரு எதிரி என்ற வகையில் ப்ரசாரம் செய்ததன் பலன், பல தமிழர்களுக்கு திருக்குறளில் சமஸ்கிருதம் இருப்பதுக் கூட தெரியாமல் போனதுதான். வள்ளுவரே புறக்கணக்காத மொழியை நாம் ஏன் வெறுக்க வேண்டும்? வெறுத்தால் அது நமது அறியாமையையே காட்டுகிறது. சமஸ்கிருதத்தை உலக மொழிகள் அனைத்தும் ஏற்றுள்ளது பலருக்கு அதிற்ச்சி தருவதாகும். உதாரணமாக நாம் உபயோகம் செய்யும் ஆங்கில மாதங்கள் கூட சமஸ்கிருதம்தான் என்பதை எத்தனைப் பேர் அறிவர்? செப்டம்பர் என்பது "சப்த்த" "அம்பர்" ஆகும். அதன் பொருள் ஏழாம் வாணம். இதை போலவே அக்டோபர் என்பது அஷ்ட அம்பரிலிருந்தும் நவம்பர் என்பது நவ அம்பரிலிருந்தும் டிசம்பர் என்பது தச அம்பரிலிருந்தும் வந்துள்ளன. இதைக்கூட அறியாத வகையில் நம்மை அறியாமையின் ஆழத்தில் தள்ளியுள்ளது சமஸ்கிருத எதிற்பு. அத்தகைய எதிற்பை கைவிடுவதே அறிவு. பண்டைய தமிழர்களுக்கு நாம் அளிக்கும் மறியாதையும் அதுவே. தாயின் மொழியையும் தேவரின் மொழியையும் இனைத்து பயன்பெறுவதே நாம் முழுமையடைவதர்க்கு உதவுவதாகும்.