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!
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!
