If You Follow Knowledge, Fun Follows You. If You Follow Fun, Misery Follows You.

Such a simple yet profound sentence.
The root cause of misery is ignorance (Agyan).
Because of ignorance we make mistakes, Because of ignorance we stuck in small silly matters.
Because of ignorance we brake the relationship with our near and dear ones.
Because of ignorance we invite misery to our life and then we blame others for that misery.
Blaming others also happens because of ignorance.
The only remedy for ignorance is Knowledge.
Knowledge of your self, Knowledge of spirituality will help you to get rid of misery.
I follow Knowledge...
What about You???

Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Knowledge Sheet 10

Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Knowledge Sheet 10

Explanation of the Patanjali Yoga Sutra #15 continues…

Vitrushnasya vashikara sanjna vairagyam

The mind that gallops is an obstruction. An expectation in meditation is an obstruction. You have heard somebody’s experience that light appears, somebody comes from heaven and takes them by hand and you see it with your eyes closed. All these ideas are the construction of fiction. 

Your desire for pleasure or happiness makes you unhappy. You examine that whenever you are unhappy or miserable, behind that is your wanting to be happy. You got it? Craving for happiness brings misery. If you do not even crave for happiness, then you are happy. You crave for happiness and you invite misery. When you do not care for happiness, you are liberated and when you do not even care for liberation, you attain love. The first step is when you do not care for happiness. The second step is param vairagya (supreme dispassion). When you do not even care for liberation, then you are free. You are liberated.

If you have whatever you wanted, then are you happy?

Happiness is just a mere idea in the mind. You think that if you have this you are happy. If you have whatever you wanted, then are you happy? Vairagya is putting a stop to craving for happiness.

That does not mean you must be miserable. It is not that. It does not mean you should not enjoy yourself, but the craving for joy, only when you retrieve your mind from it, only then can you meditate. Then yoga happens.

Your dreams and fantasies, just shatter them. All your dreams and fantasies, offer them to the fire. Burn them. What great happiness do you want to have? How long can you have it? You are going to be finished. It is all going to end. Before this earth eats you up, become free.

Free yourself from this feverishness that is gripping your mind.

Free yourself from this craving for happiness

Look into every craving you have closely and remember you are going to die. Your craving for sweets, sugar, food. Ask yourself if you want to keep eating them. Ok, eat for as long as you like. See consciously, what can they do? Nothing. What else do you crave for? Beautiful views? Keep on looking at the view. How long you can go on looking?

Sex. How much sex can you have? Then you will see that there is nothing in it. How long? Few moments later, the body looks like styrofoam, that which was so attractive before.

What other thing? All these substances you see have limitations, but your mind is not ready for limitations. It wants unlimited pleasure, which the five senses cannot give you. It is impossible. You simply get burnt down, over and over again.

Skillfully handling the objects of senses and bringing it to the Self is dispassion or vairagya.

Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Knowledge Sheet 12

Yoga is the Preservative That Maintains Love

Yoga is the skill to be in love without letting that love turn into hatred

Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Knowledge Sheet 12

As you all know, there are three gunas or qualities. They are sattva, rajas and tamas. Three gunas come into our life in cycles. When sattva comes, there is alertness, knowledge, interest and joy in everything. When rajo guna comes, more desires, selfishness, restlessness and sadness arise in us. When tamo guna comes, delusion, attachment, lack of knowledge, lethargy, all this comes. These three come in life, turn by turn. But one who is centered will watch, witness and just move through that very naturally, innocently, without being averse to it.

Skill in action is yoga

When aversion comes what happens? You are promoting it. Whatever you are averse to, you stay with it and whatever you crave for, you continue to crave for it. You allow the craving to continue. Without craving or aversion, moving through the guna is pure skill and that is yoga. It is said: ‘Yogaha karmasu kaushalam’ - the skill in action is yoga. Yoga itself means skill. Yoga is the skill to live life, skill to manage your mind, skill to deal with your emotions, skill to be with people, skill to be in love and not let love turn into hatred.

Everyone loves in this world. Everything loves, but that love does not stay too long as love. It immediately becomes hatred, almost immediately. But yoga is that skill, that preservative which maintains love as love throughout.

Question from the audience: Dear Guruji, if a habit is developed of separating oneself from everything in an artificial way, you will lose spontaneity, attunement with nature and will not be fully engaged in life by giving your 100 percent. How do you walk this tightrope? How do you know if you are too far from one side and the other?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Dispassion does not divide you. In fact, it connects you. It connects you to the present moment totally. When you are not dispassionate, you are linked to the past or future. So, you are not connected to the present. Therefore, you are more divided.

When your mind is hoping for something or when you regret the past, you are not with the moment. But when you are centered, you are in the moment. So, when you are eating, you can taste every bite. You can enjoy every bite. Every look, every sight is fresh and new. Your love is like the first love. You look at everything like it is the first time.

Experience of Advance Course at Vasad Ashram

This was my first Course at Vasad Ashram. Last few weeks I was very busy with Courses and seva. So many things were going on in my mind. My mind was full of thoughts and planning for the future courses. The day silence started my mind was also started to listening to me. It actually started becoming calm and peaceful. I was totally intoxicated in love and peace. It was superb experience of peaceful thoughtless mind. Satsang with Prasunnbhaiya was awesome. Vasad Ashram is the best place I have seen after Bangalore Ashram with full of greenery, calm and serene atmosphere, beautiful view of Mahi River. It was the vacation with myself.  I enjoyed it like anything. I have already started planning for next vacation. Two Advance Course in a year is must for the human being.

Jai Gurudev!!!

One more unforgettable Diwali...

Jai Gurudev,

Guruji's Gujarat visit was very special for me and my family...
It was my birthday on KaliChaudas (a day before Diwali) and I was with my Lord.
On kali chaudas Guruji was in Valsad, Gujarat. There HE performed Rudra Pooja and i was one of the luckiest one to be there on stage with HIM. I thought it was my birthday gift, but it was not over...

After Pooja Guruji went to Dinesh Naidu's Place (One of the senior Art of Living Teacher from Valsad) where accommodation was arranged for HIM.
So me and my friends from Ahmedabad also went there.
There Guruji was supposed to give darshan to all devotees.
I managed to enter the house. And what I saw, Guruji was coming down and going for darshan.
I told HIM that today is my birthday and with a beautiful smile HE looked at me, pull my left chick and HE pulled me towards HIM and then I hugged HIM.
It was THE Best experience of my life.... and it was not yet over....

HE went out and gave darshan, Somebody gave HIM a garland.
As soon as HE got the garland HE turned back and called me.
HE gave me that garland and again I hugged HIM and took the blessings.

During this visit of Guruji, I met HIM everyday.
YES, it was the one more unforgettable Diwali....

H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar ji's visit to Gujarat on Diwali 2011

I am sooo HAPPYYY...
I am sooo EXCITED...
GURUJI is coming to Gujarat on this Diwali.
HE is landing on 25th Oct 2011 and then HE will go to Valsad for Rudra Pooja and Mahasatsang.
26th Oct 2011 HE is in Surat for Maha Laxmi Homa and Mahasatsang.
27th Oct 2011 HE is taking Pranayam Dhyan Shibir at Surat.
28th to 31st Oct 2011 we have Art of Living Part II Course for World Peace.

I am desperately eager to meet my beloved Guruji.

If you are in Gujarat don't miss an opportunity to meet the DIVINE.

Took my first Part 1 Course

It was the superb experience for the participants as well as for me too...
Art of Living Part 1 Course is so simple and profound.
On the last day of the course participants were so happy and they experienced miracles started happening in their life.
One participants was sharing that she had some financial problem to do the course but few days before the course it got miraculously arranged.
One more participants was sharing after 1st long kriya (3rd day of the course) that he experienced such a peaceful mind after 10 years. he was telling if could have done Sudarshan Kriya 10 years before then i must have been CEO of some company.
Although it was my first course but i felt the course was so good. Course was just happening in a flow and i was witnessing.
I witness the transformation through Grace.
There is something beyond all spiritual practices and that is THE DIVINE GRACE, THE GRACE OF SADGURU.