Pure in the present moment
Surrender is about the past
You are pure in the present moment.
Honour the purity without ascertaining it &
you can lead the world with equanimity.
Commitment!
A commitment can only be felt when it oversteps convenience.
That which is convenient, cannot be called commitment.
Life Flows Fresh Like River
The water in the river is fresh every moment. Life also flows like a river, where every moment is new and fresh. When you have a nightmare, when you wake up, you palpitate, and you feel very bitter and scared, but it doesn’t last too long. You need to consider bad phases in life like these nightmares and move on. Breathing techniques and meditation definitely help you heal the bad memories and see life afresh.
Our volunteers work in many war-ravaged regions. In Iraq, the terror outfit ISIS kidnapped many Yazidi women. We gave many of them trauma relief training and life skills. They told us that this is the first time they have smiled in the past many years.
Our teachers have helped them connect with the peace that we all have within us. These girls learnt to deal with their stress and deal with the trauma that they went through. Once they experienced such deep inner peace, they shared it with their communities.
It is never too late to start afresh. And whatever pain you have had in the past year, it has taught you something. It has made you stronger. It has deepened your insight. Now just shed all that burden and inhibition of the past and move on. There is a beautiful you inside that is looking for an expression.
Remember, you won’t be here forever. Secondly, wake up and realise life is not all rosy. There are thorns along with petals. Challenges have come your way in the past, but you have overcome these challenges, haven’t you? Thirdly, see life in a bigger context. This building is going to be here. Everything is going to be here. All that you have made will be here. But will you be here forever? No. Then how would you like to leave this planet? With despair and frustration? Of course not.
Things that you dislike, when they happen to you, make you stronger, more sensitive, and insightful. Whereas all positive things give you an expanded vision of your life. Trying times bring the best out of you, and rewarding times give the best of the world to you. Life is a combination of both.
Every failure is small in comparison to your magnanimous self. It cannot engulf your whole spirit. And the successes you get again are nothing too big. You are much bigger than these things. Success in the world is one thing, and success in life is another. It is not necessary that if you are successful in the world, you are successful in life too.
Unconditional happiness is my idea of success. I observe whether you are working on yourself, whether you have a smile that nobody can take away from you. Do you have the confidence that can never be shaken? Then I would say, You have succeeded.
In any situation, you need to uplift your ‘prana’ or life force. When the prana is low, the self-confidence is low, and challenges look insurmountable. When you aren’t aware of your potential, you suffer. Challenges help evoke valour, compassion, dynamism, and commitment to a greater cause. So, move on in life, remembering that you are fire! When you know that you are fire, nothing can burn you. Let go of the past and take life in totality.
Criticism
If you have the strength to accept criticism, then nothing can throw you off balance.
A person of true courage and passion is one who can respond to any criticism with an unshakeable smile.
Expression of Happiness
Every act in life is either an expression of happiness or an expectation of it.
For the wise, it is an expression, not an expectation.
For the wise, it is an expression, not an expectation.
RaMa
"Ra" in Sanskrit means "That which is Radiant" and "Ma" stands for "Myself". That which shines forth within me is Rama. That which is radiant in every particle of the Being is Rama. On this day of 'Ram Navami' celebrate and honour this light of the Self.
Rama is born to Dasharatha and Kaushalya in Ayodhya. Dasharatha (In Sanskrit this means "the ten charioted one") signifies the five organs of sense and the five organs of action. Kaushalya (Sanskrit for "skilled") stands for skill.
The symbolic essence of the story is this: Our body is Ayodhya, the ruler of the body is the five sense organs and the five organs of action. The queen of the body is skill. All our senses are usually outwards. When with the use of skill we bring them inwards, the divine eternal light, which is Lord Rama dawns within.
When the mind (Sita) was kidnapped by ego (Ravana), then both the divine light together with the awareness (Lakshmana) brought her back home, on the shoulders of Lord Hanuman (signifying Prana). This Ramayana keeps on happening in our bodies all the time.
Rama is born to Dasharatha and Kaushalya in Ayodhya. Dasharatha (In Sanskrit this means "the ten charioted one") signifies the five organs of sense and the five organs of action. Kaushalya (Sanskrit for "skilled") stands for skill.
The symbolic essence of the story is this: Our body is Ayodhya, the ruler of the body is the five sense organs and the five organs of action. The queen of the body is skill. All our senses are usually outwards. When with the use of skill we bring them inwards, the divine eternal light, which is Lord Rama dawns within.
When the mind (Sita) was kidnapped by ego (Ravana), then both the divine light together with the awareness (Lakshmana) brought her back home, on the shoulders of Lord Hanuman (signifying Prana). This Ramayana keeps on happening in our bodies all the time.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji shared these pearls of wisdom on his birthday, #13thMay 2021
• In one's life, Meditation should be done/consumed like main course, rest all masti gossips should be taken sparingly like dressings on the salad. 'Antar Mukhi Sadaa Sukhi'
• Things will get normal soon. Lockdown is not for ever
• Meditation gives you strength & solace, coupled with knowledge is needed to save humanity today
• Congratulations to all Volunteers & Teachers across the globe who are working tirelessly on resource provision & helping people through @ArtofLiving Workshops
• Someone asked me, "Gurudev, how can we meditate or even smile in this grim times?". "Andhera jab ghana hota hai to deepak ke ujaale se hi andhkaar mit ta hai."
• A meditator becomes an asset, if you are weak from inside you become a liability for others. So meditate daily for some time
• Life is momentary, wake up now & know that there is a world beyond life also! Contemplate on these questions - 'Why I am here?' 'Who am I?'
• Become firm on spirtual contemplation. This increases the depth in us towards insights of the life
• Beauty of this path is you can have fun & be joyous, while holding depth, which is so beautiful!
• All the destruction around, losses that we hear, must kindle the truth & reality that all of this is temporary, nothing is going to stay forever. This will help you to look beyond material world and bring out the true nature of your true being
• Be natural and have true fun. This is possible when this world appears to be a dream to us
• Be innocent but at the same time nurture wisdom. Compassion must dawn in us seeing the current situation
• Once again congratulations to @iahvofficial & @ArtofLiving Volunteers for their wonderful work in different cities for helping affected people & their families
• In India #MissionZindagi has been launched together to provide help to all those in need in current times. People from all facets of life are coming to stand up for the cause to help one another. It is heart warming to see this!
'Loka samastha Sukhino bhavantu'. Blessings to all of you. You are the light house. Continue to shine on this planet.
Relationship
It is important to understand interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal relationships get disturbed when disagreement begins. Just look at yourself. Have you always agreed with yourself? You had some idea yesterday; but today you may have a different idea. Five years ago you had ideas that do not necessarily agree with the ideas that you have today. Similarly, the ‘someone’ you have a disagreement with, is also transient and changing.
For maintaining interpersonal relationships, you have to first have a relationship with yourself. Your relationship with yourself is called integrity. If you have no relationship with yourself, that’s called lack of integrity. Secondly, being informal keeps your interpersonal relationship strong, for it gives space for mistakes to happen. You cannot expect perfection in any relationship or situation.
Today one of the biggest problems in the world is emotional instability. When you create an informal outlook and cordial environment around you, you grease the friction and become the master of your environment and not feel helpless about what is happening around you.
When you think that you are very honest, that you are righteous, you become a little stiff inside without even knowing it. You point your finger towards others and become intolerant. When you recognise that there are flaws in you, you are then able to accommodate the flaws in other persons. That’s why it is said, ‘‘Do a good deed and forget about it’’. It is not only your vices or bad qualities that will harm you. Even your good qualities can make you stiff, rude and angry. That is why you should surrender both bad and good qualities. Relax and let go.
Suppose you don’t sleep for two days, you will see that small things can start to irritate you. And if you have rested well, the situation will be different. Meditation is the only way you can transcend the negative thoughts and then positive thoughts will come spontaneously and automatically. Stress and tension cause negative attitude. If you have a positive state of mind, you become creative and successful in anything you do.
Om Namah Shivaya
Question - Gurudev, what to do if we feel that we got more in life than we deserved, and are afraid to lose it?
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji - Be grateful and pray. Know that whoever has given it to you, cares for you and will not take it away. Do service. Put your attention on giving back to society. This is giving back to God.
Take the past as your destiny and the future as free will. What was meant to happen, has happened. We tend to do the reverse. People who are foolish think the past as free will and the future as destiny. This only makes you miserable in the present.
If negative thoughts, insecurities, doubts come into the mind, chant 'Om Namah Shivaya'. This itself will put you on the right track.
Mantras bring you back to your source. Chanting or listening to mantras produce vibrations; positive, life uplifting energy, and are universal. "Om Namah Shivaya" is one of the most powerful mantras. Chanting this mantra builds the energy in your system and also clears the environment. People have been chanting this mantra for thousands of years.
Na Ma Shi Va Ya – these five syllables indicate the five elements (known as Pancha Bhoota in Sanskrit) – Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether. The five elements are the building blocks of everything in Creation, including the human body, and Lord Shiva is the master of these five elements. Whereas 'Om' is the sound of the universe. ‘Om’ means peace and love. So the ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ chanting is done to harmonize the five elements in the environment. When there is peace, love and harmony in all the five elements, then there is bliss and there is joy not just within you, but also around you.
It is very powerful and we should chant it everyday. It will keep away depression. You will see that whenever you are feeling low, chanting 'Om Namah Shivaya' removes the negativity.
Happiness guide
All the scriptures of the world, talk about great happiness because they know that is everyone’s ultimate quest. Happiness is not related to what we have or what we don’t have. It is simply our state of mind. Happiness is not a commodity that you can buy somewhere. It is present where you are, right here and right now. Whatever we are seeking here and there, is right here, within us. In life there is always some botheration, about one thing or another. That is why it is called maya (delusion). If someone loves you, it becomes a botheration, and if they do not love you, then also it becomes a botheration.
Your friends are a source of botheration, and so are your enemies. So what one should hold on to is a resolve, “Come what may, I must not lose my happiness.” Whether you suffer a loss in your business, or in a relationship; or a loss in any other sphere of life; you should not lose your happiness. Then you catch on to the real thing and this is the measure of your growth. Look into your own life, how many difficulties have come and gone, and you have come out of them. All those moments have gone. Those circumstances and events have passed, but you go on dragging those events in your mind. Remove them from your mind and see how calm and relaxed you feel.
There are 5 ways to be happy:
1. See the world where there are greater and bigger problems. Then, your problems will appear smaller. The moment your problems appear smaller, you will get the energy and confidence to deal with it or solve it. Serve those who are in greater need.
2. Look at your own life. In the past, you had many problems. They have all come and gone. Know that even this will go and you do have the energy and power to overcome it. You will get self-confidence by understanding and looking at your own past.
3. Most importantly, do some breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation.
4. In anger, we say, ‘I give up’. Now, without frustration or anger say, ‘I give this problem up, I cannot solve it, let the Divine help me.’ And know that you will always be helped. Have the confidence that you will be helped; a power in the universe is going to help you.
5. We are always looking for solutions from someone. We forget that if we turn our mind inward, we can get some idea, some solution. Spontaneity will come when you take a few minutes to go deep within yourself. There is nothing great in smiling when everything is going the way you want. But if you awaken the valor inside of you, and say, ‘Come what may, I am going to keep smiling’, tremendous energy will rise within you and the problem comes and disappears.
Remember one thing; YOU are responsible for your happiness. Be determined, ‘Come what may, I am not going to let my happiness be taken away by anybody. Even if God comes and yells at me, I will tell God, ‘Thank you, this is your gift to me.” Make this determination today and see what happens. Both happiness and sorrow have their purpose. One should consider all types of situations as conducive and think of them as ingredients contributing towards your sadhana (Meditation). Go inwards to the source of happiness, from where joy comes. When you go to the source of happiness, the senses are strengthened, contentment comes to the mind, and things become available the way you want them.
Source: https://wisdom.srisriravishankar.org/international-day-of-happiness-sri-sris-happiness-guide/
Atma Chittam
You may have gotten angry many times, but do you stay angry forever? The Shiva sutra,
‘Atma Chittam’, conveys something very important. Day, night, clouds and colours all appear in the sky, and later disappear. Similarly, the mind imagines many things, which disappear just as they came.
Just as light fades in the evening, anger also fades. It is the same with envy. There is a limit to everything. When one thought arises, another falls away. Where does it go? All is in our mind. That mind is the Self. Clouds may cover the sky, but the purity of the sky remains untouched. Whatever may be the state of mind, the Self is pure. There is no such thing as a bad Self. As anger is a quality of the Divine, it is also a quality of the Self ! That is why it is said, ‘Atma Chittam’ —the mind itself is the Self. The mind is part of the Divine.
When we say ‘Do your sadhana,’ it means sadhana needs to be done daily. This is because there are millions of cells in our brain. Some work today, and others work tomorrow just like workers do shifts in a factory. The factory is running continually, but the workers have shifts — they come, work and leave. Similarly, in our brain neurons work in shifts.
Some neurons are trained today, others will get trained tomorrow and others will be trained the day after tomorrow. Through this process, one day you will reach perfection, siddhi. This will happen only if japa chanting or meditation is done regularly.
Strategy v/s Sincerity
It is not the strategy but sincerity that makes a difference because the world moves with energy, and it is this positive spiritual energy (of sincerity) that uplifts the other.
When you have positive and loving energy in you, that brings a difference to the world.
The Promise
If I had to promise you something, what would it be?
I can’t promise that you would always be comfortable…
Because comfort brings boredom and discomfort.
I can’t promise that all your desires will be fulfilled…
Because desires whether fulfilled or unfulfilled bring frustration.
I can’t promise that there will always be good times…
Because it is the tough times that make us appreciate joy.
I can’t promise that we will be rich or famous or powerful…
Because they can all be pathways to misery.
I can’t promise that we will always be together…
Because it is separation that makes togetherness so wonderful.
Yet if you are willing to walk with me,
if you are willing to value love over everything else
I promise that this will be the most rich and fulfilling life possible.
I promise your life will be an eternal celebration.
I promise you I will cherish you more than a king cherishes his crown
and I shall love you more than a mother loves her newborn.
If you are willing to walk into my arms,
If you are willing to live in my heart,
You will find the one you have waited forever
You will meet yourself in my arms
I promise.
Poem written by H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Just remember these four things
Q. Gurudev, if a wicked person does not leave his wickedness despite our many efforts and also after giving enough time to change, then what should we do in such a situation? Please guide.
Sri Sri: See, just remember these four things:
(1) Some things do not change and some people don't change. You have to accept it.(2) Keep hope that lot of things change.(3) God has sent everyone with a role to play and everyone is playing their part. Have this faith.(4) And know that there is someone who is taking care of you.
In this manner you should let your mind relax, be at rest, then everything will work properly and there will be no place for stress or tension at all
Love is your nature
Love is your nature, love does not mean that you keep saying, 'Oh I love you so much', no!
It is acting with dignity, naturalness, compassion and simplicity, and we are born with these qualities.
Purity in the heart!
You just need to have purity in the heart and a sense of belongingness with everybody.
Whether the other feels that way or not is none of our business.
Have a larger goal!
Have a larger goal, serve and be useful to others around you, then you will find that only happiness flows through your life.
A resolution to welcome this New Year 2021
This New Year, take a resolution to forgive all those you are/were upset with or angry at in the past year, and start a new chapter with enthusiasm and naturalness. Time is like the wind, which nobody can stop. Time is like the Sun, around which the Earth revolves. Time is like our mind – ancient yet very fresh and very new.
The celebration of the New Year is to honour time. Honouring time means honouring the mind, and honouring the mind means honouring yourself. And the way to honour yourself is to know that you are neither the culprit nor the victim.
What stops you from honouring yourself? One of the reasons is when you think you are a culprit and you have done something wrong. If you are a sinner, you can never be at peace with yourself. Only when you get out of the culprit consciousness, there is peace and a spiritual light within you. You should know that you are the light, and you are a spark of Universal Love. Every individual wants to experience Universal Love, and that can only happen when we are out of the culprit consciousness.
Life is a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant. We must thank the unpleasant days because nothing gets us more centered than unpleasant situations. Unpleasant things take you out of the external and put you within yourself, which gives you depth and adds to your personality.
So, drop all the complaints and thank all those bitter days because they have given you strength. And also, thank the pleasant days that made you realize your true potential and helped you express the joy that you are! By thanking the pleasant and the unpleasant, we get over victim consciousness.
Let's welcome the coming New Year with a resolution to do something excellent and to be of use to others. Let's resolve to be happy and spread happiness. Taking these few pearls of wisdom and treasuring it is essential to make life a celebration. These are the decorations for celebrating life.
Have the trust in life that you are not alone
Have the trust in life that you are not alone, and there is someone with you.
Whatever be your troubles, problems and pains, just surrender it to me. Just say, ‘Guruji, I can’t bear this, please take it’.
Think this way or write it, send it whichever way you want to, but you march ahead in life, free of all tensions.
This is what I want.
A Master makes you sufficient
A Master makes you sufficient. A Master takes away all your dependency and makes you more full and centered. It's no dependency.
You are depending on so many things around you. You love somebody and are dependent on their feelings and emotions. If it is a little bit disturbed, you also get disturbed.
And you depend on so many things around you, you don't know your own freedom; you don't know your nature; you don't know how hollow and how empty and how beautiful you are.
And a Master makes you aware of this beauty that is deep inside of you.
Manipulation!
Manipulation happens because of insecurity or over-ambitiousness, and both are not in a healthy state of mind.
How hard is the uncooked rice?
When you pour water in cooker and steam it out, the same rice becomes soft and easy to take it . Isn't it?
Don't be too hard on yourself . Know that you are a gift to the creation. Once you are at ease with yourself , you can make everyone at ease with yourself ! Steam out all the past impressions, hatred, jealousy , fear , insecurity !!
You are that soft rice that swells up when cooked. You are that soft blossoming flower that has joy and enthusiasm dwelling within. Be with the same belongingness and innocence that you are gifted with. Live together as one big family !!
Your time has come!
There was a time in this world when a Krishna was required, and He was sent. A time when a Christ was required, and He was sent. A time when a Mahatma was required, and he was sent. There came a time when you were required on this
planet, and hence, you were sent.
Let us be the best we can be. In the history of the universe, there has been nobody like you and in the infinity of time to come, there will be no one like you.
Existence should have loved you so much that it broke the mold after making you, so that another of your kind will never get repeated.
- You are original.
- You are rare.
- You are unique.
- You are a wonder.
- You are a masterpiece; your Master's piece!
- Celebrate your Uniqueness!
Develop the habit of being happy.
Develop the habit of being happy.
You alone have to do it. Nobody else can do it for you.
Do everything happily.
Walk, talk, sit happily; even if you complain against somebody, do it happily!
Fake it 'til you make it!
Keep busy, be productive!
People who complain are not productive and
People who work hard have nothing to complain about because they are busy working
Keep busy, be productive!
Seeing God
Seeing God inside you is meditation
Seeing God in the person next to you is service.
Service and meditation go hand in hand.
Sattvic Intellect
The sattvic intellect is one that just does the job joyfully and is unmindful of the results.
Let things happen or not happen-either way they don't loses their enthusiasm.
storms are inevitable
Like the waves in the ocean, storms are inevitable in life.
No storm lasts forever and no storm can affect the depth of the ocean.
Accept all that comes with open arms.
Even when the storms come, you are like the ocean, deep as ever.
Words
If you manipulate words it is a lie.
If you play on words it is a joke.
If you rely on words it is ignorance.
If you transcend words it is wisdom.
Be grateful for any opportunity to do the seva.
When you do seva don't think you are doing a favor for somebody. You have done the seva and it has rewarded you immediately.
Its reward is for sure and is always more than your doing. Your expectation of reward for the seva turns the seva into labor.
If you think you have done a lot, you will do very little; if you see you have done a little, then you will do more.
Seva is even when you don't see an immediate reward there is no complaint; labor is even after an immediate reward, there will be complaints.
Be grateful for any opportunity to do the seva.
