Beauty lies in the Unity of Diversity

The Promise

The Power of Faith

What happens when you are facing a hard time in life - some people say "Have faith in God, everything will be ok', some people say 'Believe in yourself'.

What does a leader promise to his people, his country - 'Have faith in me', 'Have faith in the system'.

What do people say to others - 'Trust me, I got this', 'Trust me, we'll be alright'.

Whether you have faith in God, in the divine, in yourself, in someone else, faith in anything, it doesn't matter, it's the pure faith that makes you take a leap ahead. That's why they say 'Leap of Faith'!

Faith has so much power. Faith gives strength and peace to the mind, determination and solace to the heart, brings fervor in action, heals the body.

That is why people are heartbroken and shattered when they think their faith is shaken, broken.

Faith originates from a very pure space within us, it originates from the cry of our heart. This is what gives it the sheer power!

Faith heals, soothes, strengthens, sustains. It should not be misused to gain, create walls and wars.

Have Faith in the Divine, in the unshakable, ever pure, unstained Self!

Discover Your True Self :-)

Secret to Happiness

Live like you Own this Universe and everything in it!

nothing to gain, nothing to loose

nothing to desire, nothing to retire

everything to accept, nothing to reject

Die like you never owned anything.

Become one with the One

Become One with The One

There is no other one

That which appears other, is but a mere illusion

Become One with The One

Love is the raw material of all creation

All gets destroyed and merges into love and is born again from it

What makes the trees and birds, the bees and butterflies,

the lion and deer, the stars and sky,

the rivers and oceans, the earth and beneath

is what makes You and Me.

I am You, You are in me,

But Oh there is no You and Me

There is but One,

Become One with The One

Become One with The One

From Giving to Serving

When do we feel that we are giving? When we do something for someone or something. Do you feel like that when you do something for yourself? For e.g. You are hungry, and make or get some food for yourself; wash your own dishes; buy yourself a pair of nice shoes; make your own bed. Does that thought come to you that you are doing something for yourself?

No. What happens when you do the same things for someone else? You get the feeling you have done something for that person. There is a sense of doership. What does this lead to? It gives you joy or feeds the ego, pride, arrogance. It creates an expectation in your mind from that person. You want them to appreciate your act, and would want them to help you when you are in need. What happens if that person forgets your act of kindness, does not help you when you go to him? You feel hurt, angry, self-pity, depressed - "How could he forget what I did for him...huh","He doesn't realize and appreciate how much I do for him"; "Kids have forgotten how much we sacrificed for them" and on and on.

Why is the act of doing anything for ourself different from doing it for someone else? Because there is a sense of separation between you and the other person. If you would do the same thing for your child, you may not feel the doership. If you do the same thing for your spouse, parents then a little bit sense of doership, if you do it for a dear friend, then a little bit, if you do it for neighbor or colleague, then a little more, if you do it for a stranger then a lot more.

The truth is every act of giving to someone else, is giving ourself. We give ourself joy or we give our self pride, ego, arrogance which leads to expectations, sadness, anger, self-pity, depression.

When do we we feel we are sacrificing? When we give up something we love. When we give up something that is more dear to us, than the person or reason we are giving up for. You may think you are giving up your values, but it's actually the ego that is being challenged in the process. God, our values, love, all this is truth. Truth is universal and omnipresent and can never be given up.

The less the sense of belongingness, the more the sense of doership. When you think everyone and everything is yours, then the sense of doership drops, and you act from your very nature...

The Sun never complains it has to go around every day, the moon never makes us realize it's lightening up the darkness, the air we breathe doesn't even seem to exist, the trees silently remove the poison that we breathe out, the river keeps flowing incessantly. Everything in its nature, just continues to serve.

We give our 100% and do what is needed, what we can do in our capacity; have no attachments to the result and not form any judgements or opinions about the result. Then we are not giving. We are serving. And to be able to serve is a true Gift.

How to increase belongingness, strengthen our inner Self, increase our capacity to serve more, and drop the sense of doership? By connecting with our inner Self, tapping the unbounded source of joy and enthusiasm and acting from that space. Only Meditation can connect you with your Self.

The Art of Meditation course, can help you go deep into meditation effortlessly. 

The Guru, The Master

He not only leads you to the water, but makes you drink it, and quenches your thirst.

He choses you, He choses the time.

He accepts and loves you just as you are.

He makes you experience unconditional love and then you realize, that's all there is.

He watches over you and guards you where ever you are, at all times.

He makes you experience your true, timeless, infinite Self.

He makes you taste unadulterated, pure joy, sheer enthusiasm, and unconditional love.

He sets you free from the bondage of your own mind, your thoughts, opinions, emotions, your past.

He heals the broken hearted, and fixes the handicapped mind. He expands the mind, deepens the faith, and broadens the vision.

He makes you travel from your head to your heart.

He translates information into knowledge. He makes you experience the knowledge, for it to dwell in you, for you to live it.

He makes you a warrior of Light, a warrior of Truth. He becomes your strength.

He holds your hand, to not let go.

He makes your dreams come true.

He nurtures you like a mother, He supports you like a father, He loves you like a beloved.

He makes you enjoy Life. He makes you an Enthusiast, an Optimist, a Realist. He makes you content.

He brings out the passion in you, the lion in you, the genuineness, love, and humility.

He makes impossible possible. He makes miracles happen.

He is the One, who will never give up on you.

He needs nothing from you, He will make sure you get everything.

He is the Master, He is my Guru.

One in All, All in One

Something in me seems to be found,

after roaming around hurried and lost.

Something in me seems to calm down,

after long and weary restlessness.

Something in me seems to experience answers,

after being questioned and having questioned everything.

Something in me seems to bring clarity,
after being clouded with confusion
Something in me seems to settle down and be at peace,
after being anxious.
Something in me seems to rekindle hope,

after having lost all but faith in that universal force.

Something in me seems to bring a smile,

after being sad and searching for joy everywhere.

Something seems to appear in Everything.

Both Something and Everything is You, God.

The Hikes in Life

It was a chill yet bright Sunday morning. I had re-fueled my soul with a long sudarshan kriya, but returned home with a head ache (all the accumulated stress and depression surfacing to leave me).

For hike lovers (I don't call hikers as they are a few notches serious compared to 'hike lovers'), a non-rainy weekend is an opportunity, so two of my friends decided we go hiking. Even though I wanted to stay back home and rest out my headache (and more so be with my sadness), they forced me along with them. I was in that state where I refused a couple of times, after which you don't have the energy to even refuse. So I tagged along.

I was short of breath even before we started the hike. That's how low in energy I was, even though I had recently run a marathon and maintained a fairly active lifestyle. That's what a broken heart, and being so tied to one's own emotions can do.

The hike kept getting worse as I took each step up the steep mountain. It was as if my mind, thoughts, their weight, and the heaviness in the heart were all coming down at me, making each step as hard as lifting a rock!

I decided to take a break after I saw the first bench on the trail at a 1.7 mile mark. My friends were just warmed up, so I asked them to continue with the tempo. Had they stayed any longer with me, I would have pulled them down with my energy. So they went ahead and I placed this heavy rock (myself) on the bench.

As I sat there, not alone, but accompanied with flashes from the past, emotions, pain, and multitude of thoughts, I observed them all, and soon before I realized I started meditating and fell 'asleep', so I thought. Woke up after about 30-40 minutes of wandering away in trance, nothingness, emptiness, don't know, can't put a word to it. Magically I regained strength and decided to start climbing again.

Each patch of up-hill felt like the challenges in my Life. As I hiked past each one of them, slowly, steadily, at times stopping to catch up on breath and strength, I couldn't help but think of how similar this was to hiking past all obstacles in Life.

I came across other people hiking up the same mountain. Some breezing past me across the up-hills, clearly having trained themselves for it for long now; some of them matching my pace; and some much slower than me. But all trying to get past the up-hills and get up there...

After reaching the top, it was beautiful and peaceful. I could see the view from top, and the uphills vanished. They didn't look like uphills any more and I smiled. The silence filled up everything, it completed everything. I sat there for good 20 minutes. And then it was time to head back. You can't stay on top forever, can't hold onto any moment forever. They all have to pass. You are what remains same through all those moments.

As I was hopping, skipping, running down-hill, happy with myself, it occurred to me that I could never experience the peace and silence at the top and the wind breezing through me while coming downhill, if I hadn't endured the up-hills. They became my strength. No matter how long I took, how slowly I climbed past them, what mattered is I didn't give up.

Oh and yes, I came across my two friends as I was on my way up. They were making their way back down. They were so happy to see me there. One of them decided to re-climb the last patch with me to the top. God always knows when we need help and sends strength.

The high times in Life are a blessing, the low times are a greater blessing! They break you to recreate you - a You with refined knowledge and strength, ready to climb the next uphill.

Situations and People in our Life that are not as we desire, are nothing but an uphill to help increase our strength, a blessing, giving us an opportunity to refine ourselves. Knowledge resides in us when we experience it. Meditation lets us tap into our infinite potential, awakens our consciousness, and we act then with awareness. Knowledge of the unchanging Truth, Friends, Love, and a Smile on the face makes you sail through Life.

Meditation - A journey from me to my Self

Everyone needs some meditation

Who doesn't want good health and no sickness?
Who doesn't want beauty inside out?
Who doesn't want pleasures and no pain?
Who doesn't want love and no longing?
Who doesn't want happiness and no misery?
Who doesn't want peace of mind and no stress?
Who doesn't want rest and no restlessness?
Who doesn't want enthusiasm and no boredom?

Who doesn't want never-ending Joy and un-distorted Love?
Who wants the party to end?

Life is such, a sinusoidal wave of duality, of opposites.

Day and Night, Sun and Moon, Summer and Winter, Spring and Fall, Water and Ice, Music and Noise, Man and Woman, Love and Longing, Pleasure and Pain, Highs and Lows, Crests and Troughs, Crowds and Solace, Life and Death
.....

Each one complements it's opposite. It's these opposites that make Life full of life, exciting, surprising, adventurous, worth exploring, worth living. And they co-exist, but usually we only see and perceive one at a time.

When the sinusoidal wave of opposites cease to exist, and become a flat line, that's symbol of death, stagnant, decay. But we don't want to wait for death to end this sinusoid. We want to be the infinite unwavering center amidst the sinusoid.

How do we rise above the opposites to watch these opposites as they happen and remain unaffected by them?

Alcohol, drugs? Sure they take you to a high, subdue your lows, loosen you up, your confidence gets a boost, you have fun (without awareness, without consciousness). What happens when it wears down? Does the Joy last or it also wears down? Does the joy from it have a lasting effect (positive) through the rest of your day? Does it leave you fresh and recharged? Does anything change within you? And still somehow most consider it as a logically reasoned out fact, or must I say 'faith', that it's THE way to have fun, a medicine to relieve pain.

Meditate?

Meditation is not about experiencing lights, flying birds, blue skies, beautiful mountains, sun sets, music (although all this may happen). Most people associate meditation with Buddhism or a religious, cultish practice. All religions have a way to meditate. And why do you want to associate it with a religion, and give it yet another form, concept? We are so quick and open-minded when it comes to trying out new activities, cuisines, clubs, bars, beers, etc? Think of meditation as a technique to reduce stress, clear the mind, increase productivity, peace, enthusiasm, energy.

Meditation is the art of doing nothing that effortlessly leads one to a state of nothingness. That's why many people leave it when they try it for the first few times, because of the gazillion thoughts that come up in the mind.
Hello?? These thoughts have always been there. They are always coming every second. It's only in meditation that you are actually taking time to observe them, as thoughts, and realize that they are simply thoughts, transient thoughts, that we usually mistake for as ourselves and others. We are not our transient thoughts, emotions, feelings, opinions.

But if you keenly observe, there is a space between thoughts, even though it's infinitesimally small. That space is peace.

With proper meditation techniques and practice, one learns how to increase that space between thoughts. Can you learn to play the guitar in one day? Can you learn driving in one day? Can you write a software in one day? Even Rome was not built in a day! Just like that you can't have that long space, peace, nothingness, in one day.

Meditation makes you travel through your thoughts, memories from the past, thoughts about future, judgements, opinions, experiences to silence......If you have experienced meditation, you know that you don't realize where time flew by. Meditation takes you from times (past, present, future) to timelessness.
And when you come out of it, there is a sense of peace, love, joy. Because you just experienced your true Self - infinite and timeless Joy, Love, Peace!

Meditation is a journey from the head to the heart; from chaos to silence; from time to timelessness.

Meditation is a journey from me to my Self.

Sounds too good to be true? (Having a Doubt? Realize that Doubt is also just yet another thought). Want to remove your Doubt (now there is war going on between you and your ego). But once you have become aware that it's just a doubt, and are ready to go past your ego, to resolve your doubt, try the Art of Meditation.

From Why to What to How

Why am I sad? Why am I angry? Why is he/she so impatient? Why am I so impatient? Why is he/she not doing it the 'right' way? Why is he/she behaving that way? Why is he/she soo judgmental/rude/jealous/mad/sad? Why did he/she say those words? Why am I not getting that? Why don't I have that? Why am I not happy? Why do I look like this? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Each of these Why's arise because we are thinking of something that has either happened in the past, or  we are feverish, doubtful, anxious about the future.
Further if you notice, most of those Whys do not lead us anywhere. They just leave us with more Whys?

Do we question the good things? Why am I so nice? Why am I so kind? Why am I so happy? Why am I so loving? Why am I so patient? Why is he so nice? Why is she so kind? (On the other hand, we sometimes doubt someone's niceness, kindness), Why don't we question/doubt our goodnesses?

Because when we are happy, in love, acting out of love, happiness, we are totally in that moment, our mind doesn't even realize it and so doesn't even question it.
And when we count our blessings, we only feel grateful and there is a smile on our face. And when we are grateful, we can feel that expansion within us, we smile even more, we feel even more joyful.

So the next time we ask ourselves a Why, let's be mindful of the question. Realize if it's taking us into the past or the future. As soon as this awareness happens, try to simply reframe the question from Why to What.

For e.g.
Why am I not happy? - What is it that I need to become happy?
Why is he so judgmental/irrational/rude? - What is the reason behind him being judgmental/irrational/rude?
Why is she not listening to me, Why is she not understanding me? - What else is on her mind?

Just this first step from Why to What is a big evolution. It takes us from the clueless, confused, restless, irritated, frustrated, sad, and most of all helpless state to a more alert, aware, directed, actionable state.

This comes with awareness and practice as most of the times we are so caught up in the moment, that either we don't realize or our anger or ego takes over us. When caught up in the spur of the moment, try old tried and tested techniques like drink a glass of water, count 1-10, slowly repeat a sacred chant, go for a walk close to nature.

With a calm and clear mind, we are more aware of our thoughts arising in our mind and are capable of screening them and changing the Why into a What.

If you can get from the Why to the What state (there are many times when I fail to do so), give yourself a pat.

The next step is to drop the judgement we build about the other person and/or ourself and frame the What to How.

Why am I not happy? - What is it that I need to become happy? - How can I work towards becoming happy
Why is he so judgmental/irrational/rude? - What is the reason behind him being judgmental/irrational/rude? - How can I stop judging him and help him?
Why is she not listening to me, Why is she not understanding me? - What else is on her mind? - How can I word it or act so she understands?

Now pick a Why on your mind, and just go through this exercise of re-framing it to a What and gradually to a How?

Do you  notice, how the negative connotation that arises with the Why changes into a mindful, directed, actionable thought using the What, and into a more controllable and actionable situation through the How?

With a clear mind comes awareness and with awareness comes conscious action. Twice a day meditations helps me to empty the clutter and chatter in my mind and help me slowly nudge the Whys into Whats.

Only with Love and Compassion, the What changes into How.

To learn how to meditate effortlessly - http://www.artofliving.org/art-of-meditation-course
Find out a course happening near you - http://www.artofliving.org/us-en/graduate-programs

Who are you? Who am I?

I Am

We get asked this question so many times, when we have to introduce ourselves to people. Have you noticed, the answer changes depending upon the place, time, and people. You are someone for your family. If you have just joined a work place or are interviewing for a job, then you describe yourself as someone. When you meet someone at a social place, you describe yourself as someone. Your profile on Facebook describes someone. You are yet someone else on a social dating or matrimony site, and so on and so forth.

Now as situations in life change, we describe ourself based on our feelings, opinions, judgements at that moment. I am sad, happy, in love, energetic, dull, lethargic, creator, go getter, impatient, judgmental, etc.

Then as our roles change in life, we describe ourselves as yet someone else: I'm single, I'm dating, I'm in a relationship, I'm married, I'm separated, I'm a parent, I'm a grandparent, I'm old...

Are we our feelings? Are we our thoughts? our emotions? our actions? our inactions? our credentials? our age? the roles we play? our judgements? others judgements about us? Cannot be, since all these are transient.

This means we are not what we say or think we are, right? 'Coz that is changing all the time? and Truth is something that is unchangeable, unalterable.

On the other hand, one might think we are changing all the time. The truth is it's not our Self that is changing, but our thoughts, feelings, emotions, roles, that are changing. The Self is as is, and will remain as is.

The Self is our very nature. Our very nature is Love, Joy, Enthusiasm.

Whenever we move away from our very nature, we feel uncomfortable, we are either angry, sad, restless, anxious, until we return back to our very nature. So we need to drop all judgements about anyone. They are not their actions, thoughts, their words, opinions. They are You. They are Love.

And since Love is uncontainable, inexpressible in words, the answer to 'Who am I' is 'I Am', 'I simply Am'.

"Joy is love for what Is. Sorrow is love for what is not." - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

"When Love glows, it is bliss.
When it flows, it is compassion.
When it blows, it is anger.
When it ferments, is is jealousy.
When it is all "no's", it is hatred.
When it acts, it is perfection.
When love knows, it is me." - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Does the grass seem greener on the other side?

Start watering your side :-)

Then there will be Roses on both sides of the fence

Then it won't matter which side you are on

:-)

Love is...

...Unconditional

Love is like an incessant river,

that flows unconditionally,

that doesn't try,

that doesn't question the reason of it's very existence,
that is uncontainable,

that never dries up,

that doesn't resist anything along it's path

that flows over and around every boulder along it's path,

that doesn't change with the changing seasons,

that which emerges from itself,

that which merges into it's higher self,

that has no beginning, no end,

that simply flows co'z that's it's very nature.

Shhh.....

From the time I wake up, the mind starts running it's marathon of thoughts. Thoughts about something that bothered me yesterday or a few days back, or the things I plan to do today, or things that I don't want to do, thoughts about someone, about my feelings associated to something or someone from the immediate or distant past, followed by the worries about the future, today, tomorrow, few days, months, years from now. And then a relieving 'huh' sigh, a brief moment of silence in my mind. So brief a moment, maybe a second or two or sometimes even less, and then back again, I open the flood gate to the thoughts. Next I start adding some gatorade to it - check my phone - messages, FB, mail, work mails. More thoughts, some pleasant, some unpleasant, some causing more stress, and some triggering more thoughts...and there I go again.

I've trained them so well for so long, that now they are no longer under my control. They just run and run, and I let them run me crazy.

That's why whenever I go to a calm place, top of a hill, by a lake, or a temple, mosque, church, or get a massage, any where quiet, where it quiets my mind, even if it's for a few moments, I feel such relief, followed by a surge of a happy feeling, followed by a few moments of feeling like a warrior who can conquer the world right now, and then followed by thoughts again - what I can do, what I should do, what I shouldn't....and there goes my mind, back again on the tread mill.

In those few precious moments of silence, the mind is empty, nothing absolutely nothing, no agenda, and I am simply living, just breathing, just being, reposing in the Self. I realized how just a few moments of empty mind, clears away the clutter, creates space for new ideas to flourish. Just emptying the mind, brings a sense of relaxation and clarity.
A calm mind leads to an empty mind. An empty mind is a clear mind. A clear mind is an open and alert mind. An open and alert mind is a creator.

How as children, we are born with a brand new mind, no concepts. And then as soon as we learn to communicate, concepts start forming, and we start judging everything from then on, that comes in front of our eyes, based on the concepts. New things appear, and we update our concepts. Soon we train ourselves to stop acting, and start reacting. Acting is responding involuntarily through our very nature. Reacting is processing the scene in front of us, based on our concepts, forming and opinion, and then acting. The concepts harden every minute as things, people, situations appear in front of us.

Even when I am still, oceans of thoughts rise and fall inside of me. Lives I've lived, and wanted to live, are lived within my mind. I long to run away from my mind. I long for a moment of silence.

This Thanksgiving I gave the most precious gift to myself. I silenced my mind. I took an Art of Silence course. I treated my Self, my mind as a baby, coaxed it, and it let me in, let me deep within, let me cater to all that had accumulated, let me bid them farewell, let me silence it, let me rest in peace.

The bliss that followed cannot be described in words, it can only be experienced. I am now able to be a spectator rather than a (re)actor of my thoughts.

I experienced - "You are solidified silence, awareness. A thousand hours of speech cannot equal one glance: A hundred glances cannot equal a minute of silence - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar"

Life is a Happening...

...so let it happen. Stop resisting or figuring it out. Just BE!

Have faith, Life only moves in the direction of happiness. So flow with it like a river, turning, and winding around the obstacles, using your inner strength.

How to invoke this inner strength - through meditation, service (small or big, to yourself or someone, be it as simple as a smile or a hug or a phone call or a prayer), and being in the company of knowledge and happiness.

Art of Living - Try the Art of Living course. Knowledge is such, you can only gain, something that you never loose.

I honor the wisdom in you.

Surrendering, not an Act, but an Art of Living

Often times, people think that surrendering is a sign of the weak, and to surrender means to give up. It's actually quite the opposite.

Take an example from daily life, be it work, a relationship, family, some goal like run a marathon, anything. We start with a goal, sometimes spend way too much time pondering, thinking, planning, figuring it out. This very act of thinking not followed by action, causes stress or some stifling in our mind, body.

Next, we start Acting upon it, Doing! As soon as we act, it gives joy, a sense of fulfillment. This very feeling of fulfillment and joy, pumps more energy into us, which fuels us to keep doing.

Now, as the rule of Life is, to surprise us with unknown, unfold magic, some thing happens that we did not plan ahead. What happens?

1. Either we welcome the change, good or bad, give in to the change, and come up with Plan B. We keep doing.
2. Or we stop and ponder on the change, on Life, trying to reason, blame why, how, what just happened. This reduces our energy, brings us down, feel defeated, and sometimes we give up.

Which one of the above do you think is 'Surrendering'? 

When we accept life, people, and situations just as they are, when we are strong enough to surrender, to give in to the flow of Life, and flow along with it, we become Self-Reliant. People, situations stop affecting us. We flow, act with compassion, yet are dispassionate about the results!

To surrender is not to give up, but to give in to the Faith, and rely that Life is exactly how it is supposed to be and is going to be. So Just be! Now if you think, I need to surrender, I need to surrender, then you are thinking, not surrendering :-P. Do you see the trick? It's an Art of Living!

Surrendering makes you Strong and Self-Reliant!

Life is a mystery, let the magic unfold!

Life is a mystery. It’s like watching a thriller, intelligently directed that keeps us guessing what’s next. Or like a novel that you get so involved in. You can’t wait to know the end, and sometimes find yourself sneaking up to the last few pages trying to validate your guess…and then you stop and go back to reading your current page, reading all through the night. What happens when the story doesn’t turn as you expect it to?

 You’re like ‘Really?? No Way..Mann!!’ 

I recently read in a novel, what a story book is – It is a transforming experience between the book and the reader. As the reader reads the story, he changes the words by perceiving them based on his thoughts, his context, his life situations. As the reader reads, the words also change him, his thoughts, his perceptions. Together they transform each other.

Life is just like that. You are right now, an amalgamation of all what you have lived so far – fusing all the places you have been to, all what you have seen, people you have met on the way, things that you did, things that happened to you. As Life shapes you, so do you shape Life. But the trick is, not to fast forward your Life, the experiences you are going through, based on what you think ‘should’ happen. Let the magic unfold! Feel it..Because otherwise you’ll keep rewinding and repeating the same chapter again and again, and expect a different end, but all you will see is the same end…missing out on the new wonders to happen, missing surprises that Life has to reveal. You will stop enriching, and growing your own story.

But like they say, it’s never too late, It's morning, when you wake up! Even now, if you look back at your Life, you’ll be surprised to uncover things you overlooked, or maybe unfold a different facet.

You can try experimenting this by picking up a book you’ve read in the past, maybe a few years ago, and re-read it. This time write down what you feel, your thoughts, some place where you can access it after a few years. After some time (maybe months, years) from then, do the same thing and compare your writings…They would have evolved. You will have evolved. You will see The Magic Unfold !

Life is just like that - Right now you can base your thoughts, words, actions on what you have experienced so far. But remember there are many more dimensions to Life, than what we perceive. So don't think much, Just Do and then BE FREE. Let Life reveal the results. If they are different from what you expected them to be, you have just enriched your life. Accept them as a Gift, and believe that the gift will come handy in the future.

I am You

I am all who have loved

I am all who have dreamed with open eyes

I am all who have seen heaven on earth

I am all who have lost love

I am all who have broken a heart, I am all who have had a broken heart

I am all who have suffered, I am all who have given suffering

I am all who have had lakes made of tears

I am all who hoped, I am all who gave up all hope

I am all who gave up at some time, I am all who have emerged out of pain

I am all who have loved, We are alive if we have loved

I am all who will still keep loving

I am You, You are love

_|_

- Gratitude for My Master, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who taught me how to love unconditionally

From Wanting to Being

It's been a long long long journey so far, even if I think about this life itself. I was one of those who was always curious about the concept of multiple lives but didn't quite believe in it. It started to change when I met a few people through the course of life, you know when you have that feeling of love just flowing, pulsating through every cell of your body...you are yourself and the other person also just is, and even if it's been a few days or maybe just a few hours since you know each other, but it feels like an era gone by. Have you felt like that? It's ok even if you haven't....

I have been very fortunate to have received love and able to give love and it has been the best feeling ever...the best state ever.. You are just happy being! 

But just like most of us, I have lost love, or that is at least how I used to think - lost love - when either me or the person I loved couldn't respond in the way I expected, wanted. What happened next? Misery, suffering, pain, longing followed. The same beautiful feeling of love transforms into an overbearing, exhausting, draining, stressful feeling. The state of happiness in just being, now becomes a long never ending indefinite state of hopelessness, restlessness and a desperate want to get out of that state. We travel from a state of joy abundance and content, to state of anger, to a state of pain, to a state of breathlessness, to a state of being completely lost, to a state of nothingness, to a state of wanting, to a state of illusion. All of a sudden you go from a state of Just Being to a state of Wanting to Be.

We know we want to get ourselves out of the state we are in, so we try to get rid of the love in us by some means. We think and believe, that by removing the love we have for that person, we will be able to set ourselves free. What happens? It keeps haunting us, we feel even more pain. The truth is we can never get rid of love. I finally realized it's not possible, 'coz we are love, we are joy, we are peace. Our natural state of being is love, and joy and the natural thing to do is to love. Anything besides that, is a digression from our natural state, and when that digression happens, our body reacts in an unpleasant way, and the same pleasant sensations transform into unpleasant sensations and feelings.

We misunderstand that the pain and suffering that love brings along, will leave us empty to die. Not true, You die when you try to remove the love. Yes Love does not change. It only takes different forms. Don’t try to resist it, get rid of it. It’s for sure not going anywhere. It’s there to stay forever. It has been in you forever, so don’t try to let go of it. Love the love, and the changes that come with it.

It was a small and simple realization, yet a very strong one. Instead of Wanting to Be something, I started just Being. I started accepting myself, the other person, the situation, and everything around me, and just reposed in Being. Even though it was sad and depressing, and not what I wanted to be, I just continued Being and somehow with time, the stress, the needs started disappearing, and once again I started experiencing the freedom of Just Being! And now I will reveal to you the secret of Just Being :-) - Because you ARE Love, because you ARE Joy, when you are just Being, You exude Love and Joy. And what you send out is what you receive! So Love and Joy returns in manifolds! Simply enjoy the story happening in your life as an observer.  

Every time in the past when I was happy, the excitement and anxiety wore me down after some time. It's this Art of Living journey that has helped me discover the joy within myself. I am happy yet peaceful, I feel enthusiastic, yet content!

It’s ok to bloom in a season, wither in another, and bloom again. Don’t try to look farther out into the distance from where you are standing. It’s hazy. When I was at the Boone (North Carolina) Art of Living Ashram recently in September, it was heavenly - We were nestled among a cascade of green mountains and cuddled in the clouds. The second day we were actually walking in the clouds. You could barely see 5 feet ahead of you and everything else was blurred by the clouds. As I walked past the clouds, things emerged. But it's that simple faith, that there is a road ahead, that I kept walking. Just like that, unhappy moments in life are like clouds. Welcome them, be with them, soak in them, have faith that the clouds are there for a reason, and they will fade away. And when you emerge on the other side, you realize the wonder and beauty of those clouds and appreciate what's in front of you. 

Keep Loving, Keep Living!

Dedicated to my Guru - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - who found me when I was lost.