Spirituality and Celebration

Weekly Knowledge #224
Bangalore Ashram
20 Oct 1999
India

Celebration is the nature of the spirit.Any celebration has to be spiritual.A celebration without spirituality does not have any depth.And silence gives the depth to celebration.
Some people think being silent is spirituality.E.g. Many meditators feel that laughing, singing and dancing are not spiritual.
Some people think only celebration is spirituality.E.g. In some parts of the world, such as in rural India or Africa, celebration means loud music; there is no silence at all.
Spirituality is a harmonious blend of outer silence and inner celebration ; and also inner silence and other celebration!

Weather

After a long time, today was a bright sunny day uplifting the spirit (with a cool breeze too to further enhance the experience). But of course, how can Kharagpur do without rain , so we had a very heavy downpour in the evening which sort of compensated for the rest of the day's shortage of rainfall. It really feels like autumn now.

Why everybody can & should do Yoga ?

People from all religions have one thing in common-they are all human. The purpose of all genuine spiritual thought in the world has been & will continue to be the well being & happiness for all humanity in its own way. Due to this pure intention, many techniques of physical & mental well-being have been developed throughout the ages (& still continue to be developed). The Indian tradition has the unique system of Yoga which under its umbrella encompasses myriad traditions carried from millenia from one Guru tradition to the other. The aim & goal is one-to alleviate the human condition by providing solutions for physical health, mental comfort & spiritual growth. No matter which religion one belongs to-(though in the Indian/Sanatan Dharma context, the word religion is quite a misnomer as it is more of a way of life than a discipline to be passed on to subsequent generations in entirety without allowing any questioning) , the benefits accrued from the practice of Yoga are beneficial & that too without any need for a change in the belief system. If a Muslim or a Christian can learn Karate or Kung Fu (which in their deeper forms are methods to attain Buddhahood) for physical conditioning & self defence & derive its full benefits without foresaking the core beliefs & teachings of Prophet Mohammed & Jesus respectively, then they can surely practice Yoga for physical & mental well-being & gain better insights into their own spiritual traditions as an added bonus. For those who have no belief in any God, for them also there is no harm in a bit of breathing exercises & physical postures to tone the muscles & to release some stress from the system & improve the body's flexibility as well as resistance to common as well as lifestyle diseases. We as human beings have been endowed with a tendency that we can immediately recognise what is to our benefit & act accordingly. This comes naturally to us & is a part of our survival instinct. We have to apply our brains naturally as is our wont & take benefit from Yoga as much as we can-without any doubts. Yoga makes us a better human being than we were before. It cannot have any other effect.

WHAT ENHANCES YOUR BEAUTY?

Weekly Knowledge #99
Bangalore Ashram
30 Apr 1997
India


When your mind is not complaining, responsible, courageous, confident and hollow and empty you are inexplicably beautiful. A person who cannot correct or act has no right to complain. And when a person can correct or act, he will never complain. Complaining is a sign of weakness. Complaining is the nature of utter ignorance where one does not know the Self. Complaint takes away the Beauty that is inborn in you. And it shows up more on the one who is on this path.
Worldly mind is a complaining mind; Divine mind is a dancing mind. Just complaining without indicating the solution is irresponsibility. When the solutions are not workable, finding alternative solutions is Courage.
For external beauty, you put on things; for real Beauty, you have to drop all the things. For external beauty you have to have Make-up; for your real Beauty you only have to realise that you are MADE-UP!

Sri Sri

The eco friendly campus

One thing that one cannot help notice ( & experience) at IIT-Kgp is the lush greenery & almost pollution free air thanks to the extensive green cover here & also that the preferred mode of transport is the humble bicycle-by regulation for students (except defence/ married people who are exempt from this rule) & also for quite a lot of the Profs who despite the fact that they aren't bound by any regulation prefer this eco friendly mode of transport. Another two-wheeler which can be seen in wide use here is the battery run scooters which people use widely & are emission as well as noise free (they make even less sound than the average bicycle). All this contributes towards IIT-Kgp being one of the most green & fresh campuses I've seen. It's great to live here.

Movie after 4 weeks !

Today I saw a movie at the Netaji auditorium after nearly four weeks. The reason being that not many good movies got screened in between & also for the last two weeks I was busy in exam prep. Today I saw 'Mission Istanbul' at Netaji audi with sound troubles et al but it was fun & a nice experience. Nothing can beat watching movie in a theatre & that too for just Rs. 50 per semester !

Problems ?

Weekly Knowledge #267
European Ashram
24 Aug 2000
Germany

PROBLEMS? ONE MORE

The first solution to the problem is not to have the problem at all. (Laughter)
The second thing is to willingly accept the problem and see it as a challenge.
Third, know that the problem is a boogey man, it is not real.
Fourth, know that nature has provided you the solution even before giving you the problem. First you met me and then you had a problem (Laughter). When it snows, there are no bacteria since no herbs to heal you grow in that season. In the spring, the herbs come first and then the bugs. In the summer, the shade comes before the summer sun gets strong. So, nature takes good care of you.

Sabya: What if the longing is a problem?

Sri Sri: Longing ripens you. Do not solve all your problems. At least keep one of them. You need something to munch on - and life goes on...

Dreaming the Impossible

Question: Guruji, how can we control daydreams?
Sri Sri: Dream in the night! (laughter)
What is daydreaming? You have a desire but you do not have the faith that you can achieve your desire - that is what you call daydreaming.
You can control daydreaming by having a strong goal and believing in it.
Like the scientist who wanted to go to the moon and kept dreaming about it - for him it was the goal of his life but for others it was daydreaming.
Either you drop that it will not happen or you believe!
When you do not know yourself, your potentiality, you have no faith and confidence in your dream.
Once you have faith and confidence in your dream, it is no longer a daydream!

Ceiling collapse, some message for next exam ?

Just a few minutes ago, the false ceiling of my bathroom came down with a crash. Yes ! The attached bathrooms (a unique feature in themselves) in our hall have a false ceiling. That makes it two unique features. Of course I had no knowledge that the ceilings of my toilet & bathrooms were false-that was quite a revelation. But the way it suddenly came down (thankfully nobody was in the bathroom at that time !) , I am tempted to think whether it is an advanced warning regarding my academics ? Only two exams to go in the mid-sem & then I have to submit a write-up for my seminar topic by the 1st Oct about which I have no idea at all. IIT really is puttting me under a pressure cooker !

3 gone, 3 more to go !

Crime went OK today. I do hope the faculty evaluating the answer sheet concurs with me. Tomorrow is Torts. Only 3 more to go !

Peace Message from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the UN International Peace Day, Sep 21 , 2008

I'm happy to be with you all joining you from the other part of the world for this peace conference and this important day of the United Nations International Peace Day.
We are all so fortunate that we could find some peacewith ourselves. Now we have a challenge to reach out to all those who are not at peace with themselves as well as those countries and those parts of the world where there are a lot of disturbances. They are deprived of peace and we all have that responsibility to bring peace to every nook and corner of the world.Unless every member of our family is peaceful our peace is not complete and we would like to have a complete peace.

There is peace needed at three levels.One is inner peace, we all should have our mind peaceful so that we be can be dynamic in our actions and our thoughts are becoming more positive when we are peaceful.Second is peace in our immediate environment, in our family, friends circle, you know, both places.The third level of peace is peace between the nations, peace between the continents of nations which is most important.
You know, today the arms race that is happening between the countries have to be put to an end. So nuclear disarmamenthas to happen so that there is no fear between the countries.It is because of the fear between countries that they go on the arms race and as we all know dangerous are the nuclear arms and if they get into wrong hands the whole planet is in trouble.So we all have to persuade all the governments and the institutions in the world to promote that peace between the nations. So every day we pray and conclude our day with Om Shanti Shanti Shanti, meaning, let the divinity bring peace to individuals and their immediate family and parliaments of society and between the nations.
Thank you.-
H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The First Post

This is my first post (& hopefully not the last) in the midst of my first ever mid-semester exams in IIT-Kgp. The Bar Council of India's rules make it compulsory for us to learn all the basics of law in the 1st year so we have all typical law subjects like Constitution, Crime, Tort etc in this semester. Today was Property Law, a very precise & mathematical sort of subject which is really interesting (of course useful & lucrative too) & tomorrow is Law of Crimes. Now, criminal law is a league apart as most of it is pure mindspace,that is the intention is most important. That is what makes it very intellectually rigorous as well as stimulating at the same time. Though having just one night to prepare for an exam whose syllabus includes the basic definitions of 'Actus Reus' & 'Mens Rea' to culpable homicide, murder , dowry death, kidnapping & abduction is like running a mental marathon where the finishing line is nowhere in sight. Now , I have always been a very lazy student & almost always as a rule have avoided study like a dog avoids water. The only time I remember studying a lot was last year during my final year B.Tech exams. But this is only mid-sem here & on top of it we have research projects, seminars, presentations & what-nots. So many tasks mean there can be only two possible outcomes, either I will be able to do it all or I would not .In either case ,I think I will grow as a person, simply because being in a pressure cooker situation like this & performing gives quite a realistic simulation of the life ahead. In any case, most of the pressure, as I discovered yesterday, is in the mind, rather than in reality. I have started playing snooker here in the Students' Gymkhana @ IIT-Kgp & yesterday was my slot. I wasn't sure of going but nevertheless went & played from 7:30 to 8:30 pm & ultimately after some socializing, having some coffee at the hall night canteen (put up during exams for all of us to stimulate our brains through tea,coffee,maggi & snacks), I finally got down to do some real study at 10:30 p.m. I slept at 1:00 a.m. & then again got up at 7:00 a.m. to study befor breakfast. I was quite apprehensive of my performance in the test when I entered the examination hall at 9:00 a.m. but wonder of wonders, I found out that I really did not miss much by not studying the entire evening yesterday. Of course, this may be no revelation to a lot of people reading this post but for me, a lazybone student who is studying like he never did in his life & is really not sure when & where to put the brakes, it was a welcome realisation. Let us hope this realization lasts tomorrow also ! In any case, something would be happenning tomorrow. The thing is, my 'mens rea' for that isn't ready yet, what to say of the 'actus reus'