Its been a really long time to be seen on the blog. Still It gives me immense pleasure to post something here on friendship today (An everlasting relationship)......
Guruji has said the time upto mid-october is not very favourable for us. Bawa also said this time is a very good oppurtunity for all of us to go inward, to read Knowledge. I personally have been spending quite a lot of time reading knowledge sheets and I am having a wonderful time ! :)
i recommend you the same ...
JGD
Luv :)
Another wonderful example : 'Even the Stone melts in Love’
Maoist leader surrenders in Jharkhand
BOKARO (JHARKHAND): A top Maoist leader today surrendered before the police here with his weapon, taking the total number of surrendered rebels to ten in Jharkhand since July.
"Ramendra alias Guruji surrendered before Inspector General of Police (Zonal) Manoj Kumar Mishra and handed over his pistol to him," Superintendent of Police, Saket Kumar Singh, said here.
The rebel told the police that he was inspired by Art of Living classes of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar which he had attended in disguise at Garhwa.
In 1996, Ramendra joined People's War Group which later merged with Marxist Comminust Centre to form CPI(Maoist). He became a self-styled sub-zonal commander of CPI(Maoist), Singh said.
The surrendered Maoist, who faced four Naxal-related cases, was entrusted with 'political education' in a couple of villages of Bihar and Jharkhand, he said.
Ramendra, who became the tenth ultra to have turned in before the police since July this year, received Rs 50,000 in case on surrendering and would be rehabilitated as per the government?s surrender policy, the SP said.
Source: 2008 ExpressBuzz
That green thing you see (its quite a dirty photo .. sry .. :/) ... is from a recipe on bau's blog ... called "Pesto" ...
My mom n bro spat it on first taste ... but i loved it :) ... twas heavenly :)
jgd
vishesh
Finally, Guruji entered the Yagyashaala at 8.35 pm looking fresh like a lily, dressed in flowing white. It was a perfect entry, Rishi Nityapragyaji singing, 4000 people dancing, and he entered swaying to the bhajan.
He then sat down, sang along, and recited a beautiful Sanskrit shloka and then explained it. He said, “Wherever there is meditation, satsang, yoga and seva happening, there is so much positivity that violence will just cease to exist”.
“Take the case of that terrorist who came today. He fired, but the bullet didn’t even touch me. It could have killed anyone, but it just brushed a devotee. There is so much positivity in the ashram, that the terrorist's mind was changed. Though he could have killed many, he just didn’t harm anyone! Obviously he would not have come with just one bullet. But his mind was transformed and he left without firing even the second time. It was all due to the satva in the ashram.”
“Even during the silver jubilee of the AOL there were some terrorists who had vowed not to let the event happen. But the vibes of 2.5 million people meditating together were so strong, that even their mind got transformed and they couldn’t do anything.”
“I forgive him and welcome him here, attend the satsang, sing, dance, see what joy is. He will then give up violence and blossom like a flower. The terrorists are not bad people. They just need some compassion. They have a victim inside them yelling for help.”
“Infact, this knowledge of spirituality, is the only thing that can overcome terrorism. Wherever people meditate, do sadhana and satsang, the violence and crime in that area goes down. Hence we should take this knowledge to more and more people. Let the positivity reform the minds of the violent people. Then only the world will be at peace. You need not worry about security. Nothing can happen to you. You have a security kavach around you. Feel safe and go to sleep”.
Later that night, when I was reflecting on what had happened, a few things struck my mind.
Guruji ALWAYS said, “leave alone the chance of a crime in the ashram, no crime can happen even in the 5 km radius around the ashram. I have heard this since I know Him, but today day He proved it! The attacker could not even shoot till the moment Guruji was outside the vehicle. It was only after He sat in His car, did the attacker fire. That’s how powerful His radiance is!
Once Guruji was asked, “its said that everything in our life is already decided. Then why to be in spiritual knowledge and why to be with a Guru?” He smiled and replied, “see its true that everything is decided. But to what extent it should be true is in your hands. If its written that an arrow will hit you, it will. But if you are in spiritual knowledge (or with a sadhguru) it may just take your cap along, without even touching you!”
This is exactly what happened. Though that bullet could have killed anyone, it just brushed off the thigh of one of the devotee. There wasn't even a drop of blood. After just receiving the first aid, Vinay was all fine!
If anyone of us is attacked, we wouldn’t dare to step out even with security, until the attacker is caught. And here He was, attacked just two hours ago, and already getting along freely with His devotees, without ANY security. And yes, the attacker was not caught and could have been sitting among His devotees as well!
When He announced about the attack to a crowd of 4000, everyone in the hall was surprised, but not even a single person panicked! Didn’t get the gravity of my point?
Imagine a college gathering with 4000 people in it. It is announced that someone, may be a terrorist shot at the principal about 1 hour ago. The principal escaped with minor injury, but the terrorist has not been caught! Imagine the chaos that will follow in the gathering then. Everyone will run out of the place! One can only imagine the levels of panic in the crowd!
But it was a different scene in the ashram. No one moved from their place in the hall. All the children below 14 years of age, around 200 of them, were sitting in another room. To my amazement, not a single parent got up to go to his child! Everyone just sat there listening to Guruji, clapping and getting enlightened by His knowledge, as if everyone in the hall just KNEW that they will be taken care of! That’s what faith is!
I do not blame the DGP or the home minister for stating that it was not an attack, just an incident, for its much difficult for their intellectual brain to understand the effect of positive vibes. A simple way out for them is, “single shot - not on Guruji - a fight among His followers - resulting in firing”. Any person who has been to ashram even once will know the absurdity of this statement! And yes, the lie that the bullet was fired 15 minutes after Guruji had left! Well, the police asked a few followers about the incident, most of whom weren’t at that spot when the incident occurred, and accepted the less told, but convenient narration of the incident.
Who shot at Guruji? Guruji says that no one can harm Him. He tells that His devotees are safe. And He PROVED it! As devotees, what is important for us is to know that when we are in His grace, no one can harm us. Feel secure! Its our duty to regularly practice sadhana, conduct satsangs, and spread this knowledge so that more and more people get transformed and leave violence. The one who shot at Him, an individual, a maoist or a terrorist, might have already left the path of violence! As a devotee why should the identity of the attacker matter to us, when we have so much to learn from the incident and strenghten our Faith in Him?
Jai Gurudev!
Disclaimer: All the sentences, even those within the quotes may not be exact replication of what Guruji said.
Njoy! :)
Harshad
Hello all! :-)
Hope ur compre was gr8... n even if it wasn't never mind. It's over! :)
Today is GURUJI's bday!! (Tera Main) :-) :-)
Do devote some time to yourselves to wish Him :)
Jai Gurudev!
Here's a wonderful post from Radha. Some of you might have read it, since it's also on her blog. But its worth reading again! :-)
Born in a family where everyone is a Krishna devotee, i grew up listening to Krishna stories in my childhood. There was one thing about him though, that bugged me too much. Everyone said that Radha and Krishna are incarnations of love, born on earth to teach mankind the essense of love. It made no sense to me, as Krishna left Radha forever, went on to become a king, had a sixteen thousand wives, but never thought of calling his girl friend back. To me, it looked more like a teenage fling than an attempt to teach humans what love is.
However, one year back, I went to Gokul and Vrindavan, the place where Radha and Krishna grew up. While we were doing a pradakshina around the Govardhan Parvat, I asked a rickshawallah the same question about the relevance of Radha and Krishna's love. What he said illuminated me more than ne pandits ever had.
"Radha's love for Krishna was not just the love of a woman for a man as we look at it today. She loved him like a girlfriend loves her boyfriend, like a daughter loves her father,like a sister adores her brother,like a student respects her teacher, and like a devotee worships her god. Krishna was everything to Radha, and He understood that. Who says marriage is the ultimate expression of love? It wouldn't have been so for Radha and Krishna for sure, because the love they shared was so much more than that. This was the message they wanted to give to the world - a nameless non-judgemental love."
I understood what he meant. We always try to name love, to analyse it, explain it. But we forget that the real beauty of love is in its mystery. There's no rationale behind it, and no boundaries ahead of it. We always try to reason about every relationship.
'he's a friend, but you know, just a friend.'
'but u spend so much time with him!'
'i know its weird.'
'no but you should explain.. there has got to be something. what exactly is it, you are what? friends, lovers, friends wanting to be lovers, friends trying not be lovers, what??'
'I have no idea.. '
Thats perfectly 'lovely'. We don't have to give love a name, and make it some kind of 'relationship'. Love is just.. it. Its Love :)
Love,
Radha :)
यह वक़्त न ठहरा हैं ,
यह वक़्त न ठहरेगा ,
यूही गुज़र जायेगा
घबराना कैसा ???
हिम्मत से काम लेंगे ....
घबरान कैसा???
सागर के सीने से ,
पाए हैं जग मोती !
लहरे कभी पल्काए...घबराना कैसा?
हिम्मत से काम लेंगे ॥
घबराना कैसा???
यह महक गुलाबों की ,
महकाती हैं गुलशन ,
काँटा कभी लग जाए
घबराना कैसा???
हिम्मत से काम लेंगे ...
घबराना कैसा???
यह सुख दुःख जीवन में,
आते और जाते हैं ,
दुःख पहले आ जाए ,
घबराना कैसा???
हिम्मत से काम लेंगे ॥ घबराना कैसा???
इसीलिए मेरे प्यारे दोस्त ,
किसी भी काम करने के लिए ,नहीं घबराएंगे और हिम्मत से हर कदम को एक अच्छी जोश के सात आगे बढायेंगे..
जय गुरुदेव ,
प्यार से,
अमुल्या
Sunday morning. 10:30am. I took my bum and put it on a chair outside my room. Finally, I had time spare enough to unleash my creativity and splash it on a piece of paper. The menopause of the high spirited technical fest, had left me with a topic for this blog post as well : APOGEE!
But even as I sat, and my pen made contact with paper, something completely unrelated started barging into my head, hushing away any or all thoughts of Apogee. Those were of "homecoming".
However hard you work, how much ever you enjoy being independent; after a busy, hectic day, all your heart wants is a warm bed and welcome from someone you love. In this world of pretensions and prejudices, every once in a while you get fed up of prying or being pried upon. having prejudices or being prejudiced, unless you are a spiritual master.
Often we try to ignore our instincts of "homecoming" though in vain, infact sometimes we are so foolish to remain oblivious to the growing longing for solace within us.
Sometimes we find solace in our family, sometimes in our Guru, sometimes in friends, sometimes in ourselves, while sometimes even in strangers. Never neglect those people in whom you find solace, never neglect those who redeem you. Is that person (or soul) any less than God who helped you, loved you, and accepted you when you were in the most miserable of states?
Never neglect or think low of anyone. Every person in this world, once in a while, directly or indirectly, helped you, and you helped them all.
Now that is kinda wierd...aint it?
Maybe it is. But just imagine for a while, that people all around the globe, do for a while agree to it. How simply amazing would that be!
People say, if you want to broaden your vision, move out, look out and learn more about other people. Why not try the opposite? Look within yourself, accept your greed, accept your hunger for knowledge. And when you master your own self, maybe the world itself will come to you!
Jai Guru Dev!
Nikhil Banthiya
Most of youmust remember how wonderfully we've been told in our courses to smile... and to spread the smile! Well I saw this poster in Brahmakumari's international centre in Mt. Abu... where the same is put into words in a very beautiful way! I'm sure your smiling at the end when you finish reading it... Just make sure its unfazed :)
"A Smile says - CARING
A Smile says - SOMETHING
A Smile says - UNDERSTANDING
A Smile says - AGREED
A Smile says - WELL DONE
A Smile says - I AM HAPPY
A Smile says - SATISFACTION
A Smile says - SUCCESS
A Smile says - THANK YOU
So, Smile Please! "
Jaigurudev
love
rahul
Hello all!
Here’s a good example of commitment - right infront of us. I feel that we will be able to relate to it. Hence putting it here.
Some of you may be knowing that a Navchetna shibir for the mess workers is going on in our campus. I wanted to organize such a course, but never did it. This time, the course is being organized almost single handedly by Vishesh. Though it may seem to be simple to organize a Navchetna shibir, it definitely is not – especially for the first time. He has been planning for this since last sem. Co-ordinating with the teacher, taking institute permissions, convincing the institute to organize it, etc etc is a lot of work. Hats off to you Vishesh! Brilliant work.
It can be a good learning for all of us. Many times while working for AOL activities or otherwise, we get discouraged if we do not get the support of other people working for the same cause. “No one is working, so why should I? Anyways I can’t do it all alone”. Normally under this state of mind we drop the activity, the reason being, ‘lack of interest in people’. The key is to have our commitment so strong that nothing can shake it. (Feelings come later, commitment first). When you have such a commitment accompanied by faith and willingness, even the absence of support from others or any such hurdle fails to stop you! (and such great things happen)
Well done Vishesh! :-)
Btw, I got to learn this lesson now, because, I was very FORTUNATE to always have full support of all of you in all the activities! :-D Thank you guys! Love you! Njoy! :-)
Jai Gurudev!!
Harshad
P.S. – It was not that Vishesh had less support, it was just that he didn’t need any! :-)
I m not good at expressing my thoughts, so plz ‘bhawanao’ ko samajh jana! :-D
This is something i started writing last semester, i wrote the second half only today :) !!
Why do i do things at the last minute ?
It is because the work gets done fastest when its done at the last minute. The same work, which otherwise would take 20 mins., takes only 5 mins. At the last minute, the mind becomes suddenly sharp and alert ; a sense of purpose dawns.
Right now I am sitting in my room and watching a movie. I still have not packed for my journey home in the morning. Its only a 5 min job, but I’m not doing it now because otherwise it will take 20 min. Why ? Why will it take a longer time ? There is no sense of purpose, there is a lethargy, a love of being still and doing nothing. Laziness.
The root cause of laziness, according to me, is a love of being still and doing nothing. And that is exactly what is meditation !! So if i really love being still and doing nothing, why not meditate ?
So when i finish my meditation, (if i have meditated 100 %) i'll feel sharp, alert .. with a sense of purpose (no need to wait till the last minute to get that !!)
So now whenever i feel lazy to do something, i know what to do :) !!
Plus not choosing to do something at the last minute gives me the additional advantage of extra time if the work is longer than i anticipated :). So useful for exams na ?
What say ?? Would love to hear your views on this ...
JGD,
Luv :)
Vishesh
Nikhil found this really kool article and he's been kind enough to share it with us :).He's edited and added some of his own views as well... have fun reading it!
"The name of this post sounds like something you hear from every other person who has ever cared about or loved you. And here I am, telling the same thing over again. I can just hope you find patience enough to stick your bum infront of your screen and read this. Here goes...
Everyone has limits. But we never know our limits, until our skills have been put to test. How would you ever be able to understand the thrill of Para-gliding, unless you don’t dare to jump off the cliff? Life is short, by the time people understand this simple fact, that short life is over. So, never say: “This is all I can do”, unless you’ve tried to do it. Do you know that humans use only 10% of their brain? While much more you can do. You have the resources. You just need to find it and the first place to look into is within yourself.
Our skills double when we face danger. Then we see, hear, smell, and move faster. It shows that we are capable to act and do much more than we think. We are just too afraid at times. But what are we afraid of? Are we afraid, we may actually find our true strengths? Or is it, we just need to be pushed to find our true potential.
“What is the most universal human characteristic: fear or laziness?”
Some of us aren’t afraid. We just aren’t bothered. ‘So what’ are the two most dangerous accountable words. “So what, I’m weak? So what, I’m not using my abilities to my best?” These are the questions that can never be answered. But think about it a while; if everyone starts asking you the same questions, how will you feel? If all the great leaders fuss ‘So what, if the country is unhappy?’, if your grocer yells ‘So what, you’re hungry?’, if your garbage collector tells ‘So what, your home is dirty?’; pointing their fingers to you, how would you feel?
Replace that acidic “So what?” with the hopeful “What if?”
“What if you become someone great worth remembering?”
“What if you can make people proud of you?”
The thing that’s worse than quitting or failing is – being complacent. Believing you are weak and that’s all you are capable of. When you start saying, “This is the way I’m and there’s nothing I can do about it”, that is when you hit rock bottom. No one can help you in such a situation. Even the skills that you’ve mastered will be a waste with such an attitude. Believe in yourself, and only then you can expect others to believe in you.
Start to care. Even if no one else cares for you. The last person to give up on you should be yourself."
Jaigurudev
love
Nikhil(and rahul :) )
I was kicked out of the blog by Rahul for not posting for a long time, so I had to assure him that I would post atleast once in a week to get back as an author... :)
So here i go...
I watched this documentary called "HOME- A Stunning Visual Portrayal of Earth" (download it from u know where). Its a very beautifully documented HD video about our only home - Earth. Unlike any other documentaries that u watched in Nat-Geo or Discovery, this is entirely different coz it talks about........... uhh well, I just can't find the right words to make u enlightened or stuff like that... Simple! just watch the video to get the feel of it... :)
Sid got very emotional while watching ( lol :P ) so i told him to forward some scenes....
Here are some snaps of it:
Arctic ice...
melting away...
(boring.... hearing this from over a decade)
Deforestation... we know all this gen stuff..
but wat about these following things..!!
Most of the grain produced is used for livestock feed!! In US alone, 95% of the soyabean goes for cattle-feed & biofuel!
Imagine if this were to be distributed then it would alone solve the world's hunger problem!!
To grow
1kg potatoes requires 1000l water,
1kg rice requires 4000l water,
whereas 1kg beef requires 13000l water.
"Dubai, the new beacon for all the world's money!
A culmination of the western model.
A symbol of the exploitation of the energy the Earth supplies!"
-HOME(documentary)
In Los Angeles, the number of cars is equivalent to the number of people!
Legas, Nigeria.
Even though being Africa's richest oil exporter, more than 70% of the people are Below Poverty Line.
People dont have access to the country's wealth.
And half the world's poor live in resource rich countries!!
Water pollution caused by the extraction of oil from tar sands of Canada!! (aerial view)
P.S. : Forward first 15 mins to watch the real deal.
Hey guys! Ab tak tho all you guys must be aware of the Mumbai 1 lakh people YES!+ from march 18th and also bout the Pune 50k yes!+... huge plans and work ahead... truly YES!+ is spreading like a wild fire...
Just read 'bout whats happening on Bawa's blog... the link's on the sidebar.I had the opportunity of contributing to the work in a small little way... I had written an informal article for people to read and sent it to a volunteer.. dunno if and when it'll be used, but anways i think itll be a nice read... have fun :). "
"Slowly, sheepishly a 20 year old lad walked into a near empty hall with hardly 10 people… brightly lit with halogens, the floor spread with carpets, and as he further explored he saw the wall beautifully decorated with charts and upfront he read YES!+ in a big cool font. He realized he was 10 minutes early. As the time for the course to start drew closer, he saw the hall now got filled with a 100 young, nervous and apprehensive minds most of whom were there for the same reasons he was…
To explore their potential, Sudarshan kriya, dump their ‘emotional garbage’,being stress free and to empower themselves with all that it took to do something extraordinary that each one of them dreamed of…all of them were on
YES!+ : Youth Empowerment & Skills workshop! Organized by the Word alliance for youth empowerment(WAYE) in 150 countries…in association with the Art of Living.
And as the workshop began he got a glimpse of the things about to come over the next three days, he was drawn into a big wide smile and his heart excited and enthusiastic! Now that it’s the fourth day and the workshop is about to end his smile is bigger than ever, his eyes drawn to tears… his heart has a mixed feeling of the same joy, enthusiasm, confidence and gratitude. He is amazed by the dynamism of the place,awed by its energy and the loves the way he learnt things with masti,love on the workshop that constituted 100 young minds in their prime! The change he had foreseen came true… with a calm, composed stress free mind he now realizes he is only limited by his mind and he is now truly empowered to dream and to go get his dream!
Now imagine what the same workshop having a lakh young minds could do to you! Here’s an opportunity of a lifetime, get empowered! YES!+ in Mumbai,India starts 18th march… the biggest ever!Dont just watch things happen… make things happen and just do the workshop!"
I've edited just 4-5 words... but apart from all of it is the same...
jaigurudev
love
rahul
