Eliminate Karma

How to Eliminate Karma? 🌸

@Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji says "There are four powerful ways through which karma can be dissolved:

1. Love: 

Love itself can eliminate all karma. True love dissolves impressions and frees the spirit.

2. Breathwork :

Through proper breathing practices like Sudarshan Kriya taught in @ArtofLiving, karma gets released layer by layer.

3. Meditation:

In deep meditation, the impressions of the past dissolve effortlessly.

4. Service: 

Any act of selfless service. When someone suffering feels relief because of you, their blessing comes back to you as good karma.

But remember, if service is done with the thought of ‘I want good karma,’ then it is not true service. Service should be natural, effortless, without even the thought that you are serving.

And all these : breathing, meditation, service are contained in that first principle: Love."

🌿 Love, breath, meditation, and service together, they burn away karma and set you free.

Fourteen Lokas

Q: Gurudev, our scriptures mention about 14 Lokas. How can we communicate or travel in these higher realms? Is it possible?

@Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji - “Fourteen Lokas you create here only. When you go into the negative spin, you go below. When you uplift, you go above.”

🔥 Seven Lower Lokas (negative spin – states of contraction):

8. Atala – realm of illusion and confusion.

9. Vitala – realm of uncontrolled desires.

10. Sutala – realm of struggle and hardship.

11. Talātala – realm of ignorance and misuse of power.

12. Mahātala – realm of deep fear and insecurity.

13. Rasātala – realm of hatred and exploitation.

14. Pātāla – lowest realm, total darkness and delusion.

🌺 Seven Higher Lokas (uplift – states of light and expansion):

7. Bhūr-loka – Earth, the human realm of growth.

6. Bhuvar-loka – subtle realm of prana and ancestors.

5. Svar-loka (Svarga) – heaven, realm of merit and joy.

4. Mahar-loka – realm of great sages and tapas (austerity).

3. Jana-loka – realm of realized beings absorbed in meditation.

2. Tapa-loka – realm of purity and tapas, beyond desires.

1. Satya-loka (Brahma-loka) – highest realm, truth, bliss, and union with the Divine.

🕉️ Gurudev reminds us that these lokas are not faraway planets but inner states of consciousness. Through meditation, devotion, selfless service, and wisdom we rise to higher lokas. Anger, greed, and ignorance pull us downward.

🌸 The key is simple: uplift your mind, and you uplift your world.

#Gurudev #ArtOfLiving #Lokas #Consciousness #VedicWisdom

Shiv Sutras - day 1 notes

Summary of Day 1 : 

1. Mind has to revert within to find the self (happiness and beauty - true wealth) : 

• Bliss is that which comes from within for no reason. 

• ⁠Hold on to the one positive in an ocean of negatives(like a rope in a well)

• ⁠The one who is searching for the self, is the self. 

• ⁠ You are not the thoughts/feelings. “ I am consciousness” - feel the liveliness which is the basis of existence. Being aware of consciousness is realising the self. 

2. Knowledge is bonding(limiting) : 

• The mind gains knowledge when awake(and little in dreams) In sleep, the mind rests in the self, but gains no knowledge. 

• ⁠ The more you try to know, the more you cannot know. 

• ⁠ Those who say they know, don’t know. And those who say they don’t know, they know.

• ⁠” I don’t know” is liberating.

satsang for bad company

Question - Gurudev, Even after doing the @ArtofLiving course why do some people live in such hatred and ego? How to teach them the language of love?

#Gurudev @SriSri Ravi Shankar ji - Bring them to the satsang again and again. Sometimes, even after having good intentions in the mind, a person falls because of his company.

This is called sanghdosh.

People are good and wish to walk on the right path. Due to bad company, they are not able to implement their good thoughts. Thus, the satsang is vital and effective. Inspire others and bring them to the satsang. Just like people push others to do wrong acts, we sometimes need to push people to do good.

There are multifold benefits to one attending a Satsang (Company of Truth)

When we sing together in Satsang endorphins are released in the body. Endorphins make you happy and healthy.

Meditate, do satsang, read knowledge Sheets. By doing that, you are helping others who have a hard time. Satsang is not just singing, it is acknowledging and sharing the truth of life.

Take responsibility to uplift people around you. That is real Satsang! A wise person is like the sky where all birds can fly!

85% of your worries never even happen and out of the remaining 15%, you have the ability to manage 90% of the issues. So in total, less than 3% of your worries may actually happen. Those problems give us strength and depth to Life.

Luckily for those who are in Satsang (the company of Truth) and do Meditation even those events will never happen.

In satsang, both the left and right hemispheres of the brain get balanced. The wandering mind comes back to the present moment and experiences a deeper dimension to life.

Satsang is your shelter from the harsh and changing influences on your life. Satsang is the nest in which you can rest.

Happy Dewali Puja Links

Ganesh Puja

Ganesh

Lakshmi Puja

Lakshmi Puja

Guruji satsang - attachment vs mother love

Gurudev, what is the difference between Moha (attachment) and Mamtaa (a mother’s love)?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, a mother’s love is permanent, it never goes away. What is attachment? When (a mother’s) love makes us blind, then that is attachment.

Suppose a mother’s son is not qualified to become the Chief Minister of a state, and the son also does not want to become the Chief Minister, but the mother forces the son to become the Chief Minister because she is unable to recognize that he is not the right person for the job, then this is attachment.

What King Dhritarashtra felt towards his son Duryodhana was attachment. On the other hand, the love of Mother Yashoda towards Lord Krishna was nothing but purely a mother’s love for her child.

Attachment gives you misery because it blinds you. When you get entangled in attachment, you overlook the person’s true capability and what they deserve. Mamtaa means having the feeling of 'Mine'. So, your motherly love should expand and it should be for everyone else.

Lord Krishna says in the Gita, 'Yes, I do have attachment also, but it is equal towards all beings'. Samo 'ham sarva-bhuteshu na me dveshyo 'sti na priyah. Ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya mayi te teshu cha-api aham'. (9.29)

This is a very unique quality and only Lord Krishna can speak like this. A normal person can get very attached to one person. But when a person says, 'I have that same strong attachment towards all beings', then that is unique. So Lord Krishna presents attachment also in a positive way.

Guruji satsang - emotions

Free yourself from the storm of emotions ~ Sri Sri 

Life is found to be caught up in storms so very often. And you are not yourself when you are in a storm. You don’t know what to do. At those moments all your spiritual practices, concepts, ideas and ideals fall apart. Your devotion, your love and all the beautiful things you cherish in your life, simply don’t seem to be there or mean anything. You are under the influence of a big storm. A whirlwind rises in you and throws you off balance.

What do you do? Nothing is helpful. You sit, close your eyes and try to meditate. But the mind is all over the place. You feel as though you are in a burning furnace, and you don’t know how to put the fire out. And the more effort you make to cool it down, and put it out, the more the fire burns, the more the restlessness and agitation increase. You are yourself only between the storms. How many storms rise in your life, and how frequently do they rise?

The less frequent they are, the more you are yourself. At those moments you are happy; you are settled. You are calm. Just think of those moments of intense restlessness, agitation and feverishness. The breath becomes heavier. The body becomes unbearable. You are not at all aware of the mind. But that is not what you are. You get a glimpse of the clearness of yourself between two storms. But life seems to be like the ocean – wave after wave lashing at you, one after another.

This is the only problem. This is the only basic problem in the universe. There is no other problem. You can attach it to one thousand causes or reasons, but the problem is how to free your life from this storm which has gripped it.

The first thing to do is to become aware of this. At that moment, the storm will subside. First, stop regretting things. For no reason, there is turmoil in the mind. When your mind cools down and you experience that inner cool, soft and delicate aspect of yourself, there is a big relief.

No one storm can be there all the time. It is impossible. It comes and subsides.

Your mind is like a wind – a whirlwind, subsiding and cooling down. That is your true nature. That is love. You have been resisting, restless, all this time. Now you see it is there. Okay, so let it be there. It is a part of nature. The storm is also a part of nature. Stop resisting the storm. Take it, gulp it in its totality; go deep into it and you will see it is nothing. It is just created out of yourself, your mind and your consciousness. In that aspect of you, you are your Self.

Know that there is a power, some power, someone, who is really caring for you.

Not just someone there is only One in the whole universe. That One in the universe is caring and taking care of you. You can relax, rest and be peaceful.

There cannot be an ocean without waves. Every event touches life somewhere on its surface. It creates movement. Take all that comes with both your hands. Don’t say that it is impossible or not possible for you. This thought of something being not possible means that you are resisting. This is making the storms stay for long periods. Stand there with your arms open. Say, ‘Whatever storms come, let them, I’m here.’ You grow out of them. You become bigger.

Tell yourself:

“Come what may, there is nothing that can destroy me. It may be excruciatingly painful, but it doesn’t matter. It still cannot destroy or kill me. I am here. I am much, much bigger than all these emotions, commotions or waves. They all rise inside me, in me, and in no way can they destroy me. I will let them be.”

So when a storm arises, just be with it. Do not try to get rid of the storm. Be with it; go into it. And, of course, you have your meditation and spiritual practices to help purify your whole system. It’s such a blessing.

Guruji satsang - partner jealous

Gurudev, why do people become jealous about their partners or friends whom they love so much?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Usually when we love something, we want to possess it. If you appreciate a painting, you want to buy it and keep it in your home. You find a beautiful garment, and although you know you will wear it only a couple of times, you buy it and put it in the closet.

You have known only one way of loving — love it, possess it and forget it. When you try to possess love, you rob it of its beauty, and then that same love gives you pain.

Whoever you love, you try to dictate terms to them. In a very subtle way you try to rule them. And whatever you try to control turns ugly.

You have never loved someone and not tried to possess them.

It begins in childhood. When the second baby comes, the first baby wants all the attention. “Why did you bring this baby home? Give it away.” Many children say,”You belong to me and me alone.” It is a deep samskara, a deep impression, this fear of losing our place in the heart of someone we love.

First comes attraction.

Have you noticed this? If you simply get whatever you are attracted to — just like that, quickly — you do not develop love for it. A longing must arise. That leads to love. But love brings the fear of loss. Yet, a love which has the fear of loss does not blossom. It leads you to other ugly sensations and feelings. Jealousy comes. There is someone you love very much — a friend, a boyfriend, a girlfriend — but his or her attention is on someone else.

See what is happening in your stomach — it is churning. You try all sorts of gimmicks to deny what is happening within you. Much ugliness arises because there is fear of loss. You never love something that is big, that is enormous because you have not yet become enormous yourself. And as long as you stay very small, there is no joy, there is no happiness, there is no peace. Joy is expansion, becoming big in your heart. This can only happen in a situation where you are very much in love, but you cannot possess what you love.

भगवान स्वर्णाकर्षण

🔴Remedies🔴

दारिद्र-दहन प्रयोग

ये शिव जी का स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव स्वरूप है।कालभैरव के तीन स्वरूपों बटुक भैरव, महाकालभैरव एवम स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव में स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव सात्विक स्वरूप है। रुद्रयामल तंत्र में इसका वर्णन है इस का ज्ञान स्वयं महादेव द्वारा नंदी जी और फिर नंदी जी द्वारा लोककल्याण हेतु महर्षि मार्कण्डेय को दिया। स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव मणिद्वीप के कोषाधिकारी कहे जाते हैं। इस चित्र में वर्णन है कि कैसे वर्षों तक चले देवासुर संग्राम के बाद जब कुबेर और माता लक्ष्मी के कोष में धन का अभाव हो जाता है तो नंदी जी के उपदेश के बाद बद्रीविशाल (विशालातीर्थ) धाम में स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव को प्रसन्न कर धन प्राप्त करते है।

भगवान स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव  ने उन्हें दर्शन देकर श्री मणिद्वीप लोक से प्रकट होकर 4 भुजाओ से धन की वर्षा की जिससे पुनः सभी देवता "श्री" सम्पन्न हो गए।

ॐ पीतवर्णं चतुर्बाहुं त्रिनेत्रं पीतवाससम्।

अक्षयं स्वर्णमाणिक्य तड़ित-पूरितपात्रकम्॥

अभिलसन् महाशूलं चामरं तोमरोद्वहम्।

सततं चिन्तये देवं भैरवं सर्वसिद्धिदम्॥

मंदारद्रुमकल्पमूलमहिते माणिक्य सिंहासने, संविष्टोदरभिन्न चम्पकरुचा देव्या समालिंगितः।

भक्तेभ्यः कररत्नपात्रभरितं स्वर्णददानो भृशं, स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरवो विजयते स्वर्णाकृति : सर्वदा॥

हिन्दी भावार्थ: श्रीस्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव जी मंदार(सफेद आक) के नीचे माणिक्य के सिंहासन पर बैठे हैं। उनके वाम भाग में देवि उनसे समालिंगित हैं। उनकी देह आभा पीली है तथा उन्होंने पीले ही वस्त्र धारण किये हैं। उनके तीन नेत्र हैं। चार बाहु हैं जिन्में उन्होंने स्वर्ण — माणिक्य से भरे हुए पात्र, महाशूल, चामर तथा तोमर को धारण कर रखा है। वे अपने भक्तों को स्वर्ण देने के लिए तत्पर हैं। ऐसे सर्वसिद्धिप्रदाता श्री स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव का मैं अपने हृदय में ध्यान व आह्वान करता हूं उनकी शरण ग्रहण करता हूं। आप मेरे दारिद्रय का नाश कर मुझे अक्षय अचल धन समृद्धि और स्वर्ण राशि प्रदान करे और मुझ पर अपनी कृपा दृष्टि करें।

स्वर्ण-राशि ददात्येव, तत्क्षणान्नास्ति संशयः ।

सर्वदा यः पठेत् स्तोत्रं, भैरवस्य महात्मनः ।।

लोक-त्रयं वशी कुर्यात्, अचलां श्रियं चाप्नुयात् ।

न भयं लभते क्वापि, विघ्न-भूतादि-सम्भव ।।

म्रियन्ते शत्रवोऽवश्यम लक्ष्मी-नाशमाप्नुयात् ।

अक्षयं लभते सौख्यं, सर्वदा मानवोत्तमः ।।

अष्ट-पञ्चाशताणढ्यो, मन्त्र-राजः प्रकीर्तितः ।

दारिद्र्य-दुःख-शमनं, स्वर्णाकर्षण-कारकः ।।

य येन संजपेत् धीमान्, स्तोत्र वा प्रपठेत् सदा ।

महा-भैरव-सायुज्यं, स्वान्त-काले भवेद् ध्रुवं ।।

कठिन आराधना है पर कहा जाता है जिस प्रकार महामृत्युंजय मंत्र आयुवर्धन व रोग नाश के लिए अचूक वरदान है उसी प्रकार स्वर्णाकर्षण भैरव साधना कुंडली मे महादरिद्र योग व आर्थिक समस्याओं के योग को समाप्त करती है।

 इस साधना में चैतन्य किये गए स्वर्णाकर्षण यंत्र को पूजा स्थान मे स्थापित कर दें और नित्य यंत्र का दर्शन करे।

Guruji satsang - I am blessed

*24. Feel That "I Am Blessed"*

There is so much talk about success. Have you ever thought what success is? Success is simply ignorance about one's capabilities. Success is ignorance about the power of the self because you assume you can do only this much. If there are obstacles, you are clear about your objective. 

With a calm and serene mind, think of many possibilities. Know that failures are stepping stones for greater success. Actually, there are no failures in life. All the seeming failures are only stepping stones for greater success. If you feel the obstacle is too much, deep prayer can work miracles. 

The feeling that I am blessed can help you overcome any failure. Once you realise that you are blessed, than all the complaints disappear, all the grumbling disappears, all the insecurities disappears, a sense of not being loved disappears, wanting love disappears. 

Ego is always ambitious and wants to do tough jobs like climbing Mount Everest whereas in a simple act like watching a butterfly, watering a garden, watching the birds or the sky, can bring deep relaxation and relaxation connects you with your source. 

Seemingly trivial actions open a new dimension and bring in immense peace and rest. Just come out of your little shell and feel free. There is a saying - Behind every successful man is a women. I will modify this - Behind every success there is the divine saying, I am behind you.

Guruji satsang - stress

🌷5 Things You Need to Know About Stress 🌷 

(From Wisdom post of Sri Sri)

There is a beautiful human being inside everyone. What makes one different is the stress that covers the beauty. When the stress is gone, we become our original selves. In this article, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speaks on the 5 things we need to know about stress.

1.Too much to do, too little time, and no energy – that’s what the definition of stress is. When you want to do too much and you have neither energy nor time, you get stressed.

2. Secondly, remember you have faced many challenges in the past and you have overcome them all. So, have this confidence that I can handle this challenge as well.

3. Then you must also know that there’s nothing more important in life than life itself. If you are alive, then everything else is. If you are alive, then there is business. If you are alive, then relationships. If you are alive, then there is fame or whatever you wish for. Don’t put life at risk to get these other things. You must give more importance to life itself.

4. Why do you do anything that you do? It is because you want to be happy. And if you achieve something at the cost of happiness, it is worth nothing at all. You achieved what you wanted but you lost happiness, then that achievement is null and void. So you must keep this in mind.

5. Things happen through a different law in the Universe. You might have noticed that you had been very good to people and still there were people who suddenly became your enemies. Your friends became your enemies. And the opposite happens too: someone whom you have not done any big favor for, they help you when you really need it. So friendship or animosity happens through some special law of the Universe, and it is called karma.

When your times are good, your worst enemy behaves as a friend, and when your time is bad, then your best friend behaves like an enemy. So, understand things from a bigger dimension.

Guruji satsang - Perfection

Gurudev SriSri RaviShankar :

“If you find any imperfection in another, don’t get frustrated and criticize them, instead volunteer to help them grow!

There are some very talented people in the world, but they too have some negative points. Now, if you look only at the minus points, their talents become invisible. When you are looking for perfection everywhere around, I tell you, you forget to see the imperfection inside of you. You want everything to be perfect, but are you perfect? You have to look for that.

When you gain perfection at something, you will stop pointing out imperfections and you will stop getting frustrated about the imperfections of others, and instead contribute to their growth – to help them become perfect.

Everyone has flaws, and everyone has some very good qualities as well. But if you see only flaws, then you will miss out on their plus points. Nobody can become perfect overnight. It is a gradual process, and we need to encourage them to help them get there!”

Q. Gurudev, you are always in a hurry ?

Sri Sri : Yes, I am always in Hari.

'Being in a state of equanimity, and enduring whatever comes, whether it is hot or cold, good or bad, praise or criticism, is tapasya. Can you listen to an insult with the same equanimity as when you listen to compliments? That is tapasya. 

Forbearing the opposites is called tapasya, and it is essential in life.

The extent to which we follow tapasya in life, to that extent we become stronger and stable.'

Guruji satsang - Asangoham

Q:Dear Gurudev, kindly explain the meaning of Asangoham (a phrase often chanted by Gurudev in the advanced course).

HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I am not this – that is what Asangoham means. For example, I am wearing the cloth, but I am not the cloth.

The body is mine but I am not the body. I am not the thoughts, I am not the mind. Like this you go on to negate one by one all the layers of identity. And finally when you ask, ‘Who am I?’ You will find nothing!

‘I am nothing, I am just the space.’ That is what Asangoham is.

Sangoham means being one with it. If I think I am my clothes, then that is a problem. I am beyond all these layers of existence.

If I think that I am my thoughts, my emotions, my sensations then I lose track of my vast nature. Therefore to reach the realization of our vastness we say, ‘I am not this and I am not this’, repeatedly.

(Gurudev sings)

Mano Budhyahankaar Chittani Naaham, Na Cha Shrotra Jihve Na Cha Ghraana netre Na Cha Vyoma Bhumir Na Tejo Na Vayuh, Chidananda Rupah Shivoham Shivoham

- From the Atmashtakam (By Adi Shankaracharya)

I am not the mind, intellect, memory or ego. I am not this, not this, not this. 

This is the way of negating and going into that hollow and empty space. This Shiva Tattva is what I really am. This realization is what meditation is; that is Samadhi.

Guruji satsang - Ramayana

The significance of Ramayana ~ Sri Sri 

The Ramayana is not just a story which happened long ago; it has a philosophical, spiritual significance and a deep truth in it. 

The words ‘rays’ and ‘radiance’ come from the Sanskrit root word ‘ra’. ‘Ra’ means light, ‘Ma’ means within me, in my heart. So, Rama means the light within me. That which is radiant in every particle of the being is Rama.

Rama was born to Dasharath and Kousalya. Dasharath means ‘Ten Chariots’. The ten chariots symbolize the five sense organs and five organs of action. Kousalya means ‘skill’. The skillful rider of the ten chariots can give birth to Ram. When the ten are used skillfully, radiance is born within.

Rama was born in Ayodhya. Ayodhya means ‘a place where no war can happen’. When there is no conflict in our mind, then the radiance can dawn.

The Ramayana is not just a story which happened long ago; it has a philosophical, spiritual significance and a deep truth in it. It is said that the Ramayana is happening in your own body.

Your soul is Rama, your mind is Sita, your breath or life-force(prana) is Hanuman, your awareness is Laxmana and your ego is Ravana.  When the mind was stolen by Ravana (the ego) then the soul got restless. Now the soul cannot reach the mind on its own, it has to take the help of the breath – the prana. With the help of the prana, the mind got reunited with the soul, and the ego vanished.

Guruji satsang - Prayer 🙏

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. It also nurtures values like integrity and honesty. Prayer happens in two situations, or in a combination of situations. When you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. If you are not grateful and prayerful, you will be miserable. In either case your prayers will be answered. 

What you can do, you do. What you cannot do, you pray for. It is said the divine dawns in you when you pray for it, when you sing for it. The divine is only waiting for we you to dig a little deeper into yourself. Because, it can then fill you with much more nectar.

Divine wants you to create more space in you. Cry from your soul for help. This is for those seekers who are weak. Those seekers who are strong with the power of knowledge can sing with that joy of what they have achieved. 

The moment you sing in gratitude, in glory of the divine, it immediately dawns in you, and fills you up again. One type of people are grateful for all their growth. The other type are helpless and weak. Both will be helped. Spirituality is not same ritual, or doing something. 

It is a very pleasant, uplifted state of being and seeing the whole world is all spirit or consciousness. Use prayer to bring integration your personality. Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the final say and it will always be the best.

Guruji satsang - Take out time for yourself

*Take Out Time For Yourself*

If for the whole day you are engaged in only gathering information, you do not take out time for yourself to think and reflect. A few quiet moments are sources for creativity. 

Some time during the day, sit for a few minutes, get into the cave of your heart, eyes closed, and kick the world away like a ball. But, during the day be 100% attached to the work. 

Eventually, you will be able to be both attached and detached. This is the skill of living, the art of living. Renunciation refills your energy. Creativity cannot happen only just through efforts. There is a beautiful story about Chhatrapati Shivaji. 

At one time Shivaji became so frustrated about ruling his kingdom that he went to his guru Samarth Ramdas and told him that he is fed up and that he just wants to renounce everything. Ramdas told him that he can renounce everything. 

Shivaji became so happy and relaxed at the very thought. Then Ramdas told him “Now I am the king and you are my servant. Will you do whatever I ask you to do?”

Shivaji - For you I am ready to do anything. 

Ramdas - Very good. Will you run this country for me? 

Shivaji - Yes, I will run the country for you. Total renunciation has brought zeal and enthusiasm in him. Creativity springs up when you are relaxed. You have to renounce all work you have done the whole day, only then can you rest in the night. 

Though many times pain, struggle and frustration have brought out creativity in some people, these are not the only reasons for a person to be creative. 

Millions of people in the world are struggling or frustrated, but they are not creative. So, taking out some time for yourself improves the quality of your life.

If for the whole day you are engaged in only gathering information, you do not take out time for yourself to think and reflect. A few quiet moments are sources for creativity. 

Some time during the day, sit for a few minutes, get into the cave of your heart, eyes closed, and kick the world away like a ball. But, during the day be 100% attached to the work. 

Eventually, you will be able to be both attached and detached. This is the skill of living, the art of living. Renunciation refills your energy. Creativity cannot happen only just through efforts. There is a beautiful story about Chhatrapati Shivaji. 

At one time Shivaji became so frustrated about ruling his kingdom that he went to his guru Samarth Ramdas and told him that he is fed up and that he just wants to renounce everything. Ramdas told him that he can renounce everything. 

Shivaji became so happy and relaxed at the very thought. Then Ramdas told him “Now I am the king and you are my servant. Will you do whatever I ask you to do?”

Shivaji - For you I am ready to do anything. 

Ramdas - Very good. Will you run this country for me? 

Shivaji - Yes, I will run the country for you. Total renunciation has brought zeal and enthusiasm in him. Creativity springs up when you are relaxed. You have to renounce all work you have done the whole day, only then can you rest in the night. 

Though many times pain, struggle and frustration have brought out creativity in some people, these are not the only reasons for a person to be creative. 

Millions of people in the world are struggling or frustrated, but they are not creative. So, taking out some time for yourself improves the quality of your life.

Guruji satsang - Life Struggles

Life Struggles

All our struggles in life is to know more. You are trying your level best to understand feelings and emotions, and you get into more and more confusion. This is what has happened with psychology today. It tries to explain to you why you fell like the way you are feeling. 

The 'why' arises always when you are unhappy. You ask "Why this problem to me of all the people?" Nobody ever asked, "Why am I so happy?" You wanted to understand, "Why am I not feeling good?", or "Why am I angry?", or "Why is this not happening?" 

The more you try to understand and try to dig in, you seem to understand less and less. The mystery deepens, an illusion comes as though "I know it". But that is for short while. We ourselves do not know and we try to explain others. 

Stop your explanations, put you into a soup and also make other people more confused. You don't know what is happening in your mind. Mind is like a roller coaster. It's a crowd. Just be in the simple and innocent state of "I don't know". This life is a mystery, it's beautiful live it. 

Living the mystery of life totally is joy. Becoming the mystery is divine. You are a mystery. When you see life in this context, clarity dawns in your mind and improves.

Guruji satsang - hate and emotions

The most intelligent thing to do is not to hate anybody because whomsoever you hate, you get those impressions embedded in you. A gardener is working in the garden. When you work in a garden, you will definitely get dirty. 

Your gloves will get dirty, your hands will get dirty, and your clothes will get some mud splashes. But after you come inside and wash up, you don’t identify yourself with the mud that got splashed onto you while you were working in the garden, right?

In the same way, while we are in society, moving among people, the emotions of others get splashed onto our subtle mind and we start to identify with them. This is what becomes a problem. We identify, “Oh, this is my emotion - my anger and my greed”. 

Whether the emotions are positive or negative, we identify with them and then we try to get rid of them. And it’s not an easy job. It’s like the gardener who thinks some mud that is on him will not go away.

For example, you’re peacefully working in your office. You have done your morning meditation and you feel good, but your boss is uptight. Suddenly, there is some problem that comes up and you get agitated. Someone else’s agitation has latched on to you and you think, “Oh, I am angry.” 

The clever thing to do is to not identify yourself with the emotion that has nothing to do with you. You can realise, “I am different from the emotions. The emotions are different from me.

Guruji satsang - what to do to stay calm

Q:  I am happy and calm now. What can I do to maintain this state throughout life?

 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Share it with more and more people. Joy or wisdom if not shared with others starts dwindling. Now this does not mean you go to others and start teaching them Bhastrika Pranayama, or the Sudarshan Kriya. Unless you get properly trained, you should not go about teaching meditation and these practices to others. This is why we had to put a quality control for Yoga in the country today. There is a QCI (Quality Control for India) body and the government has asked it to do something for Yoga also. It is because it is observed that people learn something from somewhere and then go around teaching it to others without proper training. Then when some unwanted or unexpected things happen it becomes a problem. There is a proverb in Sanskrit – “Yasya kasya tarur-mulam yena kenapi churnitam; yasmai kasmai pradaatavyam yatvaa-tatvaa bhavishyati” (From the Subhashita). It means that someone may bring the root of any tree, grind it into a fine powder and give it off as medicine to others. And something or the other may happen to the other person by taking that (untested) medicine. The same is what is happening with Yoga also these days. People practice Yoga for just a week and proclaim themselves to be Yoga instructors and teachers. There needs to be a proper quality system in place for Yoga also, and there should be levels or stages of training and certification. Until then, do not just go and train others. But you should always talk to other people about Yoga and bring more awareness about it. You should definitely inspire and encourage others for this.

Guruji satsang - Grace

How To Attract Grace Into My Life?

 ~ Sri Sri 

Whenever there is victory, it is due to some grace. Whether it is victory in sports, in a lottery, in studies, in a competition, or in politics – all of it happens through grace alone. When a person forgets that and gets into ego, then it results in their downfall. So always remember that whenever and wherever there is victory, it is through grace.

What is Grace?

There is a commonly-used phrase – “God's Grace”. What does this mean?

Whenever you achieve something very significant that felt like it was beyond your capacity, which was worth having, but came to you not by your doing alone, that is Grace.

You feel, “I am not capable or qualified for this, yet I got this”.

When you recognize the Grace in your life, you feel very grateful, because you feel you have been bestowed with things that you were not worthy of. And this is the language of a wise person. A wise person never says, "Oh, I earned it. This is my right". When you think it is your right, you are getting what you got because of your right – there is no gratitude. Gratefulness is there when you feel that you got this not by your effort but because it was bestowed on you by Grace, as a gift. That brings gratefulness.

What is the Cause of Grace?

Grace is causeless and unmerited. It is not obtained through some merit or cause. Grace is received without any conditions. It is not that only after doing something you will receive Grace. If so, then that is not Grace – that is business. You are blessed with Grace just like that – without any conditions whatsoever. Grace is always there, just become aware of it and know that you are being showered with Grace.

Grace is something that can go inside even a closed purse. You don’t need to pay money to receive Grace. And if someone tells you that Grace will come to you only by opening your purse and giving money, then know that something is wrong for sure. God always blesses you in abundance. You need not pay money to receive it.

How Do I Attract More Grace in My Life?

The more grateful we become, the more we experience Grace in life. A mind that is complaining all the time cannot experience Grace. But one who is thankful and contented experiences more Grace in life.

 

We say that we want blessings and Grace. Blessings are available in plenty, but if your vessel is small, then what to do?

If you bring a tea cup and say, “Give me two liters of milk in this”, how can two liters of milk fit in the little cup? The cup is small and you are asking for too much. You need to bring a vessel with the capacity of three liters and then I can give you two liter or three liter, whatever you want.

So, you must remember that whatever you get is your capacity, and if you want to get more, then you must expand your capacity. When your capacity increases, more will definitely come to you.

How Do I Expand My Capacity to Receive More Grace?

Just having the intention to increase one’s capacity itself does half the job.

Be natural, simple, and humble. Humility from within naturally increases one’s capacity.

Meditation, spiritual practices, service to society and knowledge.

Shatt Sampatti (the Six Wealths or Six-fold Virtues)

Sama (calmness of mind) 

Dama (self-control or restraint of the senses) 

Uparati (satiety) 

Titiksha (power of endurance) 

Shraddha (faith) 

Samadhana (equanimity or one-pointedness of the mind)

This is what you must focus on increasing more in your life. By enhancing these virtues, your capacity to receive blessings will increase.