Sunday, August 29, 2010

Being young at heart means being enthusiastic, willingness to do anything and to create something new

22 Jun 10
Bangalore Ashram, India
(Sri Sri welcoming Yes plus youths to the Ashram)
All of you have come home. There is a lot of fun and knowledge for you here. There are many surprises waiting for you.
Youth means enthusiasm, fun, ready to do anything, to create something new - these are the qualities of a youth. And all of you have these qualities.
It is important for our society that this youthfulness finds place in millions of hearts. We have to multiply rapidly on this front. Even if 10 enthusiastic youth come up in a village, they can bring a lot of change in that village. They will remove any corruption and fanaticism prevailing nowadays.
I will give you two examples.
There was a woman in Mumbai who knew French language. She came to me and said, 'I know French. Please send me somewhere for service.'I said,'Ok. You can go wherever you like, and we will make the arrangements.' She went to the Ivory Coast. There were strong conflicts between Muslim and Christian groups. There was a lot of tension in villages. She organized an ‘Art of Living’ course for all the people in one village. Then she organized a course in another village where people from the opposing group lived. She got both the groups together. Christians went to the Muslim village and built a school there. Muslims built toilets for the Christian homes. Like this they became useful to each other and the whole conflict was resolved. One, two, three..like this problem was resolved in 10-15 villages. In 2008, the government of Ivory Coast rewarded the ‘Art of Living’ for the outstanding work. We will see a film about this in coming few days.
Many of you would have heard of Khakiyavadi village in Nanded district in Maharashtra. There is no board for any casts. There is just one board which says, 'Divya Samaj Nirman' (Divine Society).One-two people took the responsibility, and they organized Nav Chetna Shivirs and meditation camps for 600 families in this village. Earlier, it was a notorious village, but now satsang happens there every day. There are no druggists or alcoholics in the village anymore. There is no liquor shop in the village. Every home has a smokeless chullah (smokeless stove). The whole village is organic. There is a shop where there is no shopkeeper. Prices are printed on commodities. People pick up what they need and put the payment in a box. It has become a model village. It was such a notorious village, and now it has become a model village. The Government has given them the honor of a 'Clean and model village' and also given them monetary reward.
A few enthusiastic youths changed the face of Dharavi slum also. It is the largest slum in Asia. A quality school was also started there. Children, who used to wander on the streets, study there and pass with first class marks.
Delhi youths will also share their experiences of 'Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna' programme. Even government is also surprised with their enthusiastic work. There is still a lot to be done by them.
Each and every youth has this enormous power. Our youth will have enthusiasm and awareness. There are many who are angry and enthusiastic, which is very easy to be. But we want our youth to be enthusiastic and aware at the same time, who joyfully accomplishes the goal. What the goal is – Uplifting the society. Nobody should be suffering from starvation or depression. Nobody should be denied justice.
Our Yuvacharyas went to get license for a factory. They refused to pay any bribe. Without any anger and with full confidence they said, “Sir, we move by principles of the ‘Art of Living’ and we will not be giving any bribe. We can come to you for 50 times if you want, but we won’t pay any bribe.” That man very easily gave them the license. I would want all of you to move ahead in teams like this.
You all have time here to develop a multifaceted personality. Gain as much talent as you can. We need to enhance our talents along with Yoga, Pranayama and meditation. We will do that. Debating groups, journalism groups... Some people should frame talk shows. Those who do not know public speaking should speak in public; those who are bad singers should come and sing in mike. We keep on doing what we know, and there is no joy in that. Venture in that which you do not know. Let those, who don’t know how to prepare food, cook food. Then it may be a problem for them who know how to eat! This way we should take it as a challenge to practice that which we don’t have in us.
How many of you felt energized just after entering the campus? Many of you have travelled for long and come here. Many of you have travelled for three-four days. How many of you feel that this is unusual that entering a place makes you refreshed. You know, why does this happen?
(Because of you, Guruji!)
It is because people have been meditating here. Meditation keeps the energy high in the whole surroundings. This is the effect of meditation, knowledge and devotion. So, we need to keep this energy high, and to do that you don’t miss the morning exercises. We will have different types of yoga for you – sports yoga, village women yoga, Dance yoga, Animal yoga and philosophical yoga. We can avoid any arguments, back biting or criticizing. If you feel any such thing in your mind, you can write it down and put it in botheration basket. Suppose somebody in your room is snoring! You definitely cannot live for three-four days with somebody who is snoring. Either you take ear plugs or we will put all snorers in one room, and we will have an orchestra! There is nothing wrong in snoring. Don’t feel guilty if anybody does that. If there are many snorers, we will allot rooms for them. Only one thing which needs to be considered is that all snorers have to go to bed at the same time. Then only symphony will come along! (Bubbles of Laughter)
None of you is a guest here. All of you are hosts and you must act like hosts, and not guests. This is your place. You have to create a homely atmosphere. It is already there but you need to get that to yourself. So, everyone is a host, only I am guest here! Feel absolutely relaxed and at home. You anyway know that, no body needs to tell you that.
Those who want to write poems and articles should do all these things here. Rest of everything is a surprise for you!

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