Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Little Things In Life

Fri, 10/03/2014 Bangalore, India
A very happy Vijaya Dasami to all those who have joined us on the webcast from many different cities.
After nine days of a grand divine party all over the country, today is the day of victory (Vijaya Dasami). Today we celebrate the victory of grandness over pettiness, of the big mind over the small mind, of good over the evil.
Normally, when the mind is taken over by negative tendencies we keep fighting with it. This is when we surrender it to the divinity to take care of it. We say, 'I can’t fight with my own mind so you take care of it and you show me the path'. This is what the nine days of Navratri signifies, i.e., the victory of the spiritual power, the higher self over pettiness and small things.
Let us all take a sankalpa to make the best use of all that we have been given for the welfare of the world.
Let us expand our vision.
Today is also the day of gratefulness. A day to feel grateful for all that we have received in life.
In this universe there is nothing significant or everything is significant (including the small things). Just imagine, you are riding on a bike and you don’t have buttons on your shirt, what would happen? The shirt will fly and go onto your face. So the small buttons are very significant.
Something as small as a needle also has a purpose. Without a needle you can’t even wear the clothes you are wearing, isn't it? So tiny things also add meaning to our lives. And today is the day to honor and feel grateful for all the instruments that add meaning to our life.
All instruments are created by the mind and our mind is created by the divine. In fact the mind is divine. And all the thoughts that came to the mind to create an aeroplane, a camera, a mike, has all come from the same source, i.e., Devi.
This is what we chant in the Chandi Homa, 'Ya devi sarva bhuteshu buddhi rupena samsthita' (to the divine goddess who resides in all existence in the form of intelligence). Through this prayer we see that the intellect in all beings is the manifestation of nothing but the one divinity.
It is the one divinity which manifests itself as the intellect in all beings. It is the same divinity that is present in all human beings as hunger and as sleep. And it is the same divinity which is also present as agitation or restlessness. This realization, that everything is a manifestation of the one divine brings rest to the mind.
So you don’t have to say, 'What should I do with this mind?' Don't try to do anything with your mind, just relax. Do whatever service you can do and just relax.
If you want to think, then think about what you can do for the world and not what you should do about your mind. There is a (higher) power to take care of the mind.
On this day (Vijaya Dasami), let us all take a sankalpa to make the best use of all that we have been given for the welfare of the world. Let us expand our vision.
Forget about how you feel, feelings keep changing. One minute it is good, next minute it is not good, so what! Move with valour and courage.
Winning over the small mind is Vijaya Dasami.
There are many situations or states of mind, but generally you can categorize them into three kinds:
1. When there is craving or longing. Longing for worldly or spiritual experiences
2. When there is dullness. There is neither longing nor there is any interest in anything. a sense of inertia in our mind. You just go on with inertia. This situation can set now and then in life
3. When there is contentment, happiness and joy
The purpose of all this celebration is to move from inertia to joy, to move from longing to contentment. It’s so beautiful.
There are those who do not even look at their mind, they just keep working and working. Then there are others who keep looking at their own mind. Both are not good, take the middle path. Sometimes take a look at the mind, but not all the time. Do you see what I’m saying? Otherwise you will become self-centred, all the time thinking, 'What do I want?' Or 'I am feeling like this'.
Forget about how you feel, feelings keep changing. One minute it is good, next minute it is not good, so what! Move with valour and courage. Winning over the small mind is Vijaya Dasami.
In the small mind there is bickering, judgements and all kinds of noise that goes on. Navratri is a time to overcome these tendencies and unite with the source.
During Navratri this year we have distributed 9000 solar lamps to villages where there is no electricity.
I also thank all the cooks and kitchen staff. They have worked day and night with a smile and have done a good job.

Monday, April 27, 2015

The Measure Of Karma

Tue, 09/09/2014 Bangalore, India
Gurudev, where does one seek the do’s and don'ts on karma?

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Being With God!

Thu, 10/02/2014 Bangalore, India
(A note from Sri Sri at the Rishi Homa at The Art of Living International Center, Bangalore on the occasion of Navratri)
Just now the Vedic pundits recited a beautiful verse from the Sama Veda. The verse says: 
This 
Samsara (material world or the illusory world) is born from the mind. The world as we understand it, is not what lies outside, but it is our mind that is behind our perception and understanding of this creation.
Now to cross over this ocean of misery (this 
Samsara), there is a bridge that we can use. What is this bridge that helps us overcome this Samsara, and what lies on either side of it?
On one side there is Adaana (greed, lack of charity). Adaana means to have this constant hankering of 'I want this, I want that'. We do not feel like giving and sharing with others. So the verse says that you should drop this quality of Adaana by sharing and giving generously in charity.
Then it says that you must drop your anger by becoming more peaceful. And finally it says thatyou should drop your doubts and wrong beliefs by being more firmly established in faith and devotion to the Divine. When you firmly latch on to Shraddha (unwavering faith), then all your doubts and negativity simply disappear. In the same way, when you pursue the truth and establish yourself in the truth, then all falsehood and negativity disappears.
So these are the qualities that lie on either side of the bridge that takes you across Samsara.
In the next line of the verse, it says that it is difficult to cross the ocean of misery, but you must still do it by constantly practising these noble qualities.
What will you get by constant practice? You will become steady and established in the divine and you will cross this Samsara. You will experience the nectar of immortality (the Self) and you will become a glowing light.
The next verse says that you are originally a part of God, a part of the divine. So unite back with your source, and let your mind dissolve and unite with everybody and become one with the divine, as you originally were.
Otherwise what happens is that you think something, and someone else thinks something else, and your minds do not meet. When minds do not meet, that is where the problems start.
This is the last verse of the Rig Veda and this is how the Constitution of India also ends. So the verse is a prayer to unite the assembly of our thoughts and minds in harmony with the big mind. 'Let there be equanimity at every level because everyone is the same and everyone is a part of the divineLet all our minds go together without any conflict or differences'.
It is very beautiful.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Rich Will Get Richer

Wed, 10/01/2014 Bangalore, India
Blessings to everyone on this auspicious day! Just walk ahead in life with a deep sense of contentment.
There are two things you must remember:
Our godliness lies in our innocence and in being natural. That is why it is said, 'Sahaj miley avinashi' (One attains the divine by being innocent and natural).
The second thing to remember is that we have received a lot from the divine. Just take it for granted that you have received a lot in your life. If you keep thinking, 'I want this, I want that', then the mind becomes restless and wanders here and there. But when you have this deep faith that 'I have received so much in life', then the mind is at peace and there is contentment.
When you keep thinking that 'I must have this, or I want that', then you experience misery.
When you think that 'I have received so much', then you will receive more and more.
In the same way, if you think, 'I have done so much for others', or 'I have given so much to others', then also you will become miserable and arrogant.
Having this feeling that 'I have received so much, and there is so much I have to share with others' is the sign of being in knowledge. This is true contentment.
So I have said three things:
1. Be innocent and natural. If you are innocent and natural, then there is no delay in attaining the divine. Then even if you want, you cannot be separate from the divine. This is the kind of unshakeable devotion one must have towards the divine.
2. Remember that 'I have been given so much, and there is so much to share with others'. This is the path to happiness and contentment.
3. Thinking that 'I have given so much, and I want this and that', is the path to misery and suffering.
The Yajnas (sacred fire offerings) done here are done for the benefit of the entire world, to bring peace, happiness, and prosperity to the world. The benefits of the Yajnas done here reaches far and wide. All that we need is to get connected to our source, to the divinity, and then we will realize that we already have everything.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Desires Are Never Ending

Fri, 09/05/2014 Bangalore, India
(Below is a continuation of the post Guru Utsav Divas)
Gurudev, I have been your devotee for the past 15 years, and life has become so wonderful. But many times this question comes to my mind, that what will I get by doing Sadhana, Seva, Satsang, Siddhi (extraordinary abilities) and Moksha (liberation)? What will come next?