Friday, May 31, 2013

The Secret Behind The Ancient Sciences

April 08, 2013

Boone, North Carolina

2403

Questions & Answers
Gurudev, how often do great souls like you come to this world? How do they decide when to come back?
Sri Sri: That is a secret! 
Gurudev, could you tell us about the Saptarishis?
Sri Sri: The universe has a rhythm called chandas. Everything is in a wave function; the receivers of certain wave functions are known as Rishis. Rishi is a position; it is not the name of a person, and there are more than a thousand Rishis. Of these, seven are very important, and they relate to the seven chakras. 
Rishis have been there in every age; there are many stories about them. A Rishi is like the Dean, or the Vice Chancellor of a University. They also underwent training, and then became part of the tradition. 
So, like how you say, ‘I am an Alumni of Harvard’, or ‘I am a Stanford graduate’, similarly, there are Gotras. Gomeans knowledge, and Gotra means, belonging to a particular knowledge group or Rishi tradition. So, just like we have different DNA or blood groups, we have different Gotras or families that come from certain knowledge groups, or Rishi traditions. 

What are the names of the Saptarishis?
Sri Sri: Sapta or the seven rishis are, Kashyapa, Athri, Vashishta, Bharadvaja, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vishwamitra. 

What is the significance of the shraadh ceremonies?
Sri Sri: Shraadh is doing some good deeds with faith, in the memory of those who have crossed over to the other side. 
The tradition started as an activity related to feeding the poor, taking care of them, and giving them some gifts. However, any good deed done in the memory of those who have passed away, like giving charity, or donation in their name, is all called shraadh. The objective is to thank them, although they are not on this plane.
Ceremonies for the departed are followed world over. In Singapore, it is like a festival, a public holiday. Even in China, it is a very big affair.
In Singapore, the belief is, whatever you offer to the ancestors, the same is sent back in the form of blessings. So, whatever blessings people would want, they would make those things in paper, and burn them. 
They believed that whatever you give away through fire, you will receive the same in the form of blessings here. E.g., if someone wants a car, or a fridge, they make a huge paper car or fridge, put it on the street, and burn it. 
If they want a million dollars, they burn one million dollars of fake currency. 
It is a wonder how mankind starts fooling himself or herself, and expects to receive blessings for real currency! Anyway, this has been the traditional practice.
In India, similar things happen. People pray to Bhagavati or Mother Divine, and offer a coconut. They say, ‘I will offer 21 coconuts, please let me marry the right person.’ As if Mother Divine is expecting 21 coconuts from you! 
Innocent people do something to get something. It is called mannat (wish), it means you need to do something to get some favor. 

For how long should shraadh ceremonies be performed?
Sri Sri: In ancient days, shraadh ceremonies were performed until the soul was re-born. So, they would do it for 15 years, and then they knew that the soul was re-born, so they would stop doing it. 
Today, since we have lost the ability to know whether they are still there or reborn, we keep doing it.

What is the significance of some of these ceremonies?
Sri Sri: In the Brahmin household, shraadhis an elaborate ceremony. Women would prepare food from early morning, and only certain foods are eaten. Then the pundits would come, and perform a ceremony where the Devas (angels or gods) would be invited to bring the departed parents. 
Three generations of parents would be remembered, and some rice balls would be put out to the crows. They would wait and watch from which direction the crows came, how they took the food, where it went, and if they were they satisfied? 
It is like a tarot card reading; from the signs that are there, one would decipher what happened or what is happening. It is a little complicated, sometimes too complicated. The main thing would be about preparing elaborate food, and feeding people. 
I think all this is man-made. Maybe there is something scientific in it. We should look in to it.
There is one ceremony called Tilla Tarpanamoffering sesame seeds with water. I think the purpose of this ceremony is to tell people who have gone across that if you still have any desire in your mind, just drop it, because the desire is as small and insignificant as a sesame seed. We, your children, are here to fulfill those desires. You drop it and move on.
In India, tilla means smallesttarpan is to be fulfilledtrupti means contentment. So, tarpanam means be contented. 
We tell the departed three times, ‘Be contented!’ 
The message is, ‘You have left this world. Going there, do not keep hankering. If there is any discontent, let go. Move on. This world is enormous, huge, there is so much; you go to the light and leave this bondage here. If there is any desire of yours left unfulfilled, we are here to take care of it, as your children. You be content.’ 
These mantras are so nice, so beautiful. 

What is the significance of the last rite ceremonies?
Sri Sri: The last rites also have a purpose, they are very nice. A mantra is said in the ear of the corpse, because the soul is still there for some time, it has not gone. They are told, ‘Look, this body is going back to its original elements. You are not that. You are light. Move on.’ 
It is the son or the daughter who says it. Today, this ceremony has become male dominated.
There is a belief in India that you have to have a son in order to be liberated, because even after you die, it is the son who will say these mantras, give you knowledge and liberate you. Without the son, there is no liberation! However, this is not true! In the olden days, girls also had these rights.
The Art of Living is fighting against female feticide. We are working with UNICEF and United Nations Family Fund for gender equality. The Hindu scriptures speak about gender equality, but somewhere in the middle Ages, this changed. 
If you go to Bali, an ancient Hindu culture, you will find female priests there. (Bali’s Hindu culture is much older than India
In India, this practice disappeared. Females are not allowed to become priests.
Isn’t it nice, to say to those who have passed across, ‘Be satisfied! Be content! Be happy there!’ I thought it is a fantastic message, even if you say it mentally.
Mental action is for people with a little higher intelligence. 
People with little lesser intelligence want some action to be done. You don’t need to bring a flower for someone who is intelligent. However, an unintelligent person wants to do something that is action oriented. 
Those who do not have a high level of intellectual maturity, they cannot survive without action. Therefore, in the action also, they made it so meaningful. 
Take a few sesame seeds, pour some water from your hand, and remember the departed. That’s all. This is shraadh, nothing else.
Later on, the priests and pundits thought, ‘Anyways people are making offerings, why not put one or two rupee coins along? So, when they put the coins, the pundits take them. 
The coins are not mentioned anywhere! Only sesame seeds! You do it with this feeling that, ‘Be satisfied! Drop all the cravings; if you still have any desires, leave it to me.’ 

Why is India the favorite destination for enlightened masters? Is there some secret in the land?
Sri Sri: Well, it is not that only India had masters. No!
The word California comes from a Rishi called Kapila Rishi. He was the previous incarnation of Lord Krishna. He was born in California, and lived there for a long time. The place was called Kapilaranya. It is said in the scriptures that Kapilaranya is a 12 hours difference from India. 
Nova Scotia (in Canada) is also a Sanskrit name. Navas kosha, means it is at 9 hours difference from India. Onekosha is a one hour distance. Navas Kosha means 9 hours difference, and it is exactly 9 hours. 

Guruvdev, you mentioned Sanskrit as the source for these names. What are the other names that come from Sanskrit?
Sri Sri: Do you know all the months’ names are in Sanskrit?
Until a few centuries ago, the New Year always began in March, when the Sun moves to the first point of Aries. However, King George of London decided to celebrate January 1 as the New Year. Although he announced it as the New Year, people would not follow it. They continued celebrating March end - April 1, as New Year day. So, to stop people from celebrating New Year on April 1, he called it April fool’s day.
Now, let us see the meanings of the months. 
Fagun means the fag end, last; hence, Feb is the last month. March means to start new, and go ahead (the first month of the New Year). August is shashta, the sixth month.
Ambar means sky; Sapt means seven, Sapt ambar, September means seventh sky. October is ashta, eighth sky. November, Nav (nine) ambar, means ninth sky. December, Dash (ten) ambar, means tenth sky, or tenth month. 
January is the eleventh month, and February is the twelfth month. This is how the calendar was in the very beginning. The Indian, Iranian, Afghani, and Egyptian calendars, all correspond to this system. Even the Chinese New Year starts towards the end of February, beginning of March.
The dates, days and months, were all designed according to the Solar or Lunar calendar. In the Solar calendar, like the English calendar, there is a leap day. And in the Lunar calendar, there is an extra month, a leap month, that comes every 4 years. 
This year has a leap month, and so, the Solar and Lunar calendars have come so close.
This year, when the moon moves in to the first point of Aries, April 10, is the Lunar New Year. When the sun moves in to the first point of Aries, April 13, is the Solar New Year.
Do you know your breath coordinates with the movement of the sun and the moon? 
This is a very beautiful science. How your breath moves on the first day of the Lunar month, is very different from the way it moves on the first day of the Solar month. You will see your breath corresponds to that; right nostril (Surya or sun naadi) and left nostril (Chandra or moon naadi), it will tell you. So, the macrocosm and the microcosm are connected in an amazing way. 

Gurdev, there is only one sky. What is the meaning of seventh sky, eighth sky?
Sri Sri: There is 360 degrees in the galaxy. They are divided in twelve parts, and each one of them is a zodiac sign. This is called Rashi
When the earth is moving, the earth perceives the Sun to be in one of these degrees, and that becomes One Sky.
See, the stars are constant, but the earth is moving. When the earth moves around the sun, the earth is perceived to have moved, and it sees the Sun to be in different position. That is called Aries. When the Earth moves again, it finds itself in Capricorn. When the Earth moves further, it finds itself in Virgo. So, that is what seventh sky, eighth sky, etc., is. 

What are the days of the week based on?
Sri Sri: The days of the week are named according to each major planet in the solar system. Each day corresponds to one of the planets. Sunday for Sun, Monday for Moon, Tuesday for Mars, Wednesday for Mercury, Thursday for Jupiter, Friday for Venus and Saturday for Saturn.

How do the planets have an influence on our health?
Sri Sri: The macrocosm and microcosm have a big connection. 
Each planet is aligned with a particular grain, color, shape, bird and animal. All these are connected; it is also connected to a particular part of the body. Even your fingers! 
Do you know, every finger is connected to a particular planet? It is an amazing science of the uniting of the macrocosm and microcosm.
For example, the planet Mars is connected to the liver and pitta, and pitta is connected with channa daal (chick peas, humus). If you eat too much chick peas, you will find your pitta increasing. So, pitta, chick peas, Mars, they are all connected. 
The sheep is also connected to Mars; it provides heat, wool; that is how the sheep is connected. Similarly, Saturn is connected with the crow. It is also connected to black sesame seeds, and your teeth.
There is something called Medical Astrology, where you can see in a chart, what type of diseases you could get or be prone to. This could also be seen from a chart, astrologically. 
Unfortunately, a lot of this knowledge is actually lost. Many of the scriptures were half eaten, since it was all written on palm leaves; some had holes. Some were not preserved properly. Still, some of this knowledge is available today.
Astrology is an amazing science but astrologers have not studied it properly. I have my own reservations about astrologers. However, I know about astrology, about how this connection is so scientific. It is very systematic; the connections are established very scientifically. 
See, the Sun is connected with your eyes. Similarly, Jupiter is connected to your nose. Saturn is connected to your teeth, and cheeks are connected to Venus. 
The forehead is connected to Mercury. So, this is a very beautiful science, and you can know things precisely. You see someone’s face and you can make a chart. However, these sciences are lost, almost lost.
For example, nobody would have heard of Vaastu Shastra three to four decades ago. Even in India, people had not heard of it, but now, it has come up. 
It is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who first brought this knowledge back. It was his idea to promote Vaastu Shastra. Since then, it has taken off in the world. Before that, only the temple architects and builders were proficient in it. Even onVaastu Shastra, there are not too many books available. Moreover, the same Vaastu Shastra cannot be used everywhere; what is applicable for India, will vary for America or Russia. 

Does chocolate block naadis?
Sri Sri: I don’t know about chocolates. You ask some nutritionists. Too much of anything is no good.
Anyways, what I would say is, don’t bring me chocolates or any sweet for that matter. You smile, that is good enough. I find so many people bringing sweets, chocolates; don’t bring all that. 
Why waste money on all that? You can make better use of it.
In India, I say, ‘If you bring me sweets, I will feel that you are telling me that I am not sweet enough. I need to become sweeter. If you bring me flowers, then I will feel that you are telling me that I have not blossomed enough, and I need to blossom some more.’ 
If you want to give me such messages, then bring me flowers, garlands and sweets. Otherwise, just bring me your smile. 
Instead of spending money on flowers and sweets, you can use it on some good service projects.

Choose Now Not To Be A Victim

April 07, 2013

Boone, North Carolina

2726
It’s all about changing the hats you wear. You have to keep changing your hats, and keep saying, ‘Hats Off’, to that which is making everything happen.
On a second thought, I would say, ‘Hats Off’, to this which is making everything happen. By saying that, it would seem somewhere outside and far off. By saying this, it means, right here!

Questions & Answers


Dear Gurudev, you have spoken about letting go. But if a person goes on making the same mistake day after day, what to do? I can let go the first time, the second time, but not the third time. So should I tell them, or teach them, or do something about it? Please help.
Sri Sri: Yes, you should tell them, teach them, but keep them out of your mind. Letting go does not mean keeping quiet. 
You know, if someone is committing a mistake and you tell them, ‘Do not do this, because it hurts me’, then they are never going to stop. But instead if you tell them this, ‘Your making this mistake is going to hurt you’, then they will not do it. 
This is the difference between a teacher and a victim.

A victim says, ‘I am a victim. You are a culprit so you better not do this wrong-doing’. A victim can never correct a culprit. But if you are a teacher, then you can. 
What does a teacher do? He tells the other person, ‘Look my dear, what you are doing will hurt you. So don’t do it. I am telling you this out of love and compassion for you, so please do not make this mistake because it is going to hurt you even more’. 
Then something stirs within the other person and they listen to you. They change their ways. So just remember this,a victim can never correct a culprit. And if you wish to correct somebody or teach them a lesson, you need to have that magnanimity of a teacher. You have to have compassion, a broad vision and equanimity within you. 
Three things are essential, magnanimity, equanimity, and skill. Then you can digest their mistakes with ease.

See, mistakes keep happening on this planet. You cannot stop mistakes from happening. It will continue to happen, and has been happening through the ages. When you do not want a particular person to commit a mistake because you see them as a part of you, when you see them suffering and you feel that they should come out of it because it is not good for them, then you guide them out of it. Got it?
You cannot say that there should not be any drainage, or that there should not be any dirty swamps in the world. Swamps do exist on the planet, but you do not want your friend or dear one to fall into it. So you should simply guide them away or out of it. That needs compassion. See, how do you help someone when they have fallen in a ditch? 
Just by your standing there and telling them, ‘Hey! Come out of that ditch’, is not going to help at all. You have to give them your hand, and they should trust you that you are surely going to help them out of it before they give their hand in yours. 
You can pull them out of that situation only when you can catch hold of their hand. Only then can you transform people. Just by pointing someone’s mistakes to them is not going to work. You need to have that magnanimity, equanimity and that skill. 
You may have the skill and magnanimity, but you also need to have equanimity. 
You may have the equanimity and be able to keep your calm when someone makes a mistake, and you may also have the skill to correct them, but if you do not have the magnanimity of accepting them and uplifting them, then also it will not work. This is what has been my observation.

So you can change a culprit with the help of three things together: magnanimity, equanimity and skill. 
This point may actually be good for all of you, because some of you are Art of Living teachers, and some of you are organizers in different places.

I want to share an incident with you all. 
Once, there was a program conducted in Mumbai. We have a few senior teachers in Mumbai, and we have an Apex body also which was organizing the event and taking care of all the arrangements. 
Now the senior teachers had been organizing such events there for many years, and the new members there did not like the way they were going about organizing things. 
The senior teachers had always been in charge of such events, and these new members wanted a chance to contribute and take responsibility of the work. So the new members started to empower the others but found that the senior members were not giving them a chance to do their job properly. So they all had a meeting, and the senior teachers came together and in one voice scolded the new junior members. 
Following this, all the organizers resigned. This happened just two weeks prior to the event. So I called up the senior teachers on the phone and said, ‘Look, did they take your advice by your scolding them?’ 
They said ‘No’. 
So I said, ‘You know that they will not take your advice. So why do you give them advice? And they will never take your advice by scolding them. No doubt you poured out your heart to them. But what was the impact of doing so? Did things become more constructive or did they get worse?’ 
They said, ‘Yes it became worse’.

So this is what I want you to see. 
For example, let us say, you are working in a company, and you get a brilliant idea. If you go to your boss and tell him that what he is doing is wrong and scold him, do you think he will listen to your idea? No, he will not listen. Then why do you do something which is not going to be productive? It consumes so much of your energy and time. 
True that by pouring out your emotions you became empty. But that is not going to help in any way. 
So I told the new members that the senior members were not going to listen to them since they were all accomplished people in the society. They are all big business people and they know what they are doing. Or they think they know what they are doing. And they are not going to listen to someone else even if they are wrong. They will not take it from some other person, or from the youngsters. 
You know, there are different levels and barriers in the society. There is the age barrier, the status barrier, etc. If nothing else, there is the ego barrier. 
So the next day, they got together and again had a meeting. Since everyone wanted me to visit Mumbai and I was going there after a gap of two years, there was such a strong yearning for this among the people, and so in the end, everything worked out well.

What I am trying to say is that, all the three, magnanimity, equanimity and skill, need to be there. This incident suddenly opened up the minds of all our senior teachers. They also agreed that it was the correct way, and that there is no point in pointing out a mistake which has already happened. People will not listen to you and they will only justify their mistakes. 
So when the situation is such, what is the point in behaving this way? You should put your point forward as a positive suggestion instead of telling the other person that what he or she did was wrong. Tell them like this instead, ‘May be this way would be a better idea’.

Let me tell you another story about an astrologer.
Once an astrologer went to a king. The king showed great reverence to the astrologer, made him sit and honoured him with gifts. The king then showed his palm and the charts to astrologer. The astrologer examined everything and then said to the king, ‘O King! You will lose your entire family. Everybody is going to die before you. You will be the last to die’. 
The king got very upset upon hearing this and put the astrologer in the jail. 
This news shook the entire astrologers’ community. They thought, ‘We cannot tell the truth to the king. If we do so, he will simply put us in jail. What do we do?’ 
When someone hears some negative prediction, they don’t like it. They obviously want to hear something nice and positive instead. And so it was for the king as well. 
The king then called for another astrologer to appear before him. Many tried to escape this request but one senior astrologer agreed to meet the king. So, he went before the king, and the king welcomed him in the same way with gestures and gifts. The king then showed his palm to the astrologer. The astrologer said, ‘Oh King! What a great fortune you are blessed with! You have a very good horoscope. Nobody in history has had such longevity of age as you are going to have. In fact, nobody in your dynasty has had such great longevity’. 
The astrologer never said to the king that he was going to outlive everybody else in the royal family. Instead, he told the king that he was blessed with great longevity and that he had a great horoscope. 
The king was so flattered upon hearing the news of his long life and good health. He told the astrologer, ‘Ask whatever gift you want from me and I shall give’. 
The astrologer said, ‘Please release my poor colleague who is in the jail’. 
So that skill in communication makes a huge difference.

There is a couplet in Kannada which means ‘Through words, fun and laughter happen, and it is through words that enmity can also happen’. So it is speech that creates conflict. 
What is the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, and between them and America today? It is all because of the words that have been used; all because of the speech. There is no trade issue or anything else.

There is a song in Kannada which says, ‘Your speech should be so wonderful and sweet, that even Lord Shiva should simply listen and nod happily in agreement, saying ‘Oh yes, Oh yes’. So that is how lovely your speech should be.’

Dear Gurudev, can you please explain how to overcome attachment, and what to do about the attachment for you? These days it has become very painful.
Sri Sri: You cannot hide love. Nor can you express it fully. This has been the story of love since ages. When there is love, it oozes out and you see it in your eyes, and in your actions. Love can never be hidden, and yet it can never be expressed fully. However much you try to express it, you find you have not been able to express it the way you want to. This is the problem, and the pain comes with it.
It is the same for truth also. You cannot avoid truth, and at the same time you cannot define it either.
Similarly, beauty is something that you cannot renounce. And yet you cannot possess it also. That is why the human race is in such a problem. They want all these things – love, truth and beauty. 
Tell me, who does not want the truth? Can you tolerate it if everyone around you tells lies to you? You will boil from inside. You cannot accept it. You expect everyone to be truthful to you. Don’t you? If not everybody, you expect at least some people to be truthful to you. When you feel that too is lacking, you feel devastated. But are you truthful to everybody else around you? That is a big question mark. Which is why truth is something you cannot avoid or get rid of. Yet you cannot define, what truth is.

Whatever is the truth for you at this moment may not be the truth for someone else. Do you see what I am saying? 
Say you believe in something as the truth. If you go a little beyond, you find ‘Oh, what I believed as the truth was false’. 
How many of you have had this experience, where you thought something as the truth, only to find out that it was not the way you thought about it. Raise your hands. (Many raise their hands)
So how can you ascertain what is truth? Can you define what truth is? No.

Have you heard the story of Akbar and Birbal (referring to the famous Mughal emperor Akbar and his intelligent minister Birbal)?
I have told that story before. There was this emperor in India whose name was Akbar. One day he got an idea to pass a law that anyone who tells lies will be hanged and sent to the gallows. So when this law was announced, there was panic in the kingdom. 
First, all the merchants got together, and said, ‘This is a draconian law. Whenever we sell our fare, we always say that this is the best product available. When we sell silk, we sell it by saying that this is the best silk available, knowing fully well that it is not the best. You get better quality silk down south. But we have to sell our products also. What do we do? We cannot run our business otherwise’. 
Then came the doctors’ community. The doctors discussed among themselves, ‘Whenever we give some medicine, it is after guessing the problem. We give the medicine hoping it will cure the patient, but still we assure the patient that it will certainly cure him of his problem and make him better. Suppose it does not work, then we too will be sent to the gallows’. 
So the doctors said thought the king has gone crazy. They could not carry on with this law; so the entire medical community was shaken as well. 
Then came the astrologers. They said, ‘This man is out to destroy our business. While making predictions, we understand some things and guess certain things and then give the prediction’.

So the astrologers in Akbar’s kingdom also got terrified. They thought this law would be disastrous and they would have to run away somewhere to make their living, probably to America! 
Then came the lawyers’ group. They thought to themselves, ‘This law is unfair. We always make a living by proving black is white and white is black. That is why people come to us’. So the lawyers too were in trouble. 
Then the priests were also in trouble. 
So every community was in great trouble because of this law. They all thought, ‘Now who will bell the cat and save us from this law?’ 
Then they caught hold of Birbal, who was a wise man and also a court jester. He was very dear to the emperor. Birbal heard all their troubles.

So one day, Birbal was walking into the king’s inner chamber and the guards stopped him. They asked him, ‘Where are you going?’ 
He replied, ‘I am going to get myself hanged’, which was obviously not true. 
This news soon reached the emperor. Birbal had indeed lied by saying that he was going into the king’s chamber to get hanged. But if they hanged him now, then what he had said would have been true, and by hanging him, they would have actually punished an innocent guy. In those days, if a king punished an innocent person, then he too would have to suffer the punishment as well. This was the rule in those days. It was the biggest crime. 
Now, if the king allowed him to go free without any punishment, then it would be breaking his own law. And if he punished him, he would be breaking another law. So the emperor was in a state of confusion. He called all his scholars and debated this. 
‘What do we do about Birbal in this case?’ The emperor asked them. 
‘Birbal had indeed lied in this case. So do you punish him or not?’ 
Then Birbal came and said, ‘See, truth is not what is expressed or what is said. Truth is what is. And to know whatis, is a different thing altogether’. 
So they removed the law and everyone lived happily thereafter. That is the end of the story.

So, truth is not that which you speak (it is not limited by words). It is that which is beyond time - past, present and future. That which stands the test of time is what truth is. That is why truth can never be defined. 
You also cannot avoid the truth. The same is the case with beauty. Beauty cannot be renounced. If there is something you can renounce, then that can never be beauty. And beauty cannot be possessed also. Got it? 
These are the three essential components of human existence. 


Dear Gurudev, I have heard a little about reflections. How many reflections do we have, and what does that mean?
Sri Sri: When you have said a word, you have also attached a meaning to it. 
Reflection is simply reflection. Whatever you see on the outside. Action is a reflection of what you are. Your thoughts, your mind, your emotions are a reflection of what you are. In some sense even your body is a reflection of what you are. 
When you reflect on this truth, it becomes very clear. 
We say, ‘Asangoham asangoham punah punaha’ (Unattached, unattached, am I again and again).
It means, ‘I am not this. I am not this. I am untouched and separate from all this. I am not my body, my thoughts, my emotions, and all the actions that I have done’. 
Then we start becoming a witness, and distance ourselves from all that happens.