Advanced Course in Art of Living
Bangaluru Ashram with Guruji
Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar
The Genesis for the course: Antarnad: Jan 12th 2010
I have always been a great admirer of Guruji - Sri Sri Ravishankar - the founder of "Art of Living". I had read some of his books and identified with his philosophies. So whenever he is in Pune and there is a public reception, I make it a point to go and enjoy.
These meets are well organized, the venue is beautifully done up in flowers and lights, there is music ( Satsang) and Guruji is fun to listen and relate to. Even though there are thousands of people, he seems to be communicating to you - "one on One" . He is always answering the question which I have been wanting to ask - this has happened always. He also always guides us through a 10 minute meditation and always I returned home with a pleasant feeling and some message in my head.
This time on Jan 12th 2010, at the "Antarnad" - a musical extravaganza organised by the foundation, a rare feat was being accomplished - 2600+ singers sang classical Hindustani music accompanied by great instruments and led by a lead celebrity singer. It was absolutely divine.
There was crowd of more than a lakh of people . Once again Guruji could communicate with each and everyone on a "One on One " basis. I saw him growing into a gigantic figure, towering into the sky - a Living God.
Carrying this pleasant feeling, I returned home and some day later just randomly googled "art of living". I chanced upon a course - a 6 day "Advanced course with Guruji at teh Bangalore Ashram" . It was just what I had been dreaming all these years - a week with Guruji at the Ashram.
In my personal life I was going thro a tough time and self-realization was dawning on me - the cause of all my suffering was the result of a Giant Sized Ego and negativity and highly emotional personality - this is what I concluded after analysing and analysing....
Now I am not an obsessive follower of Guruji or the Art of Living foundation and very critical and analytical of generally everything and generally a non-believer of so many ideologies. Also reading so many books and working on all those philosophies over so many years had brought lot of awareness and maturity within me. Did I need Art of Living?
Anyway I booked my participation on-line with Rs. 6000 as participation fee and booked my air ticket online for around 5K and set off on 2nd Feb. I enjoy my own company and look forward to all these lonely sojourns. I did not have any great expectation. I just thought let me understand Guruji and enjoy his presence for 6 days.
Went to my cousin Appu's house ( more on that in another blog)
Stay at Aparna
Next day reached the Ashram on 3rd Feb and was put up in "Aparna" the residential complex.
Aparna
Shared a room with 4 more participants. Met Viji and Prabha and we became very close friends. There was an instant rapport with them. Sangeetha who came later had a twinkle in her eyes and all three of us adopted her as our daughter. We attended the Satsang in the evening - Guruji was expected but did not come.
Bangalore Ashram - A hill resort?
The Ashram is on a hilly terrain with lush greenery in some places and lot of virgin undeveloped area. People tell us that Guruji himself has planted with his own hands the sandalwood trees.
Hilly Terrain
We had to walk up a hill thro' steep steps from Aparna to Visalakshi Mandapam (VM) and again VM had a large number of steps. I with my Arthritic painful knee was very stressed out - "Am I going to be walking up and down so much? " But soon I discovered a beautiful pathway ( a bit longer though) where I could almost avoid steps and began enjoying this route. Of course I had to walk this 15 min. path 8 times a day
Walking up and down a hilly terrain everyday
Visalakshi Mandapam
This is the central core venue. It is an absolutely beautiful huge circular hall, built in memory of Guruji's late mother Visalakshi. A smiling large photo of dear Amma welcomes all to the Mandap with love, compassion and a little twinkle in her eyes.
It is very pleasantly done up in cream and pink - tall golden curtains swaying in breeze, circular marble seating steps , completely enclosed in glass from all sides, a central stage which was clearly visible from all points. The ceiling had many pink lotus and chandeliers. There are two large entrances.
Scenic beauty around VM
Stage in front of VM for public Satsangs - Guruji sits here
VM Front Entrance
It had 4 floors, 2 for satsang, 2 large meditation halls - Mahavir hall and Buddha hall . The entire building was surrounded by a lotus shaped water body.
The interior exuded lot of stillness, peace, energy and joy and cool to the touch. It is the home for all activities for all courses.
We were asked to report at 6 a.m next day at Mahavir hall.
Food:
There is a massive kitchen catering to thousands of people everyday . There are several solar power generators and huu..ge steam boilers for cooking. Chapati is multigrained and the making is fully automated. Tonnes of organically grown vegetables in the Ashram were being deskinned and cut by hundreds of volunteers. Cooking is done for 3 meals a day - breakfast , lunch and dinner.
Breakfast : upma, idli or whatever with a cup of hot ragi kanji . Food was limitless - take as much as u want. Sometimes I was saddened to see people throwing away food.
Lunch : Chapati + 1 veg. + dal/sambhar/gravy dana like rajma, moong ete.. Buttermilk or chaas
Dinner : Same as lunch . A soup replaced buttermilk
Organic vegetables were so healthy and so huge in size and so tasty. There were variations in the menu everyday.
Each one had to wash their own plate and cup. The entire massive process of cooking, serving and cleaning was very well organized with most of the work shared by all - a concept called "Seva" . The vessel washing was the toughest job and I was surprised to see that most of this hard dirty work was enthusiastically shared by foreigners - both men and women - many of the cooking vessels were simply massive in size and very heavy to lift.
My First day at the course:
We got up excitedly at 4 a.m. as hot water was available only from 4:30 to 6 a.m. and 5 of us had to get ready using a single bathroom. So we planned a que and were ready by 5:30 a.m. Lot of giggling and laughter - fun time.
6:00 a.m. Mahavir Hall - One very young very smart looking boy ( ? ) called Rahul took our session - Yoga, Pranayam and Kriya . He trained us in a special set of Yoga exercises called Padma Sadana. At 8:30 we were let off and told next session will be at 10 a.m. We had to rush to the kitchen for breakfast and then Seva. It took around 15 minutes to reach from one place to the other. Breakfast was yummy hot tasty stuff accompanied by a hot cup of sweet Ragi Kanji (Millet porridge)
Concept of Seva:
The Ashram's manpower is mainly the guests who come to stay there. All the work like cleaning, serving food, cutting vegetables, sweeping and swabbing floors, gardening etc.. are all happily shared by all the public. It is a very humbling experience .
Seva is very therapeutic and stripes one of all ego. You work hard, but you know in your heart of hearts it does not matter whether you contribute or not - things will go on fine. But you want to do it - just for your own sake. You start feeling that this is your large family and you have to contribute . What you give is absolutely minuscule as compared to the gigantic proportion of the work involved. When you see tons of vegetables being cleaned and cut - what is your tiny share of cutting? The long corridors of all buildings are swept clean and whatever work you do is so little as compared to the whole. I came to realise the sense of belonging that developed in each one of us with each passing day due to this concept of Seva.
Guruji in one of the night Video session explained Seva in detail. He said it has to be absolutely self-less without any expectation not even happiness. like he said "If you do seva thinking this will bring joy to me " then it is not self-less. Seva made me realize how insignificant I truly am in the vast universe. Thousands of people have done self-less Seva to make the Ashram the magnificent place it is today and still the Ashram is steadily growing and evolving more and more beautiful and comfortable. So many youth - highly educated (IIT, IIM... ), well-to-do, professionals from all walks of life, the rich, the poor have all dedicated their life to the service of the Ashram and spreading the message of the Guru.
After 2 days I did not feel like eating till I had done some Seva. I started thinking "This is my home and how can I just eat and go?? So much work needs to be done!! "
10 a.m. to 1:p.m. Session :
We had a very young and handsome Guruji called Akash who conducted the training. He won all our hearts in no time - a very charming and lovable guruji. He was more like Guruji's messenger constantly telling us "Guruji said this and that " . He put us thro deep guided meditations, several well thought out games/exercises of sharing thro' interaction with our co-participants. These were sometimes so effective that several of us were weeping some uncontrollably - some catharsis effect. We generally kept our eyes closed thro' out so I do not know who cried so much.
We were specially trained in a meditation called "Hollow and Empty " by a taped voice of either a lady or Guruji himself. At the end of it, we had to sway and dance to a very meditative, soothening music. I cannot discuss the technique of this meditation - you have to experience it by undergoing the course. We also did lot of breathing exercises - Pranayams.
Guruji Akash Bhyya
Akash was particularly gifted with a clear rich voice, excellent command over English, good choice of words. He is a born story-teller.
Severe headache:
At the end of day-1 I had such a severe splitting headache - any painkiller was of no use. I just hit the bed and could not get up till next day morning. For 2 days I had severe headache. Third day I took a pain killer in advance. But still, when I went into deep meditation, I actually felt the headache coming. This went on on all the 6 days of my training.
Silence for 4 days:
Our Mouna-vrith started from the night of day1 . We should not talk at all - no cell phone. I switched off mine and put it away in the box. This silence was so enjoyable and so communicative too. We all enjoyed it. Silence is not new to me having read and practiced Echart Tolle who says "Feel the silence of the universe all around and with in you "
I simply loved the silence. But we did cheat at times knowingly or unknowingly.
The flowerwalis :
My relatives - "Sister", "Akka", "Amma"
There were several ladies selling flowers - huge beautiful roses - white, red, yellow, pink and Jasmine , rose, pink and white kaneri flower garlands . They would line our routes from morning 5:30 a.m to night11 p.m. They were excellent saleswomen who called out endearingly to us "Sister", "Mother", "Brother" and so on . They constanly beseached us to buy flowers for Guruji. I really admired their 100 % salesmanship at 100% of the time. Ended up buying everyday !!
The Fruitwallas:
3 - 4 fruit vendors manitained a steady suppy of the yummiest fruits - papaya, banana, oranges, watermelon, pineapple - I have never eaten such sweet friuts. We could geta heaped plate of mexed fruits at as little as Rs. 10. We really gorged on them at all times.
Fresh Hot Cow milk:
The Ashram breeds cows in "Goshala" - a special breed from Gujarat. lunch time and dinner time we could get this delicious hot thick milk and yummy ice cream at low prices. Simply enjoyed all that
Evening Satsang and the magician Guruji
Daily there is a satsang - singing bhajans together at VM. b/w 7:30 to 9 p.m. We were very lucky that from the third day onwards daily guruji would come for the satsang.
His presence simply charged the air with energy and joy. What is it in this man that attracts so many people to go crazy over him? love him so much from the bottom of their hearts? feel a soul connection with him? He is totally devoid of any lofty talk . Mostly he cracks jokes, makes us laugh, simply sits and goes into deep meditation or some times breaks into melodious music - Whatever it is his presence is greatly soothening , healing and electrifying. One cannot take one's eyes off him. When he talks, he always seems to clarify some doubt which you have been having for long. Such an unassuming person. The greatest thing about Guruji is "he genuinely believes that all are his family" That sense of belonging to each and every person around is what makes him so endearing !! He creates Magic everytime. He says He surrenders to the Love of his devotees who constantly shouted "Jai Gurudev" . He gives a very patient hearing to any question and answers each one with great kindness and compassion. Is this God? Thousands of devotees sit in pin-drop silence to hear every word he speaks.
The 6 day LIFE transformation course:
We had a packed rigorous schedule. We were all up by 4 a.m and back to the room at 10:30 p.m. Our schedule was such :
6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. - Morning Yoga, Pranayam
8:30 to 10 a.m. : Breakfast and Seva or the otherway around.
10 to 1:15 p.m. : Meditation, Pranayam, more deep meditation, some dancing, some well designed sharing exercises with co-participants
1:15 to 2:15 Lunch break and Seva
2:15 to 5:30 Meditation, Pranayam, more deep meditation, some dancing, some well designed sharing exercises with co-participants
5:30 to 6:30 We were supposed to go for walks but invariably we ended up in Canteen for the first cup of tea for the day!!
6:30 to 7:30 Dinner and Seva
7:30 to 9 p.m. Satsang
9 to 10 p.m. : Watch Guruji's video.
I really enjoyed every bit of it, except for the severe headache.
Everyday we spent in eager anticipation of meeting the great man himself on a one-to-one basis. Initially I felt frustrated that he was not meeting us or coming to teach the course etc.. But slowly realized it really did not matter. The changes were happening with-in.
But the day he was to meet us, our group went really mad with excitement. First of all , we all dressed in our best. The dancing at the Satsang was so much (with total abandonment ) that the VM hall resembled a DISCO night!!
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Prabha, Self, Viji Dressed to kill
Guruji had such a hectic day that day and I felt sorry for him - yet we were greedy - all wanted so much to meet him. It was a dream come true for all of us and it was absolutely thrilling and divine.
Lessons learnt:
First and foremost was the regular practice of Yoga, Pranayam and Sudharshana Kriya. Everyone must undergo some courses at AOL and learn these techniques.
Second was the effect of intense meditation on all the days. Seemed to clense my system inside out. I felt so light.
Somewhere along the way, I realized lot of things and the way of life for the future . If the "The Hollow and Empty meditation" concept is understood and practiced it can bring 100% peace into one's lives.
There was also an extremely moving exercise where we had to bless another person with all our heart looking into their eyes and afterwards hugging them tightly. The whole process is so therapeutic and I wept my heart out ( as did most of the participants) . We had to look into the eyes of the participant ; 3 different pairs of eyes ( of total strangers) will always remain etched in my memory. This exercise lingered with me and I blessed everyone whomever I chanced to come across after that. I hope I remain that way my whole life. I felt blessed and so beautiful.
Last but not the least Guruji's kind, soft voice on the following points are etched in my memory :
1. What is true Seva? If your living does not make a difference to another life, then what is the use of such a life? You may die - he said. He also explained in great detail what is true Seva - not donating some money and getting ur name engraved for eternity on some stone. This video was unforgettable
2. Guruji in another video said "You are a pearl - Each one of you - a beautiful one . But a pearl needs to have a hole so it can be strung together - All pearls together make a beautiful mala - What agreat philosophy - I mean What guruji meant was "be absolutely empty without any baggage - you can connect to another human being - all of us can connect with each other" Surely this great man connected with each and everyone he chanced to come across. I was reminded of the movie "Avatar" where the Navi's from another planet Pandora connect with each other. When they connect with a bird, they can fly at their will.
3. Guruji has given a simple principle for living :
Take care of your breathing for physical well being and Serve others for mental well being. Together this leads one to spirituality.
4. Akash Guruji had explained to us the Symbol of Buddha The right palm stretched open and held up and the left palm stretched and held down pointing to the ground - He said the right hand signifies that be alert and aware of each and everything happening to u - your emotions, thoughts, actions. The left hand pointing downwards says "Let go" of all - any emotion - anger, frustration, any thought ... This stayed with me and had a deep impact.
5. Akash Guruji also made us squat like a dog and put our tongue out and said "All ur life you have been wanting this and that .. " It was also a very effective way of making us realize the folly of our endless desires and wants.
After our course we visited some places in the Ashram - The very scenic Radha Kunj facing a serene lake, we meditated and did kriya at Sumeru mandap in the early morning, visited the Veda Patashala, Goshala, some exciting shopping, saw the Panchakarma centre for Ayurvedic Massages
Kalyana Mandapam
Open air Wedding venue at Radha Kunj
Serene Buddha at Radha Kunj
Panchakarma Centre
In Gratitude:
- First and foremost I feel extremly grateful to Guruji for designing such wonderful courses to awaken and enlighten mankind.
- I am grateful to the people who have worked so hard and made this Ashram what it is today out of a barren eerie land.
- My co-particpants were a wonderful lot and the sense of belonging grew day by day . "Sangachatvam - We move together"
Somewhere I felt my ego tree was axed and all my negativity de-weeded . I hope to do kriya, yoga and meditation everyday without fail and Seva whenever an opportunity arises.
My next advanced course will be at Rishikesh with Guruji whenever he gives a call.
Jai Gurudev
