Rendezvous with Rashmin

One thousand three hundred and sixty young people from all over the world are in silence in the ashram and yet the whole of vishalakshi Mantap thunders with joyful vibrations especially in the evenings at 7:30.

We are having super high quality satsangs with Harshal, Krishnan and shilpa. Really mind blowing. Krishnan went berserk yesterday when he sang "mere man ye bata de tu"... and then when you have harshal to keep injecting a few doses of satva every now and then with his velvety voice and extremely refined rendering of classy bhajans everything is so perfectly controlled.

All this still seems like Guruji is just giving a glimpse of what is to come in our lives. One of the most precious experience is the experience of "gratefulness leading unto silence". One moment of gratefulness is worth a whole life. But on this path we experience it almost everyday!

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

I spent a few days in Baroda. Stayed in chaitals house and had very nice food. Put on 5 more kgs!! For the first time in my life my weight has crossed 50.

Vishrut, chaitals son is just 6 years old. This very intelligent and creative child suddenly wanted to exhibit his yoga talents to me.



Thats cool is nt it? notice the smile.



and here is the last one...



it was amazing to see the ease at which he got into all this positions... By the way chaital also was seeing all this for the first time and was pleasantly surprised.

JGD
Rashmin

Intelligence is recognising those things in life which give us long lasting happiness and wisdom is arranging ones life around those things inspite of whatever short term discomforts one may have to go through.

Since the last two weeks I have been doing Group Sadhana with a few volunteers in baroda. On the first day I was the only one doing "group" sadhana. Now its picking up. We were five of us today. It almost felt like a crowd!

Starting your day with Suryanamaskar, PadmaSadhana, Sudarshan kriya and meditation is a very good idea. Many a times I have done all these practices in left over time. Since when you dont meditate, its very easy to fall prey to a false sense of self-importance and think as if your absence even for a few moments will create catastrophes around you. More than work doership causes stress.

Conclusions: 1. 2 hrs of sadhana everyday is a must. 2. Morning time (like 6-8) is highly preferable. 3. When you do it in a group it is even more effective.

JGD
Rashmin

Before you read this please read the previous post if you have not read it yet.

Dropping all resistance: I would like to quote from one of my favorite books, God Loves fun,” How has the ocean become the ocean? Because it has accepted the lowest! The humblest is the greatest. If you agree to go low when you don’t feel good you will become the richest person on earth. “

Keenness: Observing not superficially, but witnessing the intricate movements of prana. We need to go deep. As they say,”doobna seekho” (learn to drown). With a keen eye we need to track down the cause behind the cause behind the cause….Like peeling the onion…one layer after the other with commitment and dedication.

Playfulness: All this is done like a game, playfully…” lila “(play). With a playful attitude the result does not matter, whether you fall down or rise up. It’s the same thing. There is no labeling or any judgments or analysis. Its with a sense of wonder and amazement. Enjoying every bit of the process of observation.

Impermanence: Experiencing the change and getting established in this realization that nothing stays the same.

Non-Identification: Again and again reinforcing the truth that “ I am not the mind”…I am not “this” So ham… I am that, the unchangeable. Untouched consciousness.

Somehow we need to come back to the state where we can say,” thy will be done” or better still,” thy will alone is happening now”!

JGD
Rashmin

Craving for pleasure is bondage. Bondage brings only misery. It brings about a thousand variations of moods, emotions and sensations throwing you off balance every now and then.

This life time I have a GURU. Its a great opportunity. For the last few months I was thinking about how to make good use of this brilliant chance of completely annihilating all Vasana and experience the HIGHEST.

The mind keeps on getting lost. It keeps slipping into slumber and in a few moments it starts indulging in whatever it thinks as pleasurable. Gently Getting it again and again back to the present moment is abhyasa. I have been programing myself to do this. I have also made up, what you can call a reminder to get my mind back on track.

This is something very personal but I thought I should share it with all of you. I think there is not a proper balance between "shravan" (listening) and "manana" (remembering it again and again till your mind becomes "no mind" . Mana - mind, na- no).

So I wanted to put all the great words of wisdom that I have heard from Guruji, in one small capsule that would moment to moment serve as a super effective reminder and I would be able to effortlessly free my mind from any meaningless endeavors it has embarked upon.

And you know what?..its working fine.


Here it is "Dropping all RESISTANCE, KEENLY and PLAYFULLY, OBSERVE the IMPERMANENT nature of THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS and SENSATIONS, with a strong sense of NON-IDENTIFICATION."

I would give a brief explanation of the particular choice of words in my next post....till then I would like to know what you think about this.

JGD
Rashmin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY

This is a must see....the coolest thing I have ever seen.

JGD
Rashmin

I was just reading a few comments on my last post. A particular ( Anonymous) person who seems to be an embodiment of garbage has been posting long comments on my blogs at regular intervals. They are not only hilarious but also quite long and extremely entertaining.

The "anonymous" seems to be quite unhappy with the His Holiness Sri Sri RaviShankar and the Art of Living foundation. The "anonymous" gives its 100% and pours all his negativity while commenting on my blog. Garbage is all that it has to offer.

The latest comment had 30 points. Ofcourse "it" seems to have a lot of time and absolutely no brains whatsoever to say things like AOL has robbed bangalore of its green belt to provide 5 star ashram facilities!! "IT" also has problems with AOL courses making "it" sit for long hours and inflicting intense physical pain!!

The world is made up of a few idiots like these. I really dont mind them because these are the ones who help us appreciate the rest. But I was wondering if there is anything to learn from this "delicate darling" who has been generous enough to post comments on my blog regularly.

Awaiting your comments ( including "Anonymous" : I dont mind a few more laughs)

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

I was told that that we had only one tree in the entire Gujarat ashram in vasad when we had bought the land six years ago. This is how it looks right now.

This is Guruji's Kutir.




When Guruji was questioned about this miraculous growth of trees HE said," jahan hari ata hai vaha par hariyali bhi ati hai".." where Hari ( one of the names of Lord Krishna) arrives greeenery also comes with HIM"

JGD
Rashmin

Suffering is an addiction. It starts off like a habit and then once you start enjoying, it may become an addiction. A lot of people suffer from suffering. It has got nothing much to do with life situations, it is just that they have mastered the skill of finding out apparently justifiable reasons to crib,cry and complain. To such people Knowledge is more or less irrelevant.

Knowledge works only when you want to make it work. You will want to make it work only when you want to be free of misery and be happy.

To be happy you need to be courageous! Because only if you are courageous you will say " I am happy INSPITE of this", or "I am happy even without this", otherwise a lifetime can be spent in thinking," I will be happy AFTER this".

Deeper knowledge/experience may follow only after one has gathered the courage to have this attitude in life.

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

On the auspicious occasion of dassera (Vijayadashmi)on the 28th of September I got married to Priyanka in the most beautiful place in this world, the Bangalore ashram.



We got the most pleasant surprise ever, when the divine himself walked in quite unexpectedly and blessed both of us. HE gifted us a beautiful ring and an OM pendant. Those were moments to treasure.

Everybody had a lot of fun especially after BAWA AND DINESH arrived. People were systematically picked up and thrown in the fountain next to the marriage venue. All around all that you could hear was loud laughter and the whole atmosphere was filled with joy and celebration.





All in all it was really a beautiful day in our life and once again when I remember the journey right from the day I first asked Guruji about Priyanka till the day we actually got married, it has been quite eventful with a lot of ups and downs. Its absolutely unbelievable How Guruji in almost impossible situations has worked HIS magic to make this happen.

I fill blessed and utterly grateful to Guruji for showering blessings in such abundance that now I know for sure that He will fulfill all my desires only if they are good for me and only when the time is right.

HE LOVES. HE KNOWS.



When love knows..its me --- SRI SRI

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

Too many things are happening in my life at a very fast pace. At the same time I am focusing more and more within myself wondering what attitude, what self effort is really required to ultimately silence the mind.

I have finally concluded that it is impossible to silence the mind. There is no way. There is no way to get rid of anger, frustration or anything that goes on. The only thing that I can do is either identify with whats going on or choose not to identify.That is the only choice I have.

Asangoham means Disassociation. This seems to be the only way to realise that I am beyond all the good and bad. I am beyond the mess created by the mind. I am not the mind.

Its quite amazing to watch that though this shift is so very little and so minute and subtle it makes such a huge difference in the state of being every time we make it.

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

Happiness is a decision. Happiness is a practice. Happiness is an attitude.

The job of the mind is to create some or the other reason to be unhappy. The mind is sticky and it has this infinite ability to stick to the self created trash that can come in the way between you and yourself ie happiness.

Its at work incessantly. So we also need to be at work incessantly. All that we need to do is to identify anything that comes in the way as "Trash" created by the mind and reinforce the single most commitment that as devotees/disciples we all have.

Happiness!! a decision, a practice and an attitude.

JaiGurudev

FRONT VIEW



I got my thread ceremony done in the ashram a few days back. We have earned the right to chant the Gayatri Mantra and also are supposed to be qualified to study the Vedas. If you have any questions regarding this please do not ask me?

REAR VIEW ( The most famous choti in the ashram)



JaiGurudev
Rashmin

Last one week has been a week of doing nothing. the first few days I was down with viral fever and right now I am undergoing a Ayurvedic treatment called Virechana that basically detoxifies the whole body in a span of 6 days. The most specific instruction during this treatment is " Do Nothing". Do not sleep and do not meditate!

So amidst all the chaos created by all yesplusites in and around my room I have been contemplating just on this one thought," what is that I want in life"?

I observed that most of the time, actually almost all the time, the mind is occupied by superficial desires. Fleeting desires created by egoistic tendencies and likes and dislikes. Really pointless.

Progress happens when just one desire dominates, just one goal, one focus, one path, one direction. Only one thing to look for.

And that one thing would be realising that I am that! So ham... from where the journey began.

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

Q: What is the importance of a "good" job in life. Good as in great brand, respectful, impressive, gives you money but you are utterly disappointed with bosses, seniors, colleagues et. al because none of them behave like humans! All of them have the three powerful 'I's in them. They are Idiots, Insensitive & Insensible. The harder, more sincerely and smartly you work, the more magnificently it gets unnoticed. FAKENESS reigns supreme in the office. You are not happy the entire 12 hours you spend in office. Knowing all this must one even think of staying on?

Have you ruled out the possibilty of becoming an entrepreneur? so that you can create jobs rather than do one? No matter what your education is, keep options open. Like we know of a guy who is a engineer but has wada pav stalls in Japan and is earning in millions! Becuase if you are spending 12 hours everyday in an office how can you expect to be happy all the time? First of all understand that is there is NOTHING called " job satisfaction". The world would have been an utterly boring place if jobs would satisfy us. You do job to earn money, food, shelter etc and for satisfaction you do Sadhna, Seva and satsang. In seva one should not care about being noticed and acknowledged but in a job you need to be ethical yet skillful. Good and talented is not enough. Be strong and skillful and learn to deal with all sorts of people. Play the game 100% while you are there and also see to it that in too much of generalising the bad you dont miss out on the good.

By the way according to me its not a good idea to spend half your life in an office. There are far more important and better things to do in life. But while you are there get them on the path.

Finally become an Art of Living teacher and spread the knowledge if you really want to be happy.

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

It must be really frustrating for some of you to keep checking my blog to see nothing new. I really dont know what to write. I know there is a lot I can write about but I do not want to post just for the sake of posting something. Whenever I sit to write I am just going blank. Really funny.

May be some of you guys can email me some questions on rashmin.pulekar@gmail.com.

What say?

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

" Today we will feed everybody" We were quite surprised when Guruji made this announcement in the kitchen while HE was having his food during the advance course in Dalarna in Sweden.

There was food made for 5 people and around 30 people had a full meal! One more Guru Magic! That is what this day, Guru "poornima" signifies! Experiencing the fullness.

When we feel grate"full" for all that we have received we experience abundance. We realise how fortunate we are, insecurities and complaints disappear and a feeling of blessedness dawns in life.

This is the point of being on the path.

JaiGurudev!
Rashmin

INDIA! The mother of spirituality, A home to millions, the oldest civilization, the country with its infinitely deep roots of tradition and culture and a phenomenal understanding of Human mind and human values. A beautiful land with beautiful people.

So many conflicts, corruption and poverty but I am still utterly Grateful for the fact that I was born in India. What makes it great? what makes it withstand all the problems that it is facing since years? of course its spiritual heritage..Thousands of years of meditation done by thousands of the greatest beings ever born on this planet has created that indestructible energy, such high prana in the whole environment that there is no problem that can ever defeat this nation.

The country which is the birth place of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, even if it only dreamt of Him is sure to reach the heights of success and prosperity in the near future.
It continues and will continue to shine in all its glory and also teach the whole world the true meaning of humanness.

Being an Indian means nothing but living that Indianness. What does that mean?

This is what it means (according to me)

1. Fighting with your neighbour and then talking to that same neighbour the very next day as if nothing has happened.

2. Standing in queues for hours and shouting very loudly at every unsuspecting individual whom you think is trying to ghusofy ( insert himself) in the same queue much ahead of you.

3. When you were a child you felt that Amitabh bachhan could do "ANYTHING".

4. You may not exchange plastic smiles with strangers but you live and die for your family and close friends.

5. You get used to everything and anything...from mosquitoes to terrorism. Nothing can beat you down.

6. You over eat ... everyday, and you love to feed people... even if they are full.

7. You love people. You have a very small house and yet you keep inviting all of them all the time.

8. With objects of absolutely any shape or size you can immediately start playing a game of cricket.

9. You have a "family doctor" and he first asks about the health of all the other members of your family before he looks for what is wrong in you. He comes to your house even at 2 in the morning in case there is an emergency.

10. You invite " EVERYBODY " to your wedding.

11. The sense of sharing is ingrained in your DNA. You share everything, your house, food, clothes, utensils, umbrellas, recipes, bank accounts, credit cards, etc etc.

12.You suffer from an inferiority complex if you are not good at bargaining.

13. You have an exceptionally strong faith in at least one of the 32 million deities. Your Faith is your strength and it takes you through all the hard blows of life.

14. You like movies that make you cry.

15. If you get married then most likely death is the only thing that can set you apart.

16. You love to eat, sing, dance and celebrate.

17. You have many friends: School friends, Junior college friends, senior college friends, tuition friends, coaching class friends, swimming/dancing/singing/drawing class friends, Building friends, office friends, local train friends, bus stop friends and the list is endless.

and finally

" You miss India whenever you are traveling or staying abroad no matter where you are and how comfortable or happy? you think you are. If you dont, then you have lost something very precious, that is the " Indianness ". You need to come back!


JGD
Rashmin

Congratulations to the stavenger team! ( refer to the post " perfect weekend, part 1. I have introduced most of them in that post). On Tuesday we just finished with the biggest yes!+ course in Scandinavia with 50 people.

They had set a target of 50 and they got exactly 50 people. Now that is really something! It was a fantastic course but unfortunately in our excitement we forgot to take a group photo on the last day and also felt quite stupid about it.

It was a great experience and it was once again evident that when we work together in a team with a strong sankalpa nothing is impossible.

I had just finished a fantastic course in Oslo. A lot of these people are learning Vegetarian cooking from Anjula (Idas Mom)and Ida.

the last day in oslo




JGD
Rashmin

Step 1: Become defenseless. Let stuff come up. With arms open embrace all that comes.

Step 2: Realise everything is changing. Accept the unpleasantness and just play with it like a child.

Step 3: Observe the cause... the craving for pleasure.

Step 4: Offer it to the Master.


At every step remember the MASTER. Guru Smaran (remembrance of the master)is the most powerful tool. Integrating HIM in every aspect of life. Moment to moment. Again and again and again.

Guruji says, "When you offer everything you become GOD".

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

If you remember Guruji asked for a birthday gift this year. He said he wants all of us to realise how beautiful we are. "Satyam Shivam Sundaram...

The purpose of all beauty in creation is to somehow get you back to your source and make you realise that you are so so so beautiful!

I had the privilege of experiencing the most amazing boat ride ever. It was like meditating with eyes open..










JaiGurudev
Rashmin

This is kgeragbolten (pronounced as sheragbolten) That is Amazing! A huge bolder stuck between two huge mountains, 1000 meters above the ground.



THIS IS NOT FUNNY!

Yes! Thats me. 1000 meters off the ground. The first and the last time ever I would be sitting on that Rock. I would never do it again nor do I recommend it to anyone. It was really a brick shitting experience.

Shivering breath, trembling feet just at the thought that I am just one slip away from death. The path on to the rock was even more dangerous. You had to take one step on a very small extended rock big enough only for one step and then go on to the other side! All that you can see is a deep valley 1000 meters deep....still, dark green water and the sound of a water fall adding to the scary effect.

It was quite different from the jumping point in Rishikesh where the fear is only imaginary. But it was amazing how the other Norwegian guys were so cool about the whole thing as you can see in this photo.



This was the time I thought I was dead!



Thats Eric who is holding me. It was because of him I dared to do this stunt. He seemed pretty much cool on top of it.



It was an hour long boat ride and then 2.5 hr trek up to that rock. Its considered to be the most beautiful place on earth. I have clicked some amazing photos which I would publish in the next post. They are really really really beautiful.

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

We went to Hognas parents beach house. We swam in the ice cold water, meditated in a perfectly serene atmosphere, feeling the gentle breeze and the soothing sound of the waves making it so much easier to just breathe and relax.

Then we had some really tasty food cooked by Ornulf, the official cook from stavenger and then we put on music, joked around and basically did nothing. It was completely opposite of what the sunday (part2 in the next post) had in store for us. All in all it was a nice warm up for the most thrilling weekend I have ever had in my life.

Here is the stavenegr YES!+ team.



From left to right. Hogna hide. He is a part1 and a yes!+ teacher. He is the cool dude. Perfectly calm and balanced. A guy who is much needed to infuse a kind of sense and sensibility into the atmosphere when things get too chaotic without much reason.

In the center is Andreas birkeland (Senior Yogi). He holds the record for the fastest YES!+ teacher in the world. He did his yes!+ course in January and within 5 months he is a teacher! He is commitment and dedication personified, absolutely fit and flexible. He gets up at obscene hours in the morning does Sadhna and then eats health food like spirulina, raw broccoli etc etc. You can ask him about health food and go to sleep. Even after you get up you will find him talking about something that increases prana, cleanes shit form your intestines, purifies blood and is good for your kidneys and lungs. The more the number of benefits the horrible it tastes.










Thats Ornulf. He is funny, charming and can really lighten up the whole atmosphere by his light presence. His food is Yummy and he is also going to be our official cook for the advance course with GURUJI in Scandinavia. He is the happy man from stavanger Yes!+.




Thats Siri. She is a dancer and has graciously offered her house for us to stay. She participates in everything 100% and she belongs to the category of "work more and talk less".



That is Khonia. She is an angel. She too is on the fast track and a soon to be teacher. She plays the Viola, sings well and is an extremely sweet person. She has an amazing way to express. She speaks with her eyes.



That is Alexander. He is quiet, very quiet. Even though he is a bit new to Art of living he delivers results that ultimately matters most. He is the guy who does not say much but gets the butts on the seat!

Before I post the PART 2 of the weekend I would like you to go to Google images and search for kjeragbolten and may be also see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmKbgbVXQg
and a few related videos.

JaiGurudev!
Rashmin

Are we aware how many times we say "NO"? To every unpleasant sensation that arises, our first reaction to it is a big "no". As we say "NO" it stays, and the very fact it has arisen in us is because consciously or unconsciously we have said a NO to it sometime in the past.

When we say YES! we let things pass, we can see and experience the ever changing nature of every experience. When we say "yes" we start living in agreement, in acceptance, living in harmony with the opposites. Being in Love is nothing but being in the YES consciousness.

As a seeker if I wish to experience that which is beyond the opposites I need to say "YES". I need to say YES to all the so called negative emotions, I need to offer them a seat and may be even a little hug.

If I wish to experience the imperishable nature of the self I need to say YES to all the storms of emotions that arise in my mind even if they seem strong enough to destroy me.

Once a little 8 year old girl entered Guruji's Kutir looked straight into His eyes and said, " Guruji I know your secret ". Guruji very sweetly asked her," What is my secret?" She nodded and just said " YES " and ran out of the room. Guruji looked at everybody else and said ," she got it ".

JaiGurudev
Rashmin

I am NOT a DSN teacher as of now. YES it was official till last night. But now the decision has been changed. That is the reason I removed the previous post.

I have been receiving a lot of congratulations from a lot of people so I thought I should clear the confusion.

May be we can say that it has been indefinitely postponed till further instructions from the boss.Yes!, its expected to happen sometime in the near future (probably this life time). But it was a nice experience to be a DSN teacher for one full day and being congratulated by all of you. ha ha

I feel I have been further promoted, because now I am a ex-DSN teacher! I love Guruji playing games with me. I guess HE does these things only with the closest ones. It was interesting to watch the mental gymnastics over the past two days. It was indeed like doing a DSN!

At First I had not at all expected it. Then when I was told I was pleasantly surprised but it took time to sink in. When it sunk in and I was waiting for the manual to be sent to me I am suddenly told that I am not a DSN teacher! Guruji is great! and I just love HIM.


JaiGurudev
Rashmin

1. Thank you for reading this.
2. Now your saying/thinking , whats this?
4. You didnt notice that i skipped 3.
5. Your checking it now.
6. Your smiling.
7. You are reading this too.
8. Now you are feeling a bit stupid.
10. You didnt notice that i skipped 9.
11. Your checking it now.
12. You didnt notice there are only 10 lines.

ha ha
JAigurudev!

We all know That Shivaji Killed Afzalkhan (Sardar of Bijapur). But neither do we know about the greatness of Shivaji nor do we know much about the role of his GURU Samartha Ramdas in the success of all of Shivajis endeavours.

There was a time when Shivaji was becoming stronger and expanding his kingdom much to the irriation of Aurangazeb and Afzalkhan. There were speculations of Afzalkhan being sent to capture Shivaji. He had a huge army of hundred thousand soldiers. It was extremely important for Shivaji to know about his plans and his movements.

During that time Samartha Ramdas sent to Shivaji this beautiful poetry with a profound spiritual message and something else... I would like to know your comments on this masterpiece. A perfect message from a perfect Master to a perfect Warrior!




Rough English Translation (of course it does not sound poetic when translated into English):
1st para : Use Your discrimination while you work,
knowing that this body is going to leave you,
Do not worry about the future.

2nd para : Do not tread the path of untruth,
Always own the path of truth,
With the grace of the divine,
The greatness of the devotee will increase,

3rd Para : very difficult to literally translate. It means that the sun and the moon keep coming and going resulting into sometimes light and sometimes darkness. I guess its somewhat like Opposite values are complimentary.

4th para : The Mother divine is Goddess bhavani,
The Lord of the Universe,
Just be in silence and with discrimination,
Make a good plan.

Now comes the surprise. If you form a sentence with only the first Alphabet of the first word of every line of the original marathi poem, this is what you get:


The Sardar of Bijapur is on his way.

JaiGurudev!

The choice is between Limited Joy and unlimited Joy. Limited joy, that is experienced through the five senses is Instant and guarantees pleasure at least during the time of indulgence. Whereas Joy that is beyond the five senses is not instantaneous and is absolutely intangible. One needs faith to endure the time period between the letting go of cravings for limited joy of the senses and the dawning of the unlimited joy that comes from the self.

To the degree we let go to that degree we experience the uncaused joy of the self. So I think its all about having faith and just keep waiting and waiting and waiting....

JaiGurudev

Happy Birthday GURUJI!

Love you GURUJI

JaiGurudev

I dont think I would ever stop wondering about this. Yes of Course every day of any Art of Living course is special, but there is something about the last day.

Freedom, belongingness, gratitude, Joy, Contentment and Love. Every face carries a smile that says it all. How does it happen? This will always remain a mystery. One thing I know for sure that its definitely not because of the breathing technique. It is something more, something beyond.

Whatever it is, that is what I am. Soooo Hammm.

A pic from the last day of the course we conducted two weeks back here in Oslo. It is the most fulfilling experience to witness this transformation.




JaiGurudev!

Ida s father Martin took me out for a Sailing trip. Wherever I looked I saw nothing but heart stopping beauty.



I started experimenting with my photography skills and really impressed myself. Here are a few photos!













JaiGurudev!