Bhagavatam with Rajima

The other day I was sitting in my office at ~5:30PM and I got a call from my buddy Sanjeev asking me to show up for Rajima’s Bhagavatam sessions. I had almost made up my mind not to go and looking for other excuses to completely make up. Then suddenly there was a shift in my mental state and I decided to show up to the session. After 14hrs (spread over 5 days) of intense sessions, I cannot thank Sanjeev enough for making that phone call.

Bhagavatam as Rajima said on the first day of the class is not just stories but about life, it is about me and you and it is about the lessons to be learnt to lead a righteous life.

Being born and brought up in India, most stories that Rajima talked about during the sessions were not new to me but the fact that it is also my story in the present life was completely new to me. The perspective Rajima presented to the stories were new, fresh and hit home. I had heard and read quite a few commentaries on the stories in Bhagavatam, but none came closer to what Rajima had to offer last week. In an essence she gave the right vision to the story.

If you are like me and had the questions like,

• Why was Sudhama being a friend of lord Krishna (the king and god) was so poor?
• What is the significance of Elephant Crocodile story?
• What is the significance of Amruta Manthana (churning of the milk ocean)?
• Was god fair in sending Bali to the underground?, even though he was such a good king and so on and so forth

My sincere suggestion is for to you attend a Bhagavatam session with Rajima. I will do a complete injustice if I even try and answer these questions, the answers coming from the right source makes all the difference. One thing I would like to share though, there is a big significance for all the avatars of the lord (it is not just the story of evolution) and the stories associated with it. Here are a couple of learning I would like to share, don’t get stuck in the physical level of the story or get attached to the form, do not treat the scriptures as cock and bull stories.  

The best part I still admire about her is her punctuality, she started on time, she ended on time. Her sense of humor, her impromptu songs (in multiple languages) and the motherly love I felt during the time is something all of us to experience. Not a single moment in the sessions I felt bored or the question “when will this end” arose in me, in fact when she used to say, “we will stop with this story for tonight/today”, I used to feel, “No Rajima, please keep going”. Of course I should be considerate to the vocal chords of the 60+ year old woman.

During the question and answer sessions she insisted that we should, ask things that matter to you, that is bothering you, that can help you make your life better and not hearsay and/or imaginary things and the answers were right on the money. 

This is the second time that Rajima has given commentaries on the Bhagavatam in Austin, first time was in 2009 and I didn’t attend. This time around in 2011, I almost missed it too. I definitely consider myself lucky for having completed this session.

There are DVDs of her earlier sessions available for sale but my friend it is secondary or even tertiary, her presence is what matters. If she is in your town and conducting these sessions, do not miss it, just show up. 

With my wife and baby daughter being gone to India for a trip, I sure was to get bored (I experienced that for the first couple of days in the week) but thanks to Rajima, the week went past like a breeze. I am sad the series have ended. 

I have collected the experience sharing from the Bhagavatam sessions and will post them on the blog in the next couple of days.        

Creatures big and small support a noble cause - fight against corruption

We all are aware of the battle against corruption going on in India, where a renowned Gandhian Anna Hazare has taken up to fast until death to force the government to pass a strong legislation against corruption. One of the days in the ongoing Bhagavatam class, senior teacher Rajima asked us to fast for a day in support of this cause. The following is an account of how Elaine Filion managed to do it with her family (two lovely poodles, Scott and Red).

Dear Rajima,
Thank you for sharing the information about  the man in India who is fasting in an effort to put a stop to corruption.Corruption is such a serious issue but I believe in the spirit of love we can counter this evil .I have not fasted for anything more than a blood test for 50 years until today.Thank you for encouraging us to do this.I have done it with the purest of intentions.To go a step farther,as you know I have two small poodle dogs.They are very dear to me.I ask them this morning to fast with me.They usually beg for treats when I am working on my computer,but this morning after the first whimper I ask them to be good and not beg.Within a few minutes they went to another room to lie down.I also picked up their gravity food bowl but of course left the water.I am convinced that St Francis,the patron saint of animals must have been whispering to them as through out the day there was not one demand for a treat or food.It is very refreshing to have witnessed this marvel and I can certainly testify that most creatures great and small are willing to sacrifice to help.
To further get my point across,I have enclosed this picture of the poodle looking at the treat but not touching it.
Love,
Elaine Filion
Your humble student
Austin TX

PS: Rajima mentioned that, with the support of the poodles, this time we will make it happen and yes it happened.

The technology of spirituality

A beautiful talk by Bawa aka Kurshed Batliwala. I have been following his blog for quite a while, but never heard him or watched a video from him. This is the first video I watched and it is truly inspirational. 

It is a series of 7 videos on YouTube and here is the link to part-1 of the video. Watch all the 7 and don't stop in the middle, it is lively and entertaining.  A must see for everyone.

Secret of happy living

Life is a journey of ups and downs and it often tires us and makes us dull. We get so much burdened by our responsibilities and get caught up in the happenings of the outside world, that it suppresses the natural joy and enthusiasm which we used to have as a child.

All the teachings we go through our life is about earning our livelihood and making our life comfortable. Somehow in this race to be successful we have lost that charm for life itself and have become dull and stressed. Neither at school nor at home are we taught how to get rid of the negative tendencies of mind and be enthusiastic and happy in our life.

What are these negative tendencies? Fear and anxiety about the uncertainties of future, and anger and frustration about past happenings, these are the negative tendencies which stops us from experiencing the joy in every moment of our life.

What is the root cause of all these negative tendencies of mind? If we observe our mind it is either worrying about the future to secure it or is thinking about past. When we think about the uncertainty of future we generate anxiety in our system, if we brood over things which has already happened, we generate anger and frustration in our system. This vacillation of mind between past and future is the root cause of all our negative emotion and stress in our system. Only way to experience true joy in life is to be in present moment. Our mind is always busy fixing things endlessly. The only way to de-stress our self is to give our mind a deep rest. These moments of deep relaxation rejuvenates our system and brings back the lost joy and enthusiasm in our life. The real freedom in life is to be free from the worries of future and be free from the happenings of past and be able to enjoy the life which is happening moment to moment now.

The big question is how to give that deep relaxation to our mind. The secret to this is our breath. Breath is the most powerful tool to get rid of negative tendencies and distress our system. Every emotion has a corresponding pattern in breath. Like when we are angry our breath is shallow and fast. If we are depressed our incoming breath is very sallow and outgoing breath is long. But if we are relaxed and joyful, our breath is deep, calm and relaxed. We can not have a deep relaxed calm breath and still be angry. A little awareness about our breath and breathing techniques has power to immediately calm and relax our mind. So by using breath, which is very tangible, we can change the state of our not so tangible mind and bring it to the moment. That is why breath has been an integral part of all our ancient practices. Art of living teaches us one of the most powerful breathing techniques called “Sudarshan Kriya”, which gives us that deep experience of peace and joy within us. The program also covers other tools like yoga, mediation, knowledge and pranayaamas to give us that complete experience of our true nature. And it empowers us to start living a fulfilling and joyful life.

After practicing Sudarshan Kriya I see the experience of who I am has changed and I feel lighter and lighter. It has given the ability to see things in a wider perspective and the problem which normally would have been a big issue does not trouble much now. Life has got more meaning and world no more seems to be a big burden or responsibility but seems more like a game where you can enjoy every ups and down with smile.

AOL Austin fundraiser event with Omkara

March 26th 2011 was a big day in the history of Art of living foundation’s Austin chapter, for one we hosted the biggest fund raiser event in the chapters history and second we did the event with our long time friends Omkara. A gathering of over 600 people who were totally entertained and enthralled by Omkara.

It started with a simple intention of Sridhar Adapalli (volunteer with Art of living Austin foundation) to host a fund raiser event for Art of Living Austin center with Omkara. Over the last couple of months, volunteers from the foundation made time in their busy schedule to show up at all the possible cultural and social gatherings to spread the word about the event. Some of the volunteers worked towards getting sponsorships for the events while others were busy with e-marketing for the event.  The fruits of all the efforts was evident on the event day when the auditorium was filled to the brim (~600 people) and we were scrambling for chairs to accommodate the last few people who showed up a tad late (what a wonderful problem to have).

Thanks to good leadership shown by the team leads and great efforts by the volunteers, the big day went very smooth barring a couple of minor glitches. To issue concert tickets for over 600 people and provide food and drinks to over 350 people isn’t a small thing after all. The setup team had the hall ready by the scheduled time, the ticketing team was very professionally managed, the food team packed and distributed the food as though they had been trained in the art and the ushering team which managed the seating of all the people. All in all it was a job well done and executed beyond excellence. 

The band itself did a wonderful job in keeping the attention of the people for the whole 3 hours of the event duration. The addition of Bollywood Shake provided the much needed color to the melody. The band had picked the right set of numbers to sing, the songs varied from the oldies to present day hits and the compilation had both Hindi and Tamil languages. It was evident that we had a great show when the entire dance area in front of the stage was occupied with audience dancing away and the band had to stretch their time in honoring the “once more” requests.

I do not know the financial aspect of the event, how much money the foundation raised or the final head count of the audience or the number of food boxes sold. I am sure I will have these numbers pretty soon and will share it once I have the same.

Light and Darkness

Here's a recent quote from His Holiness, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

"Light doesn't fight with darkness. Darkness has no existence, it is just the absence of Light. Even if a room has been dark for 20 years, it doesn't take Light 20 years to get rid of the darkness... Light comes and Darkness is defeated just like that."

We tend to give the negatives of life too much importance and power over us. It is easy to get caught up with this negativity, and fall prey to inaction and apathy. It is a common tendency of the mind to see a glass as half empty, but inaction is a really heavy price to pay.

With wisdom and commitment, we can shift our perception to the reality - that every negative is simply the absence of a corresponding positive. With this attitude, strength and confidence, it is possible to make a genuine difference in the world.

Once we do set our eyes on such a goal, we need a strong foundation in order to face such apparent negativity. It is crucial to empower ourselves with tools and methods to manage our bodies, minds and spirits and navigate the challenges of life.

YES for juveniles - A success story

Recently, Art of Living Austin volunteers had the privilege of teaching our first ever YES course at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center.

It all started during Christmas 2009 when some of the volunteers decided to celebrate the season of giving at the correctional facility. What caught their eyes was how much the kids there could benefit from yoga and meditation. Thus started the free yoga once a month at the facility. They consistently conducted yoga throughout the year 2010. As and when new volunteers started signing up to lead yoga sessions, the frequency increased to once a week. The kids at the center loved yoga, and the supervisors realized the benefits too.

So, when Usha told the supervisor that they can conduct a YES workshop that would benefit the kids way more than the yoga, the supervisor readily agreed. After a few weeks of negotiations on the course timing and other logistics, the course was scheduled for February 18-21st. There were a lot of first things in this course:, it was the first course under the banner “Prison Smart” for Art of Living Austin; it was the first ever YES course taught in a detention center for our teachers too.

For Usha, the biggest hurdle was not getting volunteers lined up for the yoga sessions or finding teachers for the course, it was getting time on the superintendent’s calendar. Thanks to the persistent efforts by volunteers like Katie, Sanjeev, Lakshmi, Sridhar and their “never say no” attitude leader Usha, the course became a reality. It probably is a tiny step for the Art of Living Foundation and a big first step for Art of Living Austin but I am sure it was a giant leap for the 16 kids who participated in the 4 day program.

This time around the course was taught for the male population of the facility. We hope to conduct a similar workshop to the rest of the facility very soon. We will report back on this blog when that happens