Clarity or rather the lack of it!

It was almost a month ago when I got a call from my aunt when she informed about the "assassination attempt" on Guruji. I was of course flabbergasted and started to theorize on which militant outfit must have the motive to commit such a heinous crime. I then relied on the media to actually give me the facts(we all make mistakes!).
To summarize the whole incident, there was a gunshot that was fired when Guruji was walking towards the car, the bullet grazed the thigh of a devotee who was standing nearby and nobody could locate the miscreant. Guruji was ushered into the car and he proceeded very unperturbed to give his discourse on Ashtavakra where he mentioned the event with no more seriousness than "an ant bit me" kind of casualness.
Now,if there is a gunshot heard or felt anywhere near a high profile personality, would somebody think that it was being fired at a stray and continue with their life? They would probably have created such an uproar that their fans or supporting organizations would have created further violence and tension than help in resolving matters. On the other hand, the AOL organization just made a formal complaint with the cops and asked them to investigate. On investigation it was found that a neighboring farmer had shot at stray dogs (I mean how irresponsible!did someone even check his license? or take him into questioning on shooting recklessly?! I do not know the answers to those questions)

The all pervading home minister of course had the ready answer that Guruji was not the target! That may have been the case, but had they carried an investigation before the statement?! NO! What kind of a Judiciary is that which passes sentences without research or investigation?! Anyways, politicians and their MOs are a whole different topic by itself and this is not that!

Now coming back to the media, they twisted up the incident in so many ways in such short period that a contortionist would have been left spell bound! I guess its too rhetorical to even ask this question but what happened to the good old honest journalism. Have people forgotten the power of a pen?! This one particular page 3 journalist went on to call guruji names and how attention was sought! And then goes on to say that its her blog and hence has the choice to say or write whatever she wants to (well if its so personal, then restrict access and just read it yourself!). You know, that people read and take your opinion and unfortunately not everybody can think for themselves so you are bound to influence them! Anyways, I also got to see the interview this person had conducted with Guruji and Bhanu didi a few months ago and every word she uttered was filled with cynicism. It seemed like she had already decided that she would put this one adorable person on a mortal's platform. Anyways, Guruji responded with his usual charm and eloquence and nothing she said or asked could alter his response or extract the sensation or scandal that she seemed to want from him! This same person even attended a satsang with guruji in a mumbai socialite's house and couldn't stop singing the praise on the bliss she had experienced! It was just sad to see such a celebrated journalist being hypocritical and writing up gibberish on a person who is so dear to millions of people.

Hows that for clarification?! :)

miracle!

If you know me really well then you would definitely know that I could never string more than a line that made sense for poems but today as blessing guruji inspired me during kriya to come up with this lovely godawesome poem which am proudly posting on this blog..here it goes.

p.s. for the first time ever I am claiming rights to this poem and if you need to copy any of it please take permission from me or guruji!thank you!

Ode to Guruji:

You came into my life like an ocean breeze,
that took my burdens away and put me at ease.

You are the rain drops from above,
that has drenched my soul with unconditional love.

You filled my heart with fire of action,
to love and spread joy and compassion.

You are the boulder that has given me strength,
to scale the skies and achieve any length.

You are the space that I long to be in,
for you are my nature and my skin.

Oh Guruji! This is a tiny ode to all that you have shown,
and for all the joy you have brought me that I would have otherwise never known!

TZ

truth and feelings!

No this is not a philosophical post (hmm..come to think of it, it may be one!)..A conversation with my super hero (read sis-"TJ") kicked some spunk into my mind and drove away all the blues!ya she is sooper that way! So here is what happened-
I Called home feeling all down with post birthday blues..pondering about how my life had stagnated and nothing new or exciting seemed to be on the horizon for me at that point, so TJ picks up the phone and we start to chat in general when I tell her about how I was feeling.
Me: I am so pathetic, so stagnated..blah blah blah
TJ: Don't worry honey I go through the same feelings all the time, you will be fine. You are going to graduate, get a new job,get married start a new phase in life!so, it is just the beginning for you.
Me: awww..thank u chinna, but tell me why do "you" feel low? you are doing great in your career, in your guru seva, taking care of our family, look smashing! You have so many things that are going on your life too!so why do you have to feel "stagnant"???
TJ: it is not about what is, it is about what you feel!!!

Wow!that surely shut me up;I guess all of us are achievers in our own ways, have contributed at least a little to the world and have the potential to top anything that we want and believe in, if only we could see and feel this truth all the time we wouldn't feel depressed or blue, but hey since we can't or don't, God sent in super heroes like TJ to our rescue!:-)
love u sweetiepie!mmuahh

feeling blue..

I am doing my sadhana..of course had given up on it for 2 months which I cant repent enough for!And boy what a difference..I now understand the importance of regular sadhana..Guess I should look at it as a lesson learned..WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN DO THIS MISTAKE!NEVER! should thank guruji for not giving up on me I guess..Am sucha lazy procrastinating ass!Wonder what i was in my previous birth???!!A tree maybe..who didn't move..but guess the tree is more useful to mankind than I am right now!Talk about feeling low huh??I dont know what it is that makes me depressed..Because "K" found someone he could replace me with or because I haven't found someone to replace him with..I actually don't want anyone to take his place..I just want somebody who I can share my life, my values, my love with..sigh! wen I will meet that person I do not know..but for sure it wil be somebody who guruji chooses!yup!that is for sure..somebody who is easy to get along and who values the same things in life as I do..I LOVE GURUJI! he is the most most awesome person ever and I truly madly deeply wish I get to at least spread the joy and knowledge that he has blessed me with by his presence in my life. I am so blessed to have a family that value similar things in life and we all must have earned some pretty good karma to have guruji in our life this birth!Job,marriage, loans, money, health..huh..when one thinks of everything it is so overwhelming..but the lesson to be learnt is to take one thing at a time and work and give 100% from your side to each and everything that u undertake..Right now I wish there was a "someone special" to share my feelings with..but I guess I need to rely on myself more and seek internal solace and support rather than searching for it outside of me!I only pray that I be blessed with courage, patience, diligence and perseverance by guruji to stay steady on the path taken!JGD!

God's name??

I spent a blissful 20 day break with my uncle's family and my lil cousin 'S'(all of six) is as bright as they ever come! She kept me entertained through my stay and there is this one particular incident that I like to jot down which was uproariously hilarious. 'S' finds it difficult to remember the innumerous names of her innumerous relatives in India and just to keep her memory refreshed my aunt indulges in Q &A sessions about the names of different relatives now and then. So this is what happened during one such session!
Scene:The family is at the dining table gobbling down the yummy delicacies made by my aunt'V'.
V to S: Do you remember my brother's name?
S:Hmmm...Rama?
V:No!
S: Krishna?!!
V:No!
S: Ramayana??!!
at this juncture all of us are in splits!
S: What is it??I know it has to be a god's name..everybody in India is named after a god!!!
thats a six year old's perception for you!lol!

I thought I was ready!

Well..I registered on a matrimonial site after much goading from my family.After my breakup with M(for moron!) I thought I was so ready and had gotten over him..but apparently I am stuck in the same revolving door and I keep coming back to the same point!warning signs flashing b'coz M is married now!ya got married to a total stranger few days ago..gave into his parents demands in the end and trampled all over my heart like a bulldozer!The worst part is I know he still loves me(duh!)he told me the day he was leaving the country forever(duh again!).
This situation reminds me of the lyric of the song"save the best for last" by Vanessa Williams where she says " how could you give your love to someone else and share your dreams with me"how can he?? I have no answer! Guess its my own fault for having built all these dreams in my head imagining me and him being together!ya my fault for loving and giving my 100%!The very idea of spending my life with somebody else bothers me to the point of cringing and I wonder how long it will be before I accept the situation at hand and move on!well my inner thoughts are screaming in answer"the sooner the better"!sigh..

The best thing on earthSudarshan Kriya!

Here are facts that everyone ought to know about Sudarshan Kriya and why it is absolutely the best thing that has happened to mankind! These facts I have got from

http://gurukripa.wordpress.com/interesting-facts-about-the-art-of-living-course/
and have reproduce it verbatim: so welcome to knowledge!

“Breathing is the first act of life. Within breathing is the secret of life,”

Interesting facts about the Art of Living course:
• AOL is part of the training for NASA astronauts.
• It is part of the training for Miss India contestants.
. Teachers in a school in Basel, Switzerland get paid vacation to do AOL course.
• Sudarshan Kriya has been acknowledged by All India Institute of Medical Sciences based on its medical research

Medical findings about the Sudarshan Kriya:
A world conference on science, consciousness and spirituality held in New Delhi noted the key findings of research conducted on the Sudarshan Kriya . Below is a simplified synopsis:

1. Less depression, more elation
Dr Richard Brown from the USA has postulated that Kriya contributes to a state of alert calmness through its effect on the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is crucial in social bonding, empathy and love; it is the centre of our gut instincts and is crucial to our ability to perceive, observe and make complex decisions. Impaired vagal activity is found in people with depression, anxiety, panic disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, violent adults, post traumatic stress disorder, early Alzheimer’s and obesity.

2. Sleep like a baby

`Stephen Porges suggested that the different rhythms of breath in Kriya stimulates different fibers of the vagus nerve. This makes SKY unique and likely to have a much wider range of effects. Interestingly, brain wave rhythms during and after Kriya are similar to those of babies.

3. Think Positive
Dr Fahri Saatcioglu from Oslo did a 6-week study on the effect of Kriya on the relaxation response and feeling of wellness on 109 subjects. 56 of them went through the Art of Living course and performed Kriya daily for 6 weeks. The other 53 relaxed in an armchair for 15 minutes daily for the same period. 6 weeks later, a significant increase in the experience of wellness in the Kriya group was noted as compared to the ‘armchair’ group. There was a sharp decrease in anxiety, depression and stress and a marked increase in optimistic thinking in the Kriya group.

4. Live longer
Dr Neeta Singh from New Delhi studied the effects of Kriya on the genes that affect stress related pathways of the human body. She found an increase in vital antioxidant enzymes that are responsible for a longer life span and better protection against cancer.

5. Healthy heart, skin and blood pressure
Dr Stephen Larsen from the USA studied neurophysiological responses before, during and after Kriya. The tests run were EEG (recorded at 19 cortical sites), EKG, heart rate variability, galvanic skin response, hand skin temperature, pulse plethysmography and blood pressure. He found that Kriya practices produced significant changes in ALL physiological measures. It appears that over a period of time, the practitioner’s health becomes more robust, flexible and able to deal with the challenges of stress. This explains why regular practice of Kriya is very important.

6. Decreased work-related stress
Dr Vedamurthachar from Bangalore studied the effect of the AOL Course on occupational stress and anxiety among 60 software engineers. At the end of a month, the 30 engineers who took the AOL course showed a sharp reduction in anxiety and improvement in stress coping skills as compared with the 30 controls.

7. SKY and vegetarian meals for good health
E G Lyulyakina from Russia studied the oral micro flora of SKY practitioners. She found that the number of microorganisms in lacto vegetarians were 2-3 times less than that in ‘non strict’ vegetarians. She concluded that practice of Kriya and a vegetarian diet reduces the microbial content of the mouth.

8. Fight Cholesterol
Dr Chiplonkar from Pune studied the lifestyle, behavioral and health aspects of 105 adults before and after undergoing the part I Art of Living Course. She found that majority of micronutrients showed a positive correlation with sattvic foods. After the practice of Kriya for 2 months, she found a significant reduction in anxiety, sharp increase in antioxidant capacity, reduction in triglycerides and a marginal reduction in oxidative stress.

9. Beneficial for cancer patients
Arielle Warner in USA studied the psycho spiritual benefits of Kriya were studied in women diagnosed with breast cancer. The subjects were evaluated 2 weeks before the Art of Living Course, 8 days after the Course and after 5 weeks of regular practice. A significant improvement in quality of life, spiritual well being, positive states of mind and perceived stress was observed after the AOL course and was maintained 5 weeks later.

10. SKY rules over other similar yoga tools
Dr Janis Carter from Australia compared the effects of different modalities like Iyengar and Desikachar yoga, Qi Gong, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga and a multicomponent yoga intervention (MCYI) in treating Australian Vietnam war veterans with long standing Post traumatic Stress disorder. She found that the interventions that used many tools of yoga viz. Sudarshan Kriya and MCYI showed the greatest efficacy.

11. Psychoanalytical healing
Dr Patricia Gerberg from USA discussed the effects of doing the Art of Living Kriya program in a patient undergoing psychoanalysis since a long time. She found Kriya useful in healing negative past impressions and the `dissociation’ that rendered the patient unable to connect with others and with his own feelings

More on the research papers : http://www.aolresearch.org/pubresearch.html