Source: Critic or Profiteering – For Anti WCF Brigade – Part 1
Critic or Profiteering – For Anti WCF Brigade – Part 1
18 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted General
in18 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted General
inSource: Critic or Profiteering – For Anti WCF Brigade – Part 1
11 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted General
in33000 artists to perform in the World Culture Festival! Amazing!
Why you should also be there – https://aravindvenkatachalam.net/2016/02/03/why-you-should-be-in-new-delhi-this-march/
05 Friday Feb 2016
Tags
Ajna Chakra, Anahata Chakra, Chakras, India, Knowledge, Manipura Chakra, Muladhara Chakra, Sahasrara Chakra, Swadhistana Chakra, Temple, Vishudhi chakra, Vortex
Yathaa Pinde tathaa Brahmaande. Yathaa Brahmaande tathaa Pinde
The microcosm and the macrocosm are interlinked. Planet earth, home to many organisms, is itself a large organism. It is not just a place for living beings; it is a living organism as a whole. This is what the Gaia theory says. Now scientists have found that the our brain looks just like the universe.
Ancient rishis or saints always portrayed a country as a person. A person with feelings and energy centers just like a human being. I recently read that INDIA also has her own spiritual energy centers, in form of particular cities, just like human beings. I started looking this up and this is what I found. There are 7 cities in India which correspond to the seven centers or chakras in a human body. It is given in the following sanskrit shlokha(a prayer).
Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanchi, Avanthika, Puri drawaravati chaiva, saptaide moksha dayika.
Maya(Haridwar) corresponds to the Muladhara(Root) chakra situated at the base of the spine. When the lethargy in you goes and enthusiasm begins, you commence your journey. Hari-dwar, the starting point, is “the door to the house of the Divine”.
Kanchi corresponds to the Swadhisthana(Sacral) chakra situated behind the genitals, as the presiding deity here is Kamakshi, the goddess of kama or desire.
Ayodhya corresponds to the third chakra, the Manipura(Solar plexus), situated in the navel region, where joy, generosity, greed and jealousy manifest. All these emotions are connected to Ayodhya.
Mathura is Anahata(Heart chakra)chakra. The heart is associated with three emotions: Love, fear and hatred. Mathura symbolises the love and devotion of the gopis for Krishna, as well as of the fear and hatred of Kansa, all matters of the heart.
Avanthika, also called Ujjain, is related to the Vishuddha(Throat chakra) or the throat chakra. Ujjain is the city of art and literature. It is also the city of Vikramaditya, of grief and glory. We feel gratitude in the throat region — we get choked. Same with grief.
Kashi represents the Ajna(Third eye chakra) chakra situated between the eyebrows. Kashi has always been the seat of knowledge. That’s why the ajna chakra is also called gyana chakshu, the third eye. Kashi is the city of pundits and scholars.
Dwaraka represents the Sahasrara(Crown chakra), the chakra on top of the head. Dwar-ka literally means: “Where is the door?” The door is irrelevant if there are no walls. Infinity has no walls. Sahasrara also means thousand avenues. It means the pathless path.
The path to liberation begins at Haridwar(Mooladhaara chakra) and culminates at Dwarka(Sahasrara chakra).
The seven sacred cities with the 7 sacred rivers – Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri – are linked to the sacred spots inside you. I am not sure what the rivers correspond to in the human body. Maybe Major Nadis in our system?
Positive emotions with knowledge are liberating. Positive emotions without knowledge create negative emotions which are stifling and creates bondage. When you observe the Prana, the subtle life force in one’s body associated with our breath, moving through different chakras associated with sensations, the negative feelings cease to exist and one is liberated from bondage. This why meditation is so important to one’s liberation.
Every city have a collective consciousness. A street where unethical people conduct their business is believed to emit heavy vibrations whereas an educational institution or a place of worship emits positive and light vibrations. That is why there are so many temples in India. To help people raise their consciousness in a collective manner by emitting positive vibrations. The ancient rishis, located these different energies being prominent at particular places and they built these temples accordingly for humans to come and energize particular chakras.
While I was at it, I researched more and found that our earth too has got 7 spiritual chakras! Now this is really interesting.
Muladhara chakra: Mt. Shasta, California, United States.
Swadisthana chakra: Lake Titicaca, on the border of Bolivia and Peru
Manipura Plexus chakra: Uluru-Katatjuta, Australia
Anahata chakra: Glastonbury and Shaftsbury, England
Vishuddhi chakra: Great Pyramid of Giza and Mt Sinai, Egypt; Mt of Olives, Jerusalem.
Ajna chakra: Kuh-e Malek Siah, Triple border of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sahasrara chakra: Mt. Kailas, Tibet.
You can read about the earth chakras and vortexes here – http://in5d.com/earth-chakras-and-vortices/
03 Wednesday Feb 2016
Posted Art Of Living, General
inTags
Art of Living, Inspiration, Life, Meditation, Narendra Modi, Pranab Mukherjee, President, Prime Minister, Spirituality, Violence Free, WCF, World Culture Festival
There I go – taking a hiatus again and this time it was only 6 months! I haven’t been into blogging for some time – maybe a writer’s block or something. But there is something that is to happen in New Delhi, INDIA this coming March which brings be to blog again. That is the World Culture Festival that is hosted by the Art of Living Foundation in New Delhi on March 11, 12 and 13th. I am going to be in New Delhi and I thought – wouldn’t it a good idea to let the know the world know why? And while doing that why not invite the whole world to it too?
| 3.5 Million people |
| Guinness Record for Largest stage ever |
| People from more than 15o countries |
| Former & Current Presidents of Countries |
| Business leaders from all over the World |
| Musicians and Dancers from across the Globe |
| Grandest Cultural Extravaganza in the WORLD |
| HISTORY to be MADE |
You getting the Picture?
The World Culture Festival is the largest interfaith gathering for peace! – Sri Sri
There have been many events which have changed the face of the earth through history. If you take a look at the last few decades, it has mostly been disasters, incidents of violence like gun shooting, political crisis, etc. There has not been any event on an international scale to celebrate peace, for love, for happiness. The World Culture Festival is JUST THAT.
This is a celebration of goodness. Good people from more than 15o countries are coming together to celebrate goodness, celebrate love, celebrate peace and celebrate humanity. In this time, where there are so much horror and violence are happening on our planet.
Good people, who are the majority in the world, do not make noise. This is a chance for good people to make noise. What better than all of us,good people, coming together to celebrate PEACE, LOVE, FREEDOM, HAPPINESS and LIFE. New Delhi in March 11-13th, 2016 is where meditation and celebration comes together to make a deafening noise for peace! An event to celebrate the diversity in cultures and unity in humanity.
What is the purpose of the World Culture Festival? In the words of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar himself-
1. To give a message to the world that the whole world is ONE Family.
2. That We can all co-exist with our differences together.
3. Opportunities for religious leaders, business leaders and many more to come together.
4. To let the world know that we care for the environment. We care for the rivers, mountains, plants, trees.
5. To encourage to traditional musicians and dancers. To give them a world platform to relish and enjoy that. This will be brought to the fore front.
6. That good people are there and are dynamic and active and care for LIFE.
Just Imagine 3.5 million chanting OM and meditating together. Regardless of whether you have learnt meditation or not, just being that space of so many meditating and chanting would be out of this world!
So what are you waiting for? The moment I heard that there is going a gathering of 3.5 million coming together to celebrate peace, I just knew that I cant miss this one! I booked my tickets straight away! More over, you might have an idea to visit INDIA some time in your life right?. What better time to visit INDIA than this March!
More information about the World Culture Festival here – http://www.artofliving.org/us-en/world-culture-festival
All information for booking your travel to New Delhi this March can be done through this website – IwillBeThere.us
Now there might be some of us who really really wants to be there but genuinely can not make it for various reasons. Well, if you are one of these good people – you can still be a PART of this historical event by making a donation. Here is my crowdrise link where you can donate.
Whats more – March 7th is Maha Shivaratri! The day when universal divine energy comes closer to the earth. What better place to be than in the spiritual land of INDIA.
Please take this as a personal invitation from me to come to New Delhi this March! It is going to be historic, fun and an experience like you never had before! I want to end with saying this – Chalo Delhi! (meaning – Lets Go to Delhi!) See you there!
P.S. : – Share this with your family and friends and invite them too!
UPDATE : Just got the news that the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the WCF and President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, will be at the closing ceremony!
21 Tuesday Jul 2015
Posted Knowledge
inIt has been a long hiatus this time but Hey, I am back! Hope all of you are doing good. Starting back with a bang – a blog post to know more about our mind!
We all have heard about this question before – “Whats on your mind?”. But have you really wondered what is on your mind. No I mean literally. We all know that our mind is always filled with thoughts and thoughts and thoughts. But what kind of thoughts? Is it thinking all the time? Nope! We also know when we sleep our mind is not thinking. Can you believe that there only 5 modes or activities that the mind is always in? Yup only 5 modes!
Patanjali in the Patanjali yoga sutras says that there are 5 modes or modulations to the mind. 5 vrittis in which the mind will always be in.
PramaanaViparyayaVikalpaNidra – Smrutayaha
Pramaana – always wanting proof of everything. Searching for proof in everything. We search for proof that can convince us of our assumptions. We always search for proof through our senses. Now this gets very tricky in situations between relationships – asking for poof if the other person really loves us.
Viparyaya – Wrong knowledge. This is the way we excuse our thinking by using the wrong knowledge. We know our thinking is wrong but we still use the wrong knowledge to support it. Sometimes we project your views on people and think that is how they are because that is how you feel inside you. We do this most the time. For example, when we don’t respect ourselves we think that others don’t respect us at all.
Vikalpa – Fantasies or Hallucinations. There are two types of fantasies – the one which gives pleasure and the other which are just baseless fears. Sexual fantasies or fantasy and dreaming about rich gives pleasure while hallucinations like “What will happen if I die tomorrow?” are the other type. A common examples is when having a conversation with someone; a person starts their sentence with a few words and straight away, before we let them finish we’re already imagining what they are talking about.
Smruti – Memories. Mind dwells in the memory of the past. In past experiences and memories. Memories triggers various emotions in us like guilt, shame, regret or happiness.
Nidra – Sleep. We all know about sleep!
These are the 5 modulations that keep us from being in YOGA. The mind will mostly be in either one of these 5 vrittis or in a mixture of these 5.
yoga chitta vritti nirodha
Yoga is the silencing of the Vrittis of the mind. Now how does one get out of these vrittis and get established in yoga. In another blog post coming soon 🙂
14 Thursday May 2015
Posted General
inMay 13th was my beloved Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s birthday! Found this article on the 10 interesting things that you have to know about him. Reposting it here. Enjoy!
1.Ravi Shankar was named “Ravi” because his birth falls on a Sunday, and “Shankar” after the eighth-century Hindu saint, Adi Shankara, because it was also Shankara’s birthday that day
2.By the age of 4, he was able to recite verses from the Bhagavad Gita without even being taught the text. Ravi Shankar’s first teacher was Sudhakar Chaturvedi, an Indian Vedic Scholar and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi
3.Ravi Shankar at the age of 25, went into ‘silence’ for 10 days and conceived a simple relaxation technique called Sudharshan Kriya, which is now being taught in 152 countries across the globe. As per studies conducted at Harvard, it was revealed that 70-80 percent of patients suffering from AIDS benefitted from SKY (Sudharshan Kriya)
4.He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore University. After completing his graduation, Shankar travelled with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi giving talks and arranging conferences on Vedic science, and setting up meditation and Ayurveda centres
5.In the year 1983, Shankar held the first Art of Living course in Europe, in Switzerland. In 1986, he travelled to Apple Valley, California in the US to conduct the first course to be held in North America
6.Ravi Shankar started keeping a beard only to look more mature. He explained, ‘Wherever I would go, people would feel disappointed after looking at a young boy sitting on a stage.’
7.Ravi Shankar calls himself the ambassador of LSD – (Laugh, Sing and Dance). Being one of the most magnetic personalities of the world, with an ever growing following that runs into millions, his message is simple: Make your smile cheap and your anger very expensive
8.His Art of Living foundation is now spread over 152 countries and is considered the world’s largest volunteer-based NGO.
9.He was always scolded by his mother, Amma, for bringing an empty suitcase after a travel because he would give away all his clothes to others
10.In the year 2009, Shankar was named by Forbes Magazine as the fifth most powerful leader in India.
Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/sri-sri-ravi-shankars-59th-birthday-10-interesting-facts/1/437746.html
10 Thursday Jul 2014
Posted Knowledge
inTags
Anva Upaya, Art of Living, Meditation, Practises, Pranayama, Shakta Upaya, Spirituality, Sri Sri, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya
I have this question time and again. Not only me but a lot of others too.
“There are so many spiritual practices. Some you have to do – pranayamas, breathing, kriya. Some you do not have to do anything – meditate, concentration. And some where the experience just comes to you. Are they all different?”
I came across this knowledge talk sheet given by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar which talks exactly about this. The different levels of spiritual practices. He clearly says how we start with one level and it takes us to the other levels. Really good read!
There are three levels of spiritual practices.
The first one is called Anva Upaya. The second is Shakta Upaya, . and the third one is Shambava Upaya. Shiva, Shakti and Anva. All practices in the world can be categorized into these three categories. So, Anva is the lowest; means the very beginning. All the japa, mantras, poojas, yogasanas, breath control, everything comes under Anva Upaya. They are called Upayas, which means remedies. Above this is Shakta. Shakta is only mental, i.e., inside. There is no outer thing, no mantras in it. It is the effect of the meditative state, that is Shakta Upaya.
When you sing, meditate, do pranayam and Sudarshan Kriya (Kriya begins with Anva Upaya but then), it leads to Shakta Upaya, when you are just energy. Here there is no effort, there is no doing. Just a little bit effortless effort is there.
Then the Shambava or Shiv Upaya is just pure awareness. Just a state of awareness. Shambava Upaya means that there is no means (way) to do it, it is just a happening, it will just happen. Even then it is still called an Upaya.
So the purpose of Anva and Shakta Upaya is to go to Shambava Upaya wherein you become one with Shiva (the fourth state of consciousness). There is no two, there is no doer, you are Shiva, and that is Shambava Upaya.
Usually people who have experienced some degree of Shambava Upaya, they simply discard the other levels. If you read, some people have said that there is no point in doing pranayama, or, there is no point in chanting mantras, or there is no point in doing Pooja. They are all talking from the level of Shambava Upaya, but all these practices have their own place too. See, for example, if you go to the Prime Minister of a country, the Mayor doesn’t matter much. But suppose the Mayor has a say as well, then even if you go to the Prime Minister the mayor of this town can put some hurdles, isn’t it? The beaurocrats can put some hurdles.
So the ancient system is attending to everybody and giving everyone their rightful place. And that is how all this, Anva Upaya, Shakta Upaya, everything is maintained because they have some purpose.
10 Thursday Jul 2014
Posted General
inThe essence of a Guru in one’s life and the significance of Guru Poornima!
Na guror adhikam Na guror adhikam Na guror adhikam Na guror adhikam
Shiva shasanatah Shiva shasanatah Shiva shasanatah Shiva shasanatah
Shiva has declared that there is nobody beyond the guru. The concept of the master is time immemorial. It is an eternal principle. The master, the self, the mantra and the ishta (family deity) are the same energy. The more you come close to the master, the more evident this becomes for you.
What does it mean to come closer? The Guru is not just the body. You can feel the presence of the master even from miles away and you still you get the uplifted feeling. However, fortunate are those who can bask in his physical presence. Guru purnima is a wonderful opportunity to be in the presence of your master and to take his blessings on this auspicious day.
Every time, during guru purnima, you are reminded of…
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