• General
  • Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
  • Art Of Living
    • Guinness Records
  • Knowledge
  • Stories
  • About Me

Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and My Self!

Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and My Self!

Tag Archives: Teacher

Devotion and GuruHood by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Aravind Venkatachalam in Art Of Living, Knowledge

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Art of Living, Buddha, Devotee, Devotion, Disciple, Enlightenment, Guru, Learning, Sri Sri, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Student, Teacher, Zen

Q: Tell us about devotion to Guru.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are three types of people who come to the Master, the student, the disciple and the devotee. A student goes to a teacher and learns something, gets some information and then he walks out of the School. There is no more information, just like looking at a guidebook, like a tourist guide. Then there is the disciple, the disciple follows the example of the Master. But a disciple is with the Master for the sake of learning wisdom, for the sake of improving his life, for the sake of attaining enlightenment. He has a purpose, a cause, so he is not just collecting information, but he goes a little deeper. He is trying to bring a transformation in his life. He wants to make sense out of his life. That is a disciple.And then there is devotee. A devotee is not there even for wisdom. He is simply rejoicing in love. He has fallen in deep love with the Master, with the Infinity, with the God. He doesn’t care as to whether he gets enlightened or not. He doesn’t care as to whether he acquires a lot of knowledge or wisdom or not. But that very moment, and every moment, he is immersed in divine love that is enough for him or her. A devotee is very rare to find.

Students are in abundance, disciples are a few, but the devotees are rare.

It is nothing great to become God or be God. Whether you want or not, all are already Gods. A stone is also a God. Where the devotion has flowered totally, the flower has blossomed, that is a devotee. Attraction is everywhere, love is somewhere, but devotion is again rare. Devotion is very beautiful. A student comes to a Master, Teacher, and Guru with tears in his eyes. There are so many problems, and when he leaves, he is carrying the same tears, but the quality of the tears is different, it is of gratitude. Still tears flow, but those are of gratitude, of love; it is so beautiful to cry in love.

One, who has cried even once in love, knows the taste of it, of surrender and of devotion and the entire creation rejoices it. The entire creation is longing for only one thing, the transformed tears, from salty tears to sweet tears.

One of Buddha’s disciples named Sariputra got enlightened. When he got enlightened, Buddha told him, “Now you go ahead, go into the world and preach, teach and do the same work I do, carry on my work.” Now Sariputra left Buddha, but he was crying and crying and people asked him, “Why are you crying when you are enlightened?” He said, “Who cares about this enlightenment, it could have waited, I would have waited. I didn’t even bother about it or asked for it because the joy of being at the feet of Buddha was so great. Being a devotee was so great, now I am missing this, I would have preferred that to this enlightenment.”

There once was a Zen Master who always thought that he was enlightened. He went around saying, “I am enlightened”. He happened to meet one of his Masters who gave him a puzzle, called ’koan’. The ‘koan’ was “the statue has eyes, the tears roll down silently”. Hearing this Zen Master was shaken and he said, “There is some depth in it”.

Like fatherhood and motherhood, there is Guru-hood. We all have to play Guru-hood at least to somebody. We do play! Consciously or unconsciously you are all Guru to somebody. You keep giving advices and guiding people, giving them loving care! You all do this, but do it 100%, without expecting anything in return: that is living the Guru principle. There is no difference between the divine, the Self and the Guru. They are all one. Meditation is relaxing and reposing. Think of all the things to be grateful for and ask what you want for the future and bless everyone. We receive so many blessings and we should also bless all those who are in need.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Michael Fischman on Joys of Meditation

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by Aravind Venkatachalam in Art Of Living

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Art of Living, Meditation, MIchael Fischman, Spirituality, Sri Sri, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Teacher

Michael Fischman

Michael Fischman began his life as the son of an Orthodox Jewish Holocaust survivor in New York, and developed a successful career as a Madison Avenue advertising executive. Later through an unlikely turn of events, ended up as meditation student and teacher. He is also the author of a multi-award-winning memoir, “Stumbling Into Infinity: An Ordinary Man in the Sphere of Enlightenment”.

Here is an excerpt from his interview about the joys of meditation and why we need to meditate. Michael has been with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Art of Living Foundation since 1988 and has been teaching meditation and other courses since then. 

Tell us about your personal meditation journey?

I started to meditate when I was 26 years old. It was a rough patch in my life, and many of the social activities I was involved with at that time I have completely abandoned. I was living a very different lifestyle. A friend told me about meditation and it seemed to make sense. I gravitated to it very quickly. In 1988, after practicing for about a dozen years, I came to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living. It was a quantum leap forward in my practice. As opposed to spending a lot of time with a chattering mind in the first half of my meditation, the meditations were profoundly different. I would start my meditation in silence, and that was extremely valuable.

You are a long-time teacher of meditation. Tells us about meditation in the Art of Living?

Meditation is a key part of the Art of Living, and Sri Sri’s approach to meditation in the Art of Living is very unique. He takes a three-pronged approach. The first step is to help an individual quiet down their mind and their emotions with Sudarshan Kriya. This is the meditative rhythmic breathing practice that is taught on the Art of Living Part 1 course.

The second step is giving people instruction in the art of meditation through a course called Sahaj Samadhi Meditation. An individual is given a sound or mantra and taught how to use it,  this gives them a deep experience on the basis of regular meditation. It cultures their system to maintain an inner peace and bliss that continues to grow inside.

The third approach is to give people a deep experience of silent awareness in a retreat program called the Art of Silence course. It allows people to spend four or five days in a retreat setting, away from responsibilities. The effect is like polishing the system, expanding awareness, and going very deeply into the experience of meditation and the experience of silence.

How has your life changed since you learned meditation?

It is hard to say why my life has changed, whether it is due to meditation, to Sudarshan Kriya, the deep silence program, or due to interacting with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as a guru and teacher. Or maybe all of it.

I can say that the deep experience of peace and serenity that I get to experience twice a day definitely sets the tone & mood of my mind for the entire day. And that effect has grown through the years. Sudarshan Kriya helped me feel the effect of meditation more during the day.

Do you think it is important to have teacher to learn meditation?

Yes, very much so. I don’t think you can learn it from book or from a seminar. People are blind to their own blind spots. You definitely need a teacher or a guru. The path of getting to the Self is a very interesting journey, and meditation is a key aspect of it. But unless you have the guidance & supervision of a Master, it would be difficult.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Days to WCF

World Culture FestivalMarch 11, 2016
The World Culture Festival in New Delhi, INDIA!

Categories

  • Art Of Living
  • General
  • Inspirational Quotes
  • Katha Vidya
  • Knowledge
  • Poems
  • Stories
  • Videos

Pages

  • About Me
  • Guinness Records
  • Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Art of Living Ashram Bad habits Bhagavad Gita Brain Breath Campaign Choice community Death Dushyant Ego emotions Guru Guruji Happiness health Inspiration Karma Knowledge Life Love Mahabharata Mahabharatha marriage Meditation Mind Navaratri Peace Poem Poetry Prana Pranayama Quote Quotes Relationship Satsang Society Spirituality Sri Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Story Stress Stress Free Sudarshan Kriya Teacher Video games Violence Violence Free Yoga

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,308 other subscribers
Follow Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and My Self! on WordPress.com

My favorites

  • Flying High in Peace
  • Kaalakshepam...
  • rarasaur
  • Art of Living Blog
  • Intenseice

Art Of Living

  • Art of Living Foundation
  • Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Blog Stats

  • 137,879 hits

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

RSS Feed RSS - Comments

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« May    

Prayer

Saha nav avatu, Saha nau bhunaktu, Saha viryam karavavahi: Tejasvi nav adhitam astu: ma vidvisavahai; Aum Santih, Santih, Santih - May He protect us both; may He be pleased with us both; may we work together with vigor; may our study make us illumined; may there be no dislike between us. Aum, peace, peace, peace.

Recent Posts

  • Mantras
  • Critic or Profiteering – For Anti WCF Brigade – Part 1
  • 33000 artists to perform in WCF!
  • 7 Energy chakras of India & our Earth!
  • Why you should be in New Delhi this March!

Archives

  • May 2022
  • February 2016
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • July 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012

Aravind Venkatachalam

is a senior software engineer living in the Bay area. He is a devotee of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and volunteers for the Art of Living Foundation. He uses this blog to share his ideas on ancient wisdom from the Puranas and from Sri Sri along with many other stories and juicy stuff!!

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Flying High in Peace

Kaalakshepam...

Stories untold and retold

rarasaur

frightfully wondrous things happen here.

Art of Living Blog

Intenseice

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and My Self!
    • Join 118 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and My Self!
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: