Happy Bday Bau

BAU! Brave, Adorable & Unique! A true leader, an unfathomable inspirer, a sincere and dedicated devotee, an absolutely hilarious and mind blowing orator, an intelligent persona and a heart warming human being.... and the list of adjectives can go on when it comes to expressing my words about our dearest Bau. Today whatever I am I attribute it to the quality time that Bau has invested in my growth. I feel blessed, privileged and the chosen one to have Bau as my Mentor. He is one person I have ever come across in Art of Living who is so easily accessible via mail.

Whenever I have a question that pops up in my mind or any botheration that disturbs me all I need to do is pop a mail to Bau –khurshed@gmail.com and I have my answers right there. Presence of Bau in our life is lie that of a powerful catalyst to reach the Master. Bau’s fun filled knowledge sessions, his witty Q&As, his mouth watering recipes & last but not the least his Blog serves as a desert to our roller coaster ride of life.

He is one person I have met who is so damn practical at the same time very spiritual. Bau is an ideal youth icon that we need to all cherish and create opportunities as volunteers so that we can introduce Bau and his magic to more and more youngsters all around the globe.

My Friend Ganesha

Ganesh Stotram by Gurudev!

Ajam Nirvikalpam Nirakaram Ekam;
Niranandam Anandam Advaita Purnam;
Param Nirgunam Nirvishesham Nireeham;
Parabrahma Roopam Ganesham Bhajema

"Jagatkaranam Karanam Jnaana Roopam;
Suradhim Sukhadim Gunesham Ganesham;
Jagatvyapinam Vishwavandyam Suresham;
Parabrahma Roopam Ganesham Bhajema."

Jagatvyapinam Vishwavandyam Suresham;
Parabrahma Roopam Ganesham Bhajema

"Gunathithamanam Chidanandaroopam;
Chidabasakam Sarvgam Gyanagamyam;
Muni Dhyeyam Akasharoopam Paresham;
Parabrahmaroopam Ganesham Bhajema"


Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the day on which Lord Ganesha is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.

The essence of Ganeshji is brought out beautifully by Adi Shankara. Though Ganeshji is worshiped as the the elephant-headed God, the form (swaroop) is just to bring out its parabrahma roopa. Ganeshji is described as Ajam Nirvikalpam Niraakaaramekam. This means that Ganeshji is never born.

Have alook at our Ganeshji story and the Symbolism right here: http://bawandinesh.name/ganeshji/

http://bawandinesh.name/the-secret-of-lord-ganesha-ii/

Importance of Rudram

In this Shravan Month we have been blessed to exprience a series of Rudra Puja's in Mumbai. I personally got an oppurtunity to witness a Rudra Puja with Swami Vishnupadji. Before I share my experience let me give you a gist of the Significance of Rudra Puja in our life.

Rudra Pooja is an ancient practice that has been followed in India since time immemorial. Rudra means Shiva the Benovelent, the Destroyer of evil.Pooja means that which is born out of fullness.Through this Pooja one can aim for inner peace and fulfillment.In this Pooja Lord Shiva is worshipped in his Rudra form, is hailed by all vedic scriptures as one of the greatest Pooja's to remove all evils, to attain all desires and for all round prosperity.The Astrology scriptures have repeatedly prescribed this as a remedy for several planetary doshas.

Why do Rudra Pooja - The world is a play of energy, negative and positive. When we pray to Shiva – the Lord of transformation; the entire negative energy around us in form of disease, depression, and unhappiness gets transformed into peace, prosperity and joy. Peace around us, in the mind, body and soul.

How is the Pooja Performed - This pooja is performed with a crystal “linga”. Each ancient mantra that is chanted gets absorbed in specific materials like curd, milk, ghee, honey etc. This is then offered to Shiva with reverence, love and gratitude. Specially trained Pandits and Veda students from our ashram in Bangalore perform this special pooja. The chanting of the mantras is so pure and meditative that it takes us to a different plane.

When the rudra pooja was conducted in Mulund I really felt as though I was sitting in Vishalakshi Manadap with Guruji. His presence was som very prominent. Everytime I attend a Pooja my love for chanting and my awarness about the Power of Mantras gets reinforced.

We have Rudra Pooja conducted in our Bangalore ashram every Mon. Another reason to visit the ashram:)

Solar Eclipse

What is a Solar Eclipse ?

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is fully or partially covered. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. An eclipse of the sun occurs when the moon revolving in its orbit around the earth comes between the sun and the earth. The moon blocks the light of the sun and a shadow of the moon is cast over the earth's surface.

How does the moon bock the sun?

By a fortunate coincidence, the sun's diameter is 400 times larger than that of the moon, and at the same time, it is 400 times as far away. From where we are, this creates the illusion that they are the same size. If we look through a filter at the sun, it looks exactly like the moon on a full moon night. When the moon passes in front of the sun, the shadow falls on the earth and it appears to exactly cover the sun's disc. This is what a solar eclipse is - a shadow.

I was reading some reports about the Total Solar Eclipse on Aug 1st and most scientists claimed that eclipse does not affect us in any way ! We can be outside, eat etc. during the eclipse. Here is the knowledge from Guruji on the effect of eclipse.

Guruji : When that eclipse happens, sun/moon and earth aligns, a huge energy field is created. We should meditate, chant or do satsang because the effect is at least 100 times more. Also we should not eat 3-4 hours before and after to intensify the effect even more. When we eat our body uses up lot of energy to digest the food so instead of energy going to the mind it goes in digesting the food. So if we don’t eat all the energy goes to the mind and then we should do chanting of slokas or satsang.

Our body is made up of 60% water and so during full/new moon we are affected also. That is why in olden days people use to fast on Ekadasi, few days before to balance out the effect! The fasting should be done eating fruits and vegetables. Also when we overeat or eat heavy meal during lunch, we are sleepy after food because our body is using up all the energy on digesting food and can’t do anything else.

ICE AGE 3

ICE AGE HERO

ICE AGE 3 - One the most beautiful animation movie I have ever seen. An ideal combination of humour, emotion and sensitivity coupled with excitement and adventure. Just like in the movie the animals were absolutely ignorant of this whole new underground world of Dinousours, similarly even we remain unaware of a whole new exciting world full of oppurtunities in the spiritual world till we do the Yes!+ course. The Ice Age introduced me to whole new set of creatures from slimy, small to big ones, I have never ever heard of or even seen. Ice Age would rekindle the child in you and stimulate the innocence which lies hidden in each one of us. A movie which no kid/ youth /adult should miss watching. I am going to watch it again 4 sure.

WORDS OF MY MASTER

Praising me is not enough. I am not satisfied by your praises,gratefulness and gratitude. Do not just keep me on the stage, on the altar, put flowers and say, Jai Gurudev!' Keep me in your heart.When you are grateful, there is also a lot of gratitude and you feel like praising. But all this should be converted into your soul and make you blossom.Once in a while when you have a problem, you come and say JaiGurudev. Don't say it only some times, say it all the time,everyday and every minute.

All these qualities you see in me are also in you.Only when you keep me in your heart, does guru ship arise in you.Otherwise just doing pad puja (worshiping the feet), saluting and running away, nothing will be born in you. If you only want to garland flowers, then go to temples. There are many idols there. There is no need of a Guru then. Not only that, there are many people in the world,who love to sit and be garlanded. Go and garland them.If you have come to me, then change. Change from inside.

There is no happiness in the world which you cannot get by being on the path ofknowledge. Once you taste this nectar, everything else will be bitter. Once you begin to float in this, you will never experience a lack of anything in any way in your life.Don't keep me at a distance. By staying far away from me you have no benefit whatsoever. You are just wasting your time and mine too. Whatever I am, you are that too. Whatever you thought was impossible for you, I have come here to show you that it is possible.

This body, this prana, has only one mission. It has come for one reason - to introduce you all to your own self, to reveal the true self to you. Who are you? You are truth. You are shiva. You are beauty.See, many people come here. Some come just to visit the place and say, "oh! nice." some feel nice inside and say, "oh! nice energy!"they take few deep breaths and go back after one or two days in a good state of mind. Few others come and stay a little longer, while, while others just loot every thing. They take every thing. And that is good. Those are the kind of people I want. They must loot everything.The shop is open. So loot all you can.

Magic of Bawan Dinesh's Presence

After the 25th June Yes!+ Morning batch got over I was not sure if Bawa n Dinesda were taking a Yes!+ course in Mumbai from 15th July. Then I had a word with Anjana and asked her to convince Bau if we could have a Yes!++ in Mulund and you know what Bau said why not have a Yes!+ in Mulund with BawanDinesh. Non of the volunteers could believe their ears. The enthusiasm, intensity, valour and energy level of each every volunteer was sky rocketing. We just had 10 days in our hand i.e. from 3rd July till 13th July to make this wonderful opportunity that we got to organize a Yes!+ for our very own Bau and Dineshda. The key words that contributed to the success of our course - Team work, 'Yes' Mind and Guru Grace. 180 registrations in 10 days was just an imagination once upon a time. But now it’s a breathing reality for each one of us. Self effort and faith in the master made the impossible very much possible.

And I could just not believe my eyes. From 15th-20th July -180 people did the Yes!+, 94 people did Sahej Samadhi Meditation, 35 people did Mathemagic with Bawa and 50+ people did SMS(Study Made Simpler) with Dineshda. I realized that when you give your 100% then the output is unimaginable.

Few of my learnings:
If the group sankalpa is strong then anything is possible.
Every opportunity for seva is an oppurtuntiy to experience Guru Grace.
Responsibility should always be taken and not given.
Clarity in communication while working in a team.
Do not hesitate to take challenges.
Learn to adapt to change.
Focus should be on the Guru and on learning.
Learn from your own mistakes and other’s as well.