Few Shots from my India Trip.....

One of the best part pf the trip was, it was very efficient I did what I wanted to do and left quickly. Enjoy the pics..

..am

Soccer Game -- Misconception about Art of Living

Last week my lab group went for a game for soccer. The temperature was was around 50 Deg F (10 feg C). Initially many of us were cold but after running here and there on the filed we started feeling warm and the game picked up the pace. As usual, after the 1st 20 min I was totally into the game with full vigor and intensity.We played for about 2 hours, and it felt great. The whole idea of an outdoor sports excites me so much, I feel like a small child whenever I am on the field.Shouting, yelling, running and going nuts. And so happened this time too, when one of my tememates (who was suppose to be the goalkeeper) came to the midfield and during that time the other team scored a goal. I was RED, and shouted "What the HELL man, why are you freaking coming out into the midfield" etc etc. Then whenever I scored a goal or the team scored one I use to shout and go gaga. Eventually we won the game.

But to my surprise, someone made a very strange comment. Here is what was said " That dude Anurag, looks so calm and peaceful, but he is so intense in the filed shouting and yelling, what is all this......is this is what Art of Living is all about !!!!!

My answer was YES. Yes this is exactly what Art of Living is!!! Art of Living simply means whatever I am doing, I am totally into it. If I am angry - I am angry, if sad - sad, if happy - happy. Living life in an unfragmented manner is Art of Living, living life as intensely as intensely possible is Art of Living. I do not know why people have this wrong notion that spiritual people should not get angry or excited. Whats wrong?? Only difference between a spiritual person is - negative or positive emotion are gone once the moment is finished. The anger is there only during that moment, once the event goes then anger too is gone.



If you really want to learn the Art of Living you have to remain young, alive, available to crying, laughter, available to all dimensions, flowing all over, streaming. But remember, people will all the time misjudge you and you won't get any sympathy. People may cast aspersions at you, but that is worth it. People may think that you are a hypocrite, they may condemn you, they may call names to you, but don’t be worried about it. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is your happiness.

Whenever you hold back some emotion, you feel uneasiness, unhappiness, because the energy is not flowing. The energy is not river-like; it is stuck, dead, frozen. And you would like to flow. Life is flow; death is frozenness. Of course, discipline is needed, not as control but as awareness. A controlled discipline is a deadening phenomenon. When you are alert, aware, a discipline comes easily out of that awareness – not that you force it, not that you plan it. No, moment to moment your awareness decides how to respond.

Guy on the right (Changyao) was the subject of my wrath (Must admit he was the best player in our team)

That’s all Art of Living is all about: remain happy, and don’t create any situation for anybody to be unhappy. If you can help, make others happy. If you cannot, then at least make yourself happy.

I love u all....

...Anu

We are Watching.......Part02

FYI: This is a continuation of the previous post. Read the one earlier and you will appreciate the important message.

.............But there was still a third group who said, ”We don’t know anything about meditation. How can we judge?”

Then, again, after a few months, the group of intellectuals came. Now there was nobody except the master - Jalaluddin. He was sitting and smiling. All the disciples had gone. So the intellectuals asked, " What is happening? The 1st time we came there was a mad crowd, and we thought this is useless. The next time we came it was very good. People were mediatting. But now all are gone. Where have they all gone?"

The Master said, ”The work has been done, the disciples have disappeared. And I am smiling happy because whatever was suppose to happen has happened to the disciples. And you are the fools, I know! I have also been watching – not only you. I know what discussions were going on, and what you were thinking the first time and the second time.”

Jalaludin said, ”The effort that you have taken to come here for three times would have been enough for you to become meditators. And the discussion that you have been in, that much energy was enough to make you silent. And in the same period, those disciples have disappeared, and you are standing at the same place and with the same mind and with the same useless words".

Moral of the story is INNER WORLD is a matter of SUBJECTIVE experience, you can't analyze it with the laws of science. As science or OUTER WORLD is a matter of OBJECTIVITY. Whatever is happening in meditation is a deep individual experience. How can you describe something so deep in words, mind you words can capture only gross things. The more gross an object/thing is words can describe it completely. The more subtle we go fewer are words. So how can you analyze such a deep experience, with words etc.

So if any of you people there want to explore what are the treasures hidden inside, don't wait besides the fence and waste your precious time in words and discussions...... Just take the plunge and experience bliss....

Love
...A

We are Watching.......Part01

Hi,

A lot of times when I discuss spirituality with my friends and tell them how Art of Living helped me in my inner growth. They all acknowledge the fact, that this path is great. But somehow when it comes down to them taking the program excuses are rife. Most common being I do not have time or I am watching or let me analyze 1st then I decide. They will attend the Satsang, will come to the Yoga and meditation session and when it comes to learning the home practice many of them go into reasoning mode, they want to observe and then decide on committing. They are very clever - clever fools -:) - because these things cannot be watched from the outside. What is happening is an inner phenomenon. Many times you cannot even see to whom it is happening. From the outsied there is no possibility to watch it. How can you watch from outside? Gestures you can see; people doing meditation you can see. But what is happening inside, that is meditation. What they are doing outside is just a situation.

It happened: there was a Sufi Master, Jalaludin. He had a small school of disciples. People passing sometimes would come to see what was happening in the school. Once a group of very intellectual people came. They are always very alert people, very clever, and they looked. In the Master’s house, just in the compound, a group of 100 people were sitting, and they were doing mad gestures – somebody laughing, somebody crying, somebody jumping.




The intellectuals watched. They said, ’What is going on? This man is leading them toward madness. And this is nonsense; we have never heard. People when they meditate, they sit silently.” And there was much discussion (as usual..-☺) between them. A group of them said, ”Because we don’t know what is happening, it is not good to take any judgment.” Then there was a third group among them who said, ”Whatsoever it is, it is worth enjoying. We would like to watch. Why can’t we enjoy it? Why be bothered what they are doing? But just to watch them is a beautiful thing.”



Then after a few months, again, the same group came to the school to watch. Now what was happening? Now everybody was silent. The 100 persons were there, the Master was there – they were sitting silently, so silently, as if there was no one, like statues. Again there was discussion. There was a group who said, ”Now they are useless. What to see? Nothing! The first time we had come it was beautiful. We had enjoyed it. But now they are just boring.” The other group said, ”But now we think they are meditating. The first time they were simply mad. This is the right thing to do; this is how meditation is done. It is written in the scriptures, described in this way.”
But there was still a third group who said, ”We don’t know anything about meditation. How can we judge?”

What happened after this.....wait for the concluding post...-:).

...Am