Oct 31, 2012

THAT- "One Energy"


In the Vedic lore it is said that its only one energy expressing itself in millions of forms around us . And in the more modern times; the string theory, which says  “the entire world is made of strings” and these strings are nothing but vibrations (energy). One can only wonder and ask really! Because what meets the eye is a completely different reality, isn't it. Even when we wake up, every morning the first feeling can be so different .The same cycle of morning, afternoon, evening, and night can have millions of different experiences to offer, again and again.

And this “one energy” and its infinite forms is what is worshiped during the festival of Navaratre. Navratre the nine- days & nights, are celebrated every year. Each year this celebration has opened up to mean something very new. And a deep feeling of wonder, seeing this magnificent play of  “one energy”, is growing every moment ,within me.

I was standing in front of the most beautiful Deviji’s idol at Lokhandwala, my heart filled with reverence by the beauty expressed by the artist. As I looked up carefully at all the idols placed around Durga.

Deviji's Idol at Lokhandwala

Ganesh, Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartik, the lion, Mahishasur (the demon) and the magnificent Durga herself in the most abhorrent and angry mood. The anger which is always looked down upon, the sign of ignorance, the symbol of the unwise. And this form is being worshiped???
 But even in the state of outrage, with her eyes convulsing, her tongue sticking out, and venom pouring out of each and every cell of her being, she looked so beautiful, so very full…..

The most  'cruel expression' of the Goddess(energy) in which she is doing the heinous act of killing was being worshiped with great reverence!




To me this meant, that even the opposite is a sacred part of that “one energy” and it has its place in the creation. Every aspect and every expression of the Devi is to be accepted because it is for a purpose.

Opposite is a part of the whole and the circle is incomplete without it, Good /bad, truth/lie, peace/disturbance etc; all a part of the whole.
For what would be the value of RAMA, if it wasn't for the great RAVANA.
Would we remember Krishna after thousands of years , if he just came and played with the Gopis? Isn't he also remembered for the great Mahabharata war. Would the Bhagwat Gita  be given without the confusion in Arjuna's mind, or the confusion in yours and mine.   
If Jesus were not crucified so cruelly, some of us wouldn't have believed that he was God, isn't it?



The same energy takes different roles of the villain and hero, and plays and leaves a moral to direct the lives of the generations that are to come. Taking different roles again and again only to establish Dharma (that which upholds life) to give a direction to the life force and protect its creation.

Protecting its Creation:)
For the first time I can feel great grateful towards, Ravana, Duryodhana and so many others who by their presence gifted us such moral stories to learn from.

Gurudev says, the ignorant at their own cost teach us lessons, by the mistakes they commit.
And as I stood , worshiping the Great Durga Idol ,the entire story looked complete with the presence of Mahishasur in it.  And that’s what this Navaratri revealed to me.

That every particle in the creation is permeated with the divine energy of the mother, the one who protects, nurtures, destroys, and creates and so it is sacred and respectful.




Today I am all geared up to be a part of such a war for the sake of dharma but with a small difference , instead of hatred for those on the other side I have compassion for them.

|| य देवी सर्वभूतेषु भरन्ति रूपेण संस्थित नमस तस्यै नमस तस्यै नमस तस्यै नमो नमः ||

|| ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शन्तिहि ||

|| Ya Devi sarvabhuteshu bhranthi (doubt) rupena samsthita 
namas tasyai, namas tasyai, namas tasyai, namo namah ||

|| Om shanti shanti shanti ||  

-Vasudha Jhunjhunwala
Jai Gurudev!



Sep 10, 2012

Grow Within!



As a kid I always admired a certain set of people. Abdul Kalam, mother Teresa, Albert Einstien etc. Something about them felt so right. I wanted to be ‘like them’. Even in the film industry I would love Kajol. I would spend hours looking at myself in the mirror making myself look the way she does. But did that make me akin to her? Ofcourse, No!


I wanted to be like them. I wanted to posses ‘that something’ that they had which I didn’t. I would recognize it, but I didn’t know how to get that ‘something’ in me. Nevertheless I grew up with different and more things to occupy me. And this game of ‘copying-other-peopl took a seat back.
In years to come, a secret revealed. Do you really want to know this secret? It’s very very precious! So along with this secret, a promise comes to live this, every moment. I finally found that Missing ‘Something’ J
 
The thing that was attractive about them, was the virtues (formless) but to my naked eye it was the person comprising it (the form). I got attached to the form & left the formless. I tried copying their lifestyles, their behavior, the way they talk, they way they act and so on.. but that didn’t make me acquire their innocence, humbleness, simplicity, intelligence, passion, confidence..
So now when this secret is revealed, another secret is, where & how do these virtues grow? Ummm…Lets see.
Have you seen a tree? Have you seen the flowers on them? The fruits on them? How do you think they grow? If we want the tree to be sturdy, beautiful, fruit & flower bearing, what do we do? Aha! Yes I know you got it ;)


We treat the roots. The deeper the roots, the stronger & fuller the tree. The stronger the roots, the more shade it can offer. When the roots are deep, the branches grow wider & higher. Just like that, the deeper you dive within, the more virtues come to you. J
As rightly my teacher vasudha jhunjhunwala shares, “The apple, if made to shine from outside will it make the apple sweeter, tastier? No. what gives the apple its value is what it has inside”
And now when you give attention to that ‘Inside’ the shine that shows on you is irreplaceable, unmatchable! Then the only person left to copy & be is- YourSELF! It’s the easiest & the most lovable person to be, full of virtues. J

Toh mummy ko bolo complan ke saath, Meditation bhi deno ko. It makes you taller, sharper, stronger and much much more ;)
Have a ‘Wonder-full Insight’ this week J
Be authentic.
Jai gurudev.

- Lavita Singhania.

Aug 10, 2012

A new Beginning!

Dear All,
Janmashtmi has always been a turning point in the life of this blog. The first and the last post on this blog were published on Janmashtmi in the years 2008 and 2010 respectively. Now its Janmashtmi 2012 and since we have survived the holocaust and the world doesn't cease to exist, we thought of bringing you the same old spice of wisdom and fun and intend to give you a renewed experience of Life and its lessons as decoded by our teachers, Virat & Vasudha.

Watch out for this space while we clear some formalities for bringing this blog up again.

Wishing everyone a Happy Janmashtmi! 

Jai Gurudev!

In Service,
Rishabh K.

PS: The only reason for giving new life to this blog is YOU! We happened to know that even yesterday there were some 21 random views of this blog which was discontinued 2 years ago! A sincere Thank you for the love & honor given by you. This is the single most important reason for us to start this blog all over again! 



Sep 5, 2010

Goodbye Blogger

Dear All,

We had started this blog on 28th August, 2008 with a Janmashtmi special post. As our dear teachers, Virat & Vasudha scaled new heights with ever growing YES!+ team, this blog also gained popularity and within a year we were on Bawa's blogroll - An honourable achievement!

This monday, i.e. 6th September, 2010 we will be launching our Wordpress blog. And the most amazing fact is, the first post here will be again about Janmashtmi with VnV!!
The VnV team proudly announces the official migration from Blogger to Wordpress!
Until now, our blog was an independant link on the World wide web. Now we will be a part of YES!+ blogs from all across the country.
All the YES!+ blogs now have a common link - http://yesplus.in/
Our Wordpress blog will have the following link - http://yesplus.in/vnv
From tomorrow, this will be our new address. This post shall remain the last post on blogger.

The VnV team sincerely thanks all those who have appreciated and contributed in our efforts to make this blog what it is. Special thanks to the 125 followers who gave us the opportunity to deliver the best write ups and experiences. We seek your unconditional support and blessings in the new endevaour.

With Immense Gratitude,

In Service,
(VnV Team)

Aug 23, 2010

My Country My Valentine!



“The country whose young men are inspired by the glory of the past, the pains of the present and the dreams of the future always moves on the path of progress”.




In the current scenario, Our countrymen are only stuck up with the pains of the present and the dreams of the future. Hardly do we know anything about the glories of the past. To serve the same purpose, Virat bhaiya took up this initiative of presenting the ancient India to redeem our lost pride in our motherland!
Blended with patriotic music, this event was an apt way to celebrate India's 63rd Independance Day!


Virat Bhaiya began with an amazingly true fact that all the knowledge that we posses about the so called HISTORY of our MOTHERLAND is only from our HISTORY TEXTBOOKS. Alarmingly, these books only talk about our Motherland for a period over the last 500 years maximum and not beyond that, though we are the OLDEST CIVILIZATION in the world.

Then he began with a more interesting question – Do you know what the VEDAS are..??

Everybody had their share of knowledge to say about the VEDAS, some stupendous answers that came out were that the VEDAS are boring rituals in Sanskrit with nothing to do about & they are simply unauthentic and not scientific. Well it may amuse many that the VEDAS was not written by anybody in particular it is just a compilation or rather a huge collection of thought of the various Rishi’s and Muni’s of our ancientIndia that we don’t know about.

Then came all the shocking revelations for me, something that has shook me to the core, I was taught all these year’s in school, wasn’t it…??? But was I taught the right thing…???

Let me begin with Pythagoras Theorem… was it actually his theorem for the taking…?? Was he the first person to discover it..?? It was discovered way back in 800 B.C by Bodhayanah, which is mentioned in the Sulba Sutras.

Then the entire list of our Motherland’s accomplishments simply swept the floor below my feet, let me begin to list a few from the never ending list

  • Zero & Decimal System – Untill this was given to the world they had counting only until 9.. How SAD right…?? Lolls
  • The Value of Pi upto 31 decimals was known to us and the same is mentioned in the Vedas, it was remembered as an Encryption using KATAPAYADI SANKHYA which is a means to code n decode the encryption.( Like its easy to remember a song than any answers for the exams right…?? Our ancestors knew that as well.
  • Who discovered Gravity…??? Sir Issac Newton…. What you must be kidding me…!! Check my dear friend, check again because it is mentioned in the Vedas dated about 400 B.C, i.e approximately about 1200 years before Issac Newton was born.
  • We still consider 9 planets in our astrology, we consider RAHU and KETU also, We consider them all because of the effect that these planets have on the EARTH and hence our LIVES (unlike the West we haven’t discarded or added a planet based on their size (ref to PLUTO)
  • The story on who discovered INDIA…??? Vasco Da Gama…?? Ladies n Gentlemen you need to know that 1498 was not when we were discovered, common go beyond your history text books.
  • Ayurveda & Obstetrics was again our knowledge to the world. We did everything and anything that the modern world does today; even the so called Post Mortem techniques are spoken about in the VEDAS.
  • Zinc was again invented in India, the so called Upward distillation method, which was something that only we Indians knew way before anyone could even think of it.
  • Architecture, the so called Vaastu Shastra has all been mentioned in the VEDAS.
  • Mettalurgy – how to make rust free IRON, only we INDIANS knew it back then few thousands of years ago.
Lagta hai na zyada ho gaya…?? Par Yeh sab sahi hai … matlab yehi sab sahi hai BHIDU J

A Few Questions for you all to Ponder on and Test Yourselves and you may leave your answers as your comments on the BLOG 

  • Who discovered India…???
  • What is our Religion as mentioned in the Bhagavat Gita…???
  • Why did the Mughals, Europeans. Britishers, Chinese all come to India…???
  • Which is the Oldest Civilization in the World…???
  • How did we get the name INDIA…???
  • What is the relevance of Takshashila University and Nalanda University…???
  • Who is Chanakya…???
  • What does Einstein have to say about his discoveries….???
  • Have you heard of Abhimanyu’s story….??? If Yes, its relevance…??
  • Why was Tansen or for that matter any singer or performer of that period considered to be so powerful…???
  • Who are Panini and Renin Martin… dig deep for an impressive answer.??
  • Why are Mad people called LUNATICS…???
  • Why do we call the Earth – JAGAT…???
  • Who is MOON given so much importance…???
  • Why should we follow LINDA GOODMAN…???
  • What’s in the phrase “Yeh Sab Moh Maya Hai” with  relevance to VEDAS…???
In case you have more trivial questions on India, Ancient India, Indian ythology or anything and everything about India, post em up and we shall answer them for you.

“The Bhagavat Gita is one reference point for all discoveries in the modern history. So this is a must read for every INDIAN on this planet. (Costs anywhere between Rs.15–20, Geeta Press Books)”

Ref – Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Max Mueller, Lin Young, Dr. Oppenheimer and the count goes n names go on for both foreign and Domestic…!!!

For the positives Virat Bhaiya then aptly said, “we have been brutally ruled and exploited for  almost like 500 to 700 years, we now need to give ourselves at least about 100 years to get back on our feet, with the bunch of JOKERS (politicians) of today we will need some more time to be added on for us to revive. It’s just been 63 years.”
The uprising has already begun.

All our Rishi’s, Muni’s, Leader’s, Champions…. From the Father of the Nation Gandhi to Sachin Tendulkar to Leander Paes to Ved Vyas, Valmiki, Durvasa, Kautilya n many more, they were all SPIRITUAL….. they all sought and still seek INNER PEACE for OUTER DYNAMISM. Meditation has always been the coolest thing to do, it now is and will always be.

Now I needn’t tell you what next to do right…???

With Loads of conviction and awareness I simply Love to say – “I AM PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN”

This was just my effort and Sankalpa to improve awareness among all my friends about our own MOTHERLAND - INDIA…!!!


A Talk by VIRAT CHIRANIA

Satyam-eva Jayeteh
May the truth alone triumph



- Written entirely by Sharon Padmanabhan, copied shamelessly from his blog ;)
 (visit his blog)


Aug 10, 2010

The Power of the MIND

If you think "its" possible, You are Right.
And If you think "it" isn't, Even then you are Right
The Power of the Mind can make anything possible or Impossible.

To most of us the words above are not just words but an experience at some point or the other in life. Isn't it? Just close your eyes for a moment and look back, at some point or the other in life you for sure have surprised yourself by what you achieved.Something that your experience said is impossible for you to achieve...

I will tell you a short story from my own life.
I was in my 7th standard then and was an average student. But I was damn scared of Maths. It was like a torture for me to even open the book and do my homework. I would procrastinate till the last minute to complete my math studies. Till the moment when, if now I didn't put some efforts, another red line would come in the report card.
A terrible thing about the Red line in the report card was it gave your enemies one more chance to mock at you. Which was the worse feeling a teenager can go through.
The one whom I considered my greatest enemy at that time was my cousin brother who had this awefull expertise in making others feel lower than him. We had had several exchanges including some outrageous ones because of which we maintained a healthy distance between each other.

One day I was sitting on the swing and as usual he decided to irritate me with his words.The exchange of words led us to a point where we were ready to bet lives to prove who was superior.
And then the challenge was thrown at me, If you out beat me at Maths in the 8th standard I will consider you more intelligent than me, he said. Without even weighing the possibility of a victory I just accepted the challenge to win the war at that moment.

What!!!! What did I accept, 80% or more in Maths in the 8th standard. My GOD!!!!! To someone whom the sight of this subject could create distress, scoring 80%, was like climbing Mount Everest without warm clothes or skydiving without parachute or reaching moon without a space ship.......
But the challenge was taken and there was no way that I could let HIM Win.It was like mater of life and death for me.
So I started studying.Studying morning, studying noon, studying evening, studying night, I gave myself no choice. I decided I had to do it! My parents were is a state of constant wonder seeing me studying so hard.As the drastic change was completely unexpected by them.
The whole year I studied,like engineers do just before there exams, taking no rest at all. What drove me i think was the firm decision that I had made to reach there.
And the exams came and the paper went good. But I was not sure and was waiting for the results desperately.......
I scored nothing less than 99% in Maths that year:) :) :)
WOW! I could do it. It was the greatest feeling ever for me .Everyone around me was equally surprised and I gained a new respect in the eyes of all. Also I experienced a new confidence in myself that If i decide I can achieve anything.

I am sure we all have had experiences like this in life. But what stops us often in life is our memory. Memory which has this weird habit of sticking to the negative. As, if we let that one excellent experience govern our life, every moment would bring a new possibility for us.

As kids we were gifted. As we had a short memory. We tried to walk and fell,got hurt, cried and yelled. Then forgot..And again walked, and this continued till we learned to walk.

But while growing up we kept accumulating the impressions in our memory,and the memory kept governing our present. With the result the goals that we set for ourselves of reaching the moon,being in the air-force etc looked like a distant reality. And we settled with being an engineer and working for Infosys.

This is where the Art of living course helped me. Practicing the Kriya over the years cleared a lot of clutter in the memory. And new possibilities emerged in me. The MIND said yes and the memory did not obstruct my way any longer.

Today when I saw this video ,the power of the MIND came alive in front of my eyes.

http://video.in.msn.com/watch/video/unbelievable-acrobat-performance/1junqe9xd
(Must watch****)

If you think its possible, You are Right
and If you think it isn't, Even then you are Right
The Power of the Mind can make anything possible or Impossible.

I would like our readers to share some of there inspiring life stories on the blog. It may help the mind to open up to newer possibilities:)

VJ

This video sent by Jainil , inspired me to write this article.

Jul 12, 2010

Summer Magic & The Dude of the Month!

Its The (Summer) Magic of YES!+

It was something definitely beyond the intellect, but not beyond the memory, because it’s going to stay in the consciousness of the participants for the rest of their life. But saying this much will not do justice to the 9 day long affair that over 2000 youth had. If you are a Summer Magic grad, this will be a memorabilia for you. But if you are not, you are going to need a lot of knowledge to come out of regret and to stick to the present moment :P

Bawa’s unrealistic target, Virat Bhaiya’s stupendous conviction and Akhil’s rock-solid ground work – All this together got a strong crowd of over 130 people for Summer Magic from our zone alone!!


19th June – For most of us, this morning was special for more than one reason.
- It was the day for us to leave for the ashram
- It was the last exam for the Engineers :) …
…and for some reason, while writing the exam, most of the engineers had exceptionally more faith in Guruji on this particular day. Let their result tell the rest of the tale…

Train Journey-
4 compartments, packed with Summer Magic participants for over 24 hours with games, music, masti, locomotive kriya and lots of food!! It was 24 hours of nonstop fun! And with YES!+ people around, how can one miss our super rocking satsang. Amidst a lot of chaos and commotion, the minds of so many people were brought to a sudden halt by the meditative songs. The journey was a memorable experience, not only for us, but also for the co-passengers :P



With small glitches here and there, we finally reached ashram on the 20th night.



Monday morning Rudra Pooja by Guruji awaited to greet all of us.
Ashram tour couldn’t have a better start than this!!


22nd June, 6 AM – Morning Sadhna had participants dancing on Zoobie Doobie song followed with Padmasadhna and kriya. BnD had planned a series of surprises for all of us. Through out the day we were kept busy either by some crazy fun filled activity or some equally crazy speaker.

Those visiting ashram for the first time couldn’t resist the enchanting greenery in and around the ashram.




The superhit musical- Anand & Benifer was presented again in front of the entire ashram crowd. This time, it had a few modifications in the roles, but was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

24th June – Another surprise awaited us, The Upgrade -2. With superb creativity, the WAYE office had put up a great puzzle for the 2000 participants. The entire show was spread all across the ashram and we had to run from one corner of the ashram to the other to find a small but crucial clue. Endurance, Acceptance, Intelligence, Reconnaissance ….all of them were tested in one go. It did take away a lot of energy, but not enough to rob away our smiles!!

Advance Course- 25th June - It was a Dinesh Ghodke show from now on. From morning sadhna and creative warm-ups to the deepest experience in meditation, everything was made effortless by his magical presence.
 
First day had one of the sessions conducted by the legendry Rajrshi Patel, BnD’s teacher. For few of us, her session was beyond comprehension and for others it was a magical experience that left them awestruck.

Silence inside, Silence outside- The energy of 2000 youth clearly dominated the entire ashram but as the silence started, all the energy was contained, nourished and purified for the next 2 days. 2000 minds were shut and every one of them experienced the power of silence. It made us super aware and not only could we notice a minute disturbance outside, but could also address to the small voice inside, that often went unheard.

Like Rajshri had told, shove deeper within yourself and go as much deep as you can while you are in silence. All of us, especially the first timers kept a very good silence.

Guruji’s meet- The silence was cut short because Guruji was going to meet everyone on the 3rd day. Rudra Pooja in the morning increased the longing to meet Him. A day before, Bawa had given instructions on how to behave when Guruji is around. It must be the silence that made 2000 people wait with utmost sincerity and discipline. Guruji met each and every one of us, blessed us with his naughty smile, twinkling eyes and a rose (which he used as a prop).


Opposite values are complementary- The joy of speech was even more delighting when it came after a long silence. After experiencing inner and outer silence for more than 48 hours, each one of us had so much to share and talk about. And we realized that the pleasure of speech can only be experienced by the one who has experienced the pleasure of silence.
Conclusion – The advance course had different take aways for different people. It bestowed the highest knowledge, answered some long pending questions, took away some botherations…but most importantly, it made us visit the most beautiful part on this planet…that which is INside Us!!

The ashram rule – You can bring all your problems to the ashram, but you cannot take them back with you.
The smiles and the glowing faces of the participants was enough to prove that this rule was followed by everyone of us.


2 reasons why gals couldn’t meditate properly throughout the Summer Magic….


Virat Chirania (yes…our very own Virat bhaiya) and Avinash Tikku (A dynamic YES!+ teacher from Delhi)were the stars of Summer Magic who took the responsibility of controlling the huge crowd on many occasions…In the process, they made fans from all across the country. Only regret…before anything else, the gals would first address them as BHAIYA (Damn the AOL protocol) :P


For those who missed it, we can sing this for you…

“Here comes the Sun, Here comes the Sun…
And I say…it’s all right(there’s always a next time) ;) ”


Dude of the month!

This month’s Dude of the month was undoubtedly Mr. Akhil Patel. Everyone knows his involvement in handling the accounts and registrations of Summer Magic. From following up with everyone for the payment to handling the entire cash, Akhil has truly served us with a smile.

Here is what Virat Bhaiya wants to say about Akhil : -
“Akhil did a marvelous job with Summer Magic coordination! One thing I realized was that throughout the process of coordinating SM, I spoke to him a million times (He was on my speed dial!) - and not once did he say No for anything!! He was 100% in the YES consciousness! And I was really really happy with the way his birthday unfolded!! Our home-grown snooker champ is truly the dude (or should we say Dudette (remember Anand and Benaifer) of the month! :)”

We leave you with the following picture of Akhil as the 'Gay Daku'...Please stay assured that Akhil has come out of his role ;)



Jai Gurudev!


In Service,
Rishabh K.


 




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