Sri Sri Stories
I am Manisha and I have been an Art of Living devotee since 2015. My life has become full of happiness and joy after becoming a part of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s vision of a One World Family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). I would like to share my experience how I received the greatest assistance when I needed it the most.
A few years ago, I lost my mom. I was the only child and I did not have any relatives. There was absolutely no one to assist me. Even then, the Almighty took care of me & I was accommodated at a centre for orphans. I was grateful since I got a place to live. However, I was unsure about my career and my future as I had always been ambitious.
Worriedly, I spoke to the caretaker of the centre. After hearing my interests & dedication, she offered to take responsibility of all of my educational needs. She made me join school, took care of my studies, and later also enrolled me in college where I was professionally trained as a nurse.
It was during my college that an Art of Living Happiness Program was conducted there. The very first experience of Sudarshan Kriya literally pulled all the unhappiness out of my life. I was able to get over all of my hardships in the past and was now full of happiness & joy. I felt that it was indeed Gurudev who came to protect me & take care of me, all this time.
With His Love & Blessings, I am now working as a nurse in a general hospital and serving patients from all walks of society. I know that my life has been taken care of by Gurudev 🙂
Jai Gurudev
– Manisha
When Gurudev was in Denver, I took a last-minute trip to meet him. I loved the entire event and I was extremely grateful that I got this opportunity to be with Him. The key event of America Meditates – the meditation led by Gurudev himself, ended at 8 pm and I had a flight to board by 9.50 pm. Like any other Art of Living super devotee, I had no doubt that I was going to take that flight home that night.
My caring roommate dropped me to a suitable place to take Uber, at a convenient place away from the venue. However, Murphy’s law was super strong that day. It all started with the Uber pool ride I took which made the driver go back to the venue increasing the ETA by a huge margin. After dropping the fellow passengers (who were an amazing company) we finally reached the freeway. To our dismay, the freeway was showing a detour. My kind driver said he will end his ride for the day so that Uber does not add more passengers en route. At this point, I was getting tiny panic attacks.
At 9.08 pm he managed to drop me at Denver Airport after taking a detour and another freeway. I reached the security checkpoint and it was shut for the day. I ran to the other end of the airport and it was 9.20 pm – My flight was boarding people! Thanks to the closure of the security check, the line was exceptionally long. This slightly increased panic attacks but yes, I have a Guruji! (Like the Avengers have their Hulk ;)).
I saw a couple of friends who asked me to skip the line to reach them ahead, I in my all noble self (I have no idea why), denied the offer. They went ahead! I started conversing with my fellow travellers around, they started giving me suggestions as to how I can reduce time. By 9.35 pm I walked past the security…and the personnel kept my bag aside. Wow! Murphy’s law was playing in my mind “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong!”. This feeling, however, was weak compared to the other thought playing in my mind strongly “I have a Guruji!”.
I waited anxiously for them to check my bag. The personnel asked me about some food I had in my bag. I replied, “Please throw it away if you must, else I will miss my flight!” She insisted on doing some litmus test and then gave me my stuff. The time was 9.41 pm at this point. The boarding gate was to shut at 9.50 pm. Huffing and panting I reached the airport train; I met my friends again. “I think the flight’s going to go without me!” I told them. They, being the same super devotees like me, assured me that I will make it!
I whizzed past the escalator, to gate A30 only to find that they had changed the gate to A60 !! I was continuously talking to Guruji while running! I am pretty sure people around thought I was crazy. I managed to reach A60 at 9.52 pm. The flight was waiting. Of course, it was!
I felt the glance of half a dozen people as I sheepishly walked to my seat in the rear end. I messaged my family and concerned friends that I successfully got in. I chatted with my fellow passenger. I heard two complete songs, ate an apple and yet the flight was not moving. At this moment I felt the need to check my bag for my passport – 20 mins after I boarded the flight. My Passport Was Missing! In panic mode, I asked the flight attendant for help. He told me to check my carry-on bag. He told me I could go till A60 to check for the same. I reached the front end of the flight; the other flight attendant would just not let me deboard. After a long 5-minute discussion with the 4 flight crew members, the pilot chimed in. “You can deboard me!” I told them. I felt I was better off in Denver with a passport than without one in Seattle. My mental conversation with Gurudev was in full force at this point. Suddenly lo behold, a ground staff walked into the flight with my passport, in its case! Extremely overwhelmed with gratitude I walked to my seat. All that while my whole plane thought I was the reason the flight got late. I told some folks it wasn’t. The real reason it was late was that it was not getting clearance to fly for the past 30 whole minutes.
As I shut my eyes when the tyres of the plane whirred for take-off, I knew I perhaps was the reason the flight got delayed. The magician in my life was just having some fun! A tiny tear of joy moistened my face as we flew back to Seattle. What can I say? He is the passport for my journey on this planet.
– Barathi Krishnamurthy
Gurudev always says the Divine is dwelling inside you and He takes care of you. I decided to test this phenomena in an experiential way.
I started practicing surrendering each and every activity of my life to the Inner Divine for continuously 41 days to make it as a habit. In the morning before starting Sadhana, I would surrender that whatever action or activity I do today will be because of Divine will and it is all His action only, I am just witnessing His action. Ever since I dropped and surrendered my entire life to the Divine, I was able to go deep in my meditation. The entire feeling of reverence is very difficult to explain in words.
In the beginning, I doubted if this surrender will prevent me from carrying out my everyday responsibilities. However, I just kept moving forward with the knowledge that a Karma Yogi has to work without attachment, surrendering to the Divine will and wherever necessary using our own intelligence also.
Days turned into weeks, I started taking up bigger social as well as business projects. Every endeavour started progressing by leaps and bounds. There were indeed a lot of twists and turns along the way but every experience made me stronger and wiser. I felt as if everything was moving at an unimaginable pace.
It has been more than three months now & I am still experiencing how The Divine supports us when we surrender our mind and all our activities to Him. One needs to be firm on this path of faith and trust their experiences. It is not easy but it is definitely something every Sadhak should aim for in their lives.
Jai Gurudev
– Ramakrishnan
Ten years ago, I attended a Satsang at Vishalakshi Mantap (Central Dome of the Art of Living International Center Bengaluru). It was my fourth week at the Ashram and I did my YesPlus Advance Course, Blessing Course and Gurupuja Phase I. I did my sadhana, meditation, chanting and seva. I even had the chance to meet Gurudev together with the YesPlus International Group. But yet, I was restless.
That evening at Vishalakshi Mantap, Gurudev was entering the hall and a crowd was drawn towards him. Somehow, I managed to squeeze into the crowd near the entrance. Gurudev walked past me. People were all around me.
Gurudev ignored me again, I thought. Then I panicked.
“Guruji!” I called out with hope.
Gurudev gave a start and stopped in his tracks.
Slowly, He turned around.
He searched the crowd with His eyes and stopped when He saw me.
Time stood still. His presence drowned out the crowd.
Slowly, He broke into a happy smile.
I can’t remember now whether I returned His smile.
Then, Gurudev turned around and resumed walking towards the stage.
I became aware of the noise and crowd surrounding me.
That moment of connection was just what I needed.
Hoe Zheng Yi
In the year 2013, I was 29 and having many health troubles. My friends suggested various healing treatments and Art of Living was one of it. I had never heard of it by then, and decided to join on a whim. The only thing I asked the lady when I paid was whether it can heal my joint pains. I even gave her a smirk, when she said “yes”. After I joined the course, I could hardly sit, and could not do the warm ups either. Somehow, with the tender care from my teacher and my persistence, I finished the course.
By the end of it, I was able to walk on toes and heels and do slight warm ups. My teacher still states me as an example 🙂 Though I was not aware, people around me started noticing the changes in me. Also, that was the first time I saw the frame of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the hall. I was not drawn to it so I was actually relieved when teacher said, “you need not believe in Him, just believe in your Sadhana (everyday practice)”.
On the last day I looked at the photo and said, “I won’t pray to you and keeping a photo is out of question. On a second thought, if you come to me, then I might think of you as a master”. Being brought up in a spiritual background and having had my share of divine experiences by then, I had my own reasons. After a month we shifted to another home. It was cleaned before we arrived. While we were unpacking, I noticed that 2 empty shelves were left uncleaned and covered with some paper. I just took away those papers and stuffed them in trash bag, that is when I noticed it was actually a two and half feet poster of Gurudev!
I was in utter shock for a few seconds, the poster was reversed and used as paper in shelves. And, even after finding it, I still felt reluctant and left it in the trash bag. It got stained a little though. After few minutes I remembered what I had thought back then. I then carefully picked it out and the rest is history with a roller coaster ride of miracles that He has been showering upon me. I am not into having pictures, so the one I have is more than what I need. Jai Gurudev!
Neeta Teerdhala
When you are on this path, every day is a miracle. My name is Shruti and I am sharing another wonderful story of Gurudev’s Grace.
In the year 2016, I came to know that Gurudev will be coming to Gujarat for Diwali (a Hindu mega festival) celebrations. My heart leaped with joy. I had an intense longing to meet Him personally and offer him a gift. I shared my desire with my Art of Living teacher and she told me “Take Sankalpa (an intention to do a good deed backed by a strong willpower) and you will surely get to meet Him”.
I went to Ahmedabad to attend the event. Gurudev came on the Darshan ramp. Now, I could give the gift to a volunteer standing nearby who would have forwarded it to Gurudev. However, my heart still wanted to present this gift to Him personally so I just watched Gurudev and decided to instead go to Vasad (Art of Living Ashram in Gujarat), where His next event was scheduled.
Just before I was about to leave for Vasad, I was told that my bus has been cancelled! I was heart-broken. I returned to my home and prayed to Gurudev “Either I will gift this to You personally or I’ll keep it with me forever “.
As always, Gurudev had His own wonderful plans for me. On the very next day, my father received a call from his friend informing him that Gurudev would be coming to ‘Atmiya Dham’ (an Ashram in Gujarat belonging to the Swaminarayan sect). My father quickly came to me with the news. I was overjoyed and in my excitement I did a full round of “Garba”! (a Gurjarati folk dance).
Upon reaching Atmiya Dham, none of the security guards stopped us. As soon as we approached the event hall, we saw Gurudev taking a session exclusively with the Art of Living teachers. Since none of us were teachers, we decided to wait outside. As soon as the session ended, Gurudev came out and I rushed towards Him but a volunteer stopped me. Gurudev got in the car waiting for Him and started moving. My heart skipped a beat but my Sankalpa was strong. The car passed near us. I looked at Gurudev and He opened the car’s door! I rushed towards Him, gave Him the gift personally and touched His feet. He also gave shawl to my parents!
I can never forget this day in my life. It was the most beautiful miracle. In giving a gift to Him, I have received the biggest gift of His blessings. The Guru is always there, every time, taking care of you. Take Sankalpa and surrender. He is listening and He has his own ways to meet you.
Have Faith and Keep moving on the Path 🙂
With lots of Love and Gratitude
Shruti
Dr. Sarla Vohra from Mumbai shares her life transforming experience of how her ectopic pregnancy was completely cured within just 6 days when she did her Art of Living course in the year 1999. Even the most senior doctors in the country were shocked and termed it as a miracle. She expresses her gratitude to Gurudev in this heart warming video shot at the top of Vishalakshi Mantap at The Art of Living International Center, Bengaluru.
Dr. Meenakshi Verma shares how the practice of Sudarshan Kriya helped her become a Yoga teacher despite having a congenital malformed hip joint.
In the year 2014, I secured admission in an engineering college in Nagpur, India. It was here that I was introduced to Art of Living & did my first Happiness Course. The practice of Sudarshan Kriya helped me immensely during some extremely challenging times and it also made me overcome some vices. While I was originally from Dubai, UAE, I felt connected with everyone here and made many friends.
In my final semester, I unfortunately failed an exam. The rules of Nagpur University did not allow students to carry any backlogs to the final exam. Thousands of students were barred and I was one of them. I was completely shattered! I was new to the country and had no substantial experience to seek a job. Heartbroken, I decided to move back to my home in Dubai.
The bad luck however continued its spell. Upon reaching home, I realized that my family had received an eviction notice & we will need to move out of the house we had rented for so many years. We were forced to move into a smaller house with a higher rent and it created a financial crunch. I decided to take up a menial job just to survive this crisis. I worked extremely long hours in the sweltering desert heat. I had to persevere in this job so I could gather enough savings to return to India and clear my backlog. Fortunately, my boss approved my leave and I was able to go back to Nagpur.
I appeared for the exam without any preparation as I had no time to study amidst my job responsibilities. I returned back to Dubai after completing the exam and resumed my job. While I was anxiously awaiting the results, I finally got the news on New Year’s Eve. I had failed in two out of the five papers I had submitted. I was devastated. I took a “Sankalpa” (determination) that come what may I will clear all of my backlog papers and also the final semester exam. I began practicing my Kriya daily with full faith. I studied for all the papers while continuing in my job.
I again saved up enough to return to India for my exam. However, just four days before the journey, I got news that the examination system had changed and my college was going to run the courses in a different pattern. We were given just one month to prepare. I did not lose hope & although my college offered coaching classes for the new system, I decided to stay back in Dubai and study on my own. I practiced Sudarshan Kriya daily with full focus and diligently studied for the exams. I finally went back to India and gave my exams. When the results came out, I had passed in all papers except one which I missed by just a few marks! Our university rules allowed teachers to allot some extra marks if the reasons were justified. I prayed to Gurudev and approached the teacher for some leniency. Amazingly, she obliged without any arguments and I finally cleared my exam!
Thus, I got my Engineering Degree in the midst of moving to a different country, a full time job, change in course material, studying on my own and financial crisis to top it! I know that I sailed through all of this only because of my faith in Gurudev and the daily practice of Sudarshan Kriya. Although things may not be going as smoothly as we want, if one becomes regular in Sadhana and gives their 100%, then Divinity walks with us. All we need, is to have faith!
Jai Gurudev!
In the summer of 2014, we were living in Boston. My husband got a new job offer from Amazon. We were not sure whether to accept it as the position was based in Seattle and would require us to relocate. We came to know that Gurudev was going to be at Boone Ashram during Guru Purnima and decided to seek His guidance.
My husband met Gurudev and told him about the job offer. Gurudev did not say anything . He just kept His hand on my husband’s head and walked away. After Guru Purnima celebrations, while driving to the Charlotte airport from Boone, we decided to accept the offer.
Next step was to decide about relocation so I called up a friend of mine who I knew was looking to buy a house and told her that we may be selling our house. On Monday, my friend came, saw our house and made an offer! So, with our own house sold, we decided to look for a new house in Seattle. We spent a full day looking at various options. At the end of an extremely tiring and frustrating day, we decided to place an offer on one house. Unfortunately or fortunately, someone else placed a significantly higher offer for all cash and we lost that house.
We regretfully returned back to Boston. A few days later, our realtor contacted us on FaceTime and showed us another house near Seattle. We trusted her so we placed an offer on the house without physically seeing it. The offer was accepted and after inspections etc, we got the house for 10k below asking price (This is when houses on our street have gone for 50k above asking price!) Eventually, we moved into our new home. It was then I realized the most astounding thing. Every single thing that I had dreamed in my home was available here.
1. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a very good school district.
2. High ceilings and natural beauty.
3. Hardwood floors throughout the house, upstairs and downstairs. Since we have dust allergies in our family, this was a necessity.
4. Children playing outside on the street.
5. Walking distance to the bus stop.
This is when I truly recognized to what extent we are taken care of. Guru Purnima is such a precious time to be in the company of the Guru! We were very blessed to have the chance to be with him physically on that day. The important thing is not the material gain in this story, but just the extent to which we are all blessed to have a living master!
Jai Gurudev
