Sri Sri Stories
On the 15th of April, I was in Rishikesh. My aunt Rekha was with me. We were there to take Gurudev’s Darshan. After taking a bath in the river Ganga, we got ready to go to the “Art of Living Centre”, which is situated on the banks of the holy Ganges. It is the most beautiful place in the world as per me, so we decided to do our short Kriya there. Just as we were about to start the Kriya, suddenly I heard Guruji’s voice, for nearly 30 seconds. Before I could begin to wonder where Guruji was, I heard a girl’s voice crying for help. She shouted “Help help!” On learning that someone needed to be rescued, aunt Rekha and I sprung up from our places and went towards the girl. On reaching the point, we saw that a girl was floating in the river, and almost sinking. So I immediately caught hold of the girl’s hands and took her out of the water. After resting for about 3 – 4 minutes, she told us that inspite of being a swimmer, she was not able to save herself and keep afloat, as the force of the waves was very intense. Had we not reached on time and given her a helping hand, anything could have happened.
Our reaching there was not a mere coincidence. How did we suddenly here Gurudev’s voice out of nowhere? That voice was just to make me aware and active that I needed to help someone. This was nothing but a miracle. Gurudev made us instruments in rescuing the sinking girl. He is so powerful I tell you, it’s difficult to comprehend. He has his own ways to rescue his devotees. I tell you just have fait and trust in the master and move ahead with confidence. Whatever you need will come to you in abundance.
We later found out that the girl was also a part of the AOL family. She was working in Delhi. She expressed extreme gratitude towards us, for having helped her and saved her from sinking. When I look back and reflect over this incident, it gives me goose bumps to think how that girl got saved from sinking. It was nothing but His Grace. And what Amazing Grace! That day I sincerely felt the essence of a Gurus care for His devotee, GURU KI MAHIMA. I am immensely grateful to Guruji for making me an instrument in saving a life.
JGD,
Nitin
Hi all,
Just yesterday, my cousin sister asked me, “What do you get by following the Art of Living? What’s the point of following all this when you are still unsatisfied, unhappy?” These questions can be answered only through experience.
I was introduced to the Art of Living by my best friend, at a time when I hit the early life crisis of heart break!! This problem might sound absolutely routine to people around, and maybe that’s true, yet it is very difficult and painful for the one who goes through it. I was love struck when I was 20, and now 7 years have passed by since then, yet I haven’t had a closure to this issue. I had become so sick and obsessed with this one person that my entire life revolved around him. It might sound very filmy but it’s true that I stopped living for a while. He was my God! I was depressed when, after being in love with this person for a year, I finally told him that I liked him, and all he said was “Ya, I know” and simply walked out. For over 2 years, I kept pondering on “Why did he just say – He Knows”. He could have said no or yes clearly. His behavior, his answer bothered me so much that I was not able to concentrate on anything in my life. I got so absorbed in it that I even landed up failing one of my law exams. I had become absolutely helpless as all my attempts to have a clear conversation with him failed. It was at this time, around March 2011, that I was introduced to the Art of Living. Despite doing the courses, I still wasn’t over him, there was this small hope where I felt that things might still work out between us. But I hit the rock bottom phase of depression in a month’s time after doing my first AOL course in 2011, when he entered into a courtship period with someone else and got married a year later. I hated every moment then, I cursed myself for getting into AOL, as after doing the course I cried even more than before.
But in reality, that phase was nothing but a dark stormy weather before the colorful rainbow could shine in my life. No, I did not meet anyone special, nor did I feel that strongly for anyone, and to be honest I haven’t felt that way for anyone till now. But my mind and heart had to be free from the emotions that I had suppressed within myself for him for all this while, and the Sahaj Samadhi, Sudharshan Kriya helped me putting myself back, emotionally. It’s been 3.5 years now that I have been practicing the Kriya, and I can surely say one thing that yes, all this has helped me in a much positive way, and I am hoping this positive journey continues in my life.
It’s difficult to express the experience in words, as words limit the true feelings. I am not saying that by following the Art of Living, all my hardships have disappeared or that now I have no worries in life and I do not get depressed at times. Of course, I do, but the way of handling these emotions, the awareness, the alertness and skill to sail through these phases is what the Art of Living has taught me. Or to put it straight, I have achieved two enormously powerful treasures of life – Knowledge and Faith!! This Knowledge and Faith has helped me in all the areas of my life, be it Career, Relations, Family or Friends. I have personally met Guruji, and that experience is something that one cannot just write, but one needs to experience it to really understand when I say that there is paucity of words to explain what happens when there is a personal encounter with Guruji! That itself is a Miracle!!
Thank you for being there Gurudev!
JGD
Anonymous
(Name withheld on request)
I had been to the Bangalore ashram for the first time, this year in January. My aunt had requested me to give her letter to Guruji. The letter was sealed in an envelope. I promised her that I would give the envelope to Guruji, in His hand, to which she said that she would love it if I gave it directly to Him, but since it gets really crowded in the ashram, I might have to put it in the basket. What she said was very true, but I knew how important it was for this letter to reach Him, so I made a strong Sankalpa in my heart for the same.
Since this was the first time I was visiting the ashram, I did not really know how to reach the place, and was travelling with a friend, who too was going to Bangalore for the very first time. Eventually, I landed up meeting 50 more volunteers in the train, who were also headed to the ashram. They had an appointment with Guruji. They asked us to come along to meet Guruji. “This was the best time to hand over my aunt’s letter!” I thought to myself. I was extremely grateful to Gurudev for having made me meet these volunteers, and for getting such an opportunity to connect to Him.
We had an appointment with Guruji that very evening. I carried with me, my aunt’s letter, in my handbag. Then Guruji entered the room. I was awestruck! This was the first time I was meeting Him personally. Space! I was totally spaced out !! I was in a different world altogether. The feeling is truly unexplainable.
I completely forgot about the envelope at that time. Guruji blessed me and went ahead. I was still blankly staring at HIM. He then turned around and asked me “Tumhaare paas jo envelope hain, voh do..laaye ho na tum “(Give me the envelope that you have, you have brought it right?). I just stood surprised for a few seconds, not understanding what was happening. How did He know about the envelope???
I then opened my bag and gave HIM the envelope. He blessed me again and left !
HE did not JUST leave, HE left me with GRATITUDE, and a feeling that – YES HE IS ALWAYS THERE WITH ME, HE KNOWS IT ALL! Swamiji had once told me “Guruji is there!”
Yes HE is ! 🙂
Jgd,
Shalakha Shetty
My Art Of Living journey began when I was a 7-8 year old kid, and did the Art Excel course. Thereafter, at the age of 14, I did the YES! course, following which, I did not miss the Kriya even for a single day in four years, until one day, when I felt a sudden, gripping pain in my stomach, and within minutes it grew so bad that I couldn’t even move my legs. And before anybody could understand anything, I started vomiting blood. I was rushed to the Doctor and was diagnosed with cancer of the ovary of second stage. The tumour had burst, leading to extreme bleeding.
All this happened just a day before I was to appear for an exam, that too of a very difficult subject. Moreover, the doctors said that the only cure was to remove my ovaries. We were shocked!! I was unmarried and was only 22. It meant that it would ruin my future!! I was in a state of severe depression. Somehow, the doctors gave me an injection and a temporary medication which would enable me to give my exam the next day. I couldn’t study at all, and was feeling very unconfident. My mind was all over the place.
Next day, on my way to the exam centre, I started reading only the important headings of the chapters. Then our car broke down. It was repaired in about 15 minutes, so I got that much time to revise some formulas too. Luckily, I reached the exam centre in time and gave my paper. I was not sure whether I would even pass or not, as I had not got the time to prepare for it the previous day.
After the exam, we went to meet the surgeon, who told us to operate after a week. She also told us that I needed to be given an injection that day itself, which would make the ovaries dysfunctional. It was important to do that a week before the operation. “This is the only cure”, she said. My family and I had made up our minds to get the ovaries removed, though we were very worried for my future, as it makes a lady unable to conceive. Then, the doctor told her nurse to bring that injection. The nurse, after searching for a long while, came out and said that they had run out of the stock for that injection. So the doctor told us to buy it from the nearby market. In the market, at the medical shop, when my father had to pay for the injection, he realised that his wallet was lost. So we had no other option but to go back home, and search for the injection the next day.
Next day, my father searched the entire market of our city, but could not find that injection, as its’ supply had been stopped, suddenly. With a heavy heart, he went to his office and told the story to his colleague. Now the miracle happened!! 😀
That uncle told my father that his daughter also suffered from the same problem, and was cured by homeopathic treatment, without operation. She is married now and also has a child. Wow! My father could not believe his ears. What more could we have asked for?
So with faith in my Master, and hope in my heart, I too started off with the same homeopathic treatment. And by Gurus’ Grace, I am doing very well:-D. Even in the exam that I had given just the next day of my falling ill, I scored above 70%, which was nothing short of a miracle.
Now when I look back at this incident of my life, I can figure out from the series of events as to how I was miraculously saved from that injection and the operation, which would have taken away my future. So I say, if you ever feel that your life is ruined, just think of your Master. He will never let you down.
Words cannot express the Gratitude I feel towards Him. I have such a wonderful Master, who makes me cry often, but with tears of Love and Gratitude for Him.
Sri Sri, You Are My Hero ♥
Jai Gurudev!!!
Anonymous
(name withheld on request)
I’m doing my Chartered Accountancy this year and on 7th May I had to appear for my Group One Cost Accounting paper in the second shift from 2:00 – 5:00pm. A strange incident happened with me at that time which resulted in strengthening my faith in Sri Sri.
On reaching the examination centre, 20kms away from my home, with my mother, I checked my bag and was shocked to find my Calculator missing. Without a calculator it would not be possible for me to appear for the exam. I informed my mom about the same as there were only 10 minutes left for the exam to begin.
We had to arrange for a calculator from somewhere. My mom then took the driver and went, frantically searching for a stationery shop which was not there anywhere in 1.5 km radius. Then she entered a boutique and requested the owner to lend us her personal calculator stating the urgency of the situation but the boutique owner refused to give the calculator as she would need it for her own use in the store. But later, her son came and said that my mom could take the calculator and return it once I was done with my exam. He was sent by Guruji to help me at that helpless moment. Getting help from a stranger is not easy but with the Guru’s Grace, all is possible.
My mom then came back running and handed over the calculator to me just two minutes before the exam was to start. It was such a relief for me and I sincerely thanked Guruji in my mind for this much needed help. As I entered the examination hall and reached my seat, to my surprise, I saw that there was a calculator already lying on my desk. This was the same model which I had back home and I was used to using for a long while. I was most comfortable using this model. It was good for me to get this one as my calculations would be way faster with it. I then asked my teacher if she knew who that calculator belonged to but when she asked the class about it, no one raised their hand. Nobody knew how and when that calculator had landed on my desk. Nobody knew from where it had come. But I knew. I knew that my Guru had placed it over there. I knew that He was taking care of all my needs. I knew that He would never let me down. I knew that He was always there for me to look after me like a mother for a child.
I then thanked Gurudev once again for His love and kindness and with immense faith in my heart, I started writing my paper. I used the calculator that Gurudev had placed on my desk. He had saved the day-yet again! This was truly a miracle for me. It was a symbol of my Gurus magic and grace in my life. It was my one-of-many miracle stories which I wanted to share with one and all and I certainly look forward to sharing many more
Guruji tussi Great ho!!!
Jai Gurudev
Chhavi.K
This is a story which rolls back to 2010, when I had just finished my 10th standard board examinations and was confused about what to study further. My mom wanted me to take up Science but I hated that subject and wanted to take up Commerce.
I went to the Bangalore Ashram for my 2nd Yes! course. During lunch in the kitchen, I met an uncle who approached me and asked me what my name was and what was I doing. Surprisingly, after a long conversation, he somehow convinced me to take up science. My mom was also in the Ashram. I ran up to her to tell her my final decision. To add to my surprise, my mom’s roommate randomly told me that I should take up Ayurveda as a field after 12th. I agreed and was contended.
I came back home and things started getting easier for me now because my Master chose everything for me. From my field to my college to my classes, just everything! It was like a cake walk.
After completing my 12th board examinations with flying colors, I realized the difficulty of entering the medical field and I was confused and started thinking that I am not fit for this and that maybe I should just give up and go back to Commerce. But then, I went to the Ashram again for another course.
To my surprise, we had a session in the course with an Ayurvedic doctor, Nisha Manikantanji. She has been with Gurudev for more than 15 years. I went to her and asked her whether I should take up Ayurveda and after speaking to her, finally I knew what I had to do. I came back to Mumbai and completed the necessary formalities of the admission process.
Now I had absolutely no knowledge of any good college for Ayurveda but I just filled some random colleges and applied for Ayurvedic Science. I got admission in some college in Kharghar which was 1.5 hours away from where I stay. I was a little unhappy but still took admission there.
I went to the Ashram again in July 2012 to meet Guruji with doubt in my mind about the college. The trip was a miraculous one for me but I did not really get an answer as to which college I should opt for. When I was returning from Bangalore my bus dropped me near Sion station in Mumbai. I was a little disappointed because I did not have any answer yet but I knew somehow he will guide me. A month later I got admission in another college which was just 20 minutes from my home.
Finally I was satisfied with this now and when I went to college on the first day, I realized that Gurudev had already answered my question but I had just failed to realize it. My college was right opposite to the place where my bus from Bangalore had dropped me. I learned one thing from this, he answers all our questions. It is just that we get the answers at the right time.
Don’t ever lose faith in him. He will definitely be there for you, Always!
Jai Gurudev
Tanushree Agarwal
In the year 2003, I went for my first Part 2 course (Advance Course) which was scheduled to happen in the Bangalore Ashram in the presence of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. This was just a month after I had completed my Part 1 Course (Basic Course). Since it was my first visit to the Ashram (The Art of living International Center), I was not well aware of the course logistics relating to stay and food, but I took a leap of faith and landed there to attend the same.
After reaching there, I learned that it was supposed to be a Kannada (a traditional South Indian language) Part 2 Course, which meant that all the talks and sessions would be conducted in a language that was unfamiliar to me. Then to my relief, I was told that the course participants would be divided into two groups based on the language of instruction, Kannada and Hindi ( a common language in India, well know to many). This was done for the convenience of those who were not well versed with Kannada. I felt it was a great idea considering the diversity of language and culture prevalent in our country.
Once the course started, everything went on smoothly. The silence started on the second day and took me into a whole new world of absolute peace and bliss. But there was only one thing that was disturbing me at that time. After the course, during the Satsang sessions, Guruji would conduct the knowledge talks in Kannada. I was quite lost during those sessions as I could not grasp even a word of the language. Due to this, I had to attend the translation sessions post the Satsang at the Vishalalakshi Mantap (a beautiful structure in the Ashram built for meditation and discourse) to make sense of the knowledge talks.
But a strange thing happened after the Satsang that night. All the course participants were called for a translation of Guruji’s talk. I was a bit puzzled as I did not understand why an English talk would require a translation? With wonder in my heart, I went to the VM to clear my doubt. On a piece of paper, I wrote my question (as I was still in silence) and passed it on to the teacher.
Her reply astonished me. She said that Guruji had spoken in Kannada in that evening’s session and not English. She also confirmed this by a show of hands from the participants which evidenced the fact that the talk was really in Kannada itself. Slowly this mystery unfolded to me. Guruji had spoken in Kannada only, but I heard it in English. This was nothing less than a miracle for me. It was Sri Sri’s answer to my prayers. My loving Master took care of his disciple. Though I was in silence and could not voice my problem to anyone, HE heard it and solved it. He gave me what I needed at that time. However petty our needs may be, they are surely taken care of.
Such instances just bring you closer to the divine, closer to your very own Self. They take you into a trip inward and help you discover the magic of life; the true essence of our being.
Jai Gurudev!
Nikhil
Nikhil now serves as an Art of Living Part 1 course teacher in Hyderabad, India
We all are well versed with the way we behave when GURUJI is our town, right? And no matter how many teachers educate us on how to behave, we end up being just the opposite! One such was my story.
It was a great day for all of us studying in IIT Delhi. Guruji was to visit us that day!
We sat in the IIT common room for the volunteer’s session with Avinash Tiku, who was preparing us for Guruji’s upcoming visit to Delhi, explaining to us that it is not wise to ‘chase’ the Master, especially when He is in our own city, and that it is way more important for us to ensure that new members of the Art of living, or the new volunteers should get their own moments with Guruji. This made complete sense to almost all of us in that room.
Guruji was in Delhi the next day, big reason to be happy. But a bigger reason was that He had agreed to give an hour of His time to all the YES!+ volunteers. This much awaited session was being organised by a dynamic group of teachers and volunteers in an auditorium in South Delhi. My duty for that particular day was to ensure that every individual in the IIT campus, who was interested in meeting Sri Sri, should get a fair chance to meet Him! We quickly floated messages, emails and pasted posters in the campus and decided on meeting at the “round-about” at 5 pm sharp (for the session was to begin at 6:30 pm). As usual, by the time we gathered our friends and acquaintances, it was already 6pm! No one wanted to miss meeting Guruji, and so to ease the restlessness in the volunteers, I started sending them in groups in different autos that were available. Finally at 6:25 pm, it was just the four of us left. We quickly grabbed the last auto and asked him to fly us to the auditorium. All of us were extremely happy that we would finally get to meet our master after months of wait; we were deciding on different kinds of questions we would ask Him, and while our excitement grew, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I hurriedly picked up my phone and a girl spoke to me; she was incidentally from my hostel. She had not done the AOL programme yet, but was very eager to meet Sri Sri. She was in her first year and felt terribly scared to travel alone. A big dilemma set into me, for it had already been 10 minutes since we had crossed the IIT campus, so going back to the campus and picking up that girl clearly meant we lose out on 30 minutes with Guruji. This was a struggle between my conscience and my mind, and well, my conscience won! We reversed our auto and decided to go back and pick up that girl from my hostel gate.
It was 7 pm and we were now 5 of us, and no-where near the auditorium! My mind was in a state of complete chaos – “What if I miss Him?”, “What about my question?”, “Will I get a seat so that I at least get a glimpse of Him?”, “Please GURUJI, delay this event”, “Oh! Why do I always have to be nice”, “Why can’t autos have wings?”…
We finally reached the venue at 7:20 pm, almost an hour late. But then what happened next was completely inexplicable!
We ran towards the main entrance, and this tall lanky guard stopped us. He said to us, “This is not the right entrance for you, I will suggest another entrance”. He pointed at some door. We didn’t argue much, nor did we apply our heads, we just barged into the door. I was running first, and behind me were my four friends. The door was just leading us onto some sort of a maze, a maze made up of cardboards and flower pots, and I was convinced that we had lost our way. We still kept running, and before we could even realize anything, we saw ourselves standing on the stage, with Guruji staring at us! WOW! What a miracle. Inadvertently, the guard had made us enter the auditorium through the backstage!! Guruji saw the four of us and laughed and told us to sit on the stage itself (as the auditorium was jam packed). I was so grateful.
A few moments ago I had been grumbling and complaining to myself, while just the next moment, I was sitting right under the nose of my Master and blushing, as HE winked at me saying “Happy?”!
JGD
Shreya
Guruji came to Delhi on March 18, 2014 and his flight was supposed to land at 4:00PM. As I couldn’t leave office before 5:00PM, I thought I would go to meet him after he reaches Vasant Vihar where he was supposed to be staying. To my surprise and his wish the flight got delayed by 2 hours and by that time we could easily reach airport and meet him. So we reached at the airport but we did not have any conveyance to go from the airport to Vasant Vihar. Before he landed he even fixed that and we got a car arranged. Guruji finally landed and we met him at the airport and went behind him to Vasant Vihar.
We reached just in time when he was there and I again got a tap on the head with the bouquet of flowers he was holding. Then he went inside and we waited in the hall amidst hundreds of people. He finally came out in the hall and took our hearts away. As he rightly says he is a “Chit Chor” (who steals the heart too). On being asked to meet one to one, Guruji replied “Dil mein to milta hoon one to one” (In your heart I always meet you). However after that one to one meeting started. I felt something touched from inside as I met him. All I wanted after that was to cry every tension and burden off that I have been carrying with me. And I came back and just hugged his photo and slept. He was scheduled to leave on March 19, 2014 at around 1:00PM for Rishikesh. People had already left from Delhi to be with him on the banks of holy Ganges. I got an offer too but had to cancel it as I couldn’t take an off from work. I was sad that I couldn’t even leave office to go and bid him good bye to the airport. All I had was a sincere prayer in my heart that his flight gets delayed or his trip gets cancelled. And to my surprise, Guruji cancelled his trip to Rishikesh and stayed until 21st March in Vasant Vihar which is around 45 minutes distance from my place. This amazingly wonderful feeling that he loves you so much can bring a smile on anyone’s face and can turn sad tears into sweet. Sri Sri can make you feel soaked in love and drenched in joy and can change the disappointment into wonder “Koi itna pyaar kaise kar sakta hai?” (How can anyone love so much ?”) He has truly said in Narada Bhakti Sutras that “In the worst of situations if I can just remember that ‘Divine loves me, there is Divine Unconditional Love my misery will not be there!”
-Madhvi Mehra
It was when I was 12. This crowd gathering was sitting in one corner, and it looked like everyone is meeting after ages, like a typical Punjabi family discussing about what each other’s children are upto! There was a sense of eagerness in the crowd as I witnessed some eyes continuously stray towards the staircase, as if some celebrity were to walk down through it. It was the welcoming of my Uncle’s baby girl.
As my eyes rolled up, I saw a man walking down the staircase. A man in a pure white robe, with a long beard, having a smile which was one of a kind. The walk was nothing less than a Celebrity’s. And suddenly, the crowd was full of smiles, the smiles I had never seen on their faces. They all started to jump and rush to reach this man and I had no clue of what was going on. What a chaos it turned out to be! But this man and His smile remained unaffected by the crowd. It was as though He was loving the chaos He had created. Little did I know that this would be the last time I was looking at the people around in this man’s presence!
Later I learnt that He had come to name my cousin. The chaos followed as He walked up the stairs to His room after completing the rituals, and left the crowd wanting to see more of Him. When I almost forgot about Him and stepped towards the yummy looking dishes with my mom and sister, someone came up to my mom and mentioned that He was meeting every one individually, and that we could speak out our problems with Him. Standing in the queue with my mom and sister, I wondered what it would be like to see this ever smiling man in person, and what would my mom actually speak to Him. Shutting my mind, we walked into the room where He was sitting and He smiled at us. While my mom was talking her issues out, I sat still looking at Him. “Everything will be fine”, He said, as He ended and looked at me. He winked, He smiled, pulled my cheeks and gave me this red rose He had in His hand! It felt like time had stopped right at that moment and a new refreshing breeze had brushed my cheek!
Few years later, I was blessed to be experiencing this wonderful innovation by Him called the “Sudarshan Kriya”. The similarity between today and that day is that I still haven’t been able to figure out who He is! I don’t know who God is or whether God even exists or not. All I know is that this new life and completely new personality that I’m gifted with is only because of this one man, and I owe my life to Him. I don’t know whether His saying “God loves you more than anyone else” is true or not, but I know that He does, and that’s the biggest miracle in my life. He is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 🙂
For now I know that as He winked, He chose me to be with Him always. He chose to be beside me, behind me, in front of me, where ever need be. What matters is, He has been and will always be there.
Thank you Gurudev, for all the pampering and all the scolding. Thank you for making my life a miracle. In this lifetime and all the ones to come, I will be grateful 🙂
Love,
Ekta Bhasin
