Sri Sri Stories
I am an Art of Living devotee since the past few years. This miracle happened to my mother, who is also a devotee.
She does not have any health problems. But, a few days ago, she suddenly started perspiring badly and then she fainted and fell down. Her body had become ice cold. She was immediately rushed to the hospital. The doctor checked her and then gave us the news that her blood pressure had become very high and her blood glucose level had become very low. He then asked us if she is diabetic, but when we told him no, he said that such low sugar is an indicator of diabetes.
I started praying to Guruji to make my mom alright. Sometime later, after all the tests were over, the doctor came and gave us the surprising news that nothing was wrong with my mom and that she is absolutely alright. It was a miraculous recovery.
Such A miracle is possible only because of Guruji.
Jai Gurudev
Anagha
During the silver jubilee celebrations, I was the only one from the 20 participants of my Part-1 Course, who could attend the celebrations in Bangalore! At one point in life, I was so shy and now I was going all alone from Mumbai to Bangalore, an unknown place, unknown people and with no company since my group went a day before me by train. But I know Gurudev was with me throughout my trip. He made all the arrangements through someone or the other to make my journey comfortable and memorable and mainly, to make me strong. Whether it was flight booking, vehicle arrangement or accommodation. He took care of everything. The most important and miraculous thing was that in the crowd of about 25-30 lakhs people at the event, i was separated from my group of about 10-12 people for the whole day even though we were on the same grounds. Secondly, I did not have the location of the place where my group and I were staying. When the Satsang was about to end, I was worried about what was going to happen and I was totally blank. All I had was the ‘I promise’ message from Gurudev, which I read somewhere on the ground and took as a personal message for me. I became totally free of any tension and worry. After the Satsang, my whole group was right ahead, waiting for me and scolding me out of love. They all promised to hold my hand for the remaining days. I gently smiled and silently told them Gurudev was with me throughout the day. All the credit goes to my magician. For me these are all miracles, but my husband, being practical still takes the credit of putting the effort himself and not by any grace. I don’t argue with him and follow my practice of Kriya, Advance Courses and Ashram visits every year and meet my Gurudev. I am now full of abundance and blessings which gurudev has showered on me.
Jgd
Niharika Shirolkar
26th july 2005 is the most unforgettable day for me. My husband and I were in office when it started pouring and by the time we packed up we could sense the fate of our own house which was on ground floor. Once we reached there, we couldn’t enter because of the waist-deep water. We were forced to stay at my in-laws place for 2-3 days. Once the water level went down, [highlight]we could see everything in our house being washed away[/highlight]. We were left with only our scattered world in front of us. It had taken us 15 long years to bind the things here and it all came trembling down in just 15 minutes. My husband decided to leave that place once and for all and take our daughter along with us since he too silently suffered separation from her.
When I lost all hope, about a month later during the 1st week of September 2005, I came to know about Art of Living. I was encouraged by some volunteers that the course will help me navigate my life. Although I wanted to get rid of my sufferings, I was fearful of not being able to complete the 6 day course. However, another devotee who volunteered on this course assured me that nothing of this sort will happen. Even after assurances from volunteers, there was fear, doubt and depression in my mind. I had no support and even my husband opposed it. Finally, without informing my in-laws, I started this course as any other course. I had no hopes of any positive outcome but just wanted to listen and accept what the teacher has to say.
On the second day of the course, we were asked to close our eyes for 40-45 minutes and follow the Sudarshan Kriya chanting. I thought it would be impossible for me but I closed my eyes and started chanting. I could not sit even for a few minutes and felt as if all the pains, sufferings of my mind have come together and all of sudden I found there is no place for them within me anymore. I started vomiting where I was sitting and suddenly opened my eyes and asked my teacher for help. The volunteers immediately took me to the washroom and helped me to remove the years of garbage inside me and they were with me throughout. They asked me to rest and not to worry even though I could not complete the Sudarshan Kriya. This was the end of my sufferings and beginning of a new era for me. I became totally hollow and empty. From the next day of the course, I was glowing and everybody complimented me for this new beginning.
After we had lost everything in the July 2005 flood, we started searching for a place far away from this one to avoid further problems. We had a small budget for buying a 1BHK flat but nothing was materializing. I knew Gurudev had the best house in store for me. One day, we came to know about a 2BHK flat in the heart of the city. We decided to at least see this flat and then think about the money required. But once we witnessed it we immediately realized that this is our [highlight]Dream House[/highlight]. We gave an advance of Rs. 50,000 and the house was ours. In January 2007, we took the possession of it.
Jai Gurudev!
Niharika Shirolkar
Below is an account of my personal interaction with Sri Sri followed by an opportunity to interact with Him open for one and all –
November, 2008 was the month that completely gave a new direction to my life. It was in this month that I first time experienced the Sudarshan Kriya in the Youth Empowerment Skills Workshop (yes+). I felt different at first, didn’t know what was happening within me but I just went with the flow and used to practice the Sudarshan Kriya (meditation) and attend Satsang (singing and chanting divine hymns).
The turning point occurred in December 2009, my first interaction with SriSri in the Bangalore Ashram (Art Of Living International Headquarters), I remember I was standing close to Him while He was getting into the car, and I screamed “ I love you Guruji”, He called me towards Him and Lovingly looked at me in-spite of being thronged by people from all sides and asked me “Where are you from ?”, this was my first interaction with Sri Sri.
Since then, when ever have I got a chance to see Guruji, either in His presence or a web-cast online it has been enlightening and somehow I tend to get the answers to my worries.
I avidly remember one such instance in satsang with Guruji in the beautiful amphitheater in Bangalore Ashram, where people were asking Him various questions and getting answers fro Him, I thought to my self even I should ask Guruji some question and strike a conversation with Him, it would be a good opportunity to interact with Him, that very moment Guruji says on mike “ this question – answer session we are having is just to strike a conversation and for the sake of it, I communicate in silence, Heart to Heart, when You remember me”. I was shocked as to How Guruji could understand me so well and teach me such a valuable knowledge sutra.
We indeed have to be fortunate to interact and learn so much from Sri Sri. There is one such lucky opportunity to interact with Sri Sri on 26th January, 2013 where we can ask Him questions, He would be giving us ways and techniques to overcome Violence, Stress, in the society.
Today the entire world is gripped with stress, a child smiles 400 times a day, but an adult only 20 times a day. It is by being in knowledge and being Guided can the smiles return back on the faces of each Individual.
Stand up against violence and stress,[highlight] interact with the master at Google+ Hangout on 26th January at 8.30pm IST, 10.00am GST, 3.00pm GMT.[/highlight]
You could register for the interaction with Sri Sri on [highlight]http://tiny.cc/registerforhangout[/highlight] and post your questions as well 🙂 .
There are many people looking forward to the Hangout with Sri Sri to experience Bliss, and stand up against Stress and increasing Violence in our society, so we should all can all come together and make a difference and spread the Love and Grace of our Master.
Jai Gurudev
Kunal
My daughter was born in 1991. Though she was a normal child during birth, a minor part of her brain got damaged due to convulsions on the second day itself. Doctors declared it as a genetic disease which is of a rarest kind and hardly one out of million people suffer from it. It was really shocking and unbelievable for us since and according to experts, she needed to be on the medicines all her life or else she may not live. Since me and my husband were working, my in laws took the responsibility of giving the medicine doses to her throughout the day. Before my daughter’s birth, two of my brother-in-laws infants had died due to the same disease and we did not want the same to happen to this child in the family. Because of this, my in-law got so attached and possessive for my daughter that they flatly refused to let me even lift, hug, touch or love my own daughter. It was as if they used me just to give a child to their family and then I became useless for them.
My poor and innocent daughter was unaware of these happenings and could never realize the love and craving of her own mother. Nobody in their family could realize this except my self. This went on for almost 14-15 years. Though it was within a distance of half a kilometer from my house, where my daughter stayed, my in-laws did not allow me to take her back home in the evenings after returning from work. I was allowed to see her only for an hour during weekends. This separation from my own child took the life away from me and I missed each and every moment of her childhood as well as her growing years! I went into depression and to top it all I was worried about her health and never asked for her possession thinking that my in-laws would refuse to take care of her. I was also worried about her academic as she was declared as a slow learner by counsellors who advised that she needs to be put in the special school or she will not be able to get through even upto S.S.C! But still my husband continued her schooling in the normal school.
But in May 2006, within a year of doing the Art of Living course, my daughter was given back to me after 14 long years and not because of my demand but because she herself changed and wanted to be only with me and leave my in-laws. In June 2007, my daughter got through the S.S.C. exams from her regular school. Totally against the counselling session which suggested a special school for her and now she has become an arts graduate. Now she is preparing for the competitive exams for government service and consequently we wish to get her married to the right. Since the last 3 years she has become more mature, more healthy and more attached to us and does not go alone to meet my in-laws and wants us to be with her, but we convince her to meet them as they took care of her for 14 years. All this is possible only due to Guruji’s Grace.
JGD
Niharika shirolkar
I owe everything to my poor but religious and loving parents who had migrated empty handed from Pakistan during partition. We were regular in attending kirtans and satsangs anywhere close to our place where we stayed and everyday would read Bhagwat Gita, Shrimad Bhagwat, Sukhmani and I respected each and every religious and holy book as well as the Gurus. But even after the years of this, ‘something’ was missing in my life but I could not figure out what. I continued attending satsangs of various Gurus at various places and I would say that only because of their blessings I am here on this path. Gurudev has rightly said that your previous Gurus have prepared you to come on this path
JGD
Niharika Shirolkar
This incidence happened a few months before the Art of Living Foundation’s Silver Jubilee
Celebrations and here is the recap…
Looking back at the last few days in my life, I wonder if I’m still alive or this is just a dream I am still
sailing through. One fine weekday morning I had peacefully felt asleep in my car returning from an
overnight trip to Bawa’s place, expecting to be working quietly in the office within a couple of hours.
And imagine my confusion when I woke up to find myself boarding a brain scan table in an operation
theatre of a hospital! It took me some time to believe what had happened. We had come out alive
from a high-speed expressway crash in which our car had run bang into a toll plaza with speeds
nothing less than 100, kissing a Scorpio(car) stationary in the toll lane which in turn had transferred
the impact into the Accord standing in front of it. More stunning was the fact that I had jumped from
the back seat onto the front wind shield breaking it apart, rebounding heavily on top of the front seat
occupants with a slam. No wonder the cop who came to meet us in the hospital first checked if I could
correctly read the number of fingers he’d raised to check if I was still sane in my brain!
But a scene of a car pulling into a toll plaza full-speed and then suddenly dropping from 100+ to 0
seemed a bit difficult for me to image and I let go of that effort ever since. If someone inside the toll
plaza had got to witness our crash, I would consider the chap real lucky, not for watching such a
spectacular crash, but for being alive and not hit by us! But the miracle of the whole stunt was that all
throughout this feat I never felt a pinch of pain or trauma. No, no, I’m not claiming that am a superman
or a yoga master with a slick body to withstand all this pain & shock ,it’s just that I was sleeping all the
way through until I had comfortably landed in my hospital bed. I don’t know if it was because of the
heavy dose of painkiller injections which they had administered on me.I never experienced any pain
till leaving the hospital.
Time for some thought pondering ….
My mom used to scold me over my late morning sleeping habits everyday but this is what I got to hear
from Bawa when he visited us in the hospital,“Hey Sandy, how come you kept sleeping when you got
to experience such a crash once in your life time?” This made me feel proud of my sleeping first time
in my life;-) Then Bawa asked me which girl I was flirting with when I got hit in my eye so badly and
now it’s become a common question in office too as I refuse to repeat the same old story every time a
friend passes by and checks out the special effects which have sprung up in my left eye.
And I’m so dumb that it took me a couple of days and many friends’ remarks to realize that it was He
who had saved me from this ‘impossible-to-escape-alive’ kind of accident. I can bet that after taking a
look at the torn down car, no one would dare to say that the persons inside might have walked out of
this wreck alive, that too on their own feet. The definition of “Divine grace” as found on wikipedia says
“it is believed by Christians to be the sovereign favour of God exercised in the bestowment of
blessings upon those who have no merit in them.” I don’t know what’s in my account of merit but now
I have 100% faith that it was grace and only grace that saved me. Till the date I was not quite
comfortable with the matters of faith probably as a side effect of reading too many sci-fi books on
U.F.O.s and extraterrestrial life outside planet in my school days, but after getting this new lease of
life, a new-born beam of faith has landed into my heart. In one of Guruji’s talk, he says that a Guru’s
love for his devotee is hundred times more than a mother’s love for her child. Whenever I used to
listen to this, I never used to understand its meaning. I just used to wave off my ignorance thinking
that I don’t have the level to understand such hi-fi knowledge. And after hitting the car windshield with
head and living to tell the tale despite breaking it, I think my brains have got a bit wiser now. I have
experienced what a Guru’s love for His devotee is in this whole drama of car-crashing. I completely
owe this new birth of mine to the grace of my Master H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji. My faith in God n
my Master has multiplied manifold after this incidence.
I remember just a week before this expressway stunt happened, I was talking in a YES!+ introductory
seminar that we had arranged in a girls hostel of a medical college. As all the girls watched in rapt
attention, I was boldly announcing to them that after attending the YES!+ course, I was ready to take
on any challenge in the world with full confidence. Very little did I know at that time that how true my
sentence was.It is amazing to see how Guru gives strength to his devotee’s words. A day after
completing the first YES!+ course, I lost my wallet while freaking out in a theatre with the new YES!+
friends and the teacher. Then a month back I had lost my mobile while on a late night intro talk spree
on a college campus. And now I had to witness the loss my best girl friend,my little metal silver Alto! I
used to love her eternally for her sheer power and reliability and for the unlimited freedom she offered
me every time I rested in it. Besides she was blessed with the touch of feet by some of the most holy
people walking on planet right now,Rishi Nityapragyaji, my role model on the path Dineshji and the
one and only impeccable Bawa.
After all these losses I have come to understand that such material loss is nothing as compared to the
importance of love that we share in our life with the people around us. Also I have learnt that during
all these potentially troublesome times I was deep rooted in service activities of AOL, that alone gave
me enough strength to fly through all these shocking losses like a cloud with an uninterrupted smile
on the face. It could be something as preliminary as spending a weekend evening setting up the YES!
+ course or even coordinating the development efforts of the silver jubilee web portal, but now I have
come to experience that doing service gives you enormous strength in addition to the unmatched
satisfaction which you get in doing it. And I found that every time the loss was handled smoothly by
Guruji without making me go through any kind of inconveniences or trauma. Man if you’ve read this
far and haven’t done the Art of Living course, I recommend you run and do it as soon as possible…
The grace which follows in life comes in handy while dealing with stunt like these
Jai Gurudev!.
Sandesh Sawant
Jai Guru Dev- this is my personal mantra now since 4 years and nine months.
My journey in Art of Living began very reluctantly. Prior to doing the Part 1 course, a personal friend cum business associate used to pester me to enroll, but like a fool I avoided the. This friend asked me to give cheques as Charity favoring VVKI and willingly offered. Ten years passed and one fine day I happened to read a flyer, made the phone call, enrolled and a miraculous journey of a lifetime began.
It was a six day course, and at the end of first day, due to the little Yoga they made me do, I was one big bundle of pain. The second was a watershed. I experienced the Sudarshan Kriya and I cannot describe my experience in word. The remaining four days flashed by. I was now firmly hooked. Within a couple of days a Part 2 course was announced, and my form was tendered in. There again, I experienced a sound, a continuous sound that shook my very being. Now I was deeply entrenched. Within the next three months, all available AOL courses like DSN, Sahaj Samadhi etc were completed.
Within a short time my urge to eat Non vegetarian food dropped, I was mildly surprised. The only good thing that kept me going was that I never missed my daily Practice. I was now promoting the Part 1 course to all and sundry, and those who did it never stopped thanking me. A second Part 2 course, plenty of Satsangs, seva projects happened and time flew by.
In one long kriya followup, it was announced that Gurudev will come for some days to my city. I took leave from my work and devoted 100% to seva. The only desire I had was to be given an opportunity to touch HIS feet. How that happened is one long story, but he deliberately arranged my access to the stage, waited for me to approach, had a knowing smile and I achieved my goal of touching His feet.
In the meantime, I happened to read a Spiritual book which deeply impacted me. Due to curiosity, I enrolled with those guys, but I continued with my practices in AOL. One day a miracle occurred. One Swamiji said to the people present that ANY DEVOTEE WHO LEFT HIS FIRST GURU AND JOINED ANOTHER GURU IS COMMITTING AN ACT OF TREASON. These words were actually meant for me. That was the last day I ever went there. Later I heard the expression for my foolishness is SPIRITUAL SHOPPING.
They say a devotee does not select a Master but the Master selects the devotee. I was selected by my Master who Loves us so much and is extremely Generous. My story does not end here; this is just a beginning, with many more thrilling episodes Guruji will send my way. I am very positive about.
Jai Guru Dev
Last year I went to Ashram for Winter Break (YES+ Advance) with Bawa and Dinesh Bhaiya. I started my journey from Delhi with 25 friends and we enjoyed this to the fullest. I can say it was my best journey so far. We enjoyed each moment and did our sadhna (meditation) in the train; sang bhajans (divine songs in praise of the lord) and it was pure Satvik Masti (divine enjoyment). I hoped that those would be the best days of my life and I would visit all around the ashram and a lot more stuff I had planned. But as my Guru is so magical and it has been said that whoever comes first time to the ashram, there is always a surprise for him (I was not aware about it at that point of time). As we reached Bangalore, on the night of 26th December at the Railway station and the bus was late by one hour. We were so happy, so we started to dance on one song and suddenly my leg slipped and I had a jerk in my leg and it started to pain soon. One of my friends quickly gave me pain relief and it somehow was in the tolerable range.
Then I reached the ashram, sorted my housing and went to the room. Next day there was immense pain in my leg and I was not able to move a single inch from my position. Soon my roommate took me to the dispensary and the Doctor said it needed an X-Ray test. I was in a laughing mode, as I was quite sure that it was a general ankle twist in the leg, and nothing more than that. But as it was the doctor’s advice so I had to go to X-Ray center. Thus I went to the Ayurveda hospital, took an X-ray and the result was that which I never thought of. It was a fracture in my leg and in a sad mode I said, “Guruji, what has happened to me?” and Guruji replied as though saying, “Life always revolves around God’s wish not on your own route.”Then the Doctor gave me an order for plaster and I was in the whole process like a dumb person and thought in my mind that “anyhow I have to do the advance course, come what may!” I said to the Doctor, “I have to do the course” and Doctor replied, “You have to come after 3 days here and change the plaster.” It was away from the Ashram and course was in Silence so I could not go there but I said, “I will come” and returned back to the ashram.
I was not sure as to how I would complete my course but soon Guruji managed everything. I got a wheel chair and all arrangements like housing near Vishalakshi, taxi early in the morning from Aparna. My friend used to come with food for me and I enjoyed each moment of course. I used to enter the Vishalakshi Mantap at 6am and leave around 11pm at night for 5 days. It was like sitting in Guruji’s lap, as it is Guruji’s most favorite place. I never thought I would complete the course. But because of Gurujis blessings and my faith in Him I feel free, and am celebrating my life. I went to the hospital after 5 days and changed my plaster. The doctor was so happy and said that after all I had completed my course. I had a contented smile on my face, he got his answer, and lastly my plaster was cut soon within 4 weeks.
Thanks and love you Guruji so much.
Regards,
Vikas Bharadiya
IIT Delhi
The International Bloggers Conference is one of the best mediums for upcoming blogger enthusiasts who would like to share their views, thoughts and opinions to a wide range of audiences across the world. It gives a layman an in depth knowledge on various aspects of blogging right from scratch to getting traffic and viewers on the respective blog. The knowledgeable speakers instill the confidence and enthusiasm within us.
The points shared included the importance of social media, how to monetize, what should be written on the blog, what should the design and communication be, which will greatly benefit every blogger.
It encourages bathroom bloggers to now come out in the open in the living room to showcase their talent. Blogging is an excellent technique of sharing various things because internet has widespread reach. What I liked about Just Connect is that for a group like us, who are very new to this area, the conference helps us realize what to do and what not to do.
The simple and practical point of view provided to the audiences, encouraging them to publish their thoughts and share their ideas on the World Wide Web is indeed very useful. It provides great insight into the process of effective blogging.
Just Connect is a great initiative and we look forward to attending it and learning the most from it year after year. Our aim to spread Sri Sri’s wisdom on the blog is what keeps us going and a conference like this is why we love being a part of the social media outreach!
Team Sri Sri Miracles
http://www.srisrimiracles.com – The global platform for sharing miracles!
