Sri Sri Stories
I have been associated with AOL since October 2008, and in these past few months, my experience has been nothing short of great. I feel that my life and personality have been transformed after being associated with AOL and Gurudev. I did my basic course in October and DSN in December 2009 with Anandji, and it was a complete transformation of life. I was so impressed by Gurudev that I was thinking of meeting him personally and was looking forward to some opportunity to do so. Luckily, I was called for some official training at the Bangalore office in January 2010, and I made up my mind to visit Gurudev in the Ashram.
I checked his timing and availability and was supposed to attend Satsang at the Ashram where I got to know that Gurudev would be attending Satsang from 7-9. But that evening, due to heavy traffic, when I reached the Ashram, it was 8:40 PM, and all the doors of the Ashram were locked as Gurudev was about to leave. I saw Gurudev from a glass window and was a little disappointed that I would not be able to see him. I started praying, “Gurudev, I want to see you. Please give me your darshan.”
To my surprise, at the main door of Vishalakshi Mandap, where Satsang was held, I was standing and talking to the guard about how I could meet Gurudev. In a few moments, Gurudev was in front of me, and I was busy talking to the guard. I heard Gurudev saying, “Arrey tum bahar kya kar rahein ho,” and I turned. I saw Gurudev passing in front of me, and I was stunned for a few minutes. That was a blissful moment, and now I wait for Gurudev’s blessings. Jai Gurudev
I was going through a very difficult time and used to pray to Krishna, talking to him all the time. One day, out of anger, I asked why he was hiding and why he didn’t come to save me from all my worries. In 2006, I met Gurudev for the first time when he visited our beautiful island. A friend invited me to a big ceremony given for Gurudev, and I sat far from the entrance corridor. Suddenly, my friend called me to sit near her and told me that Gurudev would pass in our direction. Without thinking, I found myself moving towards her. A few minutes later, Gurudev arrived, and while passing near us, I reached out and touched his hand. I felt an indescribable emptiness and started crying. My friend didn’t understand
what was happening. Gurudev gave a beautiful speech, and I heard his words, “I have come to take all your worries away.” I didn’t doubt his true identity for a second.
Since then, my life has changed so much, and Gurudev takes care of every little thing that I need. I dance in his presence every minute. What joy! My life is meaningless without him. Jai Gurudev
I have been a devoted follower of the Art of Living since 2013, living in Noida. However, in 2016, my life took a turn for the worst. Despite practicing Sudarshan Kriya religiously for three years, everything fell apart in a matter of months.
In March 2016, I discovered that my wife was having an affair with a colleague. We had a big fight and I considered getting a divorce. While seeking legal advice, I received even more devastating news. In May 2016, my three-year-old son was diagnosed with autism. I was crushed by this news and lost faith in Gurudev. Then, in July 2016, my father was diagnosed with cancer.
I stopped practicing Kriya and began questioning Gurudev’s knowledge and grace. My depression soon escalated, and I even contemplated suicide. But in November 2016, I heard that Gurudev was coming to Noida for “Vigyan Bhairav,” and I decided to attend. On the day of the program, an unknown teacher from my area asked for a ride to the venue, and I agreed. He needed help with parking seva, and I volunteered. Later, he offered me an extra pass to Gurudev’s exclusive meeting, and I accepted.
After the Vigyan Bhairav session, the exclusive pass granted me entry to Gurudev’s room, where there were only 20 people. When he looked at me and smiled, I broke down in tears of gratitude. I realized then that he had come to meet me, and no one else.
Today, six years later, I am living happily with my wife, and my son was cleared of autism. The doctors gave my father a clean bill of health, with no signs of cancer. I owe everything to Gurudev’s grace. He saved my life by coming to meet me that day. I am forever grateful to him, and I don’t know where I would be without him
Since 2016, I have been attached to the Art of Living (AOL) and I have noticed many positive changes in myself. I have become a more positive person, who looks at everything with a positive attitude. AOL has helped me build my inner strength, and despite negativity around me, I am able to smile more. Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya have been powerful tools to help me release my tension. I am grateful to all the teachers of AOL, and I would especially like to thank the teachers who have guided me whenever I needed help. I believe that Gurudev is always watching over us and blessing us. It is truly a blessing to have Gurudev in our lives. Jai Gurudev!
I was at a crossroads in my career. Despite my best efforts, I wasn’t making any progress, with no promotions or prospects on the horizon. Feeling lost and stuck, I reached out to Gurudev for guidance and support.
Soon after, a friend from AOL messaged me on Facebook to share that she was pursuing the GMAT. This sparked an idea in my mind, and I decided to start preparing for the exam with the aim of attending one of the world’s top business schools.
Although I gave it my all, my GMAT score was disappointing, and I felt my hopes were dashed. But then, out of nowhere, the same friend messaged me again, sharing her own experience of passing the GMAT on the second attempt. This gave me hope and renewed determination.
In my second attempt, I achieved a score that exceeded my expectations and qualified me to apply to the top 10 business schools in the world. This was nothing short of a miracle, and I knew it was all thanks to Gurudev’s grace. As he says, grace is when you receive what you cannot even imagine achieving through your own efforts.
I am forever grateful to Gurudev for guiding me through this challenging time and opening up new possibilities for my career. Thanks to his blessings, I was later admitted to the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, marking the start of a whole new chapter in my professional journey.
After my mother underwent a major gallbladder surgery, she repeatedly expressed her desire to attend an advance course at Gurudev’s ashram. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the distance between our home and the ashram in Bangalore, we were unable to find a suitable course for her. I sought help from many teachers, but to no avail.
Eventually, we heard about a course in Mysore, but it was not conducted in Hindi, which was the only language my mother understood. Disappointed, we dropped the plan. During her visit to my home in Indore, my mother shared with me a dream she had of visiting Gurudev’s ashram. Her yearning only grew stronger. One evening, as my brother was booking their return tickets, I was scrolling through WhatsApp and came across a friend’s post about completing an advanced course at Omkareshwar ashram.
Gurudev’s grace intervened, and I quickly obtained my friend’s contact information. My mother was enrolled in the course overnight, and volunteers even came to pick her up and ensure her safe return home. To my surprise, she later revealed that another girl in the course shared the same dream as my mother. It was a beautiful example of Gurudev’s love and care for His devotees, fulfilling the deepest desires of their hearts
Certain things in life happen unknowingly and without any explicit effort. Knowing about Gurudev for the first time was one such incident for me. Way back in 2006 I travelled to Bangalore on office work and happened to browse TV channels to pass time on a Sunday. On one of the channels, I spotted a program where a huge gathering of people was singing beautiful Bhajans in chorus while seated on a very large ground in an orderly manner. This scene connected with me and I continued to watch till the end. I realized that this is a live telecast of the celebration of the 50th Birthday of a saintly person where best wishes were pouring from across countries/religions. And I think that was the day when first time Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji took me under his grace even though I was just a curious onlooker through the TV at that time. Within 2 years of this, my movement to Bangalore happened from up North, and as the first thing, I visited AOL Ashram and had Darshan in one of his Satsang Sessions. Since then my heart and mind remain connected with His teachings and my soul has faith in the spiritual energy that drives Him to do wonders in people’s lives. Guruji has a very practical viewpoint on how to be spiritual within worldly affairs without renouncing any aspect of it. Rather he guides our agitated minds to cope with the challenges of daily life with a spiritual outlook and strive for a higher purpose in life. With knowledge as deep as the ocean, a heart as vast as the sky, and wisdom firmly rooted in the ground he coaches us to nurture individuals & society to remain happy and content irrespective of situations around. It amazes me to see that his mediation techniques specially Sudarshan Kriya +ve an impact on people across the globe. I feel so grateful to receive His blessings just by surrendering to Him/almighty with a pure heart. I quote Kabir’s Doha to express my feelings: “ Guru Govind Dau Khade, Kake Lagoon Panaya, Balihari Guru Apno, Govind Dio Bataya .” It means that if God and Guru both come at the same time then also I would first touch the feet of my Guru cause he has brought me near to God. We luv youuuuu oooo Gurruuujjjjiiii. Regards Shobhna Agarwal
From the time we were married, my husband and I dreamt of building a beautiful, old fashioned house we call Thotti Mane’ (Courtyard House) in Kannada. Thotti mane has a square hollow space in the centre, with pillars on all four sides. Dreaming big uplifted our spirit and we also believed it would be possible someday!
Eventually we did build a 36 square bunglow and rented it out as we lived outside India.
Time Share concept was trending in 90s. We took membership of Sterling Holidays Time share and went to Goa in 1996. We were put up in a studio apartment that was very convenient to manage. It was the first revelation to me that a couple did not need a big house to live in. Our only daughter had moved to the US with no intention of returning to India. I realized that the house was more of a liability than an asset that robbed our peace of mind due to various reasons. A seed was sown by the divine, ‘Let go’. We were not in the Art of Living yet, but in retrospect I can see how Gurudev was preparing me for a bigger vision.
In late 90s we came under the fold of Gurudev and one time I had planned to ask Him whether we should keep the house or sell. I was sitting in close audience with Him in a group and instead of asking my question I exclaimed ‘ Guruji, our Vishalakshi Mantap is more beautiful than Taj Mahal!’ referring to the newly built meditation hall that is an architectural wonder! He looked at me and said with the enthusiasm of a child ‘ And, you are even more beautiful than Taj Mahal!’. I forgot everything else and remained silent revelling in His childlike presence!
My husband and I concurred on selling the house. Buyers were queueing up. We realized we had not registered the house nor did we possess a Katha (a necessary document) without which one cannot sell any property.
I happened to be in India for a short holiday. I decided to get this done.
The morning I had to go to the Registrar Office, I was sitting on an old wooden chair in my mother’s house remembering my father who had got two of these identical chairs made. A sofa cum bed, two wooden chairs, and a centre table to keep his favourite newspaper, ‘The Indian Express’- that was all the furniture we had. Simple, contented life. As I was reminiscing, something happened that shook me to the core! There was a tremor and the coffee cup in my hand spilled lot of coffee on my dress. It was an earthquake! Mild, but an earthquake. At that very moment a mountain of dispassion dawned on me. Nature can wipe off in a moment what we have struggled a lifetime to build!
We sold the house and regained our peace of mind and freedom.
Upon returning to Bangalore for good, our hometown, we purchased an apartment closer to our Ashram, The Art of Living International Centre. Never been happier!
Soon after a baby is born, it learns to grab whatever comes in its grip. It takes an enlightened Master to teach us the art of ‘letting go’ because ‘letting go is nectar’ .
I marvel at the subtle way He prepared us to let go of the ‘Dream house’ we had built, even before He had made His grand entry in my humble life. I marvel at the way He never allowed me to ask Him, sell or not sell? I marvel at the way He made us realize for ourselves what is best for us by creating situations to help the process of letting go.
Today, we have a home wherever in the world we go that says warmly ‘ Welcome Home’.
Leela Ramesh
I was part of the core-seva group that organized the Kathopnishad in Los Angeles in April 2010. At the same time, my mother was fighting blood cancer in India. When I briefly met Gurudev at the LA center, I informed him about my mother’s condition and asked him to take care of her. Gurudev showed me the Abhay mudra, and I felt relieved.
However, my mother’s condition continued to deteriorate, and I had to return to India within a month. She eventually passed away on May 15, and I was devastated that Gurudev had not kept his promise to take care of her.
But then, on the day I performed my mother’s last rites, Gurudev visited me in a dream. In the dream, my mother was standing behind him, and Gurudev was smiling while showing me the same Abhay mudra he had shown me before. My mother was wearing the same silver bracelet that Gurudev had gifted to each volunteer during the Kathopnishad, which I had tied on her arm for safety.
I realized that my mother was now in the presence of a realized master in another realm and was experiencing the ultimate joy. I thanked Gurudev for taking care of my mother and for enlightening me with this dream.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend an advanced course with Gurudev in Washington DC. While sightseeing before the course, I felt drawn to a Kashmiri shop at the Union Station. There, I saw a beautiful shawl and immediately thought of gifting it to Gurudev.
When Gurudev arrived at the AOL HQ, I presented him with the shawl, which he took gently. The following day, during the course, I noticed Gurudev wearing what I believed to be the same shawl. However, I wasn’t completely certain. As Gurudev was leaving the hall at the end of the day, I prayed earnestly, asking him to let me know if it was the same shawl. To my surprise, Gurudev turned around, walked directly toward me, and confirmed that it was indeed the same shawl I had gifted him the day before. This experience was a beautiful reminder of Gurudev’s care for all of us. While there are countless stories to tell about Gurudev’s love and compassion, this one will always hold a special place in my heart.
