Texas Ashram, Part 3

Continued from Texas Ashram Part 2 and Part 1 before that.

Continuing our walk through the Ashram grounds, we come to the treehouse in the making. A tornado felled this large tree but did not kill it. What you see in the pic below is the starting point of the treehouse being built around the tree. It should be great fun when it’s finished, for kids and adults alike.

Then we come to another quite important area, the kitchen and dining hall. It’s in the same building as Saraswati, but the entrance to the kitchen and dining is from the opposite side of the building. It is aptly named Annapoorna.

In May 2006 Guruji visited the Ashram. That was my fourth time meeting Him. He stayed at the Ashram over most of the weekend. He arrived on Friday evening, but not many people knew that schedule. That evening there was a very small and intimate satsang with Him and only 25 to 30 of us fortunate souls. It was in the meditation hall of the building now called Saraswati, and the mood was quiet and relaxed. We sang a few bhajans slowly and softly by candle-light, and in between songs we would sit and just enjoy the silence in His presence. There was no Q&A or any other talking. After a few songs Guruji told Vishaal to play his Chitravina, and we were treated to a divine recital. That was probably the most divine satsang I’ve attended.

There’s another story I can tell from Saturday evening of Guruji wading in the river near the Ashram, but that merits its own post… some other time.

On Sunday morning (it was the 7th of May I remember) Guruji took a walk on the Ashram grounds, and several of us followed Him. We came to this tennis court…

The court is nice and long, and it’s covered with a roof of sorts. Guruji had said that as the Ashram grows, we will eventually enclose this court with walls, redo the floor and the roof, and convert it into a large meditation hall! It’s large enough to host 400 to 500 people for yoga.

The Bangalore Ashram is full of stories where He had foreseen the uses of spaces for specific buildings years before their time…

Here are some pics of the interiors. Note the detail on the wall on the right on the first picture below.

The above pics are in fact from the interior of Shakti, which is where Guruji will stay whenever He visits. Here are some pics of Shakti.

Below are some pictures from the Navaratri celebrations this year, where we had a 9-day retreat with silence led by our dear Rajshree didi:

All this has been built on the work of many hardworking volunteers, starting with Dean and Shirley who worked to purchase and bring up the ashram in the early days (I don’t have a picture of them to post). Now Vinod and Neelam Patel (Vinod uncle and Neelam aunty as they are fondly known) stay at the ashram much of the time and coordinate the work, and do a lot of the work themselves. Selva and Yamuna (my dear neighbors in Austin) drive to the ashram almost every weekend to put in their volunteer labor and take other people along with them. Here’s a picture of the team that’s currently active (L to R): Jose, Maria, Prakash, Vinod uncle, Selva, Neelam aunty, Yamuna.

Some pics of the Chellams, Selva and Yamuna, that belong here just for the dedication and all the work they’ve put in into the ashram.

Check out the ashram website at http://www.srisriashram.org/. Hope you enjoyed this three-part series, and if you have any specific feedback for me or for the ashram, leave a comment or two.

Meanwhile there are two other exciting updates, both related to Art of Living centers… We now have our own center in Austin! A post on that will follow with pictures. And we are also getting a large center in LA that’s a historic landmark… Check out http://artoflivingwest.org/

Texas Ashram, Part 2

Continued from Texas Ashram, Part 1.

It’s now time to take a walk through the ashram grounds. For those who are ready for a long hike, there are hiking trails on the property that wind their way up and down, across hillocks and meadows. They’re not too frequently used, so in places they’re a little more rugged than the typical state park hiking trail.

There are lots of trees on the property. Some trees were recently planted on the grounds. Those newly planted trees you see in the pictures below include lemon and tangerine. In two to five years most of these will bear fruit! More tree planting is planned in the Ashram, especially on both sides of the long gravel driveway from the main road into the property. At a 15-foot separation between trees, can you guess how many trees we will need for this driveway? The answer will be in my next post.

Walk further along to the vegetable garden, which is fenced in to keep deer and other wildlife out. A lot grows here in summer and fall, and it’s all organic. Weekend visitors to the ashram typically haul back lots of vegetables to the city. A few pictures down you’ll see a table full of vegetables we picked from the garden during our last trip there. And this is in the fag end of the season; I’m told it’s much more bountiful earlier in the year. Take a close look and see how many varieties of vegetables you can identify. If you can name them all, you’re a vegetable genius… I know some of them only by their Indian names!

Some of the neighbors have horses, and they visit the ashram and let the horses graze. That helps us with keeping the grass mowed! In the second pic below if you look carefully you can see deer in the background. The Ashram also houses a couple of sheep and a couple of cats. There used to be two pigs as well who used to hog all the leftovers.

There’s an electric golf cart for getting around from building to building quickly (especially if you’re carrying around tools or paint or bedding or laundry or whatever else). And there’s even a donated van that’s used for the occasional airport shuttle during courses.

Some more views of the buildings below. There’s Buddha, which houses the second meditation hall. Between Buddha and Saraswati, it is feasible now to host two different courses at the same time, which we did a couple of times this year. Buddha also houses the production facility for Shankara Inc. Shankara is a bio-regenesis skin-care system, profits from which go to IAHV development projects. Shankara products are excellent. I use a few myself, especially the moisturizer which comes in very handy for the dryness of the winter months. Their facewash and scrub are very refreshing. I also highly recommend the sacred essence. And when you visit, the products that they will recommend to you are customized for your skin type.

Shiva is one of the housing cottages. There are several more, including a country cabin half a mile down the road. With the recent renovations and new beds and bathrooms, they are very welcoming for participants of courses we conduct at the Ashram.

This rustic shed contains tools, ladders, paint, wood, etc.

Of course no Ashram of the Art of Living is complete without a building called Shakti, which is where Guruji will stay when He visits. Some pics of Shakti to follow in the next post, along with pics of the kitchen and dining hall, more cottages, of the treehouse, of the tennis court and its possibilities, some taken at satsang, and some of the key people behind all this work. If I can dig up some pics from Guruji’s May 2006 visit I’ll add them as well. Stay tuned for Part 3!

Update: Onward to Part 3

Austin’s First YES!+

Words cannot express it, so I will post a picture collage instead. Click on the image for a bigger version where you can see the faces clearly.

With Guruji in Washington DC

S and I went to Washington DC this week to meet Guruji. In downtown DC we have our new Art of Living Center, which is where Guruji was staying for three days:

Washington DC Center

It’s a four-story building located in the embassy district on 15th St NW, and it used to be an embassy. Countless hours of volunteer labor have transformed it into an oasis of spiritual learning. In this center we now have accommodations, kitchen, dining hall, meditation hall, rooms and offices for Guruji, and facilities to host regular yoga classes, long kriya sessions and courses (including residential retreats). It’s beautiful; you should definitely go and see it sometime.

Guruji had only a few meetings, so we got a lot of good time with Him. On Wednesday at midday many of us got to talk to Him one-on-one, and then He led a meditation before lunch. In the evening we had satsang.

On Thursday those of us who were there at the center in the morning went for a walk in Meridian Hill Park with Him, giving us more opportunities to talk with Him about Art of Living projects, personal questions, etc. In the afternoon He came to the meditation hall where one TV reporter for a local Indian channel was waiting for an interview with Him.

Guruji playfully adjusting his hairstyle before the camera goes live

In the interview He spoke about the need to take responsibility for India’s political future by voting for the right candidates in the upcoming election. He emphasized that voting should not be done along party lines, but should be done for candidates who have character and integrity. He especially urged youths to abandon their apathy and go out and vote. In many places in rural India, votes are being bought with cash or liquor, and He urged voters not to fall victim to such tactics.

He also spoke about the conflict in Sri Lanka, which has taken a two-fold toll on that country’s long-term welfare: humanitarian and environmental. On the latter front, He said Sri Lanka is such a beautiful place, and it was sad to see so much environmental damage done to it by the conflict. He said it would take 50 to 70 years for some areas to get back to their pristine natural state. On the humanitarian side, according to His estimate, Sri Lanka has 350,000 people who are in need of supplies, shelter, medical help, etc. Art of Living is helping with humanitarian aid as well as in mediation between the government and the Tamil rebels. (In an unrelated story from Sri Lanka, Art of Living has also helped the Sri Lankan cricket team recover from their encounter with attackers in Lahore: here’s the story on IndiaTimes.)

Thursday evening was the public satsang at the Crystal City Hyatt with 1,500 to 2,000 people. The hall was full. I went there early to help with setting up. At the satsang Guruji didn’t go much into Q&A; most of the questions in the question basket were already addressed in the books Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love, He said. (Read on below for some brief Q&A.)

On Friday we saw Him off at the Reagan National Airport. He was headed to the Canadian Ashram where a part 2 course (silence retreat) had already started, and participants were waiting for Him.

At DCA departing for Canada

Some Q&A snippets from Guruji:

[On jobs] A lot of people have written letters or asked in person about jobs. Those who are looking for a job, consider this a three or four month sabbatical. Use the time wisely. Learn some new skills. Playing the guitar, or singing, or poetry, or anything else. Do some courses, do some seva. When the economy gets better, you will be refreshed and rejuvenated for a job.

The economic situation in America and in other places will improve. And it will improve soon, you won’t have to wait very long for it. In the meantime, use your time wisely.

[Before leading meditation] There are three requirements for meditation. I am nothing, I want nothing, I am going to do nothing. If you say I am going to meditate, then no meditation will happen. You have to let go of your identifications and be willing to do nothing at all. And you also have to want nothing. Even if you want to drink water or shift your position, then you are not in meditation. I am nothing, I want nothing, and I am going to do nothing.

[Looking through the question basket at satsang] All of these questions have been answered in Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love. Everyone should read those books. You never know how powerful they can be. Once when I was traveling I met a customs officer who recognized me, and he took out his copy of Celebrating Silence. A friend had gifted him that book, and after he started reading it, his life had taken on a new direction. It was completely transformed. And he had not done any course or Sudarshan Kriya. He said to me, “Can you please sign this book?” Normally I don’t do it, but just for him since he had such a strong connection with the book, I signed it for him.

[On problems] There are five ways to deal with problems. First, know that everything is changing. These problems are not permanent. Second, know that you have the capacity to face it; you are more powerful than the situations around you. Third, see that there are many others who have much bigger problems than you have. See how you can help others and be of service; automatically your problems will appear insignificant. Fourth is knowing that you have always been helped; having the faith that you will be taken care of. Fifth is seeing the whole cosmos as everything is nothing.

If these five don’t work, you can always give your problems to me.

At DCA, some of us also chatted with senior teacher Rajshree Patel (affectionately called Rajshree didi).

[Rajshree didi on patience] My first time in India, Guruji told me something that He repeated many times over the years. I was teaching an advanced course, and I used to complain to Guruji about my course students asking me the same question over and over: “What time does the session begin?” I had already announced clearly that it would begin at 6 am, and over and over people would come to me and ask the same silly question, and it bothered me no end. Guruji said, “Patience for other people’s ignorance is the last skill to come.” And it wasn’t the only time He said that. He has repeated it over the years to me patiently.

[Rajshree didi on time] Sometimes you may know that you are ready for something, but the time has not yet come. Just the other day He turned to me as we were walking, and said, “You should have thousands of people around you now. Why isn’t that happening?” It was totally out of left field, I didn’t know what to say. I said, “I don’t know Guruji, what is needed of me?” He just replied, “Waqt” which means time. Even for Him and His work that’s the case. He is completely ready but the time is not.

Overall we had a very beautiful time with Guruji, as we always do.

Trifecta of Courses Coming to Austin

We have a great set of three Art of Living courses coming to Austin in the next few weeks. Loosely speaking, I’d say we have one course each with attention on the body, the breath, and the mind. But that’s very loosely speaking. Read on.

The first course is Sahaj Samadhi Meditation, a mantra-based meditation technique. Sahaj means natural or effortless; Samadhi means transcendence. Back when I was initiated into Sahaj meditation in 2004, my first meditation was like nothing I had ever done before. I came out of it in a state of wonder not knowing what hit me or how long I was gone. The experience was very deep, and I fell in love with meditation.

From Swami Venkatesananda’s translation of the ancient Indian scripture Vasistha’s Yoga, here are Vasistha’s words on meditation:

The self is not realized by any means other than meditation. If one is able to meditate even for thirteen seconds, even if one is ignorant, one attains the merit of giving away a cow in charity. If one does so for one hundred and one seconds, the merit is that of performing a sacred rite. If the duration is twelve minutes, the merit is a thousandfold. If the duration is a day, one dwells in the highest realm. This is the supreme yoga, this is the supreme kriya.

The Sahaj Samadhi course gives you a 20-minute practice that you can do twice daily. For those who already have a Sudarshan Kriya practice, Sahaj is the perfect complement. Sudarshan Kriya does deep cleansing and puts you at the threshold of meditation; Sahaj Samadhi takes you into a deep dive of stillness in meditation.

Dates: 28-30 March.
Info / Register: Sahaj Samadhi Meditation

The second course we have is Sri Sri Yoga, a holistic system of asanas (postures), along with pranayamas (breathing techniques) and meditation. From this course you will get a sequence of asanas to practice at home daily. The course will teach the basics of the ancient healing science of Ayurveda. Based on its principles, participants are guided to identify their own body type. The yoga sequence is then customized to suit each participant’s individual body type. The course also explores the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Sri Sri Yoga instructor Shriram Sarvotham has not missed a day of yoga since he started his practice 23 years ago. Shriram was in Austin last weekend for a brief lecture on Sri Sri Yoga. Some snippets from his talk:

[On asanas] Each asana is like a note of music. When you arrange different notes in a specific sequence, you get a melody. Different sequences give different melodies; using the same notes, you can have a melancholy tune, or an upbeat one. Similarly, having a right sequence of asanas is very important to get the most harmonizing benefits from yoga. Sri Sri Yoga gives you a great sequence.

Q: What postures will help with hormonal headaches? Any inverted postures that direct blood to the brain?

A: Aches and pains commonly have a root cause that may be elsewhere in the body. For instance, the five most common causes of lower back pain have nothing to do with the lower back. From a recent study, the most common cause was found to be obesity; the back is simply not strong enough to support the weight of an overweight belly! The second cause was stress. No amount of back exercises will help such cases. That’s why we recommend a well-rounded sequence of postures that covers all parts of the body, with emphasis also on pranayamas and meditations. That way the root cause gets addressed, rather than the symptom.

For those who have the intention of doing yoga but have not had the training or a specific sequence of postures to do at home, this is perfect for you. I haven’t done Sri Sri Yoga myself, so I will be taking this course this April.

Dates: First two weekends of april (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Info / Register: Sri Sri Yoga

Last and our most beloved is the Art of Living Course! Our very own teacher Arvind is now back from India. Loaded with knowledge and thought-provoking questions to ponder and share, with yoga and pranayamas preparing the system for the deep cleansing of Sudarshan Kriya, and much more… Words can’t do this course justice. Just do it, if you haven’t already. If you have, repeat it for a donation of your choice.

You can go back to some experiences shared from the February course on this blog.

Dates: March 24-29
Info / Register: Art of Living Course

For the curious, my own daily practice consists of yoga asanas (postures), Sudarshan Kriya (breathing) and Sahaj Samadhi (meditation). Step by step we go from the grosser levels of existence to the subtler.

Day 6: The Journey Continues

The course ended today with a potluck lunch celebration. The Art of Living journey continues…

Couple of pictures of Nancie Di:

Day 5: Satsang

The part 1 course session on day 5 was a short 3 hours since there was another group using the chapel after us. Yoga and kriya today were very deep.

The real treat was the evening satsang with Nancie Di, where she told us more stories of her times and travels with Guruji. After the potluck dinner, most people left and only a few die-hard satsangees remained. Young maestro Vishaal played the Chitraveena for us.

Some pictures are below. The first one was a challenge to get, since we were doing satsang by candle-light, and I didn’t want to flood the room with light from my flash. This pic was at ISO 3200 at f/2.8 with 1-stop underexposure. Last pic taken by Ganesh.

Day 4: Q&A and Nancie Di’s Story

All participants have settled beautifully into the rhythm of the course, especially the yoga and the breathing techniques. Questions are being asked, and knowledge is beginning to flow.

One participant asked a question about consciousness, I think she asked “What is consciousness?” Nancie spoke for a few minutes about this. It is very difficult to capture the gist of what she said… She explained that even when cells are cloned in the lab, there’s a little spark of electricity that has to be fed before their metabolism gets going. Consciousness is like that spark, that force by which the union of a single male cell and a single female cell grows into this complete organism with such a diversity of features: eyes, face, hands, etc. that function so beautifully together.

Q: How does consciousness happen?

A: It doesn’t happen. It just is.

Perception is very different from existence. Consciousness is already there in all of us. Do you remember that space after kriya when we were not quite asleep, not quite awake? That state is very close to the fully conscious state.

Q: Have you ever been one with pure consciousness?

A: Yes.

Q: What happens then? What do you think about?

A: There is no thinking. Everything goes away.

Q: Can you be there for long? How long?

A: Oh, some people can stay in that state for days, even months. I haven’t gone that far yet!

Q: Why do you need to go there?

A: There is no need. It just happens. See, in order to understand the mechanics of the mind, you have to witness the mind. For this you have to go beyond the mind. Do you get it?

I can’t believe I’m talking about this on a Part 1 course!

The capacity to go to that place at will and experience it again creates that ability, that clarity of perception, where you can see the mechanics of the mind clearly and rise above it. The vast majority of people have this experience frequently, but they just don’t know what it is. And they have no capacity to experience it at will.

Q: How often do you feel the need to go there?

A: After a point, there is no more here or there. It just effortlessly happens. Twenty minutes twice a day of deep meditation is enough. That’s what Sri Sri recommends.

When you get done pondering the nature of the mind, then you fall in love. Or some people are so engaged in the mind, they have to fall in love to get past it!

Q: Fall in love with what?

A: Everything. The present moment, the people around you, the bad mood, the policeman giving you a ticket, the nature, the city, everything without exception…

Q: How did you come to the Art of Living?

A: In 1988 Sri Sri visited Santa Barbara, and after He left someone called me and told me about Him. As they were speaking, I was directly getting an experience of Him. I was taken aback. I was having a profound experience just hearing about Him. This person ended the call by asking me, “Can he really be enlightened?” Somehow I said, “I’ll do whatever He tells me to do.” I shocked myself with that statement. I had no idea why I was saying that.

The next time He was in the US, I got three calls from people telling me to go meet Him. I gave the usual excuses – time, money, etc. And the time after that, it was 8 to 10 calls, saying I should go and meet this man. I thought I was being stalked, and I made up my mind never to go. I was quite resistant.

In the meantime, a very challenging client I was working with stopped coming to me. I felt relieved, since the sessions weren’t doing her any good anyway. Six months later, she came back to me, and wow! She was not even the same human being anymore. The change in her was off the charts. She could access and address things about herself that I couldn’t have dreamt of. I asked her what had brought about the change, and she said she had done the Art of Living course and traveled to India with Sri Sri.

Now I was intrigued. It would be irresponsible of me not to take this course and find out what it was. I had so many people I could recommend it to. This was in 1990. Sri Sri at that point decided not to return to the US for the next three years, but fortunately for me He changed his mind and came during Christmas. But a family emergency pulled me away to Europe, and I couldn’t meet Him. Throughout 1991 there was no course in Europe or the US that I could take. In 1992 He came back to the US, and the organizers called me. I arranged to take a course with another teacher, but Sri Sri later told that teacher not to teach that course. That’s when I knew, He was coming to teach me himself. He came to Canada, and I went there. He taught me my first Art of Living course. I was sitting at His feet just a few feet away. And He hadn’t taught a Part 1 course in years! At that point He was only teaching the advanced courses.

That was the beginning of the end of my mind. About a year later I was full time.

After our course session was over, some of us volunteers sat for an hour with her in the hall. Her intuition was able to pull out something about each one of us. The advice that she was able to give us was just… amazing. Words cannot do it justice, so I won’t even try.

Day 3: Q&A Snippet

A brief snippet from Q&A with Nancie Di (paraphrased, not verbatim):

Q: How did Sri Sri come up with Sudarshan Kriya?

A: Once in a blue moon Sri Sri talks about it, and even then only a few brief sentences. I’ve only been around Him twice when He has spoken on the topic. He used to be a meditation teacher, and He realized that some people were not able to meditate, and some who were meditating were in fact not getting the benefits that have been enunciated for meditation. This age is so full of activity for the mind, isn’t it? Our daily lives have become so hectic, and the mind is just not able to go deep at all. He realized that something more was needed. So He went into a period of silence for 10 days. During that silence, what came to Him was the kriya. This was in 1982.

He has said that the knowledge of kriya was there on this planet in the past, and it had been lost. So He revived it.

Kriya is not just a precursor to meditation. A lot of deep cleansing happens during kriya. The word kriya itself means “purifying action”. A lot of rebalancing happens in all the levels of existence we talked about earlier.

Outside of the course session, Nancie Di also pointed to a specific story in Vasistha’s Yoga that enunciates kriya as well as the hollow and empty meditation (taught on the Art of Living Part 2 Course). I do not remember that story at all; time to go back to reading Vasistha! Last week, I watched (again) the fifth tape of Sri Sri’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, where Patanjali also talks about kriya. Of course, the experience completely trumps the explanation!

Day 2: Happy Birthday Nancie Di

What a day! Participants in our course got their first experience of sudarshan kriya.

After the session Nancie Di led us in a beautiful Guru Pooja followed by a short meditation. While we were thus engrossed, the rest of the gang was waiting for us at Mozart – where we had arranged a surprise celebration for Nancie Di for her birthday.

Nancie later shared with us that she thought she would have a quiet birthday this time without anyone in Austin knowing. As a traveling Art of Living teacher, she has been in this situation before. She has also had surprise parties before, but her intuition would always tell her it was coming. Not this time! Until we took her to Mozart’s, she hadn’t a clue.

Happy Birthday Nancie Di!