ART OF LIVING ARTICLES n VIDEOS

Weekly Knowledge #85 Dallas, Texas 22 Jan 1997 USA ACCEPT THE WORLD AT ITS WORST Suppose the worst of the world is given to you; what would you do with it now? You cannot complain if you get the worst. You can only complain if you don't get the worst. If the world is at its worst, then it can only get better and you are here to make it better. Jim: When things are at their very worst, then there is only time and space. (Laughter) Patty: When you see that life is suffering then you go within. Paula: It is like running out of breath and you have to inhale. What happens when you have to do it all by yourself -- no one comes to help? You do everything by yourself? There are three options: Frustration and complaining.Take credit that you did it by yourself -- thank others for not helping so that you could take all the credit. (Laughter)Be grateful, pray deeply, and know that you get all the energy needed to do it all alone. There is only one doer. 🌸Jai Guru Dev...

Weekly Knowledge #81 Lake Lucerne 25 Dec 1996 Switzerland SURRENDER AND SELF-RELIANCE Self-reliance needs enormous courage. Surrender needs less courage. A person who cannot surrender cannot be self-reliant either. If you don't have enough courage to surrender, then it is impossible for you to be self-reliant. You simply fool yourself. People who are afraid to surrender fool themselves. Because even a little fear is detrimental to self-reliance. If you don't have a hundred dollars, you cannot have a thousand dollars. Self-reliance contains surrender. Fifty dollars contains ten dollars. Question: Why does self-reliance need so much courage? When you want to depend on yourself for everything, there is nobody else, then it needs a lot of courage. Often people think that surrender is a way to escape from responsibility and they end up blaming the Divine for all their problems. In fact, the true surrender is taking total responsibility for everything. Susann...

Sri Sri.... Q. Is it possible to get enlightenment on this path? How do we know when someone is enlightened? Guruji: - when you are completely detached, completely detached from everything around you - when you feel love for everyone and feel you are love - when you feel you are space, untouched and pure - when all that you see here around you does not interest you, does not provoke you, does not disturb you...then another world altogether opens up....even gods, goddesses don't interest you, then another dimension opens up altogether ...this is enlightenment Q. How to keep trust in people after many disappointments in life? G: Don't keep trust in people, keep trust in that one divinity who is taking care of you by knowing that only the best will happen to you.

After leaving the physical body, the place where soul departs to is Pitr Loka. These lokas are present here only. It is like TV channels. If you change a channel on the television, that does not mean the other channel disappears. It is still there, but you just can't see it. Similarly, we can see only this dimension, but there are other dimensions also that are present here, which we cannot see. The mind is like a television box, and the soul is where we have all the channels. This is so interesting. You know, it is so mind-boggling, there are so many layers to this creation; one layer is of human life, another layer is of the departed souls, another layer is of the deities (everything happens from this layer). Then there is the layer of the Gandharva (the realm of music). Any renowned musician you meet, they have a Gandharva soul attached to them. Like this, the creation has many layers.

Weekly Knowledge #71 Bangalore Ashram 16 Oct 1996 India CELEBRATING THE SILENCE One who has given everything has also given freedom: Honor the freedom first and make good use of all things given to you. Your sankalpas (intentions) and desires separate you from God. Offer all the desires and your sankalpas to the Divine... then you are divine... you are God... you are free... lacking nothing. Effort is the key in the relative, Effortlessness is the key to the Absolute. Your mind does not belong to you. Don't blame it. Let the BIG SELF embrace it. 🌸Jai Guru Dev🌸

Weekly Knowledge #66 Bangalore Ashram 12 Sep 1996 India THE WELL BAKED POT If you pour water into a half baked pot, the pot becomes wasted and so does the water. If the pot is well baked and strong, then it does not matter whether you put the water into the pot or the pot into the water. During Satsang that evening a devotee presents a beautiful hand crafted pot to Guruji. Another devotee presents a bouquet of roses. Placing the bouquet into the pot Guruji says, "If the pot is well baked, then it will hold the flowers." Yet another gift of sweets is given to Guruji and He adds, "When you blossom the sweets come to you." Then came a box of (Sandesh) Sweets and Guruji concluded, "This is today's sandesh." (Sandesh is the Hindi word for message.) 🌸Jai Guru Dev🌸 Wish you a very Happy Shivratri

Weekly Knowledge #64 Grimstad 28 Aug 1996 Norway SPECIAL or ORDINARY Are you special or ordinary? What makes you special on the path? (Everyone is silent) Your perception, observation, and expressionhave advanced. What makes you ordinary on the path is that you are special! (Laughter) . . . . Because everybody thinks they are very special in some way or another! Your perception has improved. You see the cause behind every cause, the Divine, and you see the great plan behind every small plan. You don't see the intentions behind others's mistakes and you are not a doubting Thomas. Kiran: Who was doubting Thomas? Shirley: Thomas doubted Jesus. Bhanu: But I think he also got enlightened! Stefano: Yes, but he was not sure! (Laughter) Before getting onto the path you never observed your emotions. Now you observe your emotions, positive or negative, love or hatred, anger or compassion, pain or pleasure. Your observation has improved. Your expression has improved...

Weekly Knowledge #63 London 22 Aug 1996 United Kingdom SURRENDER - SHAME AND SHYNESS In surrender the head bends and meets the heart. The head that does not bend has no value, and the head that is stiff will have to bend sometime, either in surrender or in shame. The head that bends in surrender will never have to bend in shame. Shame accompanies arrogance. Shyness accompanies Love. See how children are endowed with shyness, that is natural. Shyness is inherent. Shame is inflicted by society and is acquired. Shame brings guilt and shyness adds to one's beauty. Retain your shyness and drop your shame. 🌸Jai Guru Dev🌸

Weekly Knowledge #62 Santa Monica, California 14 Aug 1996 USA INFINITE PATIENCE AND SMART SHOPPING Suppose you go to God, get a boon, and walk away. When your intention is to get a boon, then you are in a hurry. Another person who knows he owns God is not in a hurry for anything. Infinite patience comes up in him. When you know you own God, you are not in a hurry to get something out of God. Your hurry to get something throws you off balance and makes you small. Have "eternal wait," infinite patience. When you have infinite patience, you will realize God belongs to you. Either through awareness or through practice you reach the same spot. Question: What do you mean by "owning God?" Answer: The Divinity belongs to you. It's not like shopping at the supermarket in a hurry and rushing back home. When you see the whole store is at home, you are not in a hurry to shop. You are at ease. Question: To develop patience do we just observe the impatience? ...

Weekly Knowledge #61 Los Angeles, California 07 Aug 1996 USA Faith and Devotion Faith is the subject of head. Devotion is the subject of heart. And meditation is of both and connects both. A mature intellect is devoted. A mature heart is full of knowledge. And meditation matures your intellect as well as your heart. Mr. John Pb: But people with good intellect seem to have less faith. Guruji: They have more faith in the matter. Head puts the faith in the matter more and heart puts the faith in the abstract more. It's next to impossible that one can be in total lack of faith or total lack of devotion. It's only a question of balance. 🌸Jai Guru Dev🌸

Weekly Knowledge #60 Bad Antogast 31 Jul 1996 Germany Today is a gift from God -- that is why it is called "present!" DON'T BE GRATEFUL!  Warning! Watch out! This Knowledge Sheet contains explosives! It can explode your head or your heart. If it explodes your heart -- nothing is left! If it explodes your head -- everything is attained!  Guruji: How many of you are grateful here? (Everybody raises their hand.) If you are grateful, you don't belong to Me! (Everyone is shocked.) You are not part of the Master. When someone gives you something, you are grateful. That means you feel separate. You are not grateful to yourself.  Gratefulness is inevitable. When you go beyond gratefulness, then union happens. No "I," no "you" remains. You are part of the Master. You are just One Being with a thousand heads and a thousand arms, but with one heart. You have got to be grateful on the path, but you have to transcend gratefulness. Better stop being...

Q: How would you know who is your true disciple? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I don't care. Why should I know if someone is true or untrue? If they are truthful, they will move up. If they are untruthful, they will fall down because nobody's intellect is in their control. Why should anyone doubt anybody, whether they are true or false? In my eyes, everybody is good, and if they do something wrong, they are definitely going to go down, but they will come back up again. It's very simple mathematics. I don't need anything from any disciple. If they move up, very good, if they don't, let them face the music. See, even facing the music makes them good and stronger. You know, I never go to console anyone, "Oh, I am so sorry, you poor thing". You have a problem? Okay, good, deal with it! This is intimate knowledge, not to be spoken out to the masses. This is to make one understand how to move in the knowledge, and how to move in the path. So there are ver...