Kriya and Puja

Back from the end of a course not having done my kriya feeling tired. Reached after a long walk and a last minute Rickshaw, not having told anyone the real reason I had to leave so quickly (don't bother guessing, well actually u can but i wont tell :) ) Finally after the delay of the entire a day did my Kriya and this post came up ready made.....

Often I have heard Guruji and many teachers say 'Puja' means that which is born out of completeness or fullness. Today while doing Kriya I remembered something. "Sit to do your Kriya with an attitude of Gratitude" but even when I was getting through First stage of Pranayam "Gh**** gratitude how do I deal with all the pain that has been building in my for the entire day" and now it has reached a peak after something that happened at the course. Suddenly I couldn't feel the pain in my legs (General effect of Vajrasan, especially since I was sitting on a chair) as it was replaced by a pain in my heart region for a moment I thought I had a heart attack but realized it wasn't almost the next moment.

I could feel all the sadness and pain accumulated over the years that I have managed to hide with quick smiles and acting stupid started coming up. Some of the things that I had REALLLLYYYYYYY wanted to hide even from myself started coming to the front. By this time I had lost all control, half way through Second stage of Pranayam I started breathing normal breaths instead of Ujjai breaths. Now I though this embarrassing, what I didn't realize was the Really embarrassing thing is yet to come. Almost in tears because of all the suppressed memories I was not even sure I would be able to continue any further, I was just moving forward.

Somehow I managed to get back into Ujjai before finishing Second stage itself. Hear is where something interesting started happening. Even though the pain was still there I remembered what I had heard on Guru Purnima this year. Suddenly there was no effort in Third Stage and Bhastrika and the pain intensified, with tears from my eyes and mucus from my nose and sweat forming a horrible mixture on my face which very thankfully I could not feel because of the pain. The actual Kriya was a different experience all together something had changed dramatically and after a short meditation I got up and was already ready with this post in my Mind.

Now the important part, the knowledge that came to my rescue in my time of need. Mahesh Giriji had said that "We offer flowers, fruits, 'chandan' etc while doing the Guru Puja but you should do something else. Offer your anger, offer your Jealousy, offer all the negative qualities and you'll see that Puja happens by itself and such a Puja will be higher then any other simple Guru Puja". Today I was able to apply this.

Coming back to the starting of the post

So for the first time on this blog I am going to give everyone a task to experiment on. Here's the deal if you can't sit with an Attitude of Gratitude, gather all your anger, hatred, jealousy,greed, fear, laziness and sit for doing your short Sudarshan Kriya. After you finish your 3 rounds of slow-medium-fast just offer it to......... whoever you want, it doesn't really matter. Do tell me your experience, waiting to hear from you all (comment hear or mail me)

Jai Gurudeva,

Love,

Mihir.

P.S. Please excuse the length of the post :)

Kung Fu Awesomeness all over again

Now I am sincerely sorry for the long silences i have been keeping but I am back again so for this post I have a Film review to share

The much awaited Kung Fu Panda 2

Truly an Epic peace of work and full of Sheer Kung Fu Awesomeness fortunately as Po (the lead Panda) says in the first movie "There's no charge for awesomeness". The cast is quite star studded with Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Lui, Jackie Chan, Jean Claude Van Damme and many more. The animation is much beyond good however the story had a few points which could be exploited more like the hints given about Tigress's past (no more spoilers). This time around Po is more confident in his Kung Fu but now faces the ultimate challenge of defeating something that can destroy Kung Fu so Master Shifu sends Po and the Five to destroy the machine.

Po's history is revealed (Yea i know how can he be the son of a goose right?)

more kung fu awesomeness

A soft side to Tigress is revealed

more kung fu awesomeness

A lot of humor and more kung fu awesomeness

Overall more kung fu awesomeness movie :)

One thing I noticed about Po's talking and behavior was that he was more like Bawa ( Yes the one and only Khurshed Batliwala) though laking Bawa's super cool-ness but he did have some resemblance in many scenes. All in all a very good movie and would definitely suggest for everyone to watch it atleast once

A bonus joke for the end of the post

A sign outside a petrol pump says

Smoking Not allowed

Your life may not have much value but Petrol costs a fortune

Jai Gurudeva,

Love,

Mihir

The Philosophers Stone

Now I know I am a few posts behind. Did an advance course at the beautiful Triveni Ashram in Pune, some YES!+ experiences, been traveling a bit, off to Banglore Ashram on Sunday, some great Guru Stories, and the list goes on and on. For now I would like to start with very interesting story.

Jai Gurudeva!

In India a Guru is compared to a Philosophers stone, now for those who haven't seen or read Harry Potter, its a legendary artifact that can turn any substance to Gold. This is said to be the similarity between the Guru and the Philosophers stone, that a Guru can, by his mere presence turn even the most ordinary of person into a Golden Soul.

During a debate between some scholars (Pundits basically highly knowledgeable people) one of them asked "What is the difference between a Guru and a Philosophers Stone?" All of them were baffled and argued that the comparison is correct that there was no point to debate such a thing. On this the scholar replied that the comparison is indeed correct but incomplete. A Philosopher's Stone can merely turn any substance to gold but cannot give that substance its properties, whereas a disciple through the Guru's infinite wisdom can bring about a transformation in other people's lives even if the Guru is not with him physically.

So what would you like in your life ? A Philosophers Stone or A Guru?

IT HAS BEGUN - The first day

Its finally started, a 1000+ course with Bawa & Dinesh. Now I know my posts are excruciatingly long so I am going to keep this one short. Obviously the course was great fun with Dinesh Dada taking yoga, and making people run out of breath, the first timers had a tough time on Suryanamaskars and because of that really enjoyed Shavasan. With Bawa continuing from there it was a complete laughter and knowledge packed first day. He also promised to tell about mythological stories, if he is reminded every day. And lastly the coolest description of Ujjayi breath given by Bawa and was personal favorite "Ujjayi breath is that Darth Vader breath". Couldn't stop laughing after that.

Jai Gurudeva!

Love,

Mihir

In Contrast

In my last post I wrote any extremely long, well stuff saying how modern youth are facing a lot of problems and that YES!+ can solve them. In a recent session with Bawa, he said the most interesting thing about YES!+. What he said was

"This course is not especially designed for depressed, sick, suicidal people, we haven't opened a mental assylum. Its very much true that the course helps such people a lot to come out of depression, stress etc. The course is actually for happy people, you know when someone says I am anyways happy with my life I reply that you are qualified to do the YES!+ course. The course is designed keeping in mind the most happiest and the most saddest people and how to bring out the best in each of them so they can enjoy life. I tell happy people if you want to continue being happy do the course"

So now when someone makes fun about us doing the course, we can proudly say that 'I did the course was for my overall personal development and not b'coz I was depressed.' Anyways the YES!+ logo itself says 'Accelerating Excellence' and not 'Curing Depression'. So lets accelerate and make March 18th course a historical course.

Jai Gurudeva!

Love,

Mihir

P.S.:Coming soon some really nice stories (and possibly pictures) from recent course

A Gift (being dragged into a course)

Its strange in how many ways life can work when you have the blessings of a master.

It has been quite a wish to do all my courses with Bawa n Dinesh Da, no matter the difficulty or simplicity of it. This February there was going to be a DSN with Saleel Bhaiya which I was going to attend, it being my first DSN. To my horror my name somehow managed to get itself from 78% attendance to 78% absent in my college. Immediately by the end of January a parents meeting was held which I attended with my Father. Obviously I was afraid that my father would be angry that why this happened and once the Principal started her lecture (blaming everything on parents really) I was even more pushed because she said permissions were given for us CA students, which was flatly denied to me on my Face.

When I went to speak with my father after the meeting he was really angry (potential miracle no.1) not at me but at the principal who had used swear words in her 'speech' he said to ignore her and continue with studies. The problem was now I was needed to be present 100% of the second term, that is if you can call one month and 9 days as a term, still a DSN meant 3 days which I could not find myself to go to. Here is where all the physical miracles start.

Bawa n Dinesh being in town decided to take the course themselves and postpone it to Friday the 12th. The first day I went one lecture didn't take place as the teacher was not there, incidentally the one that annoyed me (rather all of us) like anything. I decided if there were 3 lectures that were declared 'OFF' Hell with the college, I am going for a DSN. And Finally four lectures have been 'off' this week. Then I looked at the course date, Friday the 12th, reporting being at Thursday the 11th, was infact MahaShivratri, no college :) . Suddenly college decided to put a non-working day on Saturday as well. Anyways I rarely have plans for Sunday, so DSN here I come.

Its strange how things work out so smoothly when you are committed and have the masters grace. You tend to get a lot of gifts, like getting dragged into a course when your thinking "how will I go to the course".

Next post, what experience of the divine comes in the course so lets see what happens

Jai Gurudeva!

Love

Mihir