When I decided to do the Art of Living course more than ten years back, I wasn’t looking for any spectacular transformation/miracle to happen overnight. And it didn’t.
But what did happen was the continuous practice or Sadhana and the gradual transformation – in all aspects of life – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
Having attended numerous “Personality Development & Public Speaking” workshops, I was obviously cynical about how different this Art of living course would be – after all they also promised same things – confidence, self-motivation, stress management, pep talks(knowledge), etc.
I remember, as a gawky rebellious teenager enrolling for theArt of Livingcourse – my parents were very very hopeful – they thought finally I was going to sober down.. Did I ? Well, that’s for another post 😉
But when I came back from the course that evening, I vividly remember that I was floating somewhere. My parents had this doubtful look on their face – “err…” 😉
Most of you would recall your 1st experience of The Sudarshan Kriya – that powerful breathing technique which works on your 7 levels of existence.. It was addictive, mind-blowing (literally!), epitome of peace experienced. I was not sure which ‘Aandhi’ had hit me but I was smiling ear to ear J I knew my life had changed.
And what remained with me was this “experience” – of The Sudarshan Kriya. What brought me back again and again to the various higher level courses was also just just that – “the experience”.
I realized this was it!
Reminds of Buddha’s four easy steps to enlightenment:
Kayanupassana, Vednanupassana, Chittanupassana and Dhammanupassana.
Observe the body, the sensations, the flow of mind and nature of truth.
Buddha’s disciples were intellectual prosperous people. (no, am not making any comparisons here 😉
That’s why he never spoke about topics like – ‘God’, ‘where does the Atman go after death’, ‘beginning of the universe’ & such subjects. He kept it simple and at the experiential level.
The above four steps towards ‘Nirvana’ come as one’s own experience – through Sadhana.
He is stressing on the personal experience. When we move beyond the intellectual understanding of things , into the “experiential” understanding, a whole new world opens up.
All the “Personality Development Workshops” had told me to overcome lethargy, be confident and not to get angry. But nobody had ever told me, HOW?
Having crossed 84 lakh births and finally taken a human form, I firmly believe it would be a waste if you cannot experience the Sudarshan Kriya in your lifetime J
In glory of my Gurudev, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji, who is the grace behind the experience.
Guru of Joy!!!
The author – Deepika also blogs at http://dimpsdawns.blogspot.com She would like to know all your experiences – of the 1st Sudarshan Kriya J Don’t forget to leave the comment.
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