Patanjali in his Yoga sutras has laid out eight fold path for enlightenment The first step is Yama loosely translated as discipline This means tuning yourself to the ultimate it is not a set of dos and don ts It is a set of instructions to tune yourself to your Self Within this Yama the first step is Ahimsa Ahimsa means non violence with understanding Ahimsa is not a moral condition but a technique If you are established in non violence even wild animals when they face you will turn peaceful You will radiate love and compassion Patanjali says If

• To love is to be non violent

Patanjali in his Yoga sutras has laid out eight fold path for enlightenment. The first step is Yama: loosely translated as discipline. This means tuning yourself to the ultimate; it is not a set of dos and don’ts. It is a set of instructions to tune yourself to your Self. Within this Yama the first step is Ahimsa. Ahimsa means non violence with understanding; Ahimsa is not a moral condition but a technique. If you are established in non violence, even wild animals, when they face you, will turn peaceful. You will radiate love and compassion. Patanjali says: If a man is established in non violence, in his presence, enemies and animals will drop their animosity and radiate love. Sankara, the great enlightened master,  walked all over India on foot, village to village, begged door to door for food, and lived with the common man, to update himself with what was happening around him. This was required of him as a teacher, as a master. As he went he learnt from various masters, universities, and temples which are spiritual universities. He wanted to create his own University to spread his message of advaita (non-dualism), where the energy of love will speak.  In a forest on a full moon night as it drizzled he saw a frog about to hatch its baby and a cobra spreading its hood to protect the frog from the rain; frogs and cobras are born as natural enemies; when Sankara saw this he decided here’s where I should have my University where animals lose their enmity, and pure oneness and love starts happening. Once you experience this love you will never be violent; non violence, ahimsa, will happen to you. When we are established in love nothing touches us. We do not need to defend ourselves against anything. Defending is what creates the thought of offending. All countries say that they have armies only to defend themselves. Who then is offending?  The more you try to defend you enter into offense. Violence starts. Violence starts with defense. This is what Jesus meant when he said to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you. What he said is not impractical. This can be practiced. What have we achieved by protecting ourselves, except suffering? On the other hand, if you radiate love, you will be a God on planet Earth.  Can you defend yourself against death? By defending yourself you may add some years to your life; by trusting, by loving you will add life to your years.  What would you like to do, add years to your life or add life to your years?

Eternity unfolds itself every time we sit at the feet of our beloved Master Nobody has any track of time or space as we sit in a deep silence in His presence Indeed this is what the ancient rishis meant by the word Upanishad sitting at the feet of the master The Master's presence is like that of the sun the rays of which simply penetrate the surroundings If a cube of ice is put in the sun it melts in no time Just like that our samskaras simply dissolve in the intense energy field of the Master The sun

• Upanishad - Sitting at the feet of the Master

Eternity unfolds itself every time we sit at the feet of our beloved Master. Nobody has any track of time or space, as we sit in a deep silence in His presence. Indeed, this is what the ancient rishis meant by the word "Upanishad", sitting at the feet of the master. The Master's presence is like that of the sun, the rays of which simply penetrate the surroundings. If a cube of ice is put in the sun, it melts in no time.




Just like that, our samskaras simply dissolve in the intense energy field of the Master. The sun does not think about who is coming near it and then decide whether to shine or not. It shines no matter what. Master's compassion does not have logic. There is no calculation involved or an ulterior motive when the Master radiates his love and compassion. It is whether we want to allow ourselves to melt or we choose to hold back.


It does not matter what He talks, every word is like an arrow hitting our inner space and killing the demons of ego and conditionings. The Master wants our transformation, our growth, our joy. Why should he be so bothered about our growth? For no logical reason. This is called compassion.

Vasudaiva Kutumbakam this is how Swamiji described the organizers' meet that was held in the ashram on Sunday There was something special about this organizers' meet Usually it is attended by organizers from ashrams around India But thanks to Inner Awakening program organizers from countries around the world were all assembled in the hall along with the Indian organizers This rarely happens The over centers including ashrams were represented on this one single day One statement that was so blissful to hear from the Master was this You see here there are people from different countries cultures traditions People with

• Whole world, one family... Vasudaiva Kutumbakam

"Vasudaiva Kutumbakam", this is how Swamiji described the organizers' meet that was held in the ashram on Sunday. There was something special about this organizers' meet. Usually it is attended by organizers from ashrams around India. But, thanks to Inner Awakening program, organizers from countries around the world were all assembled in the hall along with the Indian organizers. This rarely happens. The 1000 over centers (including ashrams) were represented on this one single day.



One statement that was so blissful to hear from the Master was this:


"You see: here there are people from different countries, cultures, traditions. People with different academic and economical qualifications have come here for a common cause. Someone who does not understand English at all is sitting comfortably with those who understand nothing else but English.


This is what I call Vasudaiva Kutumbakam."


It was such a blissful moment for us to see that all of us had no barriers between us. There was one common thread running within us - Nithyananda, the Master who has taught us how to be in eternal bliss every moment.


Tens of thousands of people saying one thing: I have forgotten the last time I was in low mood or depressed, is a testimony to the deep inner transformation He has made us undergo. He has shown us how to live and this congregation was our gratitude to Him.


Devotion to the Master has bound us as one single entity. Love for the One who taught us how to be in eternal bliss (rather than just giving us bliss) has strung us into one garland. Thank you, Master for every thing.


I will leave you with this video on how our inner transformation directly leads to Global Peace.

Let me tell you an incident which Swamiji speaks about in one of the discourses 'A young devotee came to Swamiji for some counseling He was telling the Master about how much he likes a girl and the girl is not reciprocating This has become the biggest problem in his life He has not been able to do his work He is constantly thinking about that girl etc etc The Master was just listening to the whole thing After a few minutes someone called this person and informed him about some litigation problem with his house For the next few

• The Waves within Us

Let me tell you an incident which Swamiji speaks about in one of the discourses.

'A young devotee came to Swamiji for some counseling. He was telling the Master about how much he likes a girl and the girl is not reciprocating. This has become the biggest problem in his life. He has not been able to do his work. He is constantly thinking about that girl etc. etc. The Master was just listening to the whole thing.

After a few minutes, someone called this person and informed him about some litigation problem with his house. For the next few hours, the devotee was making phone calls and busy resolving it and after he was done with it, he went to the Master. Swamiji told him, "Did you see what was happening within you? Few hours back, the biggest problem in your life was your love life and in the last four hours you did not even think about it." '

Swamiji says,
"All our emotions, our thoughts are just like waves. One thought or emotion comes like a wave, to be swept away or absorbed by a bigger wave."

If we look back into our lives, all our emotions or thoughts are so momentary. Be it worry, stress, guilt, pain or happiness, everything comes, stays in our inner space for a short while before being engulfed by a stronger emotion. Within a few minutes, we would have gone through a big rollercoaster of emotions. Every emotion seems big and important till it is escapes into another emotion.

It is amazing how we constantly want to hold on to these thoughts and emotions. Swamiji says, "By nature, we are actually renouncing every moment. We renounce thoughts and emotions every moment."

The problem is we choose to create, maintain and destroy thoughts. Instead of just watching them and letting them go, we go into the dustbin and pick the rags saying, 'Oh, this a good rag. Oh this is bad one.' We fail to see that every in the dustbin is still waste and of no use.

Swamiji's technique of unclutching is all about watching and witnessing our emotions and thoughts rather than connecting them to form a long convoluted chain.

Imagine the liberation one can have if we can just relax and watch those emotions/thoughts just like a movie. Enjoy these video:

Be Unclutched - 1

Be Unclutched - 2

I am not from Mumbai I had never been to Mumbai but I just love the city The whole city of Mumbai is in floods now And its not just this year but every year when the monsoon hits India in the month of July Mumbai is drowned Whether it is a chaiwallah's tea selling vendor's shop on the road side or the posh bungalows of some of highest tax paying actors like Amitabh Bachchan everything is flooded with rain water Not just Mumbai every place in India it is the same But life goes on in India When I

• Everything that goes on is auspicious

I am not from Mumbai. I had never been to Mumbai but I just love the city. The whole city of Mumbai is in floods now. And its not just this year, but every year when the monsoon hits India in the month of July, Mumbai is drowned. Whether it is a chaiwallah's (tea selling vendor's) shop on the road side or the posh bungalows of some of highest tax paying actors like Amitabh Bachchan, everything is flooded with rain water. Not just Mumbai, every place in India it is the same.

But life goes on in India... When I was going through some of these news articles, its just too amazing to see people having a cup of tea with their pants rolled up till their knees and sitting in a coffeeshop with rain water till their knees. Its just too amazing to see the spirit of people pulling bicycles with one hand and holding their sandals in the other; to see people hanging on to the holding rails of the crowded subarban railway trains of Mumbai and the train cutting through flooded railway tracks.

Whether it is rain or terrorism or earthquake, cities like Mumbai have shown that - life just goes on.

Yeah, many people might be cribbing about the poor infrastructure, hygiene etc. etc. but there are many more people who just take life as it comes. That is the beauty.

When we went for Varanasi trip with Swamiji, we were all waiting for train from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata at Bhubaneswar station. The train was delay by about two hours. We all (300 of us) sat down on the railway platform. Swamiji also happily settled down on platform with a turban on his head and asked us, "How many of you are irritated with delay and this waiting?" He paused for a while and said, "Even if you are irritated, nothing can be done. Just relax and enjoy."

Swamiji says, "We can always see things in two ways. One: we can see what is wrong, how things can go wrong and always be engulfed in fear and worry. Second: we can see everything that is happening as auspicious and just flow with whatever is there in this moment."

Our fears arise because of our expectations and fantasies about what is really there in this moment. Those people in Mumbai can feel terrible about the whole thing by seeing how their expectations and fantasies are not being met. Or, they can be just flowing with what they have right now.

Living life by the moment and strongly believing what is happening is auspicious is the best possible option that any of us has. In fact our fears due to our fantasies and expectations always creates a thread of negativity constantly running in us. If we see in our lives, even if something good (according to our definition) happens, the first thought that comes is that of fear as to how long will this happiness last. It is not about gratitude or pure joy; its about fear. That negativity in turn attracts negative events in our lives. This becomes a vicious cycle.

It need not be as big as our homes getting flooded. It can be as simple as some issue at office or home. We have the right to decide: do I want to get worried and scared, or shall I just see what really is there and work on it. The choice is ours. Enjoy this video