Day n Night

Satsang

Sunday evening was satsang time at RA 142. Bhaskar just back from advanced course, took the initiative to organise it. Many new bhajans with some old time favorites from an assortment of singers were played from a laptop. Some gajar halwa from Shubham made the evening sweeter. With plans of making it a weekly affair, or may be twice make sure you join in to sing along.

Jai jai radha ramana hari bol....

Globalisation

Some very interesting facts to know....take an hour off to listen

Salt...

Once an unhappy young man came to an old master and told he was very sad and asked for a solution.

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.

"How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Awful," spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake.

The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master.

"No," said the young man. The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less.

The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same.

But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into.

So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things... Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"

Life has so much in store for us if only we believe!"

Posted by Karthik Balasundaram

A piece of moon

The face - Includes dust from a rock retrieved during first mission to the moon
Case - steel from the Apollo 11 spacecraft
Strap - fibers from a spacesuit
Only 1969 watches - 1969 expedition of Apollo 11 to moon (40th anniversary).
Price - :-)

So What?

Here is a gem of an answer to someone who might use spiritual teachings as an excuse for their lack of commitment.

So what if I become rich, so what if I become successful, So what.. So what …. So what…

Sri Sri: So what if I don't answer this question?

For whatever has happened you can say so what. But for things in future if you say, so what if I ate anything, so what if I get sick… it doesn't work like that.

"So what", is used to go inwards, not when you are active. When you want to rest, when going to bed, you can use "so what". You don't want to go to bed with your coat, shirt and tie. Just like this mind is clinging on to some events, so we drop it using "so what".

It's a technique. It brings freedom. But you can't apply "so what" in activity.

Credits : http://srisriravishankarquestionandanswers.blogspot.com

Check out the blog and if you subscribe for an email on the site so you get these Q n A to your mail box!!

The Slap

Questions answered

Wait for the videos to upload...it is worth it!!


For the rest of the show....
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/79034/web-exclusive-sri-sri-answers-your-questions.html

What Now?

The worst is over...What now? Everyone is asking this question. Politicians are busy defending themselves or trying to gain mileage with the election around the corner. News channels and officials are finger pointing at the flaws in the political system and crying out for non interference and more facilities. The economists are assessing the impact on the economy and share market and the common man is asking if those who have the power will do enough to take care of his security.

But what can we as individuals do....

In Guruji's words...
The Remedy for terrorism is:

* Inculcate a broader perspective of life -- value life more than race, religion and nationality.
* Educate people in human values – friendliness, compassion, cooperation and upliftment.
* Teach methods to release stress and tension.
* Cultivate confidence in achieving noble aims by peaceful and nonviolent means.
* Create spiritual upliftment which can weed out destructive tendencies.

Yes it is definitely not a quick fix...but if we do our little bit, we can make a difference.

Om Namah Shivaya

Om namah shivaya

Om namah shivaya shivaya namah om

Shiva shiva shiva shiva shivaya namah om

Hara hara hara hara haraya namah om

Hara hara mahadeva

Duma duma duma damaru bhaje

Dhimike dhimika dhim mridhang bhaje

Tough times

Just as the terror strikes left everyone dumbfounded, here is a gem from guruji...

THE day you feel hopeless, horrible, and worse, on that day get out of your room and ask people, What can I do you for you ? that service you have done that day will bring a revolution inside you. It will change your whole gramophone record.' - Sri Sri Ravishankar

Date with Guruji

Friday night - CNN IBNlive -10 pm

Guruji is on air....sharing his wisdom and answering question

All of you not having access to television can catch the show on web as the channel is easily available in web tv sites.

Be on time for your date!!

Volunteer

Who is a volunteer? One who comes to help, without being asked to help; one who is self-motivated, inspired, becomes a volunteer.

There is the possibility of the inspirational motivation going down in a volunteer, which could bring frustration.

Usually volunteers come from the space of demand rather than humility – this dilutes the quality.

Another slack that could happen to a volunteer is that they could slip away from commitment, thinking there is no 'boss' – "If I like it, I do it; if I don't like it, I don't!" It is like the steering wheel of a car – if all the tires say they do not need steering, then the car cannot run smoothly. If you want to construct a building, you have to accept the authority of the structural engineer.

All these can only be overcome by being more grounded in spiritual knowledge. A volunteer devoid of spiritual dimension is utterly weak.

1) A volunteer needs to stick to his commitment.
2) The integrity in a volunteer comes from spiritual practices.
3) The authority needs to be acknowledged.
4) The strength of a volunteer comes from the challenges he is ready to willingly face.
5) A volunteer moves beyond boundaries as he finds he is capable of doing so many things he never ever thought of doing.
6) A true volunteer does not expect appreciation or reward.
7) A volunteer has such a joy – that joy, itself, comes as the reward.
8) If a volunteer thinks he is obliging somebody, he is thoroughly mistaken. He is 'volunteering' because he derives so much joy out of it.

The joy is immediate – it does not come on the first of every month in the form of a salary!
When a volunteer realizes this, he is filled with gratitude.

Posted by Karthik Balasundaram

The reward

A millionaire kept alligators in a pool in his mansion. He also had a beautiful daughter. One day he threw a large party and during the party he announced, "My dear guests, I will give one million dollars or my daughter to the man who can swim across this pool and emerge alive." As soon as he had said this there was a huge splash in the water. There was one guy in the pool swimming across and screaming for his life. The crowd cheered him on. Finally he made it to the other side with a torn shirt and minor injuries. The millionaire was impressed.

He said, "My dear boy that was incredible. Do you want my daughter or the money?" The guy said, "Listen, I dont want your money nor do I want your daughter! I want the person who pushed me in."

Shakti

Consciousness expresses the three shaktis - Kriya Shakti, Gyan Shakti and Ichcha Shakti. Kriya shakti is power to act. Gyan shakti is power of knowledge or wisdom. Ichcha shakti is desire. When these three shaktis are co-coordinated, life is very smooth.

Many times you say that, you will do certain things. However you never do that. You simply keep postponing the action. Excercise and yoga are best examples. You know that it is good for your health and you also want to do it, but you dont do it. This is lack of kriya shakti.


Some people have lots of kriya shakti and become restless. They keep working round the clock or keep wiping the same window again and again, but there is no knowledge in the action. This is due to lack of gyan shakti.

Lack of ichcha shakti means lack of strong desire. Such people keep changing their mindset all the time. Lethargy is also a lack of ichcha shakti. Some people have lot of knowledge but there is no desire to share with everyone. This is due to lack of ichcha shakti.

So a perfect balance of these three shakti is very essesntial and worth having. Take stock of yourself and make a balance.

To transform

When employees make a big time mistake what would a CEO do? Suspend them, dismiss them, cut their pay....or he could send them to the Banglore ashram to do a Basic course. Well that is just what Dheerajj Agarwal, CEO, Shiv Sai Infosys Private Limited did. The result.....

“Seven days at the ashram changed us. The course has given us a new purpose. Earlier, our idea of enjoyment was to drink and make merry. Now, we are more focused and motivated towards our job,” said Nikhil Baddap, one of the three employees sent there.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081120/jsp/nation/story_10136188.jsp

Lights! Camera! Action!!

Got some creativity and wit? Here is a chance to say light, camera,action!



Check out www.xtranormal.com. Make your movies and send them. The best ones will get posted!

A call for unity

Sri Sri was invited to address the 29th National Meeting of the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind, the largest Islamic body in India on November 9th. He urged the audience comprising 6,000 clerics to prevent youth from treading the wrong path of terrorism. He also appealed for unity between the Hindu and Muslim communities. He also appealed for unity in the Muslim community itself. The Shias and Sunnis are like two eyes of Islam and both should remain united. Unfortunately, Muslims are being branded as terrorists and this attempt can be fought only when the community remains united, said Sri Sri.


Here is a story he narrated: There was a tailor who was respected by people around him for his wisdom. One day a young man came to the tailor for some advice. In reply the tailor took the sewing needle and put it on his head. He took the scissor and put it under his foot. The confused young man asked him what his message was. The tailor replied, " The needle sews things together. So I have given it importance and put it on my head. The same way any person or suggestion which will unite people should be kept in your head with respect. The scissor cuts things to pieces. So I put it under my foot. Any thing that attempts to divide people should be banished away."

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1754388400615090277

Solution to puzzle

Here is the right solution sent in by Chanti:

17 * 4 = 68 + 25 = 93

for the puzzle

Daily Show episode

This Daily show episode aired in mid july is something that will get you cracked up for sure. Check it out.

bush et l'économie par le daily show
Uploaded by raphnet1

Countdown to Brahmnaad

A stage set to carry around 1500 people, recreating Mukteshwar temple in Orissa is under construction in Delhi. With 1200 sitarists playing at the same time, this never before event will enter the Guiness book of records. The entire area for the program covers about 12 football fields. Be there to be part of history.

Cat stretch

Cat Stretch is an easy exercise by which you release all that tension and stress you're holding onto in your shoulders and upper back. Check out the video and get going.

Get the right numbers

With most of you busy with your final exams, here is something to flex your grey cells.


This cryptarithm is built in such a way that first you multiply two numbers and then add to the result one extra number to get the final result. Every asterisk in this cryptarithm means some digit from 1 through 9, and every digit is used exactly once 0r isn't used.

The object is to replace all the asterisks with digits from 1 through 9 so that the whole calculation is correct. The solution is unique.

Kick the ball

From the moment you wake up in the morning you are always with people and your mind is caught up in worldly thoughts. So sometime during the day, sit for a few minutes, get into the cave of your heart with your eyes closed and kick the world away like a ball.

But as soon as you open your eyes, hold onto the ball because you need to kick it again in the next session. During the day be 100% attached to the work; do not try to detach yourself. But when you sit for meditation, then totally detach yourself. Only those who can totally detach can take total responsibility.

Eventually you will be able to be both attached and detached simultaneously. Kick the ball and be in the goal! This is art of living, skill of living.

Grad school

They sang our song

In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that — to help people see themselves in others — through the power of film. The first-ever Pangea Day took place on May 10, 2008.

Kenya sings our anthem!

Hari sundara nanda mukunda

Hari sundara nanda mukunda

Hari narayan hari om
Hari keshav hari govinda
Hari narayan hari om

Vanmali muralidhari govardhan girivaridhari

Nit nit kar makhan chori gopi manhari

Aao re Kanare gokul ke pyare

Aao re nacho re ras rachao re

Nanda nanda ananda nanda nanda

Govinda nanda nanda gopala

Note it down

"Oh I do remember that interesting and useful info I chanced upon, but just can't recall where." If you sound like this very often and turn to google for the rescue or find your bookmarks folders growing in size, here is a cool solution.

Evernote. Download it on your system and sign up. Everytime you come across anything interesting just highlight a few crucial lines from the page and click on the Evernote icon. The lines gets saved into a note along with the website address automatically. When you need it back, there is a search option to dig it out for you. Life is much easier for sure. There is more to it...watch the video and get going.

De-stress??

In a shocking incident, an educated and well employed couple living in Gurgoan have tortured their 13 years old house help physically and mentally for the past 7 months. What is surprising is the reason they gave to explain their behaviour. They claimed to be de-stressing themselves by their brutal behaviour with the girl.



Wish they had done the Art of Living course to learn how to de-stress. The value of the knowledge we have and the need to spread it to more people just cannot be underestimated.

Meditate

The more we cultivate a seed, the more it grows. Similarly in meditation the more we practice it the more it cultures the whole nervous system and the whole body. Our physiology undergoes a change and every cell of the body gets filled with 'prana', the life force. The more prana there is in the body the more we are filled with bubbling joy and bubbling love.


Two things happen because of meditation. First it prevents stress from entering into the system. Secondly, already pent up stresses are let out. Both happen simultaneously and we tap the source and joy of what we are. We are then happy and fulfilled. As this state consumes us more and more we become happier. Anything we see, we feel becomes more intense and more beautiful.

A profound question

A little girl asked her father, "How did the human race appear?" The father answered, "God created humans." Two days later the girl asked her mother the same question. The mother answered, "Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved." The confused girl returned to her father and said, "Dad, how is it possible that you told me humans were created by God, and Mama said they developed from monkeys?"



The father answered, "Well dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your Mama told you about hers."

From Rajesh bhaiya...

The course was a remarkable success with our energy and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see the change, the participation, the love blossom, the lips stretching into laughter and hearts melting. The last day was incredibly boisterous and yet it brought an amazing sense of serenity in its passing. The 'deep' involvement, the atomic(read parmanu) reactions, and the 'ultimate' avani effect. All of this sprinkled with Abhishek, Nishit & Chirag's satsang, Shubham's super management, Ankur's talks and Paliwal's sweet, cute presence loaded with your serving.

Want to share a small story which happened with me when I went for the 2nd time to the ashram. I was outside Guruji's kutir and He asked everyone who had not had sweets. As I hadn't I raised my hand and there were few more giving company. He threw big, huge laddoos from tirupati towards each of us and when my chance came, He told me you share. I didn't understand it then, but as He commanded so I did, went around giving the Prasad to the entire ashram. Though my mind was more focused on the laddoo seeing it diminish fast, I stopped and had my own first serving and I was filled to the rim, not wanting to eat anymore. I distributed more & more, & more to anyone & everyone & till the end I didn't see it end.

Later in my life, I understood that He wants me to share this joy from the course with others, & I am very sure this sweetness in my life will not end – ever.

With this I welcome all of you to this family-a family very rare to share & care.


Love,
JaiGurudev,
Rajesh

Satsang in course

The last two days of the course were an evening of dance and an introduction to music AOL style to the newbies. As some first time dancers discovered some new moves, everyone enjoyed the music. The last day everyone was fired up as Abhishek bhaiya, Nishit and Chirag sang the bhajans with full fervor. All the old timers shared their experience with the course and the advanced course. The day ended with “I belong to you”… Welcome to AOL to all the newbies. Your course has just begun.

Full Jakkas!

The present course is a real laugh riot. Yesterday after Kriya, everyone listened, laughed and enjoyed the evening. Bhaiya made everyone hold their ears and do sit ups while repeating the course points, saying “Now you won’t forget it!”. The course ended with Manick gimmicking all the teachers on the course and also a few film stars doing kriya and bastrika. The best was Ashok Kumar doing kriya. After the participants left, masti continued with bhaiya and the volunteers as we reminisced the course, watched the course photos while enjoying some delicious food made by Gunjan’s mom. Here is a Jakkas Video that had us laughing for quite some time as we wondered about a similar jingle we could have. Watch the video for a ekdam full Jakkas!!

Compassion Personified

Guruji was visiting the state of J n K recently. He went to a temple there. The pandit incharge of doing puja in the temple was oblivious to the fact that Guruji was an enlightened person. He was instructing Guruji about how do to the puja in a rude tone. The people accompanying Guruji were shocked at this and were about to take the pandit to the task. Guruji stopped them and patiently put up with the rude behaviour of the pandit.

After leaving the temple premises he told the puzzled volunteers, "As it is there are very few temple here and the pandit is doing service here inspite of the hostile atmosphere. We cannot afford to disturb his mind." Such is the compassion of the Master.

An evening with bhaiya

With Rajesh bhaiya in campus it is time for fun with knowledge. Yesterday evening we got to do Hari Om meditation with Guruji’s recorded guidance and felt like we had done a mini advanced course. Guruji explained the significance, “When we are in pain we say Ah! The sound which will remove the pain and stress is ‘Ri’. These two sounds put together sound ‘hari’ meaning the removal of stress and pain.” Though we had done this in advanced course, getting to do it in Guruji’s voice was a special feeling.

After that it was dosa time together during which the discussions ranged from the course to Ankur's taste of t shirts, as the dosas disappeared. Ofcourse ankur had to return back in Bhaiya’s t shirt as the one he was wearing was made unwearable in a bid to make sure he improves his taste of choice.

Time to Rock On!!

What are you waiting for guys? Grab your passes and get ready to Rock On!!

Simple song

Radhe Govind

Radhe Shyam

Satsang!

Yesterday evening was satsang time here. With the lead singer making some last minute plans, we decided to go on with the satsang with Salil and Vikram Hazra (well they sang from Shubam's laptop). Salil's remix version of Shambo song was enjoyed with full gusto as Ankur wondered how Shiva and Parvathi would react to it if they hear it. Everyone crooned along for the songs. Karthik sang Guru Om on request. The satsang ended as usual with Radha ramana hari bol!

Duckling scam

Horseshoe solution

horseshoe

Can you dissect this horseshoe into six pieces with only two straight cuts? Solution will be posted tomorrow.

Bhujangasan

Method:

• Lie on your stomach, forehead on the ground, hands under shoulders.
• Raise your upper body by the strength of the back muscles, head up.
• Don't take help of the hands, they may remain on the ground or held on the back over the hips.

Benefits: Helps in keeping the dorsal spine elastic and strong. Backache due to overstrain can be thus relieved. Helps considerably in reducing abdominal fat.

Elevator Music

Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future. This video was part of Pangea day May 2008

On a merry go round

A desire fulfilled, is a desire that leaves you in the same place, where you were before it arose. A young girl sees an expensive satin dress. She tries to convince her father to buy it but he refuses. The girl gets so upset and every time she remembers that dress her heart tugs from inside. After a lot of tears and bickering, her father finally buys the dress. The girl is delighted and wears it to every party. But after six months, the dress lies in the cupboard. After two years the same dress ends up in a heap of clothes to be discarded. You work to fulfill a desire. The desire gets fulfilled and you are in the same place you were before. It is like a merry go round. You go for miles and get down just where you began.

To get off the merry go round, just don’t give too much weight to your desires. When a desire comes to you, just surrender it and say to yourself, “Ok, if it is good, it will happen to me. Let it happen.” When you let go of it, there is more freedom and everything blossoms naturally.

But surrender doesn’t mean the absence of action. You need to do whatever is necessary to be done. Give all your actions that are required from you. Your karma for what you want to achieve is necessary. Be active, be dynamic, but not obsessed with the feverishness about fulfilling desire. This feverishness is the root cause of depression.

Desktop Processors

Some people just can't live with mundane things. Here is a desktop processor (inside a recycle bin!!).

Already thinking about how you would like yours to be....here is some inspiration.

http://nethackz.com/20-insanely-modified-computers/

Jaya Durga

Jaya Durga, Jaya Durga
Mahamaya Jagadamba

Hey Mata Vishwamohini
Devi Jagadamba

Parameshwari Jaya Durga
Jagadishwari Jaya Amba

Hedgefund

Navaratri

Navaratri is a festival to enable us to take the mind back to its source.

The seeker finds the true source through fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is called ratri because it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of our existence physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body, silence purifies speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, and meditation takes you deep into your own being. The inward journey nullifies our negative karmas.

Navaratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy Mahishasura , inertia; Shumbha-Nishumbha , pride and shame and Madhu-Kaitabh , extreme forms of craving and aversion. They are opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions, Raktabeejasura ; unreasonable logic, Chanda-Munda and blurred vision, Dhoomralochan can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti , the life-force energy.

The nine days of Navaratri are also an opportunity to rejoice in the three primordial qualities that make up the universe. Though our life is governed by the three gunas , we seldom recognise and reflect on them. The first three days of Navaratri are tamo guna , the second three of rajo guna and the last three of sattva guna .Our consciousness sails through the tamo and rajo gunas and blossoms in the sattva guna in the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates life, victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honoured by celebrating the tenth day as Vijaya Dashami.

The three primordial gunas are considered as the feminine force of the universe. By worshipping the Mother Divine during Navaratri , we harmonise the three gunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere.

Chickens

A Farmer had a problem - his chickens had stopped laying eggs!!

A Physicist got to know about his problem. Now Physicist are in the conception that they have solution to each and every problem existing in universe. So as usual he decided to solve it. He went to the farmer’s house. Did experiments, made observations, did calculations and simulations for many days there. And atlast came to a conclusion(OH!!! YES, HE did!!!!!!!!).

He said, " I have one possible solution for this problem but it is only applicable for spherical chickens in vaccum!!!!!!!!"

Posted by Deep

Krishna govinda

Krishna govinda govinda govinda

Govinda shyam radhe krishna

Govinda govinda paramanda ananda

Ganshyama ananda krishna

Madhurananda krishna Manmohana krishna

Madhava keshava yadhu nandha nandha ananda

Getting the basics

The economic slump in US elicited the following comment from Tom Peters (management consultant and author of In search of excellence). Here is an excerpt from Tom Peter’s blog (http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?note=010637.php):

The "engine" of the current economic mess is losing total touch with the basics.
That is: lending money to people, by the millions in the end, who "obviously" couldn’t pay it. Truly stupid real-estate loans that "any fool” would say should never have been made.
"We get in trouble when we forget the basics.
We get out of trouble when we remember the basics.
We stay out of trouble when we become perpetually "insane" about the basics.”

So what are the basics that you as a YES+! grad and as a student need to follow?
Do your kriya everyday, study hard, do seva, be happy, have fun …………make your list and become insane about getting the basics done.

Follow up

Saroj aunty conducted the follow up yesterday at Outreach hall. After the long kriya, she felt it was about time we had some fun. So we had a clapping game and then we had to make the person in front of us laugh. How some achieved that, was funny enough to listen to. And then it was time for some knowledge. She recounted a reply given by Guruji when a person asked him about how to be happy. Here it goes:

There are three things:
One is being happy at another person’s success. Generally feelings of jealousy and self pity arise. But make a conscious effort to be happy for the other person just like you would be happy for your friend.
Second is sympathy. When you find another person going through a tough problem be sympathetic and do whatever you can to help him. At the same time make sure you don’t get stuck in their unhappiness. Just help them and let go of the situation.
Third is indifference. If anything that is unpleasant or undesirable happens just be indifferent to it and don’t let it take your happiness away. Do anything that is necessary to be done, but don’t let the situation disturb you.

Just before leaving she asked if anyone had some health or emotional problem, they could come to get a blessing. Soon enough a long queue formed in front of her (Well the midsem is just around the corner :) ).

Sadhana, fun, knowledge and a topping of blessings and we made our way back.

One world family

Two important ways

A state in which you feel absolutely comfortable is meditation. Unfortunately we think meditation is effort. Your body may be comfortable in a situation – you may be sitting in a nice sofa or lying on a good bed. But the mind will toss around in anxiety, sorrow and dejection. You may be watching an entertainment program and your mind may be at rest, but your soul is restless and hungry for something more.

Just open your eyes and see around. People who have wealth, fame and power are equally at discomfort as those who don’t have it. A seeker is at discomfort so also a non seeker. Then what can one do?

Two things…one is dispassion and another is practice. What is dispassion? You say, “Right now am not interested in seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or feeling anything. This moment I want to be at rest. My mind is running after this and that. For twenty minutes or half an hour am not going to engage in any activity and want to be at peace.” This very thought bring you to centre. This is dispassion and deepens your meditation. The practice brings dispassion. They both complement each other. Krishna said, “Though the mind is restless, with knack and skill, with dispassion and practice, it becomes calm very quickly.”

This is very precious. A few moments of such stillness can transform life, can change our nervous system and change our attitude of looking at things. This can bring so much happiness and joy that nothing else can give us.

Jaigurudev…to the love in you…to the God in you…to the Guru in you.

Days in Office

Pada Hastasana

Pada Hastasana, a Hands to Feet Pose, helps to strengthen the legs, improve flexibility in the spine and helps with digestion.

As you inhale, raise your arms above your head. Bend forward until your hands touch your feet as you exhale. Slowly bend further so that your belly is touching your upper legs. Grasp your toes and breathe deeply in the pose.

Too good to eat

If you are wondering what the above have to do with eating.....they are cakes and fully edible too!

Talent + creativity+personalised service to customer = a great flourishing business. That is what Elisa Strauss has achieved. Take a look at her creations at http://www.confetticakes.com/.

Achutam Keshavam

Achyutam Keshavam Krishna Damodaram,
Rama narayam Janakivallabham,
(praising the Lord Krishna, with different names of Vishnu)

Kaun kehta hai Bhagvan aate nahi
Bhakta Meera ke jaise bulate nahi,
(Who says God does not come? You don’t call Him with the devotion of Meera)

Kaun kehta hai Bhagvan khaate nahi,
Ber Shabri ke jaise khilate nahi,
(Who says God does not eat? You don’t feed him like how Shabari fed him)

Kaun kehta hai Bhagvan Sote nahi,
Maa Yashoda ke jaise sulate nahin,
(Who says God does not sleep? You don’t make him sleep like how Mother Yashoda did)

Kaun kehta hai Bhagvan naachte nahi,
Tum Gopi ke jaise nachaate nahin, Achyutam…
(Who says God does not dance? You don’t make him dance like how Gopis did)

Naam Japate chalo kaam karte chalo
Har samay Krishna ka dhyaan karte chalo

Yaad aayegi unko kabhi na kabhi
Krishan darshan to denge kabhi na kabhi …..Achyutam …
(Keep praising the Lord, continue working ... Remember Him all the time. Krishna will appear one day or the other)

An unlikely raft

In waist deep flood waters (for a frog), a rat finds a raft.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060705-mouse-frog.html

Paani Bahe Kyon Nahi

Paani bahe kyon nahin
Satsang chale kyon nahin
Kitab phere kyon nahin

Water should keep flowing. If it stagnates in one place it gets muddied.

A satsang person should not get entangled, sitting with the same people, talking with the same people, being with the same people. If you always spend time with the same group of people then you develop anger or craving and aversions towards them. Satsang should keep moving. New people everytime.

Books should be revised. If you don’t keep revising your books (knowledge) you tend to forget it. You heard bhakti sutra, ashtavakra, yoga sutra and kept it aside. You are not dwelling on it. You think you know it and keep it aside. It should be reviewed.

Listen to this in Guruji's voice

http://fb.esnips.com/doc/afb6e7a7-0027-4752-bda4-ae4b4228df0b/Kitabe-Phere-Kyon-Nahin---Talk-by-H.H.Sri-Ravi-Shankar-Jan-23-2006

Good Morning

When I first started college, the Dean came in and said "Good Morning" to all of us. When we echoed back to him, he responded, "Ah, you're Freshmen."

He explained, "When you walk in and say good morning, and they say good morning back, it's Freshmen. When they put their newspapers down and open their books, it's Sophomores. When they look up so they can see the instructor over the tops of the newspapers, it's juniors. When they put their feet up on the desks and keep reading, it's seniors."

"When you walk in and say good morning, and they write it down, it's graduate students."

Origami bookmark

A simple origami bookmark which is easy to make and gives you room to exhibit some creativity too. Make them, use them and share your experience.

For those who have more time on their hands, here is a panda bookmark. So all you Kung Fu Panda fans get busy!

Radhe Radhe Shyam

Radhe radhe radhe shyam
Govinda gopala radhe radhe shyam

Govinda radhe radhe shyam
Gopala radhe radhe shyam

Radhe radhe radhe shyam
Govinda gopala radhe radhe shyam

Cool way to make ice

Remember the ice trays we use at home. Here is a great design which is useful, effective and looks great too. Just an example of creativity at its best!

Check out the videos to find out how cool it is: iceorb

Joy of Giving

Seva and spiritual practices go together. As the urge to share increases, the deeper you go into meditation. It is tested and proven that when we make service our biggest agenda in life, it eliminates fear, brings focus to our mind, purposefulness in action and long-term joy.

Seva always seems to give one a big kick. It is the most effective antidote to depression. The day you feel hopeless and horrible, just get out of your room and ask people. “What can I do for you?” The service you then do will change the tape in your mental deck to a song of joy. There are two types of joy. One is the joy of getting. The child says, “If I get something, I will be happy. If I get a toy, I will be happy.” This is the joy of a child. We are mostly stuck at this level and don’t seem to grow beyond. But ahead of us is a mature joy, the joy of giving. When you do something just for the joy of it and not to get anything out of it, that is seva.

PS.: For starters all you iitk guys can volunteer some of your time for the bihar relief fund collection in iitk.

Chinese

A prof (Kung Fa) from main land china was on a tour to visit different universities around the world. So just for fun he decided to ask people at every university "how long would they take to learn Mandarin (chinese)?"
First on his list was MIT USA. And the response he got from a student.
"Dude........Chinese is tough as shit, 'least 5 years man!!"
Next he visited Oxford. Now Brits are proud and polite people. So the response he gets
"It would be delight to learn Chinese. I presume I can master the tongue in 2 years."
Following Oxford was South Korea university. The student thought similar pronunciations, similar script and he said
"Maximum 1 Year"
Finally Mr. Fa came to IIT Kanpur. Brilliant students at our campus have a totally different perspective on things and this one answered with a question.

"When is the end-sem*?"

*end-sem or the End Semester Exam is the finals exam we have at the end of the semester.
PS: This joke was cracked by Prof. Choudhury of ME, IITK the day before our end sem exam.

Posted by
Shubham

Watermelon Keg

Looks interesting!!

Those of you who want to try it by themselves, check out the how to do:
http://blog.evite.com/evite/2007/09/end-of-summer-b.html

YES+! Reunion

An evening of Music, Dance, Devotion and Celebration. Check out the YES+! reunion photos in the slide show of the blog.

http://picasaweb.google.com/iitk.yes/YESReunion#5244448329703010754

Shivoham

Shivoham sivoham shiva swarupoham

Nityoham shuddoham buddhoham muktoham

Shivoham sivoham shiva swarupoham

Advaitam ananda rupam arupam

Brahmoham brahmoham brahma swarupoham

Chidoham chidoham satchida nandoham

Shivoham sivoham shiva swarupoham


I am pure Consciousness

Everlasting, ever pure, enlightened, I am free

I am blissful consciousness, present in all
forms and without form

I am one without a dual form

I am the self, the supreme consciousness

I am consciousness, true and pure.

Happy Birthday Chiru!

Puttina roju subhakankshalu !!

You can make a DIFFERENCE

Tribal welfare in Jharkhand, Gang and Youth violence in CA....Now you can make a difference by a few clicks on your screen. Nominate these projects. They will be funded if they make it to the top 25. That means every vote counts and today is the last day. Click on the link below to know more n get going.

http://bawandinesh.blogspot.com/2008/08/amex-and-art-of-living.html

It only takes a few minutes of your time but will impact many lives. The nomination website takes a bit longer to upload. Be a bit patient and get it done.

Message from earth

Hey Guys,
Here is a special message for you....click on the link below:

http://www.geogreeting.com/view.html?ytksUqEBEUnoFU975

All the best for your exams!

The Mind

Let us examine the five factors that influence the mind: space, time, food, past impressions, and associations and actions.

Space: The place you are in. Every place you are in has a different impact on the mind. Even in your house, you can see that you feel different in different rooms. A place where there has been singing, chanting and meditation has a different influence on the mind. Suppose you like a particular place, you may find that a little later it will not be the same.

Time: Time is also a factor. Different times of the day and year have different influences on the mind.

Food: Different types of food that you eat influence you for a few days.

Past impressions or karmas: have a different impact on the mind. Awareness, alertness, knowledge and meditation all help erase past impressions.

Associations and actions: The people and events you are associated with influence your mind. With certain people your mind behaves one way and with others a different way.

Although these five factors influence your life and your mind, know that the Self is more powerful. As you grow in knowledge, you influence them all.

Exam Time

Xeroxing notes, night outs, chai to fuel up.... its exam time again.

The Professor passed out the exam sheets and told the class that they had only 30 minutes. Every five minutes, he reminded the class how much time was left. This only made Joey more and more nervous.
Finally, after 30 minutes, the Professor said, "Stop! The exam is over. Turn them in!"
One by one, the papers were handed in. But, Joey just kept working on that exam. The Professor decided to wait it out and see how long it would take him.
After another 20 minutes, Joey turned in his exam. The Professor asked him, "What are you doing?"
Joey answered, "Turning in my exam."
The professor then told Joey, "The exam was over 20 minutes ago. You have failed!"
Joey then looked the Professor in the eye, and asked, "Do you know who I am?"
The professor answered, "No."
Then Joey asked, "You really don't know who I am, do you?" as if he were a very important person.
The Professor again, said, "No, I don't know who you are and I don't care!"
Then Joey shoved his exam right in the middle of the other exams, that were on the Professor's desk, and said, "Good!" and bolted out of the room.

A caravan of camels!!

Check out this picture and see if you can spot something special about it to have made to the cover page of National geographic!!

Starting on a happy note !

" Being Happy is a practice.

Being unconditionally Happy is a practice.

'Come what may, today I'm going to smile...

Let me atleast smile this moment, enjoy my very breath' "

- Sri Sri

"Be Happy! This is an order as well as a blessing."

The story of a beginning

‘YES!+ Pages’ ...... the name is the result of long, deep and intense thinking by some of the finest intellects blossoming on earth today.... Gujju and Avani di, two of the most daring and darling deeds of the Creator.

As usual, meeting was called in urgency, to “Plan out” things. Shubham started with Blog, “What about the name guys?” From where does Shubam get such ideas I don’t know but answered himself saying ‘Its Not Easy, Its Fun’. And first reaction was ‘YUCK!!!!’. Exactly at this critically important point ‘Bhens’ intervened, ‘nahi, nahi yaaarrr....kuchh fandu .... kuchh creative hona chaiye like......'YES!+ creative' ’....Avani says and there was silence just like 3.5 sec before Big Bang ........ and then there was blast ............... Ha Ha Ha ha haHa Ha Ha Ha Ha ha haHa Ha Ha Ha Ha ha haHa Ha Ha Ha Ha ha haHa Ha Ha Ha Ha ha haHa Ha Ha Ha Ha ha haHa Ha (by the way how she came up with this, is a story in itself, which can be a different blog itself).

Amidst this Big Bang of Laughter ......... out of nowhere...... ‘YES!+ Pages’...... Gujju jumped.......... “‘YES!+ Pages’ like ‘Yellow Pages’ & ‘White Pages’ ..you see .... you see .....”.(Yes it’s true. Gujju always thinks differently. So differently that everyone is sceptic about whatever he says!!!) Again the Universe shrinked. But this time, breaking this short moment of silence, Abhishek Singh, to Gujju’s (and his own) great surprise, appreciated the name. Now it’s rare for Gujju that his ideas get accepted. (Rare even for us to have a situation in which we have to accept his ideas........... so this means, .........Start Thinking Guys!!!!!). Gujju must be on cloud 9 ,or 99 may be, after this....... but humbly he added, “Name was inspired from Avani di’s idea.”(See I said, even God must be sceptic, How????)

Anyways in this fashion we got the name ‘YES!+ Pages’.
Pages where Joy, Celebration, Love, Masti, Zest, Cheer, Delight of YES!+ life (which I call YES!+ felicity) will be kept alive.