Freedom, suffering and bondage - Astavakra Gita Chapter 2

🍁 Chapter 2: THE FIVE PRINCIPLES (Part 1 - Freedom, suffering and bondage) 

  King Janaka wanted freedom immediately. 

  🌸 What restricted him? Why did he want freedom? He was living like us but not many of us want freedom!

  🌸 One who is asleep doesn't feel bondage. Janaka has started feeling the bondage. *DO WE FEEL BONDAGE!!! ARE WE ASLEEP OR AWAKE!!*

 What is this freedom? 

  🌸 *Freedom from fixed pattern in life* . One can go into these patterns infinite times without even being aware of them. E.g.: getting angry or being fearful and then later realizing situation could have been handled in a better way, committing same mistake again but may be with different people. Here our pattern is same, only people/events are changing but we behave in the same manner.(say today I got angry on my brother and later in a day I got angry on my boss but then realized may be I could have handled it properly, here people have changed but my pattern of getting angry is same).

  🌸 Now that we know this pattern and we often get bored from these patterns but we don’t know how to get out of them. *THIS IS BONDAGE* . (e.g.: I will say I am so frustrated because I get so much angry and it has become my nature only and now this thing has become bondage for me as I know the cause but don't know how to come out of it.)

  🌸 *SUFFERING* : it is rotating in these patterns, getting caught up in a pattern and unable to come out of it.

  🌸 What imposes a pattern on us? These are our *habits* . E.g.: habit of drinking tea/coffee in the morning, that doesn't gives us any joy but lack of it gives headache. *Again this is a bondage.*

   🌷 *Activity* : Let us find out what are our sufferings? And then figure out patterns that are causing those sufferings and the habits behind those patterns. Hint to identify pattern: Checkout the things/incidents from past few months/years that are repeating in our life.(e.g. : Suffering could be - people don’t listen to me, pattern - getting angry over this again and again, habit - I want things to work as per me OR Suffering - poor physical health , pattern - I am not adhering to proper routine, habit- again and again eating unhealthy food and not exercising)

   🌷 *PURPOSE OF THIS ACTIVITY* : So that we become aware of our habits/patterns. First step is to become aware, only if we know something then we can come out of it. As most of the people are grumbling about their sufferings but they are unaware of the underlying patterns/habits.

  🌸 *So, what I understood is sufferings are caused by certain patterns and patterns are formed by certain habits.*

  🌸 We often hear people saying I want mukti but have they ever pondered mukti from what? What is mukti? Mukti from this world? What is binding us then in this world? And this again comes back to our patterns/habits (which are the cause of our cravings and aversions i.e. our bondages)

....Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Do not follow me. In fact, you cannot follow me, because I am behind you to push you forward!

Do not follow me. In fact, you cannot follow me, because I am behind you to push you forward! 

April 22, 1998,

Zen Monastery Blois,

France. 

Do Not Follow Me

Do not follow me. In fact, you cannot follow me, because I am behind you to push you forward! You have to leave everything behind & move ahead. All your past experiences, your relations- everything- is part of the past.

 Leave the whole world of your memories behind- including me. Drop everything. I am there behind you. Move on. Stop looking for more & be free! Then compassion will flow from you.

Q- When people do not follow anyone, isn't it usually out of fear or rebelliousness?

Sri Sri: One type of Do not follow comes from fear or rebelliousness. Another type comes from heightened awareness. You cannot follow me because I am behind you & I am in you. For long you have been a sheep. Now it's time to be a lion.

साप्ताहिक ज्ञानपत्र १५०

२२ अप्रैल, १९९८

फ्रांस

मेरा पीछा न करो

मेरा पीछा मत करो। वास्तव में तुम मेरा पीछा कर ही नही सकते क्योंकि मैं तो तुम्हारे पीछे हूं, तुमको आगे बढ़ाने के लिए।

तुम्हे सब-कुछ पीछे छोड़ देना है और आगे बढ़ना है। तुम्हारे सभी अनुभव, तुम्हारे नाते- रिश्ते- सब-कुछ- भूत काल के हिस्से है। अपनी स्मृतियों के सम्पूर्ण संसार को पीछे छोड़ दो- मुझको भी। सब-कुछ छोड़ दो। मैं तुम्हारे पीछे ही हूं। आगे बढ़ो। कुछ और अधिक की खोज छोड़कर मुक्त हो जाओ। तब तुम्हारे अंदर अनुकम्पा उभरकर बहेगी।

प्रश्न: जब लोग किसी का पिछा नही करते तो क्या उनका यह व्यवहार भय या विद्रोह के कारण नही?

श्री श्री: एक प्रकार का ' पीछा न करो' भय या विद्रोह से आता है; दूसरा आता है उन्नत सजगता से।

तुम मेरा पीछा कर ही नही सकते क्योंकि मैं तुम्हारे पीछे हूं और तुम्हारे अंदर हूं ।

दीर्घकाल से तुम भेड़ बने हुए हो।

अब समय आ गया है शेर बनने का।

...Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

Real communication is beyond words.If you are firmly established in silence, if your mind is calm, you will find yourself being able to influence individuals, groups, and masses.

Real communication is beyond words.If you are firmly established in silence, if your mind is calm, you will find yourself being able to influence individuals, groups, and masses. What a single glance can convey, a thousand conversations cannot.

~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

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Yoga, meditation and breathing techniques are excellent resources that help work towards freeing the mind - creating a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul

Meditation changes the structure of the brain. According to an article in the American Medical Journal, if you meditate for two weeks, the structure of the brain changes, and the grey cells increase. Many such research studies are available that prove that meditation integrates the left and right side of the brain to make a holistic personality. Meditation has many benefits; it helps enhance the level of vibrancy and energy, which creates an environment that is more congenial, and harmonious; a stress-free, confusion-free mind; and an inhibition-free intellect.

When a person experiences a traumatic situation in their life, that impression gets stuck in their mind for a long time, and does not allow them to look at life from a new perspective. Yoga, meditation and breathing techniques are excellent resources that help work towards freeing the mind - creating a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji  

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If you get a difficult task to do, however much difficult it may seem to be, know that we have an even greater power within

If you get a difficult task to do, however much difficult it may seem to be, know that we have an even greater power within.

~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

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You are original. You are rare. You are unique. You are a wonder. You are a masterpiece.... your Master's piece. Celebrate your Uniqueness."

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

"A plum once said, 'just because a banana lover came by, I converted myself into a banana. Unfortunately, his taste changed after a few months and so I became an orange. When he said I was bitter I became an apple, but he went in search of grapes. 

Yielding to the opinions of so many people, I have changed so many times that I no more know who I am. How I wish I had remained a plum and waited for a plum lover.' 

Just because a group of people do not accept you as you are, there is no necessity for you to strip yourself of your originality. You need to think good of yourself, for the world takes you at your own estimate. 

Never stoop down in order to gain recognition. Never let go of your true self to win a relationship. In the long run, you will regret that you traded your greatest glory - your uniqueness, for momentary validation. 

Even Gandhi was not accepted by many people. The group that does not accept you as you is not your world. There is a world for each one of you, where you shall reign as king /queen by just being yourself. Find that world... in fact, that world will find you. 

What water can do, gasoline cannot and what copper can, gold cannot. The fragility of the ant enables it to move and the rigidity of the tree enables it to stay rooted. Everything and everybody has been designed with a proportion of uniqueness to serve a purpose that we can fulfill only by being our unique self. 

You as you alone can serve your purpose and I as I alone can serve my purpose. You are here to be you... just you. There was a time in this world when a Krishna was required and he was sent; a time when a Christ was required and he was sent; a time when a Mahatma was required and he was sent; a time when a J.R.D.Tata was required and he was sent. There came a time when you were required on this planet and hence you were sent. 

Let us be the best we can be. Don't miss yourself and let the world not miss you. In the history of the universe, there has been nobody like you and to the infinite of time to come, there will be no one like you. 

Existence should have loved you so much that it broke the mould after making you, so that another of your kind will never get repeated. 

You are original. You are rare. You are unique. You are a wonder. You are a masterpiece.... your Master's piece. Celebrate your Uniqueness."

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You are not the doer

 🌼 (You are not the doer) - 

🌸 Our seat ideas about ourselves makes us unhappy. Our identification with likes and dislikes restricts us. 

🌸 Drop this ‘_What will people think about me? What will happen to my respect & prestige_?’

🌸 _The self can not be seen by you (eyes) since the seer is the self_

🌸 Doer-ship : when you think you have put effort into something. You are not the doer, everything isn’t moving and happening on its own.

🌸 Craving for ‘free me, free me’ is itself another bondage.

🌸 ‘ I am not the doer, it’s not happening’ —> that nectar leads you to happiness. 

🌸 Why are you unhappy about people & situations when everything is changing? 

🌸 No has more power than yes! 

🌸 Precious words by GURUDEV - *Be happy (सुखी भव ) - That’s an order and a blessing! Be void of sorrow. *

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 What is *Ashtavakra Gita* ??

The Ashtavakra Gita illuminates an ancient conversation between the sage Ashtavakra and Janaka, a king with both worldly responsibilities and deep spiritual questioning about the nature of reality. “What is real?” Janaka asks. So begins one of the most unique conversations to ever take place on this planet, as Ashtavakra takes Janaka by the hand and leads him step by step into deeper levels of understanding until enlightenment dawns.

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Amrut Ayurved Clinic Dombivli India

 DR C V Patil Ayurvedacharya Amrut Ayurved Clinic Dombivli India

We started a free school for rural children

When we got this land in 1985, it was barren, rocky land. Even grass wouldn't grow here. One of our volunteers said Gurudev, let's go find some big, flat land and make our ashram there. I said, no let's do it here. He thought I was joking ! 

        We took it as a challenge. We didn't have much finances, but we never worried about that. I lived under a thatched roof. Everytime it rained, I had to shift my bed from one corner of the room to another, because the roof would leak! There was barely any electricity or connection to the city in those days.

         We started a free school for rural children. We had about 25-30 volunteers here. They planted all these trees. They would plant trees all day and nurture and nourish them for months. Protecting the plants was as important as planting them. Otherwise goats would come and eat them!

        Now we have 146 types of plants, and 134 types of birds in the ashram ! 

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

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Women who are very emotional, it is said that by applying sindoor on the forehead, their mind remains calm

Where sindoor (vermillion) is applied is where the pineal or pituitary glands are located (pointing to the center of his forehead).

         There are seven chakras or seven energy centers in our body. So, where the pituitary glands are located, when you apply sindoor, particularly the one with turmeric, on top of sandalwood – then the vibrations of it stimulate the whole body and the mind remains calm and centered.

          Especially women who are very emotional, it is said that by applying sindoor on the forehead, their mind remains calm. 

     And the second thing is, it is part of dressing up, it looks beautiful.

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

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I met some women there who make bindis. It is their livelihood

Once when I had gone to Rajasthan, I met some women there who make bindis. It is their livelihood.

       Those women were telling me that since the past five to six years, their income had become one fourth of what it used to be. They make those small plastic ones. So they were all very unhappy, all of those women, saying that, ‘See, before we used to be able to sell so much but now we are not able to sell. Nobody applies them anymore.’ 

       So I said, ‘No, no, I will tell everyone.’ I promised those women that I will tell all the women that they should apply, so that their means of living continues. So since then I tell everyone who comes to me; I keep asking them to apply the bindi. What I had promised to them, that I will not allow their business to die; so I advise all women to buy and apply. 

- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

  Sri Sri  🌹🌹 |  Ayurveda    |  Yoga  |   Meditation  |  Sri Sri Tattva    |  Sri Sri Tattva Panchakarma –  Book An Appointment   | Contact Us – Tel: 1800 120 8030