Another doubt cleared

One of the things that I completely disagreed with the Aol people was about their stance against people who wrote quite a lot of rubbish against the organisation. Most of the people would say, " who cares". " it doesnt matter", " sooner or later they will also change, we will pray for them".

It really did not make any sense to me. I had more or less concluded that reacting in such a way is a misrepresentation of the knowledge that they teach others about acceptance. They say acceptance should be followed by action and apparently do not propagate passive acceptance but in this case I thought they were not walking the talk.

Thankfully I learnt that Art of Living has officially filed a law suit against the "anonymous" bloggers for writing all sorts of nonsense and indulging in defaming the organisation, it members and the founder.

This is acceptance and this is what we need in the world today. Bold and ruthless action against people who deserve it. The negative blog may not last long, (as they themselves feel) but it will also send across a strong message to other potential garbage infested minds that Art of living though is committed to spread love and peace would be ruthless when it comes to taking action against internet terrorism.

"J"

Great vibes, Beautiful people

I took time out and attended a few events of the Art of Living foundation. One thing that nobody can miss is the overwhelming sense of joy that is present in the atmosphere. Its impossible to miss the smiling faces and the positive vibes.

As humans we are all endowed with intuition and its not so difficult to sense when something is seriously wrong. If you look at a corrupt politician you do not need a brain of a scientist to know that he is not a genuine human being.  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says that ur presence speaks more than the words.

I have had and have also witnessed others having casual conversations with him and his care and concern for every individual seems obvious. Last year a construction worker in the ashram was caught stealing computers and all that Sri Sri did was to give her some money and clothes. He assured her that her needs will be taken care of so she does not need to steal.

Love, joy and enthusiasm permeates wherever He goes. Its obvious. The claims that the organizational imperfections stem form the founder of the organsiation are completely groundless and indicates a temporary distortion of perception.

Finally If a founder of such a huge volunteer based organisation is dishonest, selfish, lacks integrity and is abusive he would create a living hell for people who were associated with it.

But those smiles, that enthusiasm, endless stories of transformation, completely dispel all such doubts. In the next few posts I would Like to share some transformational stories of people who have met Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

"J"

Trends of negative blogging

Pick up a newspaper, watch any news channel on TV, read any news article on the internet there are a few typical trends that are followed.

1. The title has to be sensational.  Even if the content of the article has very little connection to the title, the title has to shock the reader. It has to be something unbelievable, it has to create a "what"? since the only aim is to attract as many readers as possible.

2. Such articles are never short and sweet. They contain long , never ending paragraphs often not making any point whatsoever. The point is just to create a negative impression about a person or an event.

3. Scandalous stories are an integral part of such blogs. These stories have no evidence.

4. Utter exaggeration. Anything negative is utterly exaggerated and through such exaggerations conclusions are made.

5. Multiple replies by the same group of people to anybody who disagrees or contradicts that shows utter intolerance to others point of views and experiences. 

6. No purpose. Under the garb of objectivity such blogs fake a purpose that sounds quite noble and meaningful. In reality such a blog is just a result of a frustrated mind unable to handle itself.

Fortunately the impact of such ill intended actions is limited.  Ultimately truth prevails.

"J"

Doubts create Doubts

One day one of my aunts could not find her purse. She really panicked and did not know what to do. She said she remembered getting it back home that day but did not remember anything after that. After a long search it was more or less concluded that the purse has been stolen.

She was really worried because she had a very important diary in it. She called a psychic who described the physical appearance of the thief which matched a few people. As per the description there were 3 prime suspects. The next two days it was really funny to see the way we analyzed every action of those three people. Whatever they did or said we would try to look beyond and keep doubting. "Oh look she is now saying this because she wants us to think this way and then look when I said that her expression changed and she left the room" It went on and on and on for three days. My aunt could not sleep well in the night.

The misery ended as soon as one of her friends called to tell that they had found her purse in their house. She had forgotten it and never got it home in the first place. Once we got the news it was interesting to see how we again started relating to the same people in a very different way.

When the mind is upset it creates doubts. Doubts create more doubts and more doubts and they just keep multiplying. Soon the doubts seem like absolute reality and we have no idea that we are far far away from the truth.

There are a handful who have become a victim of this and look through and scrutinize the Art of Living and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar without an iota of objectivity. In sanskrit there is a saying that says," sanshay atma vinashyati" ( consciousness filled with doubts leads to self destruction).

We need to first get our own mind in a pleasant state, free from doubts so that we can be constructive in our criticism and effectively contribute towards the betterment of society. Otherwise we are just adding to the already existing garbage.

"J"

Straight Talk Part 3

Q: How do you explain that people who have been with the organisation for so long have quit and are doing negative propaganda?

 A: In any school in a class of lets say 50 students not all would acquire the same grades. Each student has the same teacher, same syllabus, same exam and the same books to study. Yet someone would score 9 on 10 and there would be someone who fails miserably. People who fail generally end up blaming either themselves or everything around them or both. But that is also temporary.

I would just like to say that Truth can neither be confronted nor avoided. In the world how long does it take to expose anything that is fraudulent. You cannot fool all the people all the time. When we have hardcore evidences of the stories of transformation one cannot just discard it. I believe that its only the purity of intention that can withstand all obstacles and bring about a positive transformation. Lets get on the field and work together and help each other create a divine society.


Thank you.

"J".

Straigth Talk Part 2

Q: You said you got demotivated.What kind of incidents demotivated you?

A: Outbursts of anger, small mindedness, lack of a broad vision of some people sometimes demotivated me.

Q: How did you get back?

A:  If I am harboring negativity against someone it just means that my own weakness is getting exposed. I need to change myself first. The second important thing to note is that everyone  is changing. All the people on the path go through certain phases, good or bad.One cant label people as "bad".

Q: Some people have left the AOL because they could not accept certain things happening in the organization. Does it mean that AOL failed?

A: As I mentioned each one goes through phases. In my long association with AOL I have seen people who were against AOL  becoming devotees and vice versa. I have also seen  people totally disconnected and then suddenly they jump in and get actively involved. Sometimes so called "devotees" completely vanish after six months and then are again spotted in satsangs after a few years. As people go through life and its teachings priorities also keep changing.

Q: What were the factors that convinced you that Sri Sri is a True Guru.

A: NO factors. All the reasons to figure out who is the true Guru can also be used as reasons to prove that the same Guru is a fake. for eg...
1. Lot of service is happening - Oh you know he is craving for the noble peace prize. If the money is collected in the name of service projects he needs to show something in the name of service.

2. So many followers and they all look so happy - Marketing strategy and by the way any Tom, Dick or Harry grows a beard and long hair and talks some spiritual nonsense will get a large following in no time.Ia m sure he is a expert in skillful brain washing

3. Sudarshan Kriya is really amazing - Its just hyperventilation. Any sort of heavy fast breathing can give you a feeling of well being  for some time. its no big deal.

4. He is working hard to uplift  the society and is still smiling all the time -: He is working hard to uplift his own organisation and his own image as a GOD man or an Avataar. Smiling all the time is the only USP of all that he does.

we can go on and on

Q: So then how do you know?

A: I have no idea. If I had specific reason or factors to love him and know that he is genuine then I would be the greatest fool fooling myself. Its my own experience of being in his presence. There is no way I can prove that to anybody else. A feeling of love, joy and abundance is a very deep and  personal experience beyond words.

to be contd

"J"

Straight Talk

The purpose of this blog is give an unbiased objective view of the Art of Living Foundation  and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Any particular event, action, words can be viewed through different angles and can be interpreted differently by different people and yet all of them put together may not come even close to the Truth.

So I thought I would just like to interview a few members of the AOL and find out what really makes them stick around, what really inspires them to dedicate their lives working for/with the organisation.On the condition of anonymity a few teachers agreed to answer questions and I would like post the answers on this blog. The answers posted here are a compilation of all the answers given by different members.

Q: When you started on this path did you feel that AOL has two faces? One which they present to the outside world and then when you get in suddenly you are shocked to see the other side where there are conflicts, politics, fights, ego clashes etc?

A: I never felt I was presented two faces. I just did the course, I liked it and since then I have been involved.

Q: Do you mean there is nothing negative about AOL?

A: Yes of course there is. Its an organisation run by human beings. So it has flaws and there are arguments and clashes between people.

Q: So how did you react to the negative side of AOL? Were you shocked? Why did you still continue?

A: I did the course. I did not become prefect. We all have our flaws. So I was not shocked. But the important thing is to know to what degree is the negativity present and what percentage. If it overshadowed the good that is being done and if the whole thing was just a scam involving people with bad intentions then I would have left the organisaton long time back. I find the people who are associated have genuinely good intentions and conflicts are just superficial. There were incidents which were demotivating but at the same there were lot of good examples who were always a source of inspiration.I have met so many wonderful people doing such extraordinary work in society. So much transformation is happening that it completely overshadows all the minor conflicts that happen in any organisation.

to be cont

"J"