this was my 8th advance course and i could not have imagined it to be any grander!!! lots of nagging doubts cleared up and added lots of meaning to life.
the detailed life story of dinesh bhaiya (which he finally shared after so many years, upon much coercion of course), bau’s way of reading questions more than his witty answers, vikram bhaiya’s divine voice and rocking satsangs (esp. the second song he sang on the 1st day “what does love needs (asks?) - it‘s everything…’had me in tears), the guru puja and vikram bhaiya serenading us with ‘phoolon ke rang se’ welcoming new year, the hair raising experiences by other participants‘, padmasadhanas…what else is needed in life!
the extended silence was very interesting! observing so many girls in silence together, at one place, for so many days is always lot of fun. by the end of each day they are just bursting with tall tales to tell to anyone in sight, doesn‘t matter if they know you or not, doesn‘t matter if you are a he or she or it. to gossip and well to just do what they love the most - yap! and they so do, after the silence is over. making one miss the silence so much! oh, the opposite values are indeed complementary.
and those early morning cold water (and sometimes no water) baths. my roommates in khoday’s were so precious. one would wake up as soon as the alarm in my cell goes off and before i can finish yawning and cat stretching, he would have already begun applying soap and shampoo and pretty much bolted the bathroom door for the next 50 minutes. being in silence and in knowledge i can neither bang on the door nor curse him. i can only stomp on his white kurta (which i didn’t, as good as i am). so i am reduced to practicing the locks on myself with extra awareness and avoiding a different kind of ‘letting go’ situation. wandering into the corridors looking for an available bathroom of other unsuspecting guys in my wing (much to their astonishment), without looking in anyone‘s eyes. one can do anything in silence! thanks to the other roommate who would be blissfully snoring his way to glory to give me enough time in the bathroom. it was a wonder to me how he even made for the morning sadhanas everyday, on time! kitchen seva was particularly interesting.
watching the roti maker gadget is a meditation in itself. i thought of recording the entire action, from start to finish and overlaying guruji’s voice on top it and come up with a guided meditation - blossoming with the roti’s or the round roti meditation or the ‘pancha chapathi meditation‘. anyway, somehow this time around i was able to resist the charms of the roti maker and lumber on to other parts of the magical land of the kitchen.
wondering what seva will suit my talents there, i find three otherwise intelligent people holding on to 1 tiny potato trying to figure out which end to be peeled by whom. i immediately decide i want to do some heavy, macho stuff - lifting and moving things - no delicate cutting and peeling business would satisfy me. suddenly a tub full of mint leaves waiting to be washed., manifests itself. ahem, always nice to have minty fresh fingers while indulging in naadi shodhan pranayama.
but before i can act on my intentions and move even a step closer to that bright orange tub with green mints, in my white kurta, feeling quite patriotic on the color scheme, 3 seva warriors mysteriously appear out of thin air and almost dive in that tub with there full commitment for some hardcore world changing leaf washing seva. reduced to tend to a corner of the tub with few ends of mint leaves on my command, i get down to the task. one over -enthusiastic nut drops a plastic crate on my pinky toe and suddenly the long-forgotten pinky toe becomes the most important part of the whole body - full with wonderful sensations that can put meditation in motion to shame. although i am sure a dog would have heard my supersonic scream, no voice came out from my hollow and empty diaphragm. for a moment i had almost picked up that huge sword like ladle and whacked it on that nut’s head! better sense prevailed, knowledge took over - accept people as they are. deep breaths in & out!!!
returning to the inevitable present moment i begin concentrating on the leaves and their fragrance and as i start giving my 100%, the over eager nut springs to life again - this time with a fully charged water pipe! washes one tiny excuse of a lady finger with full pressure water pipe and just plonks the pipe on the floor and prances away, allowing the pipe to dance to water’s tunes. and danced it did - on my face and clothes. arrrrggghhh!!! dinesh bhaiya’s voice gently wafted from somewhere in my sub-conscious mind - ‘let goooooo‘. ‘surrrender‘. ‘observing the sensations is meditation.’ okayyyy bhaiya! and from then on i did pretty much opposite of what that extra charged nut demanded. was lot of fun, not being controlled by a remote control ‘robert‘ j!
-ashwani
1st december..Its the day when we sleep all day..The only thing running or head is "i must not sleep.must stay awake at 12..and...call..bla bla bla...I must call bla before bla calls me up to wish me.." and then we call up our friends and make plans to go to a place where we can party all night get drunk and make complete fools of ourselfs..ah..Newyear..well even i do the same..but not on this newyear..this newyear was different..the clock struck 12..there were no phone calls..No one called me up to wish me..i dint call up anyone to wish em..Its because this newyears eve i was in silence..The only person i wished this year was myself..and it was amazing..21 years of my life i have lived with myself but not once have i wished myself..So when i did wish myself this year..i felt this bonding with my innerself I felt this strength within..a part of me i dint know..the silent me..this newyear was different..no partying,no boozing..nothing...Yet it was the best newyear..This newyear..I was in the Art of leaving ashram in banglore..I was doing the yes!+ advance course..If any of you have done the Yes!+ course and think that its the best thing that you can do..then think again cause its the second best, yes!+ advance course is the best thing you can do or rather gift yourself..When i first reached the ashram i was like.."my god where am i?What have i done?Why did i register for this course?dont tell me ill be spending my newyear in here".My room was around 4 km away from the main ashram it was a jungle..There was no hot water and i was in banglore for crying out loud..I was pretty sure that i was going to freeze myself to death..so on the very first day which was "supposed" to be a free day i went to the city to meet my friends..I came back at around 8 in the night..and when i went to the reception..i got yelled at..the course had already started and i missed out the first session which was by Bawa..I dint know Bawa then so i was like..big deal..on 28th our course started..and that was the first time i saw dinesh bhaiya..My god he was amazing..all the sessions with him were just plain amazing..he took the course so the whole course was amazing :) ME..I am the kind of guy who cant sit in a place for more that 10 min and guess what,I sat and meditated for 2 and half hours and trust me when i say this..i actually had an out of body experience..I saw things which happend miles away from me or on the very next day..and every detail matched..I even did a reasearch on this when i got back to chennai..I saw this guy fall off a ship..this i saw on 31st..read the news article below..
-Tanmay
A new year !!! :) and my advanced course at the ashram was amazing. There s no better way to spend the New Year than in silence even though that might be slightly hard. And I m glad I did it. Silence at the right time, gives one strength and a chance to dive deep inside and get to know oneself, a little better.There s whole world in there that needs time to grow the right way.
-Harshini
I was really lucky to attend YES!+ Winter Break DSN with Dinu Bhaiyah(most of the time) and Bawa(a few sessions) and many other YES!+ teachers like Rashmin Bhaiyah, Amanda,...
Before I start to share my experience. I would like to thank all the people who helped me one way or the other to attend the course- BnD, YES!+ Chennai teachers(Prasana,Shreya and Muthu),Ashwani,Annamalai, my mom, my bro,my dad,Jyothi,Venkat,Abhi,…. Many more the list it just too big! J IF not for you I wouldn’t have probably made it :) Thanks a millon! Bless you all!
DSN (Divya Samaj ka Nirman).- or Simply Making a divine society! First day started when we stepped in to the ashram we got Guru’s Dharsan. We moved on the next day to Kavi Didi’s place and she was a great source of inspiration for the tree plantation. She gave us a lot of ideas! :)! DSN officially started on 8th after satsang with Guruji! Bawa and Dinu-The duo made their entry in the The Buddha Hall and that moment marked the change! Once in for all! I attended the course for one main reason- volunteers who have done DSN were strong! And I wanted to be strong! Guess what Dinu bhai made us? Super strong!!! Bawa on the first day warned us this course is not for the weak hearted! It was a bit scary but every body took up the challenge-the course itself! Next day we learnt Padmasadana![gues what? in the cold morning, we couldn’t actually feel cold because Padamasadana was toooooooooooo refreshing!] I had a deep botheration that haunted me for a few weeks now! I thought I wouldn’t probably get an answer because it was just too complicated! And guess what? I found the perfect solution!! Perfect just for all the questions I had in mind! Just everything!
DSN ended on 11th-there we dropped all our boundaries and ready to take up life in a highly strengthened way! :) It was just amazing! All smiles. The best part was we also met a lot of international participants it was just amazing! To share the cultures working together! Many of us stayed for Rudra pooja next day!! Another amazing experience.! It was just great! :) Guruji’s Q and A sessions during Satsangs was a part no one could ever miss!
Should I say this! If you want to go ahead without doubt in your life? If you want to just LIVE your life! Do DSN ! :)
And don’t ever miss a chance to attend Rudra Pooja in ashram! :)
[what ever I could type is just 10% of what course gave! If you want to know about it JUST DO IT]
Love,
If you have any such experiences feel free to share. Mail us your experience to Muthu.
Jai Gurudev!
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