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VOL X 1 OCTOBER 2014

Dear Readers, Jaigurudev,

With a deep sense of gratitude and with our Pranaams to the lotus feet ofPoojya Gurudev, we are entering the 10th year of publication of this monthlymagazine. The magazine was conceived and designed by Shri. Durga Prasadjiwho encompassed all of us in his stride and together as a team we saw themagazine reach thousands of Art of Living families around the World.Compiling vast information on Art of Living seva and news that werehappening around the world and getting it accommodated in 13 pages wasnot an easy task but with grace of Guruji and by all your acceptance of ourimperfections here and there we have completed 108 issues.

We gratefully acknowledge the motivation and support received during ourinitial days of starting this Magazine from Dr. Arun Madhavanji,Shri.Uthamraj, Smt. Akila Srinivasan, Shri. Sankaranarayanan, Sri.KovaipudurSundararajan and all the Art of Living teachers and volunteers of Coimbatore.Today with the continued encouragement and support by all our readers, weare happy that we were able to reach almost every nook and corner of theWorld with this E- Magazine. We convey our thanks to all our readers andlook forward your continued support and encouragement.

Wishing you a Happy Deepavali.

Web Seva Team Coimbatore.

M.Gopalakrishnan, Durga Prasad Dash, Thilagarajan & SuryanarayananKrishnamoorthy.

VYAKTI VIKASKENDRAINFORMATIONCENTRECOIMBATORE.

WEBSITEwww.artoflivingcbe.blogspot.com

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SEVA TEAMMani GopalakrishnanDurgaprasadThilagarajanSuryanarayanan.K

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KRIYA YOGA / THREE TYPES OF TAPAS. ( PATHANJALI YOGA SUTRAS)

See, when someone is anxious, he is very aware of time, every moment passing,isnt it? But the whole focus is in the event, is on the happening rather than justthe time. Suppose someone is waiting for a bus to come or train to come or boat

to come he will go on seeing, is the bus coming? The whole focus is on the objectrather than just that time. Just a little shift is done, a tilt, whether waiting for adoctor, waiting for or bus, or train, or something just wait for the moment, thismoment. Are you getting what I am saying? That is uniting with the time. That isYoga. Mind is in the moment waiting for nothing but it is waiting. Are yougetting? It adds a different quality to the consciousness. This aspect sharpens theintellect, softens the mind, the heart. This is called the Yoga of action i.e. "kriya"yoga.

Tapaswadhyayaishwarapranidhana kriyayoga

"Sadhanapath" means on practices, on the path. What is it? Kriya yoga is yoga ofaction. Action is part and parcel of this creation. There is activity in everything in creation. Right from an atom, to theSun, Moon and stars, there is activity. The entire creation is activity. There is nothing that is stable in this creation orimmobile, everything is very active. The Brahman, the infinity is filled with infinite activity. There is absolutely no silenceat all. Even in sleep there is activity. You think you are sleeping but in the sleep it appears to be no activity or silence buttremendous activity goes on. Your body grows more in sleep than being awake. Do you know that? Thats why agrowing child sleeps longer. The youth sleeps more than an aged person because there is lot of activity, metabolicactivity going on in a youth. Body is getting built up. In a child every cell is multiplying. In sleep the cells multiply more.If you deprive somebody of sleep, you will see their growth also gets, shunted. Lot of activity happens in sleep. Even insilence there is activity. At the same time in every activity there is a corner that is very silent.

Krishna tells Arjuna, "Arjuna, you know, who is really intelligent and clever?" Arjuna says no. One who sees silence inactivity and activity in silence, he is the intelligent person. How do you see silence in activity and activity in silence? Ifneeds sharpness of awareness, alertness, keenness and the keenness can come when there is skill in your activity. Andthe skill in activity is Yoga, Kriya yoga Yoga of action. What is it? It comprises of 3 parts.

Tapas: Tapas is endurance, acceptance - see, you are coming in the flight, its a long distance, you a re sitting andlegs are getting numb, you know you feel tired but you keep sitting, you feel heavy, still you keep sitting. You dont say,no I cant sit now; I am going to get out of the plane. No way. If the plane is delayed, if it is held up in the air , you have tobe there, there is no choice for it. Now if you had had a choice, you wouldnt sit for 8 hours like that in one place. Noway. But in the plane you sit willingly- without grumbling. This is tapas. Tapa is willingly experiencing the oppositevalues without grumbling. Do you get what I am saying? There could be a better example. Ok, you are driving

somewhere but you are feeling sleepy, its sleep time. But you never mind, doesnt matter another 2 -3 hours I will driveand reach my home. You dont say Oh, it is already 10 O clock, it is my sleep time, I am going to sleep now. You dontpark the car somewhere and just go to sleep unless it is absolutely unbearable, right? In the same way, you are hungryand you say, no, I am fasting, I want to have a cleansing diet or I want to cleanse my body. One day you say, today I am just going to fast on juice or water. You decide on your own to do some action which is not usual, that is Tapas. Are yougetting with I am saying? You know its benefits, the result of this action is very good, will be beneficial for me so I wantto do it, like doing exercises. People go to gymnasium, weight lifting, its not a joke, it's not giving any big pleasure to dothat, lifting the weight, it's not a pleasurable job or bicycling but one does it, why? They know that it is good for yoursystem.This endurance is called tapas. Swadhyaya, being alert, self-study, observing the breath, observing the emotions,thoughts, what all happens inside you observing, studying yourself i.e. swadhaya.

Ishwarapranidhana: devotion to the Divine, love to the Divine- these three things together makes kirya yoga. What dothey do? What do they all do to you? Kleshatanukarana . They reduce the sufferings; they reduce the misery in life.Samadhibhavanatha - gives rise to samadhi, equanimity. There are certain people who walk in a very hot whetherwithout wearing shoes. It looks sometimes like a self-torture. Why this person is self-torturing oneself? But actually ifyou talk to them, they are so used to that and their body is much stronger, it can bear that heat, bear that whether butfor someone else it is so unbearable. So Tapas makes you strong somewhere.

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KNOWLEDGE FROM POOJYA GURUDEV

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If you have come from California to Switzerland, you need one sweater above theother one, and then big coat, and you have a lot of things to put on, but it you arecoming from north west province, cubic and above that, then this cold is nothing, youcan walk around just without a sweater because your body is used to greater harshweather. Do you see what I am saying? Willingly going though that which is not veryeasy is Tapas and this strengthens you. People can stretch it to that extent. They canbecome masochists, they torture themselves.

Three types of Tapas.1) Tapas for the body.2) Tapas for the words for speech and3) Tapas in the mind.

Fire sustains life. There are five types of Fire.1) One is bhootagni. It is the fire with which you heat your home, put the warmth inyour Self, it sustains life, the physical fire. This is very obvious, it may not be so obviousin tropical countries where they dont give much value to fire but you know, in coldcountries how important it is. With all the physical fires, life extinguishes, and thisphysical fire is to some extent in present in the body.

2) And then there is a second type of fire that is called Kamagni: the fire of Desire.When the desire, the fire of desire comes, it gulps you. The fire of desire or lust, passion is kama-agni. It is because ofthis fire of passion that life continues on this planet. Fire of passion is present in all the species of creation.

3) Third type of fire is called Jataragni - Fire of Hunger and digestion: - This is one of the important principles in ayurveda Jataragani. Says if the fire of digestion is less or more, it affects your health, it affects your balance. You know whenyou get fever, why you get fever? We simply treat the symptoms; we do not understand the principle. When a foreignbody enters your body, your whole body turns up the heat, fever comes. In fever your body is developing a defense

mechanism; its burning all that foreign particles, enemies that has entered your body. As soon as these foreignbacterias/virus goes out of the body, your fever comes down. Fever purifies the system. Purpose of fever is to purityyour body, get rid of the viruses, foreign particles, whatever, isnt it? Fire of digestion.

4) Fire of Criticism: -When people criticize you, what happens? Fire awakes up. Fire awakens in your system. When westand in front of big crowd what happens? Something happens, you feel hot, and you feel shivery. The fear of criticism,opinions of people. This is the fire.

5) Fire of knowledge or Love: When life moves from all these fires, it comes out as Gold. Unfortunately we have notunderstood this principle. We do not allow the fire to come up. The moment fever comes we take Paracetamol and putthe fever down, put the symptoms down, our immune system goes down. Its not that you shouldnt take medicines; youtake it in a natural way. Attend to the root cause of the problem; eliminate the bacteria rather than just eliminating thesymptoms or the fire in the system. Naturopathy and Ayurveda, they all deal on this principle, keeping alive theBhoothagni. Your body develops its own Air conditioner. Putting AC all the times, then we are destroying the self-modulating system of the body especially in hot and tropical countries; we keep the air condition all the time, day andnight. No prana, no freshness comes in you, have you noticed it? Our body brings out sweat and cools and when thebreeze comes, then the body becomes cool. It has its own air-condition system. But this we need to get used fromyoung age. But unfortunately we have been used to Air condition from a child hood, so suddenly making a shift makes alittle difficult. But nevertheless, you can look into this aspect, Hmm. I have nothing against using air conditioners. Butmaking sure that the fresh prana comes and your body temperature agrees with the environment will make a difference.Then you gain the ability to walk in cold place without having to wear too much or to be in a hot place without feeling

suffocated.

Then comes Kamagni the fire of passion. We do not even allow the fire of passion to come up, rise up in us. Themoment the desire comes, immediately we fulfill it, then it doesnt stay in you, it doesnt burn you up. People who arevery promiscuous, they have zero kamagni. Because they do not even allow the fire to come up and burn them a little,bake them a little bit. The moment desire for sex comes, finish it there.


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Then the kama agni doesnt get awakened in them. Sex is one of the oldestsanskaras other than eating. From all life times, you have two things for sure,one is eating and another is sex as a cow, as a monkey, as a donkey, as a horse,as an ox, whatever it was, passing through all these bodies, there two acts havebeen there. When this passion arises, observe it and it is in every cell of yourbody, it engulfs you totally, so fully, it burns and moves on, it shifts. There is100% totality of alertness, awareness that gets developed through kama. But if

you do not allow that to come up and just immediately as a little desire comes,immediately cool it down, then also your power or shakti in you, the potentialityin you goes down and down and dormant and you become more inert. Lesssensitivity comes and more inertia develops and there is no vigor, valor or joy orenthusiasm in any activity one does. Thats why people who are verypromiscuous, they do not have that force or will or strength to do any action,have you noticed this? Yes or No. And then Jataragni same thing with Jatarajni.You do nt even allow hunger to come into you. Even before you feel hungry, youkeep stuffing things in. And stuffing and stuffing and stuffing, the food becomesmore toxic with more toxic effect in the body. Many people get disease or dienot out of hunger but out of overeating. Today in the world very few people dieout of hunger. But more and more people are out of overeating; because wehave not allowed that fire of hunger to come up, we have never kindled that.This is the principle of fasting. When you fast also, every cell of your bodybecomes alive; fasting is a very good therapy. It can cleanse your system, theJataragni can cleanse you of all toxins. When your head is clogged with worry,tension and unpleasant thoughts, nightmares, fasting would be a very great help.

There is great deal of research on fasting. Just water fast or juice fast. Allow this fire to come up in you the Jatarajni. Itcan purity your blood, it can remove toxins from the body. It can make your feelings better. In Christianity and inJainism, in Islam, almost all religion of the world. Fasting and Prayer are linked. Because fasting touches the deepestsanskara, impressions in you from ages to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. Now, Again, there are some people who

simply go on fasting without knowing, too much of fire can also burn you down. It should be done with anunderstanding. There are people who go to extremes: - either they overeat or fast too much. That is not good either.Fasting can cleanse your system, bring balance, again with moderation, with guidance and then

Fire of social criticism: - Man is a social animal. Since humans live in society, they have to follow certain rules, theycannot go ahead as one wishes. They cannot say, I am free, can do whatever I want to do. You cannot do whatever youwant to do. The moment you get into the street, you have to drive on the right side and you have to walk where youshould walk, you have to stop where you should stop. You have to follow certain code and conduct. When you have tofollow certain code and conduct in the world, naturally the fear of criticism, fear of getting punished, all this comes up.Abiding by certain law brings up certain concern for keeping those laws. Now, here again, if you are so much concernedabout the criticism of what people would think about you, would say about you, you are missing the boat. The fire of

criticism keeps the moral in you. But if it goes out of control or out of limit, the same fire of criticism can shut down yourfreedom, your sense of openness, your sense of centeredness and freedom. Do you get what I am saying? The fire ofcriticism if it is too much then you are tensed and worried over nothing, isnt it? Pass through the fear of criticism,doesnt matter what peopl e say, so what! Their opinions change and you know to your consciousness that you are notdoing any harm to anybody. You move on to the fire of love. Love creates such a fire in you. The fire of love that canreally take you up from the fear of criticism . You dont mind what people say, the fire of love is so strong. It takes youtotally. Fire of knowledge or fire of love is same, they are synonymous. Fire of love begins with a longing, an intenselonging, which was not known ever before, it feels so new, so it can feel so uncomfortable. Only in human life, humanbirths can this fire be experienced. Fire of love or fire of knowledge creates an unpleasant or sense of longing in thebeginning but moves on to the blossoming of bliss, blossoming of fullness. These are the 5 fires in life Panchagni. Tapasmeans actually being fried, baked or fried. You would have seen in some magazines about kumbhamela, somebody isstanding on one leg with all over ashes on the body and having a pot of fire on the head and putting fire all around. Thisis such a misinterpretation of panchagni. One who has gone through the five fires have been purified, have crossed tothe other side. This is what they said, but the scriptures have been wrongly understood. People thought put five firesaround, one who has passed through five fires, ok, then put five fires all around and put five above on the head, fiveunderneath fire walking. All this people do, torture their body. This is called Rakshashi tapas.

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In Tapas also there are three types: sattvic, Rajasic andTamsic; Tamsic is the demonic tapas wherein one torturesoneself because you cannot torture others so tortureyourself. Nobody will ask you why you are torturing yourSelf. Certain people punish themselves. This is Tamsic,putting nails all over the body, walking on fire. And thenthere are other types of people who do practices withdesire of achieving something, which have mixed effect,always with some motive; I should be getting something.This is Rajasic Tapas, the tapas one does to show off. Onedoes fasting- tells the whole world, everybody oh! I amfasting for so many days. I am meditating, I am doing this, Iam being very good- none like me, I can sing better, Idance, I ll do this, I do great service. So the tapas that is done with show and done with I-ness, I, I, I am doing is RajasicTapas.

Sattvic tapa is that which you do not even feel you are doing. You are just part of the phenomenon. The world today is aphenomenon. The world 1995 is a phenomenon and you are just a part of that phenomenon. You are just part of that

phenomenon. Where do you exist? In this lake sea, there as so many tiny waves but if each wave thinks I exist as awave, it is being foolish. One wind blows and so many waves arise and they all subside a little later. Let this time, in theocean of consciousness, a wave, there was a current of this time and so many waves have arisen and one wave call itselfJyoti and another calls it shell, another called David and Lilly. All these different names have been given to those limitedwaves and in a few days and in few years all these waves will subside and new waves arise, isnt it? Knowing this, withthis awareness one goes through this fire of life, that is sattvic tapas. Even in this there are 3 other sections.

a) The bodily tapas.b) The tapas of the speech andc) The tapas of the mind.

What are those? What are bodily tapas? Keeping physical hygiene, keeping lethargy out, having a say over all the fivese nses? If you dont want to watch TV dont watch it , if you dont want to eat, just dont eat. Keeping personal hygieneand remaining in self, having a control over the senses in the body. This is called physical Tapas.

The Tapas of speech is speaking such words which does not excite people, in a wrong sense. Speaking truth and speakingpleasant truth Anudevagkarmavakyamsatyampriyamhitamjayak . Just notice when you sit with people and what you tellthem, what you talk to them? Do you excite their mind, do they go away from you feeling relieved, peaceful or go awayfrom you with anger, greed, jealousy, or frustration, or depression. Often, you know, when you keep your lips tight, youare a better person, you are more charming, you are more wanted person, more palatable. The moment you open yourmouth, you dont know what comes out, you have no control over what you say. Words simply come shooting out of

your mouth and you dont even look into what are their effects. How it can be like a dragger for somebody elses mind.

Your words can become a flower or can become a knife - Vaanmayetapah anudevagkarmavakyam . Words that do notcreate ruffle in the calm, quiet mind of the people. If you want to intentionally create, thats a diffe rent story but oftenyou speak and it is unintentional from your side and it creates disturbance in others minds. This is vaanmayitapasanudaveg karma vakyam - Satyam Truth and there is a way to tell the truth. All those who speak very harsh, you askthem; th ey say I am saying the truth, why to go around about it? Theres no need to go around, its truth all right but itcan be a pleasant expression of truth. Do you see what I am saying? Often in Sanskrit, an example is given if you meetsomeone who is blind, you can tell them, Oh! Blind man come here, this is a way you can address them. A blind person,it's not untruth that you are calling a blind man a blind man. But that saying someone, you are a blind can make themhurt. Instead say Oh, pragyachakshu - means his eye is his consciousness. In Sanskrit often, an example of how to speak

sweet, Oh! Man of consciousness, come on. He says just through his consciousness, he sees through his 3 rd eye orconsciousness, intuitive eyed one. This is vaanmayatapas, vaanmayatapas is important, why? Because as you grow onthis path of yoga, your words become more and more and more powerful and if you call someone a fool and even if theyare not fool they will become a fool. There is all possibility, you call someone stupid and even if they are not stupid,there is 99% possibility, they become stupid.


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So your words have the power to bless and your words have the power to curse.Vaanmayttapas purifies you. Otherwise those things rebound back to you, if you speakharsh. I dont mean that you should always be wishy -washy, speak goody-goody, sweety-sweety, that is also self- deception. You dont have to be so giggly, everything is nice oh!Everything is nice, some People make a mood out of it. They speak everything is nice, nice,inside they are so frustrated, frustrated. In the mind they are blaming, outside they aresmiling. You dont have to be like that a split person but at the same time, you dont need

to be harsh expresser of truth. This is vaanmayitapas and then manomayitapas -Tapas of theMind: manaprasadasaumyatvam maun atma vinigraha - Maintaining the pleasantness inthe mind is a big Tapas.

You feel pleasant and very soon you can just drop all the pleasantness in your mind,maintaining the pleasantness manaprasada, pleasantness, contentment in the mind saumyatva - calm, cool, composed. You can feel pleasant but excited. That is not tapas.Some people feel very pleasant, but they need not feel calm. The pleasantness can makethem feel very crazy and excited but along with that, composed saumyatva. People who

are happy, they create trouble to others because they are not aware. In that happiness, excitement they say things, theyare not at all aware what they are saying, what they are doing and how it can affect others.

But if a person is calm and composed he is more aware. Awareness comes in composed, calm mind. You are sensitive toothers feelings, how it affect others, sensitive to your surroundings. So pleasant mind and composed mindmanapasaadasaumya maaun - silent mind and not a chattering mind. Silence is the Tapas of the mind. The mind whichis scattered, bringing it all together, tying all the loose ends of the mind together, that is silence maun and thenatmavinigraha - remaining in the Self, coming back to the Self. This is tapas of the mind. This mind again and again goesout, goes out, goes out, again and again bring it back effortlessly, easily to remind to the Self and see the Self in everybody - that also my Self, this also my Self. Normally, we think our mind is in the body. But it is not so. Body is inside themind. Did we discuss this already?

Ten times bigger than your physical body is the body of prana, your energy, bio energy is ten times bigger that thephysical body and ten times bigger than the pranic body is your mind body, your thought body and ten times bigger thanthat is the blissful body means infinite times, boundless is our blissful body. That is why when you feel happy, blissful,you dont feel the boundary, you dont feel the limit to you, you feel expanded and when you feel sad or unhappy, youfeel crushed because then your prana is getting smaller than your real body. Thats exactly the mechanism ofunhappiness. You know, it's like you are trying to put your body through that ventilator. It cannot fit. Your body cannotfit, thats why you feel suffocated, unhappy. Like that when your prana, which is so big, you try to crush it into small andyou feel unhappy, unpleasant. When you walk through the door, your body can go through it. Whenever you areunhappy in life, know that you have put your love into small channel. Your love is so big, so great; it needs a Royal doorto walk through. But you have struck that big elephants body of your love into a small chimney or ventilator; it canneither go out nor come in. This is entanglement. Thats why that love seems to bring problems to you. You do not

understand its magnitude. This is tapas manomayitapas atmavinigraha - coming back to the Self, gripping thecenteredness in you.

When the mind becomes empty,then any wish or desire that youhave at that time instantlymanifests. This is a great secret. -Sri Sri Ravi Shankar


Guruji in Canada.

Devotees Rejoice Guruji's Presenceat Holy Door of Notre-Dame deQuebec

Quebec hospitality while leavingafter "Louis Joliette" Excursion

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Lighting Lives - by Art of Living Yuvacharyas at aremote village Kadamban Kombai situated in theNilgiris.

Swami Gnantej conducted a Mega Sri Sri YogaCourse with more than 1000 participants atHindustan College and Sarswathi RamachandranHigher Secondary School in Coimbatorebetween 9th and 12th October 2014.

PALAR River Rejuvenation Project is christened "Namma Oor,Namma Neer". Naganadi flows in the Palar basin & an importantaspect of the Palar River system. Click the link for updates.

https://www.facebook.com/nammaoornammaneer


Art of Livin News around the World.
https://www.facebook.com/nammaoornammaneerhttps://www.facebook.com/nammaoornammaneerhttps://www.facebook.com/nammaoornammaneer

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More than 1200 people from Kerala have joined

the Art of Living Pampa River Cleaning Project.

In February, 2014 an elephant was found dead inthe Periyar Tiger Reserve. The post-mortemrevealed huge piles of waste includingpolythene bags, aluminum foil and wrappers inher abdomen.

When you visit Sabarimala, it is hard to miss thesights and smells of the garbage problem caused by people, especially during the 2-month long Sabarimala pilgrimage.To add to this, local people throw clothes in the river, pollute it with factory waste, wash clothes, and use the river as atoilet. This poses a serious threat to the wildlife and ecology of the Reserve. It is a health hazard to the lakhs of pilgrimswho visit, and the population downstream, dependent on the river for water. Love and respect for nature is one of themain teachings of the Great Lord Ayappa. As part of the 'Clean Pampa' Campain of the Art of Living, 12 to 85 year oldsare serving that reminder to all.

Humanitarian and Founder of Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, voiced his concern about the pollution of the River

Pampa to Kerala Chief Minister, Umman Chandy, during His visit to Trivandrum in 2014. Hearing the spiritual leader'smessage to save the river and wildlife sanctuary, The Art of Living volunteers swung into action. Vinod Nair, an Art ofLiving faculty, coordinated the project. While most of us are left grappling with a problem of this proportion, Mr. Nairand his team adopted a systematic approach to the clean-up. Click the link to read more. http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/true-pilgrims

NGOs, students' groups work to push up turnout

PUNE: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and student groups in the city took up responsibilities like registeringstudents, facilitating interactions between candidates and voters, to ensure a good voter turnout.Krithika Balaji from the Vote for India campaign of the Art of Living, along with other volunteers registered close to 100college students to vote this time. "All of them were first time voters. We need a strong leader to address all our issues.For that, we need each and every person to vote and help in forming a strong state government. We want to bring abouta change," she said. Click the link to read more.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/NGOs-students-groups-work-to-push-up-turnout/articleshow/44831252.cms

Students wield sickles to clear 500-yr-old pond

The pond that had been dry for five years gained anew lease of life. A 500-year-old defunct kalyani(temple pond) in the Kumudavati basin, which hadplastic, garbage and weeds choking it from five

years, has now got 15 feet of water, thanks to theefforts of 42 students and nine staff members ofSoundarya PU College from Bangalore.

The kalyani belongs to the Kashi Vishwanathatemple of Thyamagondlu village, about 15 km fromBangalore. The students, as part of their NationalService Scheme (NSS) camp in nearby Dasanapura,worked tirelessly on the project. And within eighthours, on October 8, they cleared garbage, silt andweeds, to turn the kalyani into a live one.Rejuvenation as part of leadership programme. Thestudents took up the initiative as part of thecollege's Youth Leadership Training Programme(YLTP). "It was Art of Living Foundation staffer

Gopala Krishna who informed us about the condition of the kalyani. Click the link to read more.http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Students-wield-sickles-to-clear-500-yr-old-pond/articleshow/44818150.cms

PAGE 8 OCTOBER 2014
http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/true-pilgrimshttp://www.artofliving.org/in-en/true-pilgrimshttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/NGOs-students-groups-work-to-push-up-turnout/articleshow/44831252.cmshttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/NGOs-students-groups-work-to-push-up-turnout/articleshow/44831252.cmshttp://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Students-wield-sickles-to-clear-500-yr-old-pond/articleshow/44818150.cmshttp://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Students-wield-sickles-to-clear-500-yr-old-pond/articleshow/44818150.cmshttp://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Students-wield-sickles-to-clear-500-yr-old-pond/articleshow/44818150.cmshttp://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Students-wield-sickles-to-clear-500-yr-old-pond/articleshow/44818150.cmshttp://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Students-wield-sickles-to-clear-500-yr-old-pond/articleshow/44818150.cmshttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/NGOs-students-groups-work-to-push-up-turnout/articleshow/44831252.cmshttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/NGOs-students-groups-work-to-push-up-turnout/articleshow/44831252.cmshttp://www.artofliving.org/in-en/true-pilgrimshttp://www.artofliving.org/in-en/true-pilgrims

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LET THERE BE LIGHT

Beginning from the vedic age through the biblical times, light has been the symbol of satwa, creativity,

positivity, wisdom and life. If the vedic sage prayed, Lead me from darkness to light ( Tamaso mam

jyotirgamaya ) , the biblical saints declared, God said let there be light, and there was light.

The biblical saying resonates with the eastern concept of creation. It connotes as if darkness is the default

state. Then the Creator wills that there should be light and so light comes into existence. In life as well,

without effort there would be no progress. In our scriptures we talk of three attitudes satwik, rajasik and

tamasik. The word tamasik is derived from tamas meaning darkness. As opposed a satwik attitude, tamasic

attitude consists of dullness, laziness, lack of enthusiasm, ignorance and feverish attachment.

In Indian tradition we light a lamp to inaugurate meetings, exhibitions and other ventures. Many religious

traditions use light as a symbol of wisdom. Even the secular people hold candle light march to spread

awareness of their favourite issues.

Variation in amount of natural light brings in change in our moods. At dawn usually one feels more cheerful

and in evening many feel less enthusiastic. When the sun goes down, many feel depressed. Even the poet

sings When evening dawns, under the sky, how lonely I feel ( Sanj dhale, gagan tale, hum kitne ekaki ). The

Arati in our tradition effects the surrounding in a subtle way to uplift the spirit. In addition to lighting

camphour and ghee lamps, chanting or singing in chorus and particular musical instruments are used while

doing Arati. Overall, it has a positive effect in our body-mind complex. If you are feeling depressed in the

evening, just go and attend the Arati or Kirtan program and experience what happens.

Light is life. All forms of food are directly or indirectly dependent on plants and plants need light for

photosynthesis.

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One life is not enough- Durga Prasad Dash

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Festivals of light, in different forms are celebrated throughout the world. In

India, the prominent festival is the Deepavali or Diwali. It is not a festival of

merely Lighting it up. During Diwali gratitude is expressed to departed

ancestors. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped to bring in material prosperity

and sweets are distributed to bring in sweetness to life and relationships.

One may feel ones negativity exploding with the explosion of crackers.

Here is wishing all readers, a very happy and prosperous Deepavali.

Footnote: Excerpts from the story of creation as narrated in the Vishnu

Purana

Whilst thus concentrated, the quality of darkness pervaded his body, and thence the demons (the asuras)

were first born, issuing from his thigh. Brahm then abandoned that form which was composed of the

rudiment of darkness, and which, being deserted by him, became night. Continuing to create, but assuming a

different shape, he experienced pleasure, and thence from his mouth proceeded the gods. The form

abandoned by him became day, in which the good quality predominates; and hence by day the gods are most

powerful, and by night the demons. He next adopted another person (form) in which the rudiment of good

men also prevailed; and thinking of himself as the father of the world, the progenitors (or Pitris) were born

from his side. The body, when he abandoned it, became the Sandhya, or evening twilight. Brahm then

assumed another person, pervaded by the quality of foulness; and from this, men in whom foulness (or

passion) predominates, were produced. Quickly abandoning that body, it became the dawn. At the

appearance of this light of day men feel most vigour; whilst the progenitors are most powerful in the evening.

PS:

By the way, with the current issue, LIGHTHOUSE is stepping into the tenth year of publication. What started as

a casual conversation with Sri Gopalkrishnaji, became a reality. Even though I did the initial design, edited and

provided content for the first few years, due to various reasons, my contribution towards publication of the

magazine has not been regular. Sri Gopalkrishnaji has been the sheet anchor. He has been keeping up with

the commitment of bringing it out every month for the last nine years, and by doing so has definitely brought

light into the life of many devotees. This occasion also brings pleasant memories of my association with the

Art of Living community in Coimbatore.

(Durga Prasad Dash - IAF veteran, Author and Art of Living Coach (Visit www.durgadash.net for more of his

articles on a variety of issues)

##################################################################Passion, Dispassion and Compassion

Be natural. Dont sit with too many concepts. Free the freedom. Dont burden yourself with too muchunderstanding. Too much analysis is as bad as no analysis at all. Take the middle path.

You need to breathe in, that is passion. You need to breathe out, that is dispassion. Both are essential. Youcant say I only want dispassion. What do you want dispassion for? There is something in you which is beyonddispassion.

Dispassion is breathing out. Why should one breathe out? So that you can take a breath in again. Why are youbreathing in? So that you can breathe out again. So, in life, all three are needed: passion, dispassion andcompassion. - Sri Sri Ravishankar.

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Deepavali (Extracted from the Book "Sampradaya")

The festivals of India are often associated with seasonal changes and popularfables that more often than not describe the victory of good over evil. Thesefestivals inform us about the cultural and traditional riches that we've been

bestowed with. Every festival either welcomes a season, or harvest, rains and soon or is celebrated with music, dance and colour. The birthdays of Saints are alsocelebrated as festivals. Navarati refers to nine nights aka. Dussera. Shivratri andDiwali are some festivals that are common to all over India. Most of the festivalsfollow the lunar calendar and therefore seldom fall on the same date of Englishcalendar.

The word Deepam means lamp and Avali means 'row'. Translated literally,Deepavali refers to the lighting of rows of lamps. A single lamp can light hundredsof others without diminishing in its own brilliance. Likewise, when a person sharesrighteous knowledge with others, it further increases his or her own clarity. In lighting a lamp, we bow down to

knowledge, the greatest of all forms of wealth. The oil or ghee in the lamp symbolises our vasanas or negativetendencies and the wick, our ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge, the "vasanas" are slowly but surely exhausted andthe ego too finally perishes. It signifies the triumph of good over evil, of righteousness over treachery, of truth overfalsehood, and of light over darkness. Indians all over the world rejoice during this festive celebration filled with thepromise of hope and love.

Legends of Glory: Triumph of Good over Evil :

Legends abound during Deepavali; each one is as delightful and interesting,making the festival very meaningful and relevant even today. Deepavali iscelebrated on the 13th or 14th day in the dark half of Kartik (Oct.-Nov.); it is alsoknown as Krishna Chaturdashi. Its symbols and rituals, and the reasons forcelebration are innumerable. Deepavali commemorates Lord Ram's glorious andlong-awaited return to his Kingdom of Ayodhya from his 14-year-long exile in theforests after vanquishing Ravana, the King of Lanka. His subjects were sooverjoyed at Lord Ram's return that they lit thousands of lamps all along his pathto his palace to guide his flying vimana (chariot) into their city (akin to the runwaylighting of modern times!). To them, what was the darkest night gave way to themost beautiful morning when Lord Rama and his wife Sita and brother Lakshmanreturned to their kingdom. On the eve of Deepavali, on Chaturdashi Narka, LordKrishna is said to have slain the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000women (the Gopikaas of Brindavan) from his imprisonment. Metaphorically, as

explained in the first chapter, they epitomize an equal number of nerves in thehuman body. Some communities believe that before Narakasur was vanquished,

Lord Krishna granted him a final boon. Narakasura expressed his desire to make people enjoy the last day of his life withsplendid festivities. Thus Deepavali was celebrated. The practice, it is believed, has continued ever since.

Significant Customs and Rituals

When Lord Krishna returned home in the wee hours of the morning of Naraka chaturdashi day, scented oil wasmassaged on his body and his devotees washed the grime away with water. This is believed to have led to the custom ofhaving a bath before sunrise, after anointing body and head with oil. Such a bath is believed to cleanse the body andmind of all impurities. Deepavali is therefore celebrated as a festival that proclaims triumph and victory. On the morningof Deepavali, the celebrations begin early. Waking up during the Brahmamuhurta (at 4 am) is a great blessing from thestandpoint of health, ethical discipline, efficiency in work and spiritual advancement. The sages who instituted thiscustom must have cherished the hopethat their descendants would realise its benefits and make it a regular habit in their lives. After the oil bath, the familymembers greet one another with the mandatory enquiry. "Have you had your Ganga snan?" The oil bath on Deepavaliday is believed to be a purifying ritual - just as a bath in the holy Ganges would purify one's body and soul.

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Other Mythological Origins - The fall of Bali:

Deepavali is also associated with the story of the fall of Bali - a demon king who was conquered by Lord Vishnu. On thisday, Lord Vishnu is believed to have appeared before the arrogant Bali in the form of a dwarf to request three steps ofland from his kingdom. The evil and egotistic Bali granted the dwarf's meager request with a scornful laugh. Much to hischagrin, Lord Vishnu grew in size before his very eyes. With His new swollen, giant-like frame, Lord Vishnu placed onefoot over the Earth, another on the Heavens and His third on the head of Bali! Deepavali is therefore a constantreminder to conquer one's ego before it is too late.

The Return of the Pandavas

On this day, according to the epic Mahabharata, the Pandavas returned to their kingdom after their exile of 12 years,after being defeated by the Kauravas at a game of dice. Their subjects celebrated the return of the Pandava brothers bylighting earthen lamps.

Coronation of Vikramaditya

On this day, one of the greatest of Hindu kings, Vikramaditya, was coroneted, thus imparting a historical significance tothe festivities as well.

Legend of Yamadeepam

The story goes that a 15-year-old son of King Hima was fated to die by snakebite on the fourth day of his marriage.Knowing this, his wife laid out all her jewellery, gold and silver coils in a big heap at the entrance to her husband's room.She also flooded the room with light of many lamps. To keep her husband from slipping into a perilous sleep, she sangsongs and told him stories. Finally, Yama, the Lord of Death arrived in the guise of a serpent. His intention was to kill theyoung prince, but Yama was completely dazzled by the blinding glare of the lights and jewellery. So, he slithered on thetop of the ornaments and slept there all night, listening to her melodious singing. When morning came, He quietlydisappeared. In this way, the wife was able to save her husband from a premature death, and for this reason, two daysbefore Deepavali is celebrated as Dhanteras, also called Yamadeepam, and lamps are lit all through the night to worshipLord Yama, the God of Death.

Deepavali - The Unifying Force

The Deepavali festival in South India is celebrated in the month of Aipasi (Thula month). The preparations begin the daybefore, when the oven in traditional homes is cleaned and smeared with lime. Vermillion marks are applied, and then itis filled with water that is ready to heat for the oil bath the following morning. The house is washed and decorated withKolam (rangoli) patterns with Kaavi (red oxide). In the prayer room, betel leaves, betel nuts, plantain fruits, flowers,sandal paste, kumkum, gingely oil, turmeric power, and scented powder are offered to the Gods.. Crackers and newdresses are placed in a plate after smearing a little kumkum or sandal paste. In North India, Deepavali is observed inhonour of Lord Rama to mark His victorious conquest over Ravana. There are several folklore and local traditionsconnected with the festival, but applicable to all is the illumination of homes, streets, temples, with countless tinyearthen lamps and candles. Ramlila or the dramatic rendering of the Ramayana continues for several evenings. OnDeepavali, the merchants in North open their new account books and pray for success and prosperity during the coming

year. Shops are kept open till the afternoon, in the belief that bountiful sales on Deepavali day could usher in prosperityand good luck in the year that follows. Sweets and dry fruits are freely distributed on the occasion with silver coins.Exclusive gifts also include costly silver dishes and expensive jewellery that are offered to people who are special. Thefinest illumination can be viewed in Mumbai and Amritsar. The famous Golden Temple at Amritsar is lit in the eveningwith thousands of lamps placed all over the steps of the big tank. Vaishnavites celebrate the Govardhan Puja and feedthe poor on a large scale.

The Spiritual Flavor

The festival also shows us the way on our journey through life, ourpurpose being to glorify the light of the divine. It is He who bestowsthe real light, the everlasting light upon the darkness of thismundane world. A candle burns out; a firework is but a momentaryvisual experience. The candle of a still mind and the fireworks of theheart spell devotion that is divine and eternal. Merging oneself withthis ultimate light, one which dispels all darkness, is the truemeaning and joy of Deepavali. (Visit http://aolcbe.blogspot.in formore interesting articles by Dr.Arun Madhavanji)

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Appeal for Donation Hudhud CycloneAs you all are aware that Vizag &Surrounding areas are affected by HudhudCyclone. In this connection Andhra PradeshApex Body is raising funds.Funds can be deposited in the below saidaccount.Account Name: VVKI AP APEX BODYBank Name: AXIS BANKAccount no: 008010101661792IFSC Code: UTIB0000008After depositing / transferring the amountplease send the donor complete details [email protected] for accounts

reconciliation.Please feel free to contact any of the below

mentioned numbers/email ids for moreinformation or any suggestions or donations.Venkatesh - +91 9885466623 [email protected],Sudarshan + 91 9000966684 [email protected] , Arya - +919700216213 - [email protected] Specificcontacts: Food/Medical items donations: VishalArya - +91 9700216213 Financial contributions:Jaya - +91 8978886788 Solar lamp donations: +919000966684 General queries: +91 9885466623


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