Weekend I Opener

Last weekend evening I was clicking a few snaps with a new digicam which mom brought me as a gift from singapore... first some official coverage of the SSA camp at SSRVM, then a rampant shootout of my crush for last one year... of course who else but my sunrise pearl indi:-) Then a few snaps of SSRVM school building and the surrounding riverside campus and then...

suddenly my attention went to the little sand pit next to the school playground and here's what i found... this little kid playing in sand with all the time in the world. The sight spontaneously spurred a few precious thoughts in my mind...

How simple and wonderful is the world of children! Why can't the elders enjoy the simple pleasures of life such as playing in the sand with nowhere to go and nothing to win...

when you are not gripped by any ambitions fueled by greed, lust, and jealousy and when you are free from thoughts of gaining more fame, money, or power... is it possible for the grown ups to go back to that state of mind where peace and love prevail when you are relaxing at home or walking on the roads with no need rush somewhere... is it really possible in life after being exposed to the various colors of this world?

No need to lose hopes at least for those who are ready to go through a bit of change in their pshycological conditioning and become free & transformed for the rest of life...

for those of us who want to get back that innocence which we thought we had lost long time back... there's an anuthentic chance to achieve this seemingly impossible feat... and that is the basic course offered by an organization called the Art of Living. On the first thought you might take it as a just another self-development programme in market offered by an organization to cash in on people's hopes and do lots of money making. But my dear friend I wish to differ in opinion here and urge you not to take it for granted based on your prior experiences and concepts about this world. Because this course is the most authentic things that has ever happened in my life and that simply changed the dimentions of my life. Looking back I see that before doing this course I was just dragging my life by each day not sure if I will ever be able to achive what I wish to achieve in my life. But today I see my life as a tragedy turned into success all credit to the Art of Living course which I was fortunate enough to do in the teen years of my life. It all began when I started to think what makes my closesnt friend in the class excell in all the activities of the college, may it be the grades, the relationships with friends and teachers, or sports & cultural activities of the college. What's it that allows him to excell so effortlessly in all these this while others struggle so much in vain. For 2 consecutive years this friend of mine had topped the class rankings so I asked him what was it that made him excel in all the things he did. And he told me about this Art of Living course which he did, and suggested me to join one next time it happens in town. I was a bit reluctant in the beginning since I had attended a so-called personality develpoment workshop earlier and nothing had changed in my life dramatically except for learning to keep a smiling face while meeting people and remembering names & contact numbers of people using some story techniques. But because this friend of mine persisted that I take this course and promised to join me to the course, I agreed to check it out. On the first day of the course, I was quite shy to speak with the other people on the course and stuck to just one fellow of my age. The next day, the assistant teacher of the course called me up and told me that she recognised me as her brother's friend since I had visited thier place. Though I could recall that I had gone to this friend's place to play computer games for the whole day i didn't remember seeing her there at his place. Anyways it felt good to know that someone from the course conductors knew me and kept a special watch on my progress during the course. 3rd day of the course and boom! I was relieved of the years of tensions & frustrations accumulated in my mind and body and it felt as if I had gone through a rebirth! That night I felt so much lighter and happier like I had never felt before in my whole life. I completed rest of the days with lots of enthusiasm and by the time the course was over, I knew that this was going to transform my life forever. I even shared this feeling of mine in front of a packed audience on the last day of the course... this was something I had never done before in my life: talking boldly and freely in front of crowd! And while I was taking in so many miraculous changes in myself within this short span of time, the course conductors announced that the founder of the organization who devised and started teaching this course was coming to Mumbai, which is a city quite near to my town and that they all will be going on a one-day trip to meet him there. The teacher asked us who all will be intersted to join them and I found myself raising my hand unkown to the facts that who was this man and what were we supposed to do when we meet him in Mumbai the next day. But anyways I got the permission and ticket money from home and the friend who introduced me to this wonderful course was there, I decided to go and see this man they called Guruji very respectfully. AND THAT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE: THE DAY I MEET MY MASTER FIRST TIME IN PERSON. There was a bunch of people gathered in a place joyously waiting for their turn to meet the master. I was new to all this beautiful atmosphere and so many people sitting and singing together and didn't have a clue about what to say when my turn to meet Guruji came. Though at the time of meeting, I just touched His feet with reverence, and He just glanced at me and nodded, I had no idea that this was going to be one of the most important meetings in my life! Today when I see back I can see a mammoth change in the quality of life i live, i have got an ever-growing success in the material world, completed studies with excellent grades after joining the course, got a great job which pays me enough to allow me to donate half my salary towards the good cause for the society, my relationship with my parents got improved, I started making and keeping friends, and started earning good recognition in everything that I started doing. Above all I got the mental peace and good physical health which I had been missing earlier to doing the course. Reason being I didn't know about any practical technique like Sudarshan Kriya tought in the Art of Living course to destress myself. Today I can proudly say that I fall sick very rearely, maybe once in a couple of years!

This is what I have gained after doing the Art of Living course. If you have done the course and have got some amazing stories or facts to tell about how it changed your life, do write me back I would like to hear all that for sure! Lots of love n luk! ~ Sandesh