What has changed for Virat Kolhi

Since last 3 years Virat Kolhi's form has been a discussion for almost all of us. It is an issue from selection board of BCCI to commoner chewing paan at local paan shop. Everyone knows that his form has suffered. He was once a century making machine but hasn't hit one century in last 3 years. Last 3 matches have been a relief for Virat Kolhi and his fans (myself included). He has 30+ score in 3 matches with more than 130 strike rate. He is still away from his vintage best but still there is a lot to cheer. At the very least there is some relief. Now even though I have interest in cricket and I know a bit about it to speak on it but this discussion is not about that. I am not an authority on the subject of technicalities of cricket so I will not speak on whether he is working on backfoot or front foot shots or he is doing some specialized training. I am an Art of Living teacher and have a few observations which can have a positive impact on your life so I am going to discuss them.

Before we begin this discussion I want you to watch this video of Virat Kolhi discussing something candid, some intimate things about his game, mental health with Jatin Sapru (A popular sports presenter). This video was shot before the start of Asia cup. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FmB5bT5h5k  (thanks to Star Sports

Now in this 3 min video there is a lot to unpack here. Even though he has condensed a few things here, I will elaborate on them a little bit

1. Importance of taking a break to do nothing.

This scares most of us. He himself said that he didn't touch his bat for a full month. How many of us would be willing to ask our bosses to take one month break to assess things in life. Do you think we contemplate why we are doing what we are doing. Very rarely. Maybe thoughts on how we can improve efficiency of what we are doing might be there but we dont make time to contemplate deeper questions of life. Our bodies and minds tell us something which we don't want to hear. We feel the burnout but we dont want to admit it. Sometimes when a friend talks to you about making time for an Art of living weekend meditation program to learn breathing exercise, yoga and meditation or any other meditation or well-being program, We brush it off saying I dont need one. I dont need break, I am mentally strong or I will do it when I retire. I need to chase the next promotion. 

Take that break. It will be absolutely worth it. This time don't go to Goa to drink beer, or a fancy exotic location. Try diving deep into yourself. You would gain perspective on life which you would have never imagined. Link is there to learn more on the Silence program

2. Importance of being a Witness. 

Virat said that he had to step away from the game, from this hustle to gain a right perspective. He said he was not excited as before and hence he thought of taking a break. It has been one of core principle of Indian philosophy, we know it as Sakshi Bhaav. Importance of knowing the seer and moving away from the scene. Its important to have the concept of seer and scene being different. Meditation, Silence and knowledge of self help you do that. If you taken an art of living basic program, take a Silence program which will help your meditation become deeper and bring serenity and calm in your life. Your life will be much more productive, fulfilling and enriching. When witness consciousness grows in you, your anxiety drops, your anger subsides, your health and physical wellbeing improves. Make Breathing exercise, yoga, meditations, long walks part of your life. Also indulge in long drive with less talking, nature walks, hiking, meditating in nature will all add that witness mode. Also limit your social media consumption because its terrible for your over all well being.

3. Lying to yourself about your mental health

He clearly said somewhere down the line he was lying to himself about his own mental and physical capabilities. I have seen this happen to so many people around me. There is a façade outside and inside people are sick and broken. Virat is lucky that he has resources to deal with mental health and maybe some mentors who guiding him well. Dont wait for Depression to hit you hard or some life altering things to bring you to spiritual pursuits. Instead be proactive to practice wellness (both physical and mental). Take time to do whatever needs to be done. All this will improve your productivity and not hamper it.

I hope you found some interesting perspective and some learnings. Simple advice is not to sit over it but to do something with learning and knowledge you gained.

To learn more about The Art of living programs and to attend a free meditation workshop call me on +91 8104971780.

Ganpati is an opportunity to Dive Deeper

 Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all celebrating across the world. 

I come from Mumbai. It was Bal Gangadhar Tilak who started this festival with a primary objective of uniting people for freedom struggle. As he hailed from Maharashtra, people from Maharashtra celebrated this festival with maximum fervor but today its not just a pan India festival but global one. Growing up this is one festival everyone looked forward to celebrating. Food, Festivities, Laughter, Togetherness, Colors, Arts and so much more was there to look forward to. Just going out to see Deities and see work of different artists in different pandals are cherished memories. Every year there is similar excitement to do the same. But as I age, as my grey hairs increase, festival is more about going inside than looking for stuff outside. My interest and love for Pujas, Rituals has increased because I have been meditating for sometime now. More importantly I am excited about meditations after chanting, Pujas and Rituals. You go deep within yourself and celebration acquires new meaning and new dimension. 

As the economy grows, people are becoming richer there is a tendency to celebrate with bigger Idols, bigger pandals, fancier decoration, Louder and louder music and so much more. I am not necessarily against the spending more. It should be the time which should be utilized more to meditate and resolve to making finer and subtler aspects of life, a part of lifestyle. There is no richness greater than deep meditative state of minds. Everything can be achieved gracefully with those higher states. Ganpati is know as lord of Muladhar chakra. When your Muladhar chakra is active then there is Enthusiasm and Dynamism in life else there is Inertia. When there is Inertia, forget about spiritual pursuits, even worldly pursuits and duties becoming stressful and difficult. One of the best ways to activate Muladhar chakra is having Exercise, Yoga and Meditation part of life.

Few tips you can use during these festivities to make your celebration deeper and richer.

1. Take time for meditation.

2. After sacred rituals and Pujas, dont just sit up and start talking and get into chores. Instead sit there for 10-15 mins to soak in the energy and meditate deeper. You will see slipping in meditation is pretty easy after that.

3. Don't use phone too much. Instead spend time talking to family and friends and connect deeper with them.

4. Meditate on sacred chants of Ganesh Strotam, beautiful chants given by Adi Shanakar. Link is here. These are beautiful chants which highlight deeper and finer aspects of lord Ganesha. In these chants Adi Shankara describes Ganesha not as elephant headed god but one without form, without any gunas but present in each atom of creation.

Make sure this festival is not just an external celebration but something that reignites and rekindle your connect to your inner core which is source of eternal celebration. 

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. Celebrate Festival. Celebrate Life.

For Free Meditation and to know more about Art of living Programs contact me on +91 8104971780 (whatsapp number is same).

For Krishna's sake, stop trivializing him

Happy Janmashtami. Krishna is the most beloved character in Hindu Itihisa (I'm deliberately not using the word mythology). Krishna has so many layers, so many complexities, so many contradictions, so many unique aspects that it is extremely hard to define or encapsulate Krishna in words. I know it is an impossible task and hence I am not going to even attempt it. Krishna in some ways is considered the most complete. He knows all 16 kalas. He is a Yogeshwar. He is the complete man so to speak. Each action of Krishna is for dharma but it is not straight forward. Krishna gave the Bhagwad Gita and Uddhav Gita. One pushes you to action for the sake of dharma and the other deal with complex topics like death and how to deal with sorrow. 

If someone has to start commenting on Krishna, his life, his teachings there has to be some penance before anyone starts doing it. You need no qualification for devotion and love towards Krishna but you need to be extremely qualified to start speaking on Krishna. Hinduism and Hindu way of life is open and hence there is a chance of trivializing the knowledge. Its not everyone's cup of tea (certainly not mine) to write on krishna because Krishna is complete but complex. Krishna bhakti is very easy but to understand Krishna is difficult. Often time, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar has said 'You should follow the character of Lord Rama and Krishna is epitome of love. If you follow character of Krishna you might land in trouble'. So you require very high qualification to comment on Krishna. Honestly its almost impossible to define qualifications as well but if you are sincere, honest, not an attention seeker but seeker of truth and knowledge you will know if you possess those characteristics. 

Now if there is one character which is most trivialized, its Krishna. Look at the representation of Sri Krishna in most of the series written on Krishna, I can guarantee you that writers, directors, actors have not read a word from Bhagavat Gita or Srimad Bhagvad. They have never done any deep contemplation over the life of Krishna. Krishna is The most complex character to write. Characters playing Krishna are mostly fair skin, have silky hair and sometimes come with a six pack.  Some one with a little knowledge of Srimad Bhagvad will know he was dark skinned, curly hair and considering his love for Maakhan (freshly churned butter) , I doubt he would have had a six pack. The dialogues in most of these series are as if he is preachy all the time far from the playful Krishna he was. Nitish Bharadwaj had done justice to the character in BR Chopra's Mahabharat because he is an amazing actor, he is well versed with scriptures and he understood the complexities. 

Anyone who wants to preach anything, wants to put Sri Krishna face and preach what they want. I have no problem what you want to preach but don't use the character loosely. If you are writing script try to stick to the original scriptures and don't use your mind too much. I see too many Instagram reels, WhatsApp forwards and sometimes some motivational speaker using Krishna's character to say what they want. Its a grave injustice. Often time no one criticizes because it seems harmless (but its not). If you have something to say don't say as if Krishna is saying. Krishna is not a Disney or a marvel character. 

I hope you take this in the right spirit. I don't want anyone hanged to death, harmed in anyway because of some misrepresentation in my eyes. All that I am saying is that we have freedom and its wise to use it carefully.

Jai Shree Krishna. Happy Janmashtmi

India @ 75. External Independence to Inner Independence.

 A very Happy Independence Day to All. It's really a special Independence Day. Yesterday I went to market to buy a good size khadi tri colour flag. Forget Khadi flag, I didn’t even get any flag of decent size or quality. All stocked out. But it makes me Happy not sad. I have lived in USA and many people in hoist flag at their homes on occasions like July 4th (US Independence), Memorial Day, Washington Birthday, Martin Luther king's birthday etc. Usual song they play in their backyard is God Bless the USA. Although public hoisting in schools, Govt offices and maidans etc is a pretty common thing in India but it’s a sight to behold that every Home has a tricolour hoisted. Anyways it's just a symbolic gesture but still makes you happy.  Make sure you hoist the tricolour. It will be a great celebration. Even if you are outside of India. Hoist it alongside the country you are in.

 

At 75 we look different. We have come a long way from country where life expectancy was 28, not enough food for its people, millions dying out of sickness, epidemics, hunger and scarcity to a reasonably good state. We were extremely fragile in terms of our external threats and our inner conflicts but now we have fairly secure borders and much better law and order in country. Our Independence was not just a 200-year odd British rule but from a Millenia of utter subjugation. During this time of over a Millenia, it's not just our prosperity was snatched, our healths had deteriorated, our produce was taken away but our way of life was taken, our culture was decimated, Our spirits were crushed, our consciousness was constricted. A salute to all men and women who fought to bring this day to light. I can't be thankful enough for their courage, their will and their sacrifice. A big salute to each and every one who brought glory to our mother land and the fact that we are in control of our destiny. I will not list any name because it creates more division than unification. So, in that spirt I will not mention any names.

 

We have come a long way from being an utterly poor to a reasonable state. We have a 2.4 trillion-dollar economy, fairly good foreign exchange reserves over 600 billion, above 6-7% GDP growth since 2000s. We have a long way to go. Our per capita income is barely over $2000 and 100s of millions still below $5 a day. We have challenges of 21st century in terms of our security, prosperity and sustenance. So, we have long, long way to go before we can settle.  

 

Every year same day, many pundits from west and here as well write long essays on how to move forward. Most of these essays, editorials, articles focus on govt policy on each and every count. These people discuss everything on Economy, health, education, infrastructure, taxation, external affairs (not affairs of our dear Chachaji), internal challenges etc. Many of them have hardly travelled India, know Indian psyche, know our way of life hence they don’t touch topic of Human resource development, human leadership and forget about the possibility of human consciousness. Many have this colonised mindset (both western scholars and their sepoys in India) that we are still subjects of west and need to be guided on how to grow our civilisation. Anyways dissing about them is not the topic for the day. Topic is to harness the power of human consciousness to the possibility to envision and enliven the newer future for India and for the world.  

 

It will be dishonest to give some solutions and some pathway and leave dissing the columnist of the day. See no family, no society, no nation can grow without its people realising their full potential. Our masters, our saints, our great philosophers always emphasised and worked towards development of Individual human consciousness rather than collective. In a limited way whenever we do talk about human resource, we limit ourselves to education and skill development. Now education and skill development are crucially important but full blossoming of human life is not limited to education and skills. Imagine being married to highly educated guy receiving a fat pay check, provides a great lifestyle but that person is highly stressed, sometimes mean and sometimes violent. Do you think he is living a good life and people around him are realizing their true potential? It's impossible and foolish to think that purely by lifting the economic standard and raising the standard of life are we going to live a fuller life. Now, before you reach any conclusion let me tell you I am not here to deny or curse prosperity, preach a socialist way of governance, lecture you on limiting your ambition or somehow glorifying poverty. I am capitalist who believes in prosperity, Innovation, Aspiration and chasing the Impossible. So, wait before I make my arguments. 

 

Education, skill development and even character and moral development is also limited way of thinking. A person needs to be multi-faceted to be a Complete man (No, you don’t need a suit from fancy brand to be one. You were lied). A person needs to be educated, skilled, environmentally conscious, kind, compassionate, innovative, creative, have leadership qualities, high morals and ethics and 100 other things. Believe me, you can't teach in all this in a classroom with sermons or in a corporate room with fancy looking ppts. We have tried all this and we have pretty much not succeeded. People in future have to bring products and services which encompass a variety of things. They should not only enrich our lives, entertain our minds but also are sustainable, environmentally friendly and educate and enlighten us. Simultaneously, these products and services have to generate employment and generate profits for its shareholders. Do you think all this is possible without a bunch of fully blossomed individuals. It's impossible. Now we defined the problem but what is the solution. Knowledge of self, deep meditative mind with a healthy body. Only solution is to start learning to meditate and have a deep sense of enquiry. I am a teacher with the Art of living foundation. I have taught meditation to many individuals in India and in US. When I lead simple meditations and use to ask people about their experiences, they were all positively unanimous. Some said I feel peaceful, calm. Some said I feel very creative, joyful and enthusiastic. Just 20 mins of silence, looking inwards will bring transformation which we cant imagine. Believe me, these are the kind of individuals who will bring peace, solace, prosperity, innovation while taking care of the planet. These enlighten souls will go in fields of politics, finance, I.T., startups and bring genuine revolution and not bloodshed. If someone asks me what is that one thing that is enough to make this planet a better place. It has to be knowledge of self and meditation. It changed my life for the good and I have been trying to create an impact in others life. I am blessed that I have a great master in the form of Sri Sri Ravishankar. His grace and his inspiration is the one which excites me to do more in this regards. I got this wisdom only because I showed some interest ( or maybe it was just divine grace, I don’t know). We all have to work to make this nation lighthouse of the world. I am convinced that only this nation can bring the love, wisdom, kindness, prosperity, safety that this planet needs but it needs warriors (spiritual warriors). On this occasion of 75th Anniversary of our independence, lets remind ourselves that we have a great task on our hand and the first step is to learn yoga, breathing exercises and meditation and go deeper in knowledge of self. Once we have enough people who are equipped with this knowledge and are regular practitioners, a positive change is inevitable. Some sceptical people will think whether yoga, breathing and meditation and knowledge of self I am talking about will make people lazy or less interested in change. Answer is not at all. All these things will make you extremely dynamic not lazy. Yes, they will make you conscious. So you will be innovative but not greedy. You will be full of life and not filled with lust. You will have a compassionate heart not an emotional fool. Your will have a blissful mind not an agitated mind. Our last millennia of subjugation were not because everyone was mediating and reading Gita. It was utter lack of it not more. People who have the inner independence will bring healthy life around them. 

 

Anyways changes are coming already. More people do yoga irrespective of their identities of religion, caste and creed. Interest I see for every event that I conduct is satisfying and transformation thereafter makes you even more enthusiastic. Only thing required is more people come to help. More people join hands. More people collaborate. This century will not only be India's century but century of renewal of Dharma. Sanghachadvam (Lets move together). 

To book a free guided meditation contact me on +91 8104971780