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THE ART OF LIVING
Home > Wisdom
Your Happiness Is Your Responsibility
12/12/2014 Bangalore, India
Sastre eats anon!
Heerlen erate
NRO So NSO ERC TY
Con ed catenins
Te Onan tron
Dare ete Ce rate
Just decide for yourself that
Peas Oneonta Res
PemCRCr inten crete
Perea
You know, it is said that the solar plexus is the central point of our human body. It is the
centre of gravity.
The size of the solar plexus is found to be very large in yogis. If one does not meditate
regularly, then it remains small in size; just like the size of a small gooseberry. But if we
meditate regularly, then its size expands to become as large as a full lemon.
All our emotions get stored in the solar plexus, It is the point from which your gut feeling also
arises. Even scientists say the same thing about this.
The more expanded your solar plexus is, greater is your mental stability and your intuition
Our ancient people have termed the solar plexus as Padmanabha. It means one whose solar
plexus is like a fully blossomed lotus.
When you see the image of Lord Vishnu, you will see that Lord Brahma arises from the lotus
blooming out of Lord Vishnu’s navel. What does this signify? This signifies that when Lord
Vishnu was in a state of Yoga Nidra (here referring to a meditative state coupled with
complete alertness), then a lotus blossomed from his navel out of which Lord Brahma was
born.
How many of you have heard this story? (Many in the audience raise their hands) The secret
behind this story is that, when you are in Yoga Nidra, then your navel region blossoms and
this brings up a lot of creativity in you
What our scientists tell us today, our wise ancestors have already conveyed the same a longtime ago, by means of such beautiful symbolic stories,
Usually, people think that first something has to be created, and only after that can it be
nurtured and maintained. But in this story, the one who nurtures (Lord Vishnu) appeared
much before the Creator (Lord Brahma) could arise.
The maintenance department was already present much before something got created. This
is a sign of great efficacy. So the creation actually happened later.
Our ancestors and Rishis were very wise. When people today listen to these stories and the
symbolism behind them, they are so deeply fascinated by their depth and beauty. They think,
‘There has been so much intelligence and skill in this country since ages!"
They symbolically said, ‘One who maintains himself, from him the creation came up’. The
maintenance department was already ready before something got created. That was the sign of
efficacy.
Questions & Answers
Collapse allO &A
Gurudev, how do we handle people who emotionally abuse you? a
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If itis physical abuse, then you should just stay away from them. But if it is emotional
abuse that you are going through, then it is totally your responsibility. No one can
emotionally manipulate you if you do not let them manipulate you. It is as simple as
that.
If you do not want to be unhappy, no one else can make you unhappy. Just decide for
yourself that no matter what happens, | am going to keep my mood and spirit high and |
am going to keep smiling. Come what may, | am not going to get bogged down or bow down
before anyone else’s tactics. That's it, finished!
Just one sankalpa is enough to get out of it.
= ue {F}— wei — oa fo
Gurudev, how to love unconditionally in this world full of conditions? a
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do not try to love. You cannot force yourself to love, that is simply impossible. Just let
go and be natural. Know that there are limitations in this world. People have their own
limitations, their own prejudices. We have to live in this world with all types of people.
That is one of the principles of The Art of Living: Accept people and situations as they
are.
You should always remember that people's ideas, emotions and opinions keeps on
changing. Everything changes. Many friends become enemies and enemies become
friends.
See, you are friends with somebody and suddenly for no obvious reason they become
your enemy. You have not done anything wrong to anyone, yet they turn out to be
unfriendly towards you. How many of you have had this experience?
Sometimes people whom you do not even know will come to you help. You have not
done them any great favor, yet they help you. On the other hand, people for whom
you cared a lot and helped a lot suddenly become your enemy.
Has this not happened to you? (Many in the audience raise hands)This friendship and animosity works on some deeper principle called karma. If your time
is good, your worst enemies also start behaving like your friends. And if your time is
not good, then your closest friends too will misunderstand you and start behaving like
your enemies. When you see all this from a bigger perspective, then great inner
strength dawns within you and you are able to smile through any situation, whatever it
may be.
See, 35 years ago when we conducted yoga and meditation sessions in countries
abroad, they would not respect it much. They would think that the people who
practiced these techniques were crazy.
Seeing people with ash smeared all over their body and standing on one leg, or doing
ahead stand, etc., would seem unnatural to them. There was so much prejudice back
then, I tell you. Yoga was thought as not to be for the common person. Respected
people in society would not do yoga.
In those days, yoga did not get public and political acceptance. No religion or spiritual
tradition can survive for long if it does not gain public and political acceptance of the
land. So, for many years people thought that only those who are crazy would do yoga.
People used to be scared of yoga and spiritual practices. It took many years to
overturn this trend of thought. We have so many teachers who have gone from place
to place to spread the message of yoga and meditation. Thousands of Art of Living
teachers worked throughout the world for this.
Swami Paramhamsa Yoganandaji began the trend towards meditation and spiritual
practices in those days. After him, Shri Maharishi Mahesh Yogiji also contributed
immensely to the growth of spirituality. He took great initiative to save the people
from drug addiction which had become popular because of the Hippy Wave at that
time, especially in the Western countries. He slowly encouraged more and more
people to turn towards yoga and meditation to find relief and happiness. But when he
began to speak about levitation and other phenomena, people again got scared and
wary about these practices. Then around 1980 or so, people's mindset changed and
they began to take interest in yoga. Many schools of yoga developed during this time.
So over a period of time, this outlook slowly began to change.
The scenario today is so different, with people across 152 nations actively practicing
yoga and meditation. More and more people are finding joy and happiness through
these practices. Today, in all big advertisements, you will see someone sitting in a yoga
posture, or sitting as if in meditation with eyes closed. People’s opinions have
changed,
In earlier days, yoga and meditation was thought as not to be for normal people. That
is why | had to keep the name of the foundation as The Art of Living, and that was
more acceptable. We could never simply just say 'Yoga Sessions’. Yoga is one part of the
entire program here at The Art of Living. The whole process is for you to come to know
your own self. That was more acceptable than just yoga alone,
Prejudice is a big issue, but time takes care of it. That is why | used to tell our teachers,
"Educate and ignore’.
It is also a great development that happened, when our own Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modiji took great efforts to popularize and establish yoga. It is because of
his efforts, the United Nations declared 21st of June, which is the longest day of the
year as The International Yoga Day. | feel this is a great honor that has been conferred
upon yoga, but | feel this alone is not enough. It is more important that it reaches
every doorstep in the country and more and more people benefit from it.