Springs of Joy
By: Jane dela Cruz Bascar
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Up Close and Personal
To the degree that you are awake, everything around you brings you knowledge.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
It’s been a little over a week now since my grandfather’s death but I still haven’t gotten my normal bio-rhythm back. November ushered in a barrage of unexpected events that left me hurtling through space with an unknown trajectory. When I finally fell back to earth with a thud, I was totally out of sync as my body, my mind and my spirit landed in three different places. I’m having difficulty getting them all back together. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of my story. Here’s what happened to me the first week of November…
November 3 brought me face to face with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, when I attended his two-hour talk at the SMX in Manila. Ever since I read the book “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert last year, I’d been itching to meet a real guru. Imagine my excitement, incredulity and gratitude when out of the blue, I was given an all-expenses paid for chance of a lifetime to do just that! Finally, I get to see Sri Sri in person and listen to him talk. Who could ask for more, right? Ah but the Universe seemed to have more up its sleeves because the morning after the talk, my friends and I were granted a rare audience with Sri Sri in his suite at the Shangri-La Makati. Only around 25 people were allowed the privilege to see him up close and personal. What an honor! I thought this had to be the highlight of my guru experience. But I was wrong. There was more! When we got to the suite, it was already full so we didn’t have any choice but to stay right at the back, farthest from where Sri Sri was expected to be seated. But unbelievably, when he appeared, he made his way to the sofa located right behind us and sat there. So we ended up having the best seats in the house after all! Tell me was that luck or design? I’d say design. I like to believe it was the Universe showing off and showing us that “impossible” is just a word. To think how millions all over the world flock to see and to listen to him speak but can’t even get near him. Yet here I was, seated just three feet away from him. And when he looked straight at me and called us, women, forward to gift each of us with a little medallion symbolizing peace and blessings, I was simply floored. This was certainly beyond my wildest imaginings. I had dreamed a dream and my! How beautifully it was fulfilled with almost no effort on my part except to show up. Indeed, sometimes Life gives us something so much better than we can dream of.
Who is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar? Guruji, as he is fondly addressed by his followers, is a universally revered spiritual and humanitarian leader who founded the Art of Living Foundation (AOL). AOL is a non-profit organization working in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations and participating in a variety of committees and activities relating to health, education, sustainable development and conflict resolution. Sri Sri advocates a violence-free, stress-free society through initiatives which include conflict resolution, disaster and trauma-relief, poverty alleviation, empowerment of women, prisoner rehabilitation, education for all, and campaigns against female feticide and child labor. He has united people of different traditions and faith from all over the world into a spiritual communion. Aside from bringing to the masses ancient spiritual practices to help overcome depression, violent and suicidal tendencies, he is best known for the Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique that promotes physical, mental, emotional and social well-being.
If you ask me, however, if there was something palpably different about being in the presence of a guru, my honest answer would be no. I had braced myself for a holy encounter – something like a Benny Hinn or a Don Moen kind of experience, but except for his flowing white robes, long black hair and beard, the piercing gaze that seared my soul and the disarming smile, Guruji looked as normal as the next person. In fact, I’d have shrugged off my encounter with him as being ordinary except that the conditions surrounding it or how I got to be there in the first place were extra extraordinary. That to me was the magic. Out-of-this-world! Of course, his aura of peace, joy and playfulness was definitely evident. His wisdom too was unquestionable. Watching Guruji, I couldn’t help wondering if this was how people saw Jesus, too, back then? People flocked to Jesus then because of the deep wisdom he imparted which was truly liberating and awakening.
Guruji shared his own nuggets of wisdom, like: Why do you allow others to control your thoughts? It is your mind so why do you let someone else play with it? Inhabit yourself fully. He also admonished us to drop the past because it is gone forever and is now but a dream. When somebody asked him what the best response is in the face of calamities or disasters like Ondoy, Guruji simply said it’s always proper to care for others and to show it but we are not to worry because Nature takes care of things in ways we can’t. One father whose daughter was hurting also asked Guruji what he (the father) can do to help the daughter. Guruji gently replied that although this concern is understandable and parents must do what they can for their children, parents must also remember that a Higher Intelligence sees all these and knows what’s best. Almost immediately, I saw the glimmer of understanding dawn in the father’s eyes as he nodded – like a light suddenly shone from his very depths, transforming his countenance into one of peace. More so when Guruji smiled and added, “Give all your worries to me. I am your garbage collector.” This simple exchange between two people spoke volumes of what faith and trust in a loving God means – a reminder that we are meant and called to do only that which we are humanly capable of. The rest is best turned over to and left in the hands of our God who loves each one of us far better than we ever can. Finally, when someone asked Guruji how he manages his energy especially as he is always surrounded by people, his answer was, “It just gets managed.” He said he doesn’t get drained because this is what he likes to do. This is his nature therefore, there is no effort there. To me this reminds us to stay closest to our true nature as this is what will ultimately bring us joy and peace. Going against our nature is what brings on all kinds of stresses into our lives.
I don’t know if the lines above strike a responsive chord in you. After all there is nothing unusual about them. Maybe, you’d have had to have been in Guruji’s presence to understand their impact on me. But I share them with you trusting that the God at work during my “guru experience” is the One who works with you and through you. In truth, you do not really need to be up close and personal with a guru. After all, our God is as close and personal as we want or need Him to be… if we just allow Him to be. Still, sometimes, it helps to encounter the Divine in the flesh, disguised as someone like Guruji perhaps?…
Ps. Should you wish to know more about the Art of Living Foundation, check out their web site: www.artofliving.org.
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