Which is more important - Seva or Knowledge?

Often we face dualities in life - one or the other - and it becomes seemingly difficult to choose because both are good options. Mind is divided because both are good choices; if any of them was a bad option, it would be a very simple decision.

Seva or Knowledge is one such choice. You have only limited time or some time restrictions - what to do?

Both are important! Neither can be skipped!

Without Seva, knowledge has no application. When you know something, your first impulse is to act on it. Without Action, without Seva, knowledge has no end. You will not get satisfaction.

Without knowledge, Seva will become dry. Whatever seva you do, if it does not help you reinforce the knowledge, then you will feel empty from within. You will feel sucked out of energy. Without knowledge, seva will become an effort and that will weigh you down.

Hence both are required! Both go hand-in-hand!

If you are unable to do both, means either you are not managing time properly or you are not being creative enough to find a solution.

For example, Swati has to maintain certain time at home and if she does both seva and knowledge session then she is practically unseen at home. One solution could be doing Seva with the group and listening to knowledge individually. Another could be Knowledge in a group and Seva individually. Both could be accomplished!

Jai Gurudev!

Acceptance - The Key of All Keys!

If you study the Course Sutras carefully you will notice that there is a common thread amongst them all - and that is Acceptance!

Acceptance is at the heart of all the five sutras!

'Opposite values are complimentary' is nothing but accepting that life is full of opposites! Sometimes high, Sometimes low!

'Accept People and Situations as they are' is definetely about accepting whatever comes your way.

'Don't be a football of other people's opinions' is about accepting other's negative opinions about you and not getting pushed around by them.

'Don't see intention behind other people's mistakes' is all about accepting other people's mistakes.

AND

'Present moment is inevitable' is all about accepting the present moment as it is - whether pleasant or unpleasant!

All the five sutras are, in this perspective, off-shoots of the common underlying key in life - "ACCEPTANCE"!!

Jai Gurudev!

Sri Sri University Update!

Dear One

Jai Gurudev

It is our great honour to share with you that the Sri Sri University is taking majestic strides towards its launch in the academic year 2010-11 in August this year.

In its inaugural year the following programs are being launched
1) Post graduate program for MBA in Agriculture
2) Undergraduate program for Bachelor of Science in Agriculture/Horticulture
3) Post Graduate certificate program in Osteopathy
4) Certificate program in Training for Ayurveda Therapy
5) Centre of Excellence in Vocational Training for rural youth

-All the above are handpicked based on a number of wide ranging criteria. There is a robust plan to launch programs in medicine,engineering,management, vedic sciences, governance & law etc in the coming years

-For the programs being launched this year, subject matter experts have begun to craft the curriculum. We have also begun filling key positions with best in class talent.

-A leading architectural firm has been identified to conceptualise the master plan for the grand SSU grounds. Construction is 85 % complete for the facilities required for the programs this year

All these efforts are getting further catalysed by the upcoming 4 day Orissa state visit by Gurudev starting on 30th of Jan.

This is a mammoth project and huge work still needs to be done to ensure that Sri Sri University becomes a truly world class university!

Your active engagement and involvement is critical to the success of this project. You have been a great supporter until now and we are confident of it in the times to come too

You can participate by,
- recommending professors/faculty/experts for the courses being launched this year
- raising funds, identifying grants , looking for support in kind ( eg computers)
- offering your time on a sabbatical /permanent basis towards the set up/as a lecturer/as a domain expert etc
- any other ideas/information/advice/suggestions

Write to us about your interest and we will share more details with you. Whatever you can do and how much ever you can do, is important and significant. So join in right away

Look forward to hearing from you

Let us create History together!

Please share and contribute by sending me an email @ pcrathi@gmail.com

Jai Gurudev!

Piyush

Everything is Possible!!

Here's a Guru Story that's been one of my favorites.

This was a few years back, at a time when I used to frequent Bau's residence @ Parsi Colony every few days. I used to land up in the evening and all the old timers (Upasana, JD, Anjana, Nihar, Rashmin, Manisha, etc) used to be hanging out there.

Once I was there and at 12 midnight, Bau had a sudden urge to eat Shrikhand. Me and Hetang very eagerly ran down to the nearest shop and came back empty handed in 10 mins. Seeing us return so soon was enough for Bau to use his discretionary veto powers. He simply asked us to go search again and not come back until we had Shrikhand in our hands! With a big sigh, and an even bigger sleepy look, we headed out to King's Circle to search for our sleep-saviour - the Shrikhand!

We searched and searched and searched and kept searching for at least a couple of hours. With Bau, Failure was simply not an option! We simply dreaded returning home without being successful!

We asked every person on the road about the clue as to where we could find Shrikhand at this late hour in the night! Driving from one place to another, we kept our eyes wide open to see if there was any dairy shop open at all!

We came across at least three dairy shops which had milk in them but no Shrikhand. The search continued....

Finally, to our surprise (pleasant one that is), we happened to cross a half open shutter in Dharavi! I suddenly put the brakes on and the car came to a screeching halt. We looked back and saw that it was indeed a dairy shop. We drove back and asked the shopkeeper if he stocked any shrikhand. Much to our delight he said "YES"! We screamed a big "Yeee!!!" and felt a big lift in energy!

We couldn't contain our excitement and bought two packs of Shrikhand and rushed home. We felt we had climbed mount everest and felt completely on top of the world!

I realized four things in the process:
1. With Patience & Perseverance, Everything is possible!
2. Overcoming a challenge brings enormous energy and confidence!
3. When Failure is not an option, you end up finding ways to become successful!
4. When you have a task at hand, all inhibitions break and you break out of your self-limiting boundaries!

The anti-climax to this episode however, was that Bau, had gone off to sleep by the time we reached home with the Shrikhand!

We did feel a bit disappointed, but, the lessons were learnt nevertheless!!