This is a story from about 12 years ago… A few of us were sitting with Guruji and He suddenly said, oh… I need to go to the city, Raghu, go and see if the car is there or has it already left… (This was the time when there was exactly one car in the [...]

Maya is Illusion. Illusion is not what is not there, but what continuously changes. And so we say that the whole world is Maya, an Illusion. This doesn’t mean that it is not there, it simply means that everything we see, hear, feel, taste and touch is changing. To be able to perceive change however, [...]

An American tourist went to Cairo to visit the famous Polish rabbi Hafez Ayim. The tourist was surprised to see that the rabbi lived in a simple, book-lined room, in which the only pieces of furniture were a table and a bench. ‘Rabbi, where’s all your furniture?’ asked the tourist. ‘Why, where’s yours?’ retorted Hafez. [...]

The days of Rajas are at an end, and the 3 days of Satva have started. Your meditations will be especially deep these 3 days… go inwards… do Yoga and chanting, do your Kriya and meditation for longer than normal… Enjoy yourself! (pun intended) Three portfolios have been given to Devi. Defense, Finance and Education [...]

Nav means nine, also means new. Ratri is night, the dark, sacred night. Night is when you rest and relax. Unwind from the hustle and bustle of the day.  So during the nine days (and nights) of Navaratri, we give ourselves rest. We meditate longer than usual, eat much lesser than normal. Do Yoga, Satsang… [...]

Back to that evening in Stavanger. Post Gaucomole, it was time for Satsang and we took the harbor route where Guruji was thrilled to see a jelly fish for the first time in the clear waters… The hall was packed by the time we reached Satsang place. After a couple of songs, taking the crowd [...]

Guruji truly has the knack of letting out a critical news in the most by-the-way dismissive manner. Sitting with him that evening, the topic capriciously turned to his Norway trip and he just announced non-chalantly that I should accompany him to Norway 2 days later. Now, this is not the time or place (actually never [...]

Q. Whenever, wherever they want, they plant the bombs and blow them off. Are we really helpless? No. They do this because of lack of education. They do this because they think  that a cause is more important than a human life. There are many ways that this can stop… here are some: 1. Many [...]

I get questions about people feeling suicidal because of the problems and challenges that life has thrown at them that they feel they cannot handle… In a recent Utsav course i asked how many people had contemplated suicide at some time or other in their lives, and an alarming 60-75% raised their hands. Even i [...]

Everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Paradise… Right? Some of you don’t… Hmmmm… Ok here is my version: God created this fantastic superb, beautiful garden full of everything that anyone could ever want… And then possibly found that to be slightly boring, so created the first man, Adam. Adam [...]