Sri Sri Ravi Shankar received an honorary doctorate from the Gujarat Technological University in Ahmedabad. Dr. Kamla Beniwal, Her Excellency the Governor of Gujarat presented the Degree. This marks Sri Sri's 13th doctorate.
AHMEDABAD: Degree certificates were given to over 27,000 students who passed engineering, pharmacy, MBA and MCA courses at the second convocation ceremony of the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) held at the new campus in Chandkheda on Saturday. Moreover, 127 medals for meritorious academic performance were also awarded on the occasion.
Special invitees - executive chairman of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) A M Naik and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - were honoured with doctorate degrees while astronaut Sunita Williams was given honorary doctorate in absentia.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that a technical university has granted him an honorary doctorate degree while he works for peace. "Man without education, education without skill, skill without action and action without care with not bring peace. If there is no peace, there will be disaster. Students who have passed out should focus on working with skill and care", he said.
The spiritual leader also toured the new campus even as a huge number of his devotees remained present to take his blessings.
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Ahmedabad: Reacting to Pakistan troops’ brutal act of beheading two Indian soldiers, spiritual leader and founder of Art of Living Sri Sri Ravishankar said that India must take a tough stand against Pakistan.
Calling the act a gruesome reminder of the middle ages, Sri Sri, who was in Adani Vidyamandir on Saturday morning to interact with students, told DNA that India should not tolerate the beheading of its soldiers.
“Pakistan should listen to the voice of its own people. Tahirul Qadri declared in his protest that Pakistan had become a terrorists’ place and that it should not encourage terrorism. That country should clean up its image of being a terrorist place. From the Indian side, we should talk tough. We must not go soft as it will not pay at this moment,” he said.
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The series of shootings that America has witnessed over the last few years are very unfortunate. They have left the world shocked, the most recent one being the Connecticut shooting.
When we ponder on how we can avoid incidents like this, the very first thing that comes to mind is that weapons must not be so easily available to people. A recent ABC news report indicates that there are more gun retail stores than grocery stores in the US. When we have not provided education in non-violence or equipped with tools to control their aggression, we cannot afford to have so many gun stores making it easy to pursue deadly acts of violence. Read More
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ife is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows. Amid all these, you need to maintain equanimity, advises Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
In life, happiness and sorrow, ups and downs, respect and disrespect, all happen. In the midst of these, your work is to maintain equanimity. Not everything in this world is sweet. When you face different situations in life, the peace and stability in your life depend upon your faith. There are so many events that take place in life. So many situations arise. Are you able to remain peaceful under all those conditions? When you are going through rough times and you are able to laugh, then understand that you have protection within you. It is the difficult times that tell you how equanimous you are. When everything is going good for you, you may say, “I have a lot of faith and devotion”, but there is nothing great in saying that. When things are not going well and you can still hold on to your faith and devotion, that is true faith, strong faith.
KEEP THE FAITH
If you do not have faith within yourself and get fearful, then you will fly away into the air, just like the husk. You will be nowhere. You will not have anything to hold on to. Such people lose their value. But if you have faith, you will remain grounded like the grains. When you are at peace and have faith, everything will be alright, and everything will settle. God expects only one thing from you: Your unshakable faith. Not having faith is itself a misery; faith gives instant comfort. While reasons keep you sane and grounded, no miracle can happen without faith. It takes you beyond limitations. In faith, you can transcend the laws of nature, but it needs to be pure.
Make the decision today that “Whatever happens, I will remain grounded. I will remain peaceful, and have faith that God’s protection is here on me. Whatever happens, I will never go down. God will always hold my hand.” This much is enough to pull you up. Faith is your precious wealth. Keep your mind peaceful under all situations. Everything else will be taken care of. Maintain your equanimity. This is all you have to do.
THE SUN WILL SHINE
Depression and low feelings cannot touch you. They can do nothing to you. However big the clouds are, they cannot overshadow the sun. It could be the darkest day, but still it will remain day, and those clouds can never bring on the night. So, when clouds are there, you don’t have to shiver. Just go deep, observe and you will see a lot of sensations rising up. Some fears come up. Fear is just a sensation in the body. Agree to it, “All right, let it be. I will dive into it today.” An amazing thing happens within you, a phenomenon. If you try to fight with your feelings, they take a longer time to clear. There is only one way: “Let go” or “Surrender”. Surrender means that which you cannot handle, keep it on a plate and offer it. You cannot handle your own feelings, you cannot handle your own thoughts, your own confusion. Surrender means having trust in love, saying, “Oh, this is too much for me, I feel so bad, please take care of this. Relieve me.” You leave it to God. Then you relax.
Resolve to love and be happy. When you see greater and bigger problems in the world, your problems will appear smaller. The moment your problems appear smaller, you will get the energy and confidence to deal with them. In simple words, serve those who are in greater need. Then take a look at your own life. What is the sorrow that you are afraid of? What is going to happen to you? You have gone through many problems. You passed through that. You have passed through many stumbling blocks in life, which you thought were impossible. Yet you remained untouched by any of them.
Nothing could ever shake you. It appeared to have shaken you at that moment, but later on you found that you were as complete as in the past. Know that even this problem will go and you do have the energy and power to overcome it. You will get self-confidence by understanding and looking at your own past. Also do some breathing exercises and meditation to stay calm.
YOU ARE THE UNIVERSE
Most importantly, know that you will always be helped. Have the confidence that you will be helped; a power in the universe is going to help you. You cannot imagine how much you are loved by God. This is what we must keep in our minds — ‘I am so dear to the divine’, and ‘the divine is here, right now’. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, “When doubt enters the heart of an individual, he is totally lost and becomes miserable”. So make sure you recognise you are most loved by the divine. No more doubt about that, or no more self-doubt. Have the faith that, “I will never be allowed to sink. I may be in water up to the nose, but not above the nose.” And it is very important that we keep our mind happy and contented. Come what may, we have to keep a content mind. A discontented or grumbling mind, even if it gets everything on this planet, will still remain miserable. Nothing whatsoever in the universe can ever give you contentment. You have to bring it to yourself. And when does that happen? It happens when you let go and understand. The formula for happiness is: Purity, clarity and contentment. There is a proverb in The Bible as well that says, “Those who have will be given more, those who do not have, whatever little they have, will also be taken away.” That is very true. In the mind, if there is lack of contentment and you are complaining and grumbling, then you should become aware of it and snap out of that state. You must take responsibility for that, it is very important. Do everything happily. Walk, talk, sit happily; even if you complain against somebody, do it happily.
TEST OF PATIENCE
Nature will put many events in your path to shake your faith but if you hold on, you would have become a perfect person. After that everything will be smooth. If we can quieten our minds, we will be able to establish that connection with God. Then, whatever you desire will no longer remain impossible. Jo ichcha kariho manu maahi, prabhu prataap kachhu durlabh naahin — whatever you wish for, will be fulfilled by God’s grace. Be assured that your work will be done. It might take some time for it to be completed but it will happen for sure. God doesn’t exist in the sky somewhere; He is residing in our hearts. And if we cleanse our hearts, then the divine will-power will emerge from within us and make our aspirations possible. Whatever we want, will be done even before our desiring it. If something doesn’t happen immediately, then it may take some time for the manifestation of the divine will but it will be done, sooner or later. One only needs to have patience and faith.
Courtesy
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Art of Living Foundation founder Sri Sri Ravishankar on Thursday blamed vested interests for the conflict between India and Pakistan.
"It's operated by vested interests, corrupt politicians and arms dealers through nexus with mafia who wish to continue such conflicts between two nations".
In an interactive session with scientists organized by the Swadeshi Science Movement on convergence between Science and Spirituality at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) here, Sri Sri Ravishankar said, "I hold the politicians responsible for the state of affairs in the country, be it the increasing corruption in society, grave crimes and erosion of values in society. People with integrity suffer while the aggressive are taking the lead. Yet, do not lose hope, things will definitely improve".
On the relation between science and spirituality, he said, "the want of convergence never existed. Science and spirituality, existed as one in the East and the West".
Quoting Indian philosopher Adi Shankara, he said, "Whatever you see doesn't exist, its consciousness 'chaitanya' alone exists. It is similar to quantum physics, the wave particle duality of matter and energy". True science and spirituality drives away superstitious beliefs and narrow mindedness, he said.
Responding to a query on how to enhance the positive energy in oneself and others, he quipped, "Smile, interact with others and try not to get hurt others by developing a 'so what' attitude. Suffering comes through ignorance and stress. Awaken the divinity from within through meditation, breathing exercise, chants and prayers". Divinity, he said, is that frame of spiritual mind that is attentive and sacred. For instance, a book is revered for the words of wisdom, say holy books such as Gita, Quran or Bible
"Mind is like the wave and human spirit like ocean. Pure thoughts and powerful emotions create vibrations and an energy field. Distant healing by prayers is a practical reality and is scientifically proven," he said.
ISRO former chairman Dr G Madhavan Nair, Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) executive vice-president V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Swadeshi Science Movement president VPN Nampoori, KSCSTE former chairman C G Ramachandran Nair, RGCB director M Radhakrishna Pillai, TBGRI former director P Pushpangadhan, SCTMST director Dr K Radhakrishnan and Vigyan Bharathi secretary general A Jayakumar spoke.
Sri Sri presented the Swadeshi Innovation award to noted scientists A Ajayaghosh and CA Jayaprakash.
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The spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living (AoL), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that a good section of the pilgrims who go to Sabarimala leave behind a good amount of garbage there. People must be made aware of the need to keep the holy places garbage-free in order to maintain their sanctity, he said.
He was delivering the keynote address at a seminar on ‘Media and value perspectives in ecotourism spectrum’ organised jointly by the Kollam Press Club and the Kerala chapter of the AoL here on Wednesday.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that if facilities do not match the rush of tourists, ecotourism cannot be maintained. Tourists come to India not only to relax but because they feel there are many unique things here and they want to experience them. In Kerala those unique things are Ayurveda, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali, to cite a few. For all that, the uniqueness of Kerala has to be maintained.
He said that though Ayurveda is a wonderful system of medicine, the therapies like Shirodhara, Pizhichil and Panchakarma attained popularity outside the State only in recent years. He said he became aware of Shirodhara only in 1980 when he invited some Ayurveda practitioners from Kerala for a conference in Delhi.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said he was simply taken aback to hear that the Ashtamudi Lake is habitat to more than 57 species of birds. The unique features of the lake have to properly marketed and it is here that the media can play a big role. For the tourists, a trip to any place should be a comfortable experience both for the mind and the body. Only then will they feel like coming back again, he added.
Kottayam: Spiritual leader and founder of Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Malayala Manorama on Tuesday. In a world of compartmentalised humanity, Guruji spoke about the importance of media in keeping the society intact.
Interacting with all who gathered in the premises of Manorama here, Guruji praised the leadership and readership of the Manorama newspaper among the Malayalees. “Media should live up to the expectation of the people. Guru and journalist are doing similar job,” he said.
In the context of a stressful working atmosphere faced by journalists everywhere, he stressed the importance of keeping the mind relaxed.” When you relax, the mind gets energized,” he told the journalists.
“Turn every problem into a wonder, every adventure into joy..and this starts happening inside you with the glimpse and experience of this deep, pure divine,love..”, Guruji quoted.
With a vision of enlightenment and mission of meditation, the peace advocate reminisced his recent visit to Pakistan. “It was simply nice. They welcomed me with all drums and cheers at the Waghah border. Though I was there only for three days, I was much delighted by them,” said Guruji.
To a question on the popularity of Art of Living across the globe, he quipped that the art of living is very popular in countries like Mongolia, Argentina, and Brazil. Some centres have been opened in Norway which is near the north pole. A few centres are functioning near south pole as well. However, with a moonlit appearance and twinkling smiles he vouched that the art is not popular as mobile phones today.
Guruji dreams a violence free society, disease free body, confusion free mind, inhibition free intellect, trauma free memory and sorry free soul. Courtesy Malayala Manorama
