While in Bangalore, many of my friends and colleagues had talked very positively about the Art of Living courses offered at the Ashram of Sri Sri Ravishanker. V and I had contemplated doing this for a long long time given all the stress in our lives. We never got down to doing it. Even after our move to Germany, we kept thinking we should do it during one of our trips to India. But never did so.
Finally, sometime back we learnt about a beginners course in our very own company. It couldn't get more convenient than this. So we signed up to it.
The beginner's course consists of breathing exercises, learning to meditate, learning the Sudarshana Kriya and some knowledge points. The regiment of Sudarshana Kriya was the biggest surprise for me.
Practically speaking, the things that will stick to me from this session are the method to meditate and knowledge points.
We learnt many knowledge points, but the course trainer wanted to pick the 5 most important ones.
Finally, sometime back we learnt about a beginners course in our very own company. It couldn't get more convenient than this. So we signed up to it.
The beginner's course consists of breathing exercises, learning to meditate, learning the Sudarshana Kriya and some knowledge points. The regiment of Sudarshana Kriya was the biggest surprise for me.
Practically speaking, the things that will stick to me from this session are the method to meditate and knowledge points.
We learnt many knowledge points, but the course trainer wanted to pick the 5 most important ones.
- Opposite values are complimentary
- Accept people as they are
- Don't be a football to others opinions
- Don't see intentions behind others mistakes
- Present moment is inevitable
Others that I found interesting:
- Expectations reduce joy
- Saying, 'try' causes stress
- Human tendencies: Not to be in the 'now', to cling on to the negative
- Whatever you resist, persists
- Responsibility is intertwined to belonging-ness, stress is higher when belonging-ness is low
The trainer asked 1 thing – which I really appreciated. "We all seek peace of mind. But are we willing to ruffle some feathers in order to get this peace of mind?"
In the Indian context of things, a lot of these knowledge points if followed are not going to be received very well. E.g. People will appreciate hearing the word, 'try' than a direct yes/no.
I have always believed that the 'dont rock the boat' approach causes more stress than confrontations. But this again is not an approach appreciated by many Indians. We like to drown ourselves in politeness and hypocrisy instead.
Recently, a friend of mine was going through a lot of mental conflict with respect to making a decision to stay in Germany longer versus returning back to India. For an Indian woman, living in a country like Germany is very liberating in unexplainable ways. When pushed to a corner and this woman needs to justify and explain this FEELING, it is very hard and often just addresses surface level things like freedom to wear what she wants etc as these are most tangible. (It's the same with me.)
The counter force she received, is all the positives about India. Given that every country has it's plus and minus points. It made me think of the first knowledge point - 'opposite values are complimentary.'
So like one need a black to appreciate a white, is it not fair to think, one needs the exposure to a different culture to appreciate/not appreciate your own culture? Whether the exposure results in someone appreciating something or not is up to an individual But surely, a new experience always has some consequence.
In the Indian context of things, a lot of these knowledge points if followed are not going to be received very well. E.g. People will appreciate hearing the word, 'try' than a direct yes/no.
I have always believed that the 'dont rock the boat' approach causes more stress than confrontations. But this again is not an approach appreciated by many Indians. We like to drown ourselves in politeness and hypocrisy instead.
Recently, a friend of mine was going through a lot of mental conflict with respect to making a decision to stay in Germany longer versus returning back to India. For an Indian woman, living in a country like Germany is very liberating in unexplainable ways. When pushed to a corner and this woman needs to justify and explain this FEELING, it is very hard and often just addresses surface level things like freedom to wear what she wants etc as these are most tangible. (It's the same with me.)
The counter force she received, is all the positives about India. Given that every country has it's plus and minus points. It made me think of the first knowledge point - 'opposite values are complimentary.'
So like one need a black to appreciate a white, is it not fair to think, one needs the exposure to a different culture to appreciate/not appreciate your own culture? Whether the exposure results in someone appreciating something or not is up to an individual But surely, a new experience always has some consequence.
I saw an immediate applicability of this knowledge point in the situation my friend was facing.
The belonging aspect was also something that I could instantly relate to. The follow up questions would be, 'how does one define belonging?' and 'what factors create a sense of belonging?'
The belonging aspect was also something that I could instantly relate to. The follow up questions would be, 'how does one define belonging?' and 'what factors create a sense of belonging?'
