Sohum Sutras

Sri Sri: Secretaries, police, judges, accountants and people in key positions should not be friendly! The main disadvantages of being friendly are: 1. You come under obligation 2. You lose your freedom 3. You can't have a free and fair perception. Your thoughts and actions may not be impartial 4. Your focus, commitment, creativity and above all your time will be wasted 5. You will pick up bad habits and negative moods easily It takes a lot of wisdom to be free from the burden of obligation and not be influenced by your friends' opinions and feelings. In many occasions, it is better to be unfriendly than be friendly. Being unfriendly does not mean being aggressive and inimical. The best secretaries, personal assistants, security personnel, and judges have to be unfriendly. Those who are aloof and indifferent get centered more quickly than those who are too friendly. A certain degree of aloofness in every relationship will strengthen your personality and connect you to y...

Among all planets in the solar system, the earth is privileged to host life in its many forms, and among all the species, humans are most privileged for they can host the Knowledge. Among all the knowledgeable ones, you are most privileged. .... guess why. Again and again you remember that you are peace, you are love, you are joy and that you are hosting the Creator. If you don't realize that you are the host, you live like a ghost. The under-privileged are those who do not realize that they are privileged, and so they also host, but they host all the negativities. Like the birds returning to their nests, again and again come back to your source; only there can you realize that you host the Creator. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev || Here is Outfit of the Day Dress: Macy's Bag: Louis Vuitton Sandals: Crocs Above location: Hard Rock Cafe Opening

Question: Guruji, how can we control daydreams? Sri Sri: Dream in the night! (laughter) What is daydreaming? You have a desire but you do not have the faith that you can achieve your desire - that is what you call daydreaming.   You can control daydreaming by having a strong goal and believing in it. Like the scientist who wanted to go to the moon and kept dreaming about it - for him it was the goal of his life but for others it was daydreaming. Either you drop that it will not happen or you believe! When you do not know yourself, your potentiality, you have no faith and confidence in your dream. Once you have faith and confidence in your dream, it is no longer a daydream! || Jai Guru Dev || Outfit Of the day Anarkali: Bought from some designer from an exhibition Bag: Gucci Shawl: Husband's shop Location: Srinagar- This explains why I am in a suit and not dress or saree. This dress code was set by husband for Srinagar.

Sri Sri: Life is utterly simple and yet most complex. You have to simultaneously attend to both facets of life. When life appears most complex, turn to the simplicity. Simplicity brings peace. When you are peaceful attend to the complexity within you. That will make you more skillful. If you are only with simplicity, it makes you lazy and dull. Being only with complexity makes you angry and frustrated. The intelligent ones balance them and rejoice in both. If you look only to simplicity, growth is not there. Looking only at the complexity, there is no life at all. All that you need is a skillful balance. If you recognize both simplicity and complexity of life, you will be skillfully peaceful! Colors are the complexity of life. White is the simplicity. When your heart is pure, your life becomes so colorful. Vikram: Guruji, you are all white and yet so colorful. Pramila: Like our knowledge, which is so profound and yet so simple! || Jai Guru Dev || Guruji asked someone, "Wha...

'Music, knowledge and silence are ingredients for development of the consciousness' Excerpts from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s talk at Ganesha Temple, New York There are  three essential ingredients for the development of consciousness - Music, knowledge and silence . Knowledge is logical understanding. With a few moments of silence practiced every day, we can shift our awareness. This is called Patrata. Building the capacity of the intellect can happen in a few moments of silence. This is all that is needed. The purpose of music is to lead to a space of silence and the purpose of knowledge is to lead to a space of wonderment. Mindfulness What is happening right now? (Laughter) Sense of mindfulness, yes? I am not saying anything and you are waiting to catch something. Are you aware of this? Instead of catching something, put your attention into the waiting. This is mindfulness. It is meditative awareness. Are you getting what I am saying? What happens when you are mindfu...

A city without streets, a king without treasure, a merchant without business and a life without a guru are all considered the same. Why the emphasis on guru? Why do you need a guru?  Life sometimes seems very complicated. There is pleasure, pain, happiness, suffering, generosity, greed, passion and dispassion. When our life is full of such opposing values, our mind sometimes becomes unable to handle these complications and just breaks down.   It is then that you need wisdom to guide you through troubled times. Guru is that wisdom. You might have noticed you give great advice when you are not involved in a situation but the same is not true when you are in trouble. This is because wisdom dawns when you are out of the mess. Guru is one who is out of the mess. He watches the chaos, amidst the chaos.   Guru is like a circuit breaker. When you cannot handle life, your guru comes and saves so that you remain sane and balanced. If there is a compelling desire that bothers ...

When it comes to sarees, I am a very traditional and austere person but my western wear is very young spirited, delightful and playful. And hence, there is quite a contrast (superficially) in my two personas. One looks very mature, settled, calm (saree) and the other (western wear) looks very youthful, full of life and high spirited. But that is me. That is exactly ME. I can be both in one go. And that is exactly the reason why I can gel very well with all the age groups. I have friends who are 10 years younger to me. Well, I do not have friends who are 10 year elder to me but family (relatives), who are elder to me and I can blend with them easily. It could also be because I am the eldest daughter and youngest daughter in law. So here is a simple outfit post. Also I think that age is just a number. You are as old or young as you think yourself to be. It is all in the mind. Location: Hawaii. Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Austerity Brings Freedom Austerity...

Few posts back , I had written how I do recycle some of my favorite/expensive outfits and give them a newer/trendier look. Here is just another example of it. Skirt and top: Again about 10 years or so old: Ritu Kumar It is worn and modeled here by my sister, whom I was visiting in Peoria. We both decided to wear something similar and I had bought these two skirts and tops from Ritu Kumar. My sister is a trained Dancer and in fact, dancing is her passion. Naturally she had to strike a dancing pose in this ethnic dress. Now here you see how I converted the skirt and into Anarkali suit and wore it to my trip in Bali. I prefer wearing whites when I am with Guruji. There is no compulsion to do so nor any rule. But Guruji- Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji is always in whites. So I like to wear whites too. It is my favorite color too. Besides, I aspire to be Art Of Living teacher one day. So trying to be already on the path. Sri Sri: Craving comes from enc...

Happy Guru Purnima to You Dhyaana moolam guror murtih; Pooja moolam guror padam; Mantra moolam guror vakyam; Moksha moolam guror kripa Significance-Guru Purnima The following is a message from His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the significance of Guru-Purnima. “Among the 12-13 full moons in a year the vaishakha full moon is dedicated to Buddha (his birth and enlightenment), jyeshtha full moon to mother earth and the aashadha full moon is dedicated to the memory of masters. This is Guru-Purnima. It is the day when the disciple wakes up in his fullness and in the wakefulness he can’t be but grateful. This gratitude is not of dwaita (you and me), but of advaita. It is not a river moving from somewhere to somewhere, but is the ocean moving within itself. So, gratefulness on Guru-Purnima symbolizes that fullness. The purpose of the Guru Purnima celebration is to turn back and review and see in this last one year how much one has progressed in life. For a seeker, Guru Purnim...

These are my pictures of my trip to Bali, where I had gone for my Art of Living, International advance course, with Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji.   Aggression and assertiveness overshadow intuition. Often, people who are sensitive tend to become aggressive in order to avoid being hurt. In this process, they lose sight of the fine intuition. Fine intuition needs sensitivity; sensitivity is often painful. In order to avoid pain one becomes aggressive and assertive, and in turn loses one's intuitive ability. Intuition is close to the truth. To be truthful, you don't need to be aggressive and assertive! Often, aggression and assertiveness thrive on the idea of truthfulness. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||