Gurudev: On the Plateau of the Peak: The Life of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar by Bhanumathi Narasimhan

Author:Bhanumathi Narasimhan [Narasimhan, Bhanumathi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789386850577
Publisher: Westland Publications
Published: 2018-01-10T20:00:00+00:00

10

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS UNDER THE EASTERN SKIES

THE NIGHT SKY is filled with a million sparkling stars. They twinkle and pulsate in far-off skies and are visible only in the absence of the sun. One runs behind stars only when one is oblivious to the sun, which is one’s own self. In the silence of the night, as the mind becomes still, little rays of starlight remind one of the glory of our effulgent self.

Once people participated in the two-day programme and had learnt the Sudarshan Kriya, they could attend an ‘advanced programme’, which was a residential silence programme that lasted anywhere between seven and fifteen days. Gurudev would conduct meditations, which he would refer to as ‘hollow and empty’ to indicate the phenomenal expansion of the consciousness. He would guide us step by step into the realms of the unknown, which is inexpressible, and the unbounded divinity within us. The soft and melodic nature of his instructions, the mesmerizing shlokas at the end . . . words cannot possibly explain how deep and profound the experience was.

The first advanced meditation programme was conducted in Vasanthapura, Bangalore, in 1988. Eighty-one participants from thirteen countries realized and soaked in the depth of their blissful selves in the presence of the Master. The subsequent courses were conducted at the ashram. The very first programme organized at the ashram was for a Polish group. Gurudev had a penchant for giving unique names to the courses: Wisdom of Fools, Ancient Love, Sound of Sandals, Unpushed Button, Sleepless Nights under the Eastern Skies, and so on.

I participated in one of the ten-day advanced meditation programmes conducted in Kolkata. During the course, Gurudev beckoned me to come forward and have a look at the people in the hall. He asked me if I could accept everyone as my own children. Now this was a little comical as almost everyone in the group was older to me. Besides, it was easier to be closer to children, and I was not even remotely connected to the people present there. But Gurudev instructed me to close my eyes and a process of reorientation began. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes, and he asked me again. ‘Could you be a mother to all?’ Suddenly, something in my heart exploded, and I felt as if I was radiating love. I started looking at the people assembled in the hall as small children. ‘How could I even think of not loving them?’ I thought, and tears started flowing from my eyes. Ego is a barrier, and only a master can help one deal with it and transcend it.

There was another special ten-day programme that he called the ‘Danda’ course. As the name suggests, we were each given a ‘danda’ or a piece of stick, which we had to hold on to for ten days. The stick was like an extension of our body. Just like how it is impossible to leave one’s hand behind, one cannot be separated from one’s danda. The experience that we had with the course was indescribable.

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