Art of Living Yes+ Advance Course

Last winter I visited the Art of living foundation’s Banglore ashram for a spiritual retreat. It was a course meant for youngsters from all over the world. I wasn’t attending such a course for a very first time but still I felt quite anxious about it. Sometimes I had to rethink my decision of going all the way to Banglore just to meditate and be in silence. Now when I remember it I really feel glad that I did go there. However progressive we might be but it’s still quite difficult to embrace the new. I had to make quite an effort to let myself believe that I was doing the right thing.

The train journey from Mumbai to Banglore itself was quite an experience in itself. I had always been thankful to AOL for helping me let go of most of my inhibitions. The train journey was a time for letting go of few many more. Although I am quite good at it I usually don’t converse much with people on purpose. But here it was an entirely a different thing. I had to make absolutely no effort to get acquainted with most people on the train. The participants for the course were very enthusiastic about the journey. They had thought of many games, there was a lot of stuff happening. I had no choice but to include myself in all the enjoyment that was happening around me. I had been cynical about all that was happening for a while but in no time I got involved and I would say that was the beginning of the most beautiful experience in my life. We sang, we laughed, we teased, and we played and did all sorts of things that were imaginable.

Once inside the Ashram I was welcomed into a new world. Isolated from chaos and gloom of daily life, this place felt like heaven. The forest like nature of the place, beautiful and magnificent architectures with a perfect blend of modern and ancient aesthetics. So perfectly organized was the place yet there was no trace of monotony that is usually involved in organization. The cool, serene lake made all my defenses fall down. I was left with so much awe and wonder that I must say I wasn’t me at all. There were many constructions happening at the same time and the commitment of the people towards making those structures and the love with which they did their work was a sure indicator of what wonder was going to be created. The natural uneven hilly terrain has given a very exotic look to the whole place. There was every aspect of modernization out there and yet it felt like having come to a very remote natural haven.

The course was off course a huge success. Every aspect of it was pre planned and meticulously carried out. The course participants were in hundreds and yet the course went uninterrupted until the end. A lot of management consisted of volunteers and yet there were hardly any communication gaps that usually occur when working with volunteers. I was totally amazed at the way things were happening; it was so much beyond my comprehension. The regular laws of management didn’t seem to work there, there was something magical about it. The food was the most exotic thing one could find in this place. It was so healthy and yet so tasty which is quite uncharacteristic of a healthy food. The very action of eating such a food gave me a feeling of cleansing.
The course was meant to be an absolute fun and it proved to be so. The entire structure of the course was based on the premise that best of the education can only be achieved through an informal and active teaching. So there we were absolutely informal and learning meditation. We learnt few yogic postures to be done in a sequence for a better experience. We played many little games which taught us few valuable lessons in life. We had a brief period of absolute silence lasting 2 days which helped us have an insight into our inner selves and know for real what we were. The period of silence made me realize the futility of communication. It made us realize how we took our power of expression for granted and have always failed in achieving a better communication because of that. There were few lectures by eminent personalities as an icing on the cake. The course took care of refining almost all the aspect of our being. The meditation purified the mind, the food purified the body, and the yoga unified the body, mind and soul. The lectures added an intellectual knowledge.

The time with the participants was the most awesome experience of my life. Out there everyone was so selfless, so unpretentious, so natural, so loving and so caring. The energy in the ashram had changed everybody. There was a smile and gratitude on every face, an unusual innocence influencing their every action. The glow of happiness on everybody’s face, and I wondered who would not want to be with such people. There was so much of enthusiasm, such a high commitment and no expectations. The satsangs were the most energizing experiences. We sang to our hearts and danced beyond our abilities. It was a very playful environment. We laughed until we choked and we laughed more. We played until we got tired and we played a little more. We meditated until we got absolutely bored and we meditated more. We smiled until very appearance of our faces changed and we smiled a bit more. We sang until our vocal cords gave up and we sang beautifully, we danced until our minds gave up and we danced better.

The experience was one of its kind, away from greed, lust, anger and jealousy that define our very life – it was a heavenly experience. There was no gender difference, there was no bias, we hugged each other, we shared, and we cared. It made me realize how beautiful my life was. It made me grateful by multitudes of millions towards the creation. I thought many more should have this experience but seldom people understand beyond limitations of the language. This was my little effort to describe beauty which in itself is a nonsensical effort. Beauty must be experienced and until we do experience we never realize…