Ravi Shankar & Friends Experiencing His Music

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

On May 10th in Chico, Ca., a few friends and myself are partaking of

the exquisite opportunity to go hear, feel, imbibe, see, and

experience Ravi Shankar in concert. He'll be playing with his protegy

daughter, Anoushka, a master in her own right. We, we being Bob, me,

Eric (our dear, and beloved friend,) and our beloved friend, Jim Rasa

are attending and experiencing this wonderful gift together, going to

the concert together, eating a pre-concert meal in great gratitude

and offering to the OneLove, together, and ambling about the night

streets filled with happy people and bright, shining with happiness

lights, after the wonderful outting. There may be a place in all this

where we happen upon Perche No! and have a go at an Italian gelato ...

what a way to spend the day in the life, eh? But seriously, we're very

jazzed and so 'pup with his mug out the window on a trip to --

anywhere,' eager and ready, ears flapping glad-madly in the wind of

this gift, nostrils schmoozing with the wind of life and light,

flared wide open and aware of every nuance of the necatar of

scentedness of everything passing by so swiftly ... in unbelievable

slo-mo and flowing in a rapidity beyond belief, both,

simultaneously.

If anyone's interested in going to this concert and experiencing this

incomparable Master at the lip of Love as music, here's a line-up of

his concert dates and places at his website:

http://www.ravishankar.org/

Here below are some wonderful quotes from Ravi Shankar:

Divinity

"How far to heaven? Just open your eyes and look. You are in heaven."

"You are Divine. You are part of me. I am part of you."

"You have been given the highest blessing, the most precious knowledge

on this planet. You are the Divine Self; you are part of the Self.

Walk with that confidence. It's not arrogance. It's, again, Love."

"Your mind is trying to find an escape and doesn't want to rise to

that level to which the master is trying to raise you, trying to pull

you up."

Fear and Desire

"Want, or desire, arises when you are not happy. Have you seen this?

When you are very happy then there is contentment. "Contentment"

means "no want"."

"'"Want" is always hanging on to the "I." When the "I" itself is

dissolving, "want" also dissolves, disappears."

"Behind everything is your ego: "I, I, I, I." But in seva there is no

"I," because it has to be done for someone else. It is for the need

of the time, or surrounding people, that you do it."

"So what if somebody recognizes you: "Oh, you are a wonderful person."

So what? In that person's mind that thought came and went. It is also

finished. That mind has gone. Maybe they keep an attraction for you

for some days, some months, so what? That also goes it also goes."

"Much energy is wasted in trying to charm others. And in wanting to

charm - I tell you, the opposite happens."

Self-Control

"By self-study, by observing, by being hollow and empty, you become a

channel - you become a part of the Divine. You are able to feel the

presence of the Divinity. All the different angels and devas, all

these different forms of our consciousness, start blossoming."

"Some feeling came into you, unpleasant feeling, and you said, "Should

not come, it should not come!" Doing that, you are resisting it. When

you resist, it persists. Just observe. See, "Oh!" Go deep into it.

Dance; stand up on your feet and dance. Be intoxicated; move

intoxicated."

"Life is nothing to be very serious about. Life is a ball in your

hands to play with. Don't hold on to the ball."

"Meditation is the comfort in Life."

~ Sri Ravi Shankar, Sitar Maestro

http://sify.com/news/artofliving/fullstory.php?id=13304921

Raviji sitting in front of a portrait of Guru Baba Allauddin.

Love,

Mazie