Share the wisdom of Sri Sri Ravishankarji - 1.

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Dear friends and devotees, Bhakti is eternal. Share the wisdom of His holiness Sri Sri

Ravi Shankarji 1. SENSES AND HABITS The senses are like fire. Your life is like fire. What ever you put into the fire of the senses burns. If you burn a tire, it creates pollution and foul smell. But is your burn Sandalwood it creates

fragrance. Some fires pollute and others purify. Celebration happens around the bonfire. Grief happens around the cremation fire. The same fire that supports life in winter also destroys. You are like fire. Are you the fire that produces smoke and pollution, or the flame of camphor flame that creates light and fragrance? A saint is a camphor flame that creates and the fragrance of love. He is the friend of

life. The highest quality fir created light and warmth. A medium quality fire creates light but also a little smoke. The lowest quality fire produces only smoke and darkness. Learn to distinguish the different fires. If your senses are engaged in goodness, you will create light and fragrance. If engaged in impurity, you produce smoke and darkness. It is samyama that transforms the quality of fire in you.

How can you get rid yourself of vasanas ---Impressions? This is a question for all who wants to break bad habits. You want to get rid of bad habits because they give you pain and restrict you. Habits clog you when there is no liveliness or juice in life. The nature of vasana is to bother you or blind you, and wanting to be free is the nature of life. Life wants to be free and when soul does not know how to be

free, it wanders lifetime desiring freedom. This way to break habits is through vows, or samyama. Everyone is endowed with a little samyama. When your life force has a direction, you can rise above habits through samyama. When the mind dwells on the useless thoughts of bad habits, two things can happen. First, all your old patterns arise and you feel discouraged by them.

You blame yourself and feel that you have made no progress. Secondly, you see that habits as an opportunities for samyama and feel happy. Without samyama, life will not be happy and disease free. You know you should not eat three servings of ice-cream as it will make you sick. It is samyama that make prevents such indulgence. A vow should be time bound, and the time and place for making the vow should be considered. Suppose someone has a habit of smoking cigarettes and says “I will quit smoking” but cannot do it. He can take a time bound vow of 90 days. If you have a habit of cursing and swearing, take a vow not to use bad language for 10 days. Do not take a vow for a lifetime; you will break it immediately. If you happen to break it before the time has elapsed, do not worry. Just begin again. Slowly increase the duration until it becomes your nature. All those habit that bother you, that brings you pain – bind

them in vows, in samyama. Your inability to do something, such as break a habit, causes a pinch and when you are deeply pained by some thing, the pain will rid you of that habit. If you are pained by your short comings then you are a sadhak – a seeker. Pain takes you out of addiction. VICES If you cannot eliminate vices, magnify them. Worry, pride, anger, lust, grief ----give them a bigger dimension and a different direction. What is the point of getting angry about small events? Be angry about infinite, about Brahma. If you cannot get rid of pride, take pride in owning the Divine. If you are bothered by greed, be greedy for satsang. If cravings gnaw at you, crave for the truth. If jealousy haunts you, be jealous about seva. Be averse to aversions. Attach yourself to the guru. Get intoxicated with the Divine. To be continued …..2. With love and regards, Sastry.

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