Its been a complete year since my virtual pen touched the paper of this blog. The last post was about
Guruji visiting the kids we had been working with and at that time it seemed like everything in life had reached its pinnacle. There was no point blogging about anything any more. It also seemed that most folks have moved on from writing lengthy passages to the succinct brevity of
facebook and
twitter. Life also became incredibly busy and went through some significant events and blogging got relegated to the background.
So what changed ? Firstly - Art Of Living is hosting a
blogger's conference at the
Art Of Living International Center, Bangalore. So blogging is clearly not "so yesterday". Secondly and more importantly, I read Guruji's recent comments on how we need to
share good experiences in life and not just keep them to ourselves. So i decided to start blogging again.
2012 was a mix of good and bad (isn't that what life's all about anyways ?). A long pending academic goal was finally accomplished. A dear one passed on. Spent more time with loved ones. Life became more and more about seva-sadhana-satsang. Taking on more seva responsibilities opened up dimensions in my life I did not know existed. I once went for 5 days straight on 3 hours of sleep a night (this coming from someone who's eyes start transitioning from the slumber to the waking state no earlier than 8 AM, deserves some credit). Guruji visited Pune in Nov 2012 and I was fortunate (for the first time in many years) to be an active seva volunteer. I was able to assist several
Part 1 courses which opened my boundaries, made me more people-friendly and firmed up my decision to be an Art Of Living teacher. I spent 19 days at the beautiful
Art Of Living Bangalore Ashram in Oct during Navarathri, taking an
advanced meditation course thus fulfilling a longing of several years.
The year ended in India on a somber note with a ghastly incident waking up India to a daily reality - the abuse of women in the worst possible manner - a four letter word - R A P E. Hundreds of Nirbhayas fall prey each day to the negative tendencies of lust and hunger for power and domination, ironically in a country where the divine is worshiped as reverently in its female form as in the male. A lot of (justified) anger and indignation has been (and continues to be) expressed. The govt, police and justice system have been blamed. Parents have been blamed for not raising their sons right. Many theories have been spouted. However very few voices of sanity have been heard in the din. Unless the educational system incorporates tools to handle the negative tendencies of the mind, until every well-heeled citizen is willing to step outside his/her living room and work towards bringing opportunity and spiritual practices to the less-fortunate in society, many more Nirbhayas will continue to suffer the worst forms of humiliation and exploitation. Having worked with juvenile offenders as part of our seva projects and having observed the stark conditions and deprivation in which they live, it is unfair to think that they would rise to do something better in life unless someone showed them the way. They do not look at newspapers/blogs/facebook/twitter or several of the avenues used to express the indignation and angst at Nirbhaya's passing.
We (rather) I need to do more.
Wishing you a PEACEFUL and HAPPY 2013 filled with opportunities to discover your inner self and serve others !
Jai Gurudev
(Victory to the Divine inside you).
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