Awesome Experience Attending Teacher Training Program at Art of Living Bangalore Ashram

With the blessings of Gurudev, recently I attended the Teacher Training Program
at Art of Living International Centre, Bangalore. Just thought of sharing the
experience here:

Travelled by train to Bangalore. The journey was comfortable. From Majestic
travelled to the Ashram by sharing a taxi with other folks.

The registration, room allocation processes went very smoothly. Had a nice

satsang and dinner.

We had morning sadhana everyday, ending with nice sattvic breakfast. I also
liked the sattvic lunch and dinner provided everyday.

Gurudev himself took couple of teacher training sessions this time for us.

Got the rare opportunity of witnessing Gurudev performing Rudra Pooja for
two consecutive Mondays. Here is a photo:

Icing on the cake is, we had the opportunity to witness the inauguration of
new meditation hall by Gurudev.

Had the opportunity to witness Gurudev performing Devi Pooja for 2 consecutive
Fridays in the new meditation hall.

With the help of our teacher Manikandan Ji, had a special darshan with Gurudev
for people from Tamil Nadu. Asked us to focus more on the rural areas to bring
the benefit of this knowledge to them.

I had the opportunity to do seva at Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences and
technology. Came to know about Lakshmi Taru Tree. Shared the details in another
article here.

We had an opportunity to tour the ashram and here are some photos.

Thanks to our teacher Manikandan Ji, who has taken care of us throughout the
course period very nicely.

Lakshmi Taru Tree Boon to Humankind

Recently I attended the teacher training program at Art of Living
International Centre, Bangalore. As part of the Seva activity,
I was at Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

During that time, I came across Lakshmi Taru Tree. The following
picture shows the medicinal properties, ailments that it can cure.

Cultivation, nursery techniques, uses can be found here

I got some seeds and sowed the same at my home.
Waiting for them to come up. Will post pictures later.

Enlightening experience at Machesa Peruman Temple in Kanchipuram

Recently I visited Kanchipuram for a marriage function. Came across Machesa Peruman
Temple. Just thought of sharing the photos here.

Even though the name says peruman, the main deity inside the temple is Shiv Lingam.
I asked the pujari about this. He said, Lord Vishnu before beginning his first avatar
Matsya (fish), prayed to Shiva in this place. Hence, it is called Machesa (fish) Peruman temple.

More info about Dashavatara is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashavatara

Main entrance to the temple

Temple Inside

Shiv Lingam

Dhakshina Murthi

Brahmma

Bairavar

Perumal

Anjaneyar

Mahalakshmi

Plastic Recycling in Chennai

We do plastic recycling at home, just thought of sharing the info here.

From my home, I usually collect plastic items like milk covers (after drying), grocery covers and
keep them in a bag.  As shown below.

Once it has some weight, we take it to the near by kailan kadai shop and give it.

The person weighs it and give Rs.10 per Kg.

I asked them what do they do with the plastic items. He said, they will be
sending the same to a factory for recycling.

I think this is better than throwing the plastic in trash.

Pongal Dhamaka Chennai DSN team visit to Bangalore Ashram

After the awesome Pongal Dhamaka DSN course with Anand Ji in Chennai,
we visited the Art of Living International Centre in Bangalore. Here are some photos:

Having breakfast in Annapoorna Dining Hall

Vishalakshi Mantabam

Long Kriya at Yagnashala

Sumeru Mantabam

Sumeru Mantabam Close up

Kalyana Mantabam

Shakthi Kutir

Guruji Close up

Satsang

Awesome+ experience: Pongal Dhamaka DSN (Divya Samaj Ka Nirman) with Anand Ji in Chennai

Recently I had an awesome+ experience attending Pongal Damaka DSN course with
Anand Ji in Chennai. Here it is.

After completing my PreTTC with Gopal Ji, as part of the seva activity
I registered for the DSN course happening in Jan 2014.

The course started on Jan 9 2014 sharp 4.15pm. Around 350 people attended it.
There was some warm up, (Yoga was handled by Awesome Vikram Ji all 4 days)
padma sadana and various group activities.

On Jan 10 and 11, we had seva activity and knowledge. It was an excellent
experience going through the seva process. I learnt a lot during this time and
came out of the personal inhibitions.

The knowledge points were delivered in a style which you will never forget
in your life. Double Full of enthusiasm, Double commitment, Double sincerity
and what not. People were awestruck by it.

Do not follow the mind, follow your commitment
Come what may I will finish my commitment
3M - meditation before break fast, before lunch and before dinner
Pappu gives reasons and leader gives results
Give your 100% and let it go.
Crush your comfort zone and enter the commitment zone.
Do something now.
Events will come and go, I will be rock solid
If you take 1 step divine takes 100 steps.
If conviction is strong, obstacles move away
And many many many many many many many many many many many more + guru stories.

Each of the processes that we went through during the course had a
profound impact on me and many others.

Jan 12 we had the celebration and some more knowledge. Overall it was
an outstanding+ experience doing the DSN course.

Apart from Anand Ji there are other DSN teachers who took the DSN to a
new level Namrata Ji, Panneer Ji(sami adudhal) and Srinivas Ji.

I strongly recommend doing DSN course to take your life to a new level.

Enlightening Silk Expo Experience at Valluvar Kottam

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Silk Expo held at Valluvar Kottam, Chennai.
Just thought of sharing the experience here.

Apart from the silk related stalls put up there, there were people from silk mark india.
One of the person explained to me the various stages involved in obtaining silk from silkworm.
Here is his photo.

To start with he had shown me the egg of one of the type of silkworm. (photo here)

First few days of development of the silkworm from the egg. Here is a picture.

After about 4 to 6 days.

After about 10 to 12 days, the silkworm becomes bigger by eating the leaves.

And then it develops a nest around its body. This nest is what becomes silk later.

Here are some some pictures which shows how the silk thread is made.

Apart from this there is also a display of hand loom machine which makes silk sari.

And the person who weaves the saree (time consuming task requires lot of patience)

In a nutshell various stages of silk making from silkworm

Awesome Kutcheri with T N Seshagopalan, Vittal Ramamurthi, Thanjavur Murugaboopathi, Shree Sundar Kumar

Recently I attended a kutcheri by T.N.Seshagopalan. Just thought of sharing
the experience here.

While boarding the bus at Amman koil, I saw a ad saying there are music concerts
happening in Meenakshi College of Engineering conducted by Sri Rama Bhaktha Jana Samaj.

After couple of days, one evening I thought of attending the kutcheri.

Tried google and landed in http://kutcheris.com/home.php. Able to find Meenakshi College
of Engineering. Came to know there is a kutcheri happening that day with T.N.Seshagopalan.

Went to the college campus around 6.30. Got the ticket and seated myself.

Slowly the accompanying musicians Vittal Ramamurthi (Violin),  Thanjavur Murugaboopathi
(Mridangam), Shree Sundar Kumar (Kanjira) came.

Finally T.N.Seshagopalan came and distributed prizes for the kids music competition.

The kutcheri started around 7pm and it went on till 10pm. Even though I was feeling
hungry, somehow I couldn't get out of the seat and go. All of them are simply awesome.
They just glued me to the chair.

T.N.Seshagopalan gave space for all the musicians, infact he just challenged the
accompanying musicians to give their best.

They performed as a team, as well as individual talents also came up very well.

There was a girl sitting behind TN, at times she was also singing.
Able to match up to the speed.

One thing I noticed is, during these 3 hrs, there were many people coming in and
going out. It really didn't bother TN or his associates. They were simple engrossed
in their divine music. This is a take home lesson for me.

I couldn't take a photo, since I didn't have a camera that day. Here are some
pictures captured from google images.