WOW!!! Art of Living Part 2 + Holi + Devi Pooja + Rudra Pooja + Satsang + Knowledge + Blessing

Recently I attended the PART 2 / Advanced Meditation Program in Art of Living Bangalore Ashram. Just thought of sharing the experience here.

First time, attended PART 2 program in Boone, North Carolina, USA with Philip Fraser. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was present. There were about 500 people. The morning yoga, advanced meditation programs during the day time, nature walk, evening satsangs everything was a great experience. It was a blast!!!

Second time, attended the PART 2 program in Egmore, Chennai with Kishore Da. There were about 30 people. Kishore da in his own style added color to the program and made it an awesome experience.

This time with Swami Bramatej. The morning yoga, meditation sessions were simply awesome. Evening satsangs were just icing on the cake. Swami Bramatej with his years of experience made the program simply great.

Adding color to the program is the holi celebration with Gurudev. Here are some photos of the holi celebration.

Apart from the part 2 program we also had the opportunity to listen to Gurudev during satsang.

On Friday we had a great opportunity to witness Gurudev performing the Devi Pooja and on Monday witnessed Gurudev performing Rudra Pooja. Wow! what an experience.

After the part 2 program Gurudev met each of the course participants individually and blessed us.

Overall the travel, stay at the ashram, sattvic food, morning yoga sessions, hollow and empty meditations with Swami bramatej, wonderful course participants, Devi pooja with Gurudev, Holi celebration with Gurudev, Evening satsang and knowledge with Gurudev, Rudra pooja with Gurudev on Monday. Wow! what a great program.

Who wants to miss such a great opportunity!!!

Here are some photos I have taken during the stay in Bangalore ashram.

More about part 2 program is available in this link:
http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/art-living-part-2-program

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.