This is a cross posting of a discussion on the scoial network Facebook. Cross posting because I have an aprehension that the post could be deleted by the adminstrator of that discussion and I would be deprived of the discussion, which I wish to have to in open
Topic: Can we talk openly?
I am not willing to believe either side until I know.
Is it OK to talk the subject in open here? If yes, I would like to table some questions for the members to discuss / answer without bias to either side..
Please feel free to express any of your questions.
With Love,
Anjana..
If Mr. Shankar has conclusive evidence that Tulsi can cure H1Ni1, with his vast contacts why did he not connect with WHO / MOH – GOI and other bodies that are the legal and mandated bodies to deal with this? In this case I would have been proud we produced a son like Mr. Shankar and he could even qualify for the Nobel Prize.
If not, why does he keep on insisting that Ayurveda and SK are the ’single window solution’ to all human and global problems – thereby misleading the unsuspecting millions who might skip medical treatment and suffer? In this case will he not be guilty of murder?
With greater love,
Ravinder
PS: Please take a minute to check this link and the comments on the subject and leave your valuable comments there.
So sorry to tell you, but I cant answer your question. The only thing I know is that Guruji always says that you should take your medications according the prescribtions of your doctor. I never heard him saying, to follow something differently as what the doctor said.
Today I received an email, see below:
Dear All,
Now you can get your Spiritual Quest quenched from where ever you are by
sending the queries to askguruji@srisripublications.com
These questions will be read out in the satsangs wherever Guruji is. You can
find the transcription of answers on http://wisdomfromsrisri.blogspot.com
–
Warm Regards
Ramanujam M
Film and Video Department
Sri Sri Publications Trust,
21st km, Kanakapura Road,
Udayapura,
Bangalore 560082.
Tel:- +91 9379768316
I sincerely think that you should post your question to them. Cause I think only Guruji can give you the right answer.
With Love,
Anjana
Many thanks for your answer and I indeed appreciate the same.
Many thanks also for the admission that you can not answer this question; and that only Mr. Shankar can do so. I agree; he is the only person responsible for his actions and his God watching him from top.
Many thanks also for pointing me to the wisdom blogpost …
I have spent hours on that blog. You will be shocked to know the results. Every time I post a question / comment – the following message appears. “Your comment will be published after the approval”. After a while the following happens:
If the comment is something that questions Mr. Shankar’s intentions or abilities – the post never appers. But I see lots of flowery comments getting approved. I shared this with an AOL friend and was challenged me with “why don’t you post something flowery and see if that appears if you want to prove your theory.
Surprising but true – I did the same and bingoooo.. the flowery post appeared. You can see the case if you dig into that post. What I found amusing is that the moderator had no shame to post a comment from someone whose other comments didn’t make it to the blog! But more than amusing I also found a tinge of fanaticism which eclipsed the moderator from at least taking care that the game is not so easily found out!
I rest this case here!
Can I move to more questions?
PS: Did you read through the comments on my blogpost by people who are not paid by me to write anything. Its un moderated and free for all, please feel free to write what you feel is the TRUTH
My knowledge is only very limited. Which got to do, that i am only a volenteer. also i dont have much knowledge about ITstuff.
I am sure… that if you ask any teacher, he/she will be able to answer your question to everyones satisfaction.
Plz do feel free to send me your questions, preferable to my email: a.bhagole@gmail.com so i can take it to my teachers, for the proper explaination.
Again, in the years that i know Guruji, I personally never heard him saying, to stop medical treatments, but he always says to follow the advice of the doctor.
with love, JGD
anjana
Thanks for you frank admission that you have only limited knowledge of the subject and are depending on your teachers for the same.
In fact, the person I referred above is a teacher and the answer I got was no better than yours. And somehow, I find the teachers a little fanatic and less open to dialogue. Their main aim seems to be to sell seats in the programs somehow.
In response to your suggestion of sending the question to you in private, I would like to avoid that since my mission is to have an Open discussion.
I like the last line of your reply where you say that Mr. Shankar says to follow the advice of the dotor. In fact that is the advice I would also give to everyone and also to Mr. Shankar.
Kind regards & love,
Ravinder
Can you tell me what it is that you are really looking for? What is your aim? What is your goal? What is it that you really wish to know?
somehow i dont believe, that your irritation or anger is only based on someones statement, or misunderstanding of knowledge / issues/ circumtances.
Found it very funny that you called our teachers fanatic. 
I dont know you, neither do i know what you are doing. But i do believe that there must be one thing where you are very passionate about. And when you think, talk, or act about that what is your passion, a lot of Enthousiasme is coming along. In my limited understanding, I do think that you misinterpretend their Enthousiasme for Fanatisme.
See the Art of Living is something to experience. If you never had an apple, i can give my best shot to explain you what an apple is, how it taste, how it looks etc. But… only when you see the apple, and took a bite of it, you will get a clear view of the apple. Like wise..our courses are based on experience. You can ask 100 ppl to talk about the course..and you might get 100 different answers, cause everyone is having their own experiences.
As, i mentioned before, I only have limited knowledge, but I dont think its right to jump into conclusions about stuff you dont know exactly or dont have an experience with. I have no clue wether you have done the course or not. But my personal experience is, that my health is drastically improved after Sudarshan Kriya. I quite eating medications, as the SK healed me from the inside. Once you experienced the secrets of your breath… Not only experiences, but also understood… I dont think you want something differently.
The main reason that i asked you to post the questions to my email, was so that it would be easier to forward it to the my teachers, and that they also would be able to reply to you directly. But this depends what your aim is. Is your aim, to get a clear answer on your queiries, or is your aim something else.
Rishi Vidyadhaar shared some time ago something very beautiful, with me, He said, there is nothing private within Art Of Living.
We are very happy with your comments and questions. Only a seeker will ask.
With Love,
Anjana
You are now beginning to talk like a typical AOL sales person. Please spare me the cliché.
I have eaten enough apples to and know what they taste like. And what I do or dont do is not relevant here.
If you agree that we can move ahead of the above question, since AOL and its CEO has no answer to this, can we move ahead with more questions to Mr. Shankar or will that be too embarrassing in public?
Else I am done and hand the mic to you for ever
Regards
Ravinder
I have no intention nor benefit to tell you to do the course or not. Thats is totally up to you. but i do tell you frankly that before jumping into conclusions you should have a honest view of what it is.
Dear, we dont feel embarrassed at all. Again,… feel free to post better to email your questions. What i know that within Art of Living, nothing is private. We are an open and honest organisation.
and if you are not satisfied with the answers, you can also send an email to the other email id, i had given you.
Its not that there is no willingness from ourside.
With Love,
Anjana
- I have taken an honest view in relation with the course.
- If AOL is not embarrassed by what people say in public, why is there no criticism admitted on the so called wisdom blog. Scroll up.
- I will talk here – till I can and then I will shut up and leave you all in your fantasy land
Love
Ravinder
I think you misunderstood the blog.
see… you send an EMAIL to: askguruji@srisripublications.com
During satsangs Guruji is answering questions, this question might be picked up, and will be answered. The answer will appear on wisdom blog, as what Sri Sri said today. I dont think the wisdom blog is there to post questions on or to react etc. I see it as a database with q and a. I would feel annoyed if there would be too many comments of ppl. And knowing Guruji, he is reading all the questions. And i am sure if your question comes out of sincerity you will get your answer for sure.
Its sad, that you spend soo many hours on something which you didnt read properly.
The way of how you are asking your questions, fanatic, fantasy land, murder etc, these are big words, if you are not willing to accept answers, you are getting, as it not might be corresponding in what you would like to hear. I do think its best to close this discussion. See for a discussion you need open minded people, who might have different view points, but they do respect eachother view points. Doesnt mean that they have to agree with it, but some respect should be there.
I strongly feel, that your intention is not having an answer on your question, or to have an open discussion, but it is something differently. And I am not willing to go into discussions with you, if you are not respecting my view point. Again, this got nothing to do with feeling embarrassed or fear etc. It got to do, that i personally feel, disrespected by your choose of words.
if you are sincere in your question, this blog is open to everyone. Also to you Ravinder. You are most welcome,
With Love,
Anjana in Fantasy Land
May I submit that you are contradicting yourself if you read scroll enough. I quote you wrote
===
“Now you can get your Spiritual Quest quenched from where ever you are by
sending the queries to askguruji@srisripublications.com
These questions will be read out in the satsangs wherever Guruji is. You can
find the transcription of answers on http://wisdomfromsrisri.blogspot.com“
====
I responded to http://wisdomfromsrisri.blogspot.com.
But now thats history..
BTW, Why are only two of us talking why dont we have more people talking
and BTW – I dont feel disrected by any words you may choose
With Love to you and every one in
Fantasy Land 
I am sorry if there was any confusion regarding the email to send. In my thoughts, it said, sending the queries to AskGuruji@srisripublications.com. Seeing the @ for me it means just sending an email.. and seeing the response on the site. Thats it…
Anyway… you know much better than I, how to send your queries.
wishing you a wonderful day, or evening.
The whole fantasy land is saying with love to you too. )
Mere words cannot give complete answer.
If you think guruji is wrong in some aspects, then don’t follow him. Or if there is nothing special art of living, then don’t follw it either.
Be a nice human and love everybody unconditionally. This is enough. Why are you wasting your energy and time in judging guruji or art of living? Utilise this energy and time to care people around you.
Don’t you think that you are filled with anxiety while judging guruji or art of living? So, just relax!
Yes, I think Mr. Shankar, whether right or wrong, does not qualify to be my Guru. I have a guru, about whom I can talk if required.
Yes, I am of the view that there is nothing special about the AOL programs except that they are harmless but that doesn’t make them useful or desirable.
About being a nice human being – does it make one a nice human being if he unconditionally accepts AOL and its CEO as his mission in life?
So far so sweet but your question is “Why am I wasting my energy and time in judging guruji or art of living” First thing – I am not wasting it .. I am using it. Now why am I doing it … Two simple reasons
- The first one is in the 3rd post above; where by I think that this gentleman, if not stopped, could be a potential threat to unsuspecting people who will take this (wrong) advice as final and ignore medical advise. I know you will jump at refuting this – but I also know cases where it has happened and I know them more closely that you would assume.
- The second is that I have a mission of helping so many of my personal friends who have been blinded by the flowery speeches (which essentially mean nothing) in the Bangalore factory – and have left their families, children causing them harm – imho your Guruji stand guilty there too.
Now about me – since you asked. Rahul I am very relaxed – trust me! I have a very simple method of staying happy and harmless and where ever possible helping someone. If you care you can browse my blog and you will know. Please don’t see this as my way of ’selling’ my blog, but you are free to post your comments / opinions there – its not moderated – unlike all of AOL sites.
In prayers that you will also Relax,
Ravinder
What I would like to mention is that the tone of your posts is very negative. Also I can sense the anger. I think your last post explains why “…know cases where it has happened and I know them more closely than you would assume” and “…blinded by flowery speeches…and have left their families….”. I am sorry that you have anger about this. Please, please do not be angry. Continue posting your beliefs, but aim for dispassion in your speech. Your anger cuts me deep! 
Thanks and I find you talking a bit mor reasonably than others here.
Your having chosen the AOL path is your decision and I would repect it just as that. To be honest I have nothing against SK or any of the Yoga practices.
To me there are Five different catagories of any process that’s used to address anything.
1. Harmful
2. Harmless
3. Useful
4. Useless
5. Essential
I have no doubt that the AOL practices are in Cat 2 above. The medical states, if seen objectively, show nothing beyond this.
The trouble is that Mr. Shankar wants the world to believe that his practices are in no. 5 cat. I have no problem with him in that either. Anyone is free to “speak” what he likes to and its for the ‘Listener” to decide what to do with that.
But what he doesn’t know (or does and ignores) is that he uses Religion / Spirituality as the means of communicating this. And 90% of unsuspecting people, who fear religion more than loving it, follow his advise blindly. And we have seen some examples right here.
About your moods and your particular problem, I am sure you are the best judge of how to address it. All I can suggest is that there is a world of wisdom available in the Indian Hindu philosophies taught by genuine learned people who do not seek blind allegiance almost under an oath of loyalty. Do read some books on Buddhism and you will find it all there. Or read Swami Vivekananda and you will find the difference between the modern commercial Gods and wise learned people.
I am quite aware there will be an immediate urge for some follower here to say that “But that’s what SSRK is also teaching” My answer is simple. Spare me the comparison – Vivekananda didn’t copyright anything – nor did he ever call himself Swami. Read any of his letters – they are signed Narendra.
I am extremely sorry if my language conveys anger. That’s not my intent and I am not angry. I am just blunt unless that’s a crime. I use blunt words – not because I mean offence but because I mean business.
I don’t believe in being nice at the cost of being blind to bare facts.
26 Comments
Hi Ravinder,
Thank you for putting me also into this.
Even I was trying to start a blogg but was not sure whom to crticize because there is enough in this world to keep on doing this whole life time,may be million more life times.
After all what will happen if some one take some breaths,always a question for me,Patanjali has mentioned about breath really well so that possibility cannot be ruled out too.So if some one is falling behind in something its because of their weakness and these posts will never help them also.But from my understanding so far,I have seen many people coming up in life also because of AOL,but never appealed for me so far.So its two sides of the same coin,there are people who become miserable with wrong application of teachings and there are people who come up in life too.So we cannot generalize.Its something like going into Engg college doesn’t make everyone an engineer but some always drop out.So unless we go through the Engg college we cannot give a solution for why people are dropping out too.
If we minutely start to look at the persons mentioned in your post even they too might have their flaws in somebody’s eyes but time has shown they are truly genuine and they stand tall also.So lets wait and see what will happen and you can continue with your job too
Not a believer nor a non believer
Thanks Ravinder
Hi Ramesh
Thats pretty candid and frank, I like it.
I am sure Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Gautam Budha had flaws in the eyes of some, too. I am not a fanatic to say that here is the Ultimate .. and that’s my humble request to the blind folded AOL followers, too!
All I know is that Vivekananda never added a Swami to his own name – wish we could say the same about Mr. Shankar.
Regards
Ravinder
Ravinder,
Your attack is not on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar but on complementary medicine. If you genuinely want answer to efficacy of Ayurveda then you should pursue the body of evidence which exists to substantiate it. You should bear in mind that Osteopathy, Chiropractic, Homeopathy, Acupuncture and Herbalism had to fight similar battles with mainstream medicine but are generally recognized to be effective nowadays. In 1986, British Medical Association had produced a report condemning all these alternative, unorthodox approaches to healing as mere superstition but there was a big hue and cry in their own ranks. The doctors know the limitation of their approach in curing chronic conditions and they had seen benefits amongst their patients who had been brave enough to pursue these ’superstitious’ approaches. BMA was forced to revise its findings and in 1993 did a volte face and acknowledged the efficacy of these approaches but plead for a regulation of practitioners of these modalities.
Turning specifically to Ayurveda I would point you to House of Lords committee report in 2000. They condemned Ayurveda and traditional chinese medicine as unscientific. However, Indian high commission was unhappy with these findings and invited the committee to view the evidence. The committee decided that there indeed was sufficient evidence to accept their claims but complained that the evidence had appeared after the production of the report. The report stood. This highlights the dilemma the complementary medicine face as all the research funding is by large pharmaceutical companies and these modalities undermine the big industry so cannot find funds to substantiate their claims.
Above is all a matter of record and you can pursue it many academic journals.
Now turning to your vitriolic on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, all I would say is that you are unqualified to comment on him. Swami Vivekananda use to say that a scientist invites you to a lab and asks you to follow a procedure to substantiate his theory. Similarly, spiritualism is not a matter of intellectual gymnastics; it is a process of being and becoming. You have to learn Sudarshan Kriya and practice it regularly before you can comment on it. I, like many others, have benefited through its regular practice. My diabetes is absolutely under control. What relation does breathing have with generation of insulin only heaven knows. It works! You may dismiss this anecdotal evidence but there is nothing in my perception which would change by your denial. All these things are highly personal. Comments cannot negate my experience.
There are more mysteries in heavens then we are aware of. Don’t patronise others by claiming that you are saving them from superstitious and dangerous practices but try to cultivate and introspective and open mind. Einstein and Boehr could disagree but yet have healthy respect for others view. That is intellectual engagement. Merely dismissing people you dislike leads to an unhealthy ego but no personal development.
Love
Rajeev Trikha
Rajiv,
Thanks for coming in and writing here
My attack is on no one except what, I belive, is wrong – not who is wrong.
I actually have limited knowledge of Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Acupuncture and Herbalism, and some how I am glad that I don’t. Because regardless of the tons of superfluous research and claims – the ground situation is that these don’t contribute to even a fractional percentage of survival cases from any of the diseases they claim to cure.
My submission – not attack nor hatred – for Mr. Shankar is not based on any of my qualifications but pure common sense and my ground experience.
You are so right when you quote Swami Vivekananda say that a scientist invites you to a lab and asks you to follow a procedure to substantiate his theory. Some AOL friends did the intials for me and I went with an open mind to discover – alas it failed badly at that. But that’s unimportant. I am too small a fry for AOL or Mr. Shankar to bother about. My concern here is not me, but the people it may affect adversly.
About spiritualism we will spare each other a long speech.
One thing which I find common between your posts and most the AOL ’sales team’ is this repeated use of the word “Should” I somehow don’t understand who other than God (and my wife ) has the right to tell me what I should do. Tell me what I “can” or “may” do and leave the should to me.
I am extremely happy to know that your diabetes is absolutely under control and if you think it’s due to SK. I won’t contest. All I can submit is that mine is also totally under control without SK. As you said all these things are highly personal, so we keep that personal only.
I have always had a great deal of respect for Mr. Shankar – he is the best possible exporter India has produced fetching us a unimaginable amounts of foreign exchange, and I have never dismissed him. My only submission to him is to focus on selling Seats at AOL’s Yoga, breathing, etc courses to address common cough, cold, work /emotional stress – and leave complicated pandemic diseases like H1N1 and its medical science to those that are qualified and mandated to deal with it.
Love
Ravinder Bhan
Ravinder,
“regardless of the tons of superfluous research and claims – the ground situation is that these don’t contribute to even a fractional percentage of survival cases from any of the diseases they claim to cure”. Nothing remains to be said after this claim of yours. No one can argue against blind prejudice. Prejudice is not commonsense.
As to leaving medicine to “those that are qualified and mandated to deal with it”. There is a whole catalogue of blunders by the profession, the most frequently cited being thalidomide. You are afraid of surrendering your individualism/personality to a Guru but seem to have no hesitation in surrendering it to medical authorities. Why? Question that attitude. (’should’ avoided as it seems to be red flag to you but certain things are acquired by hardwork, research and reflection). You dismiss noninvasive healing modalities as harmless but dangerous, I suggest you pay closer attention to the word iatrogenesis.
I would be most interested in hearing details of your experience of AOL and why it has led you to strong attacks. Speaking of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as ‘best exporter’,’selling seats’ somehow makes him a peddler of snake oil to which the gullible westerns have fallen pray to.
Remember that even in the scientific world the progress is dependent on unreasonable man who eschews the prevalent mores. Everytime homeopathy works it contravenes all our biological premises as its principles are diametrically opposite to orthodox medicine (check Cochrane collaboration database for proof of its efficacy). A healthy open mind keeps his wonder and not just says that the current understanding of immunology is all we will ever have. It is easy to feel comfortable with conventional wisdom but it is not a road to progress.
You hate the word ’should’ but try to take the high pedestal by claiming that AOL supporters ’should’ shutup as they are parading dangerous nonsense. They ’should’ follow the ‘commonsense’ and ’should’ avoid preaching ‘wrong’ knowledge. I would say we should all try to be better humanbeings (I include myself as number one in this ’should’).
Love
Rajeev Trikha
Rajeev
Thanks again!
If my statement on the number of cases etc is blind prejudice – please delight me with stats on relative number of cases and open my eyes. And to repeat, I am talking about stats on number of cancer survivors that were cured by Ayurveda V/S those cured via Allopathic treatment. No more no less!
I am not aware of the blunders made by the medical profession but I know if I had the “fix” as Mr. Shankar claims, and if I had half the contacts that he has, I would have got the WHO to accept my “fix” as universal. This is the central point of my discussion from the start to the present.
Most humbly, Rajeev, contrary to your assumption, I am NOT afraid of surrendering my individualism/personality to a Guru. In fact, I have a Guru, right from my adolescent days, and I hold him in highest esteem; I don’t go around “selling” him on the internet. He has not taught me that. Whoever needs him reaches him on his own. I don’t type his name with a cpaital H as a mark of respect, I actually respect him.
Yes, I have no hesitation in surrendering to medical expertise and would suggest the same to everyone that I wish well.
I really have no argument if you feel that an accident victim should not be moved to the nearest hospital since there are records of iatrogenesis. All I know is that, Iatrogenesis is not restricted to conventional medicine and can also result from complementary and alternative medicine treatments. But, if you insist, please take a minute and read another post on this blog published some months back – much before I started researching AOL.
http://ravinderbhan.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/homeopathy-the-ultimate-answer/
I am not surprised that you would be interested in hearing details of my experience of AOL. The best thing here is that you won’t need my help. Make a call to any AOL centre in the world saying that you are new to AOL and want to know what it is all about and get involved in it. The volunteers will take care of everything after that. Just make sure your incoming is free!
Respecting Mr. Shankar as ‘best exporter’,’ selling seats’ is a reflection of my deep admiration for his skills and his importance to the nation. I really don’t give a damn to what the westerns have fallen pray to but AOL does have a million followers outside of India and they bring a lot of foreign exchange. I was told the Tax Return documents of AOL entities in the US (as a Tax Exempt Organization) shows “Conducting AOL courses” as its purpose and main activity. I didn’t pursue the proof. Anyone attending any AOL Satsang and listening carefully to the messages in between – would need no proof of this.
Regarding homeopathy, please refer the post above. I can forward you the phone numbers of the doctor and the victim’s husband. And that’s just one case that I know of. I am sure there must a hundred others. If that’s being comfortable with conventional wisdom, I would be delighted to stay without progress.
I don’t hate the word ’should’ – was only wanting to know who gave anyone the right to use it on me. Nor do I ask AOL supporters ’should’ shut up, I think they are doing fantastic job what they are taught to do.
My only submission is to the CEO of AOL to stay away from what is someone else’s business
If you are honest in saying that we all should all try to be better human beings and you include yourself in that, I admire you, but if that statemenet has any other connotations, I leave it your judgment as to how it helps to overstate the obvious.
Love
Ravinder Bhan
PS: If you think I am nothing but full of trash – please don’t waste your time on me. I am not seeking attention as an AOL manager thought when I started an open discussion, which is when I moved the discussion here.
hi ravinder,
spent the last few minutes reading this blog….its coming good….
your queries/questions are really simple and the answers also are simpler than the questions.
you need an open discussion….then you say the person is in a fantasy land…..
you need to know why Mr Shankar is so sought after….then you say sales representative…..
you need to know why Mr. Shankar is addressed with a big “H”….then you say your Guru is very humble….
really….Ravinder, please have a discussion…
Dear Vinay,
Thanks for coming on board.
I do not know you and you don’t know me .. and I guess its best that way at the moment.
May I, herewith, hand the discussion over to you and everyone who thinks I am talking one sided or just seeking attention.
I will be silent for the next 8 days,
TOTALLY SILENT …
Please challenge me, ridicule me, use any words you choose, use any data you wish, like Rajeev think I am a novice who doesn’t study anything before writing in, talk as if you were in an open ground breathing fresh air, with no one watching over your words or supervising your actions. Even though it’s my blog, my post, I will NOT moderate any comments till then nor will I put any of mine.
I wish we could say the same of any official / unofficial site of AOL – my blog post would not have been needed at all. Try having even one word challenging AOL or Mr. Shankar published there, and you will know why I chose the capital H pun!!!!
I will speak after those EIGHT days!
Till then its my Samâdhi time!
Regards
Ravinder
Ravinder,
I read the moving posting of the death of your friend’s wife with cancer and her unfortunate brush with homeopathy.
You rightly provided the evidence that all the scientific facts state that homeopathy should not work. Its probability of curing anything is not higher than random chance as it seems to be providing water as treatment for everything. The fact is that it is efficacious for many diseases and directed you to Cochrane database. My stance is that its effectiveness for anything should be a wakeup call to scientific community that our understanding of anatomy and physiology is incomplete and our knowledge of bodily systems somewhat lacking. It is highly unscientific to ignore facts which do not fit our understanding. Samuel Hahnemann was a medical doctor who sought alternative because he believed many prevalent practices to be barbaric.
Having made this claim, I need to put my cards more clearly on the table as I have made a journey from firm belief that I would rather die at the hands of a medical practitioner then be treated by a quack. I am same age as you. My maternal great grandfather was the first medical doctor in Rawalpindi and his son (my nana) too was a doctor. My paternal grandfather (dada) was a Unani Hakim. I have to say that my paternal grandfather was an ethical giant and was widely respected in the community. The word ‘quack’ could never be used for him. There are many cases in family history where his treatment methods prevailed over allopathic, most notably his treatment of my father’s appendicitis
with external ointments. Every doctor would have had the appendix surgically removed and the agonising drama of the situation from my Nana’s perspective use to haunt me. In the process of growing up, I made my choice that irrespective of the fact that Hakims too could do wonderful things, I will run with orthodox medicine. This all changed when my wife suffered from tachycardia. The prescriptions were deemed dangerous by all my medical friends and I discovered Reiki. It worked! It led me to question my premises about life. It made me open to the fact that our conception of the human body is socially constructed and there are other vistas. Afterall our knowledge of immune system is just over 100 years old and the medical profession was treating many ills with leeches just prior to that. I don’t have wide-eyed admiration of the profession. Incidentally, we have all learnt the folly of deferring everything to the experts in the recent economic meltdown.
This is where I defend Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. His claim that Sudarshan Kriya bolsters immune system is recognised by AIIMS research. Thus I see nothing wrong in seeing it as a preventive for swine flu. As to claims about Tulsi, I would point out that benefits of tumeric are ingrained in Indians, they do not need to be informed by a pharmaceutical company who has spelled out the benefits to medical profession. A consultant told me that effectiveness of many Chinese concoctions is well known to the medical profession but they are unable to isolate the active agent so they cannot prescribe them. Thus my plea is that we should not dismiss the collective wisdom of mankind because we as a society have decided to adhere to certain practices.
I gave reiki to friends who died of cancer whilst getting conventional treatment. I take solace in the fact that they felt during the reiki sessions their pains were alleviated.
I have no interest in indulging in any polemics. Spiritualism matters to me and every word I have heard Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speak has reached inner depths and enhanced my humanity. The AOL course was an extraordinary revelation to me. I have attended many corporate courses on team building, personal development etc but nothing, I repeat nothing, had opened me up to fellow human beings in the manner of this course. There is something of great beauty in this course which needs to be cherished. The fact that it moves people is borne out by the millions of volunteers who try to make a difference to the world around them. They are not ‘taught’ to serve, it is a byproduct of their inner transformation.
I am glad I accidentally stumbled upon your blog. If you genuinely believe that you have reached the acme of human potential and your humanity is envy of your friends and family then I salute you. You have no need of Guru Ji. But he would remain a beacon to souls like me. As the essence of the course is to connect one to ones inner silence, I too will retreat into shunya.
Love
Rajeev Trikha
Rajeev
Thanks for a rather long note. I wanted a smaller one giving me data on
- Percentage of Cancer Survivers that survived using Ayurveda/ Homeopathy as against the percentage that survived thru Allopathic treatment. If no such data exists or you don’t have the data – please do me the honor of saying so directly.
- Regarding SK being a preventive for swine flu, please tell me one thing in the world that SK is not (claimed to be) the preventive or curative. I have read volumes about this repackaged breathing exercise that has been patented and copy righted by Mr. Shankar. Great marketing – is what I always respect him for.
I am humbled by the fact that you have attended many corporate courses and none of those opened up what AOL did. I only wish to know did they serve the objectives you signed them for? Were they supposed to be spiritual in nature or are you comparing apples with oranges and saying oranges are better?
I will post my final comment on this in a day or so and then I will shut up for ever on making any submissions to Mr. Shankar and his desciples.
Love
Ravinder
Hey Ravinder,
Sure…I appreciate your concern and also respect your decision to take time off during the Navrathri….Great going….
Wish you a Happy Navrathri…Enjoy…
Hi Ravinder,
I would like to first ask u a question before i go abt answering them. Is your hatred / dislike against ayurveda or the Guru?
regards,
vishy
No, I did not mean disrespect to any of the comments above. Nor meant these to be ignored. I was on a self imposed Silence for Eight days – which have just finished. And I shall talk for sure.
Will answer each of the points above and seek either to change my opinion change yours. And if neither of ours changes – I will still respect yours, while holding on to mine.
I wont delete or ban negative comments like the AOL sites do – yet I won’t blame them for being the moderators of sites controlled by them, just as I will be saddened by people saying that I am doing all for getting attention. This being my personal blog I can share, frankly, I get enough attention from people that matter to me to require any more.
I am traveling and will be in transit for a few more days.. until then please bear with me!
Sure ravinder, Will look forward for your next post….
Vinay.. I am almost done and shall post my last comments in a day but you did not participate in the discusson?
There are many takers in this world of data as conclusive evidence, especially in a cause-effect driven scientific premised world. But it is an approach amongst many.
I had the priviledge of hosting Swami Naradanand from Ujjain yesterday at my home and amongst the several subjects he entertained from a questioning mind such as mine was the integrity of modern gurus of today. He remarked that every era has its own skilled practioners and human technologies (citing examples from ramayana / mahabharata). Gurujees or Spiritual masters of the 21st century need to contextualise their teachings to the times in question factoring in the “mansikta” (mindset) of today. And that is the crux!
If Swami ravishankar has his methodologies, he must contexualise his offering within the context of today’s mindsets – which is a convergence of science and spirituality (a more questioning mind). If he accomplishes that, I am confident that the questions on his integrity will be far lesser than meriting a mention on socially-divisive websites such as facebook.
Hari Om! Mukul Purohit
Mukul
I would humbly recommend you to read Swami Vivekananda and search ..what is it that any Swami can teach beyond that.
Love
I am done on the subject and am about to post my last comment on this submission. Just thought if any more wishes to pend down a comment before I speak …
If not please look for the last comment in a day or so!
Ravinder, there are sometimes in life that we need to flow with the present happenings….
The Textbooks you studied in school are no longer the same that are used by your children…though the subject may be the same…
All the Masters are one, the same Guru Tatva is in every one….may it be Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Amma, Vivekananda, Swami Naradanand, Sri Sri, your Guru, etc…
Each Master is different and unique…and each one is precious to their devotees(though the Masters will never be in the game of My master is better than yours…)
it is like we are questioning the integirty of an enlightened one…one who is revered and is very personal to each and every one…each devotee holds the Master close not because thay are swept away by his PR, or his interviews and talk shows, or glossy pic in the leading mags or the elite fan following…but because the Master has shown them that their life is much beyond the mundane…that their life has a purpose….they are responsible for the whole world…that the whole world belongs to them…Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam….
its a really personal one….
Vinay,
Thanks for speaking finally. I feel quite sad that with all the wait you had nothing but what the others had to say. I won’t go long in replying .. will only ask you to think of making two catagories of the Masters
Those who travelled around in Rolls Royce and those that didn’t even know what that means. And please do not put them both in the same box.
God bless you, wherevere you and who ever you are.
Ravinder
Hope you understand….
Unfortunately, no I do not. But respect your time.
I have come to my conclusion and am done with this subject. My conclusion may not sound like the one that would please you. But I would rather tell the truth and risk offending you than fake a lie and wait for an applause.
It is futile to make any submission to Mr. Shankar to stay focused on his spiritual activities and not meddle with medical science, because he has succeeded in making a huge number of followers whom he has convinced that he is a single package combination of all of the following
- In religious and spiritual terms he is no less than God personified. He has the ultimate knowledge of each religion in the world. He writes a book on how “Ramadaan” is a word from Sanskrit meaning Ram Daan and when confronted in public by a Muslim clergy, goes on record asking people to ‘forget that book’ because that was “wrong”; and yet he calls himself Sri Sri and his followers love it. If one goes by the number of times they repeat JGD, I would not be surprised if by 2020, there will be around a 100 Sri’s prefixed to his name which in simple terms is Mr. Ravi Shankar.
- In international politics terms, he seems to be the best equipped to be the Prime Minister of the World, since he has a solution to every country’s political problems. He talks about Iraq, Kashmir, Lanka, Indonesia as if these were small cooperative housing societies of which he is the general secretary. He talks about giving the Sri Lankan Tamils an Indian passport or Kashmiri militants a patient hearing – as if these decisions were just waiting for his official stamp and the whole etablishment was a fool.
- In medical terms he is more knowledgeable and experienced than the world’s best physician and surgeon, and he talks about Swine Flu with the same ease that he talks about advantages of eating vegetarian food.
That shuts any discussion on requesting him to stay focused. My open submission has failed to reach him because of the shield he has in terms of his followers. Well, all I can say is, his loss and mine.
Some connected learning which I had during this study …
- No matter which AOL activity you visit, you can not escape being ‘sold’ some AOL product or the other. whether it’s P1, P2, SK, Y! you will be told how this is the only dividing line between you and divine happiness in your life. If you think I am exaggerating do visit any Satsang anywhere in the world and see if the agenda missed a “direct promotion” of one or the other of these products.
- Awkward it may sound, but he has created followers that really believe that 4 days of a Kriya can change one’s entire life. This kriya, according to someone is a repackaged and commercialized version of well-known breathing technique. SK is something he mastered in 10 days; no wonder he has patented and trade mark copy righted it.
- His followers seem to have a non negotiable obligation to defend him even at the cost of sounding rude and diverting from the subject by quoting data which is irrelevant. Comments on this blog and its source blog would prove this if it needed proving. This seems to be an essential part of the training imparted in the Bangalore camp.
- If Mr. Shankar is truly leading an institution which is meant to be for the good of the society and humanity, I have a simple question; Who is the number 2 of this institution? What comprises the Top Team? Why is there so much prominence on His and his Pictures almost on every corner of the world. If this is no obsequiousness – what is?
- I have seen a massive net campaign on securing Mr. Shankar the Nobel Prize. I don’t disapprove of anyone having such aspirations for himself or for someone s/he thinks is entitled. I have no comments here. But, I thought he was teaching humility and modesty. I saw his comments on “money” the other day; if this is not blatant contradiction, what is?
Regardless of all this I firmly maintain that Mr. Ravi Shankar is plying a very important role for India. He has exemplary skills in marketing and that is fetching India the much needed foreign exchange in huge volumes from the AOL products for which is he the Global Brand Ambassador with a million of his pictures splashed on ever bill board you could see.
Of course like in any marketing activity sometimes you go a bit wrong like he did in the case of Netherlands Stamp case – where AOL got the image of COL.
COL is my own term answer to “Art of Living”– and its full form is “Craft Of Lying”
God bless us all!
Ravinder,
Good Conclusion…You have spoken your mind out loud…
Loka Samastha Sukhinobhavantu…
Sri Sri Ravishankar is a great saint and anyone would benefit by just being in His presence.
By just following His 5 principles (taught during the basic course), i have made my life so beautiful. SK practise brings immense bliss in life.
People do complain about the course fees. Please note that all of the money is used for charity purposes. Also free courses are conducted in slums, etc.
When sunami hit india, AOL was quick enough to provide rehabilitation to a lot of people and also taught the basic course to the locals to eliminate the stress they faced after loosing all their property.
The Satsang conducted by AOL is the best thing i like. I wish there was satsang in the UK also.
Vinay, If it has helped you.. I am happy.
But just wanted to let you know that according to my information, the proceeds from the programs go for charities; and that includes a hectic global travel schedule for Mr. Shankar along with a sizable group of deputies.