Success with a smile

So many times, I have heard people ask Sri Sri Ravishankar ji,  HIS definition of Success. The setting could be different - in different countries,  but the answer has been consistent.

HE would say (not verbatim) - Usually success is seen as an outcome of a lot of stressful activity giving rise to the impression that stress is necessary and inescapable for success.  But if stress was indeed necessary for success, then Beirut would be the most successful city in the world, because people are really stressed out there! Look at all the so called successful people,  they may have lots of wealth, but they will also have stomach ulcers/diabetes/heart problem..... People spend half their health to earn their wealth and then spend half their wealth to recover their health!! This is not a sign of intelligence.  For me the sign of success is a smile that never fades  (This was a sattvic knockout punch, if ever there was one...).

The Forbes magazine launch interview

The first time i heard this (several years ago),  it left me thinking about what is needed  to achieve this success. I, somehow, never doubted what Guruji said,  but my personal experience had been different ...I had found it easier to 'not smile' while working towards an objective irrespective of whether I was successful or not!!

 The scientist in me took over.  I thought about  the obstacles to the smile and listed them as below:

-  Doubts and Resistance in the mind leading to half-hearted action
- Obsession with the end-result that creates pressure and clouds ones thoughts
- Getting bogged with  emotions :)

.... and these, i realised subsequently, were also the obstacles to successfully completing the task at hand !! Thus, one is free to focus on the smile or the 'success' - the tools are the same :)  regular Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya and meditation.

I realised that Guruji's definition of success was not merely referring to the state of mind at the end of some event, rather HE was emphasising an approach to be followed all through the journey - at the beginning, through the middle and of course at the end.

And don't we know the effectiveness of Sudarshan Kriya and meditation, millions have benefited !!! Visit...Sudarshan Kriya et al on www.artofliving.org. If you need one more reason, here it is - it will ensure success in the true holistic sense, a success that is not based on greed or fear, a success that is much needed in today's world that is slowly recovering from the economic crisis brought about by a rather shortsighted view of success.

A butterfly emerges, Durvasa Junior disappears

Most of us know that IIT refers to the Indian Institute of Technology, India's premier Tech schools. I worked really hard, I count myself lucky to have earned a seat in IIT Mumbai in the Department of Computer Science.

Many of us may not know IIT also stands for Intense Inner Transformation. In IIT Mumbai, my life changed dramatically. I didn't just graduate with a B.Tech in Computer Science, I had my first introduction to The Art of Living and my dearest Guru; Poojya Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji.

Recently, Sri Sri was saying (Not verbatim, I have paraphrased based on my understanding) -
" Being with a Guru, is like being in a cocoon. You are protected. There are restrictions on the caterpillar inside the cocoon. It can't move as it wishes, it can't eat what it wants. All for a purpose ... to transform into a butterfly, that is beautiful to look at, that can fly around the garden! The cocoon enables the transformation"

This analogy struck a chord in me.

I recalled the time before I came to my Master - I was A shy, coarse, intense, angry, self-centred IITian who believed that life was unfair, that hardwork and honesty had no place in the world's scheme of things. I had a very short fuse. This led to my parents calling me 'Durvasa Junior' . (Durvasa was a powerful and learned sage in ancient India, who was known for his short temper and was more feared than revered).

I WAS angry...with myself, with my professors, with friends, with classmates, with the Mumbai locals trains for being so crowded and inefficient,. with the cab drivers and rickshaw drivers who never went where I wanted to go. ..... until I stumbled across The Art of Living course.

This was in early January 1993, when Mumbai was rattled by the communal riots in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition. A small group of 6 would travel each evening from Powai to Dadar for the course by bus, train, cab, whatever and return late at night. Each day, I would return refreshed, smiling and happy. The Sudarshan Kriya was a revelation. Never before had I experienced anything like this!! I dilligently practised what the teacher instructed.

Slowly but surely, the anger melted, the inhibitions dropped off, the intensity sharpened, a smile appeared on my face ! I found that situations that earlier caused me to blow my lid didn't do that anymore. People whom I used to despise earlier, were suddenly more acceptable (not totally). The cab drivers and rickshaw drivers - I could smile at them irrespective of what they said or did. I was at ease with myself.

I observed that when my mind was calm and pleasant, the world also appeared beautiful, I realised for the first time ' Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'.

What happened to Durvasa Junior ? Well, he start taking longer vacations when he found out that the Guru was working His magic.