Two Months in India

Wanted to share experiences from an unbelievable two months at the Bangalore Ashram.  I feel very lucky to have spent 6 of the 8 weeks at the Ashram with Gurudev.  

The first course we did was the Navratri celebrations and silence course.  I had great company with Vyom Ji (a local Austinite).  The Homas and Pujas were so powerful with so many people in our very own Yagnashala (the Ampitheater:  http://www.artofliving.org/bangalore-ashram/yagnashala).  Felt like we had upwards of 10,000 people there at one time during these events.  Thanks to Vyom's guidance, I took a couple of Sankalpas (sponsoring the Puja with Intention).  The depth of experience cannot be put into words.

The second course I took was the Vedic Wisdom course.  This month-long course included the sacred threading ceremony:  Upanayana.  Here's a video on the course:  Vedic Wisdom Program - The Art of Living.  We took a deep dive into sacred Mantra chanting and performing Pujas / Homas.  I also had a chance to complete an initial reading of the Bhagavad Gita text.  I look forward to continually studying this text and Gurudev's commentary.  We touched on Sanskrit and the basics of the language.  One of the most significant experiences of my life was our Padyatra journey to Andhra Pradesh (AP).  A group of 4 of us (all Americans) spent one week in AP and completed 4,000 blessings.  We met several villagers and used Yellamanchili as our home base.  An eye and heart opening experience.  We are hoping to raise $25k in the US to provide our host's village with a clean water system.  We are now actively working with the Art of Living's Deepening Roots / Adopt a Village program.  I'll share more soon.

The third course I did was Sri Sri Yoga TTC.  The Sri Sri Yoga TTC in India was intense...a true stretch, no pun intended :-)  I averaged about 3 to 4 hours of sleep per night for over two weeks.  We had exams at the end and I'm glad to share that I'm now a Sri Sri yoga teacher :-)  All I can say is, just do it!  TTC was awesome.

I am excited about seeing Gurudev again in Boone.  I hope many of us will be there to be with Gurudev.

Hope many from the US will join for Shivatri in 2014:  2/26 - 3/2:  http://www.artoflivinguniverse.org/2013/11/Maha-Shivratri-Celebration-2014-Bangalore-Ashram.html.