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April 2012FOREST FLOWER

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3June 2012FOREST FLOWER

CONTENTS

Main Article

How to Reduce Your Karmic Load Sadhguru on the Maya of the Many 4

MusingsWhos Responsible?

Sadhguru on the Idea of Good and Bad Energy 7

In Conversation with the Mystic

The Business of Environment - part 3 Sadhguru in Conversation with Seemantinee Khot and Jacques Rocher 8

News & HappeningsProject GreenHands Receives Tamil Nadu State Environment Award 10

Special FeatureNeutralize your Carbon Footprint!

Let Project GreenHands Plant Trees for You 11

Leela Series

The path of the playful part XXXII: 13

Krishna and the Women 3

News & HappeningsSadhguru in Singapore 15

Guru Sangamam A Confluence of Gurus 16

Isha Takes Up Higher Education 18

Sadhguru Spot

Cultivating Leadership at All Levels 19

Upcoming Programs and Events

Isha Yoga Program Highlights 20

Isha RecipesFor Healthy Living This Month: Soya Rice Flake Puttu 21

Zen Speaks: Something Valuable 23

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Excerpted from a Q & A session with Sadhguru

during the In the Presence of the Master

Meditators sathsang on 15 September 2009

at Mahima, Isha Institute of Inner-sciences,

McMinnville, Tennessee, USA

Q:Ive been reading what you said about karma, and

I am wondering if the only way to get rid of karma is

through an enlightened beings grace?

Sadhguru: Every moment of your life, whatever

you do, whatever you do not do, your karma is

dissolving you do not have to do anything about

it. The very life process is dissolution of karma. You

have a certain amount of allotted karma, which we

refer to as prarabdha. The prarabdha is working

itself out. The problem is, the dissolution can only

happen at a certain pace but the karma production

factory is working overtime, so karma is being piledup rapidly. If you look at a standard day in your life,

from the moment of waking till you go to sleep, how

much activity you actually do, simply working, and

how much you think up things what you think

up could be 50 times more than what you do. I am

being very conservative. So, you are producing 50

times more karma than you can work out. It is just

like calories. Lets say you are burning 600 calories

but you are eating 6000 calories it has to pile up

somewhere.

If you simply sit without producing any new karma,

still the allotted karma is working itself out. This

is the reason why spiritual atmospheres are made

in such a way that you do not decide when to eat,

what to eat. You do not choose, not because we are

against enjoying food, it is just that for the simple

act of eating, you otherwise produce a lot of karma

by desiring and thinking about it. After all, you can

only eat that much. I like food too; I enjoy food as

much as anybody can. But food should be on your

tongue or in your stomach, or, if you like to cook,

4

SADHGURU

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Ho to Reduce

Your Karmic Load

Sadhgr on the Maya of the Many

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it should be in the pan. Your head is not the place

for food. If you cook food, if you joyfully eat, if

you digest it and make it a part of yourself, you are

working out karma. But if you have food in your

head, you are creating karma. Please look like this

at every aspect of your life. On a daily basis, you

create 50 times or 100 times more karma than youare working out.

The simple process of life itself works out the

karma. Spiritual path means we want to set your

karmic process on fast-forward. We want to take

up more load of karma than what has been allotted

for this lifetime because we do not want to come

back and do the same thing again and again. We

want to just take up a big load and nish it off right

now. So, if you enter an active spiritual process,you suddenly may nd everything is moving at a

bewildering pace. Earlier, trouble used to come to

you once in six months. Now, every six hours, you

are in deep trouble, because your karmic process

is on fast-forward. This is a conscious choice you

have to make do you want to slowly work it

out, or do you want all the nonsense to be over as

quickly as possible?

Once you are on an active spiritual path, you will

see, you are in more trouble than ever before.

Only fools who have sanitized themselves from life

believe that spirituality means to be peaceful. No.

To be spiritual means to be on re inside, outside,

everywhere. It is not about being peaceful. Peace

will happen when you rest in peace. [Laughter]

Now is the time for exuberant life! People have given

up on an ecstatic way of living, they have given up

on a blissful way of living, they have given up on a

joyful way of living, they have even given up on a

loving way of living, so they have settled for peace

it is the lowest rung of pleasantness. This does not

mean I am against being peaceful it will naturally

happen when you feel pleasant within yourself.

Today, we are not seeing how to intensify life, we

are always seeing how to elongate life. Prarabdha

means a certain amount of karma that has beenallotted for this lifetime. Karma means a certain

kind of software that you unconsciously created.

Before you are born, from somewhere between

40 to 48 days after conception, this karmic ber is

tightening itself like a spring coil. Depending upon

the past information, the strength of your body, the

nature of your parents, the type of conception, and

various other factors, it chooses a certain amount

of information to be tightened into something likea coiled spring. If you simply sit here, your karma

will slowly unwind itself; you do not have to do

anything. The more still you sit, the faster it will

unwind itself. But because you are in activity and

you are piling up new karma, it unwinds itself at a

certain pace.

If we look at the tension in your karmic ber when

you are born, we can approximately tell you how

many years you will live. If you lead a normal life,we know it will work itself out at a certain pace and

this means that many years. That is if you do not

get smashed by a drunken driver, and if you do not

come in touch with any spiritual master. This has

been a common thing in India: when a child was

born, the rst thing people did was, they invited a

guru, yogi or sage to their house or took the child

to one because they wanted him to feel the child.

Today, generally, birthday parties have replacedthis; earlier, this was the most signicant thing.

If there was any over-tightening of the spring, he

could x it to ensure the childs well-being. But

still, a drunken driver could knock him down, some

crazy master could come and unwind him too fast,

or he could load up many lifetimes of karma onto

his present load. Accidents can happen, whether

you get hit by a truck or you end up in Isha Yoga.

[Laughter] So, karma works itself out at a certainpace, unless some aberration happens and it gets all

wound up once again, or for certain reasons it gets

released too fast.

Now, without taking care of the karmic ber, we

are just trying to elongate the physical life of a

human being because we have a certain amount of

mastery over biochemistry. Using medicine, surgery

and so on, we are trying to stretch the physical life.

This could be one of the major reasons for peoplelosing their memory and mental faculties beyond a

certain age because there is no software left, but the

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hardware is still kept up. It is like a dumb computer

do what you want, it just stares at you. If people, as

they are trying to enhance their physical life, also

strive to enhance the other dimension of their life,

if they had done a little bit of spiritual work, they

could live for 1000 years and still have software

because there is a warehouse of karma elsewhere

which has not been opened up right now; this iscalled sanchita.Or you could program yourself in

such a way that when your software is going away,

you also have the freedom to shed your hardware.

But now, with a replaced heart, kidney, knees, hips,

or whatever else, the hardware is still chugging, the

software is gone.

Karma essentially is a force by itself only because

of the maya or illusion of the many. As long asyou are established in this is me that is you,

karma is a well-established reality. If you look

around and you do not know which is you and

which is not you, the karmic structure collapses.

It is the maya of the many which keeps the

karma strong. If this is me that is you is well

established, karma is like a solid, real structure.

If you ever fell in love with somebody, suddenly

you started doing what you thought you could

not do because who is you and who is the

other is getting mixed up. If there is a little bit ofoneness between two people, the karma loses its

foundation, it is crumbling. Once you get into

a ght, suddenly all the karma stands up again;

you cannot give in an inch for that man or

woman anymore. This is the maya of the many.

The illusion of the many is the foundation of

karmic substance.

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Q:Sadhguru, you said that for example the linga in

Uttarkashi is still as if it was consecrated yesterday,

whereas the linga in the Thanjavur temple has a

receding, negative energy. How do we know that a

temple or space has good energy?

Sadhguru: Suppose someone is singing Carnatic

music, whichever way they sing, I would say for

ninety percent of the people here, as long as dumu-

dumu [refers to drums] is going on, it will be quite

okay. Probably only ten percent have a certain

keenness of listening. Even if they have not learnt

music, they notice if something is even a little bit

out-of-tune. For all others, dumu-dumu-dumu

is good enough music. If you listen to it keenly

enough, it is there for you to notice if something

is out-of-tune. But I would say at the minimum,ninety-eight percent of the people cannot make it

out. Some people may be trained, so they know. But

even if there is training, essentially, it is about the

keenness of listening. Even without training, if you

listen, you can simply know.

Similarly, to know how the energy is, you need a

certain keenness of perception; otherwise, you will

make all kinds of conclusions. If you dont like a

place, you will say, This is bad energy. This energy

talk has become a fad everywhere. Particularly in

the West and in the big cities in India, everybody is

talking about good energy and bad energy. Wherever

they are not doing well, they say it is because of bad

energy. That is one thing that we wanted to x with

Isha Yoga: There is no good energy, no bad energy.

When you are doing bad, you are doing bad thats

all. When you are doing good, you are doing good

thats all. This is very important: energy is neitherbad nor good. There are people who even make use

of so-called evil spirits for their wellbeing. Poison

can be medicine.

If you make yourself in a certain way, you will

attract all the positive things. If you make yourself in

a certain other way, you will attract all the negative

things. You will go to all the wrong places. All the

wrong situations will come to you. This is why we

said, Your life is your karma. That means it isyour making. What kind of place you go to; what

kind of people come to you; how your life unfolds

is essentially your making. If you keep yourself in

a certain way, naturally you will go to the right

temple, not to the wrong one. And even if you go

to the wrong one, there will be one right corner,

you will naturally go and settle there. That is how

life works.

Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru

Whos Responsible?

Sadhgr on the Idea of Good and Bad Energ

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88

Seemantinee: Whatever the root causes are,

whether business houses hold the purse strings,

whether it is a lack of political will or vested

interests of individuals, how should we go about it

and where do we start?

Sadhguru: There is no one place to start. One

important thing is, we need responsible movements

because today, the world is largely democratic.

Politicians and administrations depend upon

common people who cast their vote. The business

may have money, but the people have the vote,

which is the real thing. So it is very important

that we build a movement which can put enough

pressure both on businesses and law-makers in

the area. Normally, activists take a very violent,

anti-somebody kind of mode. But our lives are not

separate from each other; it is an integrated andconnected life. As an ecological movement, you

should not be against anybody; you should be for

everybody. Only somebody who is for all life upon

the planet, not just human beings, can take up

ecological work. But till now, eco-movements have

always been against somebody. This mode has to

change. The eco-movements and the activists have

to change and mature to a different level of activism.

One thing that we are proud of with the ProjectGreenHands movement apart from the planting

which has happened phenomenally well because of

peoples support is that it has bred so many other

movements. And the government of Tamil Nadu

itself is trying to outdo us now. This year, we are

planting sixty lakh or six million trees. They are

planting sixty-four [lakh]. We will make sure our

survival rate is very good. I am sure they will also try

their best. That is what is needed, that this becomespart of everybodys life. In the schools, the children

are talking about it. Once the children are talking

about it, they will make their parents eco-friendly.

All these things are not yet a solution but if they

become a movement, beyond a certain point, the

necessary laws will come. Without the necessary

laws, there is no solution; it is only cosmetic. We

can do it for our satisfaction, but there will be no

solution. I dont want to do this for my satisfaction.

I want to see that there is a solution somewhere.

Seemantinee: Sure. I think a point will come

where it will not be a choice any more lets not

wait until then.

Sadhguru: When that point comes, turning around

is not going to be easy. It is going to be at the cost

of millions and millions of lives. Not just human

lives; there are more precious lives on this planet

than human lives. The Living Earth statistics says,if all the insects on this planet die, the life on this

The Business of Environment Par 3

Excerpted from a recent edition of

the In Conversation with the Mystic

series, the following is the thirdpart of the episode The Business

of Environment, where Sadhguru,

Seemantinee Khot of Suzlon, a global

wind power company, and Jacques

Rocher of Yves Rocher Group, a

worldwide cosmetics and beauty

brand, discuss the question on how to

prevent the looming environmental

disaster.

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99

planet has only little more than twenty years before

it all disappears. If all the worms on this planet die

tomorrow morning, the life upon this planet has

only eight years left. But if you and I disappear, the

planet will ourish. [Laughter]

In our mind, we may be thinking that the life upon

this planet is human-centric. But life upon this planetis not human-centric. In natural terms, the worms

and insects, and the birds and the other animals are

far more important than human beings. Because

we as human beings have become the controlling

power, we think that we are the most important life.

This mindset has to change. We need to recognize

every life as life. For this, it becomes vital that

spiritual movements take up ecological concerns

because the essence of spiritual process is just this

seeing life as life, not seeing you as you and me

as me; just seeing all this as manifestations of life.

Unless humanity begins to recognize life as life, there

is no solution. This is the reason why spiritual process

is ultimately the only solution for the ecological

disaster that is looming upon us. Right now, all CSR 1

and ecological solutions are only oriented towards

making human life a little better. So laws are

needed. Laws will not come unless there are strongecological movements, responsible movements

which are oriented towards solutions, not to beat

somebody down. So far, movements always have an

enemy. But there is no enemy here except ourselves.

We are the enemy. We need movements that come

from this level of consciousness that we are the

enemy. Just movement on the street is not going

to help. It must be action-oriented and large-scale

to gain respectability in the world. Only then we

can change the laws. But right now, the problem

is, if one nation is willing to change the law and

restrict their country, the other one is not, they just

want to benet; so in the end, nobody is going to

do it. Who is to bell the cat is the whole problem

because there is no one body that can enforce the

law internationally.

At one time, we were building the United Nations

to a point where if something was really needed to

be done in the world, the United Nations could say

so. But in the last ten to fteen years, that has been

completely lost. Nations talk about self-interest, and

so do individuals. Now who should bell the cat? So it

must be a worldwide movement. Local movements

should learn to connect and create an international

movement. There must be so much pressure on the

governments that they will change the laws. All this

cannot happen in one day; it is a continuous work.But in our lifetime, we have to change enough laws

to at least stop those activities that are destroying

the environment at a very rapid pace. We cannot

stop the generator from roaring right now, it has to

roar, but we can change the law so that these ve

million trees that we plant dont go waste in three

days time. Like this, we could plan what laws we

need to bring in step-by-step in the next twenty-

ve years, so that it does not hurt us too quickly. Ifwe make too drastic changes, people will not take it.

If changes are step-by-step, you give them enough

time to understand why such a change has been

made, and bring the next one and the next one.

Jacques:From what I see, there are two problems:

one is the population we are seven billion on

the earth today. Two centuries ago, it was just one

billion. The second problem is consumption.

Sadhguru: Without reducing human population,

there is no solution. Whatever you do, they will

gobble it up. Instead of trying to reduce human

aspirations, it is better to reduce human population.

It is a much simpler thing to do. So we were

planning that in the villages, we take an oath, This

year, in our village, it will be a no-conception year.

[Applause] Just enjoy your honeymoon, dont make

babies [laughter and applause]. All these things

will take a lot of effort but if we dont control the

population, whatever you do will go waste because

the estimated population in 2050 is 9.5 billion. At

9.5 billion, all of us will have to live on forty percent

less resource than what we are enjoying right now.

When I say resource, I am not talking about gold,

diamonds, oil, and so on; I am talking about water,

food, and air to breathe. Forty percent less resource

that is why I said we give a legacy of disaster to our

children.

1 Corporate Social Responsibility; a concept whereby organizations take responsibility for the impact of their activities

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This is not going to change simply because of small

actions. Even if I plant a hundred million trees, it is

not something to be proud of or to think that my life

is fullled now, because that is still not the solution.

If I plant a hundred million trees, they will pull the

same number down in thirty-three days. So it doesnt

make any sense in some way, but still we have to

plant, we cannot give it up. We have to work forthe solution. But it is silly to believe that creating a

small solution already is thesolution for such a huge

problem. What we are doing by planting a hundred

and fourteen million trees is not a big solution. It

is like sending an ant to ght an elephant. But we

believe the brave ant will inspire. [Applause]

We cannot expect people to change by themselves.

Strict laws that take ecological concerns into

account have to be made. And above all, right

now, the whole world is driven by economics. In

this country, just about thirty years ago, the idea

of well-being was not just economics. Money does

not decide well-being. Well-being is determined by

various other aspects of your life. To bring that back

is what spiritual movements are striving for because

otherwise, there is no solution. The Living Earth

statistics says if every human being upon this planethas to have as much as an average American citizen

has, we need four and a half planets but we still

have only one.

To be continued

Project GreenHands (PGH) was awarded the

Environment Award for 2010 by the Government

of Tamil Nadu, Department of Environment.

PGH was recognized in the Environmental

Protection and Management Activities

category for its outstanding contributions in

creating environmental awareness and reversing

ecological degradation. The award was presented

by Mr. B.V. Ramanaa, Minister for Environment,

Tamil Nadu Government, at the GRT Grand

Hotel in Chennai. Criteria such as replicability

of the work, innovativeness, target groups suchas women, rural populations and the urban poor,

impact of the programs in relation to the resources

employed, and sustainability of the project were

assessed for the award.

This is not the rst award that PGH has received

for its environmental restoration efforts. In 2010,

PGH was awarded the prestigious Indira Gandhi

Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP) by the Government

of India. It also received the international Beyond

Sports Award for 2010, under the Sports for

Environment category, acknowledging PGHs

use of sports in rural areas to promote community

bonding and environmental awareness.

PGH is a grassroots ecological initiative

established by Isha Foundation, which aims to

take corrective measures to increase the green

cover, restore soil health and manage natural

resources appropriately. Towards this end, PGH

has thus far successfully overseen the planting

of more than fourteen million trees by over two

million volunteers. PGH is involved in an array ofrural and urban greening campaigns across Tamil

Nadu, and has over the years partnered with

the government, corporates, schools, colleges,

and NGOs in various environmental initiatives.

For further details, please visit the website

www.projectgreenhands.org.

ProJect GreenHands Receives

Tamil Nadu State Environment Aard

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11

Pollution the very word conjures up images of

trafc and factories bellowing smoke, of trash

and sewage, smog and soot. The impact of our

lifestyles on the environment goes far beyond our

immediate surroundings.

The idea of a carbon footprint was conceivedby scientists to measure an individuals impact

on the environment. Almost every activity we do

and every resource we consume releases carbon

dioxide (CO2). Before the industrial age, manmade

CO2 emissions were easily compensated by the

surrounding forests and trees that absorb carbon

dioxide, release oxygen, and store carbon.

With the beginning of the industrial age, the

burning of fossil fuels became the largest sourceof CO2 emissions. In addition, vast amounts of

forests were cleared to create agricultural land to

support exploding populations. Today, there just

arent enough trees to absorb the amount of CO2

released into the air.

What does carbon dioxide do?

Carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas in the

atmosphere; that means it retains heat radiatedfrom the sun. Manmade greenhouse gas is the

main factor for global warming. This leads to

climate change summers are hotter, there are

unseasonal rains, droughts or oods, winters are

colder and so on. This affects all life on earth

including our own.

How do we contribute to CO2emissions?

Apart from the pollution caused by vehicles we

drive, we contribute to CO2 emissions in the

following ways (among many others):

Electricity: The electricity we use ismostly produced by burning fossil fuels

(such as coal, gas, and oil), which releases

CO2. The more we use electrical and

electronic devices, the more fossil fuels

are being burnt to generate electricity,

and more CO2gets released.

Food: The food we eat is also a majorcontributor to our carbon footprint,

especially if it is highly processed and not

sourced locally.

Destruction of Forests: The creationof agricultural land, building sites, the

exploitation of timber, and mining are just

some of the activities done at the expenseof forests and trees.

Industrial Products:Most of the thingsthat we use are made in factories, using

minerals and fuel from the earth that are

not renewable, and are transported over

great distances.

All this and more contributes to your individual

carbon footprint. Did you know that an averageurban dweller in India is responsible for releasing

4 tons of CO2per year? We all have a collective

stake in our environments wellbeing.

What can we do?

There are many ways to reduce your carbon

footprint. One is by reducing the total amount

of CO2 you are responsible for. This means

consuming responsibly, recycling, using publictransportation or walking whenever possible,

using local and recycled products, eating less

processed and more locally sourced foods and so

on.

Another way is to enable the absorption of CO2.

Planting trees is the simplest, most effective

way to do this. A single tree is responsible for

sequestering one ton of CO2over its lifetime.You can become carbon-neutral, which means

that you completely erase your carbon footprint

Neutralize your

Carbon Footprint!

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12

by planting and nurturing the same amount of

trees that it would take to absorb all the CO2that

you are responsible for.

So lets start planting right away!

Project GreenHands, Ishas environmental

initiative, has now launched a new campaign to

mark the occasion of this World Environment

Day. The campaign aims at increasing awareness

about your carbon footprint and assisting you in

reducing your carbon footprint by planting trees

on your behalf. For just Rs. 50 per sapling, you

can get a tree planted and receive a tree planting

certicate that enables you to know exactly where

your trees are located. For more information,

please visit www.giveisha.org/pgh

Yes, Id like to have Isha PGH plant ...................................................... trees for me!

Amount: ............................................ Mode of Payment: Cheque DD

Name: ..............................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

Address: ..........................................................................................................................

Telephone number ........................................................................................................

Cheque/DD should be in favor of Isha Outreach, payable at Coimbatore.

Please ll out this form, attach it to your payment and send it to:

Project GreenHandsIshaYoga Center, Velliangiri Foothills,

Semmedu P.O., Coimbatore - 641 114.

For further details, please contact 94425 90062.

............................................. CUT HERE .............................................

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13

Krishna and the Women 3

What has happened so far: As a young girl,

Rukmini, a princess, saw Krishna for the rst time

when he was wrestling with Chanura and slew the

evil king Kamsa. Since then, she decided she wanted

to marry him and tried to get his attention. His

brother intended otherwise and wanted to get her

married to someone else to form a strategic alliance

and gain power. Rukmini was ercely determined

not to marry anyone else. Krishna came to know

about this and prevented her being married against

her will.

After a few years, another Swayamvara1 was xed

up for Rukmini. She made it very clear that she

was not going to marry anybody else but Krishna.

Rukminis determination and the way she fought

had spread all over and become a legend in herown time, that a princess was really standing up

and ghting her father, the emperor, her brother,

and everybody else to make manifest what she

loves. Never before had a princess stood up and

fought against so many forces. But Rukmini was

ghting and being successful. In the meantime,

Krishna and the whole population of Mathura had

to leave their town. In a great exodus, they all

went on a 2200-kilometers trek from Mathura to

Dwaraka. When they were going, a point came at

the river crossing where he had to risk his life; he

decided to sacrice himself to save others and went

back to Kalayavana2. When he was leaving, he told

Udhava, Death looks certain to me. Most probably

I will not come back. So just tell the people that

they must stick to dharma. Let them go and prosper

in Dwaraka but they must live righteously. Only

then, my life is worth sacricing.

And he made one last request: Dont allow this

to happen to Rukmini. If you dont go and get

her forcefully, she will kill herself. Gather a few

young men, go and forcefully take the girl and

bring her back to Dwaraka; let her live there.

Even if Im not there, at least let her not fall into

somebody elses hands. If before you reach there,

she is already dead, bring her ashes and establish a

shrine for her because the single-pointed love withwhich the girl has lived is very sacred. She is t to

be worshipped. And he left. It took more than a

miracle for Krishna to escape and to put an end to

Kalayavana. By the time he came back, everybody

believed that he was dead.

To fulll his word, an army of Yadavas went to

Vidharbha to get Rukmini. In the meantime, another

Swayamvara was happening, but with Udhavas and

Svetaketus help, Rukmini set up that she wouldescape from the temple and set re to herself on

the riverbank. By the time they brought her to the

riverbank, Krishna had made it back. He took her

with him and she was his wife for the rest of his life.

Rukmini rose in stature because of her single-pointed

blue madness. There are many stories to depict who

she was. Krishnas second wife, Satyabhama, was a

very proud and vain woman. She believed she was

the most beautiful, she believed she was the richestbecause her father was an extremely rich man

and she had all the wealth and the jewels that she

wanted. She wanted to display to everybody how

much she loves Krishna. So she decided that on his

birthday, she would weigh him in gold. She would

put him on one side of the scales and whatever his

weight was, she would put the equivalent of it in

gold on the other side, and then distribute that gold

Leela Series

The path of the playful

Part XXXII

2 Generally a festival of choice where a girl of marriageable age chooses amongst a list of suitors; in this particular case, it was a set-upaffair that did not leave Rukmini a real choice

2 Kalayavana was an asura (demon) who surrounded Mathura with his large army. Krishna departed to build the city of Dwaraka and

brought all his people there. Then Krishna returned and slew Kalayavana.

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14

to the people. This is called tulabara.It is something

that happens in temples: people weigh themselves

against butter, ghee, rice, salt, gram, or gold, and

then distribute it to people. You give your own

weight of whatever you can afford as a donation.

That is part of the tradition.

So Satyabhama set up a tulabara for Krishnaand said, I will give away his weight in gold.

Common people would be impressed but the blue

one was not impressed by such things. Krishna saw

her vanity. He went and sat in the scale. She knew

approximately what his weight was and had that

much gold ready. She put that gold on the scale but

it did not move a little bit. Something similar had

happened when he was a child. A certain demon

came and tried to carry him away. So Krishna

became extremely heavy and the demon just got

crushed and died with Krishna on top of him. In

kriya yoga, there is a way for a yogi to increase or

decrease his weight. There are many stories about

yogis who became as heavy as a mountain.

So Krishna increased his weight and sat in the

tulabara. Satyabhama put all the gold that she

thought would balance the scales, but it did not

happen. She asked her servants to bring all thejewelry she had. One by one, she put the pieces

on the scale, hoping it will work. Finally, she put

everything there, even whatever she wore. But the

scales did not move. She started weeping because

it was a shame. The whole town had gathered

there for this ritual, but she who had always been so

proud of her fortune and riches did not have enough

gold. She did not know what to do. A person that

she had always been a little jealous of and whom

she had trouble with was Rukmini. But out of her

desperation, she looked at Rukmini and said, Sister,

this shame is not just for me this is for you, me,

and everybody. What to do? Rukmini looked at

the situation and just went, took three leaves from a

tulasiplant, put it on the scale, and Krishna went up.

Rukminis love was celebrated in many ways

because she did not waver for a moment. Because

of Krishna, she faced various kinds of situations that

she would otherwise have never faced as a princess.

Had she married any other man, any other prince or

king, she would have lived a comfortable life. But

being married to Krishna, she went through many,

many upheavals that a princess is not supposed to

go through. But not for one moment did she falter.

She constantly maintained her madness about the

blue one. Krishna valued this very much. In another

situation where he was risking his life to save a

sinking ship, he also told people, If somethinghappens to me and I dont come back, she must be

regarded as a goddess. You must build a temple for

her because she is worthy of that.

Almost everywhere in the world, the earth has been

considered as the mother; the earth is always looked

at as feminine. Since we are talking about Krishnas

woman whether it was his wife or the gopis or any

other woman that he met, he said, The moment I

meet a woman, whether she becomes my mother or

my sister or my lover or my wife is left to her. But as

far as I am concerned, I build an altar around her. It

is up to her how she handles her res.

To be continued

Excerpted from a talk by Sadhguru during Leela,

the path of the playful, a unique exploration withSadhguru into the mystical realm of Krishna that

took place at Isha Yoga Center in September 2005

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Sadhguru in Singapore

Sadhguru in Singapore

Singapore a beautiful tropical island state and truly

a melting pot of cultures. From 31 March to 1 April,

it witnessed the rst ever Shambhavi Mahamudra

program conducted by Sadhguru in the city-state.

The event had people coming in from China, Japan,

Germany, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, and even

Canada.

Day One began with a thunderstorm! But nothing

could dampen the spirit of the Singapore volunteers,

who were organized to the T. Months and months

of planning, meetings and running around nally

culminated in a beautiful beginning to the program.

With 500 participants and 250 volunteers, the

whole venue complex was abuzz! The whole space

seemed lled with the loving care given by the

volunteers who created the perfect atmosphere forthe participants to drop everything else and begin

their inward journey.

There was pin drop silence as Sadhguru entered

the hall until then, the participants had only

seen him on video and photos. While most were

in anticipation, some were already in tears, some

smiled gleefully and others just looked on. Sadhguru

had them laughing one moment and stunned in the

next, pensive in one and jaunty in the next. Theparticipants were fully involved, and Sadhguru

charmed everyone with his humor and wit to

explore their own being.

How deeply they had been touched by the end of

these two days was clearly written on the faces

of both participants and volunteers. In fact, some

volunteers were already heard planning, in hushed

voices, for Sadhgurus next visit to the island

Sadhguru about his visit to Singapore

(excerpted from Sadhguru Spot of

4 April 2012):

This was the rst initiation after the InnerEngineering Online program in this part of

the world. Participation was great but the

cutest part of the event was to have ten to

twelve participants from China who would

not understand a word of English. They

arrived with a translator, went through the

preparatory steps with our local teacher, and

went through the initiation process also with

translations. They have been following Isha

activity for the last one year on the web. Their

longing to know, intensity of participation and

exuberance of experience was truly touching.

This was beyond words communication with

me for them.

Singapore is an extraordinary nation; a nation

without any great resource, but smart anddisciplined handling has made it into a great

nation. A place where business is pleasure.

Just a little over seven hundred square

kilometers, 4.5 million people, a trillion

dollar economy with a per capita income of

over 60,000 Singapore dollars. It is a success

story without compare. A nation that is very

environmentally aware with stringent laws to

protect the ecosystem. India has more than a

lesson to learn from this little nation.

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Guru Sangamam A Confluence of Gurus

Guru Sangamam, a conuence of leading gures

of indigenous spiritual movements in the country,

was convened on Thursday, 12 April 2012, at the

Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi. This

unique confederation of gurus was formed on

6 January last year. In a single year, the event has

expanded from a meeting of seventeen spiritual

gures to include over a hundred like-minded gurus,

spanning a spectrum of traditions, from Hindu to

Jain, Sikh to Buddhist.

The event brought together several leaders of

eminence, such as Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri

Deshikendra Mahaswami (of the Suttur Math,

Karnataka), Swami Chidanand Saraswati Maharajji

(of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh), Dr. Lokesh

Muni (of Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti), Jathedar Gyani

Gurbachan Singh (of Akal Takht), the Gyalwang

Drukpaji (of the Drukpa Order, Ladakh), among

others, and Sadhguru of course.

In the day-long meeting, several issues relating

to the promotion and preservation of Indian

spirituality were deliberated. Sadhguru about the

objectives: The idea is to present India as a spiritual

gateway to the world, to make all dimensions of

spirituality available on one platform. Another veryimportant factor is that this initiative should protect

the spiritual process, so that it does not become

exploitative. It is also an effort to make spiritual

leadership a more effective possibility in the world.

The gathering further discussed the possibility of

evolving a comprehensive web portal that presents

the varied spiritual traditions of the country. The

panelists also touched upon how to promote Guru

Pournima as a celebration of national signicance.

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17

Sadhguru about the Guru Sangamam (Excerpted

from Sadhguru Spot of 18 April 2012):

India as a land, as Bharat, as Hindustan, is something

which has been recognized for over 12,000 years.

Though at many times, we have been over 200

political units within the subcontinent, everywhere

in the world we were always recognized as onenation. Politically, we were different and culturally,

we are so different. Every few kilometers that you

travel in this country, you will see that we look

different, dress different, eat different we are

different in every possible way. But still, what has

held us together as a nation for thousands of years

is just the fundamental spiritual thread; that every

human being born in this land is seeking his ultimate

wellbeing or his liberation.

Over the last thousand years, external invasions

have come and tried to dominate this culture in so

many ways. This is the only country where after

hundreds of years of occupation, the invaders still

could not change the fundamental ethos because

spirituality did not have one organizational

head. It was not one organization or an authority

transmitting the spiritual process. Every family

was a spiritual process by itself. From parents tochildren, the spiritual process went on. For the rst

time, we are reaching a place where parents do not

know what to tell their children. For the rst time,

we are facing a generation of people who may not

pass the spiritual process on to the next generation.

So the responsibility and the place that spiritual

leaders of today have is much bigger than it ever

was in the past. This is the fundamental reason for

Guru Sangamam.

Never before has the world been as ready for what

India has to offer because everywhere else in the

world, there is an imposition of belief systems. This

is the only culture which has always encouraged

seeking. It does not matter what the scriptures

say, what the gurus have said, what the avatars

have said, an individual person can still seek his

own truth. In ancient times, people always looked

up to somebody to be told what to do. But for therst time, humanity is in a place where everybody

wants to seek; everybody wants to craft his own life

outside and inside within himself. So we have put

Sanatana Dharma on a larger span as it was originally

meant; that Sanatana does not only mean eternal, it

also means universal and all-inclusive it does not

exclude any human being.

The idea of forming a Guru Sangamam like this is topresent to the world that our diversity is not against

each other, our diversity is a possibility, so that every

human being has his own way of seeking. There has

been such a tremendous repository of knowledge,

possibilities and methods for human emancipation

and wellbeing. I feel it is time we assimilate and

present this on one platform. This does not mean

each spiritual leader has to give up what he is doing

and do the same thing. Everybody does their thing,but we state the many ways for the same purpose to

be fullled. A human being needs this one way is

never going to work for all human beings.

India has always been the spiritual gateway, but we

have been losing that in the last 30 years. What the

sword and gun could not do, MTV is doing. So it is

time that we present ourselves on a platform where

all varieties are available for people to choose. And

today, the internet is one of the biggest platformsupon which people assemble people meet, mingle

and exchange ideas. Every day, about 400,000

people type the word spiritual on the net. So it is

time we present the spiritual traditions of India on a

powerful platform, that if anybody seeks spirituality,

this should be the direction that they turn to. We

have already xed the date for the next meeting for

April 4, 2013 and we are very sure there will be over

500 representatives from across the world. We canestablish this if all of these leaders stay together and

make this happen, and this is very much a doable

thing; the necessary technology and competence are

with us.

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Indias education sector boasts a large number

of schools and colleges, however, the quality of

education in the country needs improvement.

Embracing the responsibility of rectifying this

situation, Sadhguru has, for close to a decade, guided

the growth and blossoming of Isha Home Schooland Isha Vidhya education initiatives.

With the experience and success of these initiatives,

moving towards higher education was a natural step.

Earlier this year, the Mahendra Educational Trust

(MET), a Tamil Nadu based group of educational

institutions, invited Isha Education (Isha

Foundations education trust) to partner with them

to improve the quality of education offered in their

institutions. The agreement signed on 6 May callson Isha to help enhance major processes ranging

from admission, to the teaching-learning process,

industry-focused training, and placement. Isha will

be closely involved in every aspect from enhancing

the teaching quality provided to teaming up with

corporate companies to enhance employability,

innovation, and research & development.

The Mahendra Educational Trust is a respected group

of institutions that includes Engineering Colleges,an Arts & Science College, Polytechnic Colleges,

Teacher Training Institutes, and High Schools in

and around Salem, Namakkal and Thiruchengode,

in the state of Tamil Nadu. Offering undergraduate

and postgraduate programs which are currently

afliated to Anna University, the colleges also

equip students with valuable skills such as language

uency and problem-solving techniques.

This initiative is a big step towards creating a brighter

future for students, industry, and society. In the

coming years, Isha will take up more such initiatives

and will play a signicant role in redening the

quality of technical education in colleges in the

country.

We invite you to join us as students,

resource persons, technical experts,supporters or ambassadors of this endeavor!

For admissions, please contact:95427 12345, 95248 12345, 95788 12345

For other inquiries regarding this project:94878 95001

Isha Taes Up Higher Education

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The more powerful are always bullying the less

powerful. Whether it is in the form of nations,

communities or individual human beings, bullying

is happening everywhere, all the time. We havestructured the world in such a way that if you do not

learn to bully, at least in societys eyes, you wont

get anywhere. Bullying can either be crude, just on

the strength of muscle, or it can be done in subtle

ways, but it is happening all over the place. I want

you to understand, the world, the international

situation, is not any different from the street corner.

The strong lean on the weak in so many ways. It

is still a cavemans world of survival of the ttest

conducted in a more cunning manner. It is not

straightforward.

Leaders are always bullies who know how to

elbow their way through everything and then st

you down in some way. We have set up a system

like that in the world, where only bullies can be

leaders. Because we have not produced the right

kind of leaders, bullies are considered leaders.

Compassionate human beings people with a larger

vision of humanity are not considered leaders; they

are considered philosophers in this world. They are

dismissed as visionaries. This has to change, but it is

not going to change overnight.

We are in the process of starting an Isha LeadershipAcademy with various programs that will nurture

and develop leaders. We are launching this in

grand fashion at the end of the year. Right now

in this country, if a good leader comes up, people

will worship him. But different tiers of leadership

do not exist. So, one of the important things is to

produce many tiers of leaders which will support

the main leadership. Leadership should not be in

the Parliament or legislature alone. On the street,

at home, in your ofce, wherever we need peoplewho take charge of situations. We want to offer

programs to people at all levels because anybody

who can impact ve to ten people is a leader.

This needs a lot of work on humanity. General

statements and slogans on the street will not help;

it needs pointed work on individual human beings,

but there has not been enough infrastructure to do

that kind of work.

19

Cultivating Leadership at All Levels

Excerted om Sadhgr Spot of 11 April 2012

Visit: Sadhguru.org/spot for weekly updatedMusings from the Master

Sadhguru SpotSadhguru SpotMusings from the Master

Musings from the Master

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Program Highlights

These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise. Current at the time of print, however subject to

change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.

Date Program Place Contact

7 - 10 Jun 2012Inner Engineering Retreat

Residential Program

Isha Yoga Center,

Coimbatore, India

0422-2515421maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org

9 - 10 Jun 2012Shambhavi Mahamudra

Conducted by Sadhguru

ExCel, London,

UK

+44-7765567347

info@sadhguruinlondon.com

15 - 17 Jun 2012Inner Engineering

with Sadhguru

HITEC City,

Hyderabad, India

98666 61196

hyderabad@ishafoundation.org

17 Jun 2012 Pancha Bhuta AradhanaIsha Yoga Center,

Coimbatore, India

0422-2515426, 94878 95878

pba@ishafoundation.org

21 - 24 Jun 2012Inner Engineering Retreat

Residential Program

Isha Yoga Center,

Coimbatore, India

0422-2515421maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org

22 - 24 Jun 2012Sadhguruvudan

Isha Yoga (in Tamil)

Pondicherry,

India

83000 16000

pondicherry@ishayoga.org

29 Jun - 1 Jul 2012Sadhguruvudan

Isha Yoga (in Tamil)Nagercoil, India

83000 66000

nagercoil@ishayoga.org

15 - 21 Jul 2012Isha Summer Program

for Children

Isha Institute of

Inner Sciences,

USA

+1-931-570-4438

childrenscamp.iii@ishafoundation.org

17 Jul 2012 Pancha Bhuta AradhanaIsha Yoga Center,

Coimbatore, India

0422-2515426, 94878 95878

pba@ishafoundation.org

26 - 29 Jul 2012Inner Engineering Retreat

Residential Program

Isha Yoga Center,

Coimbatore, India

0422-2515421maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org

11 - 12 Aug 2012Shambhavi Mahamudra

Conducted by Sadhguru

Melbourne,

Australia

+61-433643215

australia@ishayoga.org

24 - 26 Aug 2012Inner Engineering

with Sadhguru

Guindy, Chennai,

India

83000 42000

programinfo.chennai@ishayoga.org

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21April 2012FOREST FLOWER

Isha Recipes For Healthy Living

SOYA RICE FLAKE PUTTU

METHOD OF PREPARATION

Place half a teaspoon of ghee in a pan and add the soya flakes. Saut till it gives a nice aroma.Remove from heat, allow to cool.

In the same pan, add the rice flakes and roast on medium-low heat till they turn crispy. Allowto cool.

Put the sauted soya flakes in the jar of a mixer and grind into a powder. Transfer into a broad-based vessel. Now put the cooled rice flakes in the jar of the mixer, grind to a powder, and addthat to the broad-based vessel as well.

Put the salt in a cup and mix in cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle this solution on the powderedingredients and mix everything well together.

Place 2 cups of water to boil in a deep pan and add the washed dal. Cook on medium heat tillthe dal is just done. Take care that it is not overcooked. Drain in a colander.

To make a syrup, place the jaggery in a small pan, pour just enough water to cover it, boil untilit foams and strain it. Transfer the syrup into a large pan and add to it the powdered flakes andboiled dal.

Grate the coconut and add to the pan. Cook on low heat for a few minutes and add thecardamom powder.

Heat the remaining ghee in a small pan and saut the cashew nuts in it till lightly browned.Add cashew nuts with ghee to the puttu. Stir well and cook till everything is well blended.Remove from heat and serve.

INGREDIENTS

cup Thin soya akes cup Thin rice akes (aval)2 teaspoons Ghee (or gingelly oil) teaspoon Salt cup Split pigeon pea (toor dal) cup Grated jaggery Fresh coconut

teaspoon Green cardamom powder10 Cashew nuts

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Note: This method of preparation does not require steaming the puttu in a

cylindrical form.

Tip: Makes for a nice breakfast. Best served hot. Goes well with banana.

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22April 2012FOREST FLOWER22

22

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