ALCOHOLISM TO SOBRIETY – GRACE OF THE MASTER

ALCOHOLISM TO SOBRIETY – GRACE OF THE MASTER Astrologers and soothsayers blamed my quotidian drinking problem on malefic planetary configurations and the stars, clairvoyants postulated theories that it was ill fated - Karma, science opined that alcoholism was perhaps genetic. In our family some relatives had been alcoholics. An uncle fought back through the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and others regrettably succumbed to the pestilence. The fact of the matter was that I had a severe drinking problem and like all alcoholics was in denial mode. Substance abuse, smoking and alcohol have a calamitous effect on human body, mind and soul. Rehabilitation is an arduous and a painstaking task which necessarily required Divine intervention. Today, I recall those wintry weekends of Bikaner, when I hit the bottle after performing a part of my official work where I was in charge of passenger and freight operations. All those involved have to be extremely sharp and alert and here I was mixing my work with alcohol. A typical weekend meant speaking to my bosses at Delhi with a mixture of false bravado but primarily trepidation, over several packets of cigarettes, taking a quick shower, a light breakfast and then settling down with my precious bottle of gin. Year after year, starting somewhere in 1995 to end-2006, I was drinking like a fish and smoking like a chimney. Science vouchsafes for professional help. But the addict is absolutely oblivious to any help and is cocooned in a world of self-denial and arrogance, refusing any form of help and shuts all doors. I have seen it happening with myself and a few colleagues who sadly succumbed to the pestilence. When the addict surrenders to Divine mercy it is only then the almighty manifests in the form of himself, a Guru or medical/professional help. MIRACLES some years later The time was 11 a.m. I was drafting a letter in my airconditioned cubicle. My personal assistant pressed the buzzer and mentioned that someone from Britannia Industries wanted to meet me. The gentleman hailed from Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. He was planning a trip to Tirumala (the abode of Lord Narayana) and sought help for an emergency quota by train. During our conversation, I mentioned that in the year 2005, I had worked on Guntakal Division of South-Central Railway. Guntakal is essentially a railway town which was once with Central Railway, then Southern Railway and now is a strategic division (business unit) of South-Central Railway. A large number of freight and passenger trains crisscross the jurisdiction of this division. It is an important freight loading point and a money-spinner for the railways. The town does not have much to offer, but the division houses several important pilgrim, religious, spiritual places like Tirupati, Srikalahasti , Mantralayam , Pannapakam and Kadiri among others which are singular religious spots in the rugged and arid area of Rayalseema which attract the faithful in humungous numbers. Adjoining Guntakal Division is the Bangalore Division of South Western Railway. Prashanti Nilayam of Shri Sathya Sai Baba is located in Bangalore Division of South Western Railway. At Bangalore, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has established the Art of Living International Centre. Thus, there are a large number of places of spiritual importance which are located in the vicinity of Guntakal. We were broadly recalling the importance of these significant places. Then the visitor mentioned a famous Hanuman Temple at Guntakal, which I had forgotten to recall. Every railway officer who joins Guntakal Division first offers obeisance at the Hanuman Temple before joining duty. Lord Hanuman is the perfect devotee. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says “Only one who is strong can surrender”. Lord Hanuman the mighty warrior surrenders effortlessly at the feet of his Lord - Sri Rama. If you think about it this aspect of Surrender and Strength is one of the biggest lessons that lord Shani is attempting to teach us. There is a verse in the Hanuman Chalisa that says राम दुआरे तुम रखवारे। होत न आज्ञा बिनु पैसारे॥ rāma duāre tuma rakahvāre। hota na āgyā binu paisāre॥ This verse in literal translation means “You are the one who guards the door of Lord Rama and no one can enter it without your permission or command”. The deeper significance is Lord Hanuman is called Vayu Putra - the son of the wind God Vayu. Sage Parashara teaches us that the planets are the avatars of Lord Vishnu. Lord Rama is connected to the planet Surya - Sun. The Sun represents our soul, the inner light. To reach the Sun God (Rama) we need the permission of Lord Hanuman (Vayu). So, through the practice of Pranayama (Vayu) we are able to activate the Ajna chakra (third eye) and that is the door way to Lord Rama (soul, inner light). That is also the reason why the worship of Lord Hanuman is one of the most powerful remedies for Saturn related problems. Saturn is Darkness, Sun is Light. So, through Lord Hanuman (Vayu) we get access to the Light (Sun). When there is light there is no darkness Thereafter our conversation veered to Mantralayam. Mantralayam is the place where Shri Raghavendra Swami entered Tejaroopa (spirit) in 1671 AD. That is where he was interned in a tomb upon attaining Samadhi. The faithful believe that Raghavendra Swami would be in the state of Tejaroopa for a period of 700 years. Raghavendra Swami succeeded his Guru Sudheendra Teertha as the head of the Mutt and served the Mutt from 1621–1671 propounding the Dwaita philosophy. He is also believed to be an incarnation of Bhakta Prahalad. If one looks at any photograph of Raghavendra Swami and the seeker is struck with the images of the trinity of Hanuma-Bhima-Madhva and Raghavendra. There is a tradition at all Mutts of Raghavendra Swami about the lineage, of Hanumanji, Bhima, Madhavacharya and then Raghavendra Swami. This is how the Divine spirit magically flows between these mystical figures. And they are all connected with breath. And breath has a bearing on the mind. Born Venkana Bhatta in 1595 to Gopikaamba and Thimanna Bhatta, he was married to Saraswati Bai. Following this discussion over a cup of tea and some Brittania biscuits, the gentleman left. No sooner had he left, within a matter of a few minutes, someone entered my room, with the Prasadam of Raghavendra Swami. This was inexplicable! For things to materialize, we need to develop a highly positive intent. This positive intent sends signals to the Universe and inn return the Universe conspires to provide us with what we really need. However, for the cycle to continue, humans need to be extremely grateful. This is no rocket science. It is not so distant from our inner self. This is an intuitive ability which we need to develop and harness. Yoga is not just performing merely Asanas. It has eight limbs to it — Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and then reaching a state of Samadhi. Samadhi is the state of complete bliss. It is in that state, miracles keep occurring seamlessly. Several years ago, when I was posted at Guntakal, when I was an established alcoholic. Along with my maternal aunts, I went to Raghavendra Swami Mutt at Mantralayam. I smuggled a bottle of liquor in that state of hubris. My mind was fixated on the bottle and was conspiring to circumnavigate the rules of Brindavan so I could consume the spirits. This is the character of the monkey mind. Brindavan is the place where Raghavendra Swami is in Samadhi in his Tejaroopa (spirit). There was an unbearable stench in my room. To my amazement, the bottle cracked and the liquor had leaked from the bottle. The seal was not broken. Everything was drenched with liquor except my puja material and the notes of the Art of Living Part 1 course. Thus, Satan cannot affect what is pure and Divine. This too was a miracle. However, the human mind ignores and rubbishes such claims. Years later, while travelling by a special train, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar smiled in his inimitable manner and gave me Mantralayam Prasadam as we crossed Kurnool district. This is the area where Mantralayam is located. Yet another miracle had occurred, I realized. Faith is an integral part of any miracle. Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. It is a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion based on spiritual conviction than proof. When the tunnel is really dark and our mind is plagued by fear, we deeply pray for a miracle to happen so that we do not get subsumed by the vortex of negative power and thinking. While thinking negatively, we transmit negative signals to the Universe and thus in return we get shrouded by unfortunate events. Thus prayer, faith and miracles are all intertwined. But for all these to happen, the intent of the human needs to be extraordinary. ‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle,’ wrote Albert Einstein. Positive Thinking to all our readers. Jai Guru Dev MY RECOVERY Sometime in November 2003, my wife registered my name for the Part 1 course of the Art of Living at Jaipur, which I attended. Upon completion of the course that Sunday, I rang up my mother and could discern palpable happiness and gratitude in her voice. After years, her son had spoken in a sober condition over a weekend. Tears of gratitude flowed for the Master (HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar), who cognated the unique breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya. A few years later, in 2010 when my mother met Guruji, the only questioned he asked her was, ‘Amma, are you happy?’ I had quit drinking by then. It is essential that a participant who undergoes the Part 1 course (now called the Happiness Programme) should attend the weekly follow up of Long Sudarshan Kriya apart from practicing the short Sudarshan Kriya every day without fail to derive full benefits of the programme. The participant should also attend different programmes from the bouquet of courses designed by Guruji and imparted by the Art of Living Foundation. Unfortunately, I did not attend the weekly follow-up schedule, nor did I attend the Advanced Meditation Course. Though the organizers of the course were quite considerate in agreeing to accommodate me as a non-residential participant in a residential programme, so that my dependency on Bacchus would reduce. My mind was transfixed as to how I would be able to survive the evenings without alcohol and the desperation for cigarettes during the day. Primarily, these were all self-erected impediments which I had yet to overcome. Though I did not attend the weekly follow-ups nor participate in any other course of the Art of Living, by the grace of Gurudev, I continued to practice the Short Sudarshan Kriya at home daily. Why that happened, is a mystery! My wife and father took me to a liver specialist in Hyderabad a few years later. The doctor exclaimed and wondered as to how I was moving around given my history of drinking! My answer was that I practice Short Sudarshan Kriya every day (despite consuming alcohol), drink plenty of buttermilk and consume Liv. 52. She acknowledged that Sudarshan Kriya did have immense therapeutic value and benefits. Several medical practitioners agree that this rhythmic breathing technique increases the level of prana (chi), helping it to virtually permeate into each cell of the body. The week-long Kriya session imparts a tremendous boost to the immune system and totally detoxifies the human body. There have been studies conducted in AIIMS, NIMHANS and several other hospitals which corroborate this point of view. During my stint at Guntakal Division on South Central Railway, I happened to visit the Mutt of Raghavendra Swami at Mantralayam. The alcoholic mind smuggled a bottle of gin and a few cigarettes into the precincts of the holy shrine. After paying obeisance at the shrine, I was desperate to consume liquor in my room at the Mutt. I was shocked to see the bottle absolutely empty. There was no crack in the bottle nor was the seal tampered with or broken, yet the entire alcohol was spilt outside on the carpet and my clothes. Only my puja material and the notes of part 1 of the Art of Living course which I had jotted down at Jaipur were spared. To me, this was a strong manifestation from the divine. This was no hallucination, but a clear message sent to me by Raghavendra Swami and Guruji that enough was enough! I had to singularly abstain from drinking. The seeds of change were being slowly implanted. Some months later, as the winter chill was setting in, November 2006 to be exact, I started having apparitions of HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sathya Sai Baba virtually every day, exhorting me to give up alcohol. Now these are things which a rationalist, atheist, or even science would ridicule. But those nights were quite wretched. I was drunk and kept dreaming of Gurudev and Baba. Through all of this, every morning, even though I was literally a zombie, I practiced Sudarshan Kriya. Then quite miraculously, by the grace of the Master, I stopped drinking in early December 2006. It is once again purely his grace that I have not touched alcohol despite all provocations. It is now nearly ten years of sobriety. Guruji asked me to share my story with the whole world in order to motivate them to take to this path of Happiness. By his grace several railway men have done the course across the length and breadth of this country with startling benefits. We have testimonials of drivers giving up smoking, drugs and alcohol. Similarly, loco pilots who could barely sleep and only saw signals in their dreams, now enjoy a sound night’s sleep. This has been video graphed by a former divisional railway manager of Trichy. Such is the power of the Sudarshan Kriya. If the Indian Railways is the lifeline of the nation, Sudarshan Kriya is the life force. Regular practice of Sudarshan Kriya and surrender to Gurudev has transformed the lives of millions across the globe. Let everyone experience Hhis grace. In February 2014, I travelled with Guruji by a special train —Sri Sri Express. Anugraha Yatra travelled across the then undivided Andhra Pradesh. The moment we crossed Kurnool, Guruji gave me Prasadam from Mantralayam. I was taken aback and reminded of the incident at Rayar’s Mutt (Raghavendra Swami’s Mutt), where I had carried liquor into the holy precincts. I thought to myself if Rayar taught the theoretical aspects of the science of breath, Guruji provides the practical explanation. It is only divinity which transcends body, mind and spirit. Guruji spreads waves of happiness and transforms lives of millions through the unique breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya. The grace should keep flowing across the globe. In the song celestial, the dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the fabled archer was to say - Arjuna uvacha madanugrahaaya paramam guhyamadhyaatmasamjnitam yattwayoktam vachastena moho'yam vigato mama // 11.1 // Out of compassion towards me, you have spoken words of ultimate profundity concerning the Self and they have dispelled my delusion. And thus, witnessing the Lord’s Vishwarupa Darshan, Arjuna is emboldened and is able to shrug off despondency and pusillanimity. There is an outpouring of a similar experience by regularly practicing the unique rhythmic breathing technique of Sudarshan Kriya which clears the cobwebs from ones mind. Guruji says, “ Rama is the light in one's heart. When the light within is born, life is filled with love & completeness. While Rama is wisdom, Lakshmana is awareness, Bharata is brilliance & Shatrughna is one without an enemy.” Gurudev spreads waves of happiness through various programmes of the Art of Living and ignites the light in our inner self . So one should spread the message , attend the course , heal oneself and become mentally robust. Jai Guru Dev- Victory to the Big Mind