Faith, Devotion and Meditation

Faith, Devotion and Meditation Faith is the subject of head; Devotion is the subject of heart; And meditation connects both. A mature intellect is devoted. A mature heart is full of Knowledge. And meditation matures your intellect as well as your heart. John: Yet people with good intellect seem to have less faith. Gurudev: Head puts more faith in matter and is analytical whereas, heart puts more faith in the abstract. It’s next to impossible that an intellectual person has total lack of faith or total lack of devotion. It’s only a question of maturity and balance. ✍News Flash: During Gurudev’s visit to Washington, D.C., Dr. Ganesh Prabhu, a leading cardiovascular surgeon, formerly of Johns Hopkins Hospital, wanted to evaluate the effects of Sudarshan Kriyā on Gurudev’s heart rate. He hooked Gurudev up to a halter monitor and together they did Sudarshan Kriyã. During the rest afterwards, Gurudev’s heart rate dropped to just two beats per minute and stopped completely twice. Even more 'impossible' was when Dr. Prabhu unhooked the monitor from Gurudev. Naturally, the monitor should have ceased recording. However, Dr. Prabhu was astonished that the monitor continued to record a heartbeat of 50 per minute for the next twelve hours. The monitor stopped recording only when Gurudev arrived at the L.A. airport and was greeted with a whole new group of devotees. Dr. Prabhu called Gurudev excitedly and asked, 'What happened, what happened?' Never in his career had he seen anything like this. Gurudev later commented that a Master can slow down or stop his respiration and heartbeat at will. The chairperson at a prominent medical university said that two heartbeats per minute is medically impossible. But we guarantee Gurudev is really alive! Gurudev arrived in Los Angeles for the long-awaited Summer Celebration with three hundred and fifty course participants and Ann McFadden at the helm of sixty people on sevã teams. Nine swamis who were our guests began an intensive sightseeing campaign, dragging Wally and John through Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Sea World starting at 8:00 in the morning. After a grand satsang in San Diego with the swamis, Gurudev spoke at a memorable Prayer Conference at the renowned Agape Centre in Santa Monica. Each speaker talked eloquently that evening about unity. Afterwards, Gurudev rose, paused for several moments, and declared, 'Unity is impossible.'The audience held its breath. He went on to say that in order for there to be unity, there has to be two, yet there is only One in the whole universe. People began breathing normally again. The next day, Gurudev gave a beautiful lawn talk at the Unity Church in Tustin. "All of your life becomes a meditation," he described. "Whether you look at the trees or the flowers or talk with people, you are in meditation." He encouraged people to stay steadfast with their daily meditation practices. After the talk, we all looked up and saw a big puffy heart in the clear blue sky. श्रद्धा, भक्ति व ध्यान विश्वास दिमाग का विषय है। भक्ति हृदय का विषय है। और ध्यान, दिमाग व हृदय दोनों को जोड़ता है। एक विकसित बुद्धि श्रद्धापूर्ण होती है। एक विकसित हृदय ज्ञान से परिपूर्ण है। ध्यान आपकी बुद्धि व हृदय दोनों में ही परिपक्वता लाता है। जॉन: प्राय: बुद्धिमान लोगों में श्रद्धा कुछ कम प्रतीत होती है। श्री श्री उनका विश्वास वस्तु-तत्व में अधिक होता है। दिमाग तत्व में ज्यादा विश्वास रखता है और हृदय अव्यक्त में भावों में। यह असम्भव है कि किसी भी बुद्धिजीवी व्यक्ति में श्रद्धा लेशमात्र भी न हो, भक्त्ति हो ही नहीं। प्रश्न केवल सन्तुलन और प्रौढ़ता का है। ~Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar