Spirituality and Writing – A Conversation with Author Ravi Valluri

Spirituality and Writing – A Conversation with Author Ravi Valluri Spirituality and Writing have an intrinsic connection. A lot of times books have the ability to change the minds of people. Let us know more about “Spirituality and Writing “. (BIO) Ravi Valluri is the CEO of Chattisgarh East Railway Limited and Chattisgarh East West Railway Limited. He is a multi-faceted personality who doffs several hats. The author is a faculty of Art of Living , conducts Happiness Program of the foundation , apart from conducting Yoga and Meditation sessions. He has been counselling alcoholics and drug addicts through Art of Living programs and his writings so that they can eschew the habit. Ravi Valluri has a penchant for writing both fiction and non-fiction works, theatre , debating , public speaking and has also learned Hindustani classical music ( and rues that he could not pursue this passion with vigor ). These days he is regularly writing a column for the prestigious newspaper The Pioneer, Delhi which is called First Column. His latest books have been Art of War to Art of Living ( which was among top 20 in the spiritual fiction category on Amazon) and A Story of Faith and Miracles ( a true account or his autobiography). Art of War to Art of Living has been recently translated in Hindi as well. All these works are available on Amazon apart from his other works. He can be reached on WhatsApp at 9618564024 and on email – Valluri.ravi@gmai’com. The couple that is the author and his wife Lakshmi Valluri ( also known as Red Pencil Editor) recently launched an online bilingual website called www.rustleofwords.in where published and budding authors can contribute articles , short stories, tales , micro tales, poetry , drabbles , sketches , photographs and paintings . Also along with another writing platform called Towards Literature, the author and Nikita Rajput are working on an anthology about revolutionary freedom fighters who fought for India’s freedom. Entries are welcome to the anthology in English language. So let us talk about spirituality and writing with Shri Ravi Valluri. Q1) Tell us about some books that have lead to your spiritual growth . Ans : One has to be on a spiritual path to gain access to such kind of books which transforms the seeker’s personality. A person has to find a Guru or some say Guru is waiting for you. In either case, one has to be in the presence and aura of a spiritual Master to receive wisdom and to be in Knowledge. It is an interesting paradigm- One is lucky to find a Guru and once you are protected by a Guru then you are lucky and blessed . My spiritual master is Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Thus reading his books like Celebrating Silence , Intimate Notes to a Sincere Seeker , Shiva Suktas , commentary of Yoga Vasishtha , Patanjali Yoga Sutras have enabled to plant the seed of spirituality in me. I have been fortunate that my parents were always in the presence of spiritual masters that the aperture was opened. Some of the books which were an eye opener for me include C Rajagopalchari’s Ramayana and Mahabharata , Romain Ronald’s works on RamaKrishna Paramahamsa , Swami Vivekananda , works of Swami Aurobindo and Mother , our religious texts like Bhagvad Gita and Mahatma Gandhi’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Other books include Paramahamsa Yoganada’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” , Man’s Eternal Quest , Divine Romance. Zen stories, Panchatantra and Amar Chitra Katha also played a role in fashioning my personality. Q2) Do you feel books have the ability to change someone’s lives. Ans : These books are steeped in knowledge and are full of wisdom. They are not merely some ordinary Life Coach books. They have a profound impact on the human mind to transform one’s personality. Repeated readings of such texts annihilate woebegone thoughts and demons from our minds and invoke the spirit of valour to become achievers. The story of Ramyana and Mahabharata are not merely templates of triumph of good over evil , but also evolves one’s personality to look at the positive side of life. These tales demonstrate through their narrative as to how even celestials, divine beings faced several misadventures in human birth but overcame obstacles through prayer , devotion and Tapas. The lives of Lord Rama , Pandavas are a pointer in this direction. They were exiled , faced enormous problems whilst in human birth , but came out triumphant. The story of Hanuman , Buddha , Shankaracharya , Jesus , Mahavira , Sikh Gurus are all so inspirational for people who are facing misadventures in life and how to face challenges and overcome obstacles. I will talk about three texts which all readers young and old should read with utmost devotion. Bhagvad Gita , Hanuman Chalisa and Sundara Kanda. Lord Krishna in the song celestial not only awakens a pusillanimous Arjuna to wage the war against fiendish forces( Kauravas) , but has spoken about various Yogas , Kriyas , about the very purpose of life and existence. Both Hanuman Chalisa and Sundara Kanda are classic examples of devotion , surrender and valour of Pavan Putra Hanuman to achieve the impossible when mentally disturbed. Q3 )”Yoga and Kriya.” are two important things in a person’s life. Tell us more about this to the young readers. Ans : The International Yoga Day 21st of June is round the corner so this an appropriate question. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word Yuj or conjoin. It implies union with the divine. These are not merely set of physical exercises but beyond that to move towards divinity , the cosmos and total relaxation of body and mind. There are several forms of Yoga but the most authentic and unalloyed is the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Yoga was bestowed to us by Lord Shiva. For mankind this was cognated through Maharishi Patanjali in his treatise Patanjali Yoga Sutras. Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. First codified by the sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras around 400 C.E, the practice was in fact handed down from teacher to student long before this text arose. Originally, this was a one-to-one transmission, but as yoga became popular all over the world we started having group sessions. Meditation and Kriyas are also an integral part of Yoga. To have an insight in these esoteric subjects a seeker or practioner has to necessarily learn it from a Guru , at a Gurukul or a certified Yoga school. Merely doing Asana’s will not help. It has to be accompanied with breathing techniques like Pranayama and even deeper the Kriyas , finally leading to meditation. There are eight limbs to Patanjali Yoga Sutras – These are yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). This is a profound and esoteric subject which only a spiritual master can speak on . We as teachers of Art of Living can bring a student to the spiritual Master. “ One aspect of the Yoga way is to provide us techniques to lead a stress-free life. On the other hand, Yoga is also the greatest wealth of humankind,” says Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Q4) What do you feel should be the mantra of one’s life. Ans: The cardinal Mantra of life today should be to have good health and empowering thoughts. We are emerging from a major scourge and several times variants of the Novel Corona virus appears which threatens to rock the boat. The pandemic claimed several thousands of lives, destroyed health care systems, economies and we ended up adding to our lexicon , words such as corona, pandemic, lockdown, social distancing, masks, Bipap machines, ventilator, remdesivir and vaccination to name some. Thus, health to my mind is the most important thing in life. This is the first Mantra. Buddha was to say,” Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.” It is a true blessing as advocated. The second Mantra is to have a positive frame of mind, empowering and enabling thoughts. “ If we have positive, loving thoughts, then our reality will be positive and loving. If we have negative, hateful thoughts, then our reality will be negative and hateful.,” Sakhya Munni Buddha was to say. Positive thoughts and health are intertwined. And we can count our blessings if we are able to have both. So, these two are singular Mantra’s in life. Rest would follow. Humans are hankering after money, fame, success, time, to become achievers etc, but without health and equanimity or positive thoughts we end up being physical and mental wrecks. Often we hear celebrities and stock individuals snuffing out their lives in an unexpected manner. Why does it happen? They do not have robust minds or health. Q5) Tell us more about your books and what inspired you to write on this topic. Ans : Well I write both fiction and non-fiction. I have written collection of short stories , full length novels , spiritual fiction , autobiography and on subjects like human mind, yoga , pranayama , meditation , Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his greatest gift to humanity the unique rhythmic breathing technique of Sudarshan Kriya. My fictional stories are based on our myths like Mahabharata, Panchatantra , Zen Stories with a twist in the present times . And non-fiction have been written on human mind and consciousness as I came out of the cesspool of alcoholism by practicing Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique and was blessed by Guruji to become an Art of Living Teacher. Through my writings I am trying to reach out to people who are suffering from addictions and are unfortunately weak minded. Jai Gurudev- Victory to the Big Mind.