Expand Your Vision by Art of Living Retreat Center

E XPAND YO URVISIO

INSPIRATION TO UPLIFT YOUR DAY

Distributed by Art of Living Foundation Design and composition by Divyakshi Kedia

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born in 1956 and raised in South India where he studied classical Indian literature and received a degree in modern physics. Since 1981, Gurudev has been teaching breath-based meditation techniques for health and well-being.

In addition to helping individuals find inner harmony, Gurudev’s vision of personal and social transformation has ignited a global movement in over 180 countries. He has been instrumental in bringing leaders and communities together to promote peace in conflict-stricken areas such as Colombia, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Venezuela, and others. His trauma relief workshops have benefitted over 30,000 war-affected individuals: Syrian and Ukrainian refugees and survivors in Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.

Gurudev has been an invited presenter at the United Nations, the European Parliament, the World Economic Forum, as well as universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, and the University of Southern California. Today, Gurudev remains active through his international travel and vibrant social media presence, along with a large, enthusiastic group of trained Art of Living teachers and volunteers.

INTRO:

We hope these insights brighten your day, provoke new ideas, and give a fresh perspective on some of the cares and concerns that may cloud the mind. Pick any page to start and keep it handy for easy reference. You’ll find that one page can open up new possibilities for living lightly and with an open heart in this world.

Your needs are being taken care of. You are being loved very dearly. This reminder softens you; brings about miracles around you, and changes your life. And that is the complete letting go.

Whatever you put your attention on will start manifesting in your life. Intention, attention, manifestation, that is how the universe works.

You are older than the stones. You are older than the trees. You are ancient, my dear. You don’t know how many lifetimes we have come here.

The present moment is not linear, it is spherical. It is both vast and deep. When you go deep in meditation, you experience this and realize that everything is in this moment.

Grace has the ability to change anything at any time.

Have a larger goal, serve and be useful to others around you, then you will find that only happiness flows through your life.

Whatever is yours will always come back to you. That which is not yours, even if you hold onto it with chains, will run away one day.

If you can win over your mind, you can win over the whole world.

What is success? An undying smile is a sign of success. A confidence that cannot be shaken is a sign of success. A fearless attitude in life is a sign of success.

Anger is the punishment you give to yourself for someone else’s mistake.

Yoga is skill in action. Don’t think spirituality is just closing your eyes and sitting in a corner. It is also keeping your joyous disposition and putting one hundred percent in what you’re doing.

See the past as destiny, and see the future as free will. Then you have enthusiasm in the present moment.

If you get what you want, there is a reason. If you don’t get what you want, there is a reason. Nature is intelligent. The divine is intelligent.

Meditation makes you sharper, happier, and intuitive. Don’t you want intuition? Don’t you want the right thought to come to you at the right time?

Remember one thing, you are responsible for your own happiness.

There are two types of joy in life. One is when you get something. This is an infant joy. But as grandmothers and grandfathers your joy is when you give. That is mature joy. My vision is for everyone to raise from the joy of grabbing and getting to the joy of sharing and giving.

Make others comfortable and you will see that nature will take care of your comfort.

In any situation, it is not worth wasting time on what people think of you. If they think you are an angel, fine! If they think you are a devil, fine! Let them go ahead and think what they want. You should not care.

The lesser your cravings for your desires to get fulfilled, the more your desires get fulfilled.

Your faith is a hundred time more powerful than doubt. Faith is like the sun, doubt is like a cloud. Despite cloudy days, the sun still shines.

You are trying to walk forward with your head turned backwards. This is why you feel miserable. Just let go. What good will you get by analyzing the past? In life, everyone goes through pleasant and unpleasant times. Just walk ahead with courage.

If you have done something that is unethical, it robs you of your smile, of your sleep and also takes away other comforts from you. If you look at it, it is very costly to do business unethically.

From whomsoever you receive love, just know that it is from the divine. If you get sunlight through the window, know that the light is coming from the sun. It is not the light of the window.

Who needs to change first? You need to change first, then all others will start changing simultaneously.

In one minute death will rob you of all you have. Before death robs you, let go. Wake up and see, nothing is yours. It is such freedom I tell you… such freedom!

You should know that there is a higher power that will hold your hand through-out your whole journey of life, and you will be able to overcome all the problems and be successful.

Doubt comes when your energy is low, when the body and mind are exhausted. Someone who is full of enthusiasm or energy does not get doubts.

Any fool can be happy when things are okay. But it takes courage to be happy even when things are falling apart.

When you are confused, it’s a blessing because in confusion one concept is being broken in your mind and a new concept is being formed. This is a sign of progress.

Inside every culprit there is a victim crying for help. If you heal the victim, the culprit in him disappears.

If we can wipe the tears of even one person, then we can consider our life worthwhile.

remedial measures, then you find peace. But if you brush off a mistake and act as if you didn’t do it, then it starts to prick you

Give in such a way that the other does not even feel they have taken. This is generosity, and this is beauty.

Learning is part of life, but unlearning should also be part of life. Unlearning is more important because it brings you back to your true self.

Life should be emotionally rich with a rational pitch and a spiritual touch.

Others seem to be bothering you, but it is not others, it is your own mind. Nothing in the world can bother you as much as your own mind.

The physical body does not make you as tired as the mind does. Work doesn’t make you as tired as your desires do. So what is important is for you to become content. Again and again practice being content.

Knowledge should lead you to a point where you feel ‘I don’t know’. If knowledge leads you to a point where you feel ‘I know’, then it has not completed its journey.

Love is giving everything and taking nothing.

If you manipulate words it is a lie, if you play on words it is a joke, if you rely on words it is ignorance, if you transcend words it is wisdom.

When you frown, 30 or 40 muscles in your face are at work. But when you smile, there are only 4, so it’s less work for your face.

When it comes to your life and relationships, use your heart. When it comes to your business and work, use your brain.

God is not sitting somewhere in heaven. God is in every particle of this creation. Just like the dance and the dancer cannot be separated, the creation and the creator can never be separated.

A witness consciousness starts dawning the moment you see this is all a dream. Something inside you starts waking up. That’s when life begins.

You simply have to embrace every aspect of yourself, every emotion. When you keep agreeing with all that is happening to you, then negativity automatically goes away from you.

When you agree to be bogged down, that is the sign of failure. Resist getting bogged down. Be like a candle. Even if you turn a candle upside down, the flame always goes up.

Meditation

is food for your soul.

Be content and know that you are in the right place, doing the right thing. Always remember that only the best will happen to you.

If your mind is trained well through spiritual practices, it befriends you and it helps you. Otherwise your own mind behaves like an enemy.

The whole world is full of messages of love. We just need the eye to see them and take them into our own lives.

Breath is the biggest secret that nature has put in you. It is linked to your emotions. Through breathing exercises, you can control your emotions.

When

your heart beats for others, for something higher, something finer and something more meaningful, then there is no boredom in life.

You must remember that nature will not give you a burden which you cannot carry. Nature puts you through many different tasks and tests, and you do come out shining from it all.

If the mind is bitter, you won’t find joy anywhere. If the mind is sweet, you’ll find joy everywhere.

When you are on the path, when your heart is clean and when you are meditating, there is no way that you will fail. If it appears as though you are failing, that failure is only to get you towards higher success. This is for sure!

The formula for happiness is clarity in mind, purity in heart, and sincerity in action.

Success in the world is one thing, success in life is another thing. Do you have a smile that nobody can take away from you? Do you have a confidence that can never be shaken? Then I would say you have become strong, you have succeeded.

Serving the world is the best form of prayer.

If you follow fun, misery follows you. If you follow knowledge, happiness will follow you.

Everything is changing. But there is a reference point to all these changes. And the reference point is you. Something in you doesn’t change at all. Exploring that something, is spirituality.

Our body is made up of amino acid, carbohydrate, protein, minerals. Our spirit is made of peace, love, commitment, focus, compassion, and joy.

The world of the Gods is inches away from you. Just lift your eyes from the mundane and take a look at the sunrise, it will uplift you. It will take you to something ethereal, to something beyond!

The person who did wrong is not the person you are today. That person is dead and gone. Today, you’re a new person.

Every desire after fulfillment leaves you in the same place you were before it arose. It’s a cycle. And you can go on fulfilling 100 desires, but where do you go with all that? You come to the same place.

There is a world for each one of you, where you shall reign as King or Queen by just being yourself. You are here to be just you.

Whenever you experience love—deep love— it may also trigger some pain. Now, instead of running away from the pain, you just stay put there. You will see the pain turns into longing, and longing turns back into love.

When you are seeking something from others, that’s when you feel loneliness. But when you step out from wanting to giving, you are giver happiness to others, how can you be lonely?

In meditation the first step is restlessness. Then your mind becomes empty. The next step is you’ll feel the vibrations inside. Then the vibration turns into light. And then beyond that I am not supposed to say.

Be happy. This is a blessing and an order!

Give miracles a chance, my dear, you are not alone.