NAVRATRI @ Bangalore Ashram

Navratri – The 9 days of intense poojas, yagyas, devotion, bhakti, singing , meditation..There is nothing more intense that I have experienced before.

This was my first full-navratri time in Ashram. Did the advance course when even Guruji is in silence, followed by 5 days of Homas & yagyas. Ashram was full to its capacity, sometimes even more. And I could see more foreigners, from all over the world, sitting in the poojas with stunning devotion & respect- something I found amazing..! The whole air was so powerful that it would shift something inside you, it just takes you a moment to go blank..close your eyes, and you are gone for some hours- an experience which you would not experience anywhere else! So amazing, effortless, inexplicable, blissful..out of the world.!

Navratri is a time NOT to be missed to be in this earthly heaven called The Art of Living International Centre, Bangalore. If you know people in Art of Living, you would find all those people at this place during these nine days J . Everyday would be a fresh day, and everyone would just look forward to the next pooja! I was wondering , how one cute-small human has changed the entire world..It seemed people from all across the globe have come here in India to attend these nine days of devi shakti..to experience the Goddess and her purity. Yagyashalla, which holds the capacity of thousands of people sitting, used to be so full that I would hardly find a place in case I am a little late! Women dressed up in beautiful saaries n ornaments & men in kurta pajama – with fragrance all over the place. I felt as if world’s most beautiful people were right here- beautiful both from inside & outside.! Everyone would wait eagerly for our Master to arrive.. and as soon as he is in, when the pooja or Homa starts, there would be pin drop silence amongst the crowd except for the mantra chants. The moment you close your eyes, the Sanskrit chants would seep deep down your system, and within a few seconds you would find it difficult to open your eyes! Deep state of meditation, experienced in a few seconds!- something that even the ancient Rishi-munis used to achieve after months/years of tapas!! – and this is the experience of each one sitting there in the Homa. The entire experience cannot be described, cannot be stated in words, cannot be written down.

The mind surely undergoes a lifetime operation..and the effect is not really understandable- but you know that after these 9 days, something in you has changed.. something is shaken..you are something different now…not really the same person. You are much better, you would feel like loving everyone. No situation seems powerful than you. You are a new you, you know J . I believe, the entire experience clears off so many impressions in the mind..you are off  so many evil feelings, you are a fresh new born- ready to get back to life with a new enthusiasm back again! You go beyond your cravings & aversions. You are totally in love!