Bhushan Deodhar's Experiences

About me:

I spent my childhood in Mumbai, India. I moved to Pune to do my undergraduate studies in Engineering and later to the US for graduate studies. I completed my masters in Computer Science from University of Texas, Arlington. I started my career as a member of scientific staff at Nortel Networks and then later joined Oracle Corporation in 1998. During my career at Oracle, I got the opportunity to change my role from technical to business side, which I enjoyed immensely. After working at Oracle in various management positions for 7 years, I joined a small software firm Sumeru as the president of their US operations. I am also involved in a Natural skincare company called Shankara as a senior executive for past 2 years. I currently live in Washington DC.

My Art of Living Experience:

Right from a young age, I found myself questioning many things in life. Reflecting back on my younger days, I would definitely consider myself to be a rebel! I always questioned what I was told by my elders and would never follow anything without proper explanation and understanding. My mother was actually quite concerned about me and my future. She would find herself helpless in many situations in dealing with me. My father was very kind and considerate and dealt with me with patience and love. He would always give hope to my mother that I will be ok once I became older. Though I was born in a traditional Hindu family, I didn’t believe in any religion or god. For me, those things didn’t make any sense at all. I would ask all kinds of questions to my elders but they wouldn’t know how to answer them. When we, as a family would go to visit temples, I would wait outside the temple for my family as they would go in and do their prayers.

As I grew older, I became responsible but still my views on religion and God remained the same. I was a firm believer in Science and thought that if one cannot prove something with science, then it is not true. To me Science and Religion were in total conflict. I believed in myself and thought that I could do anything in life on my own might. I was also very averse to the idea of having a Guru and thought that it was a sign of weakness to have a Guru. I had thought that every Guru was out there for his own gain and to deceive and fraud others.

In the year 2000 and 2001, my life took some interesting turns. I found myself at crossroads where I questioned why I was on this planet and what was life all about. Though I was successful professionally, I felt empty and directionless inside. An inner call came that I should read about Swami Vivekananda’s (A Hindu scholar who lived 100 years ago) books. Reading his books was an eye opener for me. If you ask me, Swami Vivekananda was more a scientist than a religious scholar. He explained so beautifully what religion and spirituality was all about and how it was complementary to Science. Suddenly life started making sense to me. I wanted to learn meditation and was looking for some technique. I searched in many places until my friend told me about the Art of Living (Part 1) Course. The first experience of Sudarshan kriya was mind blowing to say the least… But I felt that I had already heard the knowledge points of the course and that part was nothing new. I also didn’t feel any connection with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I only liked Sudarshan Kriya and was happy to practice it. A few months later, I decided to take the Art of Silence (Part 2) Course with Sri Sri in Austin, TX. I was very skeptical about Sri Sri and measured every single move of his once I got to the course – what he was doing, what he was saying. Yet, there was something magical about those 4-5 days and something in me had shifted. It was like a light bulb going on all of a sudden. For the first time in my life, I was happy for no particular reason. It felt like was I was floating in an ocean of happiness and love… It became clear to me that the source of my happiness was from within and not from the outside. I also realized that Guruji (Sri Sri had become Guruji for me… something impossible had happened) was here just to bring a true smile on every face and spread the message of love and peace! I would have given everything I had for what I received in just those few days! Knowledge points from my Part 1 Course started making sense now and I could truly appreciate its value. It was a gift of lifetimes.

My life style changed overnight for the better, so much so that many couldn’t believe (including my parents) that it was the same me. All I wanted was to share this knowledge with as many people as I could. I started organizing courses so I could bring my family and friends to the knowledge. My life had a purpose…. My life was filled with love, joy, celebration, service, and gratitude!!! Everything has been abundant in my life ever since. I feel so blessed!

I have been working closely with the foundation for many years now. I have also had the good fortune of traveling with Guruji on many occasions. I have spent a lot of time with Guruji’s family as well (Ajay, Madhushri, Ajay’s parents - Bhanu-didi and Appa). There are many things I would like to share about Guruji, his family and the organization. I will write more on this blog about all that later!