Pamela Brockman - Art of Living Experience

Art of Living Teacher, ARTExcel, YES, Art of Silence Teacher, USA

A Poetic Beginning

The mindset started a long time ago. In high school, I studied the poetry of Walt Whitman, an American poet of the “transcendental” school of thought. The writers of this time were greatly influenced by the Vedas and other writings. Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of Myself” is quite Vedantic in nature as he sees all of creation as part of himself. I was so intrigued by this concept, I longed to learn to meditate and experience this and not just read about it. In a few years, while in college, I learned Transcendental Meditation (Art of Living hadn’t been formed yet!). I was in heaven --it was exactly what I had been looking for. My anxieties quieted and people noticed how I had changed.

Fast forward to 1991, I was a new mom with a young son, wishing for another child but unable to conceive. I was fortunate to be able to stay home and care for my son whom I adore. But I also used to yell a lot and was frustrated at leaving my career. My meditations were still deep and I had begun to desire a Spiritual Director I could consult to guide my experience. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar came into my life through a friend. I was not able to have another child, but that became less of a worry as I became very busy organizing courses and events for the Art of Living. It was not a choice but rather something I felt was an important and necessary part of my life. A happening.

I continued to become more and more involved, becoming a teacher of the Art of Living Course in 1998, ART Excel and YES! In 2000, the Art of Silence Course after that, as well as facilitating the Eternity Process. Teaching YES! In the Schools, Breath Water Sound for Trauma Relief and Sri Sri Yoga followed then, too.

Tricky Ego
With my son in high school and then college, I began to travel to Central and South America to teach. People would ask me if I also teach Sahaj Samadhi,(now The Art of Meditation) and the desire arose in me to also teach this course, so I could be more useful wherever I go. Guru Dev came to Chicago where I live and I asked him if I could become a Sahaj teacher. He said, “Yes, but first do your Pooja Phase 1 & 2 Courses.”

Now, even though I didn’t know how to perform it, soon after my first Art of Living course, I began to offer flowers and water and incense and fruit to Guru Dev(Sri Sri) in gratitude for the knowledge, techniques and growth. I remembered parts of the TM version of the Guru Pooja and would love to listen to it whenever I could.  I found versions of the Guru Pooja and began to learn the words. I would look up meanings of words and make up the rest in my mind.
Then, in 2010 TTC for Sahaj was offered for the first time in a very long time. Since I had been singing puja for some time, with others who had learned it the correct way from Bhanu Didi (Guruji's Sister), I thought maybe I could skip the Guru Pooja Phase 1 & 2 Courses and just take the TTC.  Why not? I could be more useful then. The thought was "I knew the pooja, so why should I take time for that course?" My mind rationalized and churned with planning and I applied for the TTC. Two of my friends from South America wrote to Guru Dev for special approval to take the TTC (as it was supposed to be only for English speakers, and only one spoke English well) and he said, “Yes.” I thought, “Oh, well, I can write too and maybe he’ll say I can go too!!! I wrote him and..... He said, (of course) “Finish your Puja 1 & 2 first.”When I heard back from Guru Dev, I cried, that in the midst of all of his responsibilities and greater problems and concerns of many, many other devotees, he bothered to write to me and guide my growth. I melted. Totally grateful, I registered for Pooja 1, still a bit smug, but happily resigned to the process.

Being “Fully Cooked”

Guru Dev’s comment made such an impression on me. Being “fully cooked” means being so equanimous, so centered, that nothing and no one can pull you out from your Self. Who knows how long this would take? My mind began to relax and realize that it’s all about the process and not the goal. I knew this intellectually, but it began to sink in deeper, experientially. Guru Dev’s in charge....I am growing at my own pace, and practicing my knowledge diligently helps, but I will grow and be fully cooked in my own time.

Awakening to Humility

In Hartford at the Guru Pooja Phase 1 Course, I surrendered more and more. I learned a lot -- different pronunciations I hadn’t heard before, meanings I didn’t know. I became more humble and grateful to be an instrument, however I am used, doing my 100% to do the will of the Divine, not MY will. Being totally Hollow & Empty, open and willing, simple and happy! What a relief!!!!! Jai Guru Dev!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lakshmi Jagad - Art of Living experience

Art of Living YES Teacher, Software Engineer 

I was born and raised in Bombay. Of course, the name of the city has now been changed to Mumbai but for me (and for many others in my generation too,  I am sure), it will be Bombay. The city of memories, family, school and college, friends and fun.

I had a liberal upbringing. My parents are possibly two of the most generous and open-minded individuals I have ever met. They placed no restrictions whatsoever on either of us (I have a younger sister). We got pretty much everything we asked for.  My sister and I were good students. We learned classical music and dance, performed at various events, and were fairly good daughters, if you discount the occasional tantrum, fuss or outburst. As I completed high school and joined junior college (in India, you join college at age 16), I found a great bunch of friends. We shared a common love for music, films, art and humor. Boring college lectures, surprise birthday parties, New Year celebrations, art films and rock music, walks along the beach, night-long conversations on philosophy and life, dreams and ambitions - these were the highlights of my junior college years. Soon after, I joined an engineering college. New friends, bigger parties, overnight treks... and life went on. Then I graduated from college and started working as a software developer. Everything continued as before.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - The Inspiration



It was all wonderful and exciting and adventurous and yet at the age of 25, I felt like I had come to a full stop. Until then, life had been a series of events, people, places and experiences for me but suddenly it seemed that there had to be a deeper idea to it. Certain incidents in the past couple of years made me wonder if I really knew myself. I felt at conflict with my own self and with certain others in my life. I found myself thinking - Is there any purpose to all this? Who am I? Is there a meaning to these incidents and situations and people?

Suffices to say that The Art of Living Course came at the right time to me. I attended an Art of Living Course, then a couple of Art of Silence Courses, and then The Art of Meditation Course.

A year after my first course, I met Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of Art of Living Foundation. Even before I met him, I had seen many videos of his. To me, he always came across as someone familiar, someone who I had known since a very long time. And when I finally met him, it felt like a true homecoming.

I had had no experience with Gurus or spiritual masters while growing up. Yet, it was a matter of few months before I came to see Sri Sri as my personal Guru. There was zero deliberation or thinking involved. It's interesting how some of the major decisions in my life were not decisions at all; they just came to be in the most natural way possible. Some things you simply know without having even a single thought. 

Youth Empowerment Seminar(YES!)

I conduct the Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES!) for teenagers, and on one course, I remember talking about Sri Sri to the young participants. I said, "To me, Sri Sri or Guruji is a person who makes me feel like I can do anything. In his presence, I feel strong, complete, powerful. I feel like there is no limit to what I can achieve and accomplish. When I am around him, all my doubts and concerns disappear."

There is so much more I can say about Guruji and how he has truly brought out the best in me on so many levels. Intellectual maturity, a broader sense of perspective about the self and the world, a desire to learn and share... and most of all, a sense of abundance and fullness. Today, I feel like I lack nothing and I want nothing. Moment to moment, my life is full and complete. To Guruji, I owe this precious realization and many many others. 

Kamlesh Barwal - Art of Living experience

Art of Living Teacher, Sri Sri Yoga Teachers Trainer, Sahaj Samadhi Meditation Teacher
(Follow Kamlesh didi:
On twitter: @KamleshBarwal 
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Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kamz0202)

Way back in 1998, one day my neurosurgeon, Dr. Rupak called my mother to see him. He told her about this breathing technique called Sudarshan kriya. He said he has been reading about it in many magazines and newspapers. Even though not having personally experienced it, somehow he was convinced that this could bring back the smile on my face. He explained to my mother how important it was to get me out of my shell, do some group activities, breath, and meet new people. The sedatives that I was on would only make me more recluse and lifeless.

My mother found out about the Art of Living course in the town. Fortunately it was happening just in a few days, after a gap of about half a year. Sources told us that it was just the 3rd or 4th program in my hometown and that the trainers come from Bangalore only if there were enough people registered. My mother got almost all my friends and cousins booked on the course along with me.

And there I was, after almost a year of sulking, getting shuttled between home and the ICU, so week in body and mind, surrounded with all my relatives, sitting in front of this very divine looking young boy with beautiful long hair and a big compassionate smile. I was already feeling heeled.

The Sudarshan kriya was magical. I cried and I laughed. I laughed and didn’t want to stop. I felt so much at home, alive and happy again. All that my teacher spoke on the course seemed tailor made for me. I was responsible for my own misery. Things don’t necessarily go our way always.  We are healthy and we fall sick. We win and we loose but we move on. No one on this planet is sitting and just thinking about me. How I won, how I lost, how I looked, how I lived. They have their own share of worries. They have all moved on. And I was still shying away from them, who didn’t even exist anymore.  And I knew now, I had to start again, my life full of new hopes, new aspirations, new friends; a life that had no room for the past. So I did.

After a regular practice of Sudarshan kriya for few months, I got the MRI scan done. When I took my report back to my doctor, he jumped off his seat in disbelief. He joined the next Art of Living course along with his wife. I was on medicines for more than a year now. This was my last day. Its been about 12 years , I have not had any medicine ever since.  I took an Advance Meditation program along with my doctor and his wife the same month. We met the most beautiful people on the course. The four words - Sadhana, Seva, Satsang and Smile became my breath, my life and what began as a mere practice for a healthy body and mind, soon became a lifestyle and there was no looking back.

I am a living miracle. When people ask me to tell them stories about H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar, my Master, my Guru, all I can say is “I am a Guru story, I am His miracle”.

Born to affluent parents, I was brought up in an extremely comfortable environment as a soft pampered girl. Even the slightest unexpected change in my surroundings, could throw me off balance.

Today, I am one of most travelled teachers with the Art of Living foundation. I have stayed for months in the villages on very basic amenities. Went to places where I knew not a soul and moved out of there with hundreds bidding me farewell in just few months. Heat, cold, day, night doesn’t seem to deter anything anymore inside me. Every moment I feel something inside of me growing stronger. Not that the situations are always favorable, not that I don’t meet with opposing events and people anymore. But, my reaction or rather response to them has completely changed. I can just SMILE it away.

Guru and me

Once, I was travelling with Guruji in the hills. We were visiting many temples that day, one after another. It so happened that every time, He would step into His car, I would be around to shut the car door for Him. After a few times, I could not hold myself back and casually mentioned it to Him, “Guruji, I am closing the door every time for you”. With a beautiful smile, he instantly replied, “but I will make sure that all doors remain open for you” and drove off. 

After becoming an Art of Living teacher, Guruji told me to start travelling in the rural interiors of Himachal Pradesh. He could feel the hidden fear and hesitation I had that time. Then one day, He sat me down, looked at me and said, “from now on where ever you go on this earth, you will find a home better than yours and a family more loving than yours. That is my promise. You just focus on bringing good to others and you shall be completely taken care of. Just go out there and know so many people are waiting for you”.

He kept His promise. In 10 years of traveling as an AOL teacher, I have met thousands of people from diverse cultures, lives, traditions and values. Each one has added to my extended family. I have received immense love and respect from everyone I met and continue to.

Thank you doctor 

I am indebted to my doctor for having brought this incredible knowledge into my life. Today, after every Sudarshan kriya on the course, when I see the shinning faces of my participants, soaked in peace and tranquility, I am filled with gratitude for this beautiful life.

Check out Kamlesh Barwal's youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/kamz0202