Utsav in Chennai

Okay, here’s the reason why, I’ve been gayab for a long time. ( hope this misses my employer’s eye, have supplemented them with all kinds of lies)
I was just part of the biggest phenomenon to touch the earth since Magna Carta.

It’s a condensed version of YES!+ in four day, with none other than Bawa and Dinesh da
http://www.bawandinesh.blogspot.com/. Here’s a report of all the four days

Day 1

6:00 PM
More than 900 participants, and utter chaos, especially regarding the nametags. After the Initial hitches, everything went on to proceed magicallywith Bawa delivering the 'bad news' (no tea, no coffee, no no-veg, no sutta,no alcohol...) and within minutes the thousand odd participants had themselves hanging on to every word that

Bawa said
" Do this course as if your life depends on it, because how you do thiscourse from now on, is how you're going to live your life. Its success andfailure depends on it."
" This is a blessing from me and Dinesh, all the problems in life that youhad, will stop, and all that you wanted in you life from now on, you'llstart getting it."

The course started in usual YES!+ style, with the merchant game etc, Suryanamaskar etc.and ended most perfectly with the long kriya, (Bawa ordered all volunteersto join in) So the participants experienced the Sudarshan Kriya right on the first day,and had brilliant experiences to share.
"I felt that my nostrils are going to bleed, is that normal?
Bawa: "perfectly normal"

9:30 PM, a crowd of youngsters emerged out of the ground, spaced out withthe experience of long Kriya, and excited about the prospects of Day 2


Day 2 & 3

More Intense, more bliss and more Bawa......But the participants couldn't wait for more. Day two and day three were clearly Bawa's, everyone was in love with him especially after the Q & A round!

Q: I am a christian, how can I say om?
A: exactly the way the Hindus say it! You are an Indian, but do u become a 'gora' if you wear jeans? then most of the people in Chennai will start wearing it, and Ram will be the first one Rashmin will be the second.

Bawa also spoke about farmers in India and said the reason why they were committing suicide were because American and Canadian MNC's were selling them hybrid seeds that produce bumper crops, but were sterile (didn't produce more seeds) so they were becoming dependent on MNC's who are hiking up the seed prices every year as the original seeds are becoming scarce.Only one person has worked for this cause and has managed to save 450 varieties of natural seeds, and he meditates everyday, the MNC's offered him 10 crores to buy those seeds but he refused!Session was sprinkled with Bhajans and Chennai rocked to it! As Rashmin said, all events start with bliss and end with chaos, while AOL events start with chaos and end with Bliss.


Day 4



Sorry for the delay on the final installment of update.....
This was due to the fact that i was supposed to return to Hyd, but popped into Bangalore ashram to say a quick hi to guruji.

Anyway, reminiscing Utsav's last day, is an experience in itself

The surya namaskar's transformed into blissful rain dance, as the rain gods decided to bless us with cool droplets that washed our sweat away, and then the sadhana under the ocean breeze. From the stage the view of 900+ participants doing sadhana was like music for angels to dance

The sadhana then transformed into action packed Q and A session with Bau and Dinesh da.

Q what is spirituality?
A It is what religion wants to be when it grows up! Its any thing that uplifts you, your spirit, and puts a smile on your face.

Dinesh bhaiya made a very interesting observation on prana
"Some people have only a bucket full of prana while others have an ocean full, now what happens when you plonk a stone into bucket of water, almost all the water spills out. But to an ocean, it hardly makes a difference. thats the difference for a person who does pranayam and sadhana.

There are 5 sources of Prana

Food
sleep
breadth
meditation
cold water baths (secret source of prana )

On Satsang:

Usually it takes very heavy, hard core rock to shake one up, but for one who has become very light through sadhana, very soft music can stir your from within. And thats what we call satsang.

So there was dance, music, gyan and oodles of grace that swept the shores of Chennai. And Bau and Dinesh left with a promise to be back on the last week of august with another wave of Utsav.

The next day was a treat for math lovers with Bau's Mathemagic workshop and later Indiana Jones movie at satyam, which i missed coz I had to catch my Hyderabad train.
But half an hour sitting in my plush AC compartment I realised I was sitting in the wrong train (coolie's fault).
So rather than spending an extra day at Chennai, i booked a ticked for the same evening in Bau and Dinesh da's train (confirmed)

On the way to ashram (home) we met Guruji who was calling out to Indrani 6 am in the morning.
I still have no clue why am here. But it feels great! As if Utsav never got over.

And I guess Utsav is a perpetual phenomenon for anyone who has a guru in his life. And organising an Utsav just reemphasises this beautiful phenomenon.
Worries drop away, belongingness dawns, and you start being this person who is, full of bliss and light. Just like your guru. It’s a phenomenon that can only be experienced. For Shalini, Harini and I ( Rashmin jokingly said our names sounded out of one of bhanu didi's songs)
seeing this revolution sweeping Chennai's sleepy shores was a blessing. And we know we can take it one step ahead in Hyderabad