Shri Ravi Kohli from Long Island, New York conducted two talks in Twin Cities and was heard over a hundred apt seekers. The message he delivered emphasized on achieving peace and harmony in this stressful world and finding a True spiritual Teacher (Guru) on spiritual path.
On Friday, June 11th the program commenced with a commendable chanting of Shlokas from Hindu scriptures by the children of Children Satsang, Science of Spirituality, MN. Shri Ravi Kohli applauded kids for their melodious rendition and emphasized that elders should become role models for the younger generation as kids learn what they see happening around them. Our life should be an example for our children and we should live our lives ethically in order to imbibe ethical virtues in our children.
Talk: Inner Peace through Meditation:
Shri Ravi Kohli began his talk by accentuating the similarity in all human beings belonging to different backgrounds, nations, cultures, religions etc. Explaining the quest of all human beings for peace and happiness he said that we all keep searching for eternal tranquility and joy in this transitory world like a musk deer who wanders all around the forest to find the musk fragrance emanating from its own body. We are so oblivious of our True Self; our Soul that we give no priority to spirituality in our lives. Everyone is unhappy in this world due to some reason and the real happy person is the one who is connected with God. It is only in this human body that we can find God. We need to realize the purpose of our life and find the way back to our True Home. We have been given this body for a purpose to know ourselves and realize God. The only way of Self Knowledge and God Realization is meditation.
Meditation helps us physically, mentally, emotionally and above all spiritually. When we experience the Light and Sound of God within through the process of meditation, our angle of vision changes. Turmoil and unpropitious circumstances of the outer world do not affect us and we remain in a blissful state. Shri Ravi exhorted that we need to rise above body consciousness to bring about a positive change in our angle of vision. We need to invert within to experience the blissful state of soul. He ended with a quote of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj," If we go don't go within, we go without." A demonstration of meditation was given to all and there after the curios audience asked questions about technique and benefits of meditation to the guest speaker.
Retreat: Finding the True Spiritual Teacher
On Saturday a retreat on Finding a Spiritual Teacher was organized to help the sincere seekers of the Truth understand the role and importance of spiritual Teacher (Guru) on the spiritual path.
The program began with a beautiful presentation of Sant Kabir's verses by the children of SOS, MN. After a short demonstration of meditation process, Shri Ravi Kohli opened the floor with a question: "What qualities we look for in a Teacher?" Everyone in the audience expressed their views and thoughts as to what qualities and virtues they look for in a teacher. One of the attendees expressed that a true teacher can be recognized by the way he is living his life. He should be practicing what he preaches. Another attendee pointed that he would look for subject knowledge in a teacher. A good teacher should be an expert in his subject. Another participant said that he would look at the way of living of disciples to determine the qualities and virtues of a Master.
The guest speaker then elaborated the qualities of a True Spiritual Teacher according to Santmat (Path of the Saints). He explained that a True Spiritual Teacher earns his own living and does not depend on the donations of others. He does not charge for his teaching and discourses and shares his spiritual knowledge without any cost. He becomes our role model and teaches us the true way of living by which we can have the merger of our soul with God. Above all he gives us first hand experience of divine Light and Sound which are the two manifestations of God almighty. Our soul experiences a state of bliss in his presence which can not be felt by any enjoyments or amusements of this world. The Guru (Spiritual Teacher) acts as a guide in the inner journey.
Shri Ravi emphasized that the guru is not a physical body but a chosen pole through which the power of God works in order to take us back to our True Home. Guru is a catalyst to connect our soul with the Oversoul. Afterwards attendees asked questions pertaining to determination of a True Guru and His role on the inner journey.
After a short break the session began and the speaker elucidated the protection and grace of a Perfect Master, a disciple receives from the time of initiation till he achieves the purpose of Self knowledge and God realization. Shri Ravi said that only knowledge with no experience acts as poison and it is only through the medium of a Perfect Master that we can have the experience of Eternal Light and Sound, which is the true purpose of life.
On both the days workshop for children was organized where children were taught the technique and benefits of meditation in a playful way. The workshops were attended by over seventy children of various age groups.
Talk : Keeping the Focus Within
A talk was held at Sant Rajinder Singh Meditation Hall, Hindu Temple, Maple Grove where Shri Ravi Kohli spoke about the technique and advantages of concentrating within. He said that throughout the day we all are engrossed in worldly matters and strive to catch up with time which causes stress in us and stress results in frustration. So at the end of the day we look for the ways to bring peace to our stressful state of mind. Meditation is a solution that some of us practice based on time available to us to calm our mind. Meditation helps us release stress and strain in our life and pacifies our mind. The speaker emphasized that according to Sant Mat this is not the only purpose and benefit of meditation. What we experience in the physical world like calm, peaceful and healthy life are only the by products of meditation. The real purpose of meditation is to energize our soul to rise above body consciousness and be one with the Over Soul. Meditation empowers our soul, which in turn gives strength to our mind and body.
While living in this world our soul is entangled with mind, which is pulled out in the outer world by outer senses. Throughout our life we have learned and trained ourselves to focus our attention in the physical world. Rarely do we realize that our True Self is the Soul and we need to nourish it in order to perform our worldly duties in an efficient manner. When we practice the art of meditation by focusing our attention within, on the Third Eye, which is also called Seat of the Soul, we can uplift our soul in the inner higher realms and experience the divine vistas in the inner regions. We need to shut our outer senses and focus our attention within to achieve the real purpose of this human life that is Self Knowledge and God Realization.
After the talk, everyone was placed on a short meditation sitting and thereafter few of the attendees asked questions regarding meditation process and inner journey.
Talk : Devotion in Meditation
On Sunday morning Shri Ravi Kohli was invited at Milan Mandir, Eagan to speak on "Devotion in Meditation". The guest speaker emphasized on the aspect of devotion and its relation with meditation in our lives. He said that most of us go to our places of worship and think that they are the only places where God resides. According to religious scriptures, God resides within us. In various religious scriptures human body is referred as "Hari Mandir" which translates as Temple of God, which we tend to forget in performing our rites and rituals. We keep the place of worship clean but we rarely focus on keeping the body clean. We perform outer rituals in order to please God by washing with milk or burning incense, lighting candles and various other activities based on different religions. These activities are actually symbolic representation of the inner Light and Sound, which saints in every religious scriptures have referred. We fall in love carrying rituals and performing materialistic tasks rather than spiritual tasks. Our devotion needs to steer in not only carrying rites and rituals but also by connecting to our True Self that is our soul.
We worship the man made idols and are oblivious that human being was created before religion or places of worship and it is the human being who erected the places of worship. We love and respect the materialistic forms of god and do not feel love for our fellow human beings. Sharing a story of Majnu, who was passionately in love with his beloved Layla, Shri Kohli said that Majnu loved his beloved Layla so deeply that he would kiss the feet of the dog which came from the street of his beloved. Explaining this example he said that we should devote time in meditation to develop love for God and His creation similar to what Majnu experienced for Layla. We offer our prayers to God and think that it is the only way of communicating with Him.
The guest speaker stated that praying is talking to God but meditation is listening to God. Meditation helps us connect with the Lord and experience His Light and Sound. Giving the example of Mira Bai ji who was a devotee of Lord Krishna, he said that to achieve salvation from the cycle of birth and death, Mira Bai had to go at the feet of a perfect Master, Ravi Das ji Maharaj who initiated her into the inner journey. He accentuated that without the help and guidance of a perfect Master we cannot experience God in this world. If we have strong faith and devotion towards God Almighty and the cry of our soul is sincere, God makes arrangements for us to meet the True Master who tells us the way to be one God. Worshipping the outer forms of gods acts as setting up of ground in our journey towards our Real Home. To reach our True Home we need to focus our attention with help and guidance of a spiritual adept who is one with God.
After the talk a demonstration of meditation was given to all and few audience members asked questions regarding the importance and role of Master on spiritual path.
