"Aren't you tired?"

"So, so you think you can tell... Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field... from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange... a walk on part in the war... for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here."

This old Pink Floyd number: "Wish you were here," has always been my favorite! But I never really stopped and thought about the depth and true meaning of its lyrics until I heard one (of several) simple, yet profound talks by Sri Sri, where he starts with a commonly asked question - "Are you tired?" What follows this straightforward question, is a discourse on a fact so simple, that we are hopelessly unaware of it! Sri Sri says: "Only when we are tired, can we come "home"!"

Since the time I first heard this talk, I've noticed ever so often that I am actually just not tired enough! I continue to run like a hamster in a wheel, swim around like a fish in a bowl - doing the same things over and over and over... This conference, that dinner invitation, another meeting, another round of drinks with friends, another few hours in the office, another few hours of sleep, once more a visit to the mountains, a trip abroad... The same cycle with minor modifications here and there - over and over and over. And I am not tired. I am not even bored!



In the spiritual (note: not religious) traditions, it is said that only the most intelligent or the most fortunate truly get tired - not physically or even mentally, but tired at a deeper level - tired of repeatedly doing the same things over and over and ending up in the same place - with "the same old fears" and the same old struggles. The rare but precious moments when I am truly tired of attending yet another "important conference", going for yet another trip abroad, accomplishing yet another task, another party, winning yet another accolade... are the moments in which I long to come "home."

We know "home" to be a place where we can be ourselves, a place of comfort. But there is a "home" that is even closer to us than our dwelling place, one we rarely turn our attention to - the silent space within us - the space of deep, still meditation. The space where there is a glimpse of an answer to the deepest mysteries of life, diving into which (almost ironically!) also gives us the energy to continue skillfully through this illusion called life.

These moments when I am truly tired, are also the moments in which I feel truly grateful. Grateful first and foremost, for the tiredness itself - it is responsible for my quest for a deeper meaning to life. It alone is what makes me, if not a better person, at least a more introspective one. It opens up a new paradigm - a new way of looking at every event in life. It is what brought me to Sri Sri - the enlightened teacher who has the skill and the patience to guide me towards the answers - to guide me "home" - to that space of silence, to that space of true celebration.

I invite you, all my dear friends - whether or not you are tired - to come and experience the beauty and depth of this vast space within you. I invite you, to jump out of the comfortable routines and experience something spectacularly new. I invite you, to a beautiful weekend of fun-filled wisdom, laughter, and life transforming SKY breath meditation with one of the most respected meditation teachers of our time. I invite you, to come home!

Recipe to attend the first ever Online Meditation and Breath Workshop with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Europe (26-28 Feb 2021)

Ingredients:

A registration confirmation at bit.ly/MeditationDe
A smile
A (relatively) light/empty stomach
A yoga mat, blanket and comfy cushions in any quiet corner of your home

Method:

Sign in 15 minutes before start time, on the Zoom link you get on registering.
Find a comfortable spot in your own home where you wont be disturbed.
Enjoy the ride into infinity, on the endless wave, the present moment!