BALANCE AND DISCIPLINE

Weekly Knowledge #69 Bad Antogast 02 Oct 1996 Germany

People who are free, regret that they don't have discipline. They keep promising that they will become disciplined. People who are disciplined look for the end. (Discipline is not an end in itself, it is a means.) Look at the people who have no discipline; they are miserable. Freedom without discipline is absolute misery. Discipline without freedom is suffocating. Orderliness is monotonous and chaos is stressful. We have to make the discipline free and the freedom disciplined. People who are in company all the time, they look for the comforts of solitude. People who are in solitude, feel so lonely and want to be in company. People who are in a cold place want to be in a warm place. People who are in a warm place love something cool. This is the dilemma of life: Everyone is looking for perfect balance. Perfect balance is like a razor's edge. It can only be found in the self. There is no road to this town and there are no steps to this house. How do you get in? Figure it all out. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

NEWS FLASH The big advanced course at the ashram of Kripalu Maharaj (the founder of Kripalu Yoga) at Kayavaran in India brought celebration to the ashram. It was all so well organized that there were no complaints and no one felt lost in the big group. There was one teacher taking care of every 25 people. People were sharing so many miraculous stories. The outdoor Satsangs in the moon light and Christmas lights simply transformed the place into Brindavan. On the last evening, Guruji appeared in pink silks and was adorned with a crown of beautiful flowers and a peacock feather. Guruji received 400 garlands from devotees. Each garland that hung around Guruji's neck, when being removed took a few hairs with it. This was a course that started in bliss and ended in chaos. Even though people thought there was no chaos, an impatient aeroplane left Guruji behind after the course, whereas the next plane in the next city and after a three-hour drive, graciously took Him and His group as the last passengers. The race did not end until He boarded His international connecting flight -- again as the last passenger . . .