Praise For The Art of Being You
Judith Clark has patiently gathered the teachings of the living master, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and lovingly organized, amplified, and celebrated them. The result is a treasure of uplifting insight and inspiration, filled with practical answers to the questions of life and spirit. Her gift is that she has made his wisdom so accessible to us, so able to soothe, reassure, and enliven us. This is a book to be kept close at hand and dipped in regularly, a book as refreshing as a spring breeze.
—PETER STRANGER, Communications Executive and Environmental Activist
This surprisingly practical book reminds us that peace and strength are found within. It calms the mind and refreshes the soul. Pick it up, put it down and return to it often—it is a wellspring of helpful hints for living in our modern-day world.
—SCOTT SQUILLACE, Founder, Squillace & Associates, P.C.
This is not the kind of book I usually read, but when, by chance, I did pick it up, I read it straight through. There is something wonderful on every page.
—ALAN HEBEL, Founder, the Book Designers
Judith Clark has created a wonderfully accessible book presenting the life teachings of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. These teachings move beyond the boundaries of our separate faith traditions into a deep understanding that even as we all belong to God, so are we all in the process of journeying more deeply into God. This book is a gift which will help the reader do just that—simply, joyfully and peacefully.
—ALICE MINDRUM, Episcopal Priest
Illuminating and inspiring. The Art Of Being You is a profound yet accessible discourse on consciousness, and an invaluable guide on how to live the best life.
—EILEEN GREGORY, Co-Founder of Innergy, Documentary Filmmaker
Don’t miss this book—it will make every day a better day.
—AUSTIN MYERS, Motion Picture Costume Designer
THE ART OF BEING YOU
COMING HOME TO THE LOVE, JOY AND PEACE THAT YOU ARE
A PRESENTATION OF THE WORDS AND WISDOM OF
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi ShankarBy Judith Clark
SRI SRI PUBLICATIONS TRUST
The Art of Being You
1st Edition: October 2011
Copyright 2011 © All rights reserved.
ePub Converted by Verse Innovation Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage orretrieval system without prior permission in written form from the publisher.
eISBN: 978 9 351 06639 2
Sri Sri Publications Trust,
The Art of Living International Centre,
21st km, Kanakapura Road, Udayapura, Bangalore - 560 082 Phone: 080-32722473 Email: [email protected] Website: store.artofliving.org
For Addison, Jared and Nathaniel, and all the children of the world.
Acknowledgments
My deep appreciation to those who have supported the creation of this book from its beginning: Katherine, John and Chandler Clark; Peter and Camille Stranger; John Osborne; my friends and spiritual companions at St. Mary’s of the Harbor; and Birjoo Vaishnav. My appreciation also goes to Mary Gates and Janet Reinhart for their contributions to the text, to Terry Hiller and Hal Zina Bennett for their editorial counsel, and to Rejean FaFard and Patrick Milot, who recorded many of the words in this book. And lastly, my unbounded gratitude goes to His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has graced my life with his presence, wisdom and love.
Judith Clark
The object of spiritual life is to be amazed, to say, “Wow!” and wake up to the fullness of life here and now.
—SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Foreword
by Judith Clark
Some twenty years ago, at a time when few people in the United States or in the world knew who Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was, he offered to come to my home in Connecticut and gave a talk. I gathered some friends in my living room that evening to listen to him. When he had spoken for a while, he asked if anyone had a question. I did.
He had been explaining the importance of being with your feelings and that greatly troubled me. I was in psychotherapy at the time, where the guiding principle was ‘Be With Your Feelings’, but I had found that some feelings were too big and too overwhelming to allow in. I could not sit with them (I had tried!) and I did not want to. Now His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was sitting on my living room sofa and saying, “Be with your feelings.” When he asked if there were any questions, I raised my hand.
“What if that is hard to do?” I asked—putting it mildly. He responded by explaining—how to sit with feelings and go fully through them—exactly what I did not want to hear.
I was reluctant to press my point, but inside my question was still burning.
Sri Sri talked some more and then asked, “Are there any other questions?” Without a pause, he added, “Judy has a question.” He knew! Emboldened, I restated my question. “What if the feelings are so powerful— frightening actually— that you cannot let them in?”
He countered my question with another question: “How did you feel at that time?”
As I thought about that, the feeling itself came back and, to my own surprise, I heard myself say, “Helpless.”
“The feeling of helplessness is the beginning of true prayer,” he replied with a gentle smile.
The unexpected words brought a rush of relief. Helplessness was not the dead end as I had seen it to be, but a beginning place, a place where, I came to find, I had little to fear.
This book is based on the surprising wisdom offered by a man who walked into my life, without a context for me to put him in. His very figure—flowing white robes banded with gold trim, sandals, long black hair and beard—made him appear different from me and from anyone else I knew. Yet he reflected back to me a sense of myself that had been missing for a very long time.
As the time passed I found myself being led, through his words and his presence, to look at a great heart and find there the possibilities for my own. “All that you see in me, you will find in yourself also,” he would say.
What began with words had expanded in experience. The breathing practices and meditation that he taught led me to a growing sense of wonder and the familiarity of inner quietness, even to moments of transcending name, time and place, and to feel happy for no reason.
HOW THIS BOOK CAME TO BE
Sri Sri (as he is known) speaks somewhere in the world almost every day. It was my good fortune to hear many of his first talks, and, because he asked me to edit some of them, I had a reason to go over his words again and again. Those are words that have transformed the way I see myself and others, words that offer the possibility of peace to each one of us and to this troubled world. Because they have opened my heart and changed me, and because Sri Sri has asked me to, I have gathered his words together and created this book. I have provided transitions and examples where needed, but the words are basically his; an offering of wisdom that