Everything seems to be a dream, that life could be so meaningful & the world could be so nice. All this seemed to be realistic when I attended the Rishikesh Meditation Retreat by Anandmurti Gurumaaji.Rishikesh - the land of Lord Shiva, a land of sages.

The shivir held in this place made it like living in heaven.. In the front of the ashram was the holy river Ganga flowing & at the back of ashram were mountains & all this happened by the blessings of Gurumaaji & to be with “Anandmurti gurumaaji” for 6 days seemed just like 6 mins which flewed, by not even knowing.

These are the days that I lived in a dream….

Gurumaaji explained us each & every word & shloka of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 & 6.

Earlier, I didn’t use to understand. The shlokas in Gita - They seemed to be tough to me. I just read them once but was not able to understand the meaning of any shloka.

But gurumaaji explained us meaning of every shloka & how to apply it in different spheres of living life.

It brought a lot of change in my life. I got to know the way in which the life is to be lived. Life is so beautiful & its only the way one looks at it. One should try to enjoy each & every minute of life thinking that it’s the last minute of one’s life. One should do his/her work with not having a feeling of selfishness but with the feeling of “NishkaaM”, that means by doing just the work & not thinking of any rewards. Not expecting anything & just doing your duty..

Gurumaaji taught us Yoga Nidra, that relaxes one’s mind & soul & relieves away all tensions. In this modern era I think it’s a must for every individual. So one should do it regularly. It relieves away one’s mental tensions & makes one feel healthy.

Gurumaaji laid stress on health. That yoga is must for one’s life. One should get up early in the morning… That the time b/w 4:00am to 4:30am is the best time to get up… & if one gets up at this time & does yoga, then that person will remain healthy.

Health is important for life to live longer & if one is healthy than one will be able to do all his daily activities well & meditation is must in one’s life. One should meditate regularly. knowledge is important for life.

Only the diet that one requires should eat, food should be chewed 32 times, one should eat meditatively. Live life with full consciousness & be aware of the surroundings & do every work, whatever it may be, meditatively.

And soon all the days come to an end & it seemed like just few minutes before we have come here & now we are leaving that place. Still today, the fragrance of those days are fresh in my memory & I do follow what gurumaaji taught us.

I daily wake up at 4am & do yoga & meditation & sleep early at night. It has bought a lot of positive effect in my life. Now I always try to remain happy & free of tensions & just wish almighty if I could live those heavenly days of my life again.

–Shashank Aggarwal, B.Tech Student, Chandigarh.