An Electronics Engineer from Mumbai University, Rajesh Jagasia was working with a Canadian software company for eight years while also serving as a part-time faculty with The Art of Living. It was only a matter of time that he gave up his lucrative software career and switched to teaching The Art of Living programs full-time, and ever since then, there was no looking back.
From transforming the lives of thousands of youth with the YES!+ (Youth Empowerment & Skills) workshop to starting a school in a Naxal-hit village of India, Rajesh’s life is an example of selfless service to the society. Rajesh shares his journey on the path, his vision for the world and speaks intimately about his interaction with his inspiration and Master, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
When and how did your journey with The Art of Living begin?
I was in college when a friend told me about the Happiness Program (earlier known as the Part-1 Course). He asked me to do the course, but I never took it seriously. After college, I started working and went to the US. When I came back, I got to know that this friend of mine had already registered me for the same program. Since I had no choice, I went for it. That’s how my first Art of Living program happened.
How was your experience?
I liked it. It was indeed a peaceful journey. But my friend didn’t stop at that. Soon after my course was over, he informed me that Gurudev was visiting Mumbai. This was in 1998. I agreed to go with him to attend Gurudev’s program.
What do you remember from your first meeting with Gurudev?
Honestly, I was not a devotee then and went there only to get to know him more. But that day, what touched me the most was Gurudev’s awareness. What intrigued me the most was that he was meeting everybody. There were 6,000 people, and he stood for almost three hours exchanging pleasantries with the attendees and devotees, alike.
My friends were also waiting in the queue to meet Gurudev, but I was too shy to join them. So, I stood in a corner and observed everything. I saw that there was a needy man in tattered clothes in the queue. When his turn came, Gurudev met and hugged him with the same intensity as he did with everybody else. Gurudev had some gifts and flowers that he picked up and gave to this man. When I saw this, my eyes welled up, and I thought to myself that I have to meet Gurudev, whoever he is. He is very aware and caring. That was the point which changed my life. And later on, I kept meeting him in different countries and places.
How was your life before and after the program?
Things in me had started changing, surely. With Sudarshan Kriya, participation in seva (service) and various other activities, my confidence as well as connection with people improved greatly. Earlier, I never thought that I could go out and help someone because there never was anything beyond the eye.
I can put it this way. When I joined engineering, a friend of mine had asked me why I wanted to do engineering. I replied saying that I wanted to earn a lot of money. In 2000, after I finished my engineering and The Art of Living program, someone asked me the same question. This time, I said that I wanted the whole world to do The Art of Living program. In three years, this was the transformation that Gurudev’s presence in my life had brought about.
What do these practices mean to you? How do they facilitate holistic living?
One valuable lesson that I learned is how to sit with yourself and meditate. So, meditation has become part and parcel of my daily life. With meditation and other practices, infinite goodness springs up from within. Gurudev rightly says that The Art of Living’s practices are like mental hygiene. What it teaches you basically is being with yourself and being happy. I think the whole world has to learn this because our happiness is always attached with somebody or something.
What was your personality like before attending the program?
Firstly, it was an emotional turmoil. Secondly, I don’t know if I could ever think of something beyond me. Thirdly, I could never be with people or feel connected to them. Now, in these last few years, I have taught at so many universities, I meet people for the first time, stay at different places and yet, I feel that they are a part of my family. So, this has been a significant change in my life.
Another important change is that I see a lot of abundance in me. There is no insufficiency. The thought that I don’t have something never comes to me.
Can you share an anecdote or memory of Gurudev where his action or words became your inspiration?
This happened 13 years ago when I was teaching a course at Banaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh, India. A professor came up to me and said you are doing such doing good work, but I want to show you a place, a few kilometers away from here where children don’t even get food. I visited the place and was surprised to find that the village seemed to be stuck in the past era. The children there struggled for food, and there was no education available. I was startled at the fact that merely 90 km away I was teaching a full-fledged course to youngsters who had everything in their university, and here in this village of Aurwan Tand, these kids had no food or education.
So, I apprised Gurudev of the situation and told him that I wished to distribute food and clothes. Gurudev’s reply was rapt and instant. He said – I want you to start a school there.
Now, this seemed like an impossible task, and my friends and colleagues also thought so. But Gurudev’s words - start a school there – kept resonating in my head and I decided to start a school there.
Was it a struggle as it seemed, in the beginning, to start a school in Aurwan Tand?
It appeared so, but things changed when I went there. Surprisingly, somebody donated a piece of land. A contractor helped me with all that’s required to build a school, and some other person helped me find a teacher. It’s a Naxalite belt, and you can’t reach there. But, all this happened in a fraction of a month. The school was set-up with two teachers and started functioning within three months. In 2016, eight students from that school entered engineering colleges in Lucknow. The kids who once dreamt of growing up to be Naxalites are today receiving an education. I think making the ordinary extraordinary and making the impossible possible is what Gurudev does.
What is your vision for the society and the world?
I want everyone to be happy and connected to Gurudev. I think both are synonymous. Being connected and being happy are synonyms. If you’re not connected, then it’s difficult to be realistically happy.
How does Sudarshan Kriya create an impact and bring a change in the lives of people?
The functioning of your life depends on your mind. If your mind is happy, you’re happy. For example, when you see a piece of cake, you feel nice. This feeling is at the level of the mind. Now, when you see a bitter gourd, you may not feel so nice. This is also at the level of the mind. Same is with the situations and people. So, if you have the ability to fix your mind, you are actually fixing your life. If you’re not able to fix your mind, you are incapable of fixing your life, no matter what you do. So, from the outside to the inside is what The Art of Living is all about.
Also, Sudarshan Kriya makes you efficient, much more aware and capable of doing multiple things. Everyone wants to be happy, peaceful and joyful, have good relationships, be efficient – all these are the byproducts of practicing Sudarshan Kriya.
What is that one thing that the world needs to preserve peace?
Acknowledging diversity! Not everyone can be like you. Just as different apps fit in one phone, similarly, there are different religions and paths, but there is only one God.
