Today it is Sankranti

What Sri Sri said today

Bangalore ashram, Jan. 14:
Today it is Sankranti in India, the harvest festival. Farmers celebrate this day all over the country. In South India, it is called Pongal. People exchange sesame seeds and sugarcane with each other. Whatever you receive first, you have to give away to somebody. We exchange things.

In ancient times there was no money, only the barter system. Almonds were exchanged for apples, sugarcane with rice, there was always give and take all over the world.

Today is the day everyone can exchange like that. Usually, sweets are given (jaggery and sesame seeds). We have this and say, ‘Let us speak sweetly this year, let there be sweetness in our speech.’ “Have a nice day, happy birthday” are modern day wishes, but in ancient times we say, ‘let us be sweet to each other, may you speak sweetly,’ meaning, ‘The whole year, may you speak wisdom’.

We had a huge program in Maharashtra, I have just come from there. In Maharashtra, it is said,

Tilgul ghya,
Gud gud bola.

(Eat tilgul (little balls of sesame seeds and jaggery); speak sweetly.)

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar

Sankranti – Time to Review Progress on the Path

Sankranti – Time to Review our Progress on the Path

In response to one of the questions asked in a satsang few months back, Gurudev said “There are two days in a year on which you can review your progress on the spiritual path – they are on the day of Makar Sankranti / Lohri (usually Jan 14th / 15th) and Guru Purnima”. Let us grab the opportunity to review your progress (like sadhana, seva, satsang, being and implementing the knowledge etc) on this path for the last year and take sankalpa on this holy day for your journey on this beautiful path for the coming year.