FAQs

1. What exactly do you do in 16 hours??

An alien lands on our beautiful planet Earth, and meets a man. This alien knows everything about earth through their advanced technology (as usual) and is curious about everything. He asks the man-

Alien: Hello Earthling! I’m from Ignoranet. Though I have read a lot about the apple fruit, I really want to know how an apple tastes. Can you tell me?

Man: Hmmm… Lets see… Its sweet… crunchy and… a little bit sour.

Alien: Oh I know how that would be. I would take a mango, mix it with some crunchy biscuits and squeeze a little bit of lemon into it and I have an apple… Right??

Man(Scratching his head): Err… Ummm… Not exactly… It’s different… Arghh… How do I tell you?

Alien: What do I do to know what an apple tastes like??

Finally, a wise man who overheard this conversation comes and gently hands an apple to the alien, and tells him, “This is the wondrous apple, bite into it and know what it tastes like!”

Get it??

2. Why should I do a YES!⁺?? I’m Happy!!

Well, nobody ever said that you must do this course because you are sad!!! That’s your interpretation 🙂 So you really have a high intellect, a good reason enough to do YES!⁺ 🙂 The only thing we claim is, “Yes, we agree you are happy but with YES!⁺ course you learn the art of maintaining that state of happiness despite all odds and more importantly, how to spread that happiness around.” Are you sure you are doing that currently?? Think again!!

Ask yourself: Have you reached the pinnacle of your capacities? Are you at ease in any situation, at any place, doing any task? Chances are, you are not 100% there. Take this example: You are totally comfortable and at ease being with yourself right? But when you are with strangers, there is some shyness, fear, feeling of distance or inhibition in some form or the other. Why is this? Because you don’t know the other person!

Likewise, if you knew your own self a bit better, the tendencies of your mind, the nature of your body and intellect and other aspects that make up the person reading this screen at this very moment, perhaps you would be more empowered and in better control of your life? It is like getting the operating manual to a super-computer. A good tool to have, no?

3. Why do you guys charge money? Isn’t The Art of Living Foundation an NGO??

There are no free lunches in life honey. Firstly, the money collected is used for charitable purposes only.

The Art of Living Foundation has many volunteer-based projects across the globe, focusing on rural development, education, alleviation of poverty, stress-relief, trauma-relief and aid for places affected by natural calamities. The teachers in Art of Living get paid salaries. International centres built all across the globe need funding. In Singapore alone, there are three Art of Living centres and the rent in Singapore is well-known. Running any course – booking venue, materials, food etc. entail cost. These need money!!!

The money you (rather we) give is used for good purposes only and take it as an investment – the returns you get are infinitesimally more!!! Experience it!!

4. Can’t you guys change the venue to somewhere closer to home?? The timings are so odd and why is the workshop so long??

Well, then we think there should be a customized YES!⁺ exclusively for you for the simple reason that out of all the participants, hardly 20% are happy with the venue and timings.

But as far we understand, the only reason why the rest 80% of the participants land up doing it is because they WANT to do it, come what may!! And believe it or not, it’s all a play of faith – the more determination you have, things will fall in place.

You know of course about the Law of Attraction popularized by ‘The Secret’. “If you really want something and truly believe in it, you’ll get it”. It really works!!

5. I really want to do this workshop, but I really don’t have so much time!

That’s exactly why YES!+ workshop is for you! YES!+ buys you time to do all that you want to do rather than just doing things that you need to do. Worth it, isn’t it?

You don’t have the time? Neither do we! Look at everyone around you. Does anyone ‘have’ time? Nope. Do you think there is going to be this ‘next time’ or ‘sometime in the future’ when somehow you will happen to be totally free exactly over those four, five, or six hours of each of the four, five or six days when this workshop happens? Nobody ‘has’ time. You just need to make time. Put aside a few things, re-schedule a few other things, and make yourself free!

Look through this blog, the testimonials and the videos and everything carefully. If you sincerely feel that it is going to add value to your life, it is time to see how you can make yourself free to come and join us. And once you take the commitment and give it your best effort, you will see how things conspire to bring you to us.

6. Isn’t Art of Living a religious organization? And isn’t it an Indian thing?

Art of Living is a worldwide phenomenon. We have courses happening in Saudi and in Rome. Art of Living takes the essence of all traditions and makes it into a practical and palatable application for modern day living. In India, our International headquarters at Bangalore reflects the majority Indian culture and traditions.

Why should something originating out of India have to remain exclusive and limited to India? When it comes to other things, say … food, we are liberal at pleasuring our palatte with cuisines from all over the world. How would it be if western cuisine was banned in Singapore just because Singapore does not happen to be a “Western” country? Ridiculous no? Similarly, the benefits of the traditional Chinese medicine have been proven and people all over the world adopt them. A good idea is to absorb the best practices from different cultures.

Art of Living attracts the intelligent seeker from any tradition, faith, religious system or belief, even atheists. For people who have stubborn notions of how “Spirituality”, “Meditation”, or a “Master” should be, and are unwilling to take a peek beyond them, possibly Art of Living may not help. But if you are a sincere seeker and you really wish to explore the world and yourself and the sciences, then stuff like religion and culture will not bother you.

BTW, do you know that our organization has a Zoroastrian Parsi as its chairman? And that the chairman of the European Art of Living is a Roman Catholic, the Chairperson of Art of Living in the Middle East is a Shia Muslim lady and that the chairman of Art of Living US is a Jew?!

It’s easy to ask questions of others, the government, the organization, the society, the neighbours and sit around doing nothing. It’s tough to get out there and actually make a difference to the society.

We invite you to become busy figuring out how you can make a difference to this beautiful planet we live on, and what part you will be able to play in this brilliant transformation that Art of Living is bringing about.

Wow!! Where have you been all my life?? I want to sign up NOW. How do I do it?

Welcome to the YES!⁺ 🙂

Just email us on nusartofliving@gmail.com !