Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Celebrating Life with Silence

Knowledge removes the darkness of ignorance in life

2012-01-28T08:04:00.000+05:30

January 15, 2012

True education I believe is that by which the individual is strengthened and can be away from sorrow. If someone criticizes, one can listen to the criticism boldly, and when one has to offer criticism or comment, one can give them with patience and confidence, without hesitation. There should be no timidity, there should be joy, and a sense of mental fulfillment – this is knowledge. Knowledge removes the darkness of ignorance in life, makes you joyful. Without knowledge, we remain depressed in life. Whoever is depressed, understand that he lacks knowledge. What is the reason for sorrow? Whatever you have received, will eventually go away, we will leave it all behind. Nothing is going to stay here; everything will change. Nothing will remain static here, neither our body, nor our home, our profession, our prestige – we will go beyond all these one day. Then what is the fear about?

So, it is extremely necessary to eradicate ignorance. In many villages, people do not send their children to school. They do not study. Educated people are becoming scarce in the villages, in the backward regions. We need to impart education.

Similarly, in every region, we need to obtain knowledge. What food and how we should eat it, we have no knowledge of it. We eat only carbohydrates – potato, rice, roti – we only keep eating these. Potato is starch and carbohydrate, so is rice and roti. We get only one nutrient in our diet. By adding a little bit of lentils, the meal is not balanced. That is why acidity is generated, people fall sick, they get diabetes.

If you go to North India, what they eat is brinjal, potato, and tomato, only these three things. Besides this, they cook no other vegetable at home. If anything else is cooked, it is during festivals. So much oil and chillies, along with potato, brinjal and tomato. These three have zero nutritional value. They contain no minerals. Okra/Lady’s fingers (bhindi), ridge gourd (turai), bottle gourd (lauki), carrots and many other vegetables – we forget all these. There are so many vegetables in India – parval (pointed gourd) these are not grown. Different kinds of vegetables should be grown. One should have knowledge of food.

So, ignorance has to be eliminated, and next, injustice has to be put to an end; wherever there is injustice in the name of caste, in the name of religion. Recently, a communal violence bill is being introduced by the government. If you look at it, it is rather scary; a draconian bill. Even in the Lokpal Bill that is being introduced, one who lodges the complaint gets two years’ punishment, the person against whom the complaint is being lodged gets six months’ punishment!

All this is injustice to the nation. They do not listen to the voice of the public. Instead, they follow whatever the high command says! Everyone says, 'Do as the high command says.' Where is this coming from?

The dignity and prestige of our nation needs to be upheld. There is a centuries-old tradition. We are not honoring this tradition.

When someone asks what our duty is, they say, 'Upholding the national flag.' Is upholding the national flag a duty? Dharma or duty is one that steadies a man. When one doesn’t have knowledge of one's duty, he says his dharma is only to uphold the national flag. Why are people so shy? Is the Dharma of this land so worthless?

Stand up erect and do not let injustice prevail. We have to fight against injustice.

Third is 'shortage' – we have to fight against shortage.

India is the largest producer of grains in the world, the largest producer of vegetables, the largest producer of milk. In spite of all this, we are always in shortage. The price of vegetables went sky high, and two or three months later, it dropped suddenly. It was a huge loss to the farmers. In Punjab, potatoes began to be sold for one rupee per kilo.

Planning is not right. We have no agricultural planning. Otherwise, how can there be such a huge fluctuation in prices in just three months?

Our distribution system is flawed. Some people are trying to mess things up behind the scenes, hoarding produce, and generating losses. This is not right. We have to fight against shortage and increase prosperity in the country.

Just yesterday, I had a conversation with some businessmen and traders, and they said, 'Guruji, everything has come to a grinding halt. All businessmen are frustrated and unhappy; no work is getting done.'

This has become the policy of our government, that is why! We have to remove shortage. In a country where traders prosper, there will be no scarcity. So, traders will have to think about this. I have been requested to address the World Economic Forum at the end of this month.

Each country in the world is facing a unique challenge. Without considering the situation, one single law has been imposed on everyone. This will not work. That which can work in America will not work in India. What will work in India will not work in Australia. According to our country, what needs to be done here to remove scarcity is something we will have to think about.

It should not be that someone from Washington commands us, and our ministers readily accept their orders. This will not work. Isn't it?

Next, we have to remove the impurity inside and outside our minds. We fill our minds with so much trash! It is necessary that we free ourselves of all the anger and attachment.We have to rise above all this.

So, remember that we need to work towards putting an end to these four things: Ignorance, Injustice, Scarcity and Impurity.

When you walk, check which nostril is open - right or left. Whichever side is open, put forward that foot first. If you get into the car after checking the nostrils and accordingly put that foot in first, you will never have an accident! This knowledge is in the shastras, they are all secrets that are not meant to be disclosed. But I say, reveal it and give it away to everyone.

If the right nostril is open, you should eat food, if the left is open, drink water. If you do the reverse, you will fall sick. If someone eats when the left nostril is open, and drinks when the right nostril is open, they would fall ill within three months - headache, backache, or any such ailment . So what should we do? After having dinner, when you sleep on your right side, the left nostril will work.

You should definitely do Pranayama everyday, even if for a little while. Also, do Bhastrika everyday. Both are important.

How many people are willing to work for the benefit of the society? (Almost everyone raised their hands). Everyone is ready, that's wonderful! As I said yesterday, awakening in the country will start from Maharashtra, if you dedicate six months to the country. How many people are willing to work for us for six months? You know what you need to do? Form four groups: Ignorance, Scarcity, Injustice, and Impurity, and go on a Padayatra (travel on foot) from village to village and include everyone in Adarsh Divya Samaj Nirman Yojana (ADSNY). Ask everyone to become members. Everyone wants to be connected to a big revolution. It is very easy. Tell them, 'Let us all do it together. Let us prepare a database of ten crore citizens across the country.'

Look, for the sake of vote bank, all politicians use caste and creed. Why shouldn't we create a vote bank along the lines of honesty? Shouldn't we have a vote bank of honest people? Then, all the honest people will come to vote, elect honest people to office.

Nowadays, dishonest, anti-social elements, criminals are being given tickets because they have the vote bank behind them. So, if a vote bank of good people is created, good and saattvic people will come up. These people will do justice to everyone, and the country will improve. This is the thought that occurred to me today.

Recently, I was invited to address some industrialists in Delhi. Some top industrialists were present. People were wondering whether the businessmen would agree or not, what will happen. The organizers were scared. I stood up, and with a lot of artificiality, I addressed everyone: 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here to count how many donkeys are there!' The host was shocked and began trembling, 'What is Guruji saying?' I said, 'Yes, you are a donkey. When you maintain a state of un-naturalness and ignorance, what can I say? And you are embarrassed about knowledge. So you are a donkey!'

I gave them a good scolding, even though that is not my nature, but they all liked it and were somewhat awakened . Everyone was pleased.

See, being in knowledge, even if you scold, it is only beneficial. In ignorance, even if you love, you only have losses.

Q: Guruji, you are like a powerful magnet. Howsoever many times we see and meet you, doesn't seem to satisfy us. Why is that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That I do not know! You tell me why you feel this way, why do you crowd and push around me? Whatever I am, so are you; whatever you are, so am I!

Q: Guruji, what is the difference between boldness and decisiveness, and in today's context, which is better?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Be decisive and live boldly. There should be shyness in doing bad deeds, but to stand up for justice and duty, you should not be shy.

Q: Guruji, in Christianity, we have a concept called angels and angel guides. Is there any such thing in Hinduism?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, yes, yes, yes!! Most of these concepts are all in Hinduism also. In Christianity, they say, 'Jesus has died on the cross to take the sin of everybody.' That is what Lord Krishna also said, 'I will release you from all your sins, just take refuge in me. Aham tvaam sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shucha.' Similarly, all the angels – what are devis and devataas? In Urdu, they are called farishtas. So many yakshas, yakshinis, devataas – all these are angels after all.

Q: Guruji, what are the characteristics of a self-realized person, and I have a strong desire to attain self-knowledge.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is a very good thing! Maintain that desire. You are in the right place. Absolutely the right place!

Q: (Inaudible- This was about the Art of Living Women's Conference.)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a women's conference that the Art of Living is organizing next month. A lot of awareness has come, but more needs to come. Yesterday in Delhi, I saw that women do not apply bindi. This is the fashion! There is only one country in the world where there is a tradition of applying bindi, and that is India. So, we should uphold the identity of India. In Pakistan also, we are getting them to start applying bindi. You don't do it here!

Q: Guruji, what is the origin of the universe and can God's existence be proved?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sure! Before you know the origin of the universe, first tell me which is the beginning point of a tennis ball? See, if you think linear, everything is expected to begin in some place and end in some place. But when you think spherical, there is no beginning and no end. Three things have never begun nor will they ever end: nature, living beings, and God (Parameshvar). These three things never had an origin and never will they end. For example, all the jewelry that you are wearing is gold. If you see them as different ornaments, then it is Dvaita, but if you see them all as made of gold, it is Advaita. All this wood is Advaita. However, the door is separate, table is separate, chair is separate – someone sits on the table and keeps his food on the chair, what will you call him, crazy? Dvaita means everything is separate, Advaita means everything is only one. Will these go together or not? These foolish people drew such a distinction between the two and engaged in needless debate, and kept ruining the country.

Q: Guruji, there are so many saints and sages in our country, who are engaged in spreading religion. Yet, why doesn't our country's situation improve?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In spite of them, this is the situation, if it hadn't been for them, where would the country have been? It is unimaginable! Twenty years ago, in Pimpri, there weren't so many hospitals. There may have been one or two hospitals. Today, so many hospitals have opened, and yet, so many people are falling ill. So, are the hospitals responsible for all these sicknesses? Had the hospitals not been there, there would have been more sickness. Isn't it?

Q: Guruji, what is life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Very good question! It is very important. Keep it this way! One day I will answer it. You wait for it and I will also wait to give you the answer when you are able to understand it.

Q: Guruji, in our country, 999 out of 1000 people are dishonest. How will we be able to bring about transformation in the country with only a few people joining together?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do not go with the assumption that 999 out of 1000 people are dishonest. You alone are honest, do not assume that! People who think this way stay angry, and are of no use. Don't think this way. I believe just the opposite. Out of 995, 5 are dishonest. In treta yuga, five used to be honest and a hundred were dishonest. But the effect of Kali yuga is such that there are only five dishonest persons, and a hundred good people. Struck with poverty, these hundred are asleep whereas those five have climbed up somewhere. Now the time has come to bring those five down, and teach them wisdom. You have a lot of power. All those people who are here, are they not good people? Look into the eyes of anyone. They are all good people. They may have committed one or two mistakes. If someone commits a mistake once, will you brand them dishonest for good? That is wrong! Look around. There are thousands of good people. Yesterday, I saw that lakhs of people came to the satsang. There was so much enthusiasm, so much love. Everyone is willing to do seva. Just look, everyone is raising their hands. Will all these people be dishonest? Those who are ready to do seva, how can you call them dishonest?

Q: Guruji, I have an easy-going attitude, and I procrastinate things. How to overcome this attitude?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Take a pledge, make a promise that this is how I will work. If you break the promise sometime, make it again. Don't give up.

Q: Guruji, in the fight against corruption, if our own family members are corrupt, how can we transform them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You move with your vision and see they will also join in. In this world, those who are successful, everyone tags behind them. If you walk this path with peace and patience, then everyone will follow.

Q: Guruji, due to some worldly problems, I want to commit suicide.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Absolutely not! Before doing this, come to me, seek my permission, then do it! I will tell you from where to jump and how to commit suicide. Don't make this decision on your own. I need you! Why are you losing your life? What do you need, tell me? Bread (roti), clothing, and a home? I am willing to give all that to you for all your life. You can just sit around. Have no worries and do my work. You will get respect, honor, knowledge, everything that you want. What is the reason that you want to commit suicide? You couldn't get married, that is why? Or because you got married, that is why? In both the situations, I will help you. Don't worry. If you are not married, I will get you married. If you are already married, I will talk to your husband or wife. If they don't understand, I will advise you to take sanyas. Move forward. What will you achieve by committing suicide? Suicide should absolutely not be committed. All those who feel the slightest doubt or have such a feeling, immediately show them my photograph and tell them, 'Look, don't go without his permission, otherwise you won't get entry up there as well!' You will be hanging in between, neither in this world, nor in the other. Why do you commit such an act? First take permission, get the visa!

Q: Guruji, even today in our country, there is a lot of caste discrimination. Is this because of our corrupt politicians, or according to our shastras?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, not according to the shastras. You will see that apart from the two prominent rishis (sages), Bharadwaj and Vashishtha, most of the other rishis were born in lower caste. From among the dalits is Ved Vyas; Valmiki was a dalit. So, all those great sages whose lineage you identify yourself with, they are also from different castes – someone is Kshatriya (warrior), someone is Kumhaar (potter). Right here in Maharashtra, many of the devotees were not from the upper caste, but from all different castes. When we need a good lawyer, we do not inquire about their caste. When a doctor is needed, we do not look at their caste. When we have to do business, we do not ask what their caste is. We do business with a good businessman. If the project is good, we join with them. Only when we have to vote, we think whether that person belongs to our caste or not. When an electoral ticket has to be given, we think which caste should be given the ticket in this area. Don't do this! Until caste is taken out of politics, caste-based divide in this country will not go. Politics is holding on to casteism. It should be removed from politics.

Q: Guruji, in our country there is a mentality that everything happens through fate/destiny and through God, and we do not perform our karma (duty). Which is more important?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Faith in destiny, commitment to duty. Take both along.

Q: Guruji, the modern youth is disappointed seeing the condition of the country. What is your message for the youth?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Seeing the condition of the country you are feeling disappointed, but seeing me, has hope arisen in you or not? If not, then at least awaken your hopes seeing all those who are gathered here. Wake up! I need youth like you who want to do something for the country. You come forward. Together we will go from village to village in Maharashtra and spread the knowledge. Everywhere, let us bring a wave of bliss.

Q: Guruji, why is Lord Krishna known as the Lord of the Supreme Universe? Why do we have the same feeling when we look at you?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: They say, 'Mannatha Shree Jagannatha': my master is everyone's master, my guru is the jagat guru (universal guru), my soul is everyone's soul. Having such feelings is legitimate, natural, and universally acceptable.

Q: Dear Guruji, I have heard that when your heart is full of love and when you are so much compassionate about the master, then whenever you think of the master even when he is not physically present, tears automatically come out of the eyes. These tears are like pearls and I have heard that these tears are so precious that even angels run to collect them. When will you become an angel and run towards me to collect my precious tears?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This shows how good you are! It's wonderful!

We are like a sesame seed with respect to this Universe

2012-01-27T07:43:00.000+05:30

January 14, 2012

Mahasatsang at Pune

There is something about Makar Sankranti, Pune and me. Every year you do something around this time, and draw me here. So I will say again, 'Til gud gya, ani gode gode bola.'

Today it occurred to me that the sesame seed is black on the outside, and white on the inside. If it was white on the outside and black on the inside, it would have been a different matter. Today the sesame seed and jaggery has given a message to the country, 'Maintain purity inside.'

If you scrub the sesame seed, it will become white outside also. We are like a sesame seed with respect to this Universe. If you see, what is our significance in this universe; what is life? Next to nothing, like a sesame seed; a mere speck! We are minuscule. We need to remember this message.

We are tiny and sweet; delightful like sesame seeds with jaggery. So stay small and sweet and you will truly become big. And if you think you are very big and important in any field or aspect, the downfall will begin. This is the experiential truth. We see that this is what happens in the lives of thousands of people. The moment arrogance comes up, or the delusion that 'I am something', the decline begins. I am very powerful - that is it, power begins to diminish.

Here in Maharashtra lies the union of Shakti (strength) and Bhakti (devotion) - the Shakti of Shivaji and the Bhakti Tukaramji brought about the upliftment of India. It appears that people have forgotten this fact. Nowadays they are engaged only in the display of power.

Along with Shakti, Bhakti is also essential and strongly needed. I would say four things are needed: Shakti, Bhakti, Yukti (skill) and Mukti (freedom). If even one of these is lacking, life would not be successful.

To succeed in society, strength and skill are needed, and if you want to experience success in personal or spiritual life, devotion and liberation are needed. We need to move along with all four.

So this is the message: the union of Bhakti and Shakti. In our country this is what is required. This will strengthen the spirit of the people of the country.

Wherever I go, this is the question people ask me, 'Guruji, what will happen to this country?' The farmers are unhappy, they say, 'We grow vegetables and the prices drop. On what guarantee should we grow vegetables? It is like our hands have been chopped off.'

The traders are unhappy; the industrialists are unhappy. No one knows when, who will be sent off to prison. And lawyers and judges are even unhappy. They say, 'God only should save this country.'

Ask the politicians. No one knows what their situation is. They themselves are confused, depressed. They are unhappy with people belonging to their own party as well as of other parties. Their own internal conflicts are so many.

And slowly this demon of corruption is attempting to take the place of God, meaning it is on the verge of becoming omnipresent.

I said, 'Absolutely not! I will not let it come close to that'

That is why everywhere I am saying that people should take the oath they will neither give bribes nor accept bribes. Wherever there is a sense of belongingness, corruption cannot exist. Where the sun is, there is no darkness. Where there is belongingness, there is no vice or violence.

But nowadays, those who have set out to do good work, people attempt to blame them as well. They will do it anyway, it is natural after all. But this will do nothing. Truth is always victorious, and will definitely win. On the occasion of this Makar Sankranti, I want to give this assurance to you all, this hope that the country will move forward; this country will progress.

And all those who are engaged in wrongdoing, corruption and black money, they will all suffer. They will definitely be punished.

So devotion is the gist of life, the very essence of this world; hold on to it, do not let go of it. Then see what a tremendous increase there will be in our self-confidence. Strength is gained, and when there is strength, new ideas begin to arise and skills are developed, and you will become free from troubles and botheration.

The purpose of my coming here is to remind you that God exists, within you, and you have to do nothing in order to get Him.

What happened was that the gurus kept telling, ' Do this, do this' and the disciples kept wondering what to do; and both guru and disciple became frustrated.

I am saying that you need to do nothing. Just sit for short periods of time and connect.

Look, when the daughter-in-law and son-in-law enter your family, how long does it take for you to establish a rapport? Five minutes! Once the Mangal Sutra has been tied, a relationship is established. Yesterday they were strangers and now they belong to each other. Isn't it? It doesn't take even that much time with God.

Formulating a relationship requires expenditure of a lot of money. After spending lakhs of rupees you finally accept someone as your son or daughter in-law. But establishing a relationship with God does not take even that much time. In fact, it takes nothing at all. All you have to do is believe: God belongs to me, is within me and is right here, right now. Having this faith, sitting down for a little while, completely quiets the mind, eliminates fear and removes sorrow, and then joy in consciousness and fulfilment become visible.

You might say, 'Guruji, it is nice to hear about all these big things, but I can’t experience it’. The way you think is the way things will happen. If you think that it is very difficult, then it is. If a child thinks that clearing the SSC Exam is very difficult, he will not even reach grade eight or nine. He will fail in grade seven only. IAS would seem unachievable for him.

Some people think clearing the IAS exam is very difficult, or a particular subject is difficult. When you consider something difficult, you can never reach there. The best excuse for people to get rid of something is to say that it is very difficult. It is not difficult; you just need a desire, a will to do it. And God is not separate from nature. He is one with nature.

Just like there is oil in a sesame seed, there is God in this universe. He is there in every heart. This is the knowledge of the self.

You can sit for few moments, morning and evening, observe silence and ponder, ‘What is this life? How long will I be here; maybe two days, ten or twenty years or even fifty years? As long as I am here, what do I need from this world? What can I give to this world before I leave?’ Such questions should arise in our minds.

An educated person is one who has such questions in mind. If such questions arise in your mind then I will say that you are a graduate.

When students are forced into schools and colleges, they come out unhappy, and all these values are erased from their mind. They look so unhappy.

An educated person is one who is always smiling. Happiness never leaves him, and he never lacks love. I will call such a person to be well-educated, learned and knowledgeable. We need such people in all fields of life and especially in the field of education.

I was in Germany during the New Year and there, the people told me that 40% of school teachers are into depression. I said, ‘If 40% of school teachers are mentally unwell, then what will they teach the students?’ Looking at their faces, students feel like running back home. Who feels like sitting with such teachers in school? Thank Goodness, such a situation is not in India as of now.

If school teachers are in depression, that is a very unfavourable environment for children to be educated in. This is what happens when there is too much prosperity.

Last month when I went to IIT Kharagpur, I was told that the most selling drug in the campus was the anti-depressant. I request all the parents to take care of the mental health of their children. Don’t always burden them by saying, ‘Study, compete and perform well’. These children are so burdened, that they get depressed and start committing suicide in colleges or schools. Don’t pressurise them for performing well, but teach them how to become an influential and intelligent person.

Teach them yoga, meditation and pranayama, and then you’ll see the marvellous talents sprouting in them. Ask your children to do the YES+ course. This is the advantage of the Art of Living course - the person blossoms from within and all the inhibitions are wiped off. See, so many people are looking happy here.

One who is happy and joyful, know that he has gone for some course. It is a true fact. And if someone is sitting with a sad face, know that he has neither done the course nor did he listen to what Guruji said.

A few years back when Lebanon was attacked by Israel, we were also running an Art of Living centre there at that time.

I asked my people to call up the volunteers and teachers and find out if everything is fine. When they called, the local people there were doing satsang. Everywhere, the place was being bombarded and these people were doing satsang.

They told me, ‘Oh Guruji! We are very happy!’

I was worried about them and they were saying, ‘We are very happy’. Sometimes it feels that this is so unnatural. It cannot happen this way.

They were saying, ‘Guruji, we are involved in seva and we are fearless even though we are being bombarded’.

Why? Because there is a faith that God is there.

I wanted to hear such things. One who keeps smiling in all circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant, has indeed achieved something in life. One shouldn’t cry on every small problem, or start killing people for trivial issues. Don’t lose hope. With hope and courage, bring about a peaceful revolution in life.

Life is a struggle, but this struggle is to help us rise higher.

Some people struggle and bring about destruction. Our struggle is to struggle with the struggle so that our nation rises.

Divine love and love for the nation are both the same. We can’t separate them.

Some people say, ‘Guruji, why do you talk about corruption. Why don’t you relax, meditate and help others in meditating and conduct bhajans. This is your work. Why do you get into these other problems? Let others do it’. No! Life is not divided. If someone has tears in their eyes and you are conducting bhajans without paying heed to it, then it is not correct. If you can’t convert those tears into sweet tears, then at least wipe them.

In satsang, salty tears become sweet tears. If people cry sweet tears, then that is fine. When the heart opens up, and one cries, then those are sweet tears. Our goal should be to convert anger into smiles and tears into sweet tears. This is my dream.

Let there be an India where there is no misconduct, no atrocity, no violence, no stress but smiling faces everywhere; bhajans and kirtans everywhere, and a display of oneness. This is my dream for our future generations. We have to leave behind an India where people live without any fear.

What do you think? How many of you want to be part of this dream?

Our life on earth is for a very short span of time, but for as long as we are here we should do some good deeds without fear.

Maharashtra is a state known for brave warriors. It is from here that the revolution in India started and I am confident that such a revolution will arise again from Maharashtra. Let there be a wave of righteousness that spreads throughout the country.

Now you will ask me, ‘Guruji, what do we need to do for this?’

Firstly you need to make yourself strong and keep your mind and heart clean.

We need to stand against corruption. You may feel this cannot be done. It is easy to say all this but it doesn’t work in practical life. No, we must not think this way. At least for one year let us put effort and see how it works out. I will see and you also see. If it does not work out then I will also give up and then pray to God to take care. But let us at least try it for a year.

And all of you must vote. At the time of elections, we think, ‘Anyway all the parties are the same, good for nothing. Why should we go? Why should we cast our priceless votes in favour of someone? It is better to keep it with ourselves.’ Many people don’t even go.

I understand they become upset for they have to stand in a queue for very long. They also feel there is no use in going because today votes are bought by bribing people. No, we must not think like this. If somebody is giving you money to cast a vote in their favour, then take the money but do not vote for them. It is not their hard earned money. It is your money which was with them which you paid as tax, so if they are giving, just take it and keep it.

People who ask for votes in return for money, they should be made to lose the elections.

We should also work to keep the city clean. Every individual is responsible for keeping the environment clean.

I usually say, the Guru is the garbage collector. Whatever is your problem, your bitter feelings for someone, desires, and enmity, give it all to me. Whatever sorrow you have, just give it to me. I also keep collecting garbage.

Wherever I go, people hand me flowers and along with it, a letter. The letter has three things:

1. The wrong that they have done

2. The problems they have and

3. Their desires

I guess I am doing my duty well.

There is so much power in spirituality and so much power in the knowledge of this nation, that not only our wishes are fulfilled but we also have the ability to bless others, so their wishes are fulfilled. And they get fulfilled. This is the power in the knowledge.

It is not only Guruji who can bless, all those who do sadhana, will also receive this power as they are devoted to seva, sadhana and satsang. All the three are required. If there is a lack of any of these, then it will not work. If you say that you will do sadhana but not seva, then that will not work.

Q: Guruji, what is the significance of Makar Sankranti and why are we forgetting our festivals?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The significance of Makar Sankranti is Uttarayana during makar, which means movement of the sun towards the north direction during makar as the winter comes to an end. One crop having been harvested, they sow the seeds for the next crop.

There are twelve Sankrantis in a year, out of which Makar Sankraanti has been considered most important because from here begins the Uttarayana punya kaal (Uttarayana auspicious period), and Uttarayana is regarded as the period of Divinity (Devatas). Although the entire year is considered auspicious, this period is considered slightly more auspicious. All festivals begin following this.

Q: Guruji, what is the source or origin of our desires and thoughts. How does one manage or drop them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, are you ready to drop this thought?

What if I don’t answer this question, what will you do? Hang on to the question?

You get too many thoughts; just find out from where do they come? Sit down for some time and see; these thoughts are arising from within you only. See where they are coming from.

You will not receive any answer and thoughts come from that space; that space of nothingness.

If you dive into the depth of meditation, you will discover more.

Q: Guruji, I always hesitate to take any decision, what can I do because I am always confused?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look, don’t say always. If you do it always, you won’t even know. You do it in gaps and that is why you know.

When you transcend the duality that is when wisdom dawns on you. We usually eternalise everything. Like, ‘I always commit an error’. If someone always commits a mistake, then he will never consider it a mistake. Some say, ‘everyone is sick in this city’. How can everyone be sick in a city? People eternalise and generalise everything. This should not be done.

Q: Guruji, What should I do to make my life more meaningful?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Accept the fact that since you developed an interest in knowledge, your life has become meaningful. If you want to sit in a satsang, then understand for that, that your life has started progressing on the path of success.

Q: Guruji, I am a housewife and my movement is limited to my home and family. Though your blessings are always with me, I have noticed that people who have more faults than me, are prosperous. And even after so much painstaking, we are not able to achieve that. Why so?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It may seem that people who are doing wrong deeds are happy, but that is not the case. It just seems like that. This is an illusion. It may seem so for some time, but one day they will fall and will not be able to save themselves.

Q: Guruji, is meditation the only way to realising truth?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation is like water to the thirsty. Meditation is the way for inner peace, for upliftment of the spirit. If you ask me, ‘Is water the only way to quench the thirst? Is food the only way to satisfy the hunger?’ What should I say? Yes!

‘Is sleep the only way to get rid of tiredness?’ Of course.

Q: Guruji, what is the secret of your smile?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I have not kept it a secret any longer. That is what I am giving to everybody: Art of Living.

Q: Guruji, how to manage being energetic even with so many responsibilities?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation! Also, devotion, skill, strength and liberation, you must take these four along.

Q: Guruji, there are some rapid fire questions!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, yes, fire them!

- What is Guruji?

Child who refuses to grow up!

- Politics?

Inevitable.

- Religion?

Lifeline or could be deathline.

- Anger?

Avoidable.

- Fear?

Love upside down.

- Joy?

Your nature.

- Knowledge?

That brings happiness.

- Alcohol?

That brings misery.

- Devotee?

The lucky one.

- Chaos?

Mother of bliss.

- Your smile?

Unforgettable.

- Prayer?

Works.

- Relationship?

Doesn’t work all the time.

- Youth?

Responsibility. Anyone who takes responsibility is a youth.

- Intelligent?

One who performs the responsibility.

- World?

A gift to humanity.

- Truth?

God.

- Love?

Another form.

- Technology?

Meant to bring comfort.

- Seva?

That which you can’t avoid.

- Future?

That which you can make bright.

- God?

Love.

- Life?

The same. Ditto!

This nation is indebted to the Sanyasis of Ramakrishna Mission

2012-01-26T07:48:00.000+05:30

January 12, 2012

Aum Namah Pranavarthaya Shuddha Gnana Eka Amurtaye Nirmalaya Prashantaya Sri Dakshinamurtaye Namah.

Beautifully carved statues on the dais, and beautifully carved statues in the audience. The way you are sitting like a statue with rapt attention itself indicates that India is awakening. People go and sit for entertainment, but when they sit for any spiritual discourse, you find half of them dozing, their heads down, or half the time they are somewhere else. But, the attention with which we are all here indicates that we are moving in the right direction.

Swami Vivekanandji, has left the youth of this country with a dream. And when we carry this dream in our hearts, there is no other way than progress for the country. If you find lack of progress in this country in 200 districts from about 612 districts, it is because the Ramakrishna Mission has not reached there. If Naxalism or other violent activities are happening in some areas, it is because they have not had proper schooling.

You know when Kiran Bedi retired, it brought relief to many people. You can’t say she is a retired officer. There is no retirement for her. Now she has bounced back with an even bigger area of action. Today I see of all the prizes I give, five out of six are girls. Girls have really great emotive power, because they are charged and they can charge up the whole environment. They can inspire people. And if each woman of this country can come out of their comfort zone, they can bring a lot of change. When Kiran spoke of ‘comfort zone’, it felt as if she was giving an Art of Living discourse.

Swamiji’s life was such an inspiration. For Swamiji to be what he was, the unseen force behind it was Maa Sharada Devi. And the way she said a few things here and there and changed his whole outlook towards life is unprecedented.

On the 9th of this month, just three days back, I was in Calcutta with the Ramakrishna Mission Swamis. The dedication with which they are carrying on the mission all these years through all the tough situations is remarkable. We work very closely with the Ramakrishna Mission in Arunachal Pradesh. The hospitals, the schools and the Art of Living volunteers all work together. They face several challenges there without an iota of regret, anger or hatred. The endurance they have shown through the tough situations and hard environment is something remarkable and that needs to be replicated in this whole country.

Activism needs to correlate or combine itself with the spiritual serenity. That is what we find in Annaji also, isn’t it? He is a deeply spiritual person at the same time he is not sitting and thinking, let everything happen. Let God do all the work and let us sit and enjoy. This is not the thing. God in you is asking to do this work.

I will tell you a story: Adi Shankara, who was the propounder of the Advaita philosophy said, ‘Everything is temporary, everything is changing, everything is maya’ So once he was walking and there was a mad elephant coming behind his back. So when the mad elephant started chasing him, Adi Shankara started running. Then somebody said, ‘This is all maya. You said the elephant is maya, everything maya, why are you running?’

Do you know what Adi Shankara said? ‘If the elephant is maya, my running is also maya.’

If you are confronted with a tiger in your dream, you need a dream gun to shoot the tiger. You can’t take a real gun and try to shoot the tiger.

Life is a complex gift to us. Life is a gift; we shouldn’t say it is a punishment.

Life is a gift, but very complex. It’s a complexity of infinity and the finite world. Peace and dynamism, love and action, silence and service.

You know, this nation is indebted to the Sanyasis of the Ramakrishna Mission, for they have carried on their mission in all these years, and have given pure Vedantic teachings and the bhajans.

There is a saying in Sanskrit, ‘Kavya Shastra Vinodena Kalo Gachchhati Dhiimatam’ The intelligent spend their time with poetry, with fun, with dedication, for a cause and make the wisdom lighter.

Hearing it one should not feel that they can't put it to practice. Knowledge is that which can be easily applied in life and which is useful.

Many of the superstitions and myths that had taken firm root in our nation and religion were removed and dismissed by Swami Vivekanandji, in much the same way as separating sugar from sand. For this the youth of our nation are deeply indebted to him.

Today, I am saying this with great enthusiasm and joy that we should all feel duty-bound to realize this dream of Swamiji's. We should save this country from corruption. Where sense of belongingness ends, from there corruption begins.

What does spirituality mean? It means bringing a sense of belongingness. Whoever we look at should feel like our own. With this broad perspective and a heart that does not break easily - nowadays peoples’ hearts break very easily over very small issues - a strong heart, an open mind, and a will to take any job to completion. For a hundred and fifty years Swamiji has been a source of such inspiration to the nation and to our youth and he will continue to be an inspiration.

If you see, a person's qualities are reflected in his followers, and the sacrificial and peaceful mindset with which the Sanyasis of the mutt are raising the call for revolution in the country is exemplary. They are establishing a strong foundation of duty, non-violence, truth and justice.

I would venture to say that out of all those who have studied in such mission schools, not one can or has participated in a non-violence program. If anyone has, he would be totally unique.

I can say with complete confidence that in schools and colleges if one is able to establish a foundation of duty, knowledge, faith and devotion, then life attains balance, and society gets reformed.

Go and ask some of the most corrupt of corrupt persons where they have been educated. Many of them studied in government schools where morality is kept at a distance. I am not saying that all those who have studied in government schools are immoral, not that! We should not place everyone in the same category. That would be a mistake. In sages and saints also you will find many such things in this country.

So we have to see how we can make every situation useful and uplifting for the country, for the Self and for the world.

Now, many people say that for one who is a Vedanti or a Sanyasi, all countries are the same, then why should they raise their voice for patriotism towards the country? It becomes limiting when we say, 'My country!' I say the whole world belongs to us.

Patriotism or the dedication for a nation will in no way become an obstacle for your universality. You should never think our universal consciousness will be obstructed by patriotism. Swami Vivekanandaji set the best example of how you can be universal, and at the same time have desh bhakti (patriotism).

Daiva bhakti (devotion to God), desh bhakti and guru bhakti (devotion to the master) these three are not separate, these three are one and the same. It is from God that this world has arisen, and the universe is God. God and Nature should not be considered as two separate entities. That is the unique specialty of this country that rivers, mountains, trees, cows, calves, dogs, all are considered the manifestation of God.

'Ya Prakriti Leenasya Yap parasya Maheshwaraha' One who is dissolved in nature is Maheshwara, is God. We should be sympathetic towards the environment, and desh bhakti and daiva bhakti should not be considered two separate things.

So with awareness and passion we should work to take the country forward, and take this resolution today of fulfilling Swami Vivekanandaji's dream of an India that is glorious, and an India that is the spiritual leader of the world.

This is the responsibility of all of us sitting here, those of us who are youthful in age and mindset. Many of you are youth by age and many others are youth by spirit, and I want you all to be taking this sankalpa today. Remind yourself of this great dream that you have been given by Swami Vivekanandaji to see a very beautiful, prosperous and just India.

Longing itself is God

2012-01-25T08:49:00.000+05:30

January 11, 2012

Satsang means to stay with the truth. That is known as Sadhana also.

What is satsang? In our life what is the truth at this present time - this needs to be observed. What is the truth? Truth is ‘I am’.

The body exists and the breath is moving. Observe your body and breath. Observe the mind. What is the truth? Many thoughts are coming in to the mind and going away. Coming and going, rising and then quieting down, this is the tendency of the mind. In the intellect, some argument or reasoning is going on.

What were the decisions in life? What was the outcome of it? What was learnt and what was inferred? Pondering on these things is satsang.

Just doing bhajans is not satsang. Doing bhajans is also satsang, but not that alone. Sit and ponder, 'In my life, what truths have I discovered? What are my weaknesses and what are my strengths?'

Observe how the weaknesses are reducing and the strength is increasing. This is sadhana and this is the satsang you have to be in.

Your vivek (discrimination) is awakening; it was less previously, now it is one percent more! So there is progress in life. Whether slowly or quickly, it is happening.

When your focus is on the world, you will not see God. And when God is visible, the world becomes invisible. You can only see one of the two.

Instead of beholding the world 24 hours, if one can contemplate God even for 24 minutes, it brings so much solace and comfort. Whatever you do in life, for at least twenty four minutes in twenty four hours, if you sit quietly and think, 'This world is nothing; I want nothing from it. I have no expectations of this world' - just this thought draws the mind inward.

The mind will not withdraw inward as long as we desire position, prestige and wealth or appreciation from someone. For as long as one desires something, there is feverishness.

Even for a little while if we say, 'I want nothing from this world', then at that time vivek (discrimination) awakens and the mind becomes happy and peaceful.

This is indicative of the vision of God: ‘Prasanta-Manasam Hy Enam Yoginam Sukham Uttamam Upaiti Santa-Rajasam Brahma-Bhutam Akalmasam.'

Bramha consciousness, where there is no impurity, ignorance, confusion - such awareness, for a little while arises in our experience.

So while you are here for three or four days, do not hold on to worldly matters, attachments and aversions in your mind. If they come, don't be concerned. When they come, just surrender them. Just know that they have come in order to go away. Knowing this, and keeping ourselves detached from it all, we have to repose within.

If we sit with this awareness, maybe not once, or twice or thrice but after a little while the mind will quiet down.

Q: Guruji, truth exists, then why is there need for its authentication?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Demanding proof is a characteristic of the mind. Feelings do not ask for proof, the mind does. To satisfy and quiet the mind, proof is needed. But just holding on to it is also an obstacle. That is why in the tendencies of the mind pramana (proof), viparyaya (wrong knowledge), vikalpa (fantasy), nidra (sleep), smritayah (memory), all of these are considered tendencies, and one has to detach from these. Their restraint is yoga.

You cannot eliminate proof. For as long as the intellect is there, it will demand proof. And there is no need to eliminate it. Just be aware of it and move on.

'Yoga buddhi paratattva sah', the Self or God element is beyond intellect.

Q: Guruji, Muslim leaders in MP have raised a fatwa against Surya Namaskar. Can you comment on this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Perhaps they think the sun is different from God or Allah. That is not so.

Namaskar means what? To give thanks. It should be interpreted this way.

Give thanks to the sun and to the earth. Everything in nature, from grass to the sun is beneficial to life. We express gratitude to whatever is beneficial to life. You do not have to regard the sun as God. Nevertheless, sun is that power which supports everything, and the creator of the sun is the same God. We say the invention of this telephone or mobile phone has brought a lot of comfort to us. When we thank the phone, we are not expressing gratitude to an inanimate object, but the person who invented it.

That is why we say, 'Sarva deva namsakaram Keshavam prati- gacchati' No matter whom you thank, all gratitude reaches the one and only God. This is the thing.

Surya Namaskar is a set of asanas to be done at the time of sunrise, this improves circulation of blood throughout the body, health is maintained, and one remains disease-free. So there are numerous benefits of Surya Namaskar - for heart, liver, intestine, stomach, chest, throat, legs. From head to toe, every part of the body is greatly benefitted by Surya Namaskar.

So many Muslims have derived immense benefit by doing Surya Namaskar. All over the world people are doing Surya Namaskar and improving their health. Their vision is improving. So I do not consider it fair to keep the Muslim community deprived of it. That which improves one's health and well-being, preventing anyone in society from practicing it is not appropriate.

One should understand that there is only one God in the world, there is no two. When there aren't two, these are merely different ways of worshiping Him. Even if you do not consider it a form of prayer, take it merely as a physical exercise, and I do not believe that it would be blasphemy.

Q: Guruji, if we are experiencing the fruits of our karma of previous lifetimes in this life, then when will we attain the fruits of karma of this lifetime?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is not how it is! The outcome of some of our actions is experienced in this life as well.

Let me give you an example: if you soak moong daal, the sprouts appear within two to three days. If you sow groundnut; it takes three to four months for it to bear peanuts. However, if you plant a coconut tree, it will take three to four years to bear fruit, and if a mango tree is planted, it will take even longer. In the same way, some karma bear fruit immediately - if you place your hand in fire, it will get burnt immediately, not tomorrow. But if you plant a pomegranate tree in the field, it will take time to yield fruit. So some karma bear fruit instantly, whereas some karma yields after some time.

For instance if someone wants to set up a factory, it takes them God knows how many years. Nowadays, getting the license itself takes so much time. You set up a factory and ten licenses will be needed. In between, one has to bribe so many people.

People like us, who refuse to give bribes, would have to wait twenty years to obtain a license. So a person who sets up the factory with so much effort, his children reap the fruits of his labor. In his lifetime he cannot make ends meet.

All the good and honest businessmen, their businesses have rarely been established instantly. Many businesses take many decades to establish. Ten, twenty, fifty years later, one reaps the fruits of one's labors.

Q: Guruji, is it true that the relationship of a wife and husband lasts seven lifetimes? If this is true, I want moksha in this lifetime itself because in seven lifetimes I will become too frustrated!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My dear, how do you know if this isn't the seventh one already! It might also be the sixth or the first. Just pray!

Ask your wife also how she is faring. You are so frustrated, so ask your partner how frustrated or happy she is. It is impossible for one to be frustrated and the other one to be happy. Both get frustrated. Whatever it is, just celebrate.

Q: Guruji, you are God. Do you also do Kriya?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sometimes! If I have to teach someone, I should at least remember it!

Q: Guruji, when you cognized the Sudarshan Kriya, who was the very first person you bestowed the experience upon?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, the very first time, there were quite a few people, approximately fifty or so. All of them came and experienced it.

Q: Guruji, my mind is in a dilemma and it is restless. When the eyes want to see you, then you have us close our eyes for meditation. Before coming here, you put us into silence and before we break our silence, you are leaving. Think of us Guruji, the mind is deeply pained.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Longing itself is God. It is good to be in longing. And this longing is such that it has no solution. It never fades. This thirst is such that it can never be quenched.

Q: Guruji, did your mother scold you? Please teach me how to control my temper. I really lose my temper at my mother very often.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, my mother used to scold me a lot! Do one thing. Everyday go and bow down in front of your mother. If you get angry at her one day, you will have to do pranaam the following day anyway. If you touch your mother's feet everyday and seek her blessings, each day's anger will dissolve the very same day.

Q: Guruji, ever since I began dedicating more time to the Art of Living, it seems like my wife has developed an intense jealousy towards it. What is the solution?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know how to ride a bicycle? In the same way drive the vehicle of life! Maintain a balance in life: Do what you like to do, but also do what others like to do.'

Q: Guruji, can you please explain Yoga Vasistha as you explain Ashtavakra Geeta? Many times, it is hard to understand some parts of what I am reading.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you have to keep reading it. You will not be able to understand Yoga Vasistha in one reading. As your awareness increases, you will begin to understand more and more. So you have to read it continuously, keep at it. By reading it repeatedly, new ideas begin to blossom.

Q: It is said that winners stand alone. Is it really winning if you stand alone at the top?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First of all, take this concept of top and bottom out of your mind. Every place is unique. If someone has kept you on the top then it is the efforts of all those who are at the bottom. They are the basis.

In a building, the top floor is not as important as the ground floor. If the basement is strong then we can raise any number of floors. So, if you happen to be on the top, be totally humble. That humility needs to be there, only then you are on the top. The more you go up, the more humble you become. Humility is the sign of success. And when there is humility then there are no obstacles. Everything keeps on happening naturally.

Q: I often wonder why God has made us so complicated. Firstly we are given mind that wanders and then we tame it. Why not bestow us with a tamed mind.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why are you are so lazy that you don't want to do anything?

Nature wants you to do something, take some responsibility.

This is like asking, ‘Why you are making a jigsaw puzzle? Just get it readymade, fixed all at once.’

The jigsaw puzzle is for you to play with, fix and make something out of it. Life is like that. It's a game, a play. And the mind is the biggest game player.

Q: Guruji, you have told us how to be in a relationship. Please tell us how to come out of the relationship.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have already come out of it! When you want to come out of it, it is already gone, it's already done! Isn't it?

Main thing is to relate yourself to the universe, to the Divinity. If you have a relationship with the Divine, you have a relationship with everyone. Then the question of establishing or breaking a relationship with anyone does not arise. In attempting to break also, one may get stuck badly. The more the mind tries to break away the more it gets pulled towards the relationship, and experiences pain.

You neither want to stay nor leave.

In leaving one feels as though some comfort is being lost, and in staying, the pain gets too intense and it is hard to stay on. So it is better to secure a relationship with the One. This way, relationships with everyone else is automatically established.

Q: Guruji, you say that we have come into this world together many times and then parted; just that we have forgotten, but you remember. In parting, have you not felt pain?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Where do I part from you? Otherwise how could you belong to me? Here no one is an outsider. There is no other but me and me alone.

Q: Guruji, what do I do when I am with close friends who keep on blaming others. They say it is sharing and caring, but I don’t want to listen to them anymore. What to do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen to them with ear plugs on. They want to say it because they feel lighter, so let them do it. You don’t take it all in. That is important.

Q: Guruji, you love everyone. Then why do I feel that you love me the most?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That's a secret. Don't tell anyone! It is true, but it is not meant to be shared with everyone! The absolute truth!

Q: Guruji, I am in love with a girl who wants me to prove my love to her by asking for expensive gifts. You had said that love is absolutely free, but this one turned out to be extremely expensive for me!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Come child, just learn the lesson! What love and friendship is, you will learn within a few days, as you grow older.

Maybe she is testing you to see how much you can sacrifice. Love does demand sacrifice. So maybe she wants to see how miserly or generous you are.

The true lover can never be greedy. A lover is joyful, peaceful, and generous. But that does not imply that you squander all you have. Use your discrimination.

Q: Guruji, is there consciousness within me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are asking and you are hearing also whatever I said. If there was no consciousness within you how would you have asked the question? How would you have seen, heard or understood? That which is listening from within you, comprehending, witnessing, experiencing everything, is chitta.

The main powerhouse of the mind, intellect, memory, ego, body, prana; that stream of energy - that itself is consciousness. So the truth is that which is.

You exist, right? This building exists? This building is truth. But it does not seem that these pillars can hear what is being spoken, so the building lacks consciousness.

Although we cannot say that, a little bit is present in everything; it is present in stones also. But in you consciousness is more obvious. In trees it is less evident although trees and plants also hear. But in you that consciousness is greater.

When that consciousness transforms into bliss, it is Paramatma.

In the universe there is only truth. Within consciousness, the universe and life both exist. And in God, truth, consciousness and bliss, all three are present. And joy is hidden within us. Through practice (sadhana) that joys sprouts.

So God is asleep within you, hidden inside - awaken Him.

This is what is ‘Jaagaran’. Awaken the mother, the Goddess sitting inside you, awaken Her!

Shivji is sitting inside, awaken Him. Sri Hari is sitting inside, awaken Him.

Q: Guruji, on the path of spirituality which approach is preferable between Vairagya (dispassion) and Josh (zeal/passion)?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both are necessary. That is why Lord Krishna first aroused zeal in Arjun by saying, ‘Look, what will people say? They will say, 'He is such a coward.’ What is the point in living a life of humiliation; it would be better to die.’

Then he said, 'Is it proper for a Kshatriya to be sitting around like this? On the one hand you are crying and shivering and on the other, you talk like a highly learned person. Does anyone shiver while talking about dharma?'

Lord Krishna further said, 'What kind of a person are you? I considered you brave and daring (shoorveer). And you are behaving like this? You are saying you do not want all this!'

With these taunts, Lord Krishna awakens the passion and fire in Arjun.

Then Lord Krishna goes on to say, ‘All this is nothing. 'Anityam asukham lokam' - this world is impermanent, it doesn't stay. Everything is headed towards destruction. So do not repose any expectations in this world.’

Saying all this Lord Krishna gently brought Arjun into dispassion.

He awakened passion as well as dispassion, and then said, 'Now go and fight.' What a great and fitting attitude he inspired in Arjun. In zeal there is passion to work - combining it with dispassion, the path he prescribed is unique and amazing!

Q: Guruji, those who have found their guru in this birth, if for any reason they are unable to attain mukti, are they able to find their guru in the next life time or do they have to wander aimlessly?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, no! Arjun asked this very same question, 'What if I am unable to walk this path of yoga in this lifetime?'

So Krishna answered, ‘Nahi Kalyana Krit Kaschit Durgatim Taata Gachchati’ - One who performs noble acts will never go down, will never be miserable in this world or the next.

You will always ascend to higher planes of existence. You will be born in a noble or wealthy household, and on account of the memory of your past deeds, you will resume from where you had left off. So do not worry. Your Kriya and sadhana will never go to waste.

Q: Guruji, in dreams, I had seen heaven, and used to think that after leaving this earth I would go to heaven. But I did not expect to find heaven on this very earth until I came to the ashram.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Absolutely right! Just be content. This is even better than heaven. They say there is no love in heaven, though everything else is present. Here love and knowledge both are present.

I don't need to catch you because you all belong to me

2012-01-24T08:45:00.000+05:30

January 10, 2012

The very meaning of Kailash is where there is only celebration, only joy, nothing else besides it. In the same way, Vaikunth is where Narayana resides, means a place where there is no lack of anything. Everything is in abundance, and there is all prosperity and all joy. That is Vaikunth. Are Kailash and Vaikunth somewhere far? Where are they? Right here!

And you sang a song Vishalakshi, meaning what? One with big eyes, who has a broad vision

Q: Dearest Guruji, it is said in Shiv Sutras - Gyanam Banda’. How can knowledge be a bondage?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You study that; I have spoken very well on that. Read the whole Shiv Sutra.

Q: Guruji, what should be the ratio of simplicity and ego in our life? How can I balance between these two? Because sometimes when I present myself simply, people take me lightly.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is your vivek, sense of discrimination. You know where to do, what to do. Best thing is to be spontaneous.

Q: Dear Guruji, my family is from Kashmir and we were forced to migrate to other places due to terrorism. When Kashmir had so much spiritual and religious knowledge and produced so many Saints and Sufis, why is there so much violence over there?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well times keeps changing. Fanaticism had entered Kashmir, but now the next generation of people are realizing it. So, keep your hold there. Go back to Kashmir valley. Still there are some people in the valley.

Now people are realizing that we have lost our Pandits here. It was such a nice atmosphere before, but now that is not there. So they are welcoming; you go back to Kashmir, buy land and be there or at least keep on visiting. Many people who have come back from Kashmir do not want to go back, that is the problem. Now the situations are different and you should go back and claim your rights there.

Q: Guruji, I want to be 100% both at my job and Art of Living. If I give 100% at one, then the other gets compromised. What do I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Need not be!

You know most of our trustees in Art of Living and Apex Body members all over the country, they have many other things. They do their business, their job and they are still very busy engaged. And there are thousands of teachers who do their business. Their businesses are doing very well and they are also teaching Art of Living courses. They are doing both. You should hear their experiences.

We had a Teachers Refresher Meet, and we had teachers from all over the country who came. There were 315 industrialists in one TRM alone and they are teaching courses. They said, ‘Guruji, before our business was dull and we were not doing anything. But now we are teaching the Art of Living course and we don't pay much attention to business, but it is also running very well.’ Some of them have made 4 to 5 times more turn over in their business. They were all sharing their experiences.

So, don't think they are contrary. Don't think either or. You can do both, this and that. Unless you see that you are ready to take a bigger responsibility for the nation and for the world. And you have very little requirement for yourself or no requirement, then you come and become full time and we will send you all over the place. But when you have some responsibilities and when you have some needs, you should do both.

Q: Guruji, today I felt very sad for some reason, but after seeing and listening to you over the web, I feel so happy. Your magic is casting a world wide web. Did you catch my thoughts today?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I can catch you; I don't need to catch your thoughts. Thoughts come and go, don’t own them. You don't own them and I don't own it. But I don't need to catch you because you all belong to me. If you are different from me only then I need to catch you. You are part of me.

Q: Guruji, You have told us to love everyone. In the bargain what has happened is everyone has started loving me. Now it has become very difficult to choose one partner. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I leave that challenge to you. Let me watch what you are going to do and whom you are going to choose. You choose somebody or somebody chooses you, let’s see.

But don't delay for too long, okay!

A gentleman was 62 years old and came to me and said, 'Guruji, I want to get married. I was looking for the perfect lady and I could not find one in all these 60 years.'

I told him, ‘okay, you look for another 15 years. Maybe later on both of you can find each other in heaven or hell.’

If you could not find a good match for 62 years on this planet, what is the guarantee that you will find in the next few years?!

Q: Guruji, when I am in the Ashram I am very happy and energetic. But when I go back home, it immediately drops. Please help me to have at least half of that at home.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Has everyone at home done the program? If not, make them do.

Keep listening to knowledge, keep singing. And you be determined, come what may, I take the challenge; I will not let my enthusiasm go down.

Do you know how it goes down? Because you start arguing or you start expecting others to be like you, and to be understanding like what you have experienced here. Those things cannot happen. You have to implement the first principle of Art of Living, ‘accept people and situations as they are.’

Don't get involved in every situation with the intention that, through the experience of this situation, I will derive pleasure and fun. When you go after fun and pleasure, you will experience misery somewhere or the other. Fun and pleasure are not the only goals in life.

Accept people as they are and go deep in knowledge. It will make a tremendous difference.

Q: Dear Guruji, in today's engineering institutions we have to study almost 54 subjects to complete our degree. In the ancient time like in Nalanda University, did students have to study so many subjects? Please do something about it.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, people were very studious. Those days, students never got time to do any entertainment. There is a proverb that says, 'if you are a student then there is no happiness, joy for you and if you are in the pursuit of pleasure then you cannot be a student.' You have to work hard. In those days people used to work hard. Now there are computers, you have calculators. The previous generations never had any computers or calculators. We had to memorize all multiplication tables. We had to memorize so many things.

In fact, in those days the brain was used a lot, now we do not use it as much.

Do you remember, a few years back when there was no cell phone; you had to remember peoples’ telephone numbers? When we had only landline connections, we all used to remember the telephone numbers of people. Today with the cell phone, nobody remembers the number. Once you feed it in there that is it. The moment you press somebody's name, the number comes itself. Many times you do not remember your own number.

So we are using less of our memory and more of technology. Sometimes it is scary that we may lose the ability to remember things, and it is fast happening.

Any youth who watches at least 2 movies a week, after 3 months if you ask them the story of any one particular movie, they will blink. They will mix stories from one movie with other movies. They can't even narrate the whole story. This is why Attention Deficiency Syndrome has become so common today.

Q: Guruji, in the Yoga Sutras Vyadhi (physical illness) has been considered an obstacle. Is Vyadhi not a part of me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! Vyadhi is an obstacle.

Vyadhi, Styana, Samsaya, Pramada, Alasya, Avirati, Bhranti Darsana, Alabdha bhumikatva and Anavasthitattva. These are the nine obstacles that have been told and the means of getting rid of them have also been told – take one way and just go deep into it.

Q: Guruji, how to overcome the difference in opinions between parents and children on account of generation gap?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: hat is why, bring them to the YES, YES+ and ART Excel courses and you will see how quickly it makes a difference.

Q: Guruji, in Uttarakhand there is a tradition of Devi and Devatas manifesting in people. Is that true?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is true, but many times their mind also gets entangled.

That is why, unless that person is a saadhak, who has gone deep within, you cannot say that he is channeling the Devata's voice completely. Devata's voice will be there and also partly his own mind; it will be mix of both. So a lot of what he might say will be true, and some of it may not be correct.

It is like looking at the sun through a dirty piece of glass covered with dust, so the rays coming through are not as pure. They are somewhat impacted by the dust.

Or if the glass is blue, then the light coming through also looks blue.

That is why, if the person channeling the Devi or Devata lacks innocence and purity, then all that he says will not be entirely true. But if they are pure and innocent, then everything will be accurate.

Q: Guruji, what is right, what is wrong, how does one decide? Please share an easy trick for this.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a very simple definition to know what is good and what is bad. 1. That which you do not want others to do to you is bad and that which you want others to do to you and you do to others is good. 2. That which gives you short term joy and long term unhappiness is bad. Anything which gives you long term happiness and short term problem is good.

Q: Since childhood there was fear of parents, then fear of teachers, and now there is fear of God. Why do we make room for fear in our lives? Is this fear necessary?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Not at all necessary! Why fear? Love doing a head-stand is called fear. Just make it stand the right side up. Fear is on account of love. If there is no love, there will be no fear.

Tulsidas has said, 'Bhaiy bhi na hote na preet gosai'. Fear and love are two different forms of the same thing. Where there is love, there is no fear; where there is fear, there is no love. This thing manifests in these two forms.

Q: Guruji, often in spite of knowing, I commit mistakes. Is there a way to become aware of knowledge in a timely fashion so that I do not knowingly commit the mistake?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just this thought is sufficient, that I should not repeat this mistake that I have done in the past. This feeling itself will begin to take root.

Okay, go ahead and make how many mistakes you want. Eventually you will get tired. I will wait for you. You keep making mistakes till you become exhausted and fall down. Then, everything will be all right.

Just look at all those people who are suffering so much on account of making the same mistakes over and over again.

After committing the same mistake once, twice, three times, ten times, you will finally give up and say, 'No more! I am done with it.'

But this realization should dawn before this life ends! It shouldn't keep happening throughout life. If you are on this path, it cannot happen this way. You will have the awareness fairly soon.

That is why it is said, 'Swalpamapyasya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat' - if you follow this knowledge even to a small extent you will be free of the greatest of fears. No fear will touch you.

Q: Guruji, since olden times there has been a tradition that no new work should be started during Rahu kalam. A lot of importance is attached to it. Is this appropriate? Is there is scientific standpoint behind this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look, Rahu period is that time which is considered suitable for prayers. It is considered ideal for any spiritual activity. So beginning any wordly project during that period is not considered appropriate because in our body there is a switching of channels (naadis) at that time.

However, we should not attach too much importance to this. If you absolutely have to do your work at that time, just say, 'Om Namah Shivaya' and move forward.

Intuition means that which simply comes up beyond reason

2012-01-23T15:02:00.000+05:30

January 09, 2012

Q: Dear Guruji, I find it difficult to be natural with everyone. You have said we are closer to the Divine when we are natural. How can I be natural?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What makes you unnatural is the fear that somebody may criticize you.

Someone may think you are a fool. Why don’t you act like a fool for half a day? Then you will see that all the fear will disappear. Fear of committing mistakes makes you unnatural. Just see, it is okay to commit mistakes. If they are not big blunders, mistakes are okay. You should be afraid of committing blunders, but not small mistakes.

Q: Guruji, many times I promise you that I will never repeat the same mistake. I repeat it again, and I get very upset and I feel very bad after that.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is good. It is good to feel that pinch.

Once, twice, thrice or four times it happens, then the tenth time at least you will be aware of it and you will move away from it. Don’t worry, it is good to have that pinch, and keep promising me.

Q: Can going deep in sadhana and making people meditate take care of the problems of today’s world, of corruption and terrorism? Or do we need to make an effort on the physical level as well?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both! We need to make effort on the physical level and with the inner and spiritual strength. Both are essential.

They are like the eyes and ears when you are watching television. You need to see and you need to hear as well.

Q: Guruji, you said accept everybody and don’t leave them, just because they are not like you. But you have also said, if the company is affecting you, you can take yourself away from that company. Please throw some light as it seems like a contradiction.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, life is full of contradictions, and all the instructions will be contradictory. That is why it is the truth. That is where vivek (discrimination) is essential. You have to balance, see when, where, what!

Q: Dear Guruji, how to honor the Gunas and not indulge in them? Sometimes one is unable to resist the grip of indulgence. How to overcome this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The mind having an intention not to commit a mistake is like having a brake in the car. You are going somewhere and if there is a hand brake and it works well, then you put the brake anytime you want! And if there is no brake at all, you will be prone to accidents.

Similarly, when the mind says, I don’t want to do this or I shouldn’t do this, that is because it just promises joy but it doesn’t really deliver and gives pain.

Why something is bad? Because it gives pain to oneself and pain to someone else. That is the reason something is said as bad. It gives short term pleasure but long term pain to both you and to others.

Q: Guruji, when Krishna was there, the Gopas and Gopis were also there with Krishna. My heart knows who Krishna is now, but are we the same Gopas and Gopis?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What if you are someone new. Why do you have to be the same ones? Could be! You could be the same ones!

See, the knowledge is eternal and feelings are eternal too. Now don’t tell me, ‘Guruji, you said feelings are temporary, they come and go!’

It is temporary too and it is eternal too!

Are you confused? Then my job is done.

Who said my job is to convince people? No! My job is to confuse you! And every time you get confused, you go one step higher.

Q: There is a lot of confusion and lack of decision making even with small things. Confusion is between the good as you said, but how do I make a choice between the good.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If I tell you something more, you will get even more confused. You think your confusion is not enough? I don’t want to add more. Too much confusion becomes a problem too.

Be with your confusion and see where it leads you.

Check the greed in you. If you are too greedy, check the greed and the right thing will fall on your lap.

Q: I read in one of the knowledge books that ‘Fear is love standing upside down.’ Is love also fear standing upside down?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you look at it from the other side, if you are upside down, then you will see it is upside down. Got it?

Q: Many festivals are celebrated in Nepal by animal sacrifices. Do we have such practices mentioned in our sacred texts as well? How do we bring about a shift?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Education! You have to educate people. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that you should kill an animal to please Gods and Goddesses. No!

‘Ahimsa paramo dharma’. You should not sacrifice any animal.

You know what has happened in the world amongst all the religions and cultures? It has become like a mixture of sand and sugar. There are good things, but there are other things which are not in the scriptures but have been interpolated, or have come as a practice. And people think this is the religion and this is the tradition. This is unfortunate. Such practices need to be shunned and stopped.

You should educate people not to kill animals!

The scriptures have said, let go of your animalistic tendencies. Let go of the inertia in you.

You know in Sanskrit many words have two different meanings. Like ‘mahisha’ means inertia. It is not just buffalo.

A buffalo is also called buffalo because it is inert. If you honk the car, it won’t move. You have to get down from the car and push it. If you show a stick, it doesn’t move.

Cows are very sensitive, but buffalos are not that sensitive. So a buffalo is also called mahisha.

So mahisha means the inertia should be killed inside you. Similarly, ’Aja’ does not just mean goat. It also means that which is neither born yesterday or tomorrow. ‘Ja’ means born. So, there are deeper meanings in all this.

Usually ’Gau’ means cow. The word cow comes from the Sanskrit root ‘Gau’. And ’Gau’ also means knowledge, movement, attainment.

There are four meaning for ‘Gau’:

- Gyan (knowledge)

- Gaman (assimilation)

- Prapthi (attainment)

- Moksh (liberation)

Unfortunately the meanings have been distorted.

Q: Jai Gurudev, I don’t understand the knowledge point which says, ‘the best work comes out when you work without any motive’.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, this is intuitive work or a sudden sprout of thought. In intuition, you do not sit and calculate. Intuition means that which simply comes up beyond reason.

Did you get it? You have seen when Archimedes was thinking and thinking, it didn’t work. But, when he relaxed, suddenly he got the Archimedes principle.

Like that, many scientists got something out of the sixth sense. That is intuition and that needs to be developed. So don’t’ depend only on your five senses or the intellect. Intuitive sense is also important. That is a deeper, closer to the truth, reality. Otherwise you see your judgments are often wrong.

How many of you find your judgments were wrong? You judged people and a little later on you felt that is not the way it was. I thought something else, there was something else. Isn’t it? So, your intuition will not fail you because it is coming from a deeper space.

If it is intuition and if it really comes!

Q: Guruji, for how long should a man make an effort to succeed. If after ten years of effort, one has not achieved success, then what should one do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, then you should change your strategy. If you have strength, then try a little longer, for as long as possible. Use your entire strength, and if it doesn't work out even then, then 'Haare ko Hari naam'; accept that it is not working out and move on. Relax!

For a sankalpa or an intention to manifest, effort will definitely be needed, energy will be expended. However, the satisfaction that you get after accomplishing the task was there even before the desire to do the task; just remember this!

This sankalpa arose ten years back - were you happy before that or not? And you will be happy afterwards also - this is what we need to keep in mind.

We should not think that we will be happy only after fulfillment of our desires or sankalpa. Then the feverishness within us will subside. Once the feverishness is at rest, whatever is to happen will happen. This does not mean you should not work. One should apply effort, work, and relax.

God exists and is listening to your pain

2012-01-22T08:53:00.000+05:30

January 08, 2012

Mahasatsang at Kolkata

Today, the main purpose of my coming to Calcutta is to inaugurate Swami Vivekananda's one hundred and fiftieth birth anniversary celebrations.

Swami Vivekananda left behind a dream in the hearts of India's youth - the dream that India should walk with her head held high, in every field, whether it pertains to trade, religion, social justice, economics or politics. In every field, Indians should walk with their head held high; and to bring this dream to reality is the responsibility of the Indian youth.

A hundred and fifty years ago Swamiji came at a time when people did not give any importance to India's knowledge and religion. Our religion was considered to be a superstition. Swami Vivekananda presented our religion from a scientific standpoint and accorded it its rightful place in the world.

Art of Living has taken this inspiration forward and spread the light of our Indian culture and spirituality in one hundred fifty two countries of the world. Many volunteers have rendered service, whether in Iraq or Sri Lanka. Wherever seva (service) was needed, people got involved and are continuing to get involved in large numbers. Before I arrived here, I visited our de-addiction center where thousands of young men and women have been infused with the strength of freedom from addiction. The smile on the faces of those men and women gave me immense satisfaction.

It is said that if we can wipe the tears of even one person, we should consider our life worthwhile. But here, seeing that the tears of hundreds of thousands of people are being transformed into smiles, my joy is increasing even more. I want that all those who are gathered here should reaffirm the sankalpa in their minds that we want to see a beautiful, clean, secure India and a strong society and we will all work for it together.

Government keeps changing, but the government alone cannot do this work. If corruption is to be abolished, the common man will have to take the sankalpa, and listen to the hidden call of Swami Vivekananda within you, and propel it forward.

We want to strengthen this country and establish our connection with God. So there are two things we need to have: one is inner purity - we keep our life so pure that it remains unstained. I have kept it so, and I want that every youth should keep it so as well. India taught the world the art of belongingness.

Today, if you visit the last city of Argentina, or the Southern hemisphere, you will find people practicing yoga, meditation and pranayama. Similarly, if you go to the last city of the northern hemisphere, you will find people doing bhajans and meditation there. You may even go to Pakistan; our centre is being run there as well, and people are benefiting from yoga and pranayama camps.

At a time when our country had not gained freedom, Swami Vivekananda went to America with the knowledge of Advaita - we all know that. Before this, Paramahamsa Yogananda, and many saints especially from Bengal went there.

It is a noteworthy fact that the winds of spirituality blowing across the country started in Bengal; whether it is the Bramho Samaj or the Theosophical society, many streams originated in Bengal. However, it seems that this stream stopped at some point after India gained independence.

Whether it is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Sri Aurobindo, the streams of knowledge and bhakti (devotion) originated in Bengal in the previous centuries. I hope that the youth of Bengal will not disappoint the present era; from Bengal such youth will once again emerge who will present an ideal to the nation and the world.

Many of you kept saying, 'Guruji, come to Howrah.' I also wanted to come to Howrah, go across to the other side of the Ganga. The satsangs always happened on one side of the Ganga. And this time so many people on this side of the Ganga are welcoming me with enthusiasm and I am here, with you!

There is another purpose for my coming here, to assure you that God exists, and is listening to your pain! Have this confidence. Whatever you ask for, you will get, but you will have to do God's work; only then will you get. And what is God's work? - Serving the society.

God's work is not just doing prayers in temples, mosques and churches. The Divine resides in every person’s heart. So if you serve people, your work will automatically get done.

How many of you are finding that whatever you desire is being fulfilled? In Hindi there is a couplet, 'Jo ichcha kariho man maahi, prabhu pratap kachu durlabh naahin.'

They are not impossible, our desires will be fulfilled for sure; some instantly and some are fulfilled a bit later.

Whatever your troubles, your problems, the rule of the satsang is that you have to leave them behind. Leave all your problems here, and go with confidence and a smile. Wherever you see tears, speak to them, 'Oh, drop all your troubles, just smile! Come on, get up! Life is precious. Don't waste it like this.'

We also need to take an oath today. The biggest disease our country is suffering from today is corruption. So if we take the sankalpa that we will neither give bribes nor accept them, it will solve this issue. Only this will bring about reform. I do not believe that just drawing up a legislation will bring about reform in the entire country. Legislation is necessary, but reformation will happen only when there is spiritual awakening within us.

So we should wake up and embrace everyone. Where sense of belongingness ends, there corruption begins. Instead of limiting ourselves, we should expand our sense of belongingness.

Life lasts only a few years. We should live our lives such that not only are we joyful, but also the generations to come.

So many of you are gathered here. I would suggest that you create groups of five to six people and devote just two hours every Sunday to cleaning your community. Your roads will become clean. The plastics that are thrown around will be removed; a new wave of seva will arise. Are you all ready? So many people are willing; all we needed was an inspiration. Do seva, and see how the Divine will make all your work successful.

There are various kinds of pranayamas and meditations. It cannot be said that one is right and the other is wrong. Whatever you find helpful, you can do that. The techniques that we teach are simple and effective in tackling today’s stressful situations at work.

Q: (A member of the audience spontaneously asked a question without speaking into the mike. The question was inaudible in the recording.)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, there has been a significant transformation in the lives of many youths due to the de-addiction center, but the space is very limited for this work. Some of you come forward, take a bigger space with more facilities, so that many more youths may regain the lost sparkle in their lives and come out of the addiction that they are sunk in.

How many of you have come in contact with those who are wrestling with addiction? Bring them to the center. Let them do Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and sit in the de-addiction program at the center. Their lives will be reformed.

A revolution against corruption has begun in various parts of the country. It is necessary to pass a law, I agree, but not law alone. Law is only a remedy after the disease has set in; disease should not arise in the first place - this should be our effort in a spiritual manner.

To all sadhus, saints, mahatmas I would say, from all your temples, mosques and shrines, raise this voice that whoever gives or accepts bribes should not be allowed to enter the temples or mosques. They should be excommunicated from temples and mosques for at least one year. If we take such a step from a religious perspective, then too we can expect to eliminate corruption from the country.

Q: How do we balance spiritual and material life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Spiritual and material life do not contradict each other. It is like the body and mind. The body needs materials and the mind needs spirituality. We are the combination of body and mind. One cannot exist without the other. Similarly, both spiritual and material progress is needed. It is a wrong notion that there is no material progress if one is spiritual.

Q: A lot of doubts come up in the mind. How do we come out of that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why are you afraid of doubts? Faith is like the Sun and doubts are like clouds. Never has the Sun been afraid of clouds. Never have the clouds been able to hide the Sun entirely. Similarly, doubts come and pass by, but they cannot touch you.

Q. You just said that those who are corrupt must be stopped from entering temples and mosques. Valmiki (author of Ramayana) was a robber who, while uttering Ma-ra, Ma-ra started uttering the name of Rama. People who have corrupt have deviated from the path. If we stop them from entering temples or mosques, are we not sending them towards something wrong?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The corrupt people go to temples or mosques, offer their prayers and think their sins are washed away, so that they can continue doing it. I am not in opposition of reforms. Every person can be transformed.

There is a couplet in Hindi, which says, ‘I went in search of a bad person, but I couldn’t find any.’

In my view, there is no bad person. There is goodness hidden in every person. It needs to be awakened. If this could happen by just visiting temples or mosques, there would have been no corruption. However, it is not happening. That is the reason I suggested corrupt people to be prevented from entering temples or mosques. So, one who really has a longing to go to temples or mosques will stop being corrupt. That was the intention with which I said this.

I would say that such people are most welcome at our ashram. I’ll polish them in a week’s time!

Q: Today’s youth are into sense-pleasures and have a lot of western influence. What are your thoughts about it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Once they get a taste of this beautiful knowledge, they will not find any juice in those small pleasures. We have not presented this knowledge in an interesting way to them. That is the reason they are drawn towards intoxication. They turned towards western ideas since they felt they are getting some joy out of it. The nature of the mind is to go towards joy. And if we present that joy to them in our own culture, they will definitely come to this path. See, there are so many youths here!

Transformation has already begun. In the west, hundreds and thousands of youths are turning towards this ancient Indian knowledge.

Q: Guruji, I get very angry. I expect a lot and when it doesn’t get fulfilled, it makes me very angry. I am not able to accept a few things. What should I do about this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Good, at least you became aware of this behavior! And you have also decided that you have to overcome anger. That’s it! The reversal process has already started. Meditation will also help.

Q: Guruji, the whole system is very corrupt nowadays.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, you cannot say that the whole of Kolkata is dirty. Only a few areas are dirty. The rest are clean and green. Similarly, it is incorrect to say things like, ‘The whole city is sick’ or ‘I always think wrong’. We generalize and eternalize things.

We cannot say that the whole system is corrupt. There are good people as well and it is due to them that the country is surviving. Don’t think that all politicians are bad. Most of them, 80% of them are bad but there are also good ones. All officials are not bad; there are still many sincere and honest officials.

Q: While campaigning for the satsang, we had told everyone that rains would stop and it happened indeed! How did this miracle happen?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is why it is called a miracle. You cannot explain it! Nature is with us and it listens to us.

Q: Guruji, people say that politicians are corrupt and need to be reformed first. However, there are corrupt people in the society as well. Who needs to be reformed first, the politicians or the corrupt people in the society?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both. There isn’t much time to wait till one group gets reformed! First of all, politicians must consider themselves to be one among the common man. All youth get together to build a Divine society.

Q: Whatever I like is going away from me. What do I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If we follow joy, misery follows us. If we follow knowledge, joy follows us.

There is only one God everywhere

2012-01-21T14:49:00.000+05:30

January 05, 2012

Q: Guruji, do you believe that prisons are right?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I consider prisons to be like hospitals. Like when someone’s body is sick, you take them to the hospital; like that, when someone’s actions are sick, they go to prison, only to get better and come back.

But, unfortunately, today prisons have become a Criminal Idea Exchange Bureau. People get in there and they come out as bigger criminals, because it becomes a bank for them to understand crime.

Originally, putting someone into a room was meant to give them deep rest. When someone is active all the time, working and working, he gets so stressed that it is natural to commit mistakes.

What is Crime? Mistake of action.

So to correct that, they go to correctional homes. Nowadays in America, they no longer call it prison; they call it The Correctional Homes. You are supposed to go there, meditate, become hollow and empty and come back happily.

This doesn’t happen. So we need to do that, teach people meditation in all the prisons. Then you will see, better people come out of there. And this is what is happening. Lots of prison courses are happening in Art of Living, all over. Anyone who wants to get involved in it are most welcome, go ahead!

Q: When can a householder walk away from his wife to take up Sanyas?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: With her permission only!

If your wife says, ‘you can go, do whatever you want to’, then you do whatever you want to. But if you have responsibility, better fulfil that, isn’t it!

Q: Have you been in a casino before, just for fun?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I think I create one every evening, where everyone sings and dances and are happy. No, I have never been in a casino, where people gamble, isn’t it?

Q: Why do you allow singing during silence?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Singing in some strange way brings certain calmness to the mind. There are courses where we don’t sing and we go into deeper silence. That is in an advanced stage.

This is the beginning, where you are just keeping silence for three to four days. In the evening, it is good to have some music, so that it soothes the system. And if the music is there, the right brain activity is also stimulated. That is why we need both, some intellectual discussion, understanding and music, so that right and left side of the brain gets balanced.

Q: Thank you for the experience of the present moment and feeling of the space. I have never thought that going into this deeper and deeper could make me so excited. I want to be hollow and empty every day.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are! I know you all enjoy this. This is so beautiful, right! Similarly, the blessing course is also very nice.

Now, after realising this and doing all that I still want you to be very normal. There is a code of conduct for enlightenment; do you know what that is? Be simple, normal. Don’t think you are somebody special.

There is a beautiful couplet in India that says how life should be, ‘like the grass under the mountain.’ When boulders fall from the hill, trees fall, but nothing happens to the grass. Be humble like a grass under the mountain. Water comes from the hill, it flows away and it can break the trees, but the grass never breaks, grass stays. Be a like the grass under the mountain.

Be like the flower pot in front of the house. The flowers in front of the house bring fragrance into the house. And it also prevents any foul smell from the house going into the street.

Be like the flower in front of the house, so if anyone passes by, they look at the flowers and become happy. It not only gives joy to people in the house but also to any passer-by. They say, ‘look at those flowers, it is so nice!’

Haven’t you said this, when you drive and see some nice garden with lots of flowers in front of somebody’s house. Especially when people come from Asia to Germany, in spring or in summer, they love it, because every home has a pot hanging from the window and there are flowers.

Especially in Black Forest area, in every home on the street, there are flowers. It is such a celebration for the eyes.

And be like sweets for the poor people. Poor people don’t eat sweets every day. The poorest of the poor, they only get a loaf of bread and a glass of milk or whatever. But when they get some cake or sweets, see how the children enjoy it. Be like that for the kids and for the poor people. And become one with everybody. Be like a fool among the fools. Don’t try to be intelligent. Mix with everyone! Many times people put ‘Sri’ 3 times or 108 times. I say, ‘I want to feel closeness to people. So don’t put ‘Sri’ 3 times, two is enough. Stop at two.’

When you consider someone too high up there, you start losing the intimate connection, inner feeling and oneness with them. You have respect but no love, because love means closeness and respect needs a little distance. And the beauty in life is to manage these two.

You know why husband and wife fight? They lose respect for each other after a while, so they fight with each other. But if they maintain respect along with love, that relationship goes on forever. So, to live in the world we need to feel one with everybody, feel at home with everyone. Don’t think, ‘oh, I am doing meditation, I am special’.

Someone who is not doing meditation, they are also special. We are all one. We should start feeling that sense of oneness. When you start feeling this, you will see that it catches on to others as well. You can change the atmosphere.

Q: In Islam, they say there is only one God, what do you think about that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Of course, everybody says there is only one God. Judaism says there is only one God. Christianity says, only one God. Isn’t it? Hinduism says only one God. It says: ‘Ekam Sat Vipra’, only one God but manifested in many forms. You can adore him in whatever form you want.

There is only one light but it has seven colours.

Like Islam says, only one God but ninety-nine names.

Hinduism says, there are hundred and eight names and hundred and eight forms also, because all forms belong to one God only. The same God is in every form. Why? Because God is space, he is not a person, he is not an object, it is energy.

What is that energy? Jesus said ‘love’. Love is God.

And that is what is said in the Upanishads, in the ancient Vedic scriptures: God is love; God is energy and He is in you as you, He is in everybody. Somewhere He shines more, somewhere He is shining less.

In Spain, the sun shines more and in Berlin it shines a little less. Like that, in some places he is more visible as love and in another place he is more visible as something else. So God is energy, and that is what we are all made up of and everybody is made up of. Do you get what I am saying?!

There is only one God everywhere.

So what Islam says is correct, there is only one God.

But the difficulty is when one says, ‘my God is the only God. Your God is false God.’ This is the problem.

‘Only if you believe in this book of mine, you will go to heaven; otherwise you will go to hell.’

That is why this world is suffering today with terrorism because some people think only they have the key to heaven, not the others. This is not correct.

Buddhists also go to heaven. There are 1.2 billion Buddhists in the world. What do you think? God has deprived them. They don’t go to heaven? That is nonsense!

And there are 1.2 billion Hindus. You think they are all suffering in hell? No!

I think these fanatics have misinterpreted the Holy Scriptures, whether it is Islam or Koran or Bible.

See, there was only one Jesus. But today there are seventy two versions of Bible and each one says ours is the correct one. In fact Bible was written seventy years after Jesus. Those who wrote Bible never saw Jesus.

Now you can play an exercise. You just whisper one word to one person in that corner. Tell the same word to other person next to you. By the time that one word or sentence travels, to the person in this corner, it will be completely different. The whole thing gets distorted. The same happened with the Bible.

Jesus said, ‘we are all the children of the only Father’, and they reversed it saying, ‘Jesus, the only Son of the Father’. If he was the only Son, he would have said ‘my Father’, but he never said, ‘my Father’, he said ‘our Father’. That means you are all his children and that is what Jesus said.

But later on, when the Church wanted to spread bigger and they wanted to change the words here and there, they used it to their own convenience.

In fact, Jesus lived in India for twelve years and he learned the Vedic scriptures there. Then when he went back from India, he had to convince people about the knowledge that God is love; he is not someone who always punishes you. It was so difficult for him to convince people about meditation, about all that. And remember, he was surrounded by fishermen. People who were not high intellectuals or who had not studied a lot of knowledge. When He said God is within; the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. They would ask, ‘on which side of God will you sitting, the left side or right side?’ Within there is no left, no right.

So, he had to teach them in parables, in stories in those days. Doubting Thomas was a little more intelligent. Intelligent people doubt, innocent people don’t doubt so much. But when Thomas started doubting, he told him, ‘you go to India and better you learn and see where I learnt.’

And so after Jesus’ crucifixion, Thomas left to India. Before Christianity came to Europe, the apostle Thomas went to India and he stayed in Mylapore, South of India and he died there. His grave is still there today.

When someone is doubting, what do you tell them, ‘if you doubt me, you go and see for yourself’, don’t you say that? And that is why Thomas, of all the apostles, was asked to go to India, because that is where Jesus learnt. He directed him to his own source.

Now, the question about reincarnation. Jesus has not spoken about reincarnation. Christianity says there is no reincarnation, only one life. But today, psychologists all over the world have accepted reincarnation. They use past life regression as a therapy in most of the clinics around the world.

So beyond doubt, it has been proven that there is reincarnation. There are a number of experiments done on parapsychology and the mind. And this has been there in the tradition in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, and all over the east, where everybody knew and accepted this fact.

The knowledge that the earth is spherical was there in the east, much before Galileo. In Sanskrit it is called ‘Bhugola’, study of the sphere called earth. ‘Khagola’, studying the sphere of the universe, because every object in the universe is spherical. ‘Gola’ means sphere or spherical. This understanding was there. But here, the Church had opposed Galileo, you know about that. Just because it is not said in the Bible, in the book, or because it was interpreted, translated, reinterpreted, so some knowledge would have been lost. Same with reincarnation, if it is not written in there, that doesn’t mean it should not exist.

Planes are not written in any scriptures but planes do exist today. That is why I say we should not be too fanatic about anything. We see beyond, what is true and what applies to us, we take that. Anything that we talk and discuss here, if it doesn’t appeal to you then you don’t need to take it, just drop it. Take only what you feel right. You have to ask your heart.

And I never say anything that I don’t feel right to say. So we need to be honest to ourselves and that is the essence of all the scriptures in the world: simplicity, love, honesty and a sense of belongingness to everything and everybody. Don’t make it compartmental, I am this religion or I am that religion, no!

You have no difficulty in eating Danish pastry, no difficulty eating Chinese food. Just by eating Chinese food, you don’t become Chinese. Tomorrow you don’t start speaking Chinese. You eat Chinese food and you like it. In the same way, we should accept knowledge also. If it is Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, anything good, anything that uplifts human life should be welcome. Don’t you think so? And don’t think if you read Buddha’s scriptures or if you read Hinduism, then Jesus will be angry at you or you have betrayed Jesus. Not at all!

If that was the case, Jesus would not have sent Thomas to go to India. So, this narrow minded division that people have created is out of ignorance, or fear, or wanting to control.

Three reasons: they want to control people, or out of fear, or out of ignorance.

Ignorance mainly.

So we need to bring that big awareness in people, especially in the middle-east. It is so necessary. I see every day there are so many heated arguments, fights, killing, inhuman behaviour. How do you work with this kind of people?

That is why we don’t talk about any religion, just come and breathe. Let us do some breathing. When they breathe, then they realise, ‘oh, yes, I can feel very good inside’.

And when you become hollow and empty, you feel good.

We have done that to people in so many places, in all the conflict zones, and we should continue doing it. It is a big task and a difficult task, but we should continue. What do you think, isn’t it?!

Q: If we are insignificant, if we are nothing, how does it matter what we do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It does matter.

When you are insignificant, you also do nothing, and then there is bliss. But the moment you do something, it is going to bring you the result.

If you overeat, you may have to call a doctor. You have indigestion, and then you have to see a doctor.

If you drive through red light, you will get a ticket. If you say, ‘how does it matter, I am hollow and empty, let me drive through. Red light or green light, doesn’t matter, it is all light anyway. Let me drive through.’

You drive through and no doubt you will get a ticket. And if you do it quite often you will lose your license.

So, we must know that we live in two realities.

One is the quantum physics, where everything is one. See, the panels are wood, roof is wood, chair is wood, sofa is wood and the floor is wood. But you can’t take the sofa for a door and the door for a sofa. I can’t go and sit on the door.

But if you ask a carpenter, he’ll say, ‘it is all wood’.

A very common example in India that is given is about gold. A goldsmith doesn’t see if it is a small ring or a big ring or a necklace or a bracelet. For a goldsmith, he puts everything and weighs, ‘oh this is fifty grams of gold’. That is what he thinks. But when you are wearing the gold, you can’t wear your earrings in your hand and your finger ring on your neck. There is a difference.

In the same way, there is classical chemistry, the periodic table in which each atom is different, each molecule is different. That is one level. Another level is where it is all just wave function, all atoms; this is quantum physics. So there is quantum physics which is true and then there is the world of differences which is also true. Life is the art to balance both these and move.

Q: Please explain the relationship between Guru and student.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just relax! Be at home.

With a teacher, you should be like you are with a doctor, or in front of a mirror. When you stand in front of a mirror, you reflect yourself, right! With the teacher, the most desired thing is being open, natural, and ready for taking the next step.

Q: Is the nature of enlightened beings and non-enlightened beings the same? How do you tell when one is enlightened? What do we have to look for, if anything?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no criteria. It is the most difficult thing to do. You can’t judge by your head. Something in your heart tells you.

Once I was in Sweden and there was a bunch of journalists. They were asking many questions and I was just answering. There was lot of fun and everyone was laughing, and then one person said, ‘now, it is not a joke, tell me, are you enlightened?’

He stood up right in front. ‘I want the answer. Don’t turn them all around, are you enlightened?’

I just looked at him. I didn’t say anything.

He said, ‘I am asking, are you enlightened?’ I didn’t say anything.

Third time he said, ‘can you hear me, I am asking you a straight question, are you enlightened?’

I said, ‘no’.

He wouldn’t leave. If one says ‘no’, that should be finished. If one says ‘yes’, then you have a headache of proving!

But he said, ‘no, you are not telling me the truth. You are kidding, tell me.’

I said, ‘look, I said no and you should take the answer. But if your heart says something different then you listen to your heart’.

If you ask a man who is sleeping, ‘are you sleeping?’ If he says, ‘yes’, that means no. If they don’t answer, you should take it.

You can’t wake them up and say ‘are you sleeping?’

So sometimes, ‘yes’ means ‘no’ and ‘no’ means ‘yes’.

You cannot judge enlightenment like that.

I said, ‘if you know yourself then you can know me better.’

Because the person would not keep quiet, he said, ‘no, you are not telling the truth.’

I said, ‘what makes you say that? Your heart is saying it.’

Only the eyes can see, your ears cannot see. Similarly, only your heart can recognize.

When Jesus was asked, ‘are you the son of God?’ He did not say anything; he had to keep quiet because there is no point in telling them, ‘yes, I am the son of God and you too’. They wouldn’t understand, so he kept quiet. He couldn’t say ‘I am not the son of God’, when all his prayers were about ‘our Father in heaven’.

All his prayers started with, ‘our Father in heaven’, not ‘my Father’. It is plural, ‘our Father in heaven’. Jesus established that relationship with the divinity, that closeness; like how you feel close to your father, your mother, your friend. Only that closeness can bring love. And this is what He was trying to establish in those days.

The same happened with Buddha. Someone very close to Buddha didn’t think he was enlightened and tried to throw a boulder on top of his head when he was sitting and meditating.

One of his own disciple and relative went with a few people and pushed a big boulder, a big stone from behind. It just fell a few inches, a few millimetres short in front of him. Otherwise, if it would have fallen, then that was it, done.

When other disciples around him got so angry, Buddha said, ‘no, it was some karma, don’t get angry, be compassionate.’

So the essence of all teachings is love, compassion and self-awareness.

Once I was in Washington D.C. in a satsang where three to four hundred people were sitting. One gentleman came from the back, a very tall, hefty man. He said, ‘I curse you in the name of Jesus, you are Satan and this yoga is all satanic’.

He came to attack me. Everybody was frozen because it was a shock, nobody thought this could happen. He came in front of me and I just looked into his eyes and said, ‘wait!’

He just dropped down and sat there. A few minutes later, tears started coming out of his eyes.

A man with so much anger and hatred, he just came close, and he lost all that anger and he started sobbing, crying. Love has the power to transform people.

I have seen so many people getting transformed in their life. You can do that when you have no hatred towards anybody. You are not angry or afraid. You can bring about a change in your atmosphere. The same person later on took the course and also became a teacher!

Why am I saying this? The point is that inside every culprit also, there is a nice person, a good person; there is a human hiding. We need to bring out that humanness.

If you see through my eyes, I don’t see a single bad person on this planet. They are only misguided, ignorant, or hurt and suffering people. And you will never get angry with those who are suffering. How can you be angry with those who are suffering? Tell me? Isn’t it? They are suffering inside and we need to reach out, we need to help. This is what we need to do.

Q: Is it true that when we meet a person for the first time and start feeling some spiritual connection, we have met them in a past life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is possible.

One thing, in an energy like this when we are all meditating, you may suddenly feel attracted to this person and that person, but don’t go by that. These attractions may be because you are in a different space and they are in a different space.

Use your intellect and use your common sense later on. That is why in courses I say, don’t fall in love but only rise in love! Don’t get entangled with each other, just move up. And then you are welcome to study each other and fall in love or rise in love.

Q: Some say that there are aliens living on Earth, some with a negative agenda, others with a positive agenda. Is this true?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In imagination, anything is possible. In a movie, anything is possible.

2012, everything will go under the water and you cling to some satellite, and go with the President of the United States to another planet!

Q: What can I do for you from now on?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Keep smiling. Live the knowledge and spread happiness.

I want more and more of you to spread happiness in the world. If you can start in small groups at your home, and invite one of the Art of Living teachers to conduct meditations, that will be very good.

You can throw a meditation party for people, welcome people. That would be very nice. You can become a teacher yourself. Or you can help in any of the seva projects. Be part the of Euro-a-Day. That can help.

We have thirty thousand children today, whom we are supporting through Euro-a-Day programme. These children, who would otherwise have been in labour camps, who would have been doing work, are now getting good education, free education and food. It is a very touching project.

Those of you here who would like to associate with University projects are most welcome to do it. The Orissa government in India has approved our University. We just got our approval and so we’ll be having a medical Ayurvedic college. We already have one with many other disciplines there, Osteopathy, Ayurveda, and Nursing.

We will give the best of the east and the west to the youths of the world. Any of you, who are professors and want to come as a visiting professor or want to teach there, you are most welcome. Anyone who wants to do fund raising for this, you are most welcome.

We are also planning something in Israel and Palestine. We’ll do something there.

Most of you here in Germany, I want to create a big wave of happiness. Some celebration in city after city, small little towns, we can go and have people come together and meditate. Throw away all the Prozac and anti-depressants and breathe and be happy. That will be very good.

We can all make groups of four or five and on weekends travel to small, big or little towns or cities, call people and create a wave of happiness. I want the Prozac sale in Germany to go down in this year 2012. I have heard that thirty per cent of the population here is addicted to it.

Forty percent of the school teachers are depressed here. If one in every two and a half teachers is depressed, what will they transmit to the children? If a teacher is depressed, children will be depressed. This is a serious issue. I think all Germans should do something so that we can create a revolution to bring about a change in this society, where people are happy. See, this cannot be achieved through just money, or through government or laws, nothing. It needs a human touch. And you can all give that human touch.

Q: Am I ready to receive my Guru’s grace?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes! Those who are not ready will not come here at all. The fact that you have come means that you are ready.

Let go and take refuge in the quiet corner of your heart

2012-01-20T07:45:00.000+05:30

January 03, 2012

Q: How to overcome insecurity?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Insecurity is because you feel there is nobody for you. Wake up and see there is so much humanness, there is so much love in the world, and you don’t need to feel insecure.

You are walking in the street and somebody needs some help. They cannot carry their bag; won’t you go and help them? Right?

You know when we feel insecure? When we feel there is no humanness, there is no compassion, nobody is kind and nobody is friendly. Only then we feel the insecurity.

If you wake up and see, in this world there is so much love, so much compassion, so much a sense of belongingness, then there is no need of insecurity, okay!

Pranayama, breathing techniques and meditation definitely helps you to get over this feeling of insecurity. It has already happened. How many of you already feel that you have gotten over this feeling of insecurity? (Many raise their hands)

Q: How do I know if a relationship is good for me or not? Is he just pushing my buttons and I need to learn from this, or is he just not good for me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well I have no experience in this, so I can’t tell you.

Before you judge someone else first see how you relate to them. How big a heart you have, how much you can accommodate a person, and how much you can influence someone to change. This is what you need to look into.

Sometimes when you get doubt, the doubt is always about something that is positive. Have you noticed that? We doubt the honesty of a person but we never doubt the dishonesty of a person.

If someone asks you, ‘are you happy?’ We doubt, we say, ‘well, I am not sure’, but we never doubt our depression. Isn’t it so? Our doubt is always about something that is positive. So, see from that angle also.

Q: Dear Guruji, how to build a real pure relationship with others.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Best not to try to build any relationship. Just be yourself. Be natural and be simple. Relationships develop naturally.

If you try to build a relationship that is when you become a little artificial. Then your behavior becomes artificial which is not natural.

Just imagine someone is trying to impress you, don’t you notice that?

If someone is trying to impress you, what do you do? You move away.

See what you like, that is what others like as well. You like someone to be very honest, open, natural, unassuming with you, correct?! That is exactly what others also want from you.

Suppose you are a boss, what type of assistants or subordinates would you like? Someone who is open! Right? And that is also what your boss wants.

Don’t try hard to impress your boss, or impress your girl friend or boy friend. Then everything goes bad. Best is to be yourself, to be natural, to be forgiving and to be in the present moment. It makes a big difference.

Q: What to do when everything seems to be grey, dry and without a purpose. Sometimes I feel all out of love.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is when you read knowledge.

I have made a number of knowledge books and CDs. Ashtavakra Gita knowledge is so precious, and meditation. These two things will help. And if there is a silence course like this anywhere, just go and attend. When everything is dry, this infuses the juice back in life.

Q: How did great souls become great and how can we become great souls?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You don’t need to do a great job to become great. You need to do small things perfectly to become great. Be simple and natural, and then great things will simply happen through you. Got it? And you don’t need to be famous in order to do great things. Greatness is inherent in you. It is in you like a seed.

Q: Why have there not been female masters, prophets or famous disciples. I have heard only about male masters, but very few female masters?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Vacancy is there! There is vacancy, you can become one.

Q: Could you talk about healing please?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Healing happens! When the energy is high and when there is love, healing automatically happens.

Q: Dear Guruji, what to do when my spouse always wants to be the boss and chases me up? I love him very much but he makes me restless.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A gentleman was asked, ‘who is the boss of the house?’

He said, ‘Me! But I have the permission from my wife to say so.’ So the wife had to give permission for him to say, ‘I am the boss.’

You be the boss, but be very subtle. There is a secret about relationships.

One is, you should never make your husband feel small. If you tell your husband, ‘you are vegetable, you are good for nothing. You are a lazy goose!’ His self esteem goes down and he really becomes good for nothing. So however hopeless or weak he is, you should always tell him that he is the best. You should pump his ego. The whole world may say that he has no brains, but you should not say that. As a spouse you should say, ‘you have the best brains in the world. Just because you don’t use it, doesn’t mean that you don’t have it.’

‘So you just don’t use it, that’s all. You have fresh unused brain.’ That is what you should say.

In the same way for women, you should never pour cold water on her emotions. For women, emotional bonding is very important. You should never complain about her parents, her father or her mother or sisters or brothers. If she complains, you keep quiet, don’t say anything. No comment, because if you side them also, you will be in trouble and if you oppose them also, you will be in trouble.

If you oppose her parents, you will be in trouble and if you side with them, she will feel left out. ‘You don’t understand me’, she would start yelling and shouting.

Either way you are in trouble, so keep quiet. Simply move away from there or change the topic.

And if she wants to go for shopping, just give her your credit card. She may have ten pairs of shoes; she may go for the eleventh pair of shoes. If you question why, ‘you don’t have 11 pairs of legs so why do you buy so many pairs of shoes?’, then she will be upset. So for shopping, you should not object.

Q: How do I know if the woman in my heart really loves me 100%?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I have no idea, nor do you have any idea. Just take a chance. Even if it is 90%, it is good enough.

Suppose someone asks you the same question, what would you say? You cannot guarantee your own love to someone 100%. May be this moment, yes, but what is the guarantee next month. I tell you, you cannot guarantee your own mind. You don’t know your own mind. How do you expect someone to know someone else’s mind? When you have no control over your own mind, you try to control somebody else’s mind. It’s impossible!

Just know one thing; whatever is yours will always be yours. Whatever moves away from you was never yours even before.

This is a very good proverb, ‘Whatever is yours will always be yours. Anything that goes away was never yours.’

So, if you know this, you will be at peace.

If you feel freedom from within, and feel the peace, then the whole world belongs to you. Everyone is yours. But the lack of it, however hard you try to own somebody, they will just slip away.

That is why this spiritual knowledge is so essential. This knowledge can not only bring you the inner strength, but also make you the centre of your universe. You will be so centered, and everything will come to you naturally.

In the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad Gita, there is a beautiful verse that says, ‘One who is established in the higher consciousness, all the desires and all the fulfillment will come towards him like the river flows to the ocean.’

How natural, isn’t it? All the rivers, they flow into the ocean. In the same way, all the desires get fulfilled into one who is a Yogi.

That is why, do yoga, meditation and be in the spiritual knowledge. Then everything will come to you. Not to the one who is galloping behind desires. To that person, who gallops, runs behind desires, nothing gets into their hands.

So, let go and take refuge in the quiet corner of your heart. Then everything will be yours. This is very true.

Q: I feel that I can’t live these values at my workplace. Do I need to change my Job?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! You can create these values at your workplace.

Don’t worry, stand up and keep talking to people. For a couple of days, they may think you are crazy and you are talking something crazy, never mind! You continue talking. They will start realizing and they will start accepting.

When I first came to west, people thought I was crazy. What I was talking didn’t get into anybody’s head, but I kept coming and everyone enjoyed it. So, the same will happen with you at your workplace.

You keep talking about the knowledge and about transformation.

See, twenty years ago, I remember, when anybody spoke about vegetarian food or planting more tress, or environment, people would ridicule it. Does anyone remember that?

When someone would speak about a clean environment, or no plastic, people would say, ‘this is stupid. They have no sense. It is impossible’

Thirty years ago, if someone would say you should not smoke, people would say, ‘this is absurd.’

You were considered not to be in the mainstream if you don’t smoke.

Every seat in an airplane had an ashtray. And at the place where there is the seat belt sign, the smoking sign would come on as well, for passengers to not smoke during take-off and landing. Otherwise people would smoke. Only three to four rows in the front were of non-smoking. Rest were all for smokers.

It didn’t make any sense because the air will come from the back to the front as well.

In those days, if you were a non-smoker, you were considered unfashionable. I am talking about some thirty five years ago. But today, all the airplanes in the world have banned smoking. There is no ashtray in any airplane, isn’t it?

So, in the same way, you keep talking about these values, about meditation.

In those days, sitting cross-legged and meditating would mean that you are someone who is out there. Someone who is in mainstream would not do it.

But today, you see all the big companies, when they are marketing relaxation, they put a picture of someone meditating.

All the companies advertise on yoga and meditation. So things are changing.

So you have the power to change your workplace. Don’t run away. Be in the place, and dose by dose talk to them about these values. They will change.

We have courses designed just for the corporate sector. There are people who can go and learn them, and there are teachers who can teach at corporations. Many corporations today are doing this course. As we are talking, the company called ‘Bosch’, they are having two courses. All the top executives are doing the course in Bangalore in two batches. I just got an SMS. They have come to the ashram in Bangalore.

So many companies are doing these courses and the atmosphere at workplaces is changing.

Even in airlines; I remember some twenty five years ago, people from Lufthansa came and attended our course. Some people from British airways attended our course. And today they have put a guided meditation in the airplane. Channel 13 on Lufthansa has put a meditation in English and in German.

Though I don’t agree to everything they say there. They are not so precise but there is some relaxation.. It is not perfect, but something is better than nothing. A lot of imagination and a lot of effort have been put, but nevertheless, there is something to that effect.

So the world is changing. You can bring a change at your workplace, don’t run away.

If you want to change your job for any other reason, you can do it. If you are getting paid better somewhere else, then definitely change. But not because the people around are bad, that you run away, no!

If people around you are bad then that is all the more reason for you to be there, because you are the hope. You can bring the change there.

Q: I am doing reasonably okay in life in terms of work, family etc. I am also doing a little bit for society in terms of education. But I feel I am capable of doing more for society. I don’t know how to go about it. Please guide.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You need to come along with Art of Living’s work. We have a lot to do. We will need you there, definitely.

We are building our first University in India, where I want to give the best of East and best of West to children. We have all the best of knowledge from here and the best from the East, because there are a lot of good things in the east and a lot of not so good things also. Same in the West.

So we want to choose the real best of East and West together to bring a complete transformation in human consciousness.

So we need a lot of help from you all.

We need people who can help in fund raising, people who can sponsor children. We need people who can help in building the buildings. There are a lot of things that can happen there. So you are most welcome to be part of this venture.

Q: I feel I am a very loving person and I have a lot of love to give. All I ever wanted was to get married and have my own family and children, but it hasn’t happened even after so many years. How can I attract love and marriage to manifest in my life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I don’t know.

Not that there are no loving people, not that there are no single men and women. There are, but may be you are too choosy. If you think you are very loving, you find the other person not so loving. You’ll try to find faults in others. So anyone whom you meet, you think, ‘this is not right, he doesn’t look good’, or, ‘he’s too tall’, or, ‘he is too short’, or, ‘he is bald’, or, ‘he has too much hair’.

If you start judging everybody, finding some fault, I don’t know how you will be able to find a husband. Someone asked me the other day, ‘I want to be with the perfect man.’

I said, ‘okay, you will find a perfect man but he will want a perfect woman also, which you are not. So what will you do?’ A perfect man would want a perfect woman. Are you perfect? When you are not perfect, why do you insist on perfection in others? Do you see, sometimes we think in the air. We are not practical and that is why things don’t move towards us. We should move away from over-perfectionism. When you have this over-perfectionism, you get annoyed very easily and you get angry for small things. You get upset about nothing at all. You become so emotional. And if you throw your tantrums like that, then nobody would like to be with you. They get scared.

So when you are centered, when you are choice less, then everything happens in your way.

Q: When we see you in satsang or in Kriya, we feel high, but how to get that high always?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Forget about always.

When you take shower, you feel that warmth or coolness. Shower is for sometime only, but that shower keeps you clean the whole day. Isn’t it?

If you say you want to always be in the shower, then you have to be a fish. You can be in the water all the time.

Even a few satsangs and Kriyas that uplift your energy is good. It’s natural in the world. Energy comes in waves, you feel high and then when you go back in market, the level goes down. And then you go and watch a movie, it goes further down. It happens! You know, just watch the faces of people who come out of the movie theatre, they look like zombies. They don’t come with brilliant shining eyes or with a brilliant face or with high energy. They don’t have that high enthusiastic energy. Because of two hours of sitting and watching, they feel so dull and tired. These things happen.

So energy level is never steady. It goes in waves, up and down. And doing all the practices, coming to satsangs, keep it more or less on the high note, okay!

We shouldn’t mind if it goes down sometime, otherwise that becomes another worry, ‘Oh my energy is down.’ Got it? And turn back and see in your own life, how it has been? As you are attending meditations, satsangs, steadily there is certain stability in your energy level too.

Q: I am an emotional eater. When I am sad, depressed, angry, I automatically start eating and eating. How to control this as I am gaining on a lot of weight?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. I don’t want to give you any ideas or suggestions now. Do you know why? Because you will forget them, and when you remember, you will feel even worse, ‘Oh no, I didn’t follow those instructions.’ Right?

When you feel upset, you know what will be good? Put on some music and just dance. Even if it is sad music never mind, just dance. When you dance, you will put on less weight and you will lose what you have. Okay! At least at that time you will eat less.

Maybe after finishing the dance, you may feel more hungry and eat more.

Unless you determine yourself to do something about it, nobody can do anything about it. So on your own, you have to come to a conclusion.

Q: While meditating, is it normal for your body to jerk?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. It is ok. It is good.

Q: Guruji, I have a very important and difficult question. Can you say something about not wanting to eat enough and eating only super healthy food and having too much discipline? What is the cause and how to solve this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you are always eating super healthy food, sometimes your body loses it capacity to adjust and your immune system becomes a little weak. So you should make your body flexible. Sometimes you can eat not too healthy food. I am not saying eat unhealthy, don’t eat unhealthy food, but it doesn’t have to be organic all the time. Sometime you can also eat non organic food, doesn’t matter. Your body has the ability to adjust to every situation. Don’t make it super sensitive. Do you see what I am saying?

You know people in poor areas, slums especially, I am talking about India; they are so much stronger. Their immune system is very strong and their body is like steel. You will be surprised. People who are in urban areas, their system is a little weak. You catch cold, you get cough when you go to some polluted areas. But these people who live in slums, they are so robust. Their immune system is so strong, because it is active. It is very strange but true. People in unhygienic places are healthier.

Not everywhere, I won’t say everywhere, but in some places they are much healthier and their system is much stronger.

Same if you got to Brazil and you walk in their favelas, the slum. You will see that they are quiet strong, macho men, and they live in slums near Rio de Janeiro. I have seen it; I have walked into those slums. They don’t appear as slums. There are quite healthy and strong people.

So you don’t need to sensitize your body to super healthy food all the time. Follow the middle path. Take healthy food most of the time but sometime be used to other food as well.

Q: I feel this practice makes me feel even more lonely rather than expanding my sense of belongingness. Please advice.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! Come on, wake up!

It can give you that sort of feeling just in the beginning, but it will pass. You just be with it, be with that loneliness. Go deep into it and you will find that it is giving you so much more strength.

Every time you are confused you grow one step higher

2012-01-19T09:51:00.000+05:30

January 02, 2012

Q: Are our emotions linked with age?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. They are linked with hormones in the body and they are also linked with time, age and so many other factors.

Q: Guruji, when are you going to come to my city?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Oh, don’t ask me when I will come. I have everything in abundance, except time. I want to go to many places but time is very short. I have not gone to many places in a long time. I have not visited Africa in a long time. I have not been to England in the last five years. I have to go to Gaza; never been to Portugal, never been to Ukraine. I have invitations from so many places. From South America, they are asking me every day. What to do?!

Q: (A member of the audience spontaneously asked a question without speaking into the mike. The question was inaudible in the recording.)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Okay, sometimes at least the pendulum can stop. And when it stops it is so nice. That is why you are here, isn’t it?

The mind swings between cravings and aversions and then aversions and cravings. It needs some rest sometimes. So doing all this will bring that calmness to the mind. And with wisdom, gradually, first you get rid of all the aversions and then you get rid of the cravings too.

Q: (A member of the audience spontaneously asked a question without speaking into the mike. The question was inaudible in the recording.)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! Sensations are already there in our body. Every pleasant thought has a sensation and an unpleasant thought also creates a sensation. So when you observe the sensations, the unpleasant ones disappear and the pleasant ones increase, that is what happens.

Q: How to handle my negative emotions?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sudarshan Kriya is the best way to handle negative emotions. Ujjayi breathing, pranayama, meditation, all this works. Isn’t it working?!

Q: Guruji, why do I feel so lazy all the time?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You cannot feel lazy all the time. If there is some charm, then all laziness disappears. If there is a vision, then also laziness disappears. Otherwise if your sugar is low or vitamin D is low then laziness comes.

So there are many factors for laziness. Food is one of the basic reasons for laziness.

Q: Guruji, where do souls come from?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Where do all these planets come from? Where do these flowers come from? Where do animals come from? Where do you come from? It is amazing how in the universe there are so many types of people, so many flowers, so many fruits, so many animals, so many mosquitoes, so many viruses; my goodness! It is such an amazing world, right?!

Q: How can I have more confidence?You are in the right place. Keep doing these things, asanas, pranayama, meditation will bring up the confidence.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are in the right place. Keep doing these things; asanas, pranayama, meditation will bring up the confidence.

Q: Dear Guruji, God created this world but who created God?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I will answer this question but first you should tell me, where is the beginning point of a tennis ball?

We have linear thinking, which means everything has to begin somewhere and end somewhere. Something begins and something ends. So the creation happened and one day everything is going to end. This is linear thinking.

But in the East, there is no linear thinking, it is spherical thinking.

They say three things are uncreated and they will never die or never end. What are they?

One is the Divine Energy which you may call God. It is not created and it is never going to end, like space. Can you tell me which is the beginning point of the space and where does it end? No!

Similarly, matter or this whole universe. The universe is ‘Anadi’, means without a beginning and ‘Ananta’, means without an end. So also the souls, the life has no beginning and no end. It appears to end but it is going to begin again. It is like the waves in the ocean. One wave comes and it appears to end, but it is coming back again. The same water goes and comes back again. So, souls have no beginning and no end, the Divine or God has no beginning or no end and the universe has no beginning or no end. In fact all three are one.

So if you want to see God you should stop seeing the world.

You know in what sense? Like a quantum scientist. If a quantum scientist had to see this flower, he would say there is no difference between the leaf, the flower and the stem because everything is made up of atoms. There is no difference, it is all one. Any one point anywhere on the flower will work. Similarly, a quantum physicist says, to find out your DNA just a drop of your saliva is good enough, or just one pinch of skin. It is all the same, this is what a scientist would say.

This is quantum science.

But on other hand, the petals are not stem and the stem is not the leaf, they are all different. So if you want to see God, just see the whole Universe as energy and that is it.

Q: How to love people even if you don’t like them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Oh, I don’t have an experience of this but I can still try to give you an answer.

Don’t try to love them. First stop disliking them.

Why you dislike them? Because of some qualities.

Now imagine why they have those qualities; because of lack of education.

They also came to this world like a baby, so happy like you. But why they have these negative qualities is because of no proper background, no education, a lot of insecurity, right.

If someone is nasty or arrogant, it is because they are insecure. They have not had love in their lives.

If one is greedy, it is because they are insecure and fearful. Why is there fear? Because there is no love.

So when you see all the negative qualities in them, it is because of lack of education. They had no spirituality, they have had no love in their lives and the mind is too small.

So you will stop disliking them first, right.

This is a fact! Why somebody is like that or why someone is cruel? Why someone is violent? It is because they are so stressed and the mind is small. It can’t think big. And why is it so? Because of lack of education and lack of spirituality. This opportunity was not given to them. They were never given education where love, non-violence, happiness were all taught, correct! So their mind and heart is closed.

So when you find this, you will stop disliking them. And the next step is you will have compassion, ‘oh, poor thing!’

They don’t have the vision to see life and see others. They make wrong judgments all the time and think bad about others and behave badly and hurt themselves. So when you understand that these are the factors that lead them to that type of behavior, you get compassion.

So, don’t try to love them. Stop disliking them and then have compassion. Then the third step automatically is you can’t but love everybody.

And no need to force yourself to love somebody whom you dislike. You should not do that.

Q: When you go through a phase where there is a circle of worry and fear, what is the best way to handle it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just your own experience. ‘I have gone through this many a times, okay, another one more time.’ That makes you numb to it. You become sort of immune to it, if it is happening over and over again.

It is our greed, our possessiveness and the aggression in us that brings us all this. If you are content, happy and centered, everything will flow to you. You don’t have to go and grab something; things will come your way. Do you see what I am saying? This is why this world is called ‘Maya’. Do you know what Maya means? When you try to go and grab it, it runs away from you. If you try to possess or if you try to grab something, it just runs away from you.

If you are stable, still and content within yourself then everything runs towards you. That is why I have said from the very beginning, if you follow joy, misery follows you and if you follow knowledge, fun follows you.

Q: What are the basics of team work?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Basics for team work is accepting people as they are and not holding on to your position too strongly. Sometimes be considerate, otherwise you can’t work in a team. Being more open and considerate.

Q: If you don’t feel attached to the fruit of action, how can you leave people? This is a puzzle for me.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, if you are attached to the fruit of action it can cause feverishness.

Like a farmer; you know what the farmer does? He ploughs the soil and throws the seeds. He is not anxious to pick up each seed every day to see has it sprouted or not. Then it will not sprout.

So when you have confidence, you have no attachment to the fruit of action.

That does not mean indifference. Do you understand what I am saying?

A farmer throws the seeds and he comes home and sleeps well. He does not worry that all the seeds may disappear or it may not sprout. Then he will not even go home, he will sit there and wait for it to sprout. He will dig the soil every day to see if it has sprouted. No, nothing is going to happen.

So a farmer is the best example. He throws the seeds on the fields and he goes back and has a good nap. Next day he comes and sees all the tulips have come, all the sunflowers have blossomed. It takes a while; it doesn’t come the next day. But in the next month when he comes and sees, all the seeds have sprouted. Some of them have not sprouted, so what! If he throws one kilogram of seeds, not every seed will sprout, correct. And he doesn’t cry, ‘oh, some didn’t sprout.’ Those which blossomed into flowers, he just enjoys them.

Q: Guruji, what is the difference between Dharma and Karma?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Dharma is your nature and Karma is your duty.

Suppose your nature is to cook food, or your nature is to teach, or your nature is to help people, or do business, that is your Dharma. And the action that follows, what you do in your life, that is your Karma.

Q: Guruji, when I think about you, I dream of you. When I dream of you, are you thinking of me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Oh, it could be!

Tomorrow or the day after, we will talk about the five different types of dreams.

Q: When I close my eyes, often visions come.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let them come, no problem.

Q: How to tell someone to do basic course when you know it is very good for them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, I also don’t know.

You think of ways of how you can convince someone to do it. Best is not to explain too much, simply tell them that it is very good, just do it. Two sentences are good, ‘it is something which is very good and I did it and you also do it. I am not going to tell you what it is.’

That does more wonder than trying to explain to them how breathing is good and only by breathing you can be alive, etc., because when people know what is good for them, they still don’t do it. But when you say that this is so nice and something surprising, then the surprises people like to do and they catch it. So that’s what you should say, ‘there is something surprising, I don’t want to tell you, you just do it.’ Then the mind is curious and they want to find out what it is.

So all of you do the same, don’t explain anything about the basic course or what you have done. You should simply create surprise, ‘you know I did something very surprising and it was fantastic. You just do it.’

They will ask, 'what is it? tell me!' But you say, ‘I can’t tell you, you just do it.’
Again they will ask, 'please tell us', say, ‘no way, I cannot tell you. It is difficult to explain, you just do it. It is so superb.’

Q: Physical pain, is it linked to the mind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Physical pain and mind is connected, definitely. You know why, because when you sleep or when you are under anesthesia you don’t feel it.

So when you sleep you don’t feel it. In sleep what happens is the mind shuts off. In anesthesia they put some blocks in the nervous system so that the mind cannot feel that, correct! So the mind definitely has a role to play in pain management. The doctors who specialize in pain management they say how mind, breath, meditation are all very important in pain management.

Q: What to do with the disbelief and so many concerns when you feel the heart is closed to knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See when you said that you always seek to analyze then you are already out of it. Whenever you say that I am too judgmental that means you are already out of it, got it. With age and experience and with meditation you grow bigger than that, yes. You grow out of it.

Already look back and see, five years ago how judgmental you were and how you are now. There is so much difference, right?!

Q: When you meditate, is the aim not to think of anything?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Correct, you just be with the instructions and you will get that deeper experience. You are not trying to think or focus on anything; just be.

Q: What is compassion?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Oh, if you don’t know it, you have no chance to know it.

You already know it, you simply wanted a definition and compassion is much beyond definitions so I cannot define it.

Q: I read your book in which you said, ‘if you think you have to make a decision you are confused.’ I still feel confused. What to do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, when you think you have to make a decision that means you are confused and you have not decided. If you have decided you won’t say you need to decide.

If you say, ‘I am hungry’, that means you have not eaten. If you have eaten then you are not hungry, correct. And my job is to confuse you and not to convince anybody.

Every time you are confused you grow one step higher, so it is good.

Q: You said earlier tonight, that you have everything in abundance but time. How do I deal with it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Oh, I don’t know, I want you to tell me how do I deal with it? I don’t have time, I have been asked to come everywhere. Already my calendar for 2012 is finished, the whole calendar is over and dates are over. Not only me, but for some of our teachers 2013 is over. They are a step ahead of me. Some of our Swamis and Rishis, their 2013 calendar is also full, what to do?!

Q: If I try to decide, which one is intuition and which is the mind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That which happens correct is intuition. You have to wait and see.

Q: What does silence mean?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (Guruji kept silent for a couple of seconds)… got it?!

Meditation is a journey from sound to silence

2012-01-18T08:15:00.000+05:30

January 01, 2012

So today we are talking about meditation, right!

What is meditation? Why do we want meditation? In order to go deep within ourselves, to understand ourselves or to learn anything about ourselves we need to be in a cordial and homely atmosphere. A formal atmosphere is not congenial.

Do you all feel at home? Why don’t you take just a moment to greet the person on either side of you and behind you.

Now tell me, how many of you think that meditation is concentration? No! You will be disappointed, meditation is not concentration. It is de-concentration.

To do any work, you need concentration but to relax and expand you don’t need concentration. Relaxation is the mother of concentration and so if you relax well, you are able to concentrate better. Isn’t that so?

Now how do we relax? That is what we will see this evening. As I am speaking, do you notice what is happening in your mind? Just notice, your mind says, ‘yes’, or ‘no’. Do you see a dialogue happening within you? It is very important to notice this dialogue.

So there are simple principles that we need to understand about meditation. Before we go into that, let’s see what the benefits of meditation are.

How many of you would like to know the benefits of meditation?

The first benefit of mediation is it improves the bio-energy in our body; in our system. Have you noticed, sometimes you meet someone and for no reason you don’t want to talk to them. Whereas with some other people whom you have not met so often, still you feel some sort of closeness with them and you feel comfortable. This is because of the positive energy. Meditation creates positive and harmonious energy around us.

The second benefit is it improves health. There are number of researches on how meditation helps in hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, skin problems, nervous system problems and a number of other problems.

Third, meditation can help one to keep a pleasant mood. It is a big help in preventing many of the mental illness and physical illness.

Apart from the health benefits, meditation improves concentration. It helps one to be in the present moment. The mind vacillates between the past and the future. We are either angry about the past or anxious about the future, all the time. So meditation helps keep the mind from swinging between the past and the future to be more in the present.

Meditation is a journey from sound to silence, from movement to stillness. I would say that meditation is food for the soul.

Music is food for emotions; knowledge is food for the intellect, entertainment is food for the mind and meditation is the food for our soul or spirit.

So let us do a short meditation. Let’s nurture our emotions with music first and then we will learn a little more.

(A short meditation followed)

There are a number of meditations in CDs that I have made. In the beginning you can put on a CD and meditate. Later on you can do it by yourself. And some breathing techniques, pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya will all help you go deep in meditation.

Do you have any questions? I will take some questions.

Q: There are a lot of questions about 2012, whether we will still exist?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definitely! It is only in the movies that everything goes down the water. Everything will continue, don’t worry!

Q: Why do I feel so shy? How can I stop myself from feeling so shy?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I think if you are ready to act as a fool for just half a day it will take away your shyness. Have you been to any one of the carnival festivals? If you have not, then go to a carnival festival. Dress yourself up and you will find the difference.

Also Sudarshan Kriya will help you, so do the basic course and the Kriya.

Q: What is the fastest way to get rid of the ego?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you want to get rid of it? Keep it! Just be natural. Being like a child will help.

Q: Dear Guruji, how to help people or relatives that are very ill? How can we ease their pain?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Your meditations will help. After meditating, send your vibrations to them. That will help them.

Q: Are you focusing on all the countries on Earth or only on a few of them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: As much as we can, we focus our attention where ever possible and we extend our hands.

Q: How do I find my inner destination? How do I find my destination in this world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Relax! It will just naturally come up.

Q: How can I convince people who take drugs to let go of them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Bring them to a Sudarshan Kriya class. When they do the breathing and when they find the inner joy coming into them, they will give up. Many people have given up; in thousands.

Q: What is the purpose of life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One who knows will not tell you and someone who tells you does not know.

This very question is useful. The question itself uplifts your spirit and creates a journey for you. So keep the question, it is very precious. One day you will discover it.

Spend a few minutes in meditation and do some good work in society. Help those who are in need. Then everything will open up.

Q: What to do if I cannot let go of a very painful relationship? I just cannot let go.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Okay, what can you do? Hold on to it!

How much can you hold on? Sooner or later you have to let go and the faster you do it, the better it is. And what can help you to do it faster is wisdom. Wake up and see everything is changing. Meditation will definitely help. I usually say that we repair the broken hearts here. It gets back to the very same position it was in the beginning. No scars and no pain.

Q: Dearest Guruji, you said that anything that changes is not true, but the universe is changing every moment. Is this also not true?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you talk to a quantum physicist that is what he will say.

Professor D’Hoore from Germany is one of the greatest scientists of our time and he said something interesting. He said, ‘I studied matter for forty years only to know it doesn’t exist.’

I said, ‘this is what we say in the Vedantic philosophy, the same thing.’

Q: How can I find the true love in me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you relax you find that you are love. You are made up of a substance called love. Love is not just an emotion; it is your very existence. It also gets expressed in emotion but in reality our consciousness, our mind and our spirit is made up of love.

Q: Is it possible as a normal human being to love unconditionally?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, as a child you were doing it. As a child you were expressing such a love.

It is possible.

Q: Is complete freedom possible?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes!

Q: Dear Guruji, please advise me how to cope with a loss of a very dear one? It has been very traumatic. Doing the Sudarshan Kriya and sadhana for the past sixty days has helped me a lot but still I am unable to get over the loss.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just be with it; don’t try to get over it. Time will take care.

Q: Guruji, is worrying about the future something totally wrong?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, worry about the future of the whole planet and worry about the destiny of humanity. Worry about human values, worry about the increasing corruption, worry about all these big things. I also worry about the planet.

But worry should not take away your smile, your enthusiasm and your energy to do things now.

Q: How can we know that we are following and fulfilling our destiny?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Something in your gut feeling will tell you.

How do you know if you have eaten enough? How do you know you slept enough? In the same way when you are doing the right thing your heart will tell you, ‘yes, I am doing the right thing.’

Q: How to overcome sadness, depression and negative thoughts?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sudarshan Kriya, meditation and knowledge will help.

Q: Why do you wear a beard?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I am too lazy to shave every day. I thought I can spend that time doing something else.

In India, people who are in the spiritual field, either they shave everything or keep everything. This is the uniform, so I prefer to keep everything.

But it is not a big deal, tomorrow I can take everything off, but I won’t change. I will be the same.

Don’t go by one’s external appearance and dress, this is secondary. What is primary is what is inside. How pure the heart is and how clear the head is; clarity and purity. And remember we are all born with such pure hearts. I have maintained it that is all the difference. Many have not maintained what they were born with, but I maintained it somehow. I refuse to grow up!

Q: Dear Guruji, could you please talk about abortion.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I have no opinion about it.

Q: What is the difference between sleep and meditation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sleep is dullness, meditation is awareness. Both give rest but a different quality of rest. After meditation when you come out, you feel very soft and very nice in your whole body and mind. After sleep you could feel a little heavy and a little dull. Could be, not necessary.

Q: What is personal Karma, do animals have it also?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Animals don’t have Karma. The strongest impressions in the mind create a situation that is Karma. These are of three types:

Karma is the impression in the mind. Karma is the action that is happening now and Karma is a future impression that the action might create.

Q: How can I get in touch with my soul?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation. Be still and you are in touch with your spirit.

Q: Dearest Guruji, could you talk about healing?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Healing happens naturally. When your prana (energy) level is high that can be transmitted and healing does happen.

Q: Could you please speak about the burn out which is happening in the society including each individual, and the burn out of the planet which is showing in climatic problems, etc. What do you see as a solution for mankind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: More values, ethics and morality in society.

When human values go up, when people start relating to each other as human beings and when we consider the whole world as one family having a sense of belongingness to everybody then the whole atmosphere can change. Isn’t it so?

I have been all over the world but I have never felt not at home anywhere. I have always felt at home with everybody and I feel that everyone can feel that way too. Care for the planet and care for the people. What do you all say?

You watch the news and you see so many people are being killed every day. See what is happening in Sudan. Just now, before coming on to the stage I saw the news; five thousand eight hundred people have been killed in Syria in the last seven to eight months. It is so inhuman to do such things.

I feel that they don’t know how to live, they don’t know the art of living; they only know the art of killing. We need to teach people how to live in harmony; how to love, rather than fight and destroy each other and destroy the planet. It is very painful, isn’t it?

Anyone with a little bit of heart, looking at all this violence will say, ’oh, my God, there is not enough time to express one’s love, where is the time to kill and fight with each other for nothing. Everybody is any way going to die.’

For what? For just a few more dollars kill each other. Unfortunate!

Q: Is it okay to lie to a child that Santa Claus brings him presents for Christmas?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, children when they grow up they will know. They will realize the truth.

Q: What do I do if I cannot afford the courses and they are expensive for me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definitely you can do it. Talk to the teacher or the volunteer and they will give you a scholarship. We never stop anybody because they cannot afford.

Talk to the teachers and they will do something.

Q: Guruji, what is happening with our monetary system and with the economy in the world? There is so much debt and there is a debt crisis. Also do we still need capitalism?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know there is enough wealth in the world. It is just the greed of few people, that they make the market fluctuate and economy crash. All this is happening.

If there are some basic reforms in the share market, the economy in the world would become so much better and stable, and prosperity for everyone will come.

Q: It relates to a poem of yours. There are a few lines which say, ‘The clouds become so beautiful; noise becomes a beautiful melody, and rain becomes a fluid sun shine.’ How to change the perceptions so that we can live like that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When inside changes, outside becomes beautiful. All is wonderful.

The coming year is the year of bliss

2012-01-17T12:05:00.004+05:30

December 31, 2011

According to the Vedic calendar this year is called ‘Nanda’ which means bliss. This is the year of bliss. Last year was the year of Certainty. The year before was of Chaos and Confusion. But now the coming year is the year of bliss and the year of happiness. So this year we must all resolve to spread more happiness in society.

If you see, in life, everything is geared towards happiness.

Entertainment is geared towards happiness. Politics is to bring happiness to people. Economy is to bring happiness, knowledge is to bring happiness. You take any subject or any avenue, all of it is geared to bring happiness. But somewhere our human society seems to forget this. Instead of keeping the attention on the goal, we are lost in-between. We think the means itself is the goal. We think the road itself is home.

You are driving in the autobahn, on the highway and you forget that you have to go somewhere and you keep driving thinking this is home. That is what has been happening.

We think money is the goal, politics is the goal, entertainment is the goal; No! All this is only geared towards happiness. In fact happiness is unconditional. In spite of having this one can miss the goal or even not having these means one can still have the goal.

You can be happy come what may, that is spirituality.

Come what may, however everything is, topsy turvy or not, you can decide to be happy and you can be happy!

It is interesting to observe in the world today people are talking in terms of Gross National Happiness. It is not GDP but GDH: Gross Domestic Happiness. I think they started talking in terms of this in England and then America and in Europe everywhere. Countries like Bangladesh and Bhutan which are very tiny, where they have very little resources have a higher GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) than those countries that have higher economic growth like Scandinavia, where there is very little happiness. What is the point? What is the matter and how do we look at it?

This is where we need to give a wakeup call to the world and tell them, ‘Come on, Wake up. Be happy!’

We need to bring a wave of spiritual awakening and a wave of human values. The lack of human values will reduce human society into an animalistic world. Without values society cannot be called a human society. And it is not even fit to be called an animalistic kingdom because even animals live by some rules and they have some norms.

No lion will go for hunting if its basic instinct is satisfied; if it is not hungry. No animal in the planet pollutes the forests. For millions of years the forests exist but you will not find pollution in the forests. They keep everything clean.

It is the human society out of its greed and consumerism that is spoiling the planet. Making it unfit for the coming generations. That is where this year is of significance. People will wake up to human values, spiritual values and ecological values, and as members of the Art of Living, you all have a major role to play. You are the pioneers and you have to create and spread this awareness in the society.

In the year 2011, we have seen many upheavals. All the suppressed societies woke up to the dictatorships, violence and selfishness of just a few people.

2011 has seen upheavals and revolutions in the Arab world.

We all hope this coming year will be a balm to heal the wounds of the people who are hurt. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. So we all have this responsibility. We all have to wake up and mend and heal the broken hearts and give hope to the society.

The Art of Living has been having this vision of a society free from stress and violence for some time now. We are marching in that direction and our achievements are good. We are proud of what we have achieved in the past years, both in the corporate sector and in general. We have been able to conduct many programs and bring solace to so many people and yet there is much more to be done. And so we will happily continue doing what we need to do.

Today already we did a very beautiful meditation for forty minutes; so still and enthralling meditation. People from all over the world have joined in this meditation and I am sure this is going to bring a big change in the world.

Q: Guruji, it is very common to see good people suffer nowadays. Why people are not punished in the same birth when they commit sins and when they are aware of their sins?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See through my eyes. I do not see any bad people at all.

I only see the intelligent and the ignorant. The intelligent recognizes the truth earlier. The ignorant takes a little longer time and they suffer because of their ignorance, not because of their goodness. People are foolish that they don’t see the truth; the reality.

Q: Guruji, can you please talk about the quantum world.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The quantum world says that everything is just wave function. Chemistry says there is a periodic table and there are so many different types of molecules.

Molecular biology says there are different molecules and different substances. But quantum says all these molecules are reduced into atoms; electrons, protons, neutrons. And then further down that molecule is all just wave function. So in the wave function there are no two things. It is all just one thing and that is what is quantum.

This is exactly what was said by Adi Shankara. He said the whole universe is Brahman.

‘Sarvam khalvidam brahma neha nanasti kinchana’, the whole universe is just made up of one thing.

It is nothing else, only Brahman.

Q: Dearest Guruji, as we are on this path, most of us yearn to become enlightened. And thanks to your guidance, we could eventually do so. Then why do we need to go through this entire ordeal. Why don’t you just make us enlightened?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Come on, let’s have some fun now! I always like something spicy, I don’t like bland food. So, a little spice here and there makes it all more interesting.

Q: Guruji, human beings don’t remember anything that happened in their previous births. The Ishwara Sankalpa that made this universe can create re-birth even after the atma (soul) merges with the Paramatma (Supreme Soul). Then why did the learned aspire to cross the ocean of birth and death?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen it is very natural. You have taken a deep breath in and it is only natural for you to want to breathe out. If you are holding your fist tight, you have a natural tendency to want to open it. When your hands are open, you have a natural tendency to tighten it again.

So wanting liberation is as natural as wanting to breathe out. Suppose you are engaging in any one of the sensory actions, like wanting to eat. At some point you say, ‘I don’t want any more’, and you stop.

Similarly if you are constantly looking at something, at some point you say, ‘I want to close my eyes.’

Suppose you are forced to listen to music for ten hours, in the eleventh hour you will say, ‘no, let me shut that down. I would like to have some quietness.’ You start enjoying silence. Have you noticed this?

However nice the music has been, at some point you want to stop it.

Similarly, you enjoy the sense of touch but for how long. Sometimes you say, ‘I want to be by myself.’

So whether it is sense of touch, taste, smell, sight or sound, at some point you want to get away from it. You can’t be engaged in it forever. You want to go on the other side and rest!

If you are constantly active, at some point you say, ‘I want to rest.’

This is exactly what mosksha is.

Moksha means freedom from engaging in the world, freedom from activity, freedom from enjoyment and from sensory pleasures. Freedom from everything, this is what is so natural to you. It is inborn in everyone. At some point or another you want to retrieve. And meditation gives you that freedom; the most wanted freedom.

Q: Dear Guruji, to what extent is money important? If you have the capacity to make more money and you do not make it, is it a mistake?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is up to you. Money is necessary but it should be in the pocket and not in the head. Otherwise any amount is insufficient. Today see America, whose currency rules the entire world, is in deep debt of trillions of dollars. What do you call America today, a rich country or a poor country?

What would you call them?

What I am saying is that you earn money but that is not the goal. Earn money but not at the cost of your health and not at the cost of your happiness because you spend your health to gain wealth and then you spend half the wealth to gain back health which doesn’t really happen.

That is why I say, keep life in balance. Earn money, but at the same time don’t be too feverish about it. Live life happily in service of society. That brings you so much more satisfaction than just a fat bank balance.

Q: Dear Guruji, why is Vedanta considered the most supreme knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Because it is! There is nothing parallel to it.

Q: Guruji, we are in 151 countries now, but what is next?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I leave you to have your own vision.

We have completed 30 years of the Art of Living now. We had started the celebrations for this in 2011, which will continue in 2012. And making life a celebration is our motto.

There are many parts of the world we have not reached, we should reach those parts. And in Europe also we will bring a wave of celebration and happiness everywhere.

The rest I will leave to you. You should all come up with your own idea and vision and see what you would like to achieve and what you would like to do.

Leave your personal interest here and think of a global interest. Keep all your needs aside.

Take a vision for the world and for the society and I will take care of your personal needs. You leave that to me.

When you are ready to do something big for the society, for the world and for everybody then your needs will always be taken care of. You will never lack behind.

If you are only thinking of yourself, there is no joy or happiness in it.

There is an old Sanskrit proverb which says, ‘there is no joy in small things. That which is big and grand only can bring you happiness.’

So have a big vision for the world, the society and for the Art of Living and work towards that. Your day to day requirements and your small needs will anyways be fulfilled.

What you want is all coming true. Anyway you are getting all the blessings for yourself.

So be dynamic and don’t be lazy. You can’t say, ‘oh Guruji said stay centered. Forget about everything, it is anyway all taken care of.’ No! Don’t be lazy. Be dynamic and stay centered. This is a very important combination.

Q: Guruji, what is your message for the youth this year?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The youth are getting younger and the time is always of young people. Every minute belongs to them.

So if you feel you are youthful in your spirit, then the whole year is yours.

By the way, youth is not just by age, it is by spirit, remember that. Look at the spirit of people here; it is more youthful than any youth.

In 2011, see what you gained from the past. The past year has opened your eyes to many mistakes you did. Don’t regret them because with every mistake you have learnt, but now resolve not to repeat those mistakes.

You have also learnt from other people who have done blunders. See what happened with their life.

Usually we get so annoyed and angry at people who do wrong things. I say you should not do that; you should simply thank them because they are falling and teaching you at their own cost. They do blunders and teach you, ‘look what a blunder I did, you better not do the same.’

So thank them for that and move on!

Just imagine, suppose you die and you are born in some other place, how will life be for you? It will be again very new.

Suppose you are born again in Korea. Like to a baby, everything is new; the different people are all talking different languages. Everything is new and interesting for you.

One who is on the spiritual path should die every moment. Die to the past!

You are dead, everything is gone, what next?! Now!

Don’t crib about the past. ‘I did that mistake’, or ‘she did that mistake’, or ‘they did that mistake.’ Bundle it all and throw it in the Atlantic Ocean or whichever ocean is nearest to you. Then wake up and shake and look at the world with new eyes and with a fresh mind; everything new, everyone new.

Life goes on! And this is how it has happened many times. You have died many times and you have been born many times. If you can die every moment and be born every moment then that is enlightenment and that is happiness. Being in NOW!

Fresh new life, the past has all gone... NOW!

Live NOW a hundred percent, ready to face the challenges of life and march ahead. See how you can be useful to everyone around you. With just this idea and this thought, move on and on!

This is what is called destroying the mind. Kill the mind and walk towards the light. If you kill the mind you will realize that you are light.

Mind is what? Impressions, clinging on to the past, regretting and getting annoyed, angry at yourself, angry at others. You get into such a vicious circle. Drop that mind and die every moment.

Now don’t ask me, ‘then I will forget my room number’, no! When you do this the memory sharpens even more. You know when you are born every moment and die every moment, your memory sharpens so much that you realize that you are never dead and you are never born. Your soul knows that life is eternal and all the recollections from five to ten thousand years ago, every time you have been on this planet, all those memories can come. There is no need for them to be there, but what I am saying is you will be able to access them through that inner net connection with full bandwidth.

Q: Guruji, can you please share with us your experience of Sudarshan Kriya.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is what I am doing. What do you think I have done?

I have shared with the world the experience called Sudarshan Kriya. That is what we have been teaching everywhere. I have translated the experience to everyone.

Q: Guruji, what is the difference between expecting something to happen and believing it to happen?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have said it. One is expectation and the other is belief.

Q: Dear Guruji, please give me some tips to have a strong resolution towards doing sadhana. I am so busy in my life with two kids, work and studies.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The tip is ‘just relax!’

Relax with the intention that you have to do sadhana and that itself will keep you on the track.

Collect back the scattered mind into its own identity

2012-01-16T07:36:00.000+05:30

December 29, 2011

Q: Dear Guruji, can you please explain this sentence, ‘Only when you see that nothing has a purpose, the real purpose begins.’
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You say a sentence and you want me to comment on that? Why don’t you yourself comment? I would say we shouldn’t cling on to words, we give meaning to words. The essence is important. The essence is what? You feeling free and feeling the connectivity to the cosmos.

Q: Dear Guruji, you said at the Satsang yesterday that we need to soak the knowledge and wisdom into our soul. But in everyday life it can sometimes be confusing which knowledge point to apply to which situation. Please help me with this.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just relax, they will all just pop up automatically on their own. Like how once you program the computer, the latest news from CNN pops up like a television channel on your i-pad. You open your i-pad and suddenly the latest news just pops up. In the same way, the knowledge will simply pop up in your consciousness, you simply have to relax.
There is no way to try and remember, and then apply at that moment. At that moment whatever comes to your memory that is what will be there. You can’t plan to get some memory at that particular time, memory is spontaneous.

Q: Intellectually I understand, conceptually I can visualize that all is one and one is all. But experientially I have had no luck yet. How can I improve my chances of experiencing all is one?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation, meditation and meditation.

Q: Guruji, when there is a lot of knowledge existing around us, then why are the five points of the basic course chosen as the main principles of The Art of Living? What is their specialty?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The main basic five principles are essential. They are like the foundation stone.
The first is to see that opposite values are complimentary, then the mind becomes settled and equanimity is established.
The second is to accept other people as they are because our mind is disturbed by not accepting others, or the situation.
So these principles bring the basic needed calmness and stability to the mind. Once the mind is stable, it is able to absorb more knowledge, and is able to rise high.
When the foundation is strong, you can build a hundred storey building on top of it. So for the higher knowledge you need the basics, and these basics relieve your mind from being stuck in the outer world and to come back to itself.
Our consciousness and our mind is stuck in these different avenues, small little thing, insignificant little things. So you have to retrieve all that back. Collect back the scattered mind into its own identity, to its own source. And to that effect, these points are very meaningful.

Q: Dear Guruji, is it possible for a soul to work through two or more bodies at the same time, by incarnating in more than one body simultaneously?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Usually not, but the possibility cannot be ruled out. The possibility is there in an enlightened being, or a very powerful soul can have a portion of its act in another body. But normally it is not possible.

Q: Guruji, will you please introduce an Ayurveda course for allopathic doctors like me who are very much interested in holistic medicines. We need a certified course with theoretical and practical knowledge to practice Ayurveda.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definitely! We have the best Ayurvedic College in India and last year the first five distinctions came to our college.
This year in 2011, we just inaugurated one of the best Ayurvedic hospitals.
Anybody here wanting to get your dental treatment done, you are welcome to come to the Bangalore Ashram. We have ancient techniques where the tooth is taken out without pain, anesthesia, and not a drop of blood will come. It is something startling. Similarly for piles, usually in allopathy the re-occurrence is 60%, but with Ksharasutra (an ancient Ayurvedic technique), the re-occurrence it is 0.1%. It is cured in 99.9% of the cases. So, there are many such startling techniques in the ancient Ayurveda, and we have one of the best hospitals. The best I can say.
Of course, we spent a lot of money in making it really nice. And we have very good doctors and an Ayurvedic college.
Today we also inaugurated the first building of the University we have opened up in Orissa. So we will have the University as well. My idea was to give the best of East and the best of West to the coming generations.
So if anyone wants to apply to serve at the University can apply or send your kids.
We are starting in India for the first time, Osteopathy. We don’t have Osteopathy in India. So if there are Osteopaths here, we welcome them to the University. They can come as a visiting professor for a few months, or anyone wants to work, they are welcome.
If there are any physiotherapists, they are also welcome.
So this University has got the approval from the Government, and it is a certified University. We will also have Yoga and Naturopathy as part of the Degrees and Diplomas. You can find out all these details from the website: http://srisriuniversity.edu.in/

Q: Guruji, what does this mean, ‘the best work comes out when we work without motive.’ But I like to work with passion.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, work with passion, go ahead!

Q: What is the difference between self-enquiry and judging ourselves?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Self-enquiry is, ‘Who am I? What do I want? Where am I going? What is life all about?’ This is self-enquiry.
Judgment puts you down but self-inquiry uplifts you. Self-inquiry is always uplifting; judgment makes you depressed.

Q: Jai Gurudev, how should I improve my math at school?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you watch too much television?
(Answer: Yes)
Just watch for only one hour a day. No too much television, and do you eat vegetables?
(Answer: No)
You must eat more veggies, okay!

Q: Jai Gurudev, what happens when you go to meet politicians or militants in war zones or conflict areas? Do you talk with them after their invitation or do you make the effort to speak with them. Do they want to hear what you want to tell them? How do you influence nasty and powerful people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I tell you, it is easy to transform terrorists. It is easy to transform criminals but with politicians, I am not sure.
It is like, it is easy to wake up someone who is really sleeping, but someone who pretends to be sleeping, you cannot wake them up. But I don’t mean all politicians are bad, but a large chunk of them are insensitive, selfish and they don’t care about people. They don’t think that their sacred duty is to serve people. All that they want to do is to gain power and wealth and to remain in power is their only motive. ‘By hook or by crook, remain in power and don’t bother about what is happening to the people and the nation.’ This attitude is what is bothersome.
That is why I would say, young people, people who have the intention to serve the nation, serve the world, serve the people, should come forward and get into politics. People with ethics and spirituality should get into politics. Don’t hesitate about it. Children of future generations need a better world. They don’t deserve a world which has become a disaster. So you all have this sacred duty to go and vote.
Vote for the un-corrupt and educated. Educated, not in terms of just holding degrees, but one who is compassionate, caring and who has lots of human values. We need to choose such people and make them understand that they are given a position to serve and not to dominate or dictate.

Q: Dear Sri Sri, what is the purpose of ego? It seems like all the negative qualities that make us miserable can be ascribed to that layer of existence. Does it have positive aspects as well?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, ego has positive aspects. Who says it is all negative?
The positive aspect is that it can come with a challenge, a determination, and a will to act.
All actions that are challenging, that need determination and passion are done by ego.
There can be an ego which is all inclusive; ‘everyone belongs to me’ - that’s an ego too.
And, ‘only I am good’, is an ego too but that is not too good an ego.

So there are different ways to look at ego.
If you give the definition for ego as, ‘lack of naturalness’, or as, ‘a wall between you and the other’, then it is something that you need to get rid of. It is like the covering on the seed that is essential till the seed sprouts, and once the seed sprouts, the covering or the membrane around the seed gives way for the seed to sprout. Like that, the ego comes up by the age of three and stays till you become mature. You move on from adolescence to an adult, till then it protects you. Then it slowly gives way to being a more broad minded, broad hearted, large hearted, universal identity.
The other type of ego is just the identity. Then you need the identity.
All these identities, ‘I belong to one divinity’, ‘I belong to one human kind, one human race’, ‘I stand for righteousness’, is ego.
It is good that you stand against injustice and you fight against ignorance, and you say, ‘I am here so that nobody goes hungry or has any dearth.’ That dedication is part of ego as well. That ego is called sattvic ego.
In the Bhagavad Gita there are three types of ego described, the sattvic, the rajasic and the tamasic ego. It is very interesting; sometime you can read about it.

Q: Guruji, scientists have just found a planet like our Earth. How many planets with life like Earth, exist in our universe?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: As many hairs on your head, if you are not bald! Countless!
The ancient Vedic scriptures have said there are infinite planets; infinite worlds are there.

Q: Dear Guruji, I know I am extremely lucky to be with you in this life time. But I do also feel that I am not making the most of the opportunity you are here to provide all of us. Can you please advise me on how best to make the most of the opportunity you are providing us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I have no idea!
Come on, just relax, enjoy and celebrate. No need to be too greedy. Just relax and things will fall in your lap; at least when you are here in a silence course. I don’t say this when you go out, then you have to do something. But when you are here on a silence course, it is like you are on a train, just relax. You are going to reach when you have got to reach. No point in running inside the train with your luggage up and down, you are not going to reach any faster.
If in an airplane you get up from your seat and start running saying, ‘I want to go faster and faster’, you will be shown the toilet. That is the only place you can go, to the restroom. That too if it is occupied you will be asked to wait; but it is not going to take you to your destination any faster.
So once you are here, in the knowledge and ready to be here, attend all the sessions. Don’t bunk the sessions. The food is good and very nice, but don’t over eat. If you over eat, being here also you will fall asleep. You have got all these instructions already, isn’t it?!

Q: Guruji, how can I be a blessing to this planet? I mean, as humans, we are so destructive to this earth, even a tree is more useful than us. I feel that my duty is to save this earth, any idea?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are in the right gang. We are all in the same boat, so let us keep doing what we are doing. If we save the mind, then we save the planet earth.
First let us save our mind. Also, millions of people on this planet need this knowledge. Let us reach out to them.
Do you know that 40% of Europe is suffering from depression? 40% of the school teachers, and 30% of the population. 40% is what I read of the school teachers in Germany alone.
With this economic downfall, I am sure it has shot up by another 30% to 40%. People are so insecure and are using Prozac (an anti-depressant). We need to reach out to them with this beautiful knowledge that we have. I was also thinking if some of you can take some time off, we make groups of four and five and go to all these different cities, different towns and do some celebrations.
They did this program in Berlin, where our volunteers would invite their friends and family to their homes, just around twenty to thirty people and the teachers would go and give them a meditation and then walk away. The people felt so uplifted and so many requests started pouring in.
In just two months time, three hundred people learnt meditation in one city Berlin, just by four teachers. So many people came for Satsangs and they meditated and enjoyed.
Like that, many other teachers here did the same work. Swami Jyotirmaya went all over Europe and created a big wave. So I would like some of you, who can take two or three months off and we can tour all over Europe. Maybe we can start from January or February and bring a wave everywhere so that people can meditate. Those who cannot take time off, but who have resources, you can fund for that project. And those who cannot fund but who have time, you can spend your time.
We can create a wave. Go to small and big towns, put posters saying, ‘Come! Let us meditate.’ Meditation to uplift the spirit, get rid of depression and all sorts of things. What do you think? Is it a good idea?
As I was sitting here, the thought just came to my mind that I should sit with all the European countries and bring more teachers and send them everywhere in groups of two and three.

Sometimes when someone comes from outside they are more successful. Like the proverb, ‘Nobody is a prophet in their own town’, that proverb may work.
Similarly, teachers from Europe should go to the far East, Africa and some other countries. Teachers from Africa and America should come here. We should just swap or do something like that. It may also be a good idea so I am thinking how we can do that.
Alex from Netherlands went to Sri Lanka and India. In India they went to so many villages and had so many Satsangs and blessing programs, and lots of people joined in.
The world needs a healing touch.
No government can ever give this human touch or healing touch. No economic institution can bring that inner solace and peace. No economic institution can instill that confidence in the mind and make depression go away. It is only our effort, this spiritual effect. A human touch is needed, the wave of human concern, human care can uplift the people and bring the happiness factor. Don’t you think so?! That’s what we need to do.
Our aim, our job is to create waves of happiness, like what you see here. How many of you feel the mantra chanting makes you happy and uplifts you? The moment you come into this place, don’t you feel happy already? Some people say their energy completely shifted, and they feel uplifted.
You will not find a face that is not happy or not smiling or depressed. One has to be extremely unfortunate to be unhappy even in such an atmosphere. God only will have to help them if there is one such.
So let us do this and think of more ideas. We can go on Twitter and Facebook. How many of you are following me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/srisrispeaks) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/hhsrisriravishankar)

One day death is going to rob you of everything

2012-01-15T08:08:00.000+05:30

December 28, 2011

Q: Dear Guruji, a lot of times I have hurt myself because of lack of knowledge. I have not improved much but at least I see what I have done. How do I stop torturing myself?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you know what you did in the past was not correct, then you already know what you should do. Spiritual path gives you the empowerment.
But if you say, ‘Oh! I can’t do that’, then you can’t do it.
If you put this thought, ’yes, I can!’, then you can.
I have heard people say, ’I can’t leave smoking.’ If you can’t leave smoking then nobody in the world can make you leave smoking. You should get up and say, ‘yes, I will leave smoking.’ Nature has kept that will power in every human being who can think and who can act. It is present in everybody. It is like you shutting your eyes and saying, ‘I can’t see, I can’t see.’ You first open your eyes!
You say, ‘I can’t open my eyes.’ If you can’t open your eyes or don’t open your eyes, how will you see?
If you say, ‘I am hungry but I won’t open my mouth.’ Nature has given you a mouth and it is hollow and empty, and nature has given you food. You have to connect these two things.
Food is in front of you and you say, ‘I won’t open my mouth.’ Even to say that you have to open your mouth.
So, the will power is in everyone. You have to say, ’Yes I can do it; I am going to do it.’
If you are in the bad habit of smoking say, ‘Yes, I am going to leave it. I can do it.’ Because that one thought, ’I can’t leave smoking’, is giving you power to keep smoking.

Q: Dear Guruji, I feel surprised when I see some people go back to fighting and blaming each other after coming out from an advanced course session. Why does it happen? Why does the message not go beyond, even after a course sometimes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Now see, a long habit of fighting, and enjoying the fighting, takes a longer time to go.
There are a small percentage of people whose behavior cannot be changed overnight, or cannot be changed even in weeks or months. It would take them a while provided they also have the willingness to change.
So, don’t judge people, ‘Oh! They came and did the silence program, they did the advanced course and still they have not changed!’ This is impossible, definitely they have changed, but it may not have come totally in their expressions.
Ask them how they feel; ’before you used to fight and now also you fight. Do you find a qualitative difference?’ You will find the answer in the affirmative. They will say, ‘Yes! Before I used to fight and the anger, the impression used to linger on in me. Now, I fight and I forget. I move on.’
This many people have said. This gives you a chance to accept people as they are, before or after.

Q: Dear Guruji, this question has two parts. The first part is: what is the connection between mind and soul? Is mind just a collection of thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Correct. You said it right.

Q: Where do thoughts arise from in the first place?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is for you to discover. It is an individual discovery. It is like asking me how the food tastes.
If you ask someone, ‘how sweet is this dish?’, you have to taste it.
So, if you want to know where the thoughts arise, you better discover it. Thoughts are arising in you? So, you can discover it. The very process of discovery is a technique to understand another level of existence.

Q: Dear Guruji, sometimes I see my friends in a state of depression. They don’t believe in Art of Living, in meditation or breathing techniques. Can I take their pain and pass it on to you? Is it possible? I know you are the champion in resolving problems.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes.
But why don’t you pray that they get the sense to start meditating?
You can do that. You can relieve them by blessing their pain and suffering, but that is not a permanent solution because they may get back into it again. But if you pray for wisdom to dawn in them, then it is forever. For that wisdom will take care of them for the rest of their lives.

Q: Dearest Guruji, what are the signs that I am growing on the path? I did my first course 10 years back. I have done 10 advanced courses and I am a teacher. However, I still get angry. Sometimes I feel people who don’t do any practices are better when compared to my behavior. Please guide.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You got it all wrong. You think that just meditation is going to do it all for you.
You are just enjoying meditation.
Why would you get upset if you are deeply soaked in knowledge? You think keeping quiet for sometime is going to do everything for you and you forget the knowledge and wisdom.
Knowledge is glaring on your face saying, ‘accept situations and people as they are’, and you are not doing it.
I have said so many times, anger is a sign of attachment to perfection. If you are dispassionate why would you get so upset?
Listen, you may do ten advanced courses and you may be just hearing things, but if you don’t take it in then it is not the fault of the course or the meditation or the knowledge or wisdom.
It is like one of those rubber suits that people who go for scuba diving wear when they go into the ocean. You may get in to the water, but when you come out of it you are dry. Not a drop of water has gotten into your body because you are in that wet suit.
In the same way, you may do ten or twelve advance courses but if you don’t have dispassion, which you hear so many times then you are bound to get angry.
Discrimination and dispassion; the second pillar of knowledge. If that is not there, then you are bound to be angry and upset, you are bound to be possessive and jealous. No dispassion.
I have said so many times, ‘So Hum, and So What!’
You haven’t heard ‘So What’.
Many times you take it for granted. ‘Oh! So what, I have heard it, okay.’ For now you just sit and meditate, and then you go and never remember.
Recollect, let it soak into you. It is not the wisdom that is to be blamed. It is your inability to live it, to take it in and soak it into your soul.
Do you see what I am saying? You can’t say, ‘I have all this attachment and still I am going to be spiritual’, no!
Spirituality is to relieve one from the obsession of perfection. Spirituality is being centered.
In spite of ten advance courses you are getting angry. Just imagine if you had not done any advance courses, what would have been your status. My dear, please see that!
Why are you coming back again if the advance course is not effective on you? Why do you keep coming back? Why did you do then? You should have done one and said it doesn’t work, finished! If you are coming back again and again, it must be working somewhere. You must be benefiting from it.
And imagine if you had not done any of this, what a havoc it would have been.
You should sit and think about it. ‘Suppose, I had never done the basic course or never done any meditation, what would have been my status?’

Q: What are feelings?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have one? That is exactly what it is.

Q: Dear Guruji, I have a question that keeps coming to my mind. We are in the Milky Way. Like this, there are many constellations. Are people living there? Are there possibilities to be born in any of these constellations? Can you share your experience in this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I know there are many galaxies but I know very little about them. We can get a glimpse of them but that we cannot prove. If you ask me to prove it to you, I cannot prove. But, I can tell you there are many galaxies, where life is there. This much, a little bit only I know.
I am not in the habit of speaking things which I do not know, or I know only very little about.
So, this comes under the category of ‘I know very little about.’

Q: Dear Guruji, how to get or feel more self confidence in life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How to get more self confidence in life? There is no way!! No chance for you to get it, that’s it. If you don’t have it, you don’t have it!
If a rabbit wants to have horns, I would say no chance. If you think you need to get one like those, like an antelope, you can put on such hats only during Christmas time. You can fix it on top of your head, but if you don’t have it, no way!
But, if you listen to me; carefully, I tell you, you should know you have it. You do have it. Who said, you don’t have it.
First, accept your ignorance about yourself. First accept that you don’t know anything about yourself. And then you will realize you have it.

Q: How does the thought process work? How can our needs be fulfilled?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Thoughts do come, and you encourage some, and you discourage some. When you encourage some and act on it, the result is there. If you just sit idle and keep thinking and don’t do any action, even the best of the thoughts are not going to fructify.

Q: Could you please explain ‘Yog Maya’ and its effect on spirituality. Also, how can you recognize it and not get drawn into its play?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yog Maya is some spiritual experiences which you get sometimes and they are intuitive in nature and most of the time they become correct. But when you start relying on them too much; I am adding, ‘too much’; then it will start distorting the whole thing. And if you are really not hollow and empty, your own desires, your own ambitions will come up in your vision and in your dreams, and you will hear voices, and all these things can happen, and it can distort the reality.
So, Yog Maya are those little powers, those little visions, apprehensions, aberrations and intuitive visions, which are 80% true and 20% not true. But, you don’t know whether it belongs to the 20% or 80%.
So, we just take these experiences as they come.

Q: How true is the statement that children choose their parents before they are born. Can parents pray for having children, who choose a good life for themselves?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen, you can’t ask me what you should pray for. Prayer automatically happens. It’s there already! You are already praying for good children.
Should parents pray for good children is an obsolete question. It doesn’t mean anything. You are already praying and that’s why you were asking.

Q: How can a person decide his goal irrespective of his surroundings?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: For a while, just sit by yourself and think. Keep all other things aside. See, what is it that you want? Ask yourself, ‘what is it that I want?’ And then whatever goal comes up, hold on to that. Of course, whenever you want to take up a vision, a goal, a mission, the surroundings have a great impact on that. You have a mission and you are working. Suddenly something happens, one of your dear ones is not well or sick, or somebody had an accident; you need to be very flexible there. You can’t say, ‘I have this goal, I have to go’, no! You need to attend to this, because life is complex, it is not a straight line. Life is so complex, and in this complexity of life, keeping one’s goals is what determination is. And you can do that effortlessly when there is devotion and wisdom in life.
Wisdom and devotion are two important things that make life effortless.
How many of you feel that things are happening effortlessly now, after being on the path? It is no more a struggle.

Q: Dear Guruji, how can I find my way home to myself?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Who is asking this?
Let go! What are you holding on to? You are home! Wake up! Wake up, it is your cravings, which is giving you an illusion that you are far away from your home. And what are the cravings – for pleasure, for recognition. And what did you get in all those pleasures? Five minutes or ten minutes of some sensations and some stimulation; other than that what is it? NOTHING WHATSOEVER! Absolutely nothing!
It left your hands burned down, your head and heart devastated. What else do you want?
Come on! When you want to be back home, it does not take more than a wink of the eye. That means it doesn’t take more than a second.
Wake up and Shake up! Wake up and realize you are already there. The cobwebs around your mind are your own making. You know how the spider makes its own cobweb. Who has done it? Not somebody else. From its own saliva, it made the cobweb and it is all caught up in it and feels,’ I am dying!’
You blame it on the world; blame it on people, blame it on situations and blame it on your own mind.
Stop blaming even your mind. You simply have to shake and wake up. Done!
Death can anytime rob you of all of it, in one minute. Not even a minute it takes. In one minute death will rob all of what you have. Before death robs you, let go I tell you. Then you are free and you will feel I am home.
One day death is going to rob you of everything; your home, your kith and kin, your car, jewellery, your fridge, all will be gone. In fact, they will all be here, you will be gone. It is the other way around.
Wake up and see nothing is yours. Can’t you say this – ‘Nothing is mine!’
‘Nothing is mine’, and you are home. It is such a freedom I tell you, such a freedom!
I don’t mean you should go and empty your bank balance and give it all away. Keep the money in the bank, but not in your head. Got it?
You will not be greedy, you will not be angry, you will not be possessive or jealous. Just one remembrance of an inevitable truth that is going to happen in your life, you are going to die one day! You don’t need to read books to know this. It is such an obvious truth. You don’t need to quote from scriptures to know that you are going to die.
This one thing in sight is good enough to bring a transformation in life.
That sense of courage, conviction and realization is what wisdom is. First realization, and then courage and conviction, brings so much freedom. Only then real meditation happens. Till then you sit with your eyes open and closed and again open and closed. Yes, there is some quietness in the mind, but nothing beyond.

Q: As a teacher, how to overcome my frustration with people who do the course and do not practice. Is it okay to force them to practice or is it better to let go?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, there is no need to force them to practice, but gently encourage them to practice. If you force, it will be counterproductive. But it is good to encourage.
You always need to encourage people to do something good. These days, it has not become their second nature to do good. You need to propel them, encourage them. You can definitely do that.
But then, there is no point in you getting frustrated. You feel for them – ‘oh, let them all do their practice.’ That attitude in you itself can help them. That blessing or prayer itself will help.
One thing you must remember, there are many people who do the course, and are satisfied. They enjoy it, they are happy and then they go away.
It is like someone who was hungry had good food in a restaurant. If their tummy is full they don’t think about food again till the next few hours, right? In the same way, when people are so satisfied after doing the course, they are so fulfilled, they don’t think about doing their practice for some time. Till they start feeling some emptiness, then they come back. It is just this!
When you have had a good meal, you don’t think about food for the next seven to ten hours, or maybe one day. This is exactly what happens. You are giving them a full meal, so nurturing, so satisfying, so tasty and they eat that and they don’t come back for some time. But they will definitely be back.
But if you make them feel guilty for not practicing it again and again, that will keep them away also. Don’t make them feel guilty.
Tell them, ‘what you have learnt here, it is good to do it, but if you don’t do it also, it does not matter. Come sometime at least.’
Otherwise they will feel, ‘oh I have learnt this and I have not done the practice. How can I go and face the teacher?’ And if they come and meet you and you again take a stick and tell them, ‘look, you have not done your practice.’
Just remember, in school you never liked to meet the teacher who would take a ruler and say, ‘you have not done your homework.’ I remember there were a couple of teachers like this. Especially one teacher who would always ask the students if they have done their homework or not, and punish them. So the kids would try to avoid that particular teacher, because every time the teacher would ask, ‘hey, have you done your homework?’
The other teachers would not ask that so much.
You would like to avoid that particular teacher who holds you against what you have not done. So don’t create guilt in anybody. When they are hungry they will come back.
I have seen people who have not attended the meditation program for ten years or who did the course ten years ago, they come back. When there is a need, they definitely will be back. And you have the tastiest menu with you!

Q: Opposite values are complimentary. Does love have a compliment or does it have the opposite?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I think you have not heard my Bhakti Sutra talk. You must hear it. There is one love that has hatred. There is another level of love that has no opposite – that is the Divine Love; that is the Spiritual Love.
There is one, that emotional love – ‘Oh, I love you, love you’, and then later you say, ‘I can’t stand you!’
You say, ‘honey, honey, honey’, and then you become diabetic.

Yoga and meditation are ways to avoid suffering

2012-01-14T08:11:00.002+05:30

December 27, 2011

Q: Guruji, each time I am about to ask you a question, automatically the answer comes, is it true or is it just my imagination?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If the answer is correct then it is true and it saves me a lot of work.

Q: Dear Guruji, how can I control the drives that are from the ego when they are impulsive and often lead to regret?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: By experience!
When do you drop your ego? When it is painful. When you have had enough pain then you say enough is enough, and then you simply drop it.
Either through wisdom or through pain you get over the smallness. If you have wisdom and a broader vision then no need to go through pain. But if there is lack of wisdom then pain and suffering will take care of it and it will take you out of it.

Q: Dear Guruji, I know that my parents love me but are not very affectionate. They do not express their affection the way I like it to be shown. How can I feel with these feelings and not be bothered by their actions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t give it too much importance. Move on!
In life these events happen, such occasions come. Such negativity comes, pleasantness comes; so what! None of them will stay forever, they come for a minute and they go.
As I said, wisdom or yoga is a way to avoid suffering, avoid fear and avoid unpleasantness.
When this is lacking then you see suffering. That is why in Christianity they say suffering is essential because through suffering you reach the goal. When you suffer then you understand and you learn a lesson.
In the East they say suffering is avoidable and not necessary. Life is bliss!
You know why? This is because wisdom, yoga and meditation are ways to avoid suffering which has not yet come.
So suffering is not inevitable if you know yoga and meditation.

Q: Patanjali mentions that it is possible to get prana without breathing. What process or processes are needed to achieve this? Are there any sources of information or references?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Prana is already there. Prana and breath are linked but they are not the same. There are five main pranas and five subordinate pranas in the body. We will go into detail some other time.
They are linked to breath; they are linked to the atmosphere and they are linked to vibrations as well. That is why we say this food has positive prana, this food has negative prana, and this food has neutral prana.
Prana is energy.
Unfortunately, there is no translation for the word ‘prana’ in English.
Prana is linked to energy and linked to the space you are in. It is also linked to food, to the breath, to vibrations and energy in the body. So prana is not just breath.

Q: Dearest Guruji, could you speak more about the Rishis you were mentioning in the last two days. Who were they and what were their lives like? Is their message relevant for our modern lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Absolutely! Rishis are those meditators who were in deep meditation millions of years ago. They were the scientists of those days and they had the spirit of enquiry. Saints and scientists are not two, they were one.
So in ancient days, since there were not many instruments to objectively know, the Rishis said, ‘if I am also made of up of the same object then let me go inward and operate from the subtle level of consciousness and download all the knowledge that is there.’
How do you download the knowledge? You can download it because it is in the space.
If it is not in the space then how can you download anything into your computer?
So there are three types of space, one is the material space, another is the space of consciousness and the third is the space of super consciousness.
There are three types of space and these are, ‘Chid Aakasha’, ‘Chit Aakasha’ and ‘Bhoot Aakasha’.
So, knowing the inner space inside you is connected to the outer space and the space in between where all the knowledge is stored, they operated from that level. That is how the science of Ayurveda came into existence.

That is how during the Vedic times people said how all the planets revolve around the Sun.
It was not Galileo who first found out that the earth is revolving around the Sun, it is wrong to say that. It is the Rishis who have said this, thousands of years ago even before Galileo or before Einstein.
They said that this whole thing is made up of one wave function; one energy. So in those days they said Jupiter has twelve moons, and the calculations they made is perfect even today.
The calendar they calculated shows when exactly the eclipse is going to happen; what minute and what second. They made the whole almanac, the calendar for thousands of years.
How could that be possible with such precision. Exact minute and seconds, written thousands of years ago.
They found the twelfth moon of Jupiter only recently, few decades ago, but the Rishis had written about it thousands of years ago. And exactly how much time it takes for Saturn to make one circle around the Sun is also mentioned. Similarly in Ayurveda, what herb is useful to what part of your body and what disease it could be used to cure and where it is found. All this information, materiamedica was given by the Rishis.
The allopathic materiamedica took many years to be written and still it is not perfect. But the ancient scriptures on health and herbs are perfect to this date. It is amazing!
Similarly they calculated about the atoms, time and space and how this Universe is made up of five elements.
One professor here said there are only four elements. I said, ‘no, they know of a fifth element.’ He was shocked and I said, ‘yes, the fifth element was discovered only recently’
This knowledge has been there for a long time; ‘space’ is the fifth element.
Today they say that the other four elements are nothing and the fifth element is the reality.

The ancient people knew this and that is why if you see a picture of Lord Vishnu, he is blue.
Blue means space.
Lord Vishnu has a disc, which is fire element; the conch is water element; flower is air element, and there is a mace which is earth element and so all four elements can be dispensed with. You can throw away the disc, you can throw away the conch, you can throw away the flower, the lotus and the mace, but space you cannot throw it.
This was depicted symbolically thousands of years ago.
So Vedic Rishis sat in deep meditation and downloaded the knowledge and they kept speaking whatever came into their consciousness and that were recorded.
Today scientists analyze objectively and understand. And today’s scientists are Rishis and those days Rishis were scientists.

Q: Dearest Guruji, how to become a Swami or Rishi? Is it possible for westerners and how long does it take and what are the qualifications?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you want to become one then just come. We will make you qualified. And yes women also can come. Those who want to apply; there are lots of spaces available. Swami or Rishi is one who wants to dedicate their life for the cause of knowledge and for the cause of the society. They have no personal needs for themselves, no personal agenda.

Just dedicating one’s life for a bigger cause.
If you are a social worker, then you have to bundle all your wants, feelings, likes, dislikes and throw them into an ocean. No likes and dislikes, no wants and no aversions but instead, ‘I am just available for the highest good of everybody.’ With this dedication you move.
If you are ready then this is the life style. You can come and get to work for the society, or the divinity. That is all, dedicating one’s life for a higher cause.
Think twice before you do this. Tomorrow you cannot come and say that you don’t like this and you like this or you want to do this. You are simply available to do some good work.

Q: Dear Guruji, if there is no beginning and no end and also time does not exist then what is time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First find out what exists.
If time does not exist, then you also don’t exist. Who exists? Why do you want the answer when anyway time doesn’t exist. Got it?!

Q: Can you please give us a glimpse of Satya Yuga (The Golden Age), how do people live?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is what we are doing here.
What do you think we are doing? Are we not having fun; are we not happy? Look at everybody’s face, everyone has a big smile. If someone does not then they are simply shut off for a little while.
This is Satya Yuga. There is such nice sattvic food, that brings more harmony and uplifts your consciousness. There is some knowledge, some singing and dancing.
So this is Satya Yuga where there is absolute harmony. Even in silence you can move around, nobody is compelling you to speak anything.
Do you feel nice being in silence and being with everybody? How many of you feel nice? See you cannot be like this in the outside society. If you are silent, they will poke you and ask you, ‘why are you silent?’
I heard of a particular gentleman, he was just standing and one of his friends passed by and said, ‘why are you standing here? He said, ‘why, can I not stand?’
He sat on a chair on the street and then someone came and said,‘hey, why are you sitting here?’
He said, ‘okay, I am going to walk’, and when he was walking they asked, ‘where are you going? Why are you walking?’ He said, 'let me run', and he was running and another person asked him, ‘why are you running?’
Then he said, ‘oh my God’, and he started crying and then someone came and asked him why he was crying.
He said, ‘oh God, this world, they don’t let you sit, they don’t let you stand, they don’t let you walk, they don’t let you run, they don’t let you cry and for everything I do, people ask, why do you do this.’
But here nobody bothers why you do what you do. You have total freedom of being in silence.

If you are talking people say, ‘why you talk so much’, and if you are silent people say, ‘why you are silent’, here nobody asks but they simply love you. They are there for you.
Everything happens and everything goes on without having to utter a word. That is Satya Yuga. Your wishes get fulfilled even before they arise, there is water even before you feel thirsty, and that is Satya Yuga.
Treta Yuga is you feel thirsty and then water comes immediately. Dwapara Yuga is you feel thirsty and you have to make an effort to get water and Kali Yuga is you are thirsty and you take all the efforts and you don’t get a drop of water.

Q: Sometimes I dream of events that actually happen in the future. Unfortunately never dreamt of my exam papers but this is making me believe that certain events of life are destined to happen down to the exact details. Is this correct? Are all events pre-determined in our lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Correct, certain events that will happen is pre-determined, is all fixed. Certain events are not.

Q: What is grace and how to attract it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you receive something which is just not by your effort you call it grace. Whatever you receive is much more than your effort then it is called grace.
Whatever that you have received more than what you really deserve is grace.
Anything that comes to you not just by your effort and not because you qualify you can consider it a gift; as grace. And grace grows by gratitude.
When you demand there is no grace, but when you are grateful it comes in abundance.

Q: Beloved Guruji, I heard that by end of 2012 we will have mass enlightenment and that many people will become enlightened just like in Lord Krishna’s time, is that true?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t think that enlightenment is like lightning. Something is going to strike your brain one day and then you go and become a blue star.
See in your own life how gradually the darkness has lifted.
See when sun shines, sun suddenly doesn’t pop up like that and become so bright. Even before the sun rises, the sky lightens up gently and lightly and then the redness comes and then the brightness comes and then it is very bright.
In the same way in your own life you see, look at yourself from the past before you came on this path and to the spiritual practices, what was your life? What was your mind, how were you, how you saw the world? Just go back to that state and see yourself and the world from that eyes and you will be shocked and surprised that you are not the same person.
Your thinking has changed, your feelings have changed, your behavior has changed, your perception has changed, and your expression has changed, hasn’t this happened?
Earlier when small things that you wanted didn’t happen, how miserable you were. And now even when big things don’t happen the way you want, which is rare of course, you still don’t get disturbed.
Before how you had to struggle for small things to happen and how now it happens spontaneously with an intention.
For how many people it has happened here? You intend and it happens and that is how enlightenment dawns on you. One day you find nothing makes a difference, you are happy. And you feel that, ‘I am not the body, I am just the spirit’, this knowledge gently comes. It can come suddenly also, it can come with some drama also but not necessary.
Notice how gently your attachment for small things has dropped. How you have moved away from your attachment for small things. If your cravings and aversions have reduced and your bickering has reduced, then you are on the path to enlightenment.
And any day, you can say, ‘nothing matters anymore and nothing bothers me. I am unconditionally happy, I love everyone unconditionally.’
If you could stand up and say this, it could happen any day.

Q: What causes moods?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What causes waves? Mind is moods. But you are more than mind.

Q: Guruji, I feel good all the time and I am happy in all situations, even if someone does something wrong to me. But people are taking me for granted?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One aspect is how you feel. And the other is how you perceive and behave.
If you find some people are taking things for granted then please stand up and make them understand in the manner which they understand. Teach them in the language they know.
At the same time don’t be paranoid, okay.

Q: Dear Guruji, in the Quran it is said, ‘You are god, you are one, you are eternal. You are not born nor have you given birth. Nobody and nothing is like you.’ This is confusing especially when it says, ’nobody and nothing is like you.’ Will please say something about this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, this is perfect. This is exactly what is said in the Vedas as well.
In Sanskrit it is said, ‘Ekam’, you are one, you are eternal. You are not born, you have not given birth. When nothing is born nothing dies, you are eternal.
These are the descriptions of the consciousness of the divinity. Divinity is only one, space is only one. It is never born and so it is eternal; it is peace, it is love, it is joy, it is bliss and that is what everybody is.
On one level it is said consciousness is not body. On another higher level it is said everything is consciousness even that which is born. And one step further it is said consciousness is never born nor has it created anything.
And on the other hand it is said consciousness is everything and when the body is made up of everything, everything is consciousness.
These are two different ways of describing consciousness: it is empty like space and full like the ocean.
Quran has emphasized on one aspect, the emptiness aspect, the formless aspect.
In the Vedas, they have taken the formless as well as the form also. The entire formless are also of the form only, every bubble that has arisen out of the water is also part of the water.

Q: Guruji, one of my friends slapped me in front of six people. How should I react and what should I do with him?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is already done!
Action is spontaneous at that moment. What did you do when your friend slapped you? Could you smile and did you look right into the eyes of the person? That is a bigger slap.
But if you felt upset or if you slapped him in return then it is a different issue.
So how you already reacted to it and whatever the reaction was don’t regret it now, just move on.
If you have not reacted, that person would have felt very bad. If you have given it back then he would be reeling in anger and trying to give you one more and return that extra that you gave him.
In either case don’t take these events too seriously. In life such things happen. Either you are very compassionate or you want to teach him a lesson or you just ignore, it is up to you how you want to act in such a situation.
I would say first you should ignore and then teach a lesson and the third time, give back.

Q: Who is the ideal devotee?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You, who is asking this question.
Don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t question your devotion. I would say we should never doubt our devotion. Take it for granted that you are devoted.
No child ever asks the mother, ‘do you love me?’ The mother never asks the child, ‘do you love me?’
The baby has no choice but to love mother and neither mother has any choice but to love the baby. Similarly devotion is inbuilt in every one of us.
Sometimes it is covered with ignorance, hesitation, doubts and insecurity. One’s own insecurity covers one’s devotion. It is only a matter of time for that strip of ignorance and ego to give way and then the inner devotee will shine up.

Meditation purifies the soul

2012-01-13T07:58:00.000+05:30

December 26, 2011

Do you want to see God? How many of you want to see God? It doesn’t take much time. Stop seeing the world. If you see the world, you can’t see God.
Either you can see God or you can see the world. You can’t see both. You have to choose one.
If you want to see God, I’ll show you right away: Stop seeing the differences. Stop seeing the world.

Quantum physics can see God. Know that this all is one, that everything is made up of One. It is an illusion that there is this person and that person. It is an illusion that there is this object and that object. All objects are made up of One.
We are like in a hologram. One light beam makes the hologram. It appears to be an object but it is not an object, it is just light’s play and display. This whole universe is a play and display of light which appears to be different. There is nothing but God on this planet.
If you sit in a movie show, whatever you see on the screen is just light passing through, that’s all. Light is passing through a running film and appears to be different things, different people and different incidents. Like this, the whole world is a play and display of one consciousness. There is no matter and there is no energy. There is no you, there is no me, there is no this, there is no that. It is all just One.

That is it! You sit still.
In the Bible it says, ’Be still and know that I am God.’
It is the mind that sees the differences. The intellect perceives the differences. Transcend the intellect and be still. There is only one thing.
You can’t say One, because to say One, you need to have two. If you say something is complete, then you have to be outside of it and say it is complete. The ancient people were so brilliant that you would be amazed. They said, non-dual, there is no two.
To say One is wrong. Only two can say it is One. That there is no two is the best way to express it. That is what is called advaita (non-dual) but dvaita means dual. This is like the pure science, like the quantum physics. You can experience, you can know it, but in practical life, you have to come one step down. You have to acknowledge the duality, the multiplicity in the creation.
The table, chair, roof, door, is all made up of wood here and that is a fact. But you can’t use the chair for a door and a door for a chair. From that level, you have to operate in duality.
So the Periodic Table in chemistry is also true and Quantum physics is also true. Both talk about the same matter.

Q: Where did Hanuman and his kind disappear to? Were they monkeys or what were they? How could a superior species of apes just disappear?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should talk to an anthropologist. They’ll give you the history. The world is all changes. Things keep changing. The only constant thing about the world is that everything is changing.

Q: Dear Guruji, can you give us some tips on how to feel your presence more in our daily lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just be still. Even for a minute or half a minute.

Q: Dear Guruji, what is your sadhana every day? Do you run into the same issues as us like too many thoughts, anxiety, or do you live your natural state all the time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a code of conduct for a teacher not to share their experience.
Do you know why? Because the student will start to think, ‘how come I am not having this? I want to have it.’
This wanting to have, this questioning oneself will go on. The best thing is to just be with your experience. Step by step you will always progress and a time comes when everything is meditation.

Q: What to do with my money? Can you give me some advice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are living in a world which is complex. In some way or another, you are dependent on something in the world. You cannot insulate yourself so totally.
Now see, Germany changed its currency from the Deutsche Mark to the Euro. You could not say, ‘no, I don’t want to get into the Euro, I want to keep the same Deutsche Mark with me.’
You could not say that and if you would have done that, you would be a big fool.
So there is no total isolation or insulation from what is happening in the world.
You can be smart, and not greedy. Often people who are greedy, they end up in trouble. They see these advertisements that say, ‘Just invest your money and you will get 200% returns out of it.’ You don’t scientifically think why they would give you 200%. You get caught in the cloud of that, ‘oh they are going to give me tremendous money.’
At that moment when you are so feverish, no wisdom enters your head. You think it is so real, and you invest and you lose all the money. I have seen so many people do that and have heard many people lose all their wealth just out of greed.
So we should be intelligent enough to see where it is good to invest. I can’t tell you all that. It is against ethics. You invest wherever you find it is safe.

Q: Dear Guruji, I cannot let go. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just hold on!
Breathe in and hold on! See how long you can hold on for. There is no choice!
Can you stop your age? No! You can’t say, ’I’ll become 49 after next year.’ You cannot say that.
‘Though I’m turning 49 this year, I’ll hold on until next year. I will think about it, whether I should be 50 or not.’
Can you choose to change your date of birth? No! If you do it, it is not true.
You can do it in a passport, but it is not legal, it is not right. You were born on a particular day and that is it.

Q: I always search for being loved. How to know that I am loved and that I am worth being loved?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My dear, I have said so many times, you are love!
Don’t look for love but give love. When you start giving, it comes back multiplied many more times to you.

Q: Dear Guruji, my father died recently. My mother is alone, frail, disoriented with no goal in life. What can I do to help her?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Knowledge will help!
Speak with her about Knowledge. Sit with her and read some of the knowledge.
Read the Scriptures, some stories or Yoga Vasistha.
More than that, just you being around itself is uplifting. Time is a great healer. In fact, time is the only greatest healer.

Q: Beloved Guruji, you say that karma cannot be changed. Only grace can change karmic bondage. What is grace and what action can bring grace?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: All actions that are evolutionary and all that supports life. Selfless dedicated service.
Not that I do some service and think what do I get in return? No, that is not called service. Seva is an act done without wishing for something in return. This act is very important. Seva purifies our karma.
There is a proverb in India, ’a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) on the rice purifies the rice.’
You know why? This is because if you eat rice just like that it digests very fast and becomes sugar very quickly. Many people who eat rice like that, they become diabetic.
A cardiologist told me, anytime you take cereals; you should have a little bit of fat with it. A spoon of ghee on top of it slows down the digestion. It becomes complex carbohydrates and helps to balance the sugar level in the body and that helps a healthy heart function.
That is why the ancient people had said this, ‘a spoon of ghee purifies the rice.’

Knowledge purifies the intellect. How many of you experienced that knowledge purifies the intellect? All the anger, cravings, aversions about other people, everything disappears.
Music purifies the emotions.
Charity purifies money that you earn. At least three to four percent of what you earn should be given away in charity. If all that we earn we spend on ourselves, it is not considered pure money or good money. Charity purifies the money and then you can enjoy the rest of the money. Otherwise the rest of the money just goes in hospitals and other things.
Prayer purifies the heart.
Meditation purifies the soul.
Ayurveda, triphala purifies the body and cleanses the bowels. We keep stuffing food into our system all the time, but once in a while we need to purge the system.
Four or five tablets taken at night before going to bed, in the morning your stomach is all clean.
So Ayurveda, yoga, pranayama and exercise purifies the body. Pranayama purifies the whole system, the body mind complex. That is why after Sudarshan Kriya you feel so clean. It cleanses you of all the karma, it brings that clarity.

Q: Dearest Guruji, Does the soul have to reincarnate again and again until all desires and karma is cleared? What is the way out of this cycle of birth and death? Is enlightenment the only way?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Correct! The only way to quench the thirst is to drink something. The only way to satisfy hunger is to eat something. In the same way, the only way to get out of this cycle is enlightenment or meditation. Total satisfaction!

Q: Q: Why do people underestimate talent considering a previous mistake?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have answered your own question. You have talent, but when you have made a mistake, they are apprehensive because each mistake can cost a lot to a company or to a person. So, you will have to reassure them that a mistake will not happen and you will use your talents very well. People don’t want to take so much risk these days.

Q: Guruji, is there a right way to follow in the path of knowledge? What do we do about the thoughts and impressions that nag our mind about people who are important in our lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t worry about the past, however the past has been. In the present believe in your innocence. You are innocent in the present moment. The mistakes in the past are due to your ignorance. But the fact in the present moment is you are innocent.

Q: Is it worthwhile studying astrology? Will we ever know enough?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Astrology is a science. But in some way, it is a lost science. The complete knowledge is not available, so whatever knowledge they have is 70 to 80 percent. They are able to predict something about it.
But there is one clause astrologers always give. There is a bigger power hiding behind, a higher power, which can overrule all of this. Because that superior power, that super power is independent and that is the Divinity, the Divine grace. The Divine grace can change anything at any time.

Q: How to stop my wife from talking in a bad way to me without any reason?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, that is a challenge! If she is talking bad about you without reason, you tell her you will give her a reason!

Q: In Ashtavakra Gita, you mention that life is formed from three things: seeds, eggs and space. How is life formed from space?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Everything comes in space, stays in space and dissolves in space. You must study space. Then you will see that nothing other than space exists. Everything is formed in space.

Q: Dear Guruji, I feel that I have made many mistakes in the past three years and I need to suffer the consequences and I am afraid. Is there anything I can do to alleviate these consequences?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You being on the right path now itself is reducing the consequences. And your acceptance about the consequence itself is a relief. It puts you back on a higher pedestal.

Q: Dear Guruji, I’ve worked hard for three years but my supervisor killed my career without thinking. Now I am jobless and have lost my vision of life. How to deal with negative emotions about my boss?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen, no point in sitting and brooding over the past. Wake up! With full energy, move forward.
If you have lost one job, so what?! A million other jobs are there in the world. You can take another one. Never mind if you get paid a little bit less in this job and you got more there, move on!
Life is worth much more than sitting and brooding and wasting your energy and your time on what has happened in the past. It might have been because of your own mistakes in the present or it could be that you were unable to see your mistake in the past. That could be because of a past life, but never mind. There is no point in analyzing the past now. We need to look forward and just move on.
Don’t lose your enthusiasm for whatsoever reason.

Q: A few days ago you were talking about sattva, that water is the best transmitter. Is there a way to measure the sattva energy level?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There should be some way to measure the energy levels.
One of our Art of Living teachers is also a scientist. He developed a device for measuring the energy vibrations. He would measure on a person before and after meditation and he would find that their aura has increased by a certain amount of distance. So it is very interesting.

Q: Dear Guruji, when the body is physically hurt then one dies and the spirit leaves the body. Is the spirit so loosely associated with the body? Can the spirit move without getting hurt?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Spirit doesn’t get hurt. It moves on.
You can’t hurt a space. You can’t hurt air. The subtler you go in creation; there is nothing that can hurt there. You can’t divide it. It’s simply amazing.

Yoga is that perfect balance between heart and head

2012-01-12T07:29:00.000+05:30

December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody.

2012 is just a week ahead. It is a very good year, like every year. Don’t worry about doomsday; it is not going to come. People will wake up to truth and reality and all the false people will go to the background. People who have done wrong things will slide backwards and those in the right direction will move forward. From March onwards a big change will come.

If you see the world through your heart, it is very different.
See the world through your heart and then you will find that there is so much beauty, so much love, so much innocence and such good intentions in people.
If we see the same world through the head then we find a lot of cunningness, a lot of mistrust and doubts. All these come when you see the world through the head. When you see through the heart, it is a little world.

But both are needed. You can’t be naïve and see the world only through the glasses of the heart. Sometimes you need to see through the head, a perfect balance of the two. There are some who are stuck in their head and some who are always in an emotional mess. Both are incomplete. Yoga is that perfect balance between heart and head.

Q: What to do when people do the course and then do not come for the follow-up?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: They come back sometime or the other.
See when you have eaten a full meal you don’t think about food again because you feel so satisfied. But when you get hungry again then you come and look for food.
The basic course itself is so complete and so enriching, it doesn’t leave one hanging in the middle but it gives total fulfillment. So when people do the course then they are happy. This is one reason.
Second reason, is when you insist that they should do pranayama and kriya everyday and supposed somebody has not done it then they feel guilty that they have not done it. They feel, ‘how can I go back and face; how can I go and repeat it.’ That guilt comes into people.
Then they tell themselves, ‘from tomorrow I will do it and then I will go.’

Nobody has regrets for having done the course. They do regret why they didn’t do it earlier.
When that is the case, why they don’t come back it is because they feel so satisfied. But after some time people do attend the follow-ups, they do!
Even after ten years they come back and say I did the course ten years ago.

The chairman of the European commission did the course some fifteen years ago. And when he met with his teachers, he said I do Kriya every day. I do not miss even a single day. He has never come to an advanced course but he does the kriya every single day.
So, people in spite of their busy schedules, they keep doing the kriya.

Q: You are teaching us that the Guru is inside us. So why do you come and visit me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To tell you to go deep inside.
Why have you come now to do the course? You should have come some other time when I am not here.
Do you notice what pulls you to come!
If your heart says I should go now then come. Otherwise, do it when I am not here.
Actually silence is better when I am not here, but initially it is an occasion to go deeper inwards.
More and more people sit and meditate and go deep inwards.
See that there is no inside and no outside. If you think something is inside then something is outside also. If you think something is outside, that is inside also.
So real blossoming is when there is no inside and no outside. Everything is same, in and out is same.

Q: (A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Like in deep sleep there is no two. There is no, ‘I am sleeping’. Like that in a deep state of meditation there is no two. The body is as good as a pillow on the couch. If you feel there is no difference between the two things, then that is total detachment of consciousness from the physical. Then you see there is no other thing.
Like ice, water and vapor. Ice is solid, water is fluid and water vapor is even more subtle. But they are all made up of the same substance. So there is no two.
There is no me and there is no you. Your little mind puts a barrier, this is me and that is you.
The little mind judges and discriminates.
Just let go and relax and you will see that there is only one; one vibration.

Q: How can I start a kindergarten?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just get some children.
I think I am in kindergarten all the time. Even adults who come here, they become kids.

There is a beautiful story in the Puranas.
There is a particular garden up above Tibet called Kumara-vanam and the Lord lives in that garden. Anyone who goes into that garden becomes a child.
There is a similar story in another text. There is a garden and men cannot enter into that place. Anyone who enters into the garden becomes a woman. Males do not have entry into this place. That is where the Lord lives.
All these stories are to give you a message that you have to get down from your head to your heart. Children are innocent and they are in their heart. They are not judgmental.
Similarly women are more emotional and stuck in the heart rather than the head.
But I would say you need to have a balance of both, head and heart.

Q: What caused the big bang?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There was matter. Without matter big bang cannot happen. What would bang on what? Even for something to bang on each other there needs to be something. A mass, a field, energy, so that field of energy was never created nor destroyed but there was only transformation.
Big bang was only transformation of energy.
From a gas or quantum energy into substantial energy, matter energy, that is all.
This is what the ancient Rishis have said and they called it Anadi (without a beginning) and Ananta (endless).
This creation is beginningless and endless, like the space.
Where is the beginning of space? Where is the beginning of Earth? There is no beginning, or every point is the beginning and every point is the end.
If you say the globe began here, it has to end at the same point where it began; otherwise it won’t be a sphere.
So these are the brilliant thoughts revealed some thousands of years ago.
Whatever begins wherever should end at the same place and that is a sphere.
So there is no beginning and no end. Anadi and Ananta: The universe is without a beginning and endless.

Q: If we have to become 'hollow and empty', why do we have to fill our minds with knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A thorn has to remove another thorn.
See, this is like asking, what is the need to put soap on your body when you have to wash it off anyways.
To wash clothes, what do you do? You put the soap and then you wash it away.
Similarly, it is like asking me, if I need to get out of the bus then why should I get into the bus?
But where you get into the bus and where you get out of the bus is different.

Q: Why does the mind clings on to the negative and not to the positive?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, that is its nature.
You give someone ten compliments and one insult, the mind holds on to that insult.
When you become aware of this, a shift happens in you. When you are unaware of this, you get trapped and get carried away by this. But in a good atmosphere with high prana and high energy it doesn’t happen.
The Guru comes to raise the prana level. The prana and energy level raises in the physical presence of the Guru. When the prana level is high, negativity goes down and disappears.
Also by long sustained practice (sadhana) negativity does not touch you. You become so strong and you create the prana wherever you go.
If the glow of the lamp is very high, no wind can blow it away. But if it is small then it can be blown away.
There is a need of ‘Buddha’, ‘Sangha’ and ‘Dharma’.
First you go to Buddha (the enlightened); you sit and meditate with the enlightened. This is equivalent to Sangha, meditating in a group, and then also prana level goes up.
When both are not available, then Dharma, be totally dispassionate, drop everything and be in your ‘self’, in your nature. That also uplifts the prana.
Three options and all three are the same.

Q: Guruji, there are times I have a lot of faith and sometimes too many doubts. How to overcome this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When there is positive energy, there is faith. When there is negative energy there is doubt. But never mind if doubts come, so what!
Life is a play and display of all these.
Doubts come and then faith comes. You should not be afraid of doubts. I would say welcome them all

Q: (A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, they are similar.
Buddha said, ‘everything is emptiness’, and Adi Shankara said, ‘everything is full’.
Buddha said, ‘life is sorrow’, and Adi Shankara said, ‘life is bliss’.
What Buddha said is right for the first instance. Unless you see everything is sorrow and misery, you don’t turn inward. So this is a process.
Once you turn inward, then you find everything is blissful. This is where Adi Shankara comes from, within!

Q: Guruji, can we get a bhajans CD in your voice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I don’t want to dominate everything.
There are great musicians who sing so well. I want you to listen to their voice.
I do just So Hum and for the rest you listen to the musicians. Of course talks and discourses are also there.
Otherwise it will be bhajans by Guruji, talks by Guruji, everything by Guruji, no!
That is why even Yoga is let by somebody else.
We are all partners; everybody has a role to play. I don’t want to take all the roles. Thought I can play any role. I don’t want to assume all the roles myself.
Then you will say, ‘Guruji, you cook so well, why don’t you cook every day?!’
Sometimes I do cook here but you don’t know when. One of the meals you will get from me.
It is practically impossible to cook in India now. I can’t even enter the kitchen, there is so much rush.
Usually in the olden days, I would go to the kitchen and experiment some new dishes.
At least here I still have that privilege to do that, but in India it is not possible.
You know how much salt we use in India per day? When I am there we use 150 kilos per meal. When I am not there, we use 100 kilos per meal.
Sometimes it goes up to 300 kilos per meal, so you can imagine the amount of food that is cooked and so many people come.

Q: Guruji, how can we bring more spirituality to Europe?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We must all think how we can bring more spirituality to Europe. We will do everything possible to bring spirituality to Europe.
130 members of Parliament learnt the Art of Living course in Mexico. A lot of work is happening everywhere.

Q: Guruji, is there a limit to expanding?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Keep expanding, I will tell you! Sit and be in the course 100% and become more hollow and empty. All clarity will come too.

Q: What do we do while we are listening to mantras? Is it necessary to know the meaning of the chants?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Allow the mantra to shower on you. It is called ‘Mantra Snana,’ taking a shower of the mantras. Memories may come up from past lives. Akashic records can come, it is okay. Don’t make a big deal out of it, take it as it comes.

Innocence with Intelligence is the right formula

2012-01-11T09:21:00.001+05:30

December 24, 2011

The whole world is one family, so it is necessary that we live with naturalness and simplicity; only then life blossoms.

The second thing is, the wall that we erect between ourselves and others needs to be demolished. Drop all inhibitions between you and others. From your side you drop inhibitions. Go on and shake hands.
This is what kids do. However, as we grow up, we tend to lose that. We create a wall between us. We bring formalities between us and forget our naturalness.

However, in Mumbai that spirit is there, the sense of belongingness!

All those who are grown up physically, but want to be a child again, or think you are one, just go for it! Don't worry about what others think about you. If the world calls us crazy, let them say, but you be happy. Be in the present and be natural.
What is most important in the world is innocence along with intelligence. The innocence of an ignorant person has no value. Similarly the crookedness of an intelligent person has no value. What is most valuable is innocence and intelligence. Innocence and intelligence should go together.

We need to bring these things in the society.
In children there is innocence, naturalness, and ease. Together with that, intelligence should be sharpened, and our education system should be this way.
This is what I call spirituality - that which keeps the spirit uplifted. Not that spirit which one takes and experiences a temporary high! The inner spirit - keeping your spirit alive with enthusiasm, with innocence, with naturalness - this is spirituality.

Tomorrow is Christmas. In the Bible, Jesus said, 'Unless you become like a child, you cannot get into the kingdom of heaven.'
In Hindi, they say 'Bhole bhaav mile raghurayi' - one who lacks innocence can never find Ram. So, maintain your innocence. How to maintain innocence? Know that God is One for everyone and be natural with everyone.

Inside everyone there is a power.
Parama atma means what - that which is present everywhere; that which is omnipresent. So, will it not be present within us? If it is not present within me, it is not Parama atma. And if it is forever, then it exists in the present also. It is not that it was present previously and will appear again in the future.
Parama atma is always there, and therefore is here right this very moment. Resting with this knowledge is meditation - Parama atma is here, in the present, within me. If you rest with this thought, all the restlessness in the mind will quiet down. Once the mind is silenced, Boom! A radiance will be experienced.
This is what everyone had been in search of. For how many lifetimes we had been in search of this, and then one realizes, 'I am THAT!' Aham brahmasmi. 'Tat tvam asi' - 'You are THAT which you are in search of.'

If you close your eyes and rest and meditate a little bit in the knowledge of 'You are THAT', as you go deep, you will also realize, 'I am THAT.' Once you experience this, all your work will get done effortlessly! So, meditation is a very big gift to us.

Q: Guruji, as school going students, how can we participate in the anti-corruption campaign?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Tell your parents about it.
And you also take an oath, 'I will not be with corruption.'
We want to see a radiant India where there is no corruption. When there is belongingness, corruption automatically disappears. When everyone is child-like and innocent, corruption will definitely be eradicated.

Q: Guruji, how do we bring back the trust in the press which has been lost?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Put yourself in their shoes. Suppose someone loses trust in you for some wrong or mistake you did and if they hold it against you all the time, would you like it?
I want to give you an example. Nine out of ten diamonds are made in Surat (a city in Gujarat, India). The entire industry is run by people who have not studied beyond High School, but are brilliant businessmen! That doesn't mean you should stop studying!
Remember, when you get less marks, you should know there are other avenues as well - you can become a great sportsperson. If you didn't get good marks once, so what? You will get it the next time.
If you don’t get it for the third or fourth time, become a big sportsman, or a big shot, but never, ever commit suicide. It is a wrong thing.
God has given you this body, this precious gift. We should not destroy it. You must all promise me this!
We should do some breathing, some meditation, some pranayama; this will give you inner strength.
ART Excel, YES+ course and all these courses are there only to help you to cope up with your stress. There is so much demand from your peers, from your school, from parents and when you think about your future you feel insecure. That is why all these courses have been designed.
They help you gain inner strength to move forward with a smile.

Q: Guruji, were you mischievous during your childhood days?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, very much! I was very mischievous.
When I was a kid, I emptied my father's brief case and stuffed all the toys into it. When he went to office and opened the briefcase during the board meeting, all the toys popped up. He was very embarrassed. But I did it only once.

Q: Guruji, my best friend fell in love with my girlfriend. Now they both are together. I am feeling lost. Can you help me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Remember, there is a proverb, 'whatever is yours will always come back to you.’
If it is not yours, you just move on and look for something which is yours.

Q: Guruji, I feel lazy to study. How can I quickly get out of this laziness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you feel lazy when you want to go to play? No!
So when you feel lazy, play a little game and then come back and study.

Q: Guruji, I want to become an Art of Living teacher, but my parents are not allowing me to do so
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is because they may think you may not complete your studies or do anything else. Do well in your studies and then become an Art of Living teacher.

Q: Guruji, when somebody blames me, they take away my negative energy. If this is true, why is it that I feel low or I feel very bad at the moment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, somebody is talking negative about you, they are dumping garbage. You should not hold your gunny bag and catch it. When somebody is dumping garbage, you simply move away from there. Don't take it in.
If they say something negative about you, there are two reasons: one is, either they are doing it out of jealousy, or they are doing it because they love you very much. They are good friends with you and want the best for you, so they show your negative points or your weak points.
So if they say something negative, either you thank them because they took the guts and said it, which others normally don't want to say to you.
If someone criticizes you, they gathered the courage to do so, and they put their friendship at risk to criticize you. So thank them. And if they are just saying it out of jealousy, just forget about them and move on with a smile.

Q: Guruji, I am in the ninth standard. Many of my friends are into smoking and drinking and they force me to do so too, but I know it is not correct. But if I don't do it, I feel left out.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, never mind being left out in those things which they all will regret later on! You stand out with principles.
I had the same challenge when I was in college. Everybody around me was smoking and some really macho guys surrounded me one day and asked me, 'you must smoke.'
I just stared at them and said, 'no!'
I was the youngest in my class. Everyone else was older than me. I said, 'I will not do it!' They just looked at me baffled and then left.
So you will become a hero if you say in front of them, 'no way! I won't do it.'
They started liking my company very much later on.
'Yes, here is somebody who has strong resolve.' Show your strong resolve for something that you believe in. These are the things which we must believe and acknowledge.
'I am not going to do anything which is bad, which is injurious to my life and to the society.'
Will you all take the promise now, today? 'We will not touch any of those drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.' Can you promise me?

Q: Guruji, what is the purpose of human life? What must one do to achieve moksha (liberation)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You will get moksha, don't worry! Once the desire for moksha arises in our mind, it will definitely be attained.

Q: Guruji, we have heard so many stories about you. Can you show us some miracles?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How many of you have experienced miracles in your life? Raise your hands. See! Everybody has experienced miracles. I hardly find any hand which is not raised.
Life itself is a miracle. Honor it!
Love is the greatest miracle.
The more love you give in your life, you will find miracles are abundant in your life.

Q: Guruji, I want to know whether I should become a drummer, singer or a scientist. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: ou know you can do all three. You can practice your drum as an extra-curricular activity and as a hobby you can sing. You can become a scientist too.
All three can go together. There is no either-or.
At this age, there is no choice. As kids you should not choose. Develop as many talents as you can.

Q: Guruji, will meditation help in studies?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation will definitely help in studies, because it calms your mind, improves circulation and energizes your whole system. Concentration is a byproduct of meditation.
You can't directly achieve concentration, but if you meditate for a few minutes, your mind will be very focused, concentration happens to you.

Q: Guruji, when I study in the class, my friends disturb me. What can I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do one thing. You disturb them even more, and then, when they are disturbed, you can sit and study.

Q: Guruji, please speak a little about natural and organic food and how it is important for kids.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Someone just brought corn grown organically, with two cobs on a stalk. Usually there is only one corn on each stalk. This corn has been grown by organic, natural farming. The crops are also good and organic food is very good for you.
It is a benefit to the farmers and is good for our health. Otherwise, they use so many chemicals to raise the crops and then we complain of stomach ache and back ache. How many people suffer from lower and upper back pain and knee pain? Do you know why it is so? It is because of excess urea used in the production of food.
The food that is produced using inorganic chemical fertilizers, causes pain in the joints, back, head, stomach; from head to toe.

Q: Guruji, sometimes parents don't agree on something which is correct. How should we convince them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have all the tricks. When you have to go on a school trip and your parents say no, how do you gauge your father's mood and tell him, 'Oh, I don't want to go, but all my friends won't go, if I don't.'
Talking in this manner, you manage to convince him. Do you not get your way by gauging their mood? You know many tricks!

Q: Guruji, I love a boy from another religion. His parents are okay with it, but my parents are strongly opposing it. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Take some time to decide. There is no point in angering and upsetting your parents. Best is when there is harmony; doesn't matter what religion, but harmony is very important. Later on, you should not regret, 'Oh, I subjected my parents to so much suffering and sadness.'
After causing so much sadness, even if you get married, your mind will never be reconciled.
Then everyone will remain unhappy. So it is best to seek everybody's consent.

Q: Guruji, how can I be the same as you are?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You grow up and still be a child and you should always consider everyone as a part of you, everyone as your friend. Make one new friend every day. Make as many friends as you can, and have no enmity with anybody. You should not hate anybody or cause any harm to anyone.

Q: Guruji, I always worry what others will say about me and that is why I can't concentrate on my studies. What can I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look, you should give them freedom to say whatever they want to say. Stand up with courage and say, 'come on, you think whatever you want to think about me.’
If they think you are a donkey or a dog, tell them, 'Yes! That is what I am.'
Come on my dear, be bold! If they think you are a fool, so what?

Q: uruji, I lost my father four years back, and since then I am unable to concentrate on academics. What should I do to improve academically, so that I can make him proud of me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do YES course. Don't worry. Your father's blessing is with you. Move on.
All the youth here, I want you to move forward. Let us create a bright future for India.
In foreign countries what they do is, they take a sabbatical - take one year off from studies or work and work for the country or on any other project.
I want that some of you, in fact I would prefer all of you to come forward for one year. We should go from village to village and visit the slums of Mumbai, (we are running a school in Dharavi) and take on responsibility, there is a lot we can do. We will be able to bring all the suicides to a stop. We can be of use to the society.
All of you who wish to volunteer should register. Make our country proud; make our country really strong. I want to see a society where there is no corruption, no injustice, no violence and no stress.
A society where humanity flourishes and love is visible everywhere.
I want all of you to become volunteers, and see a corruption-free society, violence-free society. Let's all join hands.

Don't speak sweet lies and unpleasant truth

2012-01-10T17:12:00.000+05:30

December 23, 2011

Remember these three aspects - naturalness, simplicity and belongingness.

I have travelled to so many countries and met thousands of people but I have never felt that anyone is a stranger and does not belong to me.

When we do not feel that someone is a stranger then they too will not look at us as a stanger. When will someone feel the belongingness? When we feel belongingness with them. Everyone is our own and no one is a stranger - this is the first mantra.

Second, whatever is inside is also outside. Just open up your heart and be natural.

Next is living a simple life. Living with the confidence that we will anyway get whatever is needed, that is simplicity. Right or wrong, I am what I am.

If we live like this, naturally, then there will not be any fear. Then there will be no doubts or blocks in life. This is the important mantra of Art of Living.

Now this does not mean that because you are natural and simple, you go to your office and tell your boss, 'you are stupid'. Don't do that! Use your brains a little. ‘Guruji says be sincere and natural’; so you go to a funeral, and say, 'I don't feel anything. Why are you crying, let us celebrate!'

I heard one gentleman went home after completing his Advanced Course, lifted his wife in his arms and happily went around the house. The wife asked, 'what happened today? Has Guruji said love your wife?’ Then this gentleman said, ‘no, no, Guruji said, carry your burden and botheration joyfully.'

Q: Dear Guruji, what is your message for the New Year? What should all the sadhaks focus on for the coming year?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A better world!

Our service should be focused on a better world and a better society.

And in personal life, have a strong conviction and faith that all is well and good is going to happen.

According to the Vedic calendar, you much have heard that this is the last year of the Mayan calendar and Doomsday is going to come. There are many movies about the World coming to an end. I am telling you nothing is going to happen and the world will continue.

According to Vedic Calendar, from March 2012, this year is called ‘Nanda’.

‘Nanda’ means happiness; the year of happiness.

First comes happiness and the year that follows is called Victory.

You will be happy and victorious, so do not worry.

Resolve to do some good work in society and spread knowledge. You will see by end of next year more and more people will turn to spirituality.

All those engaged in terrorism will be cornered and people who are in violence, their strength will be reduced. It will happen and you are a part of that happening.

Q: Guruji, you have said that spirituality is the technology of consciousness. That sounds really fantastic. I shall be grateful if you can elaborate on this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definition of technology is a system or a method based on laws of nature which would bring comfort to people. Aero plane is a technology based on the laws of nature. Telephone is system developed based on laws of nature to bring comfort to people.

Spirituality is also the same thing. It is based on laws of nature to bring inner comfort; absolute comfort.

I will say spirituality is A.C., which is ‘Absolute Comfort’.

Q: Guruji, I am a head of company in the corporate sector. Unfortunately my department heads are at logger heads with each other. Please give some tips to manage so many departments effectively?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is an open secret. Put them all into an APEX program. You know our Art of living APEX program has a slogan that says, ‘Get into the team and let out the steam.’

More than 1000 companies around the world have done and are doing this program.

Q: Dearest Guruji, I am a YES student. My school syllabus is very vast. I do not manage to retain much on the exam day. Can you suggest what to do to increase the capacity of my mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Relax! Listen to music. Do something creative.

A few minutes of silence and a nature walk will help. Observing the nature is good.

Q: Why do we chant ‘Om’ three times?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Om is made of 3 syllables ‘Aa’, ‘Uu’, ‘M’. That is why we chant 3 times.

You can say that it is for the lower body, middle body and upper body, like we do three stage pranayama.

If we do it 4 times, even then you will ask me why 4 times? If you want you can do it 4 times. Whenever you choose a number there need not be any reason for it.

You want to do it 5 times, you can do it.

Q: Guruji, everything is fine with women, except that they tend to experience more jealousy when compared to men. Why is that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I also do not know why it happens.

I don't want to generalize in this manner. Nowadays, there is a lot of jealousy among men also, and many women are able to handle many situations very even mindedly, and are able to let-go easily. May be it is because women are more emotional and since jealousy is an emotion, they experience more of this.

On the other hand men are generally more intellect centric and and therefore experience this emotion a little less. But this is not necessarily the rule.

You must be reading in the newspapers daily. What all horrific crimes boys do out of jealousy.

Q: Dear Guruji, how to be diplomatic in a corporate culture where there is no value for point blank truth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen, sometimes you think you are speaking the truth but many times you are being harsh. You do not have to be harsh while saying the truth.

Have you noticed, people who are very rude, they ascertaining that what they are saying is truth and it is true, that is why they are rude.

People are disliked for their rudeness and not for the truth. You can separate these two things.

There is an old Sanskrit couplet which says, ‘do not speak sweet lies and do not speak unpleasant truth.’

This is the ancient dharma.

You can be firm and sweet. You do not need to be rough, rude and agitated to be firm.

You do not need to go round and round to be sweet. That is not necessary, just talk straight and sweet.

Q: Guruji, the botherations that I put in the basket, would they be sorted out while I am here, or will they come back to me after going home?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Wait and watch!

If you have put it for the sake of putting, you have not really dropped the botherations then you may take it back with you.

Q: Guruji, how to handle emotions? Even when doing sadhna and seva, sometimes negative emotions come up and disturb me a lot. I am unable to find a solution.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Have you notice that it is already much lesser than before?

(Answer: Yes, substantiality less, around 60%)

That is a good thing. Does it give you hope that it will become lesser and lesser as you continue?

That is your answer!

Q: Why is it that in our religion, fasting and other compulsory rituals are for women only and not for men? Like Karva Chauth fast that women observe for their husbands and other fasts that mothers observe for their sons. Men do not have to wear Mangal Sutra or wear sindoor? So is our religion also gender biased?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is not so!

Probably men made the rules and so they imposed many on women. Actually women are at home and they have a lot of free time and so they take on all these rituals by themselves.

What has happened is that the men don’t follow all the rules and rituals. Women keep all the rituals religiously because she is more sentimental and she is the binding force at home between everybody. So she cares for the welfare of everyone.

But men who go out and work, in ancient days they also had Ekadashi fast. It is all common to everybody. Men are also supposed to do, though sometimes they don't do it.

Even men are supposed to wear tilak, and married men are supposed to wear two sacred threads. So in this country men and women both have to follow certain rituals.

In fact women have one step higher honor in this country. Like we first say Radhe and then Shyam, first Sita and then Ram, Gauri and then Shankar. Women were honored much more from ancient times.

So men and women are equal; rather women are kept one step higher than men in this country.

You know there is what is called ‘Sthreedhan’ in ancient India. In the whole continent, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore, men would keep a certain amount of money with women at home and nobody would touch that money. That was called ‘Sthreedhan’. That is the money that she would grow at home.

Women were respected more than anything else. Like female feticide is a very wrong thing that is happening in this country now. In a country where women were given the most respect.

It is said, the most sinful act is killing a cow.

If you kill 100 cows, it is equivalent to killing one scholar; killing 100 scholars is equivalent to killing one saint, and if you butcher 100 saints it is equivalent to harming one girl child.

What does this mean? Killing 1 lakh cows is equivalent to harming one girl child.

So, this way, women were always kept at a very high position.

Q: Guruji, I have read in one of your book, ‘God Loves Fun’, that we should not try to possess what we love. Does that also mean that we should not marry the one we love? Is marriage also possession?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I never said that! Choice is yours and blessing is mine.

Whether before marriage or after marriage, if you are too possessive then the other person will run away.

Trying to control somebody, possess somebody may not be a very intelligent idea.

Q: Q: Please save me Guruji. I lied (it is a long story) and came for the Advanced Course and now my boss has found out that I am at the Ashram. What should I do to save myself from the wrath of my bosses?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you have taken a sick leave or if you have said, ‘I am sick’, you can justify it.

Sickness is not only physical but it can be mental and spiritual as well, because many times people are spiritually sick.

Whenever you are not happy, that means you are sick.

Tell them there is an Ayurvedic clinic. Go and take your Nadi Pariksha tomorrow morning.

You can say you have come to balance your imbalances or else how can you work in your workplace? You have to be balanced, mentally, physically and emotionally.

Q: Guruji, if what we see and hear is not the truth and yet our mind experiences life and the world only through our senses. So if 99.9% of all our actions are based on wrong view, what is the use of partaking in any actions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Even that action is also not real.

Whatever action you do is also not real. If everything is not real then not just your thought but your action is also unreal.

Q: My son earns handsomely and I am retired. But every month I take a certain amount of his money without his knowledge and use it for welfare of the society. I am pained by my action, because it makes me think that I am robbing and will this become a habit in me? I do not know why I do it but I cannot stop myself.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do not identify it as theft.

If you are doing some good work, negotiate with him that you want to contribute some amount for the welfare of the society and do it within limits.

If he does not listen then don’t worry.

When you are living together in one house then you do not have to say, this is his money or my money. The money belongs to everyone.

You have built the house in which both of you are living and you do not take rent from him for living in the house, right?

You are doing a noble act by helping poor children. See how much joy you are bringing to the helpless children. So you do not have to feel sorry about it.

If one is robbing to consume alcohol or indulge in such acts then that is not a correct thing to do.

Q: Guruji, I am not able to accept myself as I am. When I see someone else, I feel that other is better than me and that makes me feel low. How do I handle this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See Life from a bigger picture.

There are so many people who are better than you today. And there are millions more who will come and who will be better than you. What are you going to do?

Why do you compare?

God loves everybody and you are loved. Just remember this much. Everybody has their own style, their own fate and you will get what you need to get.

Just by talent you will be successful, is not the criteria, it does not happen that way.

If you look around, people who are absolutely not qualified to take up even a clerical job have become billionaires. So there is something called luck and luck will come your way.

Wake up to this reality and stop comparing yourself with anybody and know that you are good. If your heart is clean then you are beautiful and if you are beautiful everything comes your way.

The Divine loves you dearly

2012-01-09T09:09:00.000+05:30

December 22, 2011

What is the Art of Living? It is understanding the truth in life. And what is the truth? Life is full of opposite values, highs and lows. Keep the mind steady in spite of ups and downs in life. During challenging times, have an attitude of sacrifice, face it, be with the knowledge that this will also change. During good times, have an attitude of service and serve everyone to your best capacity. This is the first point. Accept people as they are. We expect people to be like ourselves. Have you found anybody just like yourself? If you find such people, you cannot spend even five minutes with them. You will want to run away. So, however a person is, accept them. This is the second point.

Another very important point in life is not to let your mind become a football of others opinions. We always think: ‘What will this person think about me? What will that person say about me?’ The truth is that nobody has the time to think about you. Everybody is lost in their own world. You worry unnecessarily about what other people will think about you. Give people the freedom to think whatever they want about you. Opinions keep changing. This is the third point. If someone does a mistake, don't think they have done it intentionally. Similar to how you make mistakes, know that they made a mistake as well and move on. This is the fourth point. The fifth point is to live in the present moment. If you hold on to the past, neither can you be happy nor can you make others happy. Live like a child, in the present moment.

Our life must be without blemish. How is that possible? It is possible through devotion towards the Divine. When you get up in the morning, look at your palms and say, ’let nothing bad happen through my hands. Let my hands be full and have the capacity to share with others too.’ This is an ancient tradition in our country. When we get up, we look at our palms and say, ‘let Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) reside in my hands. Let me bring wealth through these hands.’

One hand of Lakshmi is facing down, which denotes giving. The other hand denotes Abhaya Hasta, i.e., assurance that the Divine is with us and we do not need to be afraid. We also pray that our hands help us in gaining knowledge. Lastly, we pray that only auspicious work happens through our hands. This is a prayer which we do every morning as soon as we wake up will come true if it comes out of your heart. Even if it doesn't happen sometimes, we still pray to the Divine to take care of us and ensure that it doesn't happen in future. Dropping the past is the true offering. The Divine does not want any gift from you. The Divine only wants your worries.

The prasad you get is pleasantness of mind.

The Divine loves you 100 times more than your parents. I have come here only to tell you that the Divine loves you dearly. We will all die one day.

We may have kept all our valuables in a locker and keep the keys safely with us, but when we die, we will leave both the locker and keys behind. We do not take anything with us. When you travel in a bus, train or airplane, do you consider that as your home?

You may enjoy the services there for the duration of your journey, but what will happen if you consider that as your home? When you reach your destination, you will be forced to get out. No matter how much you protest, you will be forced to get out. You cannot say that it was your train or plane.

You may drive your car, but once you reach the garage, you have to get out of the car. You will be called a fool if you don't!

The ultimate truth of life is that we will leave everything behind.

Let us say that two people speak to you about Manas Sarovar (a popular pilgrimage centre in India). One of them has been there and is telling you his experience and the other is just telling you what he knows. Whom do you believe?

Obviously, you believe someone who has experience.

That is why I am telling you: The Divine loves you very deeply. You need not fear or worry.

Live your life with a smile. I have come here only to make you realize this. Though books help, they may not be able to bring about this realization. This realization becomes deeply rooted only when we experience it.

(Referring to the cold weather in the satsang) I'll give you a tip that will help you in this cold weather. If you keep your thumbs warm, you will start feeling warm. Nature has designed it that way. Don't you cross your arms and keep your thumbs close to the armpit when you feel cold?

When I visit Switzerland or Norway, I don't wear any warm clothes. People wonder how I do not feel cold in such freezing weather. Cold weather is my friend. I have an agreement with it! I have an agreement with nature. It doesn't affect me.

Just for 10 minutes daily, do some exercises, some asanas. Do pranayama for 10 minutes. Pranayama makes your mind clean. All negative energy disappears. Have you experienced this: When you see some people you feel like talking to them. With some people, even if you don't know them, you want to be away from them. This is because of the energy radiated from the body. To ensure that we radiate positive energy, we must do pranayama and meditation, then our work happens effortlessly and naturally.

If you are angry or worried, others may feel the same about you. They may want to be away from you. You wonder why this person wants to be away from me. Neither at home nor at school are we taught how to transform the energy in our body. That is why meditation, pranayama, satsang are so important to uplift your consciousness.

Keep the environment clean. Ensure that there is greenery. Keep your body clean. Use Ayurveda. Take 3 to 5 Triphala tablets in a week. It will clean your digestive tract. If your digestion is good, your mind will be good.

Your feet must be warm, your stomach should be soft and head should be cool. This is the sign of a healthy person. Unhealthiness is when your feet are cold, head is hot and stomach is like a stone.

If your bad karmas have to go away, you need to do pranayama. ’Nasti tapah pranayamat param’

- There is no greater penance than Pranayama.

- With meditation, the consciousness gets purified

- With bhajans, emotions get purified.So Listen to music

- With knowledge, the intellect gets purified. (The knowledge that everything and everyone is temporary) -

With charity, wealth gets purified. - Keep aside 2-3% of your income for charity - With Ghee(Clarified butter), food gets purified.

A famous cardiologist once said to me, ’people in our country are falling ill by eating rice without Ghee. Ghee ensures that the food becomes a complex carbohydrate and doesn't get converted to sugar immediately. It gets digested slowly and is very beneficial to the system. Diseases like Diabetes will not occur’. I said, ’our ancient Rishis have said the same thing!’. So, use a spoon of ghee with your food

- With Exercise and Ayurveda, the body gets purified

How many of you have the dream of a glorious and prosperous India, free of violence?

All the youths here, dedicate 6 months to one year for the country. How many of you are ready? There is a lot of corruption in the country.

Our culture and values have drastically come down. We have to preserve our culture. This is possible only through spirituality.

Corruption begins where belongingness ends. Nobody can be corrupt with people whom they feel connected to. All of us have to work together for this. We have to create a Divine society. We have to ensure that future generations get a better society than us. Our children must get a society where there is more righteousness, compassion and belongingness.

Bangalore has become a very unsafe place for senior citizens. There are a lot of attacks on them. We should create a society where we can live without fear. Police officials had once brought many rowdies to the ashram for reforming them. Within 3 days, there was complete transformation.

There is a lot of work happening in 40 slums in Bangalore. A lot of transformation has happened there. Form a group and go to a slum on a Sunday. Educate them, do some bhajans and distribute prasad.

Our country is in this state not because of bad people, but because good people are silent and are not doing anything about it. The number of bad people is just a few.

Just for 2 hours on a Sunday, form a group and clean up your neighborhood. Give education to kids who have been deprived of this. All the doctors, organize medical camps. Do whatever best is possible from your side. You don't need to go out of your way.

Q: Guruji, please explain liberation. How do we attain it in this life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Wanting to attain liberation is the first step.

Second is to know what is permanent and what is ever-changing. When you know everything is changing it is because there is a reference point that does not change. That inference will come to you first. Then, without your very knowledge, you will feel the freedom and love. All this will become so spontaneous and natural in you.

Q: Guruji, there are so many people eating non-vegetarian food. Are they not collecting bad Karma and isn't it a sinful act?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Non-vegetarian food is not suitable for spiritual upliftment. You may have seen in the world, wherever people have started their spiritual journey, they have automatically stopped non-vegetarian food.

Today millions of people in America, Russia, Poland and all over the globe have turned vegetarians.

Around 30 years ago when I used to go to other countries there were hardly any vegetarians. However, there are a lot of vegetarians everywhere.

Our country has 5600 varieties of vegetarian dishes. We have to popularize it.