(Sri Sri's address from the World Forum for Ethics in Business in Brussels, Nov.19)
5000 years ago, Rishi Kautilya had said that the basis of ethics is economy, the basis of economy is state and the basis of state is civil society. If the civil society is not following ethics, the state can't do anything about it.
And civil society has to follow ethics.
What can uplift the society?
Usually the youth are of the opinion that you can't succeed if you are not unethical. Now, people are becoming more aware after the crisis.
In Chinese, the same word means crisis and opportunity. Recently a prominent businessman in India was asked why he doesn't take bribes. He replied that he wants good sleep. What people are looking for is an example. Many people can describe crisis, but only few can turn it around. Good ethics gives good sleep and good profit.
Ethical practices are essential for a good economy. We need to come up with practical solutions. 90 per cent of the population is honest! People are waiting for examples and support.
We need to caution people without creating fear and anxiety. Spiritual values can reinstate faith in humans.
Everyone has needs and responsibilities. See how we can reduce our needs and increase the responsibilities. This is absolutely essential in today's world. When the equation between needs and responsibility is disturbed, then we have chaos.
In Hyderabad a group of our people refused to give a bribe for getting license for their business. They said we are willing to come 50 times, we respect you but we cannot give bribes. It completely transformed the mindset of the people. The group received 10 licenses. Young people, young blood can transform the way business is practiced.
We need to set examples among the state and stakeholders.
More happiness we share with others, more happiness we experience.Do you agree with it? Don’t just say yes. First you think and if you agree, then accept that. One can travel the whole world, but only in the Indian tradition you will see that even when the best of knowledge is spoken, one says, ‘You think about it, only if you find it’s right, then accept it.’
After reciting 18 chapters of The Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, ‘You think about it, analyze it, if it appeals to your mind and if you agree then you accept it.’ This means the strength that is within us; the strength of the soul is what gives us this freedom. So now we have to utilize it in the right direction. So whenever we are happy and joyful, we should make an effort to spread this happiness, this joy to minimum ten other people. Will you all do it? Everybody? In my opinion each person has the capability to give happiness to a thousand people. Each one of you can bring light to the lives of a thousand people or more.
Like I said, spirituality is the only way through which we can be free from depression. Whether our society gets freedom from misconduct, corruption, injustice or not, we must spread spirituality. In every house, we must tell people to meditate, to get together and have satsang. In whichever village, people have gotten together and done satsang, all negativities have gone away. Mahatma Gandhi had once desired for an honest society that is now becoming a reality in many villages in India. Even in Gujarat, in many villages, this work is ongoing where people have left alcohol, drugs and with much joy and love are serving others.
One thing that is very important for you to remember: In everyday life, you may experience some lack here and there. Your mind gets upset or someone has tears in their eyes… this is all part of life, which keeps happening. It has never been like everything in life is perfect, ideal or rosy-rosy. It has never been like that, but to deal with problems we need strength and patience and that comes through sadhana. Don’t think of life as separate from sadhana, your life itself is your sadhana. Understand this and move forward. Don’t think that just by closing my eyes for a few minutes and doing something, sadhana is done. No! Whatever you do, walking, moving about, getting up or sitting down, smiling or getting angry, whatever you do in life is sadhana. We need to look from this perspective and then we experience so much relief. When in yourself, this cool breeze of relief and peace starts to flow then you will see how people around you will also start to feel the same. Already many people are feeling it, isn’t it?
It is said that devotion was born in Tamil Nadu, raised in Karnataka and blossomed in Gujarat. So here in Gujarat, devotion blossomed and became complete. Where is the blossoming of devotion? It is in service! We must do as much seva as we can. This does not mean we have to do what we cannot do. No. We have to do as much as is possible for us; and there is nothing as big or small service, the fruit of all service is the same. We must not feel that I have to do that service which is important or big, no, what is important is to have the feeling to be of help to others, and we serve with that feeling. It is in your nature to help and you are helping by doing that. That’s it!
If any of you are feeling ‘I am doing a lot of seva, remove that from your mind today. Who are you doing seva for? Without doing something we cannot live. That’s why we are doing something and if others are benefiting by us doing something, then it is a very good thing, isn’t it. So we must not feel proud of our seva or proud of our good qualities, this is what we need to offer into the fire of knowledge. So offer your negative qualities, also offer your good qualities and good actions, and live life smiling, feeling light and at the same time being immersed into the depths of knowledge.
You don’t have to work very hard to achieve love and peace in your life; this is easily achieved in a state of rest and such rest we can experience when there are no small botherations lingering in the mind. Then you experience deep rest; and desires linger in your mind when you do not have faith. When you are thirsty then only the desire for water arises, but what will happen if you sit and think about water all day? Do you understand what I am saying? What does desire mean? A lack of faith that I am going to get what I need. So with satsang, sadhana and seva, our faith becomes very strong and all work gets done like it’s getting done in your lives right now.
How many of you have experienced that what you desire is getting fulfilled? So whatever you desire is getting fulfilled, then you should desire for big things. What is the use of desiring for small things? There is no fun in that.
I am not saying do this, do that, I am saying do nothing. Now just five minutes before I said spread happiness, now I am saying you don’t have to do anything. Just relax… the contradiction between these two states only is life. That’s why if you read the Gita you will understand everything is contradictory. Gita is our very life; it is not only a holy text. Gita is for everybody, it is our life and in life there are contradictions.
Sri Sri explains the significance of yagyas (pujas) performed during the ongoing festival of Navratri.
There are three levels of existence - Outer world, subtle world of different energies and Divinity or God. All the yagnas being performed here aim to achieve both spiritual and material benefits. When you go deep inside yourself, from where everything has come from, you experience the Supreme Peace. Only when you are in deep meditation, these mantras have effect. These are very powerful and beautiful and enrich the subtle creation. We are so fortunate to be able to be a part of this.
There are pundits from all Vedas, and they will chant mantras. It is happening from thousands of years. These are done to benefit the whole world. We have gathered here as one body, one mind and one spirit, totally immersed in what is happening. Even if we don’t know the meaning, we know these are doing something good at subtle levels of our life, and for the whole mankind.
The intellect may not understand but the subtle body understands the depth. And the vibrations that are produced are doing good to all the subtle layers of existence. This energy creates benevolence, benefits the whole mankind, washes away our bad karma, promotes harmony in the world and desires get fulfilled. Desires get fulfilled when there is strength in the subtle. These bring us close to self- realization and also to achieve success in the world.
As one body, one mind, established in the Ultimate Truth, fulfilling your worldly duties and relax in the depth of peace. Immerse in this love and devotion with the feeling that everything is happening well, everything is being done for you. Like corn – when it is little warmed, it becomes pop-corn. In the same way, consciousness is all Divinity, and with the chanting of mantras, it blossoms and manifests. This is a beautiful occasion for letting the consciousness to blossom. Om Shanti! (Let there be peace)
Q: I feel very shy while interacting with people. What is the remedy for the same?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, when you have a sense of belongingness, shyness disappears.
Q: What is the fastest way to feel belongingness and unity?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are free from stress, you have a sense of belongingness and understanding. This is what happens when people undergo The Art of Living program. It happens so naturally.
Q: Should yoga become an integrated subject in school, especially if training/practicing can help our students to achieve something higher?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, certainly. In several countries, they have already made yoga compulsory in schools.
Q: Do you follow any religion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, I am a born Hindu. I continue to be a Hindu, but the programs we teach are very secular. People of any religion can practice it.
Q: Please tell us what does ‘one word family’ mean to you and what should we do to make this family happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What family means to me? The whole world is one family for me. You know, I feel absolutely at home wherever I am. I never have a feeling of being in a country or land that is not mine. I never felt strange anywhere. My concept is to see the whole world as one family; of course family is a very important institution, it is the foundation of a society.
Q: What shall we do to always be happy, because as I know your concept is to relax and attain happiness by that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What to do to always be happy? First, drop the feverishness to hold onto ALWAYS and you will find yourself happy. And then, if some moments of unpleasantness creep into life, accept that also.
Q: You have a very big dream in bringing world peace. If, in our lives, we meet people who follow orthodox and rigid ideas and are ready to die and harm other people, how should we deal with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We need to deal with such people with patience and we have to educate them, it’s not an easy task. First, we should begin from prisons. When one amongst them joins us in spreading peace, it is much easier.
Q: Do you have any special courses or programs to help the people working honestly in mass media to reduce the stress?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. You know, this program that we teach is very useful in reducing stress, irrespective of whether you are in a media company or in the corporate sector or in aviation. Stress is a common factor in any work place and this will definitely help people get out of stress. Mainly, what we need to see in the world today is a violence-free society, a disease-free body, a confusion-free mind, an inhibition-free intellect and trauma-free memory. You know, we nurture so many types of inhibitions; if ten compliments are given to you and only one insult is given, your mind locks onto the one insult. So we need to bring a change to that - a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul. This is the birth right of every individual and this is what these practices bring to you.
Q: In today’s world, people really think of survival. How to deal with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is a natural concept where survival is the first thing. It is a natural instinct but when self-confidence and vision is infused, survival will naturally be included in it, without any kind of fear. I have spoken about this in our books - Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love. You can read these books when you have a question.
When we become like children, then we realize that we have greater power. It is within each and everyone. Realizing this, is most beautiful. Beauty is not in clothes. It is in the inner quality. Appearance is beautiful, but if anger, jealously or greed finds a place, then it reflects in the personality, and all the beauty is lost.
How to get back to that beauty that we are born with? Go anywhere, to the North, South, West or East, one finds every child beautiful. Children radiate joy and love. As we become adults, we learn skills and gain abilities but we somewhere miss maintaining the inner beauty, that spark of love in our life. Can we maintain those powerful skills and yet retain that beauty we were born with? I would say yes, that is what The Art of Living is all about - Making life a celebration; dream about a stress-free, violence-free society, disease-free body, confusion-free mind and sorrow-free soul. Tell me who doesn’t want all this? It is possible. In the last 30 years of The Art of Living, we have seen that everybody needs love in every corner of this planet. And that is what we spread.
Talking about this Russian tour, I feel absolutely at home. Nice people here. I want this sweetness to be maintained. But we see it is disappearing in the younger generation.
There is more stress accumulating in youth, and we need to see that our younger generation is free from stress and depression. The World Health Organization says that 30 percent of Europe is suffering from depression! Let us all take commitment that we will not let it happen. We want to see a happy world. I want every tear to be turned into a smile. That is why all this yoga, pranayama and kriya are so important to relieve this stress. In the ballet, we observe the whole body can balance on the toes. One leg in the air and one firm on the ground makes the dance. A solid material and spiritual foundation makes a dance. Spiritual experience is having one foot in the air and the other firm. That balance is power. We find ourselves in trouble when we lose this balance.
The ancient spirituality always united people of all cultures and religions. Don’t you think this is what we need today? In the name of religion, so many wars and terrorism are coming into picture. One solution is that everyone gets back to spirituality. Get back to beauty and power that is within. We communicate much more through our presence than the words. I have said all that I want to say.
Any questions? Find the question/answer session in the next post…
Q: Sometimes I think I live in a world surrounded by formalities and exchanging superficial words. But the question is I feel that there is more to it, life cannot be just being nice and living in this cordial way but there is more because I worry that when I die, I wouldn’t even remember where to start again?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Now I understand there is a longing, there is emptiness, and there is a craving for something higher. Right! And that gives that pain. So, that pain to attain something very fast is in a way good, but what is needed along with this is a little patience.
Q: Are you my Guru? But they said Gurus find their devotees!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : That you have to decide! Yes, Gurus find their devotees, this is usually said. You know when was this said? In ancient days, when children would go to the Gurukul, the teacher would come and test the aptitude of all the children - this child is good in engineering, this child is good in music, this child will be good for this, for this, for this… Then the teachers would say, ‘Okay, you come and you do Veda, you study Ayurveda, you study music’; so teacher used to pick up. That was when parents would bring their children to the Gurukul and then the Guru would pick up which student would study what. Once you are here in the knowledge, once you are on the path, your heart will tell you,” This is the place for me and I have to get here”, and that is when you accept someone as your teacher. Not that someone comes to you and says ‘I am your teacher, I am your Guru’. If so happens then don’t believe that, okay! Nobody can impose that; it should come from within. Your heart tells you that this is genuine, this is right, this is good. So once you accept someone as your Guru or teacher then this anguish disappears to a great extent, and know that you are not alone!
Q: What to do with the doubts that come in the mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, the doubt is always about something positive, if not then the doubt will not come at all. The doubt comes because something is right, something inside says yes this is good. So in the initial stages, that type of doubt comes. You move on and from your feeling you decide, oh this is my teacher, I respect and love, then that’s it! Understand what I am saying?!
Q: I feel afraid at times whether I will be enlightened. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Once you are on the train, you know that this train will reach. Suppose you are sitting in a car and this car is being driven to Karlsruhe, you don’t ask after every minute if you are going to Karlsruhe, no! You relax! You know the driver is going to take you to Karlsruhe. You won’t be dropped somewhere in the middle. That much of faith that comes from within you is there in you; otherwise, you would not even come here. The very fact that you have come here indicates that there is faith. Otherwise your heart would block you, but your heart says, ‘no, go there’. That means you are doing the right thing. So once you are here, you relax.
Relax and you will always find your life will move in the right direction. Not just here, life after this also, definitely, because the moment we die, the first person we meet is our Guru, our teacher, second person we meet is our mother and then the person whom we loved most. The three people we meet and then later on we meet everybody else. So there will be that assurance, you will be fine, you are moving ahead, so don’t worry.
Arjuna also had this doubt in the Bhagvad Gita, “what will happen to me? He was in the same pain, I may not succeed in these spiritual practices, I may not go anywhere, what will happen to my life, I will be neither enjoying anything here nor will I get the other world. I’ll get confused, I’ll go back into the same stuff in my world, Krishna what do I do then?”Krishna says “Nahi Kalyana Krit Kaschit Durgatim Taata Gachchati”. My dear you will never go down, you will never be miserable, I guarantee you this. You will never go down in life, and you will only go up. When you have done good things in your life, when you are on this path, in this knowledge, you will only progress forward and forward. You will only go up in life here and here after. He says ‘svalpa mapyasya dharmasya trayate’, a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of love, a little bit of dharma, little bit of it is good enough to take you away from fear. So relax.
That is why it is said you need a teacher on the spiritual path, you need a Guru, and you need a personal feeling, connectedness from your side, not from the other side. Why? Because otherwise you have the anguish, uncertainty, fear, but once you have that feeling when you have the trust, ‘okay my Guru is there, he will guide me, he’ll take me on the right path then you are relaxed’. And there is that peace that dawn in your heart and mind. Even if you stumble a little bit here and there, doubts may come, but then they just vanish, they just come for a few hours, at the most for a couple of days, and then they disappear. So there is that assurance that you are not alone. See how soon the tears are turning into a smile!
Q: Guruji, What is Bhakti (devotion)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Listen to Bhakti Sutras talk, I have spoken in that, yeah!
Q: Can you please talk about greed?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, there is greed inside us that we don’t recognize. One is when we want to accumulate so many things in life and the second greed is for experiences; oh I want to experience this and that, so many spiritual experiences. This greed is okay to a little extent, little bit but if it becomes too much then what happens, it makes you so unstable, makes you run around and not go deep enough. A little bit of greed to do seva is okay but too much greed to do seva, is no good! Do you understand what I am saying? So a little bit greed for knowledge is okay, but when you want to know more, you want to learn, you want to quickly attain the highest, that propels you but if it is too much then you know you are spoiling it, in the sense you are in too much of a hurry, do you see what I am saying?
What happens yesterday while cooking rice? What happened when you were in too much hurry? Rice remained uncooked. So it has to be put again and similarly, we should act dynamically, quickly, but not too much! That’s a little, little at a time. So you have to hurry to get to the railway station but once you got into the compartment, no more hurrying! Relax! Once you have boarded the train, don’t run inside the compartment with your luggage up and down, you’re not going to reach any earlier; then I would say relax, relax, relax. Don’t worry; you will reach at the right time, okay!
Catch more in the next post..
“That which you cannot express is Love. That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty. That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
Q: For a beginner like me, how do I understand what self is?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Everything in the world changes. Our experiences change, our understanding changes, our intellect changes, we think differently at different times, thoughts are changing, and also our emotions keep changing. How do you know that everything is changing? There must be something that is not changing. Without the existence of something that is not changing you cannot even know things are changing. So you infer. E.g. when there is a smoke you say, ‘there must be fire’. You just see the smoke and you infer that there must be fire somewhere. Similarly, you cannot directly experience that which is not changing, then how do you do it? Through inference.
The ancient people said there are three ways of knowing - Pratyaksha, Anumana, Agama. There are three proofs, one is Pratyaksha - you see direct. Second is anumana - you infer, e.g. you see the smoke and you know there must be fire, right! So when you see that everything is changing, and you know that you can experience change only through something that is not changing, through some reference point, then you infer -‘There is something that is not changing in us and that is called ‘SELF’, your soul, your spirit, whatever you call it’!
So we went from body to finer - Body, Breath, Mind, Intellect, Memory and then ego. Finer than all this, is the ‘SELF’. What the ‘SELF’ is? Finding that out is called spirituality… is meditation! And what this ‘SELF’ is made up of? It is…!
Q: Some schools of thought disapprove the existence of the Self or the cosmic consciousness. What do you say about this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You cannot say self does not exist. Anybody who claims self doesn’t exist, how did he know that? Who knows it? Who is saying it? Huh?! If I say I don’t believe in anything, at least I must believe in these words of mine. I can only say, ‘I don’t believe in anything except these words that I am saying’. You know the most foolish statement on the planet could be someone saying, ‘I don’t believe in anything’. At least the person who is saying this should believe in himself! Do you see what am I saying? Are you getting it?
If I say I don’t trust anything then I must also say that I don’t trust the words that I am saying to you right now. This sentence - ‘I don’t trust anything’ is false because you at least trust the sentence you are saying, otherwise why would you even say that sentence? So, nobody can authentically say that he/she doesn’t trust anything. If he says, either he is crazy or he is enlightened! (Bubbles of laughter) The words that we say, ‘everything is changing’ are very relative. All that you see, you touch or you feel comes under the purview of the five senses. That is why we say everything is changing, but there is something that doesn’t change. If, once, we have a foot in that something that doesn’t change, nothing can shake you! That is awakening! What is Awakening? something in me that doesn’t change, I don’t change. Just a glimpse of this spirit or the being within you, and there will be no fear at all in life.
Everything is in abundance, mind becomes calm, stable, creative, intelligent, intuitive, and all these abilities just spring up from within, and that is what happens when you just sit, meditate and let go of everything. Let go.And even if for a few seconds the mind becomes still and it is in touch with that non-changing you; DONE! Then the purpose of life is done!
So every human body-mind complex is like a wave in the ocean, then you realize that this whole universe is all life everywhere. Our bodies are like shells floating in the ocean. Ocean of life is holding so many bodies. So life is not just in the body but body is in the life.
If it is too much and you don’t get it now, just put it somewhere in the back of the mind, someday you will understand, okay! It could be just a concept, that’s why what we do with anything that’s a concept? We put it in the back burner, in the back shelf; we just go with our experience. See, with our experience, we mature more and more and more… yeah! Good!
Q: You told us about experiencing the self, when was your first real experience on experiencing the SELF? We would love to know.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When was my first experience on that? I don’t know! It was there in the childhood, then I grew up and then it became clearer later on. I don’t know but may be when I was seventeen or eighteen.
Q: How do we know that we are working on our life’s purpose and we are not doing somebody else’s job?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Okay! How do we know we are doing our life’s job? What is that we have come here to do? See whether you are happy and making people happy around you. Are you doing whatever you can do for people around you? Are you sharing your love and gaining knowledge? Whatever knowledge you have, can you share that with people? You have to ask these questions and you know, sometimes we shouldn’t doubt ourselves too much; sometime self doubt arises – ‘Am I doing this right?’ Just be spontaneous. In every action, there is something good and there is something wrong. There is no action that is totally perfect. The field of action has some imperfection, maybe one percent or two percent. So there could be imperfection in every action.
Similarly every word that is spoken could be imperfect. But what could be perfect is our intention, our feeling. Do you see what I am saying? You have no ill intention towards anybody, and that is done. You know, I have never uttered any insulting word from my mouth all these years. At the most the word that has come out of my tongue is ‘stupid’. When I get really angry, I raise my voice and say ‘You stupid!’, but I have never cursed anybody and that is how I am made. I can’t take credit for it because I didn’t make any effort. I didn’t go to any course or school and try to make myself not to curse people, or not to blame anybody. To yell, shout or get upset is not in my nature at all. And all these bad words simply don’t come up.
Q: Should one never get angry?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t think you should all be without anger all the time. You should use anger as a tool when it is necessary. I tried to do it but I was not too successful. Often sometimes I try to show anger but it doesn’t work because very soon I start laughing and everybody else will start laughing along, also people don’t believe me getting angry. But sometimes anger is good. You know, especially in a world when there is corruption, when there is injustice and when there are all sorts of people who do all sorts of wrong things, who take advantage of you in all situations, it is necessary that you raise your eyebrows or sometime show anger, it would be good. But see that you show anger and it doesn’t affect you or get into your heart and make you upset.
Look, that doesn’t happen in a day and that is where all these practices can be of help. Yeah, I’m not saying be like a vegetable all the time or like a mentally retarded person, smiling or not getting upset at all, you should get angry when things don’t go well, right! But don’t ever let that anger ferment in your mind and turn into hatred. It could be momentary.
You know what is a healthy anger? When you draw a line on the surface of water, how long does it stay for? Only that much time anger should stay, then it is healthy anger. If your anger stays only for that much time and when you have a control over it then it is healthy and you are okay. You can get angry but anger should not get you. What happens usually, anger comes and gets you, and then we are in trouble. Knowledge and wisdom is the reverse of it. Got it! You can use the knife but the knife doesn’t use you.
“That which you cannot express is Love. That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty. That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
Q: Dearest Guruji, I’m not strong enough to take a commitment for whole one year. What can I do? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Not strong enough? Take one day at a time. You are strong enough to take commitment for one day,that is enough. And each day you can continue doing it. Don’t think of one long year, “oh my God! One year I’ve to do something! Today I do, that’s good. Tomorrow I do, that’s good”.
Q: Dearest Guruji, I have prayed for your coming here this week. Thank you so much, I’m deeply grateful. I’d like you to talk about prayers Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Prayers happens when you feel utterly helpless or when you feel totally grateful. The third condition when prayer happens is when you are in wisdom. Then you see that the quality of the consciousness has expanded beyond its limitations and has risen to another plane, another dimension which is so fulfilling, so intuitive and so full of wisdom and love.
Q: Please tell about relationships and why they are often so difficult. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well! You should again start reading celebrating love. Why do you think relationship is difficult?
Q: I do not know how to express my feelings and emotions as I was trying to hide them; all the stress goes into myself. I do not know what to do with this. Is it very difficult to empty my mind even while meditating with your guidance? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Hmm! If you get too many thoughts, there are certain reasons. One of the reasons, for getting too many thoughts, is when your bowel is not clear, when your stomach is upset, constipated. If your bowel movements are not ok then you get too many thoughts. If there is no proper blood circulation in the body, then also you get too many thoughts, yeah? So, yoga and pranayama will help. Proper food and diet will help. Show to Ayurvedic doctor, he will say if there is too much pitta in your system, then he will suggest the food that will also help.
Q: How to deal with and work with the people who have negative qualities like aggression, jealousy, instability and so on? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Skillfully. See that you don’t react to them but with compassion, see how you can work with them. Yeah? One thing is it can improve your skills. Second is it can improve your patience. You can gain patience. Third is it will make you realize that the person is not constantly jealous or angry. They also change! You will see and wonder on how people change.
Q: What is the connection between being like a child and taking a responsibility? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You take the responsibility, that’s another thing ; being like a child does not hinder your responsibility. In fact it helps you take a responsibility. What is the difference between being like a child and being childish? In childishness, you don’t take responsibility! Being like a child you take responsibility, yet you are natural, be connected with every body, take feedbacks from every one, and not get upset about someone’s comment about you or a criticism. You know, we explode when someone makes a negative remark on us or someone criticizes us. So, we should stand up to the criticism, and take criticism freely. If it is useful, inculcate it. And if not, ignore it without losing your cool.
Q: How important is it that we act for planet? What can we do? How do we sustain? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We need to wake up and see that planet is our home and when you go higher, you don’t see borders. Borders are our understanding, our illusions. There really is no border. Sky knows no border, clouds know no border, wind knows no border. The elements of this earth have no borders. The planet is one home for every one. We are all one family. So, we need to think from a broader perspective. Which is the correct perspective? That the whole planet belongs to us. We cannot dump our nuclear waste into some other place. Any place in the earth will again come back to us! We cannot keep one place clean and pure in isolation. It is not possible. We have to care for the whole planet. We have to make the entire planet organic. When it comes to making food, growing food; you cannot say, “ok, I’ll grow organic food only in this part and rest other parts can be pollute with chemicals!” Because the air will carry! We have created so many types of viruses on this planet. Because we meddled with nature. We have destroyed many species on this planet because we have not taken good care of it and our food production has gone so low. That it’s going to be a very heavy thing on the coming generation, you know! I think every individual, every human being on the planet will have to take responsibility of not polluting the planet, of continuing sustainable development by planting more trees, preserving our lakes, preserving water. It is so important! Water scarcity is another big issue in the world. Millions of people are into starvation! So, we need to have a global picture and care for the whole planet. Of course, we need to care for our immediate home, our immediate neighbors, the place where we live in. This is most important! But at the same time, we should have the idea about the whole planet and the entire humanity being a family.
Q: Dear Guruji, is it possible to love and stay strong? Is it possible to love andstay reasonable? Is it possible to be in love and stay dispassionate? Is it possible to be in love and be free from jealousy and possession? Sri Sri Ravi Shnakar: Definitely. It is possible to stay in such a state of love without any of these negative connotations with that – if there is wisdom. Love with wisdom is bliss. Love minus wisdom is what you have mentioned; all this jealousy, greed, all this paraphernalia.
Q: Dear Guruji, could you please give me an answer? Is the man I’m in love with since one year is the right one for me? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well! You are in deep love with somebody, so that person must be right for now. But whether he continues to be right in future, no body can say. It depends on you! How you handle. You are in love with some body, but is he in love with you or not? First you find that out! If that man is also in love with you, then see how you both preserve your love with a dose of wisdom and how you carry on, how you conduct yourself – all these factors are there. Correct? It’s very easy to fall in love, but many don’t know how to maintain that. Someone falls in love with you and you don’t know how to receive and nurture that love. We loose other’s love for us too. So these skills, I have spoken about these skills in the knowledge facets, in Celebrating Love, you read it.
What do you do when you are stuck in traffic? (Audience lists out suggestions) You can honestly pray to God to clear it. You can enjoy the music playing in the car. You can take the nearest exit. You can just enjoy the traffic or chant a mantra. Now what should we not do? Complain. Just stop this and you will be able to keep your enthusiasm. We come into the world with it but somewhere along the way it is lost. As we grow up, we switch from positive over to negative mode. So just see the traffic jam as an exercise in testing this, in pushing those buttons.
Every event is an opportunity to deepen your wisdom. An unpleasant event somewhere kindles the deep wisdom we are born with. Whether positive or negative, every event kindles this in us. If an event overpowers us, we lose our emotions and intellect. Then we need help. That is where communion comes in. We sit together and sing and the load is lifted off. Everyone must take some time in life to dwell on the truth. This is satsang, to be in the company of truth. Keep on encountering truth in our lives. Just a few moments can bring such peace, stability and strength.
People think this is something boring. They feel knowledge is so serious. I say follow knowledge and fun follows you, but follow fun and only misery will follow. Self-knowledge is that which makes you lighter and like a child again. It brings enthusiasm from within. That is exactly what spirituality is.
Realize that everything is ok. All is well. Then you can go inward and meditate. When you meditate, everything is ok. When you come out of meditation you find that everything is not. You become aware again of all the problems in your life, in the world. You must do something about this. Meditation is smiling within and service is bringing the smile to others. So first you must go inward and be in the space of “all is well.” Know that you are protected and being taken care of. This confidence has to come. That is meditation.
Then when you come out, in action you can see what is not right and work for it. Do not do so out of obligation. Let it come as your very nature rather than as a duty. If you feel duty, there is no beauty. Just serve and smile. Smile and serve. Often we don’t smile in service. People get burned out and start irritating others in the name of service. And often people who are happy do no service! Both kinds of people are walking on just one foot. You need both qualities, inner richness and outer dynamism.
CATCH THE QUESTION ANSWER SESSION IN THE NEXT POST..
“That which you cannot express is Love. That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty. That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
Q: I am often outraged by the injustice happening around me, but realize there is also a need for love and understanding. How can I balance these feelings? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When many bristles are put together to make a broom, they are far more effective in sweeping a large hall than they would have been individually. Similarly, as sangha (group), you can achieve more. Whether it is for service or justice, you should work in groups. This is very important. Injustice is there. It is your work to turn it around. In Chinese, there is one word for both crisis and opportunity. If you only see the problem, you become frustrated. This is no good. Work with the group and just see what you can do. In many parts of the world there is so much corruption. Money is required for everything. When our sangha stood up against corruption, we accomplished a lot. Our youth refused to pay any bribes. When officers see this kind of conviction, It was so refreshing for them. They are also human beings after all. For our Ayurveda projects, we needed 10 different licenses. People said it would take two years just to get these! We applied for the licenses and resolved not to give any bribes. We said that we were prepared to go there 50 times if necessary. Within one month, we had all 10 licenses! So do fight against injustice, but without anger. Fight with a calm and serene mind. This is said even in the Bhagavad-Gita.
Q: My father recently passed away. How can I know how he is, where he is and what he thinks of me? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Those who have passed on to the other side shower their blessings on you. They don’t judge you and have no concerns about you. They know you will be taken care of.
Q: On one hand, desires need to be dropped, but is it okay to have a desire for liberation? When will that get dropped? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is okay to have a desire for liberation.
Q: If God is within us, why does God not guide us all towards good deeds alone? Why is there so much crime and violence in the world? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Imagine a movie with no villain. Imagine there is only a hero who is eating, sleeping and generally just hanging around with nothing to do! Would you watch such a movie? Opposite values are complementary. Thorns and petals both exist. You have the choice to pick up either the thorns or the petals. God is there within. He is sometimes sleeping and hiding, sometimes awake and dancing. After some sadhana, God is awake. Then He is rocking. Awaken the God and Goddess in you! A stone does not feel, but a living being does. Waking the godliness in you is essential. This is why there are particular hymns sung in India in the morning, ‘Wake up and bless us, O Lord’! On one level, it sounds ridiculous. It is the parents’ job to wake up children, but in this hymn, human beings are singing to the Gods to wake up and bless the creation. This is a paradox, and in this paradox, is hidden a deep secret of existence.
Q: Why does love always come with attachment? Is it possible to love your partner and still be dispassionate? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Attachment brings pain, but nothing comes without pain. We came into this world in a lot of pain. The process of birth itself is very painful. For nine months, we were comfortable and then suddenly the ocean around us disappeared and we had to come out! Attachment happens when your focus is not on the Being, but on the outside. Wanting to control, possess and hold on brings pain. When we are relaxed and content, love transforms to bliss. Demand and control only bring pain. Wisdom, along with love, is the answer.
Q: How can I control my anger? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Anger comes out of your love for perfection. Create some space for imperfection around you. Make a list of all the things you consider to be wrong. Then have people around you do everything on that list! When you get angry, just observe that sensation. Observe how your teeth are clenching and how the mind becomes. Take a few long deep breaths and see if it changes. However, I have no experience, since I myself have never had this problem. So my advice may not be authentic. You should ask others. There are many here who will tell you. After regular practice of Sudarshan Kriya, anger tends to settle down.
Q: What is the whole point of this life? We are born, we study, we work and then eventually one day we die. I am losing my passion for life. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Good. You are on track. What you are saying is like our intro talk. Imagine we live for eighty years. Out of that, twenty-five or thirty years we simply sleep. Ten years we spend in the bathroom. Another ten years, we are stuck in traffic. Then so many years we spend being sad and miserable. Ultimately, only some two or three years we spend in prayer, service and so on. Good that you are thinking along these lines. You are definitely on the right track.
Q: What to do when a loved one is diagnosed with a potentially terminal condition? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Bless them. Carry on, Sing, dance, meditate. If you think too much about the illness, it pulls down your energy. Medical attention is required, but have faith also. A turnaround can happen at any time. There is divine grace that is present with you. Anytime, anything is possible.
Q: Is it possible for all of us to get enlightened? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definitely. Anytime! The seed is there. It can sprout anytime. It can become a big tree anytime.
Q: For fifteen years I’ve been with the same job and my boss doesn’t respect me at all. Should I quit and start my own business? Please give me some direction. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Choice is yours, blessings are mine.
Q: The knowledge in the Vedas contains the truth and laws of nature. Is modern science also a part of this body of knowledge? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. Knowledge is infinite. Many scientists of modern age are the rishis (sages) of today. They explore the universe. All are to be honored, whether ancient or modern. Today’s quantum physics discoveries are startling. There is so much similarity to Vedic knowledge. For instance, dark matter and String Theory are both present in the ancient knowledge. Dr.Hans-Peter Dürr, the physicist has told me that whenever he is giving a lecture, he feels as if he is speaking on Vedanta. The whole universe is made up of one substance, and not two. This is Vedanta. Ancient rishis and modern physicists both say the same thing.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s talk at Ganesh Temple, New York
Q: Silence, music and logic are the three essential ingredients you have spoken of. How does logic relate to knowledge or consciousness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Logic is essential. If you see an idol of Goddess Saraswati she is sitting on solid rock. She has a book in one hand which is logic. In the others she has rosemary beads for meditation and veena (a musical instrument). Logic, music, mauna (silence) are all essential for total development of consciousness. Knowledge is logical understanding of existence.
Q: Please say something about spiritual materialism.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I am hearing a new word today. Well, don’t divide life: this is spiritual or this is materialistic. Take a holistic view of life. In a temple there is food. In that sense both material and spiritual aspects are there. Music is both a form of entertainment and spirituality. We even put ornate clothes on our deities. Ancient people never separated the spiritual and material. They enjoyed putting precious jewels in temples.
In South India, in Madurai, kings gave away most of their precious jewels to the temples. Everything co-existed. In the same way you can treat work as worship. It is sacred. Spirituality has entered our material life. Action is sacred. Lord Krishna says, “Janma karma samay divya”. All actions are divine.Lord Krishna himself was very much of the material world except for his discourse to Arjuna. All he did was materialistic. He ruled the country, advised as a minister, and so on. Life should not be compartmentalized. Materialism and spirituality are not opposed to each other.
However, money earned through unethical means is never spiritual. It will pinch your heart. The spirit is awake in you. It is your natural instinct. If you have a plate full of food and someone comes to you, you will not be able to eat it alone. It is such a natural part of your life that you cannot renounce one for the other. Every spiritual person has to do charity. You want to be compassionate, but how can you be when you have nothing to give away. Charity cannot happen with an empty bowl.
Narayana is the pinnacle of spiritual life and Laxmi is the symbol of wealth. Both Narayana and Laxmi go together. Saraswati sat on a rock. The knowledge that you have gained will always be with you. Laxmi sits on a lotus which floats on water. You will never believe what happens in the share market. Wealth is unsteady just as a lotus floating on water. These are the eternal symbols that convey truth. Grasp what is needed. This is very important.
Q: In Celebrating Silence you say that ambition indicates lack of self-confidence. Is this so?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If I say, “I have successfully lifted this bottle of water”, this indicates I was not confident that I could have done it. Being ambitious is when you are not confident of achieving something. ‘I ran ten miles. I did not think I would do it’ - Claiming success indicates your limitation. You are unaware of your huge potential. But the attitude should be ‘ I ran ten miles? I don’t realize that I can also do 100 miles’!
Q: I have recently begun meditating. Through this I have experienced God and power of spirituality. I don’t realize what is happening when I meditate. How can I continue to progress on this path? Can you be my Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I think I am doing my job. If you face any issues, have questions related to energy, yoga or meditation, you can contact me or one of the teachers at any time. It is good to follow one technique at a time. It is not good to mix techniques. When you have a deep experience, it is better to consult a trained teacher. And you can always email me.
Q: What happens to the soul after we pass away?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What happens when a television set is switched off? The screen will go blank but TV waves are still being projected. Our bodies are like a TV screen. Of course the relay station is elsewhere. (laughter)
Q: How can one conquer the ego?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The tendency of the ego is to say “I am not crazy, I am proper. Ego is the biggest problem. Yet it is very easy to overcome. It is a one-day job. Just act like a crazy person. Can you do that? For one day. Done! Make people believe you have gone completely crazy. It is the best antidote for ego.” If you cannot do this, can you simply behave as a child for the rest of your life? No third option. Be a baby for the rest of your life or a crazy person. Be one who has attained the essence. Apart from this, keep the ego. Don’t try to get rid of it. Do this slowly. Otherwise it is impossible.
When people laugh at you, can you relax? When people point at you, just relax. Smile and accept it. A mother has no ego. Whatever the children say, she accepts. If they kick , does the mother get perturbed? If you are unperturbed, you have conquered the ego. Ego is just a feeling of having a wall between you and others. There is no wall. You belong to me and I belong to you. You are accepted the way you are.
Naturalness is the antidote for you. Be spontaneous! Ego cannot stand spontaneity. Ego wants to present everything properly and prepare beforehand. Children are so spontaneous. They make mistakes. Never mind making mistakes. Just be like a child. Anybody can say anything about you.
Another block we often have is to feel something is not practical. No need to practice anything. Our own mind is saying it is not practical. We wanted 2,000 Hindustani classical musicians to perform together. Every teacher said it was impossible. A choir in India! It is not like here with so many people and that many styles. They have their own octaves. We had a program called Antarnaad. You should see it on Youtube. There were 2,750 singers. Only one day of practice! Make the impossible possible. We should remove the block in our own mind. Top musicians were spellbound at the Antarnaad event.
“That which you cannot express is Love. That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty. That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
No technique really works (laughter). It is you who makes it work. That is called shraddha. Shraddha can be roughly translated as faith. When your intention and attention are there, manifestation happens. If your intention is not there it will not work. Sudarshan Kriya works because there is an intention behind it. For anything to work, you must have intention and attention. Then manifestation happens.
Now we will do some pranayama. Let’s begin with alternate nostril breathing. Check your nostrils. You know, when the left nostril is active then the right brain is active. And vice-versa. The right brain is music. The left brain is logic. So those who have the right nostril active would understand me better. If both are active you are in meditation. However if only the right nostril is active, no meditation happens. Your state changes every time you open and close your eyes. After food, the right nostril should dominate. When the right nostril functions the metabolism is 50 percent higher. When the left is functioning, our metabolism is much slower.
Active nostrils change because they live in an ocean of prana (energy). Breath moves from right to left nostril depending on the situation. If you are driving around a church, temple or any place of worship, both nostrils will become active. The prana of both, the body and spirit, is up in those places. When people are in full devotion in a place of worship, this happens. When you meet a spiritual guide both your nostrils will become active. When you meet a spiritual person, your own voice will tell you.
Q. Guruji, please promise to come to Vancouver every year now.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, my year has 700 days. (laughter)
Q. When we meditate you say don’t put any effort, but a part of you wants to put effort because there is a feeling that there is nothing to do. What to do with that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do bhastrika, asanas. Put effort in that. When you sit for meditation you don’t need to put any effort. See for catching a train you need to make an effort, but once you are inside the train with your baggage you needn’t keep running inside. That would not get you to your destination any faster. Once you have boarded you can simply relax. Just as on a flight, all seats will reach at the same time to the same place.
Q. How to control desire?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Be in the now. Desire is wanting to be happy tomorrow. Be happy and joyful now. Like children, if you ask them what they want, they will say nothing. Because they are happy with 'now'.
Q. Guruji, can you see the aura of other people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Is this a big deal? You can also see.
Q. How to get rid of fatigue and headache?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yoga and pranayama.
Q. How do you know if an answer is coming from within or from the rational mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no criteria. The calmer and serene the mind is, the right answer will come to you.
Q. How does one stop the flow of negative thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Negative thoughts are due to three reasons. If your blood circulation is not good, if the lymphatic system is not ok or if bowel movement is irregular. In all these cases negative thoughts are likely. You can go on a fruit diet and cleanse your intestines. Then, pranayama will help. Take Triphala (an ayurvedic supplement) for a few days. Do yoga, pranayama and meditation. You will definitely find a difference. Group sadhana (practice) will also help.
Q. Are thoughts internal or external?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Thoughts are in the mind. The mind is all around you. Both inside and out.
Q. Why do we cry in front of God and how can we bring ourselves closer to God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It makes you feel better when you release the tears. The impressions go themselves. You don’t need any effort to make yourself close to God. God is the closest thing to you. There is no escape from God! However you are, good or bad, God is all around you. Like there is air all around you. Whether you are awake or asleep, air is all around. When you feel hot, you stand in front of the fan. The fan is just blowing the air ,which is already there. Satsang is like a fan. The Master is like a fan. Only then do you feel the blow of the air.
Q. Please explain the meaning of Sat Chitananda.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sat is “that exists.” Chit is “that knows.” Ananda is “bliss.”
Q. How does one get over past childhood problems?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It’s already gone. If you think it is still in the mind, then rub it off. De-link the pain from the memory. But if you put effort in trying to do that, you bring the memory back. However, in meditation you feel the pain as a sensation and not as connected to an event. In the Art of Silence Course, during the Hollow and Empty Meditation, you observe pain as a sensation. The very first experience of life was pain, coming out of our mother’s womb through such a small passage. Before that you were in bliss. You didn’t even need to eat. Then suddenly the water got drained and you came out crying. Have you noticed the expression on a newborn’s face? It is as though they came out from ten hours of hard work! The first experience is that of pain. Then the child looks into the mother’s eyes, and then the mother experiences the love. Don’t see pain as an event.
Q. How does one deal with separation anxiety?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ujjayi breath. You are in the ocean of breath.
Q. What happens to a relationship when someone passes away? Does it end or does it continue into the next lifetime?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both are possible. Some end and some continue to the next lifetime.
Q. How can we come out of yes and no in the mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just smile through. Take things as they come.
Q. Is it our responsibility to give birth to a child? Or can we leave this in God’s hand?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you feel you want a child, go for it. Simple. Even this thought of wanting a child may be from the universal thought.
Q. How can one always remain committed?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you want an answer? You are committed to getting an answer? Let me see how long you can hold on to that commitment. You know, there is nothing like one commitment. It does not work like that. From time to time you have to take on commitments in life. That is part of your nature. If you are weak, you will drop your commitment everyday. If you are strong, you will stick to it. How does one become strong? Pranayama and meditation.
Q. Why do people meditate? Is it alright to sleep during meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It’s fine unless you are snoring and troubling others! (laughter) Meditation is deep rest. What is samadhi? It is equivalent to a million years of rest. If you meditate even for a second and sleep before and after, never mind. Even if it is sound sleep. So what?
Q. Please speak about forgiveness toward ourselves and others.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t do it, if it is hard. Go the easy way. If it is hard to forgive, never ever forgive. If it is easy to hold a grudge against somebody, keep it with you all your life. In that case you should be happy with it. Can you be happy with a grudge against somebody? If somebody made a mistake, it is their problem and not yours. You just go the easy way. The struggle is that we want to forgive but we can’t. We should look at every culprit as a victim. If the person was unjust to you, clearly he was not happy. Otherwise, he would not have done it. He was not as refined and cultured as you. Whose mistake is that? If that person was enlightened, or had knowledge he would not have done it. So be compassionate.
Q. Please talk about domestic violence and how one can live with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Domestic and social violence both arise out of stress. We never teach people how to handle stress. No one is given spiritual knowledge. Don’t you think this knowledge of meditation and Sudarshan Kriya should reach everybody? This knowledge of non-violence should reach all. Somehow we have to reach this knowledge to people. You cannot tolerate domestic violence. Educate people. Put your 100 percent to bring them to knowledge and meditation. Through this, you will see how their whole attitude changes. There is a village of 700 families in Nanded Province in India. It had the usual challenges of a village - alcohol, debts, etc. One 'Art of Living' teacher took it as a challenge and started teaching courses in small groups. Within a few months there was a huge change in the village. Today everyone gathers together in the evening and sing together. Nobody drinks or smokes, or takes tobacco. There is no crime. There is one store in the village that runs on trust, without a shopkeeper. It has been running in this manner since three years without any theft. The entire village is organic. Nobody is unemployed. There are no locks on doors in the entire village. All the houses are painted pink to show unity. They keep it so clean. They are self-sufficient and environment-friendly. They have received the “Most Ideal Village” award. One hundred and eighty villages of Karnataka and altogether 500 villages are now following this model. Every person does pranayama. A lot needs to be done. We have 140 schools in areas where there are no roads or electricity. We have a good number of children studying in these schools. They receive free education. First generation literates achieve such good grades in school. The President of the World Bank asked us how our projects are successful. I explained that money is not always the reason. Love and spiritual energy make projects successful.
Q. How does one handle fear of death?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you isolate and think only of yourself then you will have the fear of death. Once you are in service, there is no fear of death. Terrorists are committed to something so they are not afraid of life or death. If you want to do good for others, your commitment to it will take care of this fear.
Q. What is your advice for people on planet Earth? How can we live such that after 50-100 years we would still have fresh air to breathe?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Care for nature, like native communities worship nature. Honor the environment. In a place in India if you cut one tree, you have to promise you will plant five of the same kind within the next forty days. There is a whole ritual in which one who is cutting the tree speaks to it, telling it that after cutting it will be useful to us. We must care for nature, not exploit it.
Q. What to do if you love someone but the other person doesn’t love you enough?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do not ask them “Do you really love me?” Ask them “why do you love me so much?” Tell them they love you too much and “I think I don’t deserve this.” You have to go on this trip and do everything with style. Any problem in life should be handled with style. The whole of life is a game to be played. It is not a struggle. Nothing can destroy you. You are a drop of immortality, a drop of something eternal. Your spirit is eternal. And it is alright if this does not ring a bell right now. I will just say what I know and some day you might authenticate it. Do not be afraid of anything. We have no choice.
Q. How were you able to establish three centers in Pakistan?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The people of Pakistan are very good. They just do the Sudarshan kriya. We have teachers there. When you are stuck in concepts, you are in the box. It is when you get an experience that you can come out of the box.
Q. Please speak about what will happen in the year 2012.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The year 2012 is a fascination. It has become such a sensation. No news is good news till it has become a sensation. We will have more work to do. People will become more spiritual. It will become a necessity and not merely a fashion. The Golden Age is already here.
I think now I have said everything. Many things can be said without words. Some things can’t be said with words and some cannot be said even without words. Even if you say, you may not grasp it.
You are so fortunate. Remember these words when you go home. You are very fortunate. You are so amazing and beautiful. Remember this knowledge. Spread joy and smiles. Lessen worry and bring more joy in everyone’s lives. You do this job and let the Divine take care of you. Smile at everyone.
Surrey, Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, July 9:
Excerpts from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s talk at the Lakshmi Narayan Temple
Our voices should be strong. The voice of truth and religion is weak. When the voice of violence is strong, it creates trouble. When the voice of love is strong and the voice of violence is weak, that is satyayuga (the age of truth). The voice of Rama should be stronger than Ravana’s. Only then can he win. It is the same with Lord Krishna.
It is when life feels like a struggle that we must focus on knowledge. Even Arjuna was not first told to fight. He was told to be in knowledge and meditation. Only then should we work. Always be in knowledge and then work.
To get knowledge we don’t need to go to the Himalayas. Knowledge can come even in the activities of everyday life. Wanting perfection in work sometimes creates anger. If somebody does something wrong, it can create anger.
There are three types of perfection:
Perfection in mind is keeping our mind in peace.
Perfection in speech is to speak only when needed. No need to get into fights.
Also there is perfection in action. Perfection in action is not 100 percent possible.
However, perfection in mind and speech can be obtained by sadhana (spiritual practices), seva (service) and satsang (music and meditation). Once our mind and speech are perfect, work will also become perfect automatically.
I am very happy that the temple authority here is securing the culture of India. The culture of India is to accommodate everyone. Nobody is different. We have made everybody our own. For instance, the Guru Granth Sahib expresses Brahmgyan in simple language. This is the special aspect of India. We should not keep this knowledge within us. We should share so that everybody gets the benefit. This is also important.
Often people ask, “Why do we pray to so many gods and goddess?” The Paramatma (the Divine) is one, yet called by different names. Just as with the same flour, we may make noodles sometimes and on another occasion, samosa (an Indian snack) or something else. It is still all the same flour. In the same way, it is the same Paramatma that we evoke through different names, forms and colors.
The meaning of aarti is complete happiness. Only when our life’s radiance is around God, do we get complete happiness. We should dive into the meaning of all rituals and then we will be happy and make others happy. We have to get rid of unhappiness. We all should do pranayama. We should focus on our breath everyday for 10 minutes or so. This is called pranayama and kriya. Through this, people can experience bliss. To be in bliss is total rest. The kriya also helps to maintain health as well as purifies the mind, intellect and emotions. It helps us to come out of our guilt and be in the present moment.
Do you use a cell phone? If you keep on pressing numbers but there is no SIM card inside, will it work? Now if you have the SIM card and no range, will it work? If the range and SIM card are there, but no charge, will it work?
Sadhana is the SIM card, range is faith. If you pray and claim that God didn’t hear, you don’t have a SIM card. No prayer will work. The charge is satsang. Temples and Gurudwaras are places to charge up. If we fight in a temple or Gurudwara, then also the pure energy will be lost. God will not be there.
Where all are happy, God comes. When the mind is happy our work gets done and we are able to bless others to heal themselves. All powers are hidden within the Self. Atma gyan (Self knowledge) will bring these out. If you bless people, everything will manifest. If you have a cell phone but don’t dial the number, will that work? You have to connect to yourself, prakriti (your nature), atma and paramatma. Then everything will manifest. That is why we have made a lot of blessers*. Blessers are already happy. They can bless people and heal them.
A village has been transformed from a very badly reputed place in Maharashtra, India to a model village. People were fearful to go there. Now 700 families are in satsang there everyday! We have found that there are no locks needed in that village anymore. There is only one store with no store-keeper. People go there to buy food, and they themselves put the the price of the commodity taken in the boxes. This has become a model village with clear water and every house is colored in pink. People do their own cleaning. They have switched over to organic farming. There is no chemical farming. Everybody is employed. For the past three years this village has been running like this and 180 more villages are moving along the same track. Nobody drinks alcohol or smokes.
We can make this dream a reality. We can make it happen. We have got everything and we are sitting here, keeping our mind free, clean and pure. Our only condition is you have to leave all your tension, stress, worries, pain. All these you must leave here and go home with a smile. Life is to be lived with happiness. We should not live life with sadness nor make others sad. Leave every unhappiness here. I am here only to remind you that God is there and He is your very own.
Thirty minutes of meditation will make you look brighter. We should all meditate for thirty minutes everyday. We should all go to temple and sit with our eyes closed for a few minutes. Do not leave a temple without meditating.
* Graduates of Art of Living’s Blessing course
“That which you cannot express is Love. That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty. That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
Life is love, Life is enthusiasm, joy and bubbling energy.
Moderate food and moderate activity makes you realize that you are connected to the universal spirit. Then you don’t feel you are just a human being, but realize you are much bigger. The body is a small thread, the mind is much bigger. Our mind is occupying the whole universe. The mind is much bigger and the consciousness is so vast.
We watch various programs on television. The television is just a box presenting the waves. Our body is like the television that reflects waves from all over the globe. In the same way, you are present all over. I am present all over. This connects you with the aspect of the spirit.
You are so vast.
You are so well-grounded through knowledge,
You are like the brightest light, cool and pleasant,
You are solid as a rock and delicate like a flower,
The whole consciousness blossoms.
Many people pray and feel their prayers are not answered. Why? Because you don’t meditate. It's like a cell phone with no sim card. You can keep dialing, but you cannot get through. We need to do some work for society, so that our battery keeps getting charged.For better range, you need meditation and sadhana (spiritual practices). For a sim card, you need to be on the path.
“That which you cannot express is Love. That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty. That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
Bangalore Ashram, India Continued from the last post.. Q: Guruji, how much of Mahatma Gandhi’s principal of non violence should we apply in life? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is nothing new to follow the principal of non violence which is being applied since ancient time. One should follow and keep the principal of non violence in life. Sometimes if one has to slap someone for his good, but does it with a smile then it is not violence. See, one has to kick with a cane to make a buffalo move forward, where as a cow just moves with a sound. The gentle animals may not need the cane, but for animals like buffalos and donkeys, cane is the only language they understand. If we do any work with anger, hatred, jealousy, feeling of revenge etc. in mind –then that is an act of violence.
Q: Guruji, so if someone slaps us, should we offer the other cheek also for the slap? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If the person is sensitive, offer your other cheek, and he will not be able to do it. But if someone is insensitive like a buffalo, then you can give two three also! Q: Sometimes people ask why you believe in Guru, and not just in God. My answer most of the times is Guru is my God. But is there any difference in God and Guru, please tell. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is fine. You don’t have to bother and justify so much to verify your statement. Just smile. There is no need to answer every question. You can say, ‘don’t you know that Soul, God, Guru –all are the same’. The whole universe is made up of one substance only. Like there is same electricity but flowing in different things-the bulb, the fan, the Air Conditioner etc. Likewise there may be different forms and norms, but we are made up of same thing (consciousness).
Q: If there is something that we are not getting from God, will we get it if we make our kriya and sadhna strong? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:Have patience, keep up the hope that it may happen. Know that whatever is good for us will be given.
Q: Guruji, the self control that I keep on myself gets broken sometimes. What to do in such case? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It does not matter if it happens sometimes. It is not happening always?
Q: Doing Sudarshan kriya, we feel relaxed and happy but after that the mind again wanders in its imaginations. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You turn around and see. (The questioner turns around, and audience laughs) Sri Sri continued: Not now! You turn around in your life, one year, two years, three years before, and see what were you then and what are you now? Do you see the difference? How much difference? You say a lot of difference in a month since you did Sudarshan kriya, so there will be more in the future.
Q: We 25 people have come from Nepal, and have a question - when are you coming to Nepal? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I will come soon.
Q: In the ‘Art of living’, which yoga do we practice -hath yoga, raj yoga, karma yoga, or dhayan yoga? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The ‘Art of living’ has everything in it. All the yogas together form ‘Art of living’. There is Bhakti* yoga, Karma** yoga, Dhyan*** yoga, everything is there.
Q: Can I practice Hath yoga? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whatever yoga you do should be done simply and naturally. You don’t have to give too much trouble to your body and make yourself uncomfortable. Just be normal and simple. To do hath yoga, one has to take a lot of precautions.
Q: Guruji, I feel like doing a lot of work but that falls outside my boundaries. Do I have to think and dream about it? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you must have a dream for it.
Q: Please tell us what we should do for our nation to feel grateful to our nation. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: For showing your love and gratitude for your country, you will have to do a lot of work in the society so that our villages develop and become self helping. To make a society which is void of corruption, violence, all have to put effort whole heartedly, OK.
Q: I have finished my final year engineering exam. I want to study, I want to pursue higher studies, but I cannot concentrate when I sit to study. I want to study, what should I do? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you are not getting concentration in your studies, watch for these three things (i) Your diet, watch what you are eating. Diet makes a big difference. (ii) Do you do any physical exercises? If you just keep sitting on a couch watching TV, or keep sitting on computer with internet etc. then the circulation is less in your body. Then you tend to become lazy and will not feel like studying. So, it is necessary to do a little bit of physical exercise, yoga, pranayama, meditation and also participate a little in singing etc. Doing all these, whatever is the need for your system will be furnished, and then you can grasp more in studies. Also your learning and retaining capacity will increase, and you will be able to study as well as gain much more in shorter time. Go for higher studies if you want to. Choice is yours, blessings are mine!
Q: What is the difference between Lord Shankar and Lord Krishna? Some worship Shiva while others worship Krishna? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are different forms and names, but they all are same.
Q: What is more important, ones upbringing or one’s cast? People who believe in cast system and religion are against intercast marriages. So what matters most-the values of that human or the cast and religion of that human? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One should see the humanity the most.
Q: In the continuation of the same thing, should we believe in the match- making of the birth chart etc. Should we believe in all that? Does match of mangalik-non mangalik matter? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is science but it depends on who does it. Many times in the name of astrology, people cheat others. There is something in chart matching, and you can do all that if you like. But Chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaye’ is best cure for all the short comings.
Q: We have you as Guru in the ‘Art of Living’, but in family there are family Gurus and traditional rituals, different style of worshipping etc. Should these be followed also? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See if there is a family tradition being followed from a long time, then what is the harm in continuing that? One must keep up the family traditions.
Q: Guruji, how to deal with the failures? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Knowing that it is the step to success in the future.
Q: After the course, you came thrice in my dream. The second time you came in my dream, the dream was that you are no more in the world. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is ok, does not matter –there is still lot more time for that to happen!
Q: The ‘Art of living’ is full of inspirational teachers. What does it require to be a good teacher? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, take a teachers training, and get well trained.
Q: First of all, thank you for being my master. Secondly, I am a sikh and in Sikhism our last Guru told that there is no other master now but only ‘Guru Granth Sahib’. So, my family members do not want me to follow you as a guru. How to convince them about you? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is alright. Say Wahe guru, Wahe guru. Let them follow whatever your tradition is, but they can do the course, can make friends with all!
Q: Some volunteers from the ‘Art of living’ want to enter into politics with your blessings. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is alright, they should go into politics, clean up the politics like the ‘Art of Living’ volunteers cleaned up Yamuna!
