Q: How important is it to set goals? How to set goals in professional and spiritual life
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar We want to achieve success in professional life. Isn't it? That's why we take up an enterprise or profession. So that we have all the comforts for the body. What we do for the comfort of the body is an enterprise or profession.
That which we do for the comfort of the soul is yoga, meditation, spirituality.
When the room is very hot, you switch on the air conditioner to get some comfort for the body.
The AC for the mind is meditation – AC means absolute comfort.
In life we don’t want anyone to think bad about us. We don’t like it if a few people say bad things about us. Not even a single person should think or say nasty things about us.
Do you also do the same with people?
Of course, you can't always say that all the apples in the basket are good. When you do have to criticize, confine it your lips only, don’t take it to the heart. Don’t hold on to it in the mind. Don't hate anyone. It harms only you and no one else. Therefore don’t ever think or wish bad for others.
Any good work can happen through us. The rich man is one who says I want nothing from anyone. Let me be of use to all. This is the beauty of the spiritual path.
Q: Guruji what has more significance - doing the Sudarshan kriya or praying to you
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar You are important. You are the one who prays. It's you who does the Sudarshan kriya. All this is for you, so that you can become centered and so solid that no one can take away your smile. This capability is only within you. If you don’t want then nothing is possible. Everything depends on you.
Q: Guruji, though Rukmini was Krishna’s wife, we find it's Radha who is next to him everywhere in all works of art and temples. Does it mean we shouldn’t stay with people we marry
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar It is said that in Srimad Bhagwat, Radha has not been mentioned anywhere. Gopis are mentioned. All the incidents of Radha and Krishna happened in Vrindavan which Krishna left at a very young age for Mathura and Dwarka. All these people came into his life much later.
You will find Rukmini temples in Dwarka, Pandarpura and many places.
Radhaji is a symbol of the strength of a woman. So don’t wonder why Rukmini is not there. If you feel very strongly about it then you can keep it at your home. In the temples generally the glory of Radha Vallabha continues.
There are different expressions of faith and different traditions. Sri Krishna is worshipped in different forms in different places. In Gujarat, Krishna is worshipped as Ranchor. In Orissa, at Puri, Krishna is worshipped along with Balrama and Subhadra. In Kerala there is no Radha only Balrama is worshipped with Krishna. In southern India, Balkrishna, child Krishna is worshipped alone. These are different beliefs. You can believe in what you want.
Krishna is Poorna (complete).
In the Bhagwat Geeta he has said: with whatever bhava (emotion) people worship me, I respond to them in that form. The bhava is important.
Q: Ramji had to take Hanuman’s help so many times, though he himself was God. When he was God, why did he have to rely on Hanuman
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar The Divinity is omnipresent. It is nirvishesha – beyond qualities and place. It is as common as air, water and light. God is the cheapest commodity and present everywhere. It’s you who keeps God somewhere far up in the sky.
The Rishis considered even a cruel and hard-hearted person like Parshurama as an avatar. He was so heartless, he beheaded his own mother. Aren’t we all much better than him? He killed so many Kshatriyas. Even in a cruel Parshurama if you can see God then there is no place left devoid of God. See him in a boar, a fish, a dwarf, a tortoise... in everything.
If you are looking for flaws, you can find flaws in all the avatars. One who sees flaws cannot attain God. Be a anasuya: not among the one who sees flaws. Krishna told Arjuna, I am telling you the knowledge, the secret because you are anasuya.
See God in the thorns as well as the flowers. It is a leela (that's why we say Ramleela). It’s a play.
It is not to be thought in terms of good or bad. After death where did Ravana go? He dissolved in Ram. This is our first course point – opposite values are complementary.
God is omnipresent.
In Ramavatar, he had 12 kalas.
In Parsuram only 9 kalas.
In Hanumanji, there were 14 kalas.
The truth is that God cannot be without the devotees. In the ancient texts, they say, that God and man move ahead through respecting each other.
Hanuman never told Ram, "I am the one who brought your brother back to life", or "Who is helping you to get back your wife?" He only said, “You are showering grace on me. You have made me worthy of working for you.” This is knowledge.
We have this play to bring out these elements.
In Krishna avatar, he had 16 kalas. It was a poorna (complete) avatar.
You can see so many flaws in him also. Jains have put Krishna in hell for misleading Arjuna to fight and creating the war. No logic from Arjuna could stand in front of Krishna. He was the embodiment of love. But they say that in the next world cycle he will be the first teerthankar.
The first lesson taught to you is see God in mother, father, teacher, guest, then in trees, rivers, mountains. Just sit with this dharana (understanding) that God is there everywhere around me, in every particle and person. Then meditation happens and samadhi happens.
Q:The Guru finds the disciple or the disciple finds the Guru
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Whether you find guru or the Guru finds you how does it matter? You have met that is sufficient. An 85-year old Yogiraj met me, his disciple was 70 years old. They told me they were looking for each other for 40 years and met only 20 years ago!
Q:Does guru come at the end of a yug
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Not just at the end. He can come any time. Jab guru aate hai tab naya yug shuru hota hai. Shuru mein bhi aate hai, beechme bhee, ant mein bhi. (When the Master comes, a new era begins.)
Guru vivek hai, gyan hai. Guru is discrimination, knowledge. As we start going inward, you start walking on the path.
Q:Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, what is the significance of Kumbh
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ganga is symbol of knowledge and Yamuna symbolizes love.
Prayag (, where Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet, is the unity of love and knowledge.
Where love and knowledge meet, celebration happens. Kumbh means the coming together of saints, scholars and katha vachaks. They discuss and meditate with the sankalpa that let all the people benefit. People needn’t go to all the places. They can come to one place. The concept of mela started in India. Nowadays we call it expo. There are expos for motors, books, clothes, to present all the products in one place. So also, all the saints congregate in a place once in 12 years. In those days transport facilities were so extensive and traveling would take so much time. Kumbh provided an opportunity for people for dialogue and exchange of knowledge.
If you see it from planetary
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
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