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!
