16 Oct 2011 Q & A 18

Dear Guruji, in a marriage one person is on the path and the other person is not. Does this end up being an impediment to the spiritual growth of the person who is on the path? This is my situation and sometimes I’m not able to do as much for the Art of Living as I would like to.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, gently keep influencing your partner skillfully. First influence the close friends of your partner. You know sometimes as a spouse if you directly tell your spouse to do this then the block comes, ‘no I won’t, who are you to tell me. I don’t want to and I don’t want you to tell me what I should be doing.’ That resistance is there, especially among the men they don’t want to be told what they should be doing by their once upon a time honey. So in that situation you have to catch hold of their close friends. Make them do and then the partner will come along. It has happened to many, many people.