3 Jan 2012 - QA 10

I feel that I can’t live these values at my workplace. Do I need to change my Job?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! You can create these values at your workplace.
Don’t worry, stand up and keep talking to people. For a couple of days, they may think you are crazy and you are talking something crazy, never mind! You continue talking. They will start realizing and they will start accepting.

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

See, twenty years ago, I remember, when anybody spoke about vegetarian food or planting more tress, or environment, people would ridicule it. Does anyone remember that?
When someone would speak about a clean environment, or no plastic, people would say, ‘this is stupid. They have no sense. It is impossible’
Thirty years ago, if someone would say you should not smoke, people would say, ‘this is absurd.’
You were considered not to be in the mainstream if you don’t smoke.
Every seat in an airplane had an ashtray. And at the place where there is the seat belt sign, the smoking sign would come on as well, for passengers to not smoke during take-off and landing. Otherwise people would smoke. Only three to four rows in the front were of non-smoking. Rest were all for smokers.
It didn’t make any sense because the air will come from the back to the front as well.
In those days, if you were a non-smoker, you were considered unfashionable. I am talking about some thirty five years ago. But today, all the airplanes in the world have banned smoking. There is no ashtray in any airplane, isn’t it?

So, in the same way, you keep talking about these values, about meditation.
In those days, sitting cross-legged and meditating would mean that you are someone who is out there. Someone who is in mainstream would not do it.
But today, you see all the big companies, when they are marketing relaxation, they put a picture of someone meditating.
All the companies advertise on yoga and meditation. So things are changing.

So you have the power to change your workplace. Don’t run away. Be in the place, and dose by dose talk to them about these values. They will change.
We have courses designed just for the corporate sector. There are people who can go and learn them, and there are teachers who can teach at corporations. Many corporations today are doing this course. As we are talking, the company called ‘Bosch’, they are having two courses. All the top executives are doing the course in Bangalore in two batches. I just got an SMS. They have come to the ashram in Bangalore.
So many companies are doing these courses and the atmosphere at workplaces is changing.

Even in airlines; I remember some twenty five years ago, people from Lufthansa came and attended our course. Some people from British airways attended our course. And today they have put a guided meditation in the airplane. Channel 13 on Lufthansa has put a meditation in English and in German.
Though I don’t agree to everything they say there. They are not so precise but there is some relaxation.. It is not perfect, but something is better than nothing. A lot of imagination and a lot of effort have been put, but nevertheless, there is something to that effect.

So the world is changing. You can bring a change at your workplace, don’t run away.
If you want to change your job for any other reason, you can do it. If you are getting paid better somewhere else, then definitely change. But not because the people around are bad, that you run away, no!
If people around you are bad then that is all the more reason for you to be there, because you are the hope. You can bring the change there.