10 July 2015 - QA 1

Dear Gurudev, how to understand when to let things happen and when to put an effort to change it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Be spontaneous. If you make mistakes learn from them, and when you do something right, feel good about it. When you do something right, share it with others. When you do something wrong share that also with others. Tell them, "I made this mistake, you better don’t do it!"
Two days back I had tweeted, "People hide their mistakes and money". I was told that these days even banks do not allow you to hide your money.

Nature of happiness is to share, but you cannot do it if you’re hiding your mistakes. By hiding your mistakes you are dampening your own progress. When you share your mistakes, people will appreciate it.
A politician in India made big blunders and everyone thought he would not win the elections because he had made so many mistakes. So, when he was standing for elections for the second time, he accepted all his mistakes and people elected him again. I said, "People have bigger hearts than you think".
So, when you place your mistakes in front of people, the society is so generous that it forgives you and accepts you.

In India, there is a saying that one must not hide anything from a doctor, lawyer and a guru. If you hide from the lawyer, then he cannot fight for you and you will lose the case. If you hide from a doctor then he cannot cure you. Similarly, if you hide from the guru, and don’t open your heart and share your mistakes then even if the guru wants to help you, he will not be able to help you. You should not put on a defense in front of the guru, you should be open. A guru is never judgmental, he is very accommodating, compassionate and only wants the best for you. Not even the second best, only the best!

The other day, I was in Columbia giving a public talk. A small girl who was 9 or 10 years old stands up and tells me, "My teacher hates me". The crowd was expecting me to show sympathy to the child or ask her to change her school or something like that. You know what I said? I said, "Why will your teacher hate you? What does a teacher get by hating you? No, it is impossible for a teacher to hate a student. If your teacher is being strict, she wants to bring out the best in you. She wants to make you tough and solid. If your teacher scolds you, it is because she wants you to progress faster and grow stronger".
After I said this, the whole atmosphere changed and the girl also agreed. We super-impose ourselves in some situation, create an imaginary world of it and then get sucked into it.

If you watch the world and the people in it, you don’t need any entertainment! But you should not get involved, step back and watch the whole fun!