Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
(A member of the audience asked and question and it was audible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The horse was not being scarified. Do you know what Ashwa means? Shwa means for yesterday and tomorrow. Ashwa means atma which means self purification. So what were they doing for self purification? They used to let loose a chosen horse free to roam about and whatever ground he walked on was considered purified. Therefore it is nowhere mentioned that the horse used in the Ashwamehda Yagna was sacrificed. All this was imagination of people.Q:
Many countries are engaged in wars. How to stop this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
How to stop the wars between countries? As we develop the feeling to stop the wars it will stop. This feeling should come not only to us but also to the neighbors in the countries who are fighting. This has come to a little extent. Formerly this feeling never came. Formerly they promoted torture and killing. Now that itself has come back on them. See what happened, I will tell a story. Two brothers were living in neighboring houses. The younger brother was very angry with his elder brother. So the younger brother consulted someone to find ways to trouble the elder brother. That fellow told him bring a dog to his house. Now the dog would not do anything, he would only bark people passing by here and there. And because the dog realized that the neighbor was his master’s older brother, he would not even bark at him. So the younger brother got even angrier because the dog was not giving any trouble to the elder brother. So he asked his friend what to do. His friend told him to give an injection to the dog to make him crazy and delirious and then he will go and bite his brother. Only when the dog is mad, will he trouble other people. So the younger brother gave him medicine and made him mad. The dog which is mad does not realize who the younger brother is and who the older brother is. So he first bit the older brother and then began to bite the younger one also. This is exactly what is happening to our neighbors. They did it for us, but it is hurting them now.Q:
Guruji, Gayatri mantra is to be chanted mentally whereas other mantras like ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ should be chanted aloud. What is the science behind chanting aloud or doing it mentally?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know when you sing aloud, it creates more energy all around, so singing has its own type of energy; mentally chanting it has its own energy. But main thing is the ‘bhaava’, the feeling behind it.Q:
Blessings and prayer – how to make both effective? Tell us some tricks, Guruji.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Prayer can only happen when there is an utter helplessness or immense gratitude. When you feel so grateful, prayer automatically happens in you. When you feel totally helpless - ‘I can’t do anything’ - at that time also prayer happens. Prayer cannot be cultivated, it is a phenomenon. It just happens to you. And who is praying to whom – the mind is praying to the self, the wave is praying to the ocean; and you are both. You are the ocean and you are the wave as well. Inside you there is mind, inside you there is ocean. That is why in the Yajur Veda it is said, ‘devo bhootva, devam yajeta’. So you get established in the Divine and then you pray to the Divine, not as somebody outside. The mind curling back on the Self is prayer. So prayer automatically happens, spontaneously it happens. All that you need to know is, wake up and see how much you have received in your life. Even all Devis (goddesses), Devataas (gods) have one hand upraised, and one hand lowered, palm facing outward. Do you know what this means? This is all symbolic of, ‘I am giving you so much, don’t worry’. Then that gives a sense of comfort. The upraised hand is for ‘abhaya’ which means don’t worry or fear not. The lowered hand is ‘varadaa’ which means, you are getting. In the Rig Veda, in the end it says, ‘sanat pitev soona’, like the son says to the father, ‘Paramaatmaa (God), you are giving so much and you continue to give. Protect me, like how the father protects his son.’ In the same way the divine protects you all the time. So he is giving you all the time.Q:
(A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Prarabda karma. The meaning of prarabda is that which you have got. What is your height? 5.4’, this is prarabda karma. You cannot change it. What is your weight? 58 kilos, this can be increased or decreased.Q:
Guruji, can one choose the womb to take birth from and also the time and place of birth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Listen, now that you are already here, why do you worry about the next life? Just be here. Make the best out of this life. We will see the other one when it comes.Q:
How much should we believe in superstitions, such as cat crossing the path, wearing black?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Listen, how can you believe superstition? You cannot see the bright sun in the middle of the night! Impossible, when you think something is superstition, that is the end of it. That finishes it; that is it. Don’t force yourself to believe somebody else’s belief. Once you know it is superstition, you should move on from there. Cat crossing the road, so many times cat crosses the road. In our country, we have so many such wrong notions! In some temple, I heard, they dangle the children upside down, so they will be healthy, or something like that. These are all to be done with, this is all absurd. We should put an end to such practices. Many such wrong practices are happening, not just in this country but all over the world. Intelligent people should wake up and stop all this. We have to do this. In our country animal sacrifices are done, offering chicken to the goddess. In all religions there are such superstitions. It is necessary to remove this. In the name of religion many such things happen. When you refer to the shaastras, it is not superstition. The word ‘shaastra’ means systematic understanding of reality. Now I will tell you one example. People in the south used to say, ‘You shouldn’t keep your head towards the north and sleep. For many years I also used to think this was a superstition. What difference does it make which direction you keep your head. The earth is round after all. But when the scientists said that it is better to cut the magnetic field, rather than sleeping in that field, because then the magnetic current flows through your whole body, then it made sense. If the magnetic current passes through your body, then it drains a lot of your energy and you wake up in the morning, you feel still a little bit low. If you sleep cutting the magnetic field, then what happens, the magnetic field is not passing through the nervous system from head to toe, it is passing horizontally. So you feel better. These are the things you have to understand; where is the right thing, where is the wrong thing. Let me speak about another superstition: the janeyu (the holy thread worn by Hindu men across their torso) should be wrapped around the ear before going to the toilet. I thought that this was definitely a superstition. Can one not relieve oneself, or have a bowel movement if one did not follow this injunction? Will the janeyu lose its sanctity? But a physician in New York discovered in his research that applying pressure to the nerves around the ear facilitates bowel movement. Then I realized that what is considered a superstition had some substance in it. So what we should do is, unless there is a valid reason behind it, we should consider it a superstition. But once a reason has been found, we should not continue treating it as superstition but instead we should accept it. We should never step down from a scientific temper. You should have the scientific temper. So now he is saying that applying pressure to the nerves of the ear lowers the blood pressure facilitating bowel movement. In the lobes of the ears are present all those nerve endings that create alertness in the mind. What punishment was given in school? They told us to hold our ears when we made a mistake. Pull the ears. Now scientists say that pulling the ears activates those neurons which are responsible for bringing alertness. Then we should consider this good. Also piercing the ears is in our tradition, to lengthen the ear lobes. Lord Buddha is depicted with very long ear lobes it is not because he has such big ears, no. It means Buddha had such high awareness that he never made a mistake. In Tamil Nadu, do you know what they do? People they gently knock their forehead with their knuckles when they go to Lord Ganesha’s temple. That does not mean they are asking for forgiveness from Lord Ganesh for mistakes? You know the nerves that are located in the forehead region get stimulated when we knock on that area gently with our knuckles, and that increases alertness. In our culture there is a custom where they mix some sugar and mud. Then the way to separate sugar from mud is to put it in water. So, water signifies discrimination (viveka), which means what can be proven right using discrimination, should be accepted. The other thing is, whatever sankalpa (intention) is in our mind, it begins to get strengthened. So with our own sankalpa we strengthen an idea. We need to pay attention to this fact.Q:
Gurudev, if I am complete (sampoorna), then why do I need my better half (ardhaangini)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
(Guruji laughs) then how can you say you are complete? You will be complete with your wife. If you look at the needs of life, no one is complete by himself or herself. You do not make the cloth of your cloths yourself, somebody makes the cloth for you, a tailor stitches it, and then you wear it. You do not grow your food yourself. In our life we are dependent on others for a lot of things. However, with regard to your inner life, you are free to be happy (happiness is your choice). Whether your better half stays with you or not, you can remain happy. Many people are not happy even after getting married and many are unhappy being single. What I am trying to say is, as you go deeper in meditation, you experience that completeness. This cannot be experienced by someone telling you so, or by listening to something. When you become aware of this completeness, and it is reflected on your face, then you can bring comfort and satisfaction to others also. Then you won’t have to sing, ‘aadhaa hai chandramaa, raat aadhi’ (lyrics of a popular hindi film song – the moon is half full, so is the night). Only one who is fulfilled within can love completely.Q:
Can one begin the fight to curb corruption on one’s own effort?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The fight against corruption should begin on one’s own effort. First you stop giving bribes. Do you know when we started this drive against corruption and against terrorism? On 1 March 2009 in Delhi. Then we went to fourteen states and in all the satsangs we asked everyone to take an oath, ‘I will not give bribe’. So it starts with us, by our not giving bribes.Q:
Guruji, can you reveal the secret power by which you grant a fresh lease of life to someone, such as
me, who has been suffering from a terminal illness and is reaching the very end of their life journey?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See there is will power and power behind a blessing. You can also do it. Those who have done the Blessings Course raise your hands. Are your blessings working for others? When we don’t want anything for ourselves, there is a power that can allow us to fulfil others’ desires. The main thing is one should not desire anything for oneself. One should be hollow and empty. The desire for moksha is enough, it will be attained.