Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t try to make anything. Whenever you remember just know it’s very sacred, very special, take it that way. You know usually when you get into the cold water, when you go to the Ganga the first time, you take a dip. The water is very cold but once you are in the water it is not that cold, so your body gets used to it. In the same way, in-between, you have to come out and go in and then you feel cold again. So you don’t need to worry about it and again and again whenever you feel grateful you feel it as special. Gratefulness always comes in waves.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My daughter! Let love be love, don’t give it a name. All relationships are temporary but love is eternal so just be peaceful and believe that I am yours. The day I was born I declared I am yours and saying this I have come along that I am yours so you also know that I am yours. There is nothing else. Just be happy and bring happiness to others. With love you can win over everything. So put all your effort. Every person is living life according to their understanding, not everybody can live life your way. Everyone has their own ways and they all beat their own drums, sometimes in tune and sometimes out of tune. When they are playing out of tune, just be a little patient and pray that they start being in tune and you will see that it will happen. It’s all about time. When time is good then even your enemy becomes your friend but when time is bad then even a friend starts acting like an enemy. This you must keep in mind, and if you remember this then no one can disturb you. So, it is not difficult to change your bad time to good times. That will happen with meditation, prayer, surrender and chanting of mantras. Listen to the mantras ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ or ‘Om Namo Narayana’, keep listening to it for a little while and see how the situations and environment changes, just say Jai Gurudev!Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If fast and aggressive minds led to progress, then Iraq and Afghanistan should have been the most prosperous countries in the world. Afghanistan has had aggression for more than 30 years, they’ve seen nothing but war. The Human Rights Commissioner came to our German centre. He did the part I course and requested to be allowed to cook his own food. He was not eating anything. What was the matter? He thought everybody at the ashram ate drugged food because everyone was so happy.He was scared to eat our food. Then, our people spoke to him, I also spoke to him. For the last 20 years, he had never seen happy people. And here he couldn’t believe that people were so happy. He realised that people could be happy after doing the kriya. You don’t need to be on drugs to be on a high. It was so funny.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes it is okay. In deep meditation sometimes tandra comes and you fall asleep, never mind. Wake up and do a little more pranayam. Today, did you feel every cell waking up? (Many answer YES). How many of you felt your body became so light?Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A full stand should be there, total stand should be there. Only telling others of the values is not enough but also what should be done to instill these values in our lives needs to be taught. How to live these values should also be said with understanding. If one slips, then also with understanding they need to be motivated to move forward. This is the skill.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are four ways:1. Know that you have the strength. The problem has come, the grief has come. You can’t do anything about it.
2. Realise that every one is going to die one day. Everybody here will go under the soil. It will all happen in the next 100 years. Someone has gone earlier.
3. Look at those who have greater troubles than you. When we see people who have greater difficulties, and start serving them: our problems will disappear. See what is happening in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
In Iraq, the plane will land in circles. If it lands in a straight line, it can be targeted and shot. The amount of fear that people have …..
People in Sri Lanka don’t even know if they’re coming back, once they leave for their jobs in the morning. If you are a Tamilian, they will whisk you away.
When you see the bigger problems on the planet, then yours will become small.
4. The Divine is with you. Offer your problems to the divinity and relax. We must have that confidence.
If we are calm, then we can spread peace.
If we are happy, then we can radiate and spread happiness.
Today, Maoists have attacked 13 places in India. They are misguided people who believe in violence. That’s unfortunate.
That’s why spiritual education and knowledge is so essential. It is so needed. We all have to encourage our youngsters to join the Non-Aggression Programme (The NAP – taught by the Art of Living). It is so big in Europe and many countries. Children are so aggressive. They need to be taught to calm the kind. This job, we have to do.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, absolutely. The Guru will make you an equal. The Guru will make you like him. This is only for those who want to be like him. It is not by compulsion. Knowledge melts the difference between you and me.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That which is innocent (shivam), that which is truth (satyam).Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. That is what is divinity. Every child looks so beautiful, whether the child is from Mongolia, Africa, Bangaladesh. Why is it so? This is because of innocence.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t have to go into too much detail. It is said in Vishu Sahasranamam ‘Sohamékena shlokena stuta evana sumshayaha’, in one Soham everything has come. One thousand names of Vishnu are written in one word ‘Ram’ and that is also written in ‘Soham’. Okay sometimes you can put on Vishnu Sahasranamam, listen to it and meditate, that is fine. All mantras have an effect but the most important is meditation. Going beyond the mantras is also necessary, letting go of that as well, your mind remains calm and peacefuSri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, in the ancient times people wanted to give women total rest because women used to do all the work at home and once she would start, she won’t stop. Have you noticed? In your home, when your mother starts her work, she does not leave it until she finishes all the work. She wakes up the first in the house and sleeps last after everyone has gone to bed. So full day she would do so much work, isn’t it? She would do everything, lock everything, give milk to the family members and then go to sleep after cleaning the kitchen. First thing in the morning, wake up and clean the house and do rangoli - they used to do all of that. So when their cycle would start, the Rishi Munis said, ' for three days no need to do anything, no need to go inside the kitchen, just take rest'. With this feeling it was said but as time moved forward it started to have a different relevance. The whole idea was to give women complete rest.