Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q: There is a lot of information about the transition of human consciousness, which is part of evolution. They say it will happen in 2012. Can you comment on it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
As I said, the evolution of human consciousness is a continuous process. It is happening even now. They are right. In the next two years, 2012, that’s when Jupiter comes to Aries, the first point of Aries, people will be more spiritual. They will be inclined towards spirituality. Spirituality will be the fashion and it will become the necessity. People will start walking the path. I remember in 80s and 90s people doing Yoga were considered to be little out there. Not normal. It was not a dignified thing to sit in the lotus position or stretch your legs and hands and knees and sit on the floor. Today many companies - when they want to depict relaxation - they make someone sit in a yoga posture. Today’s advertisements show people sitting in the lotus pose.Paradigms have changed. People’s thinking has changed. Prejudice has reduced. I won’t say it has gone totally, but has reduced to a great extent. Interfaith dialogue is the talk of the world today. I was recently in Australia, in the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and there were people from all over the world, of different faiths, 600 people, started respecting each other’s faith. This time I received a greetings letter from the Pope. He sent me Diwali greetings and I sent him Christmas greetings. He addressed me saying, “Holiness, we all have to work together in the world to do a great job to uplift the human consciousness.” Today they have recognized there are all other faiths and many ways. So the world is changing already. Isn’t it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Everything in creation has certain vibrations. This world is an ocean of vibrations. Every being has definite vibrations. The gods are all depicted as riding on different vahanas (animals as vehicles). This indicates the specific vibrations of the gods. Elephants attract, from the cosmos, the vibrations specific to Ganesha. Tigers, the Devi vibrations; peacocks attract the vibrations of Lord Subramanya. Yet don’t trouble yourself with all this. Just say Om Namah Shivaya. All the corrections in Vaastu will be taken care of.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why are you so bothered about attachment? Because it gives you pain, suffering. Small attachments always bring you pain.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Three quarters can be given to your children, and one quarter to the child next door. Your first duty is to feed your children. As they say, there is enough for the need of the world today, but not enough for one’s greed.Our centre in Bangalore is surrounded by villages. Unless the villages are kept clean, we cannot keep the centre clean and pure. So I said we need to build individual toilets for each family, and help to clean up the villages. Our center administration said we are always short of rooms in our center, we should build rooms in our centre rather than spend resources on cleaning the surrounding villages. And I said, the number of rooms will never be enough, the number of people visiting our center is always growing. We cannot wait for our needs to be fulfilled, and then one day start working in the village.
You cannot wait until all the needs of your family are met, and then do service. It has to be simultaneous.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Success means strength, an unshakable smile that nobody can take away, and courage that does not diminish.Success does not mean having a big bank balance. There are some very rich people, who don’t have strength of character. They don’t have any sense of belongingness, of love
They are unable to appreciate the subtleness of life.
Consciousness blossoms without form and with relaxation.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Very good. Don’t accept them as they are. Take strict action and handle them skillfully.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, sure! You must! Western psychology gives certain ideas about behavioral patterns, certain impressions and effects of certain chemicals in themind. Whereas eastern psychology studies the nature of consciousness, studies consciousness itself! So it will be very useful that you would like to combinethe both. You study eastern and then you study western so that you can explain to the west what the east says. Because the eastern psychology or knowledge ofconsciousness is time tested, it’s age old. Ten thousand years, this has been practiced. Hmmm? And it should be interesting. If you take one aspect, say suppose love and examine how love is viewed in both eastern and western psychology. It’s very interesting. Hmmmm?Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Choose a career which pays you well. Don’t think a career will give you job satisfaction. For job satisfaction, you must do seva (service). For earning money choose a career. If you are doing seva you will have no dearth. Whatever is needed will come to you when you need it.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Truth is contradictory. Every little thing has a purpose, at the same time, it has no purpose because this whole thing is a game. If you consider the world as a game, then there is no purpose. A game has no purpose, it is an expression of joy. Dance doesn’t have a goal because dance in itself is an expression of happiness.What is the purpose of you laughing? Does laughter have any purpose? You are happy, so you laugh. You don’t have to wait for a joke to laugh. You know, children don’tunderstand jokes but they laugh, babies do laugh. If you think jokes are the only reason for one to laugh then babies would never laugh till they understand your jokes. You have an illusion that you have to listen to a joke to laugh. Laughter has nopurpose because it is an expression of being, an expression of joy.Love has nopurpose because it is your very nature. The sun has no purpose to send its rays. If you ask me, why does sun shine, what does it achieve? I’ll say, ‘Oh my God, you are such a businessman, you need a purpose for everything!’ The sun shines because it is its nature. It can’t but shine. So, in this context, I said, ‘Whenever you think, ‘what is the purpose?’ you are caught up in the cause and effect phenomenon. No doubt, the cause and effect phenomenon is there, it is a law of nature but truth is beyond the cause and effect phenomenon. Divinity is much bigger, more vaster, Divinity is beyond that. It is much bigger and vaster, so in this sense I said, there is no purpose.Sun shines because it is its nature, wind blows because it is its nature. What is the purpose of the tsunami? Was it just to kill people? If it’s purpose was to kill people only then it must have hit only those areas in which people lived. But it hit those areas also where there were no people. Nature is beyond cause and effect or conclusion, theory, understanding or misunderstanding. It is the existence which is total, beyond purpose. So you can say, virtually there is no purpose. If at all you have to pin down to a purpose then the purpose of nature is to take you to the Source, is to remind you of the Source, connect you to your Source.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I thought you already came home! This is your home. Wherever you go, that is your office. You get rest at home, work at office. If you are tired from work, then you come here to rest.