Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Some people have positive thoughts, while some have negative thoughts. How does one control this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
By keeping a stress-free mind. If you have a stress-free mind, your thoughts will be positive.Q:
In the Hindu religion, there are stories that are difficult to interpret and seem senseless. Your explanation of the Ganpati story yesterday had great depth. Could you speak more on such stories?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Firstly, people should know about symbols. It is said that there are millions of Gods and Goddesses in India. In other countries it is said that God is One. In the Indian culture, we talk of families of God. A Goddess is depicted as riding a tiger, Gods have children and there are disputes amongst Gods and Goddesses. For an argumentative mind such depictions are difficult to accept.God is Sat Chit Anand (Truth, Consciousness and Bliss). He has five karmas (actions) – Srishti (Creation), Sthiti (Preservation), Samhara (Destruction), Anugrah (Blessing) and Tirdhana (Veiling).
He is everywhere yet not visible. Just like air is everywhere but we feel it only when the fan is switched on or when wind blows.
Rishis (sages) say that there are many levels of creation. Gold is one but we can make so many different things out of it. Similarly with wheat, you can make bread as well as chapatti.
Just like that, One God displays itself in many names and forms, one Omkar is present in Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Operator) and Mahesh (Destroyer).
When a single ray of sunlight falls on a drop of water, we see all the seven colors of a rainbow!
Before Creation, the Operator was there. Vishnu was present before Brahma. For instance, grass is present in creation and then the goat comes, a mother develops milk before she gives birth otherwise the creation won’t sustain! The Polar bear sleeps for six months and develops hunger only after the grass has sprung up.
Vishnu is depicted as resting in a lying down posture. The Master of the Creation is resting since the task of maintenance is so easy for him. This does not mean that man can afford to sleep all the time. Vishnu’s sleep is different- he is sleeping on a bed of snake, which is symbolic of heightened awareness. When one rests in awareness it is called Yog Nidra (yogic sleep) or Samadhi (Meditation)
In a human body, the navel is the center of gravity. Brahma, the Creator, emerges from a lotus risen from Vishnu’s navel.
It was only when Newton and Einstein rested that they could make new inventions. Newton rested under a tree and he received the knowledge of gravity as an apple fell on his head. When Archimedes was in the bath tub, he got the idea that he was looking for since a long time.
India knew about the Gurutvakarshan shakti (gravitational force) thousands of years before Newton discovered it.
The knowledge that the whole world is round was present in the ancient Khagoal Vigyan (orbital sciences including rotation, revolution).
Our ancestors had this knowledge that’s why they kept the Sun in the middle. In the most ancient temples which are around 2,000 years old, you will find that the Sun God is in the middle looking towards the East and all the other planets are kept around Him.
Nowadays, it is taught that Galileo discovered that the earth is round. That was just a few hundred years ago but our ancestors knew about this from thousands of years.
Today, the scientists say that in creative people the solar plexus inside the navel is bigger than usual. When the navel blossoms, one becomes creative. In ancient India, they represented this as Brahma being born through Vishnu’s navel.
Brahma, the Creator has four faces. This shows that he gains knowledge from all the four directions.
One drop of semen and an egg alone creates the entire human body. From just one anu (atom) different organs of the human body - nails, hair, ears etc are formed and even the texture of skin is different throughout.
So that One has the intention and capability to be varied. Similarly, in one God many God and Goddesses can be formed.
One human DNA has all the living beings in it, which means we can create all the living beings on the planet right from a lizard to an elephant from a single drop of the human saliva.
So this is the power in a one drop of chromosome. This itself is God. The whole creation is filled with God.
The Sanatan Dharma is very close to the modern science. When you listen to great scientists you feel as if you are listening to Vedanta.
Even if one animal is missing from this world, the balance of the creation will be disrupted. So we need all the beings. You cannot see the Devi Shakti (energy) but this devi shakti rides a tiger as its vehicle.
The peacock has the vibrations of Kartikey Swami, who is depicted as having a peacock as His vehicle. Yet that does not mean that to worship Kartikey Swami, we need to get hold of a peacock.
God is present in every atom of the creation, not just the outside world but within our body as well. That is why before worshipping, we start with invoking the energies within our own body.
Devo Bhuvata, Devo Bhuje – Be immersed in God and worship Him.
The weapons in the Gods’ hands have a deeper meaning. It is very easy to simply say that the ancient man was a coward so he placed all the weapons in Gods’ hands. Such an interpretation is the imagination of a fearful man. This is wrong. Do some research, go deep in knowledge, then you will feel amazed at the minds of the people who created the Puranas.
God-Goddesses are within us, are our very own so they showed human flaws of anger, jealousy etc in them as well. So that you don’t feel guilty when such emotions arise in you. The purpose of the Puranas was to bring you closer to God. Thus stories were created for the purpose of joy, entertainment, knowledge and science.
In Hindi the word ‘Purana’ means old whereas in Sanskrit, it means completely new, ultra modern.
Q:
I am 23 years old. How do I know when should I listen to my heart, and head?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
For work, use your head; for seva, use your heart. For business, use your head and lock your heart at home!Q:
What are the three main things which have led to the success of the Art of Living?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Sincerity of purpose, inclusive attitude (all inclusiveness, no one is outside of us, sense of belongingness), and God’s grace!Q:
Guruji, during the course I feel very good but once I go out, I feel misery again. What to do to get rid of that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Imbibe this knowledge. Independence means depending on the inside. Your independence is only when you are dependent on the inside. You are miserable when you want things from others for your comfort. How much can you take? And even if you take everything, it is of what use? This is what I think. I am independent means I am inner dependent. So I want nothing from anybody. Just this aphorism, reminder of this, time and again, will take your mind, which is sticking to the outside, come to its center. You will feel the relief. Misery simply means you are stuck to the outside. Joy means you are in your element which is inside. If you depend on others for your comfort, you lose your joy. First, have this faith that nature will provide whatever I need or I deserve, it will never happen that nature doesn’t provide you with what you need. Secondly, I want nothing from anybody. And third whatever I have, be it be intelligence, great voice, qualifications, skill is only for others and not for me and I serve others as much as I can. Finish! Where is the misery then?Q:
And all this starts in India?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Exactly, perhaps it may be in other parts of the world as well.Q:
I am not in control of my mind. I am afraid becoming a teacher is taking me away from naturalness, humbleness. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That is a prayer more than a question. Prayers will always be answered but not in words.Q:
What do you think about the election results?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good! It’s better that national parties come to power than smaller parties amalgamating. A party with a national agenda should be there, instead of smaller parties trying to bully each other.Q:
Can one do hollow and empty meditations at home as well?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
At home you don’t needto do that. Just sit and it will start happening. You give a car to the servicing garage and then you when you get the car you simply run it. It’s already ready. Everyday at home you don’t need to service it. But everyday you wash the car, so similarly you should just close your eyes and meditate.Q:
How to develop a sense of humor?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
By being relaxed. Have an attitude where nothing matters - only then humor arises. When things matter a lot, then your mind is tensed, you are goal-oriented. There is a part of you to which nothing matters. You are a combination of the nothing matters to everything matters. Have both! If everything matter, then there is no humor. If nothing matters then too, there is no humor. Don’t try to impress somebody. You will be fail miserably. When comedians try to make someone laugh - it appears unintelligent and foolish, childish humor. Those who are intelligent and mature, humor is natural to them.