Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
If God is omniscient, why do we praise Him or pray to Him?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Your praise is not for God’s sake. It is for your sake. You praise God, and that praising uplifts your own spirit. You imbibe all those good qualities in you. It’s not that God, when praised, becomes very happy and places those boons on you. You cannot bribe God like that. We pray to God. We do it in every religion. We seem to think that by praying we are appeasing God and by not praying we are annoying God. I don’t think so. Prayer is your innate call. You want something and you pray. Meditation is even better than prayer. The culmination of prayer must be meditation. Meditation is telling God, “I am here to listen to you. What do you want to tell me? Let thy will be done". That is meditation.Q:
At times I feel totally disheartened. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Sometimes we feel like giving up, frustrated. It is because of stress.That time do not take any decisions. You may regret it. Come back to yourselffirst.Q:
What is the difference between Lord Shankar and Lord Krishna? Some worship Shiva while others worship Krishna?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are different forms and names, but they all are same.Q:
I’m very afraid of flying. The fear controls me. What can I do to control my fear?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Observe the sensation. Fear is the opposite of love, yet fear can transform into love. You can also go through and move beyond all these cycles by taking the ‘Advance Meditation Course’ .Q:
I am a restless soul. I always want to take up the next thing, whether it be new job, new country, new place, new things. I don’t know what is it that I am searching for? Do you have any suggestions for me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Your soul is restless! How do you know? Have you found your soul? (Jokingly) Your restlessness is because you want more. You want more joy, more and more. It is like Bulimia. You eat food but you are not satisfied. You take it out, and then you eat more food. Relax. You have to find peace. You need to hurry up till you are not on the spiritual path. Like you have to hurry up before catching the flight. But once you are on the plane, there is no fun if you run inside the plane with your baggage on your head! You are not going to reach any faster. Once you are on the path, you simply have to relax. It is also said in Bhagwad Geeta that ‘A yogi who is beginner has to work to earn karma’. But then you have to learn to relax. The more you relax, the faster you reach. If you take more time to relax, it takes long to reach. I know what are you searching for – your inner self - the source of all wealth, happiness and joy. And that is deep within you. Especially, when you meditate in a group of regular meditators, it has a different effect. Have you noticed that it had a different effect when you meditate today in the group, in this presence? (Affirmative yes from the audience). So it is much better to meditate in a group. You progress faster when you meditate with meditators. Then you realize that you have gained an ability to smile through and through, nothing really bothers you or touches you, nature loves you, and reverberates with you. I was having a discussion with one of the great scientists of the time. He was telling me about string theory. Every animal brings a particular type of energy, rythm or vibration on the planet Earth. Even if one animal is missing, the unverse will collapse. Suppose, if all the house flies gets extinguished from the planet, human beings will also dissappear. So, all the species of animals and birds are important for sustaining the universe. Ancient vedic people knew this. In ancient Indian methodologies, they have put different Gods and Goddesses on different animals. It is said that these angels or Gods/Goddesses ride on those animals, and come to the planet Earth. Mother Divine energy comes on lion. These are opposite values, but they bring in that type of energy to the ground. It is not that Mother Divine has to sit on lion and travel. But it means that cosmic consciousness brings that energy down to the planet Earth through that particular animal. Like crows are connected with ancestors and planet Saturn. Mars is connected with sheeps and goats. Each planet is connected with a particular animal, and each God/Goddess is connected with a particular energy. God/Goddess is nothing but a particular energy that descend to the Earth through that particular animal.Q:
I feel very strong in your presence and it feels good. I am very grateful to have you in my life.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good good. Knowledge, meditation and relaxation will give you cool heart, and soothe your heart!Q:
I can give my hundred percent, when it is to do service in the ‘Art of Living’, but when it comes to studies, I cannot do.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I know it is tough, but you have to do. The mind goes easily and naturally towards the things we like. If the things you like are juicy, there you don’t have to make efforts, it is natural. But when something which is not of your liking, is not juicy, it is dry and boring, but is good for you in the long run, then you have to put an effort and do it. There is no other option for it.Q:
I was wondering what exactly the mind is. Is it a little space in our brain or is it universal? And yes, I want to tell you that you rock.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Mind is energy which is all over the body. See, every cell in your body is emitting some energy and the totality of all that energy around you is what you call the mind. Mind is not present at some point in the brain, but mind is all over the body. There is so much deep knowledge about consciousness; we should sometime go much deeper into it. We will understand more. The more you understand, the more wonder-struck you are. Wow!You know, people have phantom hand, that means they really don’t have a hand, but they feel they have a hand and they feel sensations like itching or paining in that hand. People who have lost their hand or leg in a war or accident, later sometimes, they feel they have a phantom hand or a leg. Though, they don’t have it physically. That explains or gives a clue that the mind is not just in one spot, it is all around the body. The aura of body is mind. We think that mind is inside the body, it is the other way around - Body is inside the mind. Body is like the wick of the candle and mind is like the glow all around.
Q:
Money and power are much needed things nowadays. How can spirituality help me get these?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You don’t have to practice wrong in order to be rich. In fact, that will be very short lived. Spirituality enhances your intuitive power and positive energy thereby enhancing hit rate of your decisions taken.Have you noticed that some people you meet, you feel like avoiding them, and some other people you meet, you feel like talking to them? Each one of us emits certain vibes. Vibes convey more than our words. If vibes change, everything changes. This way our interpersonal skills are also enhanced.
Q:
How do you deal with people who think they are right all the time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They may be saying that but they realize when they have taken a wrong step. They cannot justify that they took a wrong turn but they know it. They don’t have courage to admit the wrong thing. So you be compassionate to those who say that they are right all the time.