8 Dec 2011 - QA 1

The meaning of ‘Aasakti’ is interest, inclination or intention, while ‘Nirasakti’ means the absence of interest or inclination. How to perform an action when there is an absence of interest or inclination to do that action?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Now I will ask you a question. You bathe in the morning. Do you bathe with a lot of interest? Do you brush your teeth with a lot of interest? No, you don’t.
Just because you have to do it, you do it! It’s natural and effortless.
Anything that is natural does not require effort.
Like when you smiling naturally that smile in effortless, but if you are asked to smile then that become a difficult task.
Doing an action that requires effort is ‘Aasakti.’ However doing a work that comes naturally and gives you inner peace is done in ‘Nirasakti.’
Let me give you an example: If you ask the women here to prepare food, they would be able to prepare it without much effort. However if the same task is handed to a man, he will flip through the pages of a recipe book again and again to prepare the same food. He will keep tasting the food to check the balance of spices.
So wherever effort is applied, the job is done with ‘Aasakti’, and this leads to feverishness.
You being feverish about going to Mysore is ‘Aasakti’; effortlessly driving your car to Mysore is ‘Nirasakti’.
‘Nirasakti’ is not disinterestedness or depression; it is just an effortless attitude.