Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
To change a habit I take 40 days to do something to change it, but I don’t even see it through.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Then again you start 40 days, you keep going. It’s good if after 38 days it breaks. (Audience laughing) Then you can do it again for 40 days.Q:
Craving and ego are troubling me. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Be natural. Take things as they come.Q:
Is it true that my previous and the coming generations also get the merit when I meditate. Are my parents also benefitted when I meditate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, there is something like that also.Q:
Can business be a force to promote peace between nations?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Three dimensions will bring peace. There should be spirituality in politics, corporate social responsibility in business and secularism in religion.This is deeply ingrained in our minds.Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are examples of secularism in religion and spirituality in politics.
Q:
How do I get over my fear of losing a loved one?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Through meditation.Q:
My mind goes all over, even when I’m doing pooja.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is Ok. See it is not the best when the mind goes in all directions. But you have got into the habit of sitting with yourself everyday. That ways sometime you will get into meditation and an samskara (impression) is formed.There is benefit from mantra japa. Even if you are not benefitted 100 percent but just 20 percent, that is also Ok. To settle the mind, pranayama is necessary. Do swadhaya (study of the Self) and keep reminding yourself that everything is nashwar (transitory).
What seems like a problem today will be OK, it has to be OK.
We sit for pooja, along with flowers even leaves and thorns are offered. So it means that we accept life with balance, whether there are flowers, thorns, fruits, leaves and surrender everything.
Q:
How do you know if an answer is coming from within or from the rational mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no criteria. The calmer and serene the mind is, the right answer will come to you.Q:
Guruji, is it difficult for a woman to organize something for she has to manage the home also. How does a woman do it effectively?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t think of anything as difficult. Even if it is difficult, it becomes more difficult when you perceive it to be difficult in your mind. If you get a difficult task to do, however much difficult it seems to be, know that we have an even greater power within. It is available to us and according to that we get tasks to do.Q:
What is your advice to parents?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Know how to ride a horse! When you sit on horseback, you must move with it. You have to rock with the motion otherwise your back will hurt. Parents have to rock. You have to swing with them, know them and gently guide. Sometimes you tighten the reins, sometimes loosen. It is the same with kids. Put your foot down sometimes, but also give them freedom.Q:
Guruji, there is lot of confusion in family because one member follows Art of living and another member follows some other spiritual path, pranic healing.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Both just stick to your own path.