Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
My wish and will for my spiritual growth is not consistent. Sometimes it is not very strong? How to be more aware of myself; how to see more and stop the chattering in my head for longer periods?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just drop this more. I want to be more; I want to be more… Relax. Love for growth in the field of spirituality and mind is deep relaxation. All positive qualities are already within you. When you go deep in meditation, they unfold naturally. We can’t say: ‘I want this flower to blossom quickly. What do I do? Should I open the petal?’If I want the flower to blossom, just allow, let it be. Pour some water; in time it will blossom.
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:
How can we strengthen the faith?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Your very thought to strengthen thefaith strengthens it. Move ahead assuming that your faith is very strong. Whenyour intellect is purified, faith automatically gets strong. We should have apure diet in order to purify the intellect. So, pay attention on your food. Ifyou eat food thinking all sort of negative things in the world, that alsoaffects the intellect. Many times people get time to converse only duringmeals, and they discuss about topics like diseases while preparing and eatingthe food. This is very wrong, and we need to get rid of this habit. You becomewhat you eat. The type of food you take governs your mind. And again your mindhas a direct impact on your body. That is why you should eat food with a happystate of mind. If we are very excited, we cannot swallow food with ease. Alsoif we are restless, we end up eating more food. So, it is important to havefood with awareness.Q:
What made God alive? When did you start believing in God? Have you seen God? What does God look like?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This same question was asked 10,000 years ago by a little boy of 8-9 years old to his father.The boy to his father: What is God and how does God Look like?
His father takes him by hand and brings him out of his house, and asked him what was there at the place of their house before it was built.
The boy said ‘Space’.
Father: Where is the house built?
Boy: space.
Father: What will exist and what will remain when this house will demolish?
Boy: space.
Father: That is God.
God is not a person sitting somewhere. It is so depicted in paintings only. God is love, God is the space in which everything exists, from which everything has come into existence, and in which everything dissolves. God is the space, joy, and love, which is all pervading. The space around you is not the dead space. It is filled with energy and intelligence. That energy and intelligence is divinity. It is everywhere –your inside as well as your outside.
Most of the native cultures of the world have the same concept. They say God is in the mountains, in the rivers, in the flowers, in the trees, in the animals, and in the human beings. God is love. You can feel it but cannot see it. You can experience that enormous energy when you go deep in meditation.
Q:
How do you know what level of spirituality you are at?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It depends on how often your buttons can be pushed. If you have no buttons to be pushed then you are very strong.Q:
Will you please talk about animal sacrifice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Animal sacrifice (bali pratha) needs to be stopped. It is not written in any scripture to kill helpless animals. It means to surrender any animal tendencies that you find within yourself. You can explain this and make othersunderstand too.Q:
Guruji, spiritually is religious conversion. Sometimes my mind says that religious conversion is because at least people are getting food, education, and healthcare. What do you say?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, you can have health-care, education, food everything without conversion too. Religion you are in is over you. You know, if someone likes a particular religion out of full interest, that is a different issue but alluring them with food, medical and all education should not be done.Q:
How can we continue to love people who commit fraud or other such crimes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They are not incorrigible.There is a victim crying for help inside every culprit. You will observe in society, those who are greedy usually have no friends. The greed disappears the minute they make friends. Similarly, corruption cannot happen within the boundaries of friendliness. People who are corrupt or commit fraud are victims themselves. They are not spiritually educated. You know, we know one thing from all our programs, especially the ’Prison SMART program’, that there is a good soul crying for help and starved for love even within a criminal. Yes, we can help them.Q:
How to attain the power of vision that Sanjay had in The Mahabharata?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
By being centred. When you experience the depth of meditation then naturally you get knowledge. There is no effort involved, no roting of scriptures is required.