24 April 2015 - QA 5

Would you please share with us your appreciation of soul consciousness?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

There is something in you that is not changing.
Now, if you cannot find what is not changing in you, at least can you recognize everything in you that is changing? If you just stand in front of the mirror and look at your picture that was taken five years ago, you will find that you have changed. Your body has undergone changes, your thoughts keep changing, your emotions keep changing – you cannot hold onto the same emotion forever, so emotions keep changing, and its intensity keep changing.
So everything changes, and you recognize the change because there is something that is not changing inside of you, and that is the reference point of all changes. Logging onto that is meditation. For meditation, you do not have to do something, you simply have to relax.

To me, meditation is not doing something, it is emptying yourself; emptying the vessel. When you are empty, everything becomes the same. So empty your mind for a few moments. We all take rest by sleeping but when we sleep we become unconscious for six to eight hours; we do not know where we are. But if you consciously sit, relax and clear the mind, that gives you enormous amount of energy, enthusiasm, and intuition.

Another aspect of education is an intuitive ability and inspiration. If you are educated and you are not inspired, you are good for nothing. And if you are educated and you do not have intuition, your efficiency is very low. So, Innovation, Intuition, and Inspiration – all these three 'I's are essential for an educated person. Along with this the three 'C's are also important, i.e., Context to life, Commitment and Compassion. To see a bigger context to life, just go to an aquarium and sit for half an hour, you will get the context to your life.
I feel that the three 'C's and the three 'I's are absolutely important for someone to be called educated.