Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What is the scientific significance of Prasad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Prasad is that which when received makes the mind prasana (blissful). A saint from Karnataka has written that this time that we have got is prasad , our body, breath, mind, prana (life energy) and bhav (emotions), everything is prasad. Whatever we have got in this life is prasad. ‘That which I have spread is prasad and that with which I have covered myself is also prasad.’*a spherical, usually black-coloured stone
Q:
What is trust?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Trust is like breath.Just like you can’t live without breath, you also cannot live without trust.
There are three types of trust:
Self – confidence
Faith in society
Faith in God
If any one trust is absent, then life is incomplete.
Q:
Dear Guruji, the rains have still not come! What can we do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Meditate and chant Om Namah Shivaya. Rains will come.Q:
There is so much conflict and violence in world in the name of religion. Is there a need of religion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Communists opposed religion for 50 years. They didn’t get success. Communist people think religious people, especially in Russia and China are very authoritarian, they don’t give freedom. So they want to be done with religion but did they not unleash much more violence? In Stalin, Lenin and Mao Zedong, millions were massacred in the name of communism. Religion ruled with fear, fear of you being sent to hell. Religious leaders were authoritarian, trying to get hold of society by creating guilt and fear in people. Communist also did the same thing but not with guilt but with fear. They remove only guilt but they couldn’t remove fear, instead they instill more fear and violence in society. I don’t think communism did any better. It didn’t make people rich. After 50 years, people have come back. A big church in Moscow was demolished and a swimming pool was made instead of it. Today that swimming pool is demolished and a church is made again. I think it is humanism which is most important. If humanism is there in religion, it does good. And when humanism disappears from religion, it becomes like a mafia. In the same way, communism also ignored humanism. So when humanism went away, violence and fear dominated even in communism. These Maoists party! Did it do any good in the country, in all 213 districts? Itdidn’t make anybody rich. So you can’t be done away with religion.We need to have inter-religious communication, inter-religion faith. Every child should know a little bit about other religions also. Yes, we don’t need religions if all become spiritual. If we can transform this world into a higher plane of religion, which is spirituality then it will really be an intelligent thing to do. But just opposing religion ascommunists do, can’t serve any purpose. It is like throwing the baby with the bath water. Because religion has some moral values, some human values, it gives somestrength and solace, and if you also take solace without replacing it with spirituality then you are doing injustice in the society.
Q:
I worry a lot. How do I cope with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are four ways to combat worrying:1. See your problem as small compared to other people. When a problem appears small, you are able to solve it. When a problem appears big, we don't even try to solve it.
Serving others who have bigger problems than ours makes it easier for us to solve our own problems.
2. Remember how you solved your past problems. It will bring strength and a smile to deal with problems. This invokes valor in you.
3. Have faith that whenever you are in trouble, you will always have a helping hand.
4. Remember that nature loves you, God loves you. You will overcome the problem.
Wherever there is a problem, all you need is prayerfulness, from a sincere heart.Think 'I can overcome’, and invoke the strength, the lion in you. And surrender to the Divine.
Wherever there is a problem, all you need is prayerfulness, from a sincere heart.Think 'I can overcome’, and invoke the strength, the lion in you. And surrender to the Divine.
Q:
Can you say something about how to make a relationship last?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are various ways but the best is intuitive, your intuition. If in the relationship, both come from the point of giving then there will be no problem, but if both want to take, there will be fights. I am here to contribute, what I can do for you? Then your relationship will last longer.Q:
Silence is not so cheerful. It brings a lot of sadness. What is the best way to deal with this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Something deep inside is coming out, so let it come out. It is like vacuuming the carpet, and removing the dust mites. So, never mind, let it come out. From meditation, the practices, it will come out.Q:
Guruji, I have anger and arrogance in me. In anger, I lose awareness. Please tell me some remedy.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you are angry at yourself, you get angry with others also.When you are angry at others you get angry at yourself for getting angry.
This is like a pendulum. We have to stop this.
It’s ok if you get angry. Don’t get angry because you got angry. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you feel bad. Life is like a jungle. Thorns are also there, flowers are also there, fruits, peacocks, deer, lions, tigers everything is there. Have a holistic approach.
Just be natural, easy and relax. Take things as they come and move forward. Don’t get stuck in a place. The mind plays so many tricks to keep you miserable. Sing, meditate, serve. Be part of service. We have to save our mind.
Q:
You once said that forgiveness is a cure. Is forgiveness the formula to make peace between Israelis and Arabs?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Let go of the past and find a new future. From independence to inter-dependence. That is what we have to understand. Independence was a slogan of the past era. Everyone wanted to be independent so that they could be prosperous, but today prosperity does not come from independence it comes from understanding the inter-dependence. This needs to be educated to people. There is also an identity crisis. A person thinks ‘I am a Muslim’ or ‘I am a Christian’ or ‘I am a Hindu’ or ‘ I am Buddhist’ and those who are not, do not belong to me. They look like an enemy.They need to shift this type of thinking to: - first and foremost, our identity is that we are all human beings. Then, we belong to a certain gender of either male or female. The third identity is that of religion and then finally to a particular nation. If the priority of identity is in the right place I think conflicts can be resolved very quickly.
Q:
When will India be fully progressed and how?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When youth like you start thinking about what you can do.
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Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives.
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