Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Meditation – if you’re going to do it – when is a good time, and when you’re meditating, what should you think about, and how to realize your dreams?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First of all, when we should meditate? Meditate in the morning, afternoon, evening, before food. Before breakfast, before lunch, before dinner.When thoughts come, normally what we try to do is chase them. The more you try to chase them, they become bigger and catch a hold of you. Good thoughts come you say come, come, come. Bad thoughts come, you say, go, go, go. You need to be skillful, okay come, be there, give them a hug, they disappear. They are more scared of you, so thoughts run away. That is why to begin with, it’s good to do it with a guided CD, or guided meditation. Soon we will make one
available. I have it in English and other languages. At the beginning, it helps and later you can do it without the CD.
Q:
How to decide the right time and place to start something?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You have an intellect. Why don’t you use it? Use your viveka (discretion) and buddhi (intellect). Who answers you always? For how long can someone tell you what to do! If you have to take a very big decision, then you may go and consult someone senior. Otherwise take your own decisions – even if you make a mistake in the first few instances.Q:
If we have to choose between happiness or enlightenment, what should we choose?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Enlightenment is the biggest happiness. Why to go after small happiness when the biggest is there?It is not easy to believe in God. God is there: if you experience this then the mind calms down. Then you find only God is there and I don’t exist.
Inn ankhon mein ankh mila ke dekho to sahi, pyar dikhta hai ki nahi,
Ek kadam bada ke dekho to sahi, rasta milta hai ki nahi,
Hath batake dekho to sahi, kaam hota hai ki nahi,
Ek baar muskarake dekho to sahi, duniya apnati hai ke nahin,
Ek baar naam le ke dekho to sahi, jeevan safal hota hai ke nahi.
When these eyes meet yours, will you not catch a glimpse of love?
Take just one step forward, will you not find the entire way?
Extend your hand, will you not find the work is done?
Smile just once; will the world not make you its own?
Take the name even once; will your life not be fulfilled?
Q:
Can I carry this bliss with me forever?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Establish God in your body, and then you will experience Divinity. While doing Puja, (when you say keshavaya svaha etc... ) know that Keshav, Madhav (Forms of the Divine) are in the body – and that you accept this offering for them. Meditate, and sit quietly. You may offer flowers, if you have, but it is not necessary.It is important that the mind is clean, and calm, and completely immersed in the puja.
Q:
We sing bhajans, kirtans, and hymns to praise the Divine. Why does the Divine like praise, just like our seniors?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You praise God, not for God, but for yourself. Those who do puja, don’t do it for God, but for themselves. If you praise someone, it’s not for their happiness, you do it for your own happiness.Parents usually praise their 2 or 3-year-old children, however the child doesn’t understand a word of their praise. So why do they praise? To uplift themselves! Not because they expect something from the child.
This is the difference between praise and prayer. Stuti (repetition of God’s name) is that which raises our chetana (consciousness). We do stuti to raise our own consciousness, not to make God happy.
Q:
Should I quit the membership of Church? (I belong to a Catholic Church).
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know that is your choice. You can continue to be a member or if you do not feel like it you can quit. It is your own choice. Whether you are a member or you are not is not a big issue. What is more important is are you a good human being? Are you full of love and compassion? Are you interested in helping others? Are you interested in connecting with others? Do you think so?Q:
Who controls God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If someone controls God, he cannot be God. The one who cannot be controlled is God.Q:
Dearest Guruji, I sit here with you and after all that happened in my life in the past, today I know it was worth going through it to live and experience what I feel today. Fullness, love, gratitude, excitement and inspiration. All because of what you have given to this world. Eternally yours!
Q. Does the strength of the Guru lie in the fact that he represents a symbolic father who helps to heal the wounds from the real father?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The wounds need to be healed, that is more important. Whatever relation you put, whatever attachment you put, it is secondary. See the world from a fresh eye, from a fresh look. Anybody who has inflicted pain to you, know that they have done it because they have no knowledge. They were deprived of this spiritual knowledge. That is why they were behaving that way. They were handcuffed, they were blindfolded, they were dumbfounded and they acted the way they acted. They are victims themselves. See them from this angle, you will feel compassion for them and you will feel grateful for what you have got in your life, ya?Q:
Guruji is there any special message for us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Special message is that that you are very special. All of you. When I say you, it is not for any one person but for us. All of you are very special.Q:
When I see people who are sick or poor, I feel for them very strongly, and I spend days thinking about them. How to let go?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In Patanjali Yoga Sutras, it is said there are four clues, ideas, or concepts on how to deal with real life situations.First, there is friendliness. If you feel friendly for those who are happy, you will overcome jealousy.
For people who are suffering, you should have only compassion, and not friendliness.
Be happy for those who do good work, who are productive, and meritous.
For those who are doing bad things, feel indifference, not hatred.
These are the four different attitudes in our life. If we practise these, we will save our 'mann' (mind). When any other feeling opposite to this bothers you, then reverse your feelings. When you feel jealous, turn it around to love. Feelings cannot be changed by effort, but only through intention.
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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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