Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What do you consider success?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A smile that nobody will take away from you - that is the greatest achievement.Q:
When we experience meaninglessness and a hollow and emptiness in life, does it not give rise to depression and a sense of loss?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know when you feel so empty and there is nothing, definitely it gives rise to depression. That is where love, devotion, dedication and a cause combined with the knowledge that everything is nothingness, has to come.That’s why Lord Buddha said everything is nothing. Along with that he said education, sacrifice, devotion all this is a must. Compassion with nothingness makes you very beautiful.
Q:
Are you frustrated with what has been happening on Wall Street?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Wall Street has lost the trust of people, as have the government and the church. We need to bring spirituality, the type of spirituality that Mahatma Gandhi spoke about, into politics. We need to spiritualize politics, socialize business and secularize religion. Religious leaders need to worry more about people than their institutions. They should care for people more. At the same time politicians should think about the values that leaders like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and George Washington had. This country had Lincoln. He was a great visionary. There have been leaders who have given their whole lives in service to the people rather than out of a desire to achieve something. There is the Lincoln Memorial here, but it was not Lincoln who asked for it to be built. He stood for justice, equality and truth. That is real spirituality. I consider the founders of this nation and also the founders of India, South America and South Africa as people who had zeal. They were innately spiritual in their nature. This indicates how spirituality relates to politics. The backbone of business is trust. If lost, it cannot survive too long. So businesses should practice corporate social responsibility. We should care for one another. Otherwise, when we lose love for people, when we have no friends, we think money brings us happiness. It doesn’t.Q:
Guruji, even after being on the spiritual path, feverishness is still there. What to do to get rid of this feverishness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It’s good to have little bit of that feverishness. That’s ok. Maharishi Patanjali also said in the yogasutras ‘tivra savenganam asana’If there is little feverishness, there is intensity of longing. It’s easy. It’sgood. It takes away laziness in you. It takes away procrastination in you. That is why the path needs to be attractive so that it takes away lethargy in you. The Master has to be attractive. That is a professional need. (laughter) So that you are able to handle distractions, so that worldly, small things don’t hold you back. Movies and little pleasure hold you back and keep you in the same circle. I am not saying don’t watch pictures. But prioritize your life from small material gains to higher values. That is what spirituality is all about. That is what the Master is all about. Higher values have to be more attractive to keep you on the higher plane,higher path.Q:
I have seen people blessing the food. What is thesignificance of blessing food?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The carrots, noodles, salad that youate yesterday are now listening to me. They are sitting here. Everything isalive in this universe in some way or the other. So today, when you have lunch,look at the food and welcome it to satsangtonight, to sing and to dance. Ancient people knew this and that is why theysaid to bless the food. Thought is nothing but a quantum of energy andconsciousness. Food absorbs thought. So, bless the food today for lunch. Don’t thinknegative while eating. That is where the negative cycle begins. It is veryscientific.Q:
How to increase our competence to receive knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just have thirst, it comes naturally. There is no special competence required, a mere thirst is enough.Q:
Is feeling helpless is sign of weakness or strength?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Feeling helpless is obviously a sign of weakness but if with that helplessness prayer arises in you then an unknown, unseen, irrefutable strength comes to you. But you can’t force yourself to feel helpless or to pray. It comes automatically.Q:
No matter how sincerely I do sadhana and attend satsang, I am unable to get rid of eating non-vegetarian food. It makes me guilty, please help.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You talk to some of the YES!+* people. They will tell you all the ways. You know the main thing is to save your mind, don’t let guilt enter your mind. Just be natural.Q:
How can we become as big and as fast as this (Art of Living)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I wonder about that too.I think you should have brainstorming sessions, sit with them those teachers and people of that country we can try those other things too and then wait for the time.Yes, there are two things:One is that our efforts, our skills matters.Second is the right time.A combination of both will definitely workQ:
Which is better: satvic guna (calmness, meditation) or triguna ateet (beyond the three gunas {roughly translated as energies})?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you do not have satvic guna, you cannot be triguna ateet.You have to move from tamogun (inertia), to rajogun (that energy which is not used productively in activity and which becomes restlessness) and from rajogun to satogun.
From satogun, you will know mukti (freedom).
However, don’t get attached to satogun. You use soap to wash the dirt off your body. Do you allow the soap to remain on your body?
There’s a saying which says, drown your good deeds in a well. Otherwise, you become attached to them, and doing good deeds will make you arrogant.
When you are not attached to even mukti, then you will be triguna ateet.
There is a quote in Sanskrit:
‘Samam pashyanti sarvatra
up mam pashyati sarvatah’
Krishna says, ‘See equality in everything. The one who sees me in everything and sees everything in me, I won't be apart from him and he won't be different from me.’
* a type of breathing technique
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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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