Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji whenever I think of you I become very emotional, tears begin to roll down and my heart starts melting. What to do? Is it good or bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t tag your emotions as good or bad. When your heart opens up tears come, it’s natural. Let it be. It is said in scriptures that tears of love are so precious that even angels run to collect them. Even on heaven, there are no tears of love. The most wonderful thing on the planet, on earth is to have tears of love, tears of gratitude. That indicates that our life is glorious. That makes our life rich and fulfilled. Fulfillment in life is when you have tears of gratitude and that comes by luck. You can’t manufacture tears of gratitude; you can’t put glycerin and have tears of gratitude coming in. When you realize what all you have received in life, your heart opens up.Q:
Under your guidance, there is no discrimination on the basis of religion, then why are there different religious symbols displayed here (in The Vishalakshi Mantap, meditation hall)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They are on the pillars and not in the mind and heart. If someone says he is a Hindu, Jain etc, we would tell them to hang it on the pillar and be free from within!Q:
There are so many practices, so many paths. Which one should I choose?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yoga is everything together. Everything comes along with it.Sudarshan Kriya will help. This suits today’s young minds that are very busy with schedules all around, and can’t work with too many conditions. In a short time, with deep experiences and no side effects.
Q:
Can you throw some light on Bhakti Yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you sit in the Ganga aarti in the evening, you will find everybody singing so beautifully and a wave of devotion. Bhakti yoga is seeing the Divine as mine and oneself as belonging to the Divine, and all that exists belongs to the Divine.Q:
If someone is not a Brahman, can he do Upnayana* and would he get social recognition?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes.Q:
My heartiest gratitude to you. Who are you Gurudev?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
: First, you know yourself. Why are you putting your effort in knowing me? You don’t know who you are. First, know that how many times have you come in this world? When you know yourself, it will be very easy to know me.Q:
Guruji, I read somewhere that chanting OM is not good for women. Please elaborate.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Maybe some man has written that book! (laughter) Perhaps they are afraid that women may become more powerful, intelligent, independent and stronger than men. All this is not true. In the Middle Ages, some people spread this message with the selfish motive of keeping the knowledge only to themselves.Q:
If one desires to have something with all the heart, does he/she get it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If it is good for you, you will get that.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:
Have you ever cursed anyone?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, never happened a chance to do that. When you are full, the need to give curse never arises; it may happen in those who feel some lack.
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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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