Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
I am constantly afraid I will commit a sin, and God will not forgive my sins, including those from the past.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
C'Mon! (applause) Don't make God look so cruel. I will be your advocate. (applause) God is an ocean of forgiveness, of compassion. Don't put such ideas in the mind. Just move on. It's the temptation of pleasure that irritates you. But the greatest temptation is God himself. Do your practices. Read Yoga Vashista, Ashtavakra Gita, and this will bring you to the path. If something happens, move ahead.Q:
Should one follow the heart or the head?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A combination of both.Q:
When will India be fully progressed and how?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When youth like you start thinking about what you can do.Q:
Does our past life karma decide who we meet in this life? In this life, are we meeting the people we knew in our past lives?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, perhaps.You know your mind always wants something new and the heart look s for something old. That’s why fashion is a topic of the mind. You want the latest technology, and the latest fashion. But if you like someone, then you believe that you have known them forever. The heart always takes pride in the old. That is why love is always considered as something old, or ancient. You have been there forever. You never say, “This is a fresh love of mine today.” You say, “Old is gold.”
So heart, or emotions take pride in the ancient, and the old. The mind always takes pride in the new, the fresh, and the latest.
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:
Does God sleep, and get tired of us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
God sleeps only in India. Here, as we know that God is sleeping, we don’t have any fear. We believe that since God is sleeping, we can get away with anything.This is a very deep topic. God is sleeping, and you are awake. Yet, you wish God a Good Morning, sing Suprabhatams, Balaji Suprabhatam, do Devi jagran. Scholars have established this –Humanity wakes up first and then they awaken God. This is a unique ritual among humans. Yet, there is something very subtle in this. These rituals signify that:
In a stubborn individual, awaken humanness.
In a human being, awaken the Divinity.
Like a seed that sprouts into a bud first, and then a flower, a human being blossoms only when humanness, and Divinity is awakened.
God is present in every cell of your body. We think God is resting because he is tired. But no! Lord Vishnu (a Hindu God) is depicted lying down, and a lotus comes out of his navel, followed by Brahma. Creation came later, first the strength to nurture was born. (In Hindu philosophy, Vishnu is considered to be the Sustainer of the Universe.)
Many people believe that God is tired after working. No, no! For God, creation is effortless. Like for a housewife, making tea is effortless – she can talk, sing and still make the tea.
Q:
Bomb dropped in Hiroshima, etc... All the major atrocities result from decisions made by politicians...
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Politicians need to be spiritual. When you have compassion and caring you would not do that. Gandhi would never have done such things. Sometimes people are blind to any reason, but they would not turn to extreme measures unless it is absolutely unavoidable.There is a saying in Sanskrit - first with peace, then with forgiveness, then with compassion. If nothing works, finally, take the stick.
Q:
In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says that one must not care about the result of his work. But if we do not think about the fruits that follow our hard work, then what will motivate us to do that hard work?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no control over the fruit of action. If the attention is only on the end result, then you can’t perform.Let us take a runner - if he starts looking behind at who is running, and not looking at the path he needs to run on, then ultimately he will lose, no matter how good the runner may be. You have to follow your own track, to complete the run whether you lose or win. Lord Krishna is utterly practical in his advises. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: This is complex, but these are the ways to do it.
Q:
Guruji, many times you have clarified that the Master is the presence and not the physical entity but when I see you I get so mesmerized with your appearance, your actions. Please tell me what to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Simply realize that you appreciate what you have. You are also beautiful. Inside each one of us there is beauty. We all have all these virtues inside us. Some virtues are manifested and some will soon manifest.Q:
How to attain mukti(liberation) while living in a household?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
ven while living in a household, the desire for liberation arises, right? If the desire is there then liberation is not very far. Usually when we are tired of something we wish to be free from it. When you are filled with Divine love, then there is no desire for liberation nor sadness due to bondage.
Displaying 5761 - 5770 of 7916
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.
Mehr