Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
When I come here I find so much peace and harmony. How can I take this same peace and harmony back to Kashmir also?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You also come up with ideas, I will also think. More youth like you should come from Kashmir, experience this and go back and serve. We will start the Art of Living in Kashmir and make it big. If you all resolve, we will definitely do it. We can do organic farming there. We can train more teachers, all can heal and bless them, bring happiness in them. We already have a residential school there. We all need to do more and more.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.
Q:
Why is there suffering in love?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Without knowledge, there is suffering in love too. Despite knowledge, if there is suffering, then accept it. That is the nature of love.Q:
I want to love and accept myself but it seems difficult. Please, maybe you could really advise me on how to get through it. Thank you.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My dear, you are love, don’t try to love yourself.Don’t say: ‘I want to love myself; I want to love myself…’
There is a movement here in the Europe. They get up at 3 o’clock in the morning, sit on their beds, look into the mirror and for two hours keep repeating: ‘I love myself, I love myself…’
A couple from this movement was in Switzerland at the same time that we had a course. A couple from our Art of Living course met them in a coffee shop. So, both couples started talking and shared about what they do. So, our Art of Living couple said: ‘You know, we simply love ourselves.’
The wife of that gentleman that does the process every morning said: ‘No, we get up at 3 am and for two hours we repeat: ‘I love myself; I love myself.’ So, the Art of Living couple said: ‘Why don’t you just do our course? It will make a difference.’ So they did the course and afterwards the wife said: ‘Oh, it is such a relief. Now, my husband doesn’t have to get up in the morning, and sit on the bed.’ She would get a headache while he kept doing this practice. She had become miserable. Finally, their relationship was at the edge of breaking. After the Art of Living course, they are now a happy couple.
You are love. Forget about loving yourself. You, anyways, love yourself. There is no need for you to go on repeating it. You should take certain things for granted. Like if you say: I am in Germany. You know you are, you don’t have to repeat it to yourself.
How do I know I am in Germany? And someone comes and tells you to repeat every day: ‘Oh, I am in Germany; I am in Germany…’ If you keep reminding yourself, then you would be taken to a mental hospital.
You know that you are in Germany.
Similarly, take it for granted that you love yourself. You love positive or negative qualities, however you are. You are beyond the qualities, you are not your positive or your negative qualities, you are something beyond both of them. When you acknowledge this, just know that this is it.
Some people say: ‘Oh, I don’t look beautiful.’ Who cares whether you look beautiful or not? Why are you bothered so much?
Q:
Guruji, yesterday you talked about prana level. You said for human beings it is between 7 and 16. How do one find out?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
All that you have to do is increase your prana level and you are doing it. Pranayama, meditation - all this increases your prana level.Q:
How is meditation important for disaster victims?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Relief from trauma comes only through meditation. Counseling is only at the surface.The source of joy is deep within. Events are impermanent. You will not allow any event to stick on to the mind mirror. You are unfazed by events. Keeping the mind like a clean mirror – that is what yoga is all about.People not on the spiritual path never feel fulfilled.Q:
Guruji you arrive and the entire atmosphere changes. What can we do to achieve the same?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is your responsibility to transform the atmosphere wherever you go. You can do it too. By doing meditation and practices, our body produces such vibrations that everybody around us gets the benefit, not just us alone.Q:
I don’t know whether I should give importance to family or to my career.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You have to look out for your career. Your parents will be happy when you have a career. If you have no job and you sit at home, will they be happy? No! Then they (family and career) have both come together.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:
Is it true that I have to love myself before others love me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My dear, you are love when you relax. Let go of the feverishness and desire. You are love. You don’t have to sit and say to yourself, ‘I am love’. You don’t have to make an effort. It is a noun. Your name is love. During a course in Switzerland, I was talking on the yoga sutras of Patanjali. A couple of participants went to have acappuccino during the break time. Nearby they met people, who said that they used to follow some other path and they were exchanging notes. They said, ‘We wake up at 3:00 in the morning. Sit and repeat I love myself for about an hour!’ We sleep well and love ourselves!If someone tells you, ‘you don’t love yourself’ – it is not true. Even if you are inflicting misery upon yourself, even then you love yourself because misery brought attention to you. When you understand this you will snap out of this tendency.
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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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