Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
The Bhagavad Gita is very close to my heart. And yet there is a passage in it that confuses me. It is when Arjuna wishes to flee the battle and renounce the world. But Krishna urges him to fulfill his duty by staying put and fighting.How is this advice understood with the principle of non-violence, a concept also central to the Gita? Is it similar to the notion of a just war in Christian and Islamic theology?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The whole essence of the Gita is to act without being attached to the action. It's all about yoga, not about war but your attitude. When you are faced with a situation like war, how do you manage yourself? The worst situation in life is when you have to face a war and when you have to fight not with an enemy, but with some of your own people. When you have to fight with your own brothers and sisters, how do you handle the situation? It's easy to fight a war with an enemy, someone you don’t like. But fighting with someone who is part of your own family is the worst thing.If you can manage your mind in the worst scenario, then you can manage yourself in any situation. Given the extreme example of how you can manage the mind, the consciousness, yourself, that’s the whole essence of the Gita, not the war. Skill in action is yoga.
A similar knowledge was taught by Ashtavakra, in the palace. When your spirit is very high and you want liberation, that was Ashtavakra's state. And when your spirit is so low, totally desperate, completely broken and depressed, that was Arjuna’s state. At that time the same knowledge of the Self was given to him in the Bhagavad Gita.
Q:
Can you please tell how does one get rid of doubt?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, doubt is always about something that is positive. You always doubt the honesty of a person, and never doubt the dishonesty of a person. When someone tells you, "I love you", you ask really? When someone tells you, “I hate you”, you never ask them really. Isn’t it? You are not sure about your happiness. When someone asks about our happiness, we say, "Well, I am not sure." But we are so sure of our depression. We never doubt our weakness, we always doubt our capabilities. If you observe, all good things like love, happiness, honesty, and sincerity are being doubted. So, any doubt must be good.Q:
What is the relation between meditation, sleep and dream?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You have used three different words; you first tell me what definition do you have for these three?Meditation is when you are awake as well as relaxed.
You don’t know anything in deep sleep. Only after you wake up, you get to know that you were sleeping. And a dream is a dream. The experiences that you already have had, when those reflect again in your mind, your consciousness, that is dream.
Q:
How do you deal with people who think they are right all the time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They may be saying that but they realize when they have taken a wrong step. They cannot justify that they took a wrong turn but they know it. They don’t have courage to admit the wrong thing. So you be compassionate to those who say that they are right all the time.Q:
How does one stop the flow of negative thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Negative thoughts are due to three reasons. If your blood circulation is not good, if the lymphatic system is not ok or if bowel movement is irregular. In all these cases negative thoughts are likely. You can go on a fruit diet and cleanse your intestines. Then, pranayama will help. Take Triphala (an ayurvedic supplement) for a few days. Do yoga, pranayama and meditation. You will definitely find a difference. Group sadhana (practice) will also help.Q:
How were you able to establish three centers in Pakistan?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The people of Pakistan are very good. They just do the Sudarshan Kriya. We have teachers there. When you are stuck in concepts, you are in the box. It is when you get an experience that you can come out of the box.Q:
What is Brahamcharaya?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I have talked about this in Yogasutras. You should listen to that. Brahama means infinite consciousness. Establishing mind in that infinite consciousness is Brahamcharaya.Q:
Sometimes I feel good and sometimes bad. How to balance?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Keep silence for a few days and then essential right things will come out.Q:
Dearest guruji, this is the first time I am seeing so much of your blessed glory. Can you tell me how to learn to love myself and respect myself so that I can become a good mother. I inflict harm on my body because I don’t feel worthy. What should I do? Your answer would be most appreciated. Jai Gurudev.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First of all, don’t think you don’t love yourself. Who says this? Even a person who commits suicide loves himself too much, that’s why he commits suicide. Such a person doesn’t want pain, can’t tolerate pain. So, when people who can’t bear some little pain or suffering, and want only happiness, they commit suicide. They love themselves too much. They don’t love others. If the person who is committing suicide loves his mother or daughter or wife or husband or his near and dear one, how would he/she commit suicide? If one care for others, he/she would never commit suicide.They should know if they hang themselves, they will bring problem to his/her fellow beings making them miserable and sad. So, one commits suicide because of loving oneself too much.So, never doubt your love for yourself. Who says you don’t love yourself? It’s impossible, because you are love.It’s only misplaced. Somewhere you don’t get it right. And you are in the right place. As of now, not a single mother is born on this planet who is bad. As a mother, don’t think that you are a bad mother. Impossible! So, just relax and move on with your work.Don’t analyze too much about what happened because there is always imperfection in any action we do. This is an important thing to know. No action, whatever, on this planet earth is perfect. Every action has a dot of imperfection in it. But we should keep acting. Even the worst act has got a good dot in it, whereas the best action has got one flaw in it. It’s either 98 percent good and 2 percent bad or 2 percent good and 98 percent bad. This is what happens in all the actions. So don’t focus so much on the flaws in an action. Keep acting, as long as it is 98 percent good. Ya?Q:
Children don’t care about their parents when they grow up. So many old age homes are there. Where do we fail as parents and what is your advice to parents so that this situation could be controlled?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That is why I am saying these three types of trust are very important – Trust in oneself, in goodness of others and in the Divine. A little bit of religion, moral and spiritual values, and the way you treat your parents and ask them to treat their grandparents can make an impact on them. So, you tell your children to take care of their grandparents. They will start doing that way.
Displaying 6611 - 6620 of 7928
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