Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
(A member of the audience asked this question. It was inaudible.)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are trying to please them in your own way. If they are not happy, it is their fate, their luck. That is why there is a saying in Sanskrit, ‘No one can cause suffering or bring comfort to anyone. Everyone experiences pleasure or pain according to his/her own karma.’Q:
Why is the body cremated in the Hindu religion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The world has a big population. Less space is taken up; land is so expensive. The body goes to Nature. Bones remain and are given to the river. Once the body is cremated, 700g to a maximum of 1kg of bones and ashes remain. The soul becomes free.Q:
What is more important happiness or performing one’s duty?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Both. You have to perform your duty and you have to be happy. Why do you want to have a choice between these two? Hmm... If there is a choice, go for duty first because if you are unhappy it may be momentary, right? Happiness is there, will come. But if you are choosing happiness before duty then you will be unhappy in the end. So it’s better to be unhappy in the beginning than keep it a long, long program.Q:
Please talk about forgiveness and karma? Are they related? When someone forgives you, does that reduce our bad actions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes. Forgiveness is a quality of a matured mind. A cultured, civilised, matured, intelligent person will always forgive.Q:
How can I offer both positive and negative to God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just let go. If you find it difficult, just live in the present moment. Now, now. The past is gone. The future is yet to come.Q:
Guruji, you had said last time that one’s focus should be on oneself or on the master. But the mind tends to be drawn to others frequently making comparisons.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
At least you are aware that the mind is comparing with others. That means you are already becoming free from it, somewhat. Gradually it will move away completely.Q:
In the beginning days when we take the japa mantra it feels special. It doesn’t feel the same later. How to maintain the same feeling, how to make our mantra more effective?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t try to make anything. Whenever you remember just know it’s very sacred, very special, take it that way. You know usually when you get into the cold water, when you go to the Ganga the first time, you take a dip. The water is very cold but once you are in the water it is not that cold, so your body gets used to it. In the same way, in-between, you have to come out and go in and then you feel cold again. So you don’t need to worry about it and again and again whenever you feel grateful you feel it as special. Gratefulness always comes in waves.Q:
Some people say that bhatki yoga is more superior than all other yoga… (A member of the audience asked this question. It was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you take one, everything else will come behind. If you draw one leg of this chair, will not all the others come along? See, Bhakti means love.Q:
Is homosexuality a sin? Is it possible to change the orientation of a human being by Sadhana and Spiritual Practices?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, these tendencies come in you because you are made up of both mother and father, a combination of two. Everybody has both male genes and female genes. When male chromosomes are dominating or when female chromosomes are dominating, these tendencies come and go. You don’t have to brand yourself about that. It can all change. There is a possibility of those tendencies changing. Know that you are more than just the body. You are a scintillating consciousness, energy. You are sparkling light, and so, identify yourself with that light more.Q:
Can meditation happen if the person next door snores a lot? (laughter)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Many options. Poke them. If they continue, accept it. If you find it is irritating you more and more, get up and sit somewhere else.
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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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