Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What about people who cannot afford doing The Art of Living course?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, we still give them. Speak to a teacher; those who cannot afford will also get to do the course. Thousands are doing like that.Q:
How to become an angel?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no way. You already are one!Q:
If everything is impermanent, and life is moving at such a speed, how can everything be impermanent? How can the impermanent, and the absolute coexist?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You cannot know impermanence unless there is something permanent. Change is there when there is non-change. To notice changes, there should be a reference point, and that is non-change.Q:
My mirror tells me everyday that I am maturing on outside. Which mirror should I use to measure the growth that is happening inside, my spiritual growth
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, are you more calm, are you more fulfilled, satisfied? You feel a sense of expansion. Turn back and see how you were and how you are today. A simple reflection about yourself gives you an idea.Q:
Is it a sin when we use insect killers to kill insects and mosquitoes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Be in moderation; don’t destroy all the insects but sometimes you may have to use them. Use the natural ones which are not harmful for others. Use those insecticides which cause less harmQ:
Guruji, the path of knowledge is very tough; through devotion can one attain knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, definitely.Q:
Dear Guruji, please say something about Shiva. I am Shiva worshipper and he has brought me to Art of Living and you.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Shiva is the principle in which everything is born, into which everything will go. There is no escape from Shiva. Shiva tatva means Shiva Principle. Shiva is not a person. Shiva is the space, is the consciousness. To describe that they put Shiva in blue. Blue means like the sky. You know, Shiva’s description is so beautiful (reciting a Sanskrit verse) it’s like liberation, liberation from everything. It is the lord, it is the most powerful, it is all over, spread everywhere. There is no place that it is not. It is where all the knowledge is present, that consciousness, that space. It has no attributes. It was never born, Shiva was never born nor has any attributes. It is a Samadhi state where there is nothing, just the inner sky of consciousness. That is what is Shiva. Where there is alertness and no action. To describe the alertness they put a snake around Shiva’s neck. They put a trident in the hands of Shiva - means it is beyond the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping. Shiva is holding a trident that means it is beyond the three states, in the fourth state, which is absolutely benevolent. The one state in which everything exists in the universe -the dark space, the dark energy - scientists today started calling it the dark space and the dark energy - in which everything else exists. The sun, moon, stars, everything exists in this one solid state of consciousness.Q:
Why do some cry when singing bhajans, while others are strong enough to sing or chant without crying?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is natural to cry when the heart opens and tears flow. You’ve seen the video about the chakras, haven’t you? Grief and gratitude are in the throat chakra. When love moves up, gratitude comes. But different people get it at different times. So don’t look around and compare yourself to others and think that something is wrong just because others are crying and you are not.Q:
My boss is very adamant. We have had many conflicts. How do I handle him?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Very easy. Say whatever you want to say the other way around. I want to tell you a small story. This person’s wife was very adamant. She would always do the opposite of what the husband said. The husband was desperate and went to a Swami for advice. The Swami whispered something in his ear. Three months later, the Swami was in the same city and saw that this person looked very happy. The husband thanked the Swamiji and said, “Your trick worked!”Swamiji had advised him to say the opposite of what he wanted! For example, if he wanted fried potatoes, he should tell his wife that he did not want fried potatoes. It’s all about how to handle the mind. Do not talk when communication breaks down. Tough people increase your own skills.Q:
I heard this statement in a religion that we have come on this planet earth so many times that the amount of our mothers' milk we have drunk is, as much as, water in the ocean. Is it not too much? Have we really come here that many times on this planet earth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Never mind! Who keeps a count of how much you drink. There are better things to do. Every day you drink eight litres of water. The figure goes to 1,200 litres of water for a year. This is a conservative figure. If you’re forty years old – imagine how many gallons and gallons of water. And how many truckloads of food?This lifetime itself is a lot to count. Why bother about other lifetimes?
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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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