Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
How to make this life blossom?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Life blossoms in rest. Two things are important in life- when we are in Nivriti (meditation), we have to see everything as ok and believe that it is all being done by God and He is watching over. When we do this, strength, wisdom and devotion increase and then Pravritti (action) comes up automatically.When we come to Pravritti and see fault in everything, then we can correct it but if the fault-finding tendency stays forever then we get frustrated. Thus we need a balance of both - ‘It is ok’ and ‘It is not ok’. We should also have the strength to correct what is not ok.
Pravitti is knowing that if it is not correct, we can and will correct it. The belief that everything is ok, will be ok in the future and ‘I am ok the way I am’ is Nivriti.
When Pravitti and Nivriti are balanced, then life blossoms naturally.
Q:
How does one know exactly what one wants? Is it so confusing to know what one wants?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This question is very confusing. If we have some clarity in the question, then the answer will be clear. Answers to unclear questions create more confusion.Q:
Are there any plus points of doing a job other than earning money
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Money and experience. That’s all and some discipline. If you have to do a job you have to discipline your life in a certain fashion.Q:
How to develop mastery over hunger and sleep?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Rise above them naturally; not by force. Hunger and sleep are the dharma of the body. Don’t enforce limitations upon yourself. Integrate knowledge into your life. Study the Bhagvad Gita.Q:
What is mumukshtatvam?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Mumukshtatvam is asking God for mukti (freedom). When you tell God that you have done everything, met people, talked to people, eaten enough, gone to enough parties, and now you want to be free, that is mumukshtatvam.Q:
How can we resolve the problem of increasing rates of crime and poverty?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A shift from secularism to spiritualism is the solution to crime. This spiritual education must be given to children. Removing greed from the heart is the solution to poverty.Everyone must take responsibility and think ‘What can I do?’
Q:
Sometimes I find many vikaras (flaws) in myself and think that I don't deserve to be on the path. What can I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Get rid of guilt. Till now you were suffering from guilt and weren’t even aware of it. Now that you are aware you can’t bear it. This makes you a seeker. So many have dropped their vikaras. Keep doing satsang, seva and get into the depths of meditation - it will rid you of the vikaras and the old impressions will be washed. If you were completely hopeless you wouldn’t even have got a chance to come here, on the path of satsang. You have done something good - direct your vision to the good as well.Q:
Why are we on earth? Is it to remove our karma or for something else?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Give love, gain knowledge and remove karma – that is the purpose of life!Q:
I feel that prayers do not come from my heart. What to do to pray from the heart?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Nothing. Do not do anything about it, just be natural. You cannot force yourself to like anything or force love and devotion. The more effort you make, the longer it takes. Be clear about two things. First, never doubt someone’s love for you or your love for someone else. Second, don’t make an effort to love or insist that someone should love you. These are the impediments on the path of love.Q:
Can you speak about the significance of the solar eclipse?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, everything affects everything else in the world. A small homeopathic tablet affects a human body of 80 or 90kg. Even a few seconds of exposure to x-rays on your body is enough to make a picture. Unseen rays can make an impact on your life and breath, on the body.When the sun, moon and earth come in one line, then it has an impact on the cosmic energy, the gravitation and fluids especially. The moon has an impact on water. More than 70 percent of our body is made up of water. A cosmic phenomenon has an impact on the body as well.
Our ancient seers have studied this phenomenon very deeply. They describe how rays of a particular planet are connected to particular grains on the earth. Bengal gram (chickpea) and Mars have similar vibrations. Moong dal (split bean) and Mercury have similar vibrations. Sesame seeds and Saturn have similar vibrations.
Every planet has an influence on the grains, animals and particular parts of the human body. One cell multiplies into hair, nails, liver, kidneys, tissues…all are different parts of the body. One of the Rishis (saints) have said the body has 330 million types of gene patterns. In the system, it is inbuilt.
You are connected with nature.
In the Artic region, the sun doesn’t rise for six months! People get depressed with no sunrise. Similarly, people go crazy when there is no sunset for months on end. At 1’o’ clock in the night, the sun shines brightly like it is the afternoon. In Sweden, when I asked them, “What time the sun rise?”, they said, “January 20th” .
No sun for 2 months! It definitely has an impact on the mind and the body.
Where there is more sun, rice grows, where there is little sun, rice doesn’t grow. Rice is always connected to the sun. Objects in the universe appear to be different but they all are linked.
In our body, the eyes are connected to the sun. The nose is represented by Jupiter, forehead to Mercury, cheeks to Venus, and teeth to Saturn. Emotions are also similarly connected. Every part of the body is a part of the cosmos as well. It is an amazing science, there is amazing knowledge. The deeper you go into it, the more it unfolds.
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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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