Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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:
Guruji I love you.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You have no choice.I haven’t left you with an option.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.
Q:
If opposite values are complementary, then am I good or bad or am I both?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why do you put a labels of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ on yourself? Take it off and be natural, be at peace. When we assume a negative quality as our own, we feel guilty and when we assume a positive quality as our own, then we become proud. Both of these are signs of being mentally unhealthy.Surrender both the negative and positive qualities to the Divine.
A person who is surrendered will be good. Surrender brings focus and character in life. Without the development of these two, life is directionless.
Even a little bit of sacrifice helps an individual to blossom. Without sacrifice, the glow does not come up. Sacrifice does not lead to a long, sorrowful face. Renunciates are joyful, whereas the kami (one filled with desires) feels burdened and sad.
Unburdening the Self is surrender, is sadhana.
Q:
Is there any conflict between the Art of Living and any religion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no conflict between the Art of Living and religion. The conflict is in the small mind. For example, the goal of Christianity is to spread peace and love, to pray and serve. The Bible says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is deep inside", and "God is Love", and "Have the innocence of a child and you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven". These are all things that you have all read, but not experienced.Every child needs to know about every religion of the world. A big problem of the world is fanaticism. Education about the human values of every religion will solve this problem. Chinese food is eaten all around the world. Yet, by consuming Chinese food, do you become Chinese? If you listen to Beethoven, do you become German? Do you become Indian by listening to the sitar? Why can't we also have the common wisdom from all religions around the world?
Q:
I am beginning to realize who I am. Seemingly, I am the same as I always was, but with less tension and more clarity. Does self knowledge come at the specific time in a person’s life, and is there any special significance to this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, self knowledge comes by its time. Sunlight will not enter the room just because you have opened the windows. Yet when there is sunlight, it won’t come in if the curtains are closed. For sunlight to come into this room, two things are needed.1) Your effort to keep the curtains opened.
2) It should be the time for sunlight to come.
Q:
When do we lack presence of mind, and when does the learning process stop?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The learning process stops because you watch too much television. This reduces brain activity.You should rest your mind from time to time, by closing our eyes.
Our mind is like a blackboard in a school. If the teachers don’t wipe it after using it, and other teachers keep on using the same blackboard, will it make sense to the students? Our mind is the same. We use it a hundred times but never clean it.
Pranayam, and meditation are useful for cleaning it. They will keep your mind fresh, and ready to learn.
Q:
What is the ideal diet for armed forces personnel? Today alcohol and non-vegetarianism is prevalent almost everywhere.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, you can avoid it. More and more people are becoming vegetarians and teetotallers in the world today. There was a time when vegetarian food was seldom available in college campuses outside India. Today, everywhere there is vegetarianism. People are turning to vegetarianism for health reasons, to avoid the risk of cancer and many other illnesses. So vegetarianism has become much more popular and it will become even more popular in the coming years.Q:
Are you a happy man?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What do you think? nQ:
Why don’t you suggest government to include spiritual knowledge at the level of class 10th, at least in India?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I have been telling it. Now, you all should give voice too.
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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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