Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What is the meaning of the shloka- akhanda mandal akaram, vyaptam yena characharam, tad padam darshitam yena tasmai shri guruve namah?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The Guru who gives us the experience of the eternally present consciousness – we bow down to that Guru.Q:
Where did you get the inspiration to create such a beautiful place?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When the mind is pleasant, so is the world. Wherever in the world, people come together to meditate in our courses, they say that they feel like they are in heaven. Also, places where people come together to meditate acquire significance.Wherever you are, you can create a heaven around you!
Q:
I have feelings of absolute isolation and find myself alone among friends. There is no feeling of belongingness.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do not sit and worry about feelings. They keep changing. Who cares? Why bother? One minute you feel very good, the other moment you feel bad. Put your life energy into some useful, social work, commitment, some direction. Bring some result in the world. You may suddenly feel good, suddenly very bad. The world doesn't care for your feelings nor does God. The Nature, world will ask you what have you done?Q:
Guruji, we have two requests for you. Why don’t you come more often to Chennai and start an ashram here?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Tomorrow we are going to get a meditation hall started here. You all should come here and meditate.Q:
How do we know that self realization has happened or not?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What is the proof that you have pain in your leg? How do you come to know that you have pain in the leg? Once self realization happens then such questions will not arise. Asking others if you are self realized or not is ignorance. We don’t need any proof once self realization has happened. Like your pain is itself the proof, similarly self realization is itself the proof. But also don’t have fancies and imaginations of how self realization is going to be. Be simple, natural. You are, what you are, therefore relax. Self realization doesn’t happen by doing something but by relaxing and you can relax only after you have done something.Once you do pranayama, asanas, rajoguna nivrit hota hai (one rises above the rajoguna) and then satvaguna arises. When that happens, we can meditate and are awakened. Satvaguna will not arise till you sleep properly.
One can rise above tamoguna through rajoguna and to rise above rajoguna, one needs to relax and be active.
In the Bhagwad Geeta it is said, yuktahara-viharasya yoga bhavati siddhitah.
Samadhi is neither for those who oversleep nor for those who work with extreme wakefulness throughout the day. A balance has to be maintained.
* On Ananta Chaturdashi day, Ananta Padmanabha Swamy (Lord Vishnu) is worshipped.
Q:
My wife was not cooperative and we had a fight. I stepped outside briefly, but by the time I got back, she hung herself and committed suicide. Now I feel guilty, that I could have stopped her somehow. How can I overcome this grief?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Whatever happened, don't sit and brood over it. Each moment is the start of a new life.Whatever happened, had to happen, don't sit and think I could have done this or that, it is of no use.
Leave your burden, clear the mind, and move on.
Q:
Guruji, why is it that sometimes you answer certain questions and sometimes you don’t?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is a right time and place for every answer. If questions are asked at the wrong time, then silence is the answer.Q:
What is the place of spirituality in life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you want to watch television what would you choose - to see or hear first? Both simultaneously. Similarly, the spiritual path brings energy, enthusiasm, creativity and calmness in your life. They are absolutely essential. That is like body and mind, both go together.Life is a combination of ethereal and spiritual. Something not tangible and something very tangible, the body.
Q:
If we use valor to handle a situation, elders feel we have forgotten our manners. How to handle the situation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t justify your anger as valor. If you’re arrogant, and behave rudely, your behavior cannot be justified.Valor is an inner phenomenon. It gives immense patience, perseverance and inner strength.
It does not mean screaming, and shouting. Screaming, and shouting means you are weak.
If you’re really strong, you will just smile.
You move with confidence. You will be unfazed. That is valor.
This is one side of the story. The other side is that whatever you do, someone will criticize you. You will be blamed if you act, and even if you don’t act. If you speak, or don’t speak.
You can’t keep pleasing everyone.
If your focus is on finding shortcomings, either in yourself or in others, you cannot raise higher.
Recognize that if someone gives a comment, reflect on it. If there is some truth, accept it.
If not, then thank them and move on.
Don’t ask them why. Just say: ‘I appreciate your perception’ and move on.
Q:
How do I enter politics? Is it only for the rich or those with a political background?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is not the case. It’s all about people. People come first. Become a good social worker, people will automatically vote for you. First you must work among the people. I know somebody who worked a lot for the betterment of villages and people of villages not only voted for him but also gave him Rs10 per person for the elections.
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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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