Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji, when are you coming to my home? I want to cook Rice pudding (Kheer) for
you and serve it to you.
you and serve it to you.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you have to make a wish then make a great wish. This is just a small wish. If many people wish to do the same then I would have to change my name to Ganesh. So make a wish that everyone stops the use of alcohol and drugs, and takes interest in meditation. More and more people start to walk on the spiritual path and start to live in knowledge. Drop your small wishes and start blessing people with the wish that their work is done. This knowledge has such power that you can do anything in the world. All of us have that capacity. You start using yourwill power, mind power. This will benefit you and others also. How many of you have already experienced this? See a lot of people have such experiences. You know you keep stepping up from success to success. There is no option of stepping down.
Q:
If atma (spirit) is neither created nor destroyed then from where do these new souls come? How is the population of the world increasing?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My dear, so many animals are also getting extinct. Very few sparrows are left, many crocodiles are missing. Like this, many other species are missing. Just imagine. I think you will get the rest of your answer.Q:
I want to quit addiction to intoxicants and have come to you with a lot of hope.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good. You have come to the right place. If you wish to get rid of a bad habit then there are only three ways for it.The first is your love for knowledge, the Divine or some dear one - whether parents or Guru. By promising some dear one that you will quit the habit you will be able to get rid of it. This is the best way out.
The second way is greed. If you will not consume intoxicants for six months then you will get ten million rupees or that your luck will shine and you will succeed in everything. The third is fear - if one day you do consume intoxicants, then you will suffer a loss of one million or you will have to suffer from a major ailment.
If such a greed or fear enters you, even then you will be rid of your addiction.
Along with these three ways, do yoga and pranayama. The best is that along with yoga and sadhana (spiritual practices), you take a vow that you will not indulge in addictions. Take a vow for forty days, then six months and then a year. After that, you would have come out of the habit and won’t look back at it.
Q:
Sometimes I am confused whether it’s my mind or whether it’s my true self. How do I clarify which is which?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know doubts always come when something is positive. Do you know about it? How many of you don’t know? Raise your hands. You know if someone tells you ‘I love you very much’. You say ‘Really’? But if someone tells you ‘I hate you’, you never say ‘really’, - correct? And similarly you doubt your capabilities; you never doubt your weaknesses. If someone asks you are you happy you say oh I’m not too sure. But you’re so sure about your depression. Correct? So that’s why our doubt is always about something that is positive. We doubt in the honesty of someone, we never doubt in the dishonesty of someone.Q:
Can you say something about how to make a relationship last?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are various ways but the best is intuitive, your intuition. If in the relationship, both come from the point of giving then there will be no problem, but if both want to take, there will be fights. I am here to contribute, what I can do for you? Then your relationship will last longer.Q:
Silence is not so cheerful. It brings a lot of sadness. What is the best way to deal with this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Something deep inside is coming out, so let it come out. It is like vacuuming the carpet, and removing the dust mites. So, never mind, let it come out. From meditation, the practices, it will come out.Q:
Guruji, I have anger and arrogance in me. In anger, I lose awareness. Please tell me some remedy.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you are angry at yourself, you get angry with others also.When you are angry at others you get angry at yourself for getting angry.
This is like a pendulum. We have to stop this.
It’s ok if you get angry. Don’t get angry because you got angry. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you feel bad. Life is like a jungle. Thorns are also there, flowers are also there, fruits, peacocks, deer, lions, tigers everything is there. Have a holistic approach.
Just be natural, easy and relax. Take things as they come and move forward. Don’t get stuck in a place. The mind plays so many tricks to keep you miserable. Sing, meditate, serve. Be part of service. We have to save our mind.
Q:
You once said that forgiveness is a cure. Is forgiveness the formula to make peace between Israelis and Arabs?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Let go of the past and find a new future. From independence to inter-dependence. That is what we have to understand. Independence was a slogan of the past era. Everyone wanted to be independent so that they could be prosperous, but today prosperity does not come from independence it comes from understanding the inter-dependence. This needs to be educated to people. There is also an identity crisis. A person thinks ‘I am a Muslim’ or ‘I am a Christian’ or ‘I am a Hindu’ or ‘ I am Buddhist’ and those who are not, do not belong to me. They look like an enemy.They need to shift this type of thinking to: - first and foremost, our identity is that we are all human beings. Then, we belong to a certain gender of either male or female. The third identity is that of religion and then finally to a particular nation. If the priority of identity is in the right place I think conflicts can be resolved very quickly.
Q:
What is beauty and how to enhance it within and around us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First of all you should know you have a beautiful mind. The mind is free, it is loving, beautiful, satisfied and not feverish. So when the spirit is centred or your mind is centred, that beauty shines through.Q:
Should we believe in superstition?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Once you know that it is superstition, then how can you believe it? If your brain and reasoning says it is illogical and not good, then what is the point of it? You should move away from it.
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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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