Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Out of meditation and prayer which is preferable?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Meditation is a better form of prayer. In prayer you are asking for something. Meditation is saying, ‘I am ready to listen’. Just imagine if somebody only keeps on asking and is not ready to listen to you. Don’t you get frustrated? In the same way, God also gets frustrated but when you sit for meditation, and ready to listen to him, He bestows all the favors to you.Q:
When do you call something mature? I am confused?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When confusion is gone, then you call mature!Q:
Why was Krishna’s navel called Padamnabha (solar plexus)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The solar plexus is called the second brain or mid brain. For a yogi, the solar plexus is larger in size. Scientists have also said this. It is small in a person who doesn’t do yoga and meditation. A yogi who does meditation and yoga has a larger solar plexus. When solar plexus is larger, one is creative and generous. When it is smaller, one is jealous.Lord Krishna is called Padamnabha, his solar plexus was like a fully blossomed flower. Padma not only means lotus, it also means flower. Fully blossomed flower is usually referred to as padma.
Q:
This is my 10th Advance course. But I am not able to get rid of my fear. I don’t know what to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yogasana, do more yogasanas (practice of yoga postures). Yogasanas stretch your nervous system. The endocrine system gets strengthened.Q:
Can the common man attain spirituality?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Only the common man can attain spirituality! If someone thinks they are very special, they cannot!Q:
Dear Guruji, how old are the Vedas? Do we have all the Vedas now? I hear we may have lost some knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are correct! There are four main Vedas. Vedas means a collection of poems- verses heard by Rishis, sages when they went deep in meditation. When someone went deep in meditation, they heard something and whatever they heard, they started telling their students, disciples. So these were truths which were derived or heard and downloaded from the cosmic consciousness. They had a way to download it in those days. The downloading is - close your eyes, meditate and what you notice, what you see - you click and then you download it. Surfing! Surfing around and downloading. So Vedas were downloaded like that.More than one thousand sages or those who are called Rishis - Rishi means the one who saw or one who heard. They saw it, they heard it and they wrote them.They didn't write themselves, they recited and told their students and they recited and so for a long time it was just passed on from one to another - verbally, vocally. That’s why they are called Shrutis.Originally these Vedas were divided into four. Originally the Rigveda had so many- twenty one different branches but today only three are available. Similarly, Yajurveda has some two hundred and eleven branches, but today only few - five or six - are available. Similarly, Samveda – thousand different Samvedic hymns, branches were there. Today only three branches are there. Rest is all lost. During the medieval times in India, when there was so much repeated aggression, those Vedas were all lost.Q:
Guruji, in Jharkand many efforts are being made by saints to do away with the problem of Naxalism but no solution is working.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Naxalites are good people. They need to be given a little understanding and direction. This is because of the lack of religious and spiritual education. If the educational institute includes even a little bit of religiouseducation no one from that institute will turn out to be a Naxalite. In the name of secularism, religious education has been abandoned.Q:
Guruji what qualities should we look for when we choose our life partner?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, (smiling) I don’t have the experience! Ask those who have the experience. And you can take more help from the matrimony department!You know why they say that marriages are made in heaven? It is because the choice is already made for you. You just have to take it and move on. You are free from choices. Move on with what you have on your plate.
You know the best thing is that you don’t focus on the drawbacks. Focus on the positive. In a relationship if both the people have their focus on spirituality then they will move ahead together like parallel lines move, without clashing, to infinity. The moment they will shift their focus and focus on each other, there will be clashes. So it is very important that both are on the spiritual path.
Q:
Do I exist beyond body and soul? And if I do then in what form?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Nothing exists beyond the soul. Beyond the body? Yes. When you realize, you see you are not your body and you will realize thatyourself.Q:
What is the significance of the conch? It is used in every puja or celebration or big event.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In the olden days, people started wars by blowing the conch. Water from conch is used along with chanting associated mantras. There are definite vibrations for each object. The conch is a symbol of auspiciousness and prosperity. Shankhabasma (ashes of the conch) is very good for health. It brings strength in body.In this creation every blade of the grass has importance. Bilva, parijata, neem - all have their significance. More than all this, you are very important. Your consciousness is important. You give importance to the external surroundings and fill your house with garbage, then it is of no use. So first have a pure heart then everything in creation is significant for you.
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