Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Where do you go when you meditate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I do not go anywhere, I just be everywhere.Q:
What is more important, ones upbringing or one’s cast? People who believe in cast system and religion are against intercast marriages. So what matters most-the values of that human or the cast and religion of that human?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
One should see the humanity the most.Q:
Do you ever get angry? What is the solution to anger?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is a very important question. In the 55 years of my life, I have never said a harsh word. I could not do it. The worst I have ever said is, “You stupid.”Sometimes I want to show anger and people don’t believe me. That is my problem. Things work better with some anger. Anger is good if you are aware of it. It should last only as long as a line drawn on a water surface lasts. Some carry over anger from the previous day, previous month, or ten years ago. The mind suffers. Get out of anger, frustration, jealousy and greed. Meditation will help. Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya and yoga are the answers.
Q:
Can you speak on the subject of marriage and our attachment to this idea?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I’m not so qualified to speak about marriage; I have no experience of it! It is an important institution which teaches you how to accept and move on in life, how to care for and share with another and to be shared and cared. I can give you some tips.At the end of the talk, Sri Sri invited everyone to visit India.
Mahalo!
Q:
Is violent action ever appropriate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A conscious action taken to curb violence may appear to be violent itself. In fact it is not. However, I am not for capital punishment. I feel there is a chance to bring reformation in every body. Have compassion for the ones who do hurtful things and have no remorse. Have compassion for their lack of education and recognize that there is a victim inside the culprit.Q:
Why is it so difficult to let go and surrender the past, what should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t do anything. Just live in the past. It’s not easy to live in the past. Accept it. Encounter it. You are in the right place. Surrendering the past is not trying to run away from it. Alright, move on. Embrace the past with both arms. It is ok to have had the experiences. Don’t be afraid of it. You can handle it. It won’t go if you are tying to avoid it or being averse to it. Somebody is making a book that describes the five levels of surrender. How do you define surrender? Surrender has been misused so many times. First type of surrender comes into play when there is failure. When you are defeated, or you are miserable, you let go. Letting go, when life is a burden or mainly associated with defeat, is one type of surrender. Another type of surrender, which happens out of love, like a mother’s love for a child. Nothing else is important to her. If it is a choice between her own pleasure and that of the child, she will choose the child’s pleasure. In a love relationship between husband and wife, they feel completely at ease, fearless, with no concerns. A mother is so attached to the child; She willingly gives up small inconveniences or pleasures because she loves the child so dearly. Third type of surender mostly happens with knowledge. There is nothing anyways. It happens when you surrender to God. Fourth type is knowing that it is an illusion. Thinking that you have to give up something which you do not have is an illusion. This is the surrender of wisdom, it is just a sense of ease, knowing it all belongs to the one. This very state of surrender leads to the same place - the small mind opening to the big Self.Q:
When God is everything then who does wrong actions? Why it is that someone is a saint and someone a thief?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The way you act, God awards the fruit of the action accordingly. If you steal, God will come to you as a policeman. Your actions, good or bad, decide your experience of joy and sorrow. Joy and sorrow are the outcomes of your discretion; it depends on your discretion in performing actions. It is ok if you drink one glass of milk. But what happens if you drink three kilos of milk? Without the use of discretion, nectar can turn to be poison.Q:
How can we overcome fear of death?
Q:
Can you please say something about Sri Aurobindo and what his message and life were about?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, when you are asking about Sri Aurobindo, you already know. He wished more and more people would meditate. So the seed he had sown meant greater access to the collective consciousness. It's happening now. Those days it was very dull, although a few French people really caught on to it.Q:
Can you please speak on success and failure?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Failure is a step towards success. Success is a measure of a part of your ability. You have expressed little bit of your potential and that is success.
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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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