Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
When we meditate you say don’t put any effort, but a part of you wants to put effort because there is a feeling that there is nothing to do. What to do with that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do bhastrika, asanas. Put effort in that. When you sit for meditation you don’t need to put any effort. See for catching a train you need to make an effort, but once you are inside the train with your baggage you needn’t keep running inside. That would not get you to your destination any faster. Once you have boarded you can simply relax. Just as on a flight, all seats will reach at the same time to the same place.Q:
Guruji I work in a hospital where people are dying and I am hoping to bring this yoga there. I am facing a little difficulty in understanding what is the difference between the yoga of living and the yoga of dying?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You must have heard by now, yoga has eight limbs.. I don’t know how much of pranayama and asanas(postures) you can make someone do when they are sick and dying. It may not be possible at all. Some good bhajans(uplifting music), soft and instrumental music will also help. This is called laya yoga. Some words of wisdom will help. This is gyan yoga. Your mere presence there will help. Your being there without any effort will help. When we are in the ‘doing’ consciousness, thinking what to do, we reduce our energy. When we are in the ‘being’ consciousness, suddenly the light, air and energy come in you. You can make them feel better with that presence and energy of yours.There are three things which are very important whenever you sit for meditation:
1. I want nothing for next 20 minutes or half an hour.
2. I do nothing.
3. I am nothing.
Any effort is an impediment in meditation and so ‘I do nothing’. And then if you have any notions about yourself, I am rich, I am poor, I am intelligent or I am stupid, you can’t go into meditation. You cannot progress on the spiritual path. So you have to come to this – I am nothing.
These are the three golden rules which I feel are very important and with which you can sink deep into meditation.
Q:
I can’t meditate, please advise.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you watch TV, you get into meditation – There is no such thing that mind cannot meditate. Wherever your mind goes, whatever it likes, there meditation occurs. You need to move from “word’ (shabdha) meditation to “wordless”(nishabhda) meditation. We separate life and knowledge, but walk in life knowing that knowledge is life, life is knowledge. Just as our relationships are manmade, join that relationship/connection with knowledge.Q My nature is happiness but am overcome with periods of sadness – how do I overcome these periods?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Offer them to the Divine. Do your practices and meditate. Sometimes waves of worry/sadness take over. Just know that it’s a temporary phase, it’s a passing cloud and it’ll disappear.
Q:
How can I have positive qualities?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you think you don’t have any positive qualities, you will never have them. Think that you have all the positive qualities – they are only taking a little time to manifest.Q:
What happens to the consciousness of a person when it dies? Does it enter another body or get dissolved in the universal consciousness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is both. A part of the consciousness is all pervading and a part remains. It is like the air in the balloon, it is trapped in the impressions, and then it comes back.Q:
What is more important: what the Guru thinks about the disciple or what the disciple thinks about the Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The Guru does not think at all. The Guru also wants the disciple to stop thinking. What will you get by thinking? Whatever we think in the state of ignorance is always wrong.Q:
I have benefited a lot after doing the YES+ course but a problem has emerged in life too. Previously, I used to ask my parents for every small thing, but I started taking some decisions of my own after doing YES+. Now my mother feels insecure about our relationship, she thinks her daughter is going away from her. But it is not the case in reality, and I also respect her more than before. How to get the situation where she does not feel insecure, and I can also do things with my decisions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The most difficult thing to do is to express our feelings correctly, and to understand others’ feelings correctly. Lacking this skill is the biggest issue faced by the society today, and this has to be developed. It is never perfect, some ups and downs do happen in this matter. Like, what we feel, we cannot express fully, and cannot understand correctly what others feel. This keeps happening in life but when we become more calm and happy, we are able to understand other’s mind more and more. That’s why it is very necessary to do meditation, pranayama etc. That gives more inner clarity, and then we feel that others can understand us better, and also we can express our views better.Q:
I don’t know what is good for me and what is bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Drop that which gives you short termhappiness and long term suffering. Just keep this in the back of your mind.Q:
Do planets have any effect on us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, planets do have an effect on us. But the effects are minimal on those who are on the path of sadhna, satsang and knowledge. For those, negative effects reduce and positive effects start to increase. It’s like when you take umbrella under the hot sun, you feel less heat on your head. Practices and mantras are the solutions.Q:
Please talk about domestic violence and how one can live with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Domestic and social violence both arise out of stress. We never teach people how to handle stress. No one is given spiritual knowledge. Don’t you think this knowledge of meditation and Sudarshan Kriya should reach everybody? This knowledge of non-violence should reach all.Somehow we have to reach this knowledge to people. You cannot tolerate domestic violence. Educate people. Put your 100 percent to bring them to knowledge and meditation. Through this, you will see how their whole attitude changes. There is a village of 600 people in Nanded Province in India. It had the usual challenges of a village - alcohol, debts, etc. One 'Art of Living' teacher took it as a challenge and started teaching courses in small groups. Within a few months there was a huge change in. Today everyone gathers together in the evening and sing together. Nobody drinks or smokes, or takes tobacco. There is no crime. There is one store in the village that runs on trust, without a shopkeeper. It has been running in this manner since three years without any theft. The entire village is organic. Nobody is unemployed. There are no locks on doors in the entire village. All the houses are painted pink to show unity. They keep it so clean. They are self-sufficient and environment-friendly. They have received the “Most Ideal Village” award. One hundred and eighty villages of Karnataka and altogether 500 villages are now following this model. Every person does pranayama.
A lot needs to be done. We have 140 schools in areas where there are no roads or electricity. We have a good number of children studying in these schools. They receive free education. First generation literates achieve such good grades in school. The President of the World Bank asked us how our projects are successful. I explained that money is not always the reason. Love and spiritual energy make projects successful.
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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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