Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
I have finished my final year engineering exam. I want to study, I want to pursue higher studies, but I cannot concentrate when I sit to study. I want to study, what should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you are not getting concentration in your studies, watch for these three things(i) Your diet, watch what you are eating. Diet makes a big difference.
(ii) Do you do any physical exercises? If you just keep sitting on a couch watching TV, or keep sitting on computer with internet etc. then the circulation is less in your body. Then you tend to become lazy and will not feel like studying. So, it is necessary to do a little bit of physical exercise, yoga, pranayama, meditation and also participate a little in singing etc. Doing all these, whatever is the need for your system will be furnished, and then you can grasp more in studies. Also your learning and retaining capacity will increase, and you will be able to study as well as gain much more in shorter time.
Go for higher studies if you want to. Choice is yours, blessings are mine!
Q:
I dropped alcohol after Art of Living course. If I meet my old friends who still engage in these sorts of habits will they extract my positive energy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t worry. As long as you remain firm in knowledge, and Sadhana - you can help them come out of all sorts of negative habits.Q:
If I think badly of others, will something bad happen to me? Or will my positive thinking work for me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t get entangled in these thoughts. Just be simple, easy, and relaxed.If you don’t have a complicated mind, you won’t have bad thoughts. Just observe the mind and relax.
Q:
What should one do if one tries to do good all the time but ends up being bad in others’ eyes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It may be troubling others if your expression is not so perfect. Keep yourself in the others’ shoes and see why he does not like you. Sometimes, it so happens that you regret your own words. You said something to someone that you didn’t want to say. Same is true for others also. They say something which they did not want to. Those words are not coming from their heart. Do you like people who hold your mistakes against you every day? Do you hold onto their mistakes every day?Q:
When will everyone embrace the Art of Living?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is nothing inside or outside the Art of Living.Q:
A question from someone on ART Excel Course: When the cops or anyone in the military shoot or kill anyone in war does it count as their good or bad karma?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Let us take the policeman. A policeman is doing his job to keep peace in society, so it is not a bad thing. In the military, one who is following orders, is only doing his job. The man who gives the orders, gets the karma.Q:
What to do to get peace of mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Meditation.There are two types of sadhaks (devotees).
1) One who is yet to get onto the path. They have to work hard, (parishrama).
2) One who has already on the path. They have to rest, (vishraama)
Those who are just starting on the path are like those who are running to catch the train and those who have already begun are those who are already sitting inside the train. People who are just starting are worried about their ability to catch the train; they have to catch a taxi from home, rush to the platform on time, find the right platform, and then find the correct coach, and then get on the train. Until they get on the train, they cannot rest.
If those who are on the train already run from one compartment to the other, will they reach their destination sooner? What is the use of running inside the compartment?
After getting into the compartment, put your luggage down and relax. And then you will get to your destination. You can take rest. You have the satisfaction that you are already on the path, that the guru is the engine driver who will take you to the destination, and you only need to relax.
Think about this, and make a decision about what kind of sadhak you are.
Q:
When I read the newspaper, we hear about the environment, in 30 years the world will melt, what can we do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is my concern too. Last year, for the United Nations Millennium Goals, The Art of Living as an Organization, contributed to 25% of the millennium goal program. 10.8 million people planted 55.6 million trees in one-year. Like that if everyone starts contributing, polluting less, otherwise it is serious, I agree with you.Q:
Why God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why not God? Why would you ask this question if there was no God. What will you say if a wave questions the existence of God? A wave exists because of the presence of ocean. Because of whose presence you are standing, you think, you listen, you understand, you breathe – that only is God. Who is God? God is not sitting somewhere up in the sky. God is the power due of which everything happens.(The person still holds on to his question)
Ok! Do one thing. Drop all your concepts of God. First, find out who you are? Who is asking this question? If you find out that, the purpose is solved.
I will tell you a story. Once a man went to Lord Buddha and asked, “I don’t believe in God, Why God?
Lord Buddha said, “Ok! You are right”. The man went back happily. A second man came and said, “I believe in God”, to which Lord Buddha again said, “Ok, You are right”. That man also went back happily. Then, a third man came who very humbly requested, “Please answer this question. Some people say that there is no God. When I listen to their logic, I get convinced. But when I listen to saints, I feel that God exists. Now, I am in confusion. I am not able to understand whether God exists or not. I have not experienced God. Please, you tell me.” Then Lord Buddha said to that person that he was at the right place and he should stay there. He continued to say that he didn’t have any preconceived notions of God in his mind, and they would together find out if God is there or not. Perturbed mind can never go close to God. Also no knowledge sprouts up in a perturbed mind, and whatever knowledge sprouts up in such a state of mind is also wrong. So, I say let’s be calm. You have come to the right place. Drop your concepts of God. Sit with your eyes closed and find out who you are. Are you this body? Are you this mind? Are you your thoughts? ‘I am something beyond my thoughts also’ – When you experience this, the truth will automatically dawn.
Q:
Guruji, what is ‘moksha’*, and how to attain it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
How do you feel the day you have a holiday? That is a small glimpse of moksha. You also get this feeling when your exams are over, and you cast away your books and give a big relief sigh of’ Ha’! After travelling a long distance in the bus, when you get down at your destination and loosen up yourself, that is a sign of relief. Like this when you get full relief in life, when the mind is happy and contented, that is called ‘moksha’.
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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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