Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
If a person has two spiritual Gurus, whom should one follow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you are confused, why are you involving me in this confusion?! (Laughter). No matter what I say, your mind will still be in conflict. If I say follow the other Guru, you would say I have rejected you. If I say follow me, even then you would ask why have I asked you to leave the other. See one in all and all in one (applause). The Guru you had before has prepared you to be here. You decide. Are you satisfied being here? Are you centered? Are you established in your Self? Respect all paths but be committed to one path. That way you don’t get confused. You have come to this path, stick to it. Be playful, be happy; see if your smile increases. If it does not, even I will tell you to go somewhere else. (applause).Q:
Life has a dual nature. How do you feel oneness in that duality?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Like high tide and low tide in an ocean, they come and go but the ocean remains. How was it five, ten, fifteen years ago? You went through a down time and a high time. It came and it went. Looking back in time you gain strength. “This will pass.”Q:
what is the purpose of life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
One who knows won’t tell you, and anybody who tells you doesn’t know. It is very important question. Keep it with yourself. You should keep yourself asking this question. This very question will clear the entire cobweb around you, and will keep you on track of what you want and where do you want to go.Q:
How to attain silence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That is why you have come here. As your interest grows then silence deepens. Knowing what is permanent and what is changing is viveka (discretion). Thoughts are changing but the knowledge (learning) is with us.In a shop you buy a vessel. The vessel is permanent but not the milk, or the rice which you fill in it. Houses will stay but the people change. The people who built the Tanjore temple have gone but the stones remain.
In our life some things are permanent - love, vairagya (dispassion) are like this. Knowing this difference is viveka.
Q:
Even after doing the Art of Living course why do some people live in such hatred and ego? How to teach them the language of love?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Bring them to satsang again and again. Sometimes, even after having good intentions in the mind, a person tends to fall because of the company (he keeps). This is called sanghdosh. People are good and wish to walk the right path, but due to bad company, are not able to imply their good thoughts. Thus, satsang is very effective and vital. Inspire others and bring them to satsang. Just like people push others to do wrong acts, similarly for good also we sometimes need to pull people.Q:
You told that God can be experienced in a state of effortlessness. What does it mean to be effortless?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
: Being effortless does not mean stop eating, drinking or doing other work. This has a deeper meaning. Keep on doing all your work, and while doing your work, know inside you that you are doing nothing. In the beginning, you sit for some time and experience that you are doing nothing. Then you will start experiencing that even you are doing but there is a field in you which is not doing anything. Ancient sages had beautifully explained this. There are two birds sitting on the same tree. One is eating and the other is only witnessing this. In the above context, it is the free bird which is being discussed, the bird which is effortlessly witnessing. Pay attention to that also. The two birds are friends. They live together. One is always witnessing and other is involved in all the work. Effortlessness does not mean sitting idle. Lord Sri Krishna said in Geeta that you cannot be without doing any action even for a second. Keep on doing your karma and at the same time be the witness of your karma. This is very deep knowledge.After the session a book was released – Understanding Shiva. While launching the book Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told that the book also included a scientific perspective of all pervading Shiva tattva.Q:
Is wanting to find a lot of love in your life considered to be feverishness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you are aware of the feverishness, “Oh I want it”, then it is feverishness. Otherwise you just relax. Suppose you want to go to Jerusalem. You think about it and then you go. Your feverishness is ‘Oh I want to go to Jerusalem, Oh I want to go…’ Feverishness is ‘Oh I want a boyfriend, or I want a girlfriend’. Looking at every girl and every boy, running after them, annoying them, this is feverishness. Have you seen sometimes how people annoy you? Girls here may know better. A boy is in love with you and keeps running after you. How many of you find it irritating? So, only you can decide if it is feverishness or not.Q:
How to have celebration when I feel tired with service?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That means you have not completed your service. And when service is done with the spirit of celebration, then it does not tire you or wear you off. See you have been so enthusiastic for two –three days, but I don’t see any of you tired. You gain so much silence with meditation, and you should take care of that. There should be moderation in activity, moderation in talk, moderation in everything. Do not over do in anything.Q:
I have a habit of recalling the pleasant memories of life again and again, as it gives a glimpse of the same pleasure as I felt in the past. Is it something to be cautious of, can it hinder my growth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It’s alright, don’t make an effort to sit and go on remembering the past. I think you have too much free time. Get busy and start working. There are so many things to do in the world. Where is the time to live in the past, recollect all the past. Right? The world is new every moment. Go with it. Don’t turn back and keep looking back. Move forward.Q:
Is memory a blessing or curse?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Forgetting bad things is a blessing. Forgetting good things can be a curse.
Displaying 7021 - 7030 of 7928
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.
Mehr