Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri: Navratri means the nine nights. In the nine nights you turn inwards. It is a time for meditation, for you turn inwards, and then come out with creativity. That is the significance.
Chaitra means the beginning of a New Year. So the New Year beings with nine days of turning inwards; prayer, meditation, and chanting. Recognizing the Divinity in the whole creation, and enlivening that aspect.

Sri Sri: Yes, it is a good year. This year is called The Year of Victory. Good will prevail over the bad. Wise will prevail over the wicked. All those who are doing wrong things, cheating people, they will all go out. It is time for good to prevail now.
There is a cycle for everything. Different things happen at different times. So, this time, more sattva is coming.

Sri Sri: Allergies, eczema, all these can be cured very well. Many of the diseases that Allopath is unable to cure, our Ayurveda hospital doctors can cure, and Shakti drops also do the job well. A lot of people have experienced great changes.

Sri Sri: Just do one thing, it will be good enough.
When you do too many things, it becomes a big confusion. I have seen people who go and do too many things and their energy goes totally haywire. It is not necessary.
If you have been doing it in the past, well, after doing Sudarshan Kriya, you can sit for meditation. If something happens it happens, it is okay. If those mantras come, never mind, but if you put effort and do, or learn more, then it can create a lot of confusion.

Sri Sri: Listen, there is no such thing. In Yoga, Hinduism, and Vedic wisdom, they don’t exclude women at all. Men and women are given equal status.
In India, the tradition is, mother comes first and then comes father. They say, ‘Matri Devo Bhava’ (Mother is God).
Also, if you see in writing, they don’t write Mr. and Mrs. in India, it is Shreemati (Mrs.) and then Shree (Mr.).
The Hindu religion says Radhey Shyam, not Shyam and then Radhey.
The name is Sita Ram, first Sita and then Ram. Similarly, Lakshmi and then Narayan. So always women are first.
Have you seen Ardhnarishwar? Do you know the story?
There was this one sage who was averse to women. Usually many people who become recluse, run away from women. Some woman must have ditched him, or something must have happened. I don’t know. But he was so averse to women. He would not look towards women. Even toward deities. He would say, ‘Shiva, Shiva, Shiva’, only and not worship Shakti. So then Shiva appeared in front of him as half woman and half man. And that is called Ardhnarishwar. This is to indicate, inside everyone, half of you is man and half of you is woman. Whatever you are physically, man or woman, inside you are both, because you are made up of both, the egg and sperm. You are made up of both, mother’s and father’s DNA. Both are inside you and both are equal.
So, when Shiva appeared as half man, half woman, his prejudice against women dropped, and he attained liberation. That is the story. It is a long story but to make it short, he finally attained liberation when he dropped his prejudice against women. Now, this is the case. Sometimes, in the Middle Ages, when India was under the influence of Islam, that is when it changed. Women priest were abolished.
If you go to Bali, in Indonesia, today there are women priests there. That is original Hinduism. But in India, after some time, in the middle ages, Islam had women in the parda (covering), and this influence had come on to India. The women were asked to stay indoors, at that time. In the Vedic times, the women would have all rights. You would see them being priests and all that. So these are changes that have happened, and once a change happens it stays for quite long time. But do not think women are underestimated. See, there are these nine days only for the worship of Mother Divine. And women do a lot of work for me here. We have many women teachers and male teachers. They are all in our trust. So there is nothing like that.
In fact, our president of the Canadian Ashram is a woman (Debra). For the longest time, we had women ruling in the Canadian Ashram. It is a queen’s territory, maybe.

Sri Sri: Well, let me tell you that without dispassion there is no progress in life. If you want to progress in life, you must have dispassion.
Dispassion brings freedom to your mind. Dispassion keeps you in the present moment.
Dispassion brings that smile on your face; it brings that energy and enthusiasm in you.
What are you hanging on to? You hate somebody? What for?
The world will definitely have such people, all the time. Tell me one time on this planet, in history, where there were no wicked people? Or there were no people who troubled others? Such people have always been there, and the world will continue to have such people. Now, if you want to keep them in your world, what can we do? It is you who is making this happen by keeping them in your head. An unfortunate incident happened, it happened, you should move on. Don’t sit and chew on it.
Dispassion is letting go of the past, and knowing that everything is going to end one day, everybody is going to die; them and you are going to die, so at least keep your mind free. Know that these are all different roles being played. Sometimes, it is like a horror movie, what to do? That doesn’t mean you be inactive when there is horror happening. When there is a robbery happening, rape happening, or something bad happening in society, you should stand up to stop it.
When will you get the strength to do this? When you have dispassion in your mind. Then you can stand up, otherwise you will do such an act, by which you will start suffering. You will become a culprit yourself.
A culprit cannot be eliminated by another culprit. You try to eliminate the culprit and you become another culprit.
A victim cannot be eliminated by another victim. If you are a victim of your own rage, and anger, how can you help another victim? And if you become a culprit to eliminate culprits, you will find yourself in the prison.
This is what has happened to so many people. So many people who land up in prison, are so righteous. They say, ‘I did this because that person did this thing to me.’ No! An eye for eye, a tooth for tooth is not going to make anything better. It will make the whole world blind. We must wake up with dispassion and work towards a better society; work towards a society free from violence, and a society which is more spiritual.
Just like how you have made the entire society literate. Everybody knows how to read and write. They can read the sign boards. There is not a single person in Canada who does not know how to read the sign boards. Are there any? No.
At least they can read the sign boards, they may not be scholars in anything. They know how to read, and how to write. I want spirituality to become like that. We should behave right, and be kind to people. We should work towards this direction. It may not happen 100%, all people will not become like that, but at least a major part of society will change for the good, and that is good enough.
Again I am saying, we can dream of such a society, but for it to become real, it will take time. A society where there is no crime at all is a far-fetched reality; it takes time, but we must at least move in that direction.

Sri Sri: Yes, cancer has been cured by their medicine.
It is the same with our Shakti Drops, it has amazing results. They are doing lot of research now on Shakti drops. It is useful in so many things, swellings, aches, pains.
The research will take about a year to get back all that information.

Sri Sri: Yes, that is part of nature. There are more secrets to it.
How a baby is born, and why it stays only for a short period of time, is a highly guarded secret. You will understand them one day.
Many times, after the baby is born, the love between the husband and wife disappears. Not all the time, but sometimes. This is because the soul attracts the two people. They may have no compatibility, but the soul has made such a compelling attraction that they come together, they get married and have a baby, and as soon as the baby is born, that is it, all the bonds between them vanish.
Have you seen this happening in the society? This is because that soul has brought those two people together. It got its work done, and that is it. This happens, and it is very interesting.

Sri Sri: The secret to the Upanishad is, you are Om.
Your true name is Om. Whatever name you have, is given by your parents in this lifetime, but what were you before this lifetime? What was your name? Om. And what will be your name in the future, once you leave the body? Om.
So everything has come out of Om, that one universal sound that is resonating in the consciousness all the time, and you are all born out of that sound, and we remain in it. Even now, it is there all the time. When you drop this body, don’t think you will carry your name with you. Your name will go with this form. But the light that you are, the consciousness you are, has only one name, and that is, Om.
That is what is said in the prayer, ‘Ek Onkar (God is One), Satnam (His name is True), Karta-Purakh (He is the Creator), Nirbhau (He is without fear), Nirvair (He is inimical to none), Akal-murat (He never dies), Ajuni Saibhang (He is beyond birth and death), Gurprasaad (He is realized by the kindness of the True Guru), Jap (Repeat his name), Aad Sach (He is True, even before anything was created), Jugaad Sach (He has ever been True), Hai Bhi Sach (He is True now), Nanak Hose Bhi Sach (He will be True in the future)’. There is only one Omkar, the doer, and that is the Creator from the ancient times, in which everything gets created. Nirbhai means, it is without fear, without duality; there is no two there. It is unblemished, it is totally pure.
Aad Sach, Jugaad Sach, Hai Bhi Sach, it is all truth; it is the true thing. Our origin is from that truth. Adi means, your origin; from where everything has come, or everything has gathered. Our source is true, our goal is true, and this is the true name, ‘Ek Onkar, Satnam…’
This is the essence of Upanishads, and this is what the Upanishad says.
‘Shivam shantam advaitum chatutrum manyante, sa atma, sa vigyayaha.’
(That reality which is Shivam, infinite silence; which is Shantam, infinite peace; which is Advaitam, the undivided, is said to be Chaturtham, the fourth. It is beyond the three states of consciousness; waking, dreaming and sleeping, The fourth is the Self, and that Self (sa Atma), is that to be known (sa vigyeyah)) What is worth knowing is the fourth state, which is neither the waking, nor dreaming, nor sleeping, but the fourth state, which is at the basis of the whole creation. That should be known; attended to.