Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
All the scriptures we have, in all the religions say the same thing that God is love, and love is God. Then why are there so many scriptures all over the world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why should there not be,tell me why should there not be?Q:
Guruji, I want to learn how to make friends and how to sustain them because I really find it difficult.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Okay! You are in the right place okay, it will happen automatically, don’t worry.Q:
Guruji, the entire India knows that all the people came together and through peaceful protest we have compelled the parliament to go through a resolution. But what is the way forward now? How can we really eradicate corruption from the nation? What is the practical way and how we should go about it, especially all the youth of this nation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know I have said there are three formulas: One is everyone take pledge, ‘we will not give bribe’, second youths like you go with a sticker, ’I will not take bribe’ stickers and put it in all the government offices and the third thing is a strong Lokpal bill. For that we have already impressed it on all the members of the parliament. See, unless the electoral reforms happen, and the parliamentary democracy has some loopholes, those things are corrected, just a legislation alone will not help. There are many legislations in this country, but they are not being honoured.Q:
Jai Gurudev, this world, the creation, the karma, the suffering whatever it is. It is said that it is all God’s play. Don’t you think God is playing a very dangerous, never ending action sort of game to pass his time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are talking like a villager, who 40 to 50 years back who sit in the cinema house and if their hero is losing he will throw eggs and tomatoes on the screen. Do you know? Have you heard about that? If Rajkumar were to lose the battle in the screen or MGR would lose the battle. What they would do in the villages some 30 to 40 years ago, you may not even know. People would throw stones and tear the curtain, tear the screen because their hero was losing the ground. But see from the eyes of the director, what would he say? One is the player, another is the spectator and the third is the director. From the director’s eyes it is very different.Q:
Guruji, what is the effect of tantras?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Now that you are on this path and you have your mantra, you do not have to worry about tantras.Q:
Guruji, we all have learnt in our path of knowledge that we are connected to you like the hair of your head. My only doubt is that somewhere in-between suppose we miss our Sudarshan Kriya or we deviate, will you disconnect us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, no, nothing like that. Doesn’t matter even if you miss one or two days never mind. We are all anyways connected; the whole world is all connected.Q:
(A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
So you were stuck in the shruti box the whole time. What? So you didn't hear anything else that I have said. If you can't even drop the shruti box and what is inside the shruti box, then what is the fun? Can you drop it? (Answer -' I will drop it once the answer comes') Once the answer comes, then how did you drop it? You never dropped it. Do you see how many tricks your mind plays, are you aware? That is good enough. You are aware how your mind plays so many tricks throughout the day and that's how so many fights happen because you are trapped with your own mind. First your mind fights with you, your mind deceives you then you deceive or are deceived by others. So first you become aware of your mind what it does, what's going on there.Q:
(A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
How do you feel today? Very nice! If those things are coming up, let it come up. Do a little bit yoga, some walking, some exercise to supplement that.Q:
(A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Because ‘Sarva dharmaan paritajye, ma mekam sharanam’. Take refuge in me, then I will rid you of all sins. He puts a condition for it. Bheeshma Pitaamah didn’t do that. This is my dharma, he was holding on to it. He didn’t totally give up, right?Q:
Guruji, recently I was recording your conversation in which you had spoken about reincarnation and rebirth and the sanskaars of previous births. One thing that intrigues me is it seems that the laws of the world are different to the Divine laws. Those things that are valued here apparently do not find favour with God. Gaandhaari had asked Lord Krishna what her sin was that she lost all one hundred sons in the battle. Lord Krishna asked Gaandhaari to revisit her previous lifetimes. In regressing into her past lifetimes, she discovered that 108 lifetimes ago she had killed 108….., and now 108 lifetimes later she was reaping the consequences of her actions through the loss of her 100 sons. Worldly laws state that justice delayed is justice denied. So, how come the rules are different in God's kingdom versus the world? Secondly, we are preached to practice kindness and compassion towards one and all, whereas when a major calamity befalls someone, it is explained away as the inevitable result of praarabdha karma. If there is no compassion in God's kingdom, why are we expected to practice compassion and forgiveness while others are committing sins/crimes? Why this disparity between divine and worldly dispensation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Look, Divine and worldly dispensation are one and the same, they are not discrete. God is inseparable from this world. He is all permeating. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma - All this is verily Brahma. If you stick your hand in a fire, you get burnt instantly. However, if you sow a mango seed, or for that matter a coconut seed, in the ground, how long does it take to grow into a fruit-bearing tree - 4-6 years? Similarly, there are some actions whose consequences are immediate and there are some actions with a delayed outcome. If your grandfather/forefather toils for 20 years to set up a factory, who will enjoy the fruits of his labour - you will! Applying the same logic, karma and its consequences are eternal and beyond comprehension. Some karma can be resolved only by dealing with the consequences, whereas the outcome of some karma can be modified / modulated. For example, while preparing sooji (semolina) halva, the proportion of ingredients can be adjusted with respect to one another. However, once cooked sooji cannot be reverted back to its uncooked state. Similarly, what your height is today is praarabdha karma, but what your current body-weight is can be changed (reduced/increased). That is why doing dhyaan (meditation), jaap(chanting), havan(sacrificial fire), daan (charity) help change karma. We may have, unknowingly, harmed someone. Our shaastras (scriptures) recommend sharing a few grains of rice from our meal with birds and other creatures; having an attitude of gratefulness for all we have received in life also resolves karma. Do not criticize or condemn anyone. However, on the path of Self-knowledge forget about your sins and merits, and just relax and be happy. The more relaxed we are, the more spontaneously (naturally) things get done. When we were building the ashram, I did not seek advice from a Vaastu consultant. Several years later, some Vaastu specialists commented on how all structures were in their proper place with respect to one another. Our consciousness itself is Shaastra, so if we listen to our consciousness, our intuition, we will function in accord with nature. Everything will be okay. That is why it is called intuition. Suppose you have no knowledge of electronics, but you need to tackle an electronics issue. You intuitively play around with the wires, and eventually the problem will get resolved. Many people have experienced this. Once I was going from London to Birmingham where I was scheduled to give a talk. This happened more than twenty years ago. Birmingham is a big city. One gentleman realized an hour after we had left London that he had forgotten to obtain the address or the directions to the venue in Birmingham. There were no cell phones in those days. So I decided to intuitively guide him, telling him to take this turn here and that turn there, until we reached the street in Birmingham on which the venue was located! What I am saying is, the Shaastra is not a book, you yourself are Shaastra. If you study your consciousness, your mind, that is what is in the Shaastra. This is how the knowledge of Vaastu Shaastra, Ayurveda has been derived. In this country, dance, music, art, science, have all emerged from the consciousness of the spirit, through meditation. So meditate, meditation is supreme. All this will manifest when you meditate. In english it is known as intuition. Intuition means that which is 'right'. This power is within everyone, but use it occasionally, not all the time.
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