Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You know, you cannot force love on yourself. Love is spontaneous, it just happens, just relax! You can’t try to love someone or try not to love someone. It is just a spontaneous happening. And remember love is not just an emotion, love is our existence.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Ujjayi breath and relax.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Just be natural, ask any question you want to ask. All questions are anyways foolish. I don’t mind and I know you don’t mind as long as the answers are not foolish. And from here I cannot give you foolish answers for sure. This is just an intellectual stimulation, that’s all. Questions and answers are what? Intellectual stimulation. Music is what? Emotional stimulation and silence is what? Stimulation of the spirit, of the soul. So we need all these in our life. And exercise is physical stimulation. And you do yoga, exercise. Seva is stimulation of activity. You do an action without expecting anything in return is seva. Stimulation of activity is through seva. So you need all that - physical stimulation through exercise; intellectual stimulation by knowledge, discussion; emotional stimulation through music and the stimulation of spirit through silent meditation.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I am your fan; when it is very hot, (I am) a fan that gives a cool breeze - that is what I think. When you come tired, (I am) a fan that gives comfort.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, there are YLTP programs happening and you join the team and start educating people. Education, educating people about farming, this is seva also.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

By knowledge; the Knowledge that, ‘they have gone today, and after some years even we have to go. All of who have come here (on this planet), have come only to depart. All those who have departed, have departed only to come back. This we should think is certain.’ That is why, to those who depart say, ‘you go ahead, I will come later and see you. I will complete my work here and after some years I will meet you’. Saying this, show them the way. Don't sit and keep thinking, ‘Oh no! They have gone away.’ In our nation, they have stated very nicely in our sastras(scriptures), ‘for ten days only you be in that sorrow; forget it on the eleventh day. Leave that and live happily’. They do Rekyam on thirteenth day - it means celebration. There are celebrations on the thirteenth day, wearing new clothes and eating special sweets and snacks (bhakshanam). And then sesame seed is offered as tarpanam for the departed soul, do you know why? ‘If you have any desires, leave them. It is like sesame seed. Why do you suffer with small desires? Go with satisfaction (tripti)’. That is why they say ‘Tarpanam’ means, ‘may you get tripti. After the leaving the body let the soul (atma) get tripti. Doing tarpanam for mother, father, their parents… Calling out forefathers’ names and saying, ‘be satisfied (tripti); leave small desires that are in your mind. Those will get fructified on their own. It is just like a sesame seed. Don’t worry.’ In those days, mustard and sesame seeds were examples of very small things. An insignificant thing was referred to as sesame seed, in a derogatory sense. In our country we have had this wonderful custom (sampradaya) of conveying to our forefathers and deceased. In a similar way, (the practice of) ‘giving the pindam’. ‘Pindam’ refers to body. The spirit, that has left the body, will have desire to get another body. At that time, the son, grandson, some relative, or daughter (also allowed) offers ‘pindam’. ‘Don’t worry you will get another body. Go forward. Don’t look back. Obtain bliss. Many more worlds are there to see, so go forward. You will get another body.’ This consolation is giving ‘Pinda’. ‘Be in bliss. Why think of the body? You can be born in our family itself’. It is mostly for satisfying the mind. It is enough if you do meditation. Then it is not necessary to do other things. In meditation, mind is at rest and peaceful, (with) the feeling, ‘I am not this body; I am beyond this body.’ So do meditation without fail.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Do you know how to ride a bicycle? How do you balance? Exactly! Don’t neglect your profession and don’t neglect taking time for yourself. See, you say the world does not change. Have you noticed if you are changing or you are not changing? You are changing, right? Just imagine the teachers who taught you the basic course. Suppose if they think,' In the world nobody is changing why should I teach?' If they had not taught anything to you, no pranayama, no meditation, no Sudarshan Kriya, what would have happened? Can you look back and see, before you took the basic course what was the state of your mind and where you are today? Do you notice that? How many of you find a change? See, so many of you changed because somebody did something, isn’t it? Someone took the time off for six days, two hours each day sat with you, took all your questions, taught you something, corrected you, so there is a shift. Change is happening in the world constantly. If you become a catalyst to that, that’s your good luck because being a catalyst for change brings happiness within you.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You in the right place. Do the silence program couple of times. Two, three silence courses will melt you down. And don’t judge yourself too much. Sometimes we judge ourselves too much. Either we judge others and get angry at others or you judge yourself and get upset about yourself. It is best not to do this; these two acts appear to be different but are the same. Either we blame others or we blame our self. Self blame is as bad as blaming someone else. That is what this knowledge is all about. It takes you from the blame culture to a joy culture. You are happy, you make others happy. And when you are happy, anyone who comes into contact with you, they are happy too. Have you noticed some people in your office are very enthusiastic? They say, ‘hey, come on, let’s go’, ‘hey come on, let’s do this’, ‘hey, this will happen’. Very positive, enthusiastic and even if there are problems, they say, ‘okay, let’s manage it’, they crack jokes. And there are others who in the best of situations are upset, angry. They say, ‘all has gone well, but what will happen from this? One day it will all be finished, then what?’ At least this one day, whatever you are doing, why don’t you be happy? ‘It’s all a one day show, then what?’ This type of pathetic pessimism is not life supporting. Nor does it support anyone around you. Sign of life is not depression, sign of life is celebration, is upliftment. You should bear this in mind. Whenever you tend to do that, whenever you tend to go in the negative cycle, immediately remember,' oh Guruji has said that, let me switch my mode. Like in your cell phone, you switch modes, from cell phone mode to sms mode or phone mode or email mode. Like that you should be able to switch and you have the ability to do that.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Some people will not change in life, because they are like that. Can you convert a snake, or a scorpion into a cow? We have to understand this is a snake, this is a scorpion, and this is a cow. (You) cannot think of reforming some people. You can correct terrorists. But it is difficult to correct those who do evil intentionally. Not that it is impossible; but it is difficult. Their lineage also exists for a long time. Ravana also donned garb of a sage and abducted Sita. There are some fake sages like Ravana these days also. What to do? For some time it will go on, then suddenly they’ll have a fall. It is not good for them. Those who follow desires will get a lesson. For our part, we should take good from everywhere. There is a saying in Sanskrit, ‘Durjanam Prathamam Vande Sujanam Tadanantaram’. Worship the bad person also. The bad people are ruining themselves and teaching you a lesson., So convey your gratitude to them - since at their cost, while falling in a pit and getting ruined - they are teaching you a lesson.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That too, it was the fruit of knowledge or wisdom, something like that. That was the wisdom fruit that they did not listen to. You know, suffering is because we don’t honor wisdom. Suffering in the world is because of lack of wisdom. If there is wisdom, there is no suffering. Life is bliss. Don’t put this sankalp, this intention in your mind that life is all suffering. As you sow, so shall you reap. If you sow, you think life is all suffering, then that’s what you are going to get back. We should understand the science of our consciousness, of our mind. Unfortunately, many people did not know this and they started putting this sort of principle into the mind that everything is suffering and I need suffering.You have to suffer in order to get salvation but this is not the correct understanding of reality. That is why there are so many different opinions. Though there is one Jesus Christ, today there are 72 different sects of Christianity - each claiming they are the real one. You know why? Because of wrong interpretation, nothing matched. We say God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and then you say Satan. If God is everywhere, omnipotent, all powerful, how could Satan be there? Do you see what I am saying? The theologians are struggling to find an answer for this. They want to put Satan somewhere but they can’t, and if you put him, then you have to denounce the omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience of God. If god knew everything before, why wouldn’t he prevent it? These are the questions for which theologians have been hunting answers for a long time and the answers can be found in the Vedanta. That is why the Catholic Priest who came to India, he studied the Vedanta and he said, ‘Now I can understand the whole thing better.’ He was struggling and struggling to put together the pieces of the puzzles, it didn’t make any sense. So many scholars came and they practiced yoga, meditation, learned Vedanta and then understood that this is a different understanding, different insight into truth and reality.