Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What is the role of emotions, body, mind, anger?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Keep your body healthy and keep your emotions positive. Very simple. It is like asking, “Where do I put on my pants and where do I put on my shirt?” You put your shirt on top and pants at the bottom, not the other way around. So everything has its place: ego has its place, emotions have its place, our body needs to be healthy and strong. So you need to respect the laws of nature, okay?Q:
Jai Gurudev, Guruji, why is it that all people who are spiritual leaders have beards?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is a uniform; and either they keep all of it otherwise they take all of it out. Don’t go by appearance; listen to your inner voice. That is when you will know. Just because someone has kept a beard or has changed their clothing that does not mean they have become a saint or a Swami. You become peaceful then you can see if there is anything special about the person, if there is some happiness, joy, some vibrations, this you will be able to feel. Otherwise there are thousands of people who just change their clothes and walk around; nothing happens with this, do you understand? So don’t go by outside appearance. Tomorrow if I remove all of this, my beard, you will recognize me or not? The heart knows to recognize. You cannot recognize your life partner, your guru from outside appearance but through your heart. Something happens in your heart, you feel in your heart that he is honest and good, he belongs to me. So become peaceful.Q:
You say innocence is a virtue. Aren’t innocent people exploited?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are innocent people who are foolish as well as intelligent people who are cunning.What is desirable is a combination of intelligence with innocence.
Q:
What is emptiness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Emptiness is the doorway between the material and spiritual worlds. It is where you come to understand the nature of the spirit, if you do not know emptiness, then you cannot know the joy of the Being. The knack for experiencing the Being causes emptiness. From the emptiness begins the fullness.On one side of emptiness is misery and on the other side of emptiness is joy.
That is what Buddha said: “The whole world is misery and what is to be achieved is emptiness.
Q:
What is the best form of prayer? Something that leaves god with no choice but to answer immediately, what is that prayer?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Being silent and knowing that the divinity is taking care of everything - that is the best form of prayer; the best prayer is meditation.Q:
Could you please explain the reason for selecting soghum in long kriya with respect to breathing in and breathing out?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, in Tamil it is difficult. Soghum in Tamil means sadness. In Tamil, there is very little difference between soghum and sohum.It is not soghum, it is sohum.
It is the natural sound of the breath. Sohum. If you deeply observe the breath, you will observe that with every inhalation, there is sohum.
Q:
Guruji, at times my parents hit me without a reason. How can I respect and accept them at that time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
hey can’t do that without any reason. Tell them to do The Art of Living course sometime when they are in a good mood. Coax them to come to be a basic course and we will train them not to hit you.Q:
How do I change failure into success?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just move on, move forward. Don’t look back. Failure can only be in the past, never in the future. Again, it’s about understanding the event. If you see it from a broader perspective, you will see it better.Q:
Guruji, whatever is worth remembering, I forget, and whatever is useless, not worth remembering, my memory always remembers that.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
At least, you understood this. Many people don’t even understand this. Give a pat on your back. Say you have taken first step in the right direction. And it will change. Just a little effort and done.When you analyze the past, you should always come to this conclusion that everything happens for the good, because you learnt a lesson from the wrong things. But you should not apply this for the future. Looking at the past and knowing that everything happens for some good reason, you move on to the future. But if, in the present, you say, ‘ Oh! Everything happens for the good’, that is no good.
Q:
How to forget betrayal? Someone has betrayed me long back and that man keeps coming to my mind. After doing yoga, meditation, pranayam, etc., I am able to get these thought occasionally. Earlier it was coming frequently. How to completely drive away these thought?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It’s already less, isn't it? How much has it reduced till now?. Once in a while, it comes, right? So what? It doesn’t matter. The more you resist it, it’ll keep coming back. Just take it, it’s an experience in life.
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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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