Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
I am young and sometimes I like to go out and drink with my friends. I don’t feel guilty. Should I?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Sometimes you do so only socially. When you become unhappy, this socialising drink will catch on and you will drink more and more. You could become an alcoholic. Just say no, keep away. Be firm that you won’t have it, then you are in a safe place. From here, you can never turn into an alcoholic. I’ve seen so many people become alcoholic with the same logic. They start with ‘once in a while’. Alcohol does so much damage to your nervous system that can reflect in the pure consciousness, the deeper reality. Drink brings dullness. It is like driving with the brakes on. If you want to progress, you must put some barriers,for instance, tobacco. Smoking was considered part of the culture some 35-40 years ago. Today, it is not. We have been saying this for years and it has taken so long and cost millions of lives. So many lives would have been saved. No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol – put these barriers.Q:
My mirror tells me everyday that I am maturing on outside. Which mirror should I use to measure the growth that is happening inside, my spiritual growth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, are you more calm, are you more fulfilled, satisfied? You feel a sense of expansion. Turn back and see how you were and how you are today. A simple reflection about yourself gives you an idea.Q:
What is the better way to stay in the present moment? Concentrate on the breath or observe the mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Both happen simultaneously. There is no choice for you.Q:
Is not committing a direct sin equivalent to a noble deed, and not doing the required noble deed equal to a sin? Am I responsible for my actions and non-actions as well? And if I don’t do anything, what is my status?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Nobody can be without doing anything. And when you do something, either it will benefit somebody or harm somebody. Right? Nobody can be without doing anything even for a second – You will start thinking either good or bad about somebody. So, that is why, keep on doing something good. Do good but don’t get into airs, “Oh I did so good”. ‘Naiki kar, kuen mein Dal’ (A proverb in Hindi saying - ‘Do good, forget it and move on’). So, can’t be doing nothing, and when you do, see that it is uplifting for allQ:
A hundred years of a disease-free body, and stress-free mind seems like a theory. How is it possible in this age to live a hundred years, in a disease-free, and stress-free state?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Have an intention. 100 years does not mean exact 99 years and 12 months, or 99 years 11 months 29 days. Rishis (a renunciate) used to say a 100 years. When people bless, they usually say ‘Live 1,000 years’. It does not mean that they want you to live 1,000 years. When you get tired of this life, you say you have stayed too long on this planet. But when you are connected to the Divine, the natural wish that comes is ‘Let me live to the maximum of human life. Let me work till the last breath. Let me live healthily.’ These are natural wishes.Q:
Guruji, the four do’s of our scriptures is Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha and the four don’ts are Kama, Krodh, Moha, Lobha and Ahankara. So why is kama a paradox which finds itself in both do’s and don’ts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes because excess of it is very bad and in the right dose it is good. Like salt in the food, the right amount of salt is good and too much salt is no good.Q:
How can we find a cure for auto immune diseases?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Have confidence, pray and leave the rest to the divineQ:
Guruji, when we are doing our practices kriya and meditation together, are we affected by other people’s negativity and bad karmas?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, no, no, absolutely not. Don’t worry. If you feel like you are getting affected by somebody’s depression or somebody’s negative energy, just say Om NamahShivaya a few times. It’s gone. It can happen. When people are so depressed and are not in proper shape and you meet them you may feel that. How many of you feel that, when you meet very depressed people something happens to your own body, right? Om NamahShivaya, Jai gurudev - it just disappears.Q:
If there were a flaw in the Divine, what would it be?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Nobody can find any flaws or perfection in the Divine.Only when you see perfections, do you see flaws. However, the Divine has neither flaws nor perfections. The Divine is nobody. The whole evolution is going from somebody to nobody, and nobody to everybody. In a way, all flaws in the world are present in the Divine, because everybody belongs to the Divine.
Vices, and virtues are only viewpoints. For instance, Lord Krishna is an incarnation of God for Hindus. Yet Jains believe that Lord Krishna is in hell, because he was the cause of the war (Mahabharata). This is just a viewpoint. Sri Ram did not kill Ravana according to Jain tradition. They believe that Ravana was killed by someone else. They have to believe that Lord Ram is completely non-violent.
Many siddhantas (values) are present in us, that’s why we say saguna (with form), and nirguna (without form). In fact, our consciousness has no qualities, and no attributes. We are a combination of these two. When you become nobody from somebody, then negativity will simply leave you. It will no longer be a part of you.
The human system is like an atomic particle. The nucleus is positive, and the circumference is negative. As you go deep, there are no more electrons. This is exactly how every human being is. The scriptures say there is God in the heart of human beings. He manages the whole universe, not sitting somewhere in heaven, but in the heart of every human being. In the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: ‘The Lord is in all beings, and is present in the space of the heart, my dear Arjuna.’
Q:
What do you think about anti-depressants?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Be in knowledge. Listen to knowledge and do your practices every day. Then you cannot get into depression. Follow medical advice and go gradually. Join a team, do seva. When you have nothing to do, you think about yourself and get depressed.
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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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