Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Why is the truth tested every time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Because lies cannot withstand a test. One who has not studied will not go for the exam. One who has prepared for IAS will go to take the exam. When you have the confidence that you will pass, you will succeed, then you will be ready to take the test. That which emerges successful after going through the tests and trials is the truth.Q:
Are you a happy man?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What do you think? nQ:
Are there any plus points of doing a job other than earning money
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Money and experience. That’s all and some discipline. If you have to do a job you have to discipline your life in a certain fashion.Q:
How relevant is the caste system in India? Do they help preserve tradition, and culture?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, no, you don’t have to worry about the caste system.There is only one jati (caste), and that is manushya jati (humankind). (Audience claps)
Q:
Since coming into the Art of Living, I am aware of more ups and downs in my life. Am I experiencing the karma of past lifetimes on the fast track or is it like this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What happens when you meditate? The contrast between the ups and downs in life is greater. On a white cloth, even a small dust particle is clearly seen. Similarly, when the mind becomes more pure, even small jealousy or anger is an irritant. It is unbearable and you have to get rid of it quickly. This is but quite natural.At the same time, you get the inner strength to endure situations.
Q:
After I started with my spiritual practices, I, no longer, have the killer instinct to compete. Am I a misfit in the corporate world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t be harsh on yourself. Running around between tasks, will not bring achievement. Just relax. For that you need inner strength.Q:
How to develop an interest in what we don’t like, for instance studies and pranayama?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is not necessary to do only what you like. Know it clearly that studies are for your good. Otherwise life won’t run! You do not brush your teeth every day with love. If you don’t like to brush and stop doing it, you will lose your teeth. You know that it is good for your health and it is vital to do it.Similarly there are some things in life that we can’t do without - studying is one of them. Make a habit of reading a scripture first thing in the morning. Similarly do some pranayama for at least 10 minutes. Breath is anyways flowing. Direct it here and there. If it keeps diseases away, then why not do it?
Like you brush your teeth for dental hygiene, pranayamas maintain your mental hygiene!
And to have a sharp intellect you need to study, otherwise you will regret it later. You buy a dress from the shop and the time you bring it home, you dislike it. Buddhi Yoga (Intellect Yoga) is the best. Manmaani karna, following your feelings is inviting misery.
Q:
Is it true that I have to love myself before others love me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My dear, you are love when you relax. Let go of the feverishness and desire. You are love. You don’t have to sit and say to yourself, ‘I am love’. You don’t have to make an effort. It is a noun. Your name is love. During a course in Switzerland, I was talking on the yoga sutras of Patanjali. A couple of participants went to have acappuccino during the break time. Nearby they met people, who said that they used to follow some other path and they were exchanging notes. They said, ‘We wake up at 3:00 in the morning. Sit and repeat I love myself for about an hour!’ We sleep well and love ourselves!If someone tells you, ‘you don’t love yourself’ – it is not true. Even if you are inflicting misery upon yourself, even then you love yourself because misery brought attention to you. When you understand this you will snap out of this tendency.
Q:
How to behave with people who have hurt me in the past. Even though I have forgiven them, I don’t know how to interact with them. I don’t want anyone to take away my smile.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good. This very intention to move on will help you. Hold on to that. Then, have compassion on those who have hurt you, that they don’t have as much awareness or knowledge as you have. They never had the opportunity to learn, the way you have learnt.Q:
Can you speak on the importance of vaastu?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Everything in creation has certain vibrations. This world is an ocean of vibrations. Every being has definite vibrations. The gods are all depicted as riding on different vahanas (animals as vehicles). This indicates the specific vibrations of the gods. Elephants attract, from the cosmos, the vibrations specific to Ganesha. Tigers, the Devi vibrations; peacocks attract the vibrations of Lord Subramanya. Yet don’t trouble yourself with all this. Just say Om Namah Shivaya. All the corrections in Vaastu will be taken care of.
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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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