Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
People say that life has both joy, and sorrow in equal proportions, but after experiencing the Divine, I have only joy. Is this the calm before the storm?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, not at all. All your sorrows have been dealt with in your past lives. In this life, you can be happy.Do seva (service) when you are happy, and make sacrifices when you are sad. Remember the Divine in your happy moments too. Most people only remember the Divine when they are sorrowful
“Seva mein jo sumiran kare, dukh kahe ko hove.” (The one who remembers the Divine in Seva, where is the sorrow for such a one?)
Yoga saves you from experiencing sorrow. This is its purpose. Yoga is not only about practicing asanas, it is also pranayama, meditation, satsang, and seva. So keep practicing pranayama, meditation, and do seva.
Q:
What can we do on our level to get people of all cultures and religions together in celebration?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
We are already doing it. We continue doing the same thing. Call everybody and say, ‘Let’s sing together, let’s do service together.’Q:
What can be done for peace between Israel and Palestine?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
We all have to work for it. When all of us work together to bring people together, to forget the past and make people live in the present, we will have the bond tied very soon. The Art of Living has already started quite a few programs in Palestine. But if only the government spends one percent of the military budget on educating people, in inter-faith and inter-cultural celebrations and attend to building this gap, all these conflicts will be resolved. NGOs can do limited work.Perhaps the narrow vision of politicians is making them thrive on conflicts. Unless our politicians become spiritual like Mahatama Gandhi, our world doesn’t have a bright future.
Q:
When I am in a group I often feel I don't belong to them. How to overcome this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That must have been an old pattern. Take a step, take a leap. Tell yourself, 'I will be at home, come what may', and then you be the master of your feelings. Don't let your feelings rule you. When you are in a group, and there is discomfort, this is because of barriers, of the ego. Take a deep breath, watch the discomfort, it will disappear.Q:
How to maintain consistency in whatever good work one does?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
After this (inconsistency) happens sometimes, then you get the answer as well. You come to realize that this should be done and it feels good to do it.You did something good and then left it. Leaving it gave you a pinch. Then you resumed it and then left it again. Two, three times when you feel the pinch, you understand that it (the good) should not be stopped. If we do not learn from our mistakes, we will never learn from someone telling us. Your own mistake can teach you more than listening to lectures for hours. What you learn from your mistake is permanent, the rest is just what you have heard.
So it is alright if you make a mistake, but do not keep on repeating the same mistake again and again. Then you have not learnt anything! Make new mistakes but don’t repeat the old ones. Learn from it and move on.
Q:
Guruji, why is it that sometimes you answer certain questions and sometimes you don’t?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is a right time and place for every answer. If questions are asked at the wrong time, then silence is the answer.Q:
How to educate those people who have developed a dislike towards Spirituality?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Are you single or married? (Laughter). If you are single then you don’t have that problem (More laughter).If your spouse is against your being on the spiritual path, then you have to apply an indirect solution. Through the close friend of your spouse you can reach out to your spouse and when it comes from them, your spouse will listen.
For others, you keep educating them. Share the knowledge with them. In English there is a saying ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’ but in our case it is lack of familiarity which breeds contempt because they don’t know. So educate them.
Also Maoist and leftist indoctrination has turned many people against spirituality. Within Nepal also so many people are against spirituality. Out of 600 districts in India 212 are not touched by the Art of Living. Once we reach out, a total turn around happens. There was an incident when a Maoist guerilla came to attack one of our teachers in a Satsang (song & celebration) in a village in Jharkhand. They came and saw people singing so happily that they also joined in. later on they insisted that the teacher have a Satsang for them as well.
The story of Angulimaala from Buddha’s life is not just history or a mythology. It is happening now, here, today. Where all legislations and money doesn’t work, what works is Love.
Q:
Dear Guruji I don’t know if I made a right decision. I had a relationship. I walked out of it then re-started it. Then my boy friend did the same. Is it a new beginning? Have I made the right decision?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, time will tell you. You know when we are upset it is an opportunity for us to know how much have we grown in knowledge. When we hold the responsibility – I have done something wrong to some one then 50% sorrow is diminished. The rest of the 50% is done when you know everything will change in the future. Once a gentleman was very angry with his wife. When he was asked why he is angry with his wife, he said, “Because of her, because I love her I am angry with her. If there wouldn’t have been any care why would I fight with her?” You fight because you have a sense of ownership, belongingness. Because of the sense of belongingness you fight and because of that sense of belongingness you come together. Isn’t it? But there are other people whom you should contact, I am not experienced in this.Q:
How to react in a situation where one see injustice being done to people around us or to our self?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you see injustice, you must stand up to it. And stand up with skill, don’t be foolish. You need to have the skill, power and support to stand up and that you need to garner, when you stand up to injusticeQ:
What makes a habit good or bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you see those who smoke, are they in bliss? No, but if you tell them not to smoke, their face shows anger and hatred. There is no joy in smoking but there is sorrow without it - this is a bad habit.Those practices which bring short term effort but long term happiness are good practices. Knowing this is viveka.
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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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