Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you put natural things, then there is no pollution. They are bio degradable. If you put soap or plastic, it harms the water. Since centuries, in the forest so many leaves and fruits fall in water, but the water is not contaminated. But when we throw artificial things, the water gets contaminated.When we put bowls made of leaves, and garlands made of real flowers into water, it doesn’t get polluted.
It is interesting , one who is familiar with the real stuff, to him even the fake thing seems real.
And to the one who is familiar with the fake thing, even the real appears as fake. This is maya. What is real and what is unreal has to be found out. Therefore you need an inward eye (antar drishti). This is possible through yoga and meditation.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Open your ears wide and listen. You are a devotee and a true devotee. Don’t ever raise a doubt on this. The badness is imposed from outside. Inside you are one with the Truth. Your devotion is also true devotion. This is the way to think. Otherwise, the self doubt transforms into guilt and then you spoil your mind. Move with the belief that I am a true devotee. Hear this with open ears.Q- Krishna ki chaturta, Ram ki gambheeta (Lord Krishna’s mischievousness, the seriousness of Lord Rama) … Guruji, which way to follow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:See there is no fight here. They came at different times, so that there is no competition. They came to tell us that, “We are all one”. Here there is no conflict of which is better which is worse, everything is essential. Each one has a style, place and time.
It is like you sing different songs for different occasions in life. In a marriage you don’t sing a song that is sung at funerals.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do you know beauty lies in the beholder’s eyes? How are you able to see that everywhere? Consciousness is truth and beauty together.Real beauty is when you’re centered, when your mind is with the truth. That is how every baby is beautiful – because they are centered.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are different methods and patterns but the ultimate aim is same – to uplift humanity. All are good. Inter religious seminars are conducted time and again. As far as my knowledge is concerned there are no conflicts between them.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Prosperity and spirituality can coexist but greed and spirituality can’t coexist. Unethical means of earning money and spirituality simply cannot coexist. If you have a factory or a business, you can continue do that and still be very ethical. You don’t have to leave your industry, which may be giving employment to a few hundred or more people, for spirituality. There is no need of saying materialism is bad and leaving that you want to go towards spirituality. That is not at all necessary. You can continue doing your duty. This is what is expressed in one of the scriptures ‘Ashtavakra’ where Ashtavakra told king Janaka that he can be a king and be totally spiritual. King Janaka was the embodiment of the highest knowledge. There are many examples like this. What I usually say is ‘keep money in your pocket and not in your heart or head’. When the money is wrongly placed that is when the problem arises. In India, materialism and spirituality are not in conflict with each other. Lakshmi – the symbol of material prosperity is portrayed pressing the feet of Narayana - the symbol of spirituality. We always say LaxmiNarayana which refers to the combination of wealth and spirit. But it is very important to note that greed and spirituality don’t go together.Unfortunately we associate negative tendencies like greed and jealousy with materialism. Even if you have to do charity, you can’t do it with an empty bowl. How can you think of feeding ten hungry children with no money at hand? Is it not your dharma to feed them? In one of the ancient scriptures in India it is said ‘Righteousness comes from wealth. Proper governance is the basis of the economy‘. I think it is all connected. And the most important is the faith in the being, the highest self - the faith that I am going to get whatever I need and whenever I need. Then you give miracle a chance. Materialism is measuring every step too much. (Then you don’t know when the stock market is going to crash and banks are going to be bankrupt.) Don’t bank your faiths on the banks but bank your faith on the divinity and the power of your own sankalpa(positive sankalapa) and thoughts.
(The Kumbh Mela is one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism. The word Kumbh means 'pot' or 'pitcher' and Mela means 'festival' that is why it is known as "the pitcher festival". It is a fair that energizes your mind and soul)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Wherever people come together and do satsang, that is kumbh.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You keep on doing service; others will automatically join. Don’t make an effort to make others join you. You just do it and keep motivating others. Ask them if they want to come along. They will also come. If you are enjoying doing service, others will also get motivated to do it. Leaders should be like this. But usually they want so much perfection that they end up annoying every one. In this kind of service people come once and then they run away. Nobody wants to work with a person who is full of complaints. So serve along with fun. When happiness comes from within with regular Sadhna and Satsang, everything happens naturally.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do either of the two things:Become such a devotee like Yudhishthir, who gets Lord Krishna who is full of cleverness or else become clever, awaken that element in you.
The world thinks you to be better than you actually are.The world thinks you to be less worse than what you actually are. If you think like this, then what you want, will happen. Whatever kind of sankalpa you release in the universe that kind of result will come to you.
Realize this now or later after a decade. Once you realize it, you will bow down to this Universal Self. Otherwise you will blame the world and become sad making yourself blemished. Some people indulge in self pity, “I am very good but people do wrong with me.”
Who says people did wrong? Who asks you to be stupid and be swept away in emotions? Some fall in love crazily, they talk so much and the other person doesn’t know how to handle it.
Wise know how to accept love and give. But everyone is not wise. We want everyone to behave like the wise but we behave like an ignorant.
a look at yourself. This is swadhyaya study of oneself. Swa – means self, adhyaya – means study. Swadhyaya doesn’t mean turning pages of books.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You show anger but you don’t have to become angry.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
We become what we think. Especially for a devotee what he thinks comes true. But this power of thought is with the devotees only. When you become a devotee then you do not get bad thoughts. With devotion, all vikalpas go away.