Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji, is it important to have a purpose in life, a destination or should we just go with the flow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no choice between these two, you have to have both. You should have a purpose. Move towards the goal, and take things as they come on the way.Q:
On one hand, desires need to be dropped, but is it okay to have a desire for liberation? Whenwill that get dropped?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, it is okay to have a desire for liberation.Q:
I was wondering what exactly the mind is. Is it a little space in our brain or is it universal? And yes, I want to tell you that you rock.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Mind is energy which is all over the body. See, every cell in your body is emitting some energy and the totality of all that energy around you is what you call the mind. Mind is not present at some point in the brain, but mind is all over the body. There is so much deep knowledge about consciousness; we should sometime go much deeper into it. We will understand more. The more you understand, the more wonder-struck you are. Wow!You know, people have phantom hand, that means they really don’t have a hand, but they feel they have a hand and they feel sensations like itching or paining in that hand. People who have lost their hand or leg in a war or accident, later sometimes, they feel they have a phantom hand or a leg. Though, they don’t have it physically. That explains or gives a clue that the mind is not just in one spot, it is all around the body. The aura of body is mind. We think that mind is inside the body, it is the other way around - Body is inside the mind. Body is like the wick of the candle and mind is like the glow all around.
Q:
Can you talk to us about realizing our purpose in life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is something everyone has to find for themselves. What is the purpose of our life? You can ask this question but don’t take an answer from anybody. One who knows will not give you an answer and anyone who tries to give you, does not know. That’s the criteria. The very question “What’s the purpose of life?” is very precious. It means a lot to you. If this question has arisen in your mind you can give a big pat to your back because this question can remove the cobwebs from your mind, your confusion. It can remove all those unnecessary things and put you on track again and again and again. There is no single answer. It is a path on which we need to travel. “Who am I, what do I want, what is the purpose of my life?” It will move you forward in life. So give a big pat on your back, “Oh I am so lucky this question came to my mind.” What’s the purpose of life? You know, many don’t even think about this question. They simply exist. They eat, sleep, watch television and then they die.Q:
I have become aware of people who want to take control of our food and water supply, putting a great burden on it. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The ’Art of Living’ is putting a lot of attention on this. In India some people wanted to produce genetically modified plants. This has been banned in France and other countries. The ’Art of Living’ stood firmly together and opposed it, and the government had to stop it. You cannot do it alone, you have to stand against it as a mass movement, and bring justice to the human planet. The greed of a few people gets into their heads. We are not against scientific experiments, but without proper testing and making sure that it does not have any side effects, and producing it on a mass scale for commercial purpose is not acceptable. For example, genetically modified cotton yielded three times more crops in the first year, andalso good cropin the 2nd year. However, it completely wiped out the crop in the third year and many farmers committed suicide. The ’Art of Living’ worked to give farmers hope and helped them see the value of their lives. The cattle ,which ate the genetically modified cotton, died, and the virus emitted by these crops attacked the trees. The whole area became a desert. The company earned huge profits. This is called economic violence. There are many forms of terrorism. Economic terrorism is that where greed of a few people make other people suffer, they make a mess of the economic system, and devastate so many families.Q:
What should I do with the conflict in my mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The moment you realize that there is so much conflict in your mind, your eyes open. Satsang and pranayamas can put an end to it.Q:
Is it our responsibility to give birth to a child? Or can we leave this in God’s hand?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you feel you want a child, go for it. Simple. Even this thought of wanting a child may be from the universal thought.Q:
You have been involved in this. How do you propose or manage to reconcile between enemies?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Many times those who appear to be enemies are not actually enemies. I would give you an example of what we did in Iraq. We gave some meditation and Sudarshan Kriya to the troubled youth there. There was such a huge transformation in them. The youth minister sent 50 youth leaders to the ‘Art of Living’ international centre in Bangalore to be trained as ambassadors of peace. It was challenging to begin with, but there was amazing transformation in them in a period of one month. The same boys went back and started to teach thousands of people how to be calm. You know, we are not taught how to manage negative emotions neither at home nor at school. You get angry, upset, greedy or depressed, but we are not taught how to manage our mind.I am not saying that we have solutions to resolve all the conflicts in the worlds tomorrow itself. It is not practical. But what has given us hope is, after experiencing meditation, there is enormous change in the same people who appear to be aggressive or enemies.
In 2001, there was a difficult situation in Kashmir. But things have changed now. We can make effort drop by drop. In Jahanabad also our efforts have given good results. All this has given me enthusiasm to go in all conflict zones and do more work. Though, it is a big challenge.
When some people think that only they will go to heaven and others to hell, they create hell for others. We need to educate them with a broader mindset. So, every child should know little bit about all the world’s wisdom. We have globalized things like potato chips but we haven’t globalized wisdom, and education on peace and non-violence. When people are stressed, they either become violent and aggressive or suicidal tendencies arise in them. The solution for depression, suicidal tendencies, social and domestic violence is to teach them how to calm their mind. It is very important to teach them how they can get rid of negative emotions, stress, and all those unwanted emotions. How can we heal them? That healing touch is essential.
Q:
Guruji, are we influenced by mistakes from previous birth? If so, then how does one prevent getting influenced by that or find a way to remove that influence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You don’t have to make too much effort. Just do your practices, your Sudarshan Kriya, sing and meditate and all the bad karmas and impressions, they will get washed away by themselves. And with few advanced courses, few hollow and empty meditations, all impressions get released.Q:
I have to struggle all the time for every work, and I don’t get the satisfactory results either. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why do you have to put these ideas in your mind- ‘I have to struggle for everything, and I don’t get satisfactory results’? You only put this sort of affirmation on yourself –got it? It may be like that at sometime in the past, but it may not be like that in the future.
Displaying 6471 - 6480 of 7916
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.
Read More