Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
How does one stop the flow of negative thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Negative thoughts are due to three reasons. If your blood circulation is not good, if the lymphatic system is not ok or if bowel movement is irregular. In all these cases negative thoughts are likely. You can go on a fruit diet and cleanse your intestines. Then, pranayama will help. Take Triphala (an ayurvedic supplement) for a few days. Do yoga, pranayama and meditation. You will definitely find a difference. Group sadhana (practice) will also help.Q:
Does time and mind have any relation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You should read the book ‘Celebrating Silence’ or ‘An intimate note to the sincere seeker’.Q:
How were you able to establish three centers in Pakistan?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The people of Pakistan are very good. They just do the Sudarshan Kriya. We have teachers there. When you are stuck in concepts, you are in the box. It is when you get an experience that you can come out of the box.Q:
Is there life on other planets?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is plenty of life on this planet. Let us handle this. Then we canmove to other planets!Q:
How realistic is it for a person to become enlightened in one lifetime?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You don’t have to be very special. You can have it right now in this room.Q:
You say, choice is ours and blessings are yours. For two-three years, I have not been able to decide my career. I take up jobs and then leave. Can you choose one for me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Any career you choose, after sometime you may feel oh, this is not the right one. People who have become doctors say, ‘we should have become engineers’, those who are engineers may feel they should have been lawyers and make easy money! So every profession has its dark side. That’s why I say you move on in any profession of your choice and do it. And I chose one career for you? No way! I refuse to. You chose the profession; I give the blessing. My blessings are there.Q:
Silence, music and logic are the three essential ingredients you have spoken of. How does logic relate to knowledge or consciousness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Logic is essential. If you see an idol of Goddess Saraswati she is sitting on solid rock. She has a book in one hand which is logic. In the others she has rosemary beads for meditation and veena (a musical instrument). Logic, music, mauna (silence) are all essential for total development of consciousness. Knowledge is logical understanding of existence.Q:
How can we bring this knowledge, of breathing & meditation that is taught through the Art of Living programs, to low-income families and communities?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, the Art of Living Courses are around $200-$300. This is a very small amount and students and seniors, anyways, pay a reduced course contribution. There are expenses when courses are organized. The volunteers have to hire a hall, get supplies and pay rent. Nearly 60-70 percent of the course contribution is spent on course expenses. Remaining funds go to support service projects in places like post-Katrina New Orleans.Also, if you offer the course free, people don’t value it. People don’t take responsibility to sit and learn. You can’t do charity from an empty bowl. And there is no point in taking charity to do charity. So our teachers teach these courses for a contribution.
Of course anyone who wants to donate to a charitable cause is most welcome, but our donations are only about 15 percent of our total income. Mostly, all our expenses are covered by course contribution. And, in case someone says they cannot afford to pay the course contribution, we never stop them from attending the course. There is always 10-15 percent scholarship in every course. If some of you want to sponsor a course for street kids, we would definitely love to organize that. We have so it in many places across the world.
Q:
Do I need a guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do you need an answer? If you need an answer that means you need someone who have to give you the answer, and that anyone who gives the answer automatically becomes a Guru.Guru means the one who gives the answer. The English word guide comes from the original sanskrit word guru.
You need a guide for everything, for learning guitar, music, or any field you take. Similarly, Guru is one who can guide you into meditation, wisdom, and knowledge.
Q:
Please, please, please, please answer my question. Dear Sri Sri, when there is love, why suffering is also there in a relationship?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Love with wisdom is bliss. Love without knowledge or wisdom is pain. Why is there pain in love? That is what you are wondering or questioning about! It is not love which is giving you pain. If it is just purely love, that means you just care for someone, you want the best for them, and then there is no pain. But when you want something in return from them or you have demands from them, then there is pain. Small things like you love somebody and they didn’t smile at you, that is enough! You love somebody and they are interested in someone else, they flirt around or complement someone, good enough for you to burn the next 24 hours or days. Jealousy, hatred, greed, arrogance and attachment are all love’s distortions. Love by itself doesn’t bring a misery. That is why knowledge and centered-ness are so important. If you centered, you can handle all these distortions, they come for a while and they disappear.Doesn’t matter, I will handle! I can easily manage people from falling!
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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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