Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Any suggestions for people who suffer from allergies?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Meditation, pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya will help. Also, there are two books all should pick up - Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love. Last time I traveled to the U.S., I came through JFK. As I was passing through security, the man behind the X-ray machine in the next row came to me and showed me the book ‘Celebrating Silence’. He asked, “Are you this person?” I looked at it and said, “Looks like that”. He asked me to sign the book. I said that usually I only sign the customs form! I gave my signature and he told me, “Someone gave me this book on my birthday last December and since then my life has changed. I’ve just read one page here and there over time and it has made such a difference”. He has not done a meditation course or anything. So, it would be good if all read it. It is not any big philosophical text but just snippets of wisdom. ‘Celebrating Silence’ and ‘Celebrating Love’. Also you can put on a meditation CD to relax. After a while, you won’t need any extra support.You have come now, so drop all your worries here. Give me all your worries, botherations and problems. I want you to go home knowing that you are not alone. You can heal and bless other people. I tell you, it’s not only Guruji who gives blessings and healing. Everyone has this power to heal and to bless. So, anyone of you who wants to do that, you have to do a little bit more meditation, pranayama, kriya and you will have the power to bless others. There are seven billion people on the planet. So, we each must come up with this ability to bless others.
Q:
Guruji, is there any particularly good direction to sit in to practice our spiritual practices, and also when you are sleeping?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Any direction is OK. Usually, you face the sun if the sun is there, east and west during sunrise and sunset respectively. When sun has already set and it’s dark, usually we face the north.But that is not so important.
Why do we face the sun in the morning or evening? This is because force of energy is from one direction. So, if you are sitting facing one side and force is from the other side that means there is no balance on the other side. Suppose, you have one light here, and no light there, then there is an imbalance between the right and the left. So, sitting accordingly balances the right and the left. You are to balance right and left for meditation. So, it is said that way. But it is secondary, not even secondary, it is tertiary. It is not that important.
Q:
I have a strong tendency to be future-oriented. Always planning, imagining and having expectations from the future, clearly this doesn’t serve me. Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to free myself of this tendency. Please advice.
Q:
Is mediation concentrating on some point?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Absolutely not!Q:
Guruji, it is said ‘Advaita’ (Non Duality). Why it is not expressed as ‘only one’ but as ‘not two’?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Because you need two to count one.Q:
We hear a lot about corruption these days in governments and other situations around the world. How can we do something to reduce corruption?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Corruption starts when the sense of belongingness ends. When we have a sense of belongingness, we can’t be corrupt. When we expand our sense of belongingness, corruption will disappear. Does this make sense? Corruption begins outside the boundary of belongingness.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:
What is the link between ego and self confidence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Ego is feeling uncomfortable in the presence of someone else. Self confidence is, feeling at home. Ya? Being natural is antidote to ego, and being natural is so complementary to confidence. It goes with confidence and is inseparable from confidence. When you are confident, you are natural. If you are natural, you are confident.Q:
Is homosexuality wrong and to be changed or is it life’svariety?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is a tendency. Many times it changes.So don’t label it. It is there now. It may not be there later. You are acombination of your mother & your father. We have genes of your mother aswell as father. Sometimes male tendencies dominate, and sometimes female.Preferences may be stronger for some. Don’t feel guilty or blame yourself. Riseabove it. You are not only flesh. Youare light around the wig of flesh. Shift from gender to genderless spirit, itgives you such ease.