25 August 2012 - QA 4

Jai Gurudev! I would like you to talk on youth and spirituality.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We are made up of both matter and spirit.
Our body is made up of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, etc., and our spirit is made up of generosity, love, compassion, energy, expansion, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, intelligence, sensitivity; all these qualities.
Any acts that nurtures these inner qualities (beauty, love, etc.), they are Spirituality. Meditation, singing, chanting, serving, etc., are all part of spirituality. And it is this spirituality that keeps the youthfulness in you. It brings you energy.

You know, right now I am coming straight from India on a 15 hours flight. I just arrived, changed my clothes and in half-an-hour I had to rush here. Do I look jet-lagged and tired? (Audience respond saying ‘No’)

Someone asked me, ‘Gurudev, if we take a flight to Cape Town, we feel so jet-lagged. Don’t you feel jet-lagged?’
I said, ‘When the mind is fresh and when the mind is connected to the Source, there is always freshness.’
Youthfulness is that connection to the source and youthfulness is the ability to connect with everybody. And only Spirituality can bring this in the youth.