Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Oh! You are talking too many things, saying so many things. Everything is lacking, food, shelter, job, husband, my God! Just look at your own mind. When you were a baby you were fed, somebody took care of you. Or you provided everything for yourself? When did you start providing for yourself? When you were a teenager or when you passed the teenage? Till then somebody took care of you when you were a baby, an infant, somebody nurtured you. And when you become very old somebody will take care of you. Nature has designed it such a way that you are taken care of all the time. Even now, even now to ask this question you are alive. Nature is taking care of you; you should have that trust. I’m not taking care of myself, but the nature is taking care of me. There is something which is providing me. If you have that feeling I will get what I need and I have been loved and I have been taken care of, you will see everything will fall in place. If you go on this trip of lack, I lack this and I lack this and I lack that, it is growing because you are putting that seed in the consciousness, in the mind, ‘oh I lack, I lack, I lack’. Get out of this circle and take responsibility. Everything ends, everything has to end. Things come your way and then the other way. Food comes and then you have to finish the food. At some point you cannot say I want to keep eating, no. All the five sense pleasures have limitations, your senses have limitations. So you must understand. Craving for a relationship can also be like bulimia. Do you see bulimia? Your stomach is full still you want to eat. In the same way it’s just in the head about relationships. Relationships can also be painful. Many people who are in relationships say, ‘I want this to end.’ Many people are no longer interested in a relationship even when it is there. They are not interested in physical intimacy even after having achieved all that because you cannot go on craving for it forever. They all have limitations. You have confidence that if I need I’ll get it and go for it when you want it, that’s it! Then don’t go on thinking about it 24 hours, craving for it. You must be aware, you’re craving is that which stops it from coming to you. You know a beggar is never invited for dinner. Food is thrown at a beggar. He will never be invited. Have you seen anywhere a beggar being invited with some card? Tonight there is dinner at my house, come for it, five star hotel? No! Those who are full, who don’t want to eat will be invited for dinner. The same way when you are satisfied in yourself, when you are stable, when you are centered all the things will come your way. This is what is in Gita, the second chapter last words are ‘vihaya kaman yah sarvan’. Like how all the rivers flow towards the ocean which is already full. So like all the rivers flow, all the desires find fulfillment in a person who is like an ocean, big. ‘Vihaya kaman yah sarvan pumams carati nihsprhah’. One who drops all desires, a man, a human who walks without worry, ‘nirmamo nirahankarah sa santim adhigacchati’. One who does not say, ‘me… me… me…’ that ego less, hollow and empty person! The one who is light in their life he gains eternal peace and to him comes everything. To him or her comes everything. Okay!Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See love is not an emotion; it is just your state of being. So you don’t have to be wiggly, wiggly, goody, goody in order to be in love. You can be very straight-forward, strict, to-the-point and gentle and caring. So you don’t have to worry that this is not there in the corporate field. Suppose, you are a corporate person, someone treats you like a machine. Would you like it? No! After all you are a human being and you would like to be treated like a human being, right? So we think, ‘Since I am in corporate, I must treat everybody like machine. No, no, competitiveness is good. Let it be there. You see what I am saying?Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, while the yagya was happening I did not say a word, I kept silence. So you don’t need to understand everything. If something is happening, they are putting something in fire and people are going round and doing something, you may wonder, ‘Oh what’s happening?’ But you know somewhere, deep inside you could feel those vibrations. How many of you felt the vibrations? (Several in the audience raised their hands) See, all of you have felt the vibrations and that was important. You just feel the vibrations; that’s why I did not go to explain why they do what they do. It was not necessary at that moment. Yes, later some other time like now we can sit and see why they put so many things in fire and what was the impact of it?’ All this we can sit and discuss. We can go on doing research into that. Right? So sometimes we need to just enjoy and be with what is, and sometimes we need to analyze and understand. They both have different flavours and life is complete with both of them. Another thing I would say is you know when yagya was happening, to have what is called shraddhaa or faith. Shraddhaa is to love something which we do not know. Something, some activity is happening, it is for good. This much we believe and we simply love it and that is what is called shraddhaa. Love something which you have not fully comprehended but you know there is something good coming out of it. And what happened, with that you get a lot of benefit and gradually you start understanding what it is all about as well.Guruji, it sounds like you have a runny nose. Take good care of yourself.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I have a running nose? I thought only legs run, nose also runs? The mind runs faster than the legs. Yes I should take care of myself; I suddenly am working 19 hours every day, now I want to reduce it to 12 hours. But it’s only in the thought process for the past six months and it has not done yet. It’s not really manifesting. We’ll make it manifest.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well planned, no random.Beloved Guruji, could you say something about the meaning of Punarnava?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
"Nava" means new, "Puna" means again. Making something new again, that is "Punarnava", bringing new life, infusing newness.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This influence of karma affects body and mind. But, what was said in the Ashtavakra, in reality these are all external things. The effect of karma does not touch you at all. This matter is one step ahead; so both are true. See, do you ever feel that, ‘I never grew old, or aged, I am the same?’ Isn’t that true? Ask any elderly person, no matter how old, he will tell you that he doesn’t feel he is going to die and poor fellow dies. And he looks at someone else and says, ‘Poor fellow died, I am not going to die’. Doesn’t it feel that way? It does! There is something within us which never dies. That is why we feel that we are permanent. All others will come and go. And then there is another thing that is true, that according to our karma and time, old age creeps into the body. Hairs fall off. In the past it used to take me one hour to comb my hair, then half an hour, and now, not even one minute! Maharajji doesn’t have to do anything! So some changes occur with time, we should observe that. On one level, if we observe, everything is changing, our thoughts are changing, and we are no longer the person we were yesterday. Isn’t that so? The person you were five years ago, and the person standing here today, are they different or not? Is that true or not? Yes! Yet it is not the same person who used to be; this is on one level. On another level, the same person is standing here who was here ten, twenty or twenty-five years ago. Isn’t it? So both are true, this is true and that is also true. Everything changes, this is true, and some things never change, that is also true. Ashtavakra emphasises on that which never changes. Gita also emphasises on that which is changing, such as karma, how to manage it etc.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know you cannot be but do some action, some karma. It’s part of our nature. We have to keep acting. And if you consciously take a decision and act it is different than unconsciously doing something. So you consciously take a decision to go on the treadmill, this is an action. Otherwise you sit and you feel so restless, you keep shaking your hands and your legs the whole day sitting in your office at your table. This only shows restlessness. You are moving you leg so many times. You are compelled to do so because your body wants that circulation. You never gave that circulation time for the body so you feel restless. This is not happening as an exercise, it is not benefitting you but it is an action which you cannot stop. So some actions you consciously choose to do, that also cuts the karma.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A little bit in all three; and you have enough to invest in all three. I would say first in yourself as you are the source of insecurity if there is any. In spite of having a good family, children, house, money, everything, if your soul is hungry, it will still be insecure. So first fill your spirit with spiritual wisdom, experience and you will see there is no insecurity. Everything will fall in place.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Give it here. You come and give it to me. Why do you want to handle it? We will handle it with care for you. If you want we will return it back to you also. You just leave it here, dump it here. After all, why does an ashram exist, why is there a guru? So that you may dump all your pain, suffering and anxiety; so that you may leave it all behind, isn’t that so?