Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is all fun, isn’t it? When you follow knowledge, fun follows you. If you follow fun, misery follows you.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You want an answer for this question? I am not going to answer. Someone asked me how do I improve my patience, I told them I will tell you five years later.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In this world, there are some things that we can do, and some things that we cannot do. For example, how much is your height? Say 5 feet 6 inches. Beyond 22 or 23 years of age will your height increase? No, it won't increase. We have to take accept that as it is. But (consider) your weight - if it is 50, you can make it 60. If it is 100, you can make it 70. Is it not so? That we can change. In the same way, when a cow is tied at one place, the distance the cow can move depends on the length of the rope. But the cow cannot go beyond the length of the rope. It can roam around only as much as the length of the rope permits. In the same way, in life there is some freedom, some things that we do, and there are some things that are not in our hands.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Seva is something that is needed by other people. Suppose you are carrying a weight, heavy luggage, and you cannot carry anymore, then you look here and there, you want someone to help you, don’t you? See, we are all interdependent; everybody needs some help from somebody and doing that help without expecting anything in return is seva. Without seva nothing can happen on this planet, isn’t it? By seva don’t think you are changing the world. Seva you do, because you can’t but do it. It’s in your nature. If you are good, if you are loving, if you are happy, you can’t but do seva. And when you are unhappy, if you do seva, you become happy.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Where dispassion is not dry and where longing does not turn into anger or hatred. You know if you have only longing, the longing can turn into anger or hatred. And if you have only dispassion, the dispassion will become so dull and boring and can even get into depression. So longing and dispassion together makes it so interesting, so complete, so juicy, so alive.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
All are necessary. If you ask, ‘what is necessary for man – teeth, nose, ears, or eyes?’, what will I say? To eat a sweet (adirsam), you need teeth; if you want to smell it you need the nose; if you want to see it, you need eyes. Ears are also necessary. All are necessary in life. To realize which is appropriate at a particular time, is viveka(discrimination).Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
With compassion. You know, double standards are because they don’t know the wealth that they are carrying in themselves. Each one of us is a treasure house of wealth. Deep inside, you have the Divinity, the light, the peace, the joy, the love that you are seeking. And when you are not in touch with that you are trying to grab this little bit here, grab something from there, for what? Because you don’t realize that there is a great power deep within us. So, with such people you simply have to have compassion. By having double standards they are creating harm for themselves.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Garuda Purana is all about the life after death. How the soul goes, where, what and all that. There is only certain time when you are supposed to hear that, (the few days after the soul leaves the body) listen to it so you know where the departed soul goes and what happened to them. There are a lot of things in Garuda Purana.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, yes. I like to keep all types of people. All collections are with me. World collection of all specimens, one from every fish. I like variety you know, so you are welcome.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, if your commitment is going to create problem and bring sorrow to many, then you should drop the commitment. Like a youth told me once, ' I have promised the commander of Lashkar that I will give my life to this organization, I will bring the word of God to anybody and do anything possible to spread this principle'. But when he became peaceful he realized that this is not the correct commitment he gave or he took. 'I don’t want to be involved in violence anymore. But what to do? I have promised on this holy book. What do you do?' I said,' No, let go of the commitment because you took the commitment in ignorance. So there is no point in honoring that commitment which you took in ignorance to engage in violence. Yes, If there is some other commitment you took being so foolish, which doesn’t create such harm to anybody, then you keep it. You weigh the pros and cons and then you follow. Another person says,' yes, I am committed in a marriage and now I have children, but that is an old commitment, I don’t want to do anything now'. You have two kids and now you say,' I don’t want any commitment, I want to get out of it', then there is no way. Your commitment now is to take care of the children. You can’t run away from that. Many people, after being married, after having kids, then they regret, oh I should have been single. I took a wrong commitment. You have no way now, you have to continue. But if you have taken a commitment I will be single and suddenly you change your mind, you want to get married, it is okay because dropping that commitment of yours, you are not harming anybody. So you have to think on those things. Weigh the pros and cons of a commitment.