Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Don’t try to see Divinity. Take it for granted. It is there, like the air. You know that the air is all there. You inhale air and exhale air. You can’t see air but you know it is there. Similarly Divinity is all there. Only the heart can feel. Eyes can’t see it. When you are totally relaxed you feel that the whole universe is filled with Divinity. When your mind is relaxed, your body is relaxed, you find that the chirping of the birds is Divinity,

the moving of leaves is Divinity,
the flowing of water is Divinity,
Even people fighting, & mountains - all - exuberate Divinity. You will find that beyond all this phenomenon, there is a field or phenomena that exists – that is Divinity.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

There is nothing called total independence in life. Forget about it. If you are thinking I want to be totally independent you are not. Till the age of 15, 16 or 17years you were not independent. You were born dependant. Somebody had to lift you up. Somebody had to change your diapers. Somebody had to wash you. Somebody had to feed you. Somebody had to bathe you, put you to bed. You were born dependant and in the end will also remain dependant. When you die you are not going to cremate your body. When you are sick somebody has to attend to you. You cannot operate yourself. You cannot be your own doctor. After 50 – 60 years, it becomes so obvious that you are dependent on somebody. To some extent you can’t say I am totally independent. Somebody has to do something for you. Just the fact that you pay them some bills, it doesn’t mean you have become independent. You are just getting it done as an exchange. You are helping them a little bit but you are still your dependant on them. Suppose no one wants your bills, nobody wants to work for you, what will happen to you? Because you have some paper bills and people want those currency bills it gives you an illusion that you are independent. Money gives you a false notion that you are independent. You may have money, but what if nobody wants money, then what will happen to you? You are dependant. So life is a swing between independence and dependence. At the same time you are independent to think, you are independent to act, you are independent to have a say over you feelings, control your feelings, if you want to feel good, it is your choice. If you want feel bad it is your choice.
You should listen to the Ashtavakra knowledge. I have spoke about it in this. Life is a combination of both independence and dependence. If you want to be kind you are totally independent to be kind. If you want to have good manners you are totally independent to have good manners. It doesn’t depend on others. If you want to speak sweetly its totally dependent on you to do that. If you want to blame somebody or be rude to others you are totally independent to do so. You have to choose what you want to be independent about and what you want to put yourself through. You may think financially you are independent, but I tell you if you cannot endure certain derogatory remarks from one of your friends or family or someone, you are not independent. If someone blames you or tells you bad things about yourself then you will come to know how independent or dependent you are. If you are really independent then nothing can bother you. You move with zeal, with vision, with a smile.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When you don’t fall off, you are on the middle path.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Meditation is a better form of prayer. In prayer you are asking for something. Meditation is saying, ‘I am ready to listen’. Just imagine if somebody only keeps on asking and is not ready to listen to you. Don’t you get frustrated? In the same way, God also gets frustrated but when you sit for meditation, and ready to listen to him, He bestows all the favors to you.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When confusion is gone, then you call mature!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The mind has a deep connection with the moon and the moon is connected to water and water is connected to the body: 60 to 70 percent of the body is water. Everything is interconnected. When a celestial phenomenon happens, it impacts the body also. For example, the way you feel early in the morning is different from how you feel in the afternoon or evening. Evening goes with romantic music and melodies, morning goes with wake up calls. You can’t play romantic music in the afternoon.

The mind has an impact on the mind and body complex. Time has an impact on the mind. Planets have an impact on mind and the mind-body complex. Ancient people have written about it. When the mind says, ‘It’s wrong’, you try to prove it wrong and when you can’t prove it wrong, the mind accepts it. For example, turmeric. In the 70s and 80s, people dismissed it as only being a pigment with no food value but now scientists say it has the best anti oxidant value like amla (gooseberry) and tulsi (basil). They have started rediscovering the ancient sacred herbs as being very useful and a must for healthy living.

The reason we say, don’t eat during and before the time of eclipse is because the food increases metabolism in the body. Increased metabolism doesn’t let the mind be in a calm state. If you have food, you would simply fall asleep. We advise this to soothe the system and not excite it during the celestial phenomenon.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Only the common man can attain spirituality! If someone thinks they are very special, they cannot!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That’s a problem. So we need to first learn how to calm our mind down. Only a calm mind can come up with collective thoughts. Disturbed and chaotic mind will give rise to chaotic thoughts only and chaotic thoughts are coming in abundance. How to streamline the thoughts is an art in itself, the art of silence. How can you do it? With meditation, the mind becomes calm and collective, thoughts become focused, meaningful, purposeful and focused.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You are correct! There are four main Vedas. Vedas means a collection of poems- verses heard by Rishis, sages when they went deep in meditation. When someone went deep in meditation, they heard something and whatever they heard, they started telling their students, disciples. So these were truths which were derived or heard and downloaded from the cosmic consciousness. They had a way to download it in those days. The downloading is - close your eyes, meditate and what you notice, what you see - you click and then you download it. Surfing! Surfing around and downloading. So Vedas were downloaded like that.More than one thousand sages or those who are called Rishis - Rishi means the one who saw or one who heard. They saw it, they heard it and they wrote them.They didn't write themselves, they recited and told their students and they recited and so for a long time it was just passed on from one to another - verbally, vocally. That’s why they are called Shrutis.Originally these Vedas were divided into four. Originally the Rigveda had so many- twenty one different branches but today only three are available. Similarly, Yajurveda has some two hundred and eleven branches, but today only few - five or six - are available. Similarly, Samveda – thousand different Samvedic hymns, branches were there. Today only three branches are there. Rest is all lost. During the medieval times in India, when there was so much repeated aggression, those Vedas were all lost.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

All the youth should stand up now and start moving ahead together. When you all work in group then there is no such task that can’t be accomplished.