Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is ignorance. Fatwa against women going to school is anti-progress.Women should be given equal rights as men. That is the symbolism of Ardhanaareshvara- half Shiva and half Shakti. Women should not be treated like second class, third class or a servant.
Saying that you cannot sing Vandemataram because it praises the earth as a mother - people are not listening to such dictates anymore.
Women should be given all rights. They should be empowered and should have a say on everything. We should have one common law. Politicians keep dividing society to enjoy privileges, vote bank. They don't want education to reach the poor people so that they can rule over them. This is a rotten mind. We have to go ahead and educate the population. Illiteracy is the reason that wrong people enter politics.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First ask yourself, ‘who am I?’ and when you get this answer you will also know who I am.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Sohum is the natural sound of breath. When you breath out the hum is there. Sohum is the natural sound. If you read it the other way round, it is Humsa. Humsa is that which uplifts, that which floats, that which discriminates. That consciousness which discriminates right from wrong, from the permanent to impermanent, from the beautiful to ugly - discrimination.Sohum does not mean ‘I am God’, it is ‘I am that’. What is the ‘that’? ‘That’ could be love, ‘that’ is truth, ‘that’ is love, ‘that’ is the beautiful space,‘that’ is what I really am! First I think I am just the thoughts, the emotions, the mind, but the true realization, I am not the thought, I am not the body, but I am that! What is that? It is the experience that is beyond words! That truth which is beyond comprehension! That beauty which is beyond any imagination. That reality which you cannot totally catch. That love is what I am! And if love is God or God is love and I am love then I am God too!Jesus said love is God! And said, I am love! I am that, I am. This is there in the Bible also. I am that I am. Thou art that! All this is there. But it is not the meaning that is important. What is important is the vibration of the sound. The sound Sohum, has some definite vibrations in the cosmos and that helps our spirits to blossom and that is what is most important.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This you figure out. When misery comes, everyone thinks of God. But to one who thinks of God even when happy, why will misery touch him? There is an old proverb which says this Sukh mein simran sabh karein, dukh mein kare na koi,Sukh mein simran jo kare to dukh kahe ko hoyeThis applies to us also. When you are doing pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, when you are happy, then that happiness will continue.Today, there was an article in the paper which says that the only way to cure depression is by meditation. Anti-depression medicines will make the depressioncome back. There is a rebounding of depression with anti-depression medicines but with meditation there is no rebounding. Today millions of people are suffering from depression and they don’t know something like this exists. They don’t know there is a way which can make them free from depression. When you go back tell everyone about meditation. It takes one out of depression, suicidal tendencies. Look at Rashid (pointing to a youth who has come from Kashmir), he is smiling after 12 years and is now doing wonderful service also.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
there are only few things which makes us do wrong:-Anger - we know that getting angry is not good for us but still we get angry.
Lust - we know it is not good but still the mind races.
Greed - we know according to the law it is wrong but still your greed increases.
Dishonesty - you know it is not good to speak lies but still you do so.
Anger comes only out of weakness. Yet you see now, after practising meditation and pranayama, it reduces. When you are constantly in knowledge your anger reduces. Behind anger, there is a desire. Anger arises whether your desire is fulfilled or not.
Desires are of two types - from the level of the body and the level of the mind.
At the body level, desires are influenced by the chemical responses in your body due to your food, water, environment, your age and the company you keep.
And at the level of the mind, past impressions influence the desires that arise. Only meditation and pranayama can bring a transformation in this.
Even well-educated people have made mistakes. It is ok. Whatever happened in the past, it is ok. Just drop it. In the present moment you are innocent.
One who is caught in self blame will repeat the same mistakes over and over again. So for this, you should listen to the Bhakti sutras. Surrender your mistakes to the Divine. Just with devotion you can calm down thousands of your desires.
Desires have no end. There are people who spend their lives earning money to simply have more money than somebody else. People keep on buying clothes, shoes, sometimes more than they can ever use. There is no satisfaction
Only through Seva (service) you can experience true satisfaction and joy. And that joy will reduce your desires. Greed has no end. It is ok to have desires. There is no harm. But you must be happy. Your happiness should not depend upon any desire being fulfilled.
One should have a calm and centered disposition, have awareness and live by the yamas and niyamas (the guiding principles for life). Integrate them in your life as much as it is possible. Don’t overdo anything. It is said ‘ahimsa paramodharma’ - Non-violence is the highest dharma. When you speak many germs die, some people always keep their mouths covered because of that. No need to go so far. The more you practise the yamas and niyamas, that much more you will shine. Your interest and pull in life should be towards these principles.
Violence starts in the mind. The root cause for violence is craving and aversion. Craving and aversion can be finished in the mind itself.
What happens at the body level without your knowledge, as Lord Krishna says in the Bhagvad Gita to Arjuna, “Know that you can neither kill any being nor give life.”
You know, the Bhagwad Gita is one of the most ideal scriptures. Even Einstein had said this. Integrate this Knowledge in your life such that your life itself becomes knowledge. And this can happen only through meditation. Only through meditation can true knowledge dawn within you. And then you see the world in new dimensions.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are different forms of Yoga. Raja Yoga is Royal Yoga. In some forms, they spend a lot of time in practice. Some forms are for people like the prince who has so many responsibilities such that they can do the practice in a short span of time. Meditation is useful for people in all walks of life.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The sound of ‘Om namah shivaya’ includes all the five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. Hinduism is not a religion as such. People have beenchanting this for thousands of years. Mantras are those sounds which you hear from deep within during meditation and the aim is to bring one back to the source. During later days, people started putting faces and drawings to these mantras. Mantras have got certain vibrations/ energy. They are universal.Even in churches in Latin America ‘Marnah nath’ is used. Its translation in Latin and Sanskrit is so close. For ‘Lord’ the word in Latin is nath and also in Sanskrit the word nath is used to mean ‘Lord’. So the word marnah nath meaning ‘My lord’ which is used in Christianity is actually a Sanskrit word.
Chanting in Sanskrit is beneficial because Sanskrit is the oldest language known to mankind. It has a deep impact on the consciousness. We welcome all songs – Japanese, Korean, Spanish. Any song you want to sing is welcome. We sing a lot of songs inSpanish and Portuguese in satsangs in South America. Of course, in India everybody easily connects with ancient mantras. Take any language you want but along with it take this also. How many of you feel singing and chanting these mantras creates some vibrations? (All raise hands in affirmation) It’s obvious. In Vedic chanting, many times you don’t know even the meaning but it has some effect.
In the morning we did Rudra Abhishek, this has been practiced for over thousands of years. We use crystal, milk, yoghurt and flowers etc. They all create a certain impact and send out positive vibrations.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you keep doing the same thing again and again, knowing that it brings you misery, you really don’t understand it brings you misery or you think it brings you some pleasure. Craving for pleasure and non-awareness that it is going to cause you misery are two things which makes you commit the same mistake again and again. That’s why they’re called habit. Habits don’t give you pleasure but they inflict pain by not following them.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Infinite souls. It’s like asking are there fixed number of stars in the sky? There are infinite stars. Vedic shastra and Agma shastra says there are 224 earths, worlds like ours in this galaxy. There are many but mainly 224. These are the visions of saints who have gone deep in meditation and explored the universe.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
With rest - you achieve devotion. When you put in effort along with rest you get power or strength. Effort and prayer, both, go together. Either is incomplete without the other. For completion of any task both are required.Normally women only pray and men only put in effort but both should do both.