What Is Art?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

Oh! Anything that you appreciate becomes art.
You see a heap of stones lying somewhere and you think it is just a heap of stones. But if it is arranged a little bit, you start appreciating it. Then it becomes an Art.
On a piece of paper when you start putting or splashing some colors and then start appreciating it as a painting, it becomes an Art. It gives you some meaning, isn’t it?
And for poetry, it comes from a subtle level of the mind. When your breath flows in a particular rhythm, when a particular Nadi or channel in you gets opened, in that particular moment, something comes up and you write. Then the words rhyme. So it is a gift! Imagination is a gift.
It is all how the consciousness expresses itself; how your mind expresses itself. And when you appreciate, it becomes Art.
If you don’t appreciate and just blabber some words then that is not it. See the modern poetry needs certain intelligence to appreciate it.
Have you read modern poetry? Let me read you something.

A leaf ruffles on the ground; Water carries it along.

That is it. (Laughter)
And the way you write it – ruffles on the ground; water carries it along – this is poetry. Now this can have so many meanings, instantaneously.
A leaf is on the ground or a leaf was in the air and it came to the ground. It was on the ground could mean it is almost dead. It fell on the ground and it is love that carries it along – water is synonymous to love.
Water carries it along, yes! So it could mean with every desperate moment there is hope.
So you can interpret it in so many ways.
Poetry is like that. Words carrying the feelings, a little exposed and little covered.

Poetry is words capsuling feelings, a little exposed and a little hidden or covered.
That is what it is – a little mystic and a little obvious.

A poet said to God, ‘You are in control of the world. But make it more obvious.’ (Laughter).
To those for whom it is obvious, became saints. Those who don’t see that You are in control of the world, they struggle. You can understand it this way, isn’t it?!

If someone appreciates you then you say, ’Oh, that person is trying to hook me in.’ And if they don’t appreciate you, then you think, ‘They are jealous.’ Same thing if you are rich, you think, ‘They are attending to me because I am rich. They are interested in my purse.’ If they don’t, then you say that they are arrogant, they are jealous. My God, the mind plays so many tricks.
Similarly, someone can get into the labor union mind-set. Do you know what is the labor union mind-set? ‘I don’t want to listen to anybody! Everybody is against me.’
Who is against you?! The mind makes a whole bubble about it. They think, ‘Oh, someone is trying to control me, dominate me, and harass me.’

The other day one person came and said, ‘Everyone is harassing me at work.’
How could everyone harass you? You must be doing something really horrible.
’Everyone is harassing me at my work place’ – you know, this is labor union mentality. Because one does not feel good about oneself, they project it on everybody else thinking, ‘Everybody is bad, everybody is after me!’ Who is after you? What do they get by harassing you and making you miserable? You make yourself miserable. Got it?
In many companies, the establishment suffers because there is one manager sitting there who is like that. He wants to show his or her power and he plays all sorts of tricks. He doesn’t realize that he is cutting the tree which he is sitting on.
There are people like this. You know, in the World Bank, two teachers from The Art of Living went and conducted the corporate program and many of these things came up. Isn’t it? Now there is complete transformation in them, in just 3 days; 3 hours each day. And they have said that all the World Bank employees must do this course. They have incorporated it in their Leadership Training Program – The Art of Living Corporate Program.

They have also said that in Africa and different countries, the leaders should do the Sudarshan Kriya. So I have just put the Short Sudarshan Kriya in it. The Long Kriya becomes too much, so I said only little bit Kriya. And that is bringing sense into people and making them wake up. Otherwise in many countries they feel they have been victimized by somebody else.
The victim consciousness haunts this world and that is why many countries remain poor. Because the people think, ‘Oh I am a victim.’
When you find yourself as a victim, you don’t have power and you feel weak.

It is the same with women empowerment. Don’t ask anybody to empower you. You have a place, you ascertain your place. Don’t go and ask people, ‘You should empower us.’
Many women activists are so angry, isn’t it? Women activists are so uptight and angry. There is always rebelliousness and anger in them, and it doesn’t lead you anywhere.
I’m not saying all are like that, but some women activists are so agitated and angry.
I tell you, anger is not going to lead you anywhere. With a calm serene mind ascertain your place. You have a position, climb it! It is all in our own mind.

See, if you are not looking beautiful, don’t feel low because someone else is beautiful. They may have a beautiful body, you have a beautiful mind. Remember that. Not everyone with a beautiful body has a beautiful mind. Sometimes when you look at their face, it looks so dull. Somebody may have a beautiful mind but they may not have a sharp intellect. You have a sharp intellect. So look into what you have.
Someone may have lot of money, so what? You have talent, you have a good heart, you have something. So when you start comparing with somebody else, you forget there is a dimension inside you which is much bigger than anything else, and which gives everything to everybody. When you latch on to that then you will get over all these complexes. Do you see what I am saying?
The world is full of so many complexes in the mind. You should overcome those complexes. And what can make you come out of complexes? Not psychotherapy, but spirituality. Latching on to the inner space will lift you from all complexes – inferior, superior, exterior, interior, all of them. All types of ’rior’ and irritating complexes will go away! You will find that, ‘Ah! So nice, and so peaceful.’
In Hindi there is a saying – Mann Meetha Toh Jaag Meetha. When there is sweetness inside of you then everything around you is also sweet.

Look, life itself is an art, okay! The Art of Living. Art can be a business, but don’t think business is an art. You can say business is an art in a sense that one should manoeuvre properly how to do business. In a very complex and corrupt world how to keep ethics and still do business – that is an art. In that sense!
Now again in business it is a different phenomenon. You have to watch the market. You can’t say, ‘I don’t care what the market is like, I will create my own thing.’ No!
Business is a different art, it is not like the Fine Arts. In Fine Arts you don’t look at others, you allow the creativity to come out.
Business is dealing with the world, with the market. So there you should know what others are doing. Because you are selling a product, you should be very well aware of how others are marketing their products, and what price structure they are keeping. All that you need to look into.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  Yes, now the Nadi says, ’Keep quiet’ (Checking the flow of breath from his nostrils).
When both the Nadis (subtle energy channels) are running, it means keep quiet, don’t say anything, just meditate. But they change, everything changes. The whole Universe is full of changes.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  You have no choice. Do you have any choice? Sooner or later everybody has to do that.
You cannot take credit for your good qualities because that is how you are. Now this sunflower cannot say, ‘I am yellow.’ It didn’t do anything to become yellow. It is made yellow.
A rose cannot say, ‘Oh look, I am so pink! I made myself pink.’ How can you make yourself pink? Any good qualities, talents you have, you cannot take credit for it because that is how you are made. And the way I am, that is how I am made.
Of course you should not take debit for your negative qualities either. And you can’t take credit for your positive qualities. So however you are that is how you are.

If you are rebellious then make good use of that rebelliousness. Wherever there is injustice, fight! But fight with a smile. Fight with Me! (Laughter).
Fight against illiteracy. Fight against injustice. Fight against lack. Go ahead, fight! And in the course of fighting there are always ups and downs. Never mind. You shouldn’t mind it. Think, ’Okay, come what may, fight!’

That is why you need to identify your Dharma (Duty) . If your Dharma is to teach, or to fight, or to convince, or to serve; whatever your Dharma is, and your nature at that moment, you should go with that.
You can do all the four also, you can try. First you teach and educate. If it is not possible then try to convince; use marketing techniques. So convince and coerce them, cajoling and all that. And if that doesn’t work then serve them. And if nothing works, then fight! Got it? Use all these steps, okay!

Whatever is natural for you, that is your Dharma. Like she says that rebelliousness is natural for her, she can rebel (referring to a member in the audience). Every moment she can rebel against anything, anywhere. So that is her Dharma.
So you identify your Dharma. It becomes obvious. You become absolutely at home and feel comfortable doing it.

See, all of these are difficult. Do you think teaching is easy? My goodness, it is such a big headache. In Telugu language there is a saying – A Teacher is supposed to teach a student and forget what he has learnt, because without forgetting what he has learnt he has no liberation.
You learn, but you should forget all that and become totally hollow and empty. So a teacher is supposed to learn and whatever he has learnt in whichever field, he has to pass it on to the disciple and forget about it. Before that he cannot forget. So this is the rule of a teacher – Learn, teach and forget.
Anyway nature will make you do it. As you become old you start forgetting everything, isn’t that so? As you become old and old and old, you forget everything.

Now there is a very funny saying in Telugu – Having made you my student, having taught you, I lost my reputation. You could never learn and I could never forget! (Laughter) Because if someone asks, ‘Who is your Guru, who is your teacher?’ You will say that so-and-so is my teacher. And what has he taught you? So having taken you as my student, I lost my reputation. You could never learn, I could never forget.
So teaching is not an easy job. And fighting is not an easy job too; it is a tough job. Convincing and cajoling is not an easy job. And serving is also a great challenge. You do all good things to serve people and still they blame you, yes!
You do all that is possible, all the good things; whatever you do, still you can’t make someone happy. So serving is also not an easy job.
So anything you take, if you see from one angle, it is all so difficult. So you think, ‘Okay everything is difficult, but still let me do it and keep quiet.’ But is that easy? That is even more difficult. So doing something is not easy and not doing anything is also not easy.
So, Jai Jai Radha Raman Hari Bol!