Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Dear Guruji, I have never been a spiritual or a true religious person. How can I learn to let go and believe?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You don’t have to label yourself- I am spiritual, religious person etc. No need for it.Just be natural, beautiful, good human being. That’s it!
If someone is not a beautiful human being and says, ‘I am a spiritual person or a religious person’, what is the use of that? What good he or she is for? Isn’t it? The purpose of spirituality is to make you a beautiful human being, the purpose of religion is to make you a righteous person, connected to the universe, to the universal spirit. And that’s what spirituality is and that’s what a simple, natural, normal human being is! Got it? Right, so it is better not to label yourself.
If you think you are a believer or a non believer, then even a non believer is a wrong label. Someone who says, ‘I am a non believer, I tell you, this is not true. You simply can’t honestly be a non believer; there is no honesty in it. Somewhere in some corner of your consciousness, you believe something; you know something, for your consciousness is very ancient. You don’t know your consciousness, it is so old, so ancient, there are so many layers, so many impressions on our mind, on our consciousness- it is such an amazing phenomenon!
Q:
Guruji, how do I differentiate between being flexible and manipulative? Is there an intention behind it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, intention and your selfish desire is what can make you manipulative. But, if you are content, you are free and you have a goal to achieve, then it is adaptation, not manipulation.Q:
I cannot think of moving away from the‘Art of Living’. Is it attachment or restlessness of soul?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Once you have learnt a language and started to converse in it, you cannot forget that language. Same way once you have acquired knowledge, there is no question of losing it. It gets solidified in you.Ancient people of India were so intelligent that they kept Laxmi(goddess of wealth) on lotus, and Saraswati(goddess of knowledge) on stone. Lotus does not remain stable on the surface of water and it moves as the water moves. But a stone is solid and stable. Once you get knowledge, it becomes part of you, not only for this lifetime but also for lifetimes to come.
Q:
Guruji, spiritually is religious conversion. Sometimes my mind says that religious conversion is because at least people are getting food, education, and healthcare. What do you say?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, you can have health-care, education, food everything without conversion too. Religion you are in is over you. You know, if someone likes a particular religion out of full interest, that is a different issue but alluring them with food, medical and all education should not be done.Q:
What is difference between dispassion and indifference?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, in indifference there is a sense of apathy, rejection and disappointment. In dispassion there is joy and enthusiasm.Q:
How can we continue to love people who commit fraud or other such crimes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They are not incorrigible.There is a victim crying for help inside every culprit. You will observe in society, those who are greedy usually have no friends. The greed disappears the minute they make friends. Similarly, corruption cannot happen within the boundaries of friendliness. People who are corrupt or commit fraud are victims themselves. They are not spiritually educated. You know, we know one thing from all our programs, especially the ’Prison SMART program’, that there is a good soul crying for help and starved for love even within a criminal. Yes, we can help them.Q:
What is the purpose of dreams?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are five kinds of dreams:1. Dreams in which old experiences repeat in the consciousness.
2. The ones that display your desires and fears.
3. Intuitive dreams - that foretell what is going to happen.
4. The dreams which are not related to you but to the place where you are sleeping. For instance, if you are sleeping in China you may see dreams in Chinese.
5. This type is the mixture of all the other types.
99 percent of the dreams that you have belong to the fifth category, so it is wise not to give much importance to them. The wise believe this world itself to be a dream. Whatever we experience through the sense organs is the impression of the world on us. What you did a few hours ago is just like a dream in the present moment. It’s a memory. There is not much difference between a memory and a dream.
*Traditional colorful floor decorations
Q:
Will the world be destroyed in 2012? Is that true?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
People used to say this in 1999 - that world will be destroyed before the Millennium. In fact, in Canada people stocked up six months worth of groceries (laughs).There will be a positive spiritual shift that will happen. You know, people are meditating in Terra Del Fiago (near South Pole) and in Norway (near North Pole) and chanting Om Nama Shivaya, becoming vegetarians and taking up Indian traditions.
Q:
There are so many staunch followers of the ‘Art of Living’. Why don’t we enter politics?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you have that inclination, you go ahead. I will give you support.Q:
Guruji, how do I know if I am growing on Spiritual path?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Look, there are no criteria. See from the past if you are more calm, or drop all spiritual practices for a month and see how do you feel, whether it makes a difference, or ask people around you if you are behaving better than before. Now none of these are benchmarks. And after listening to all these opinions, throw them all into the basket. If you learn to relax well, if you are able to see everything as a dream – nature of the universe, you are progressing. There is no other way. You are on a conveyor belt, you can’t be stuck, you have to move, or you will be pushed. When you are on conveyor belt, you will be moving.
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Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives.
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