13 February 2014 - QA 1

Gurudev, what is the relation between God and Truth? And what should be the relationship between a master and a disciple?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

God is not somebody sitting in the heaven trying to give you a little finger which you want to go and catch, but he flies away. No! God is not some man or woman or somebody sitting somewhere. God is the summum bonum of the whole creation.
What is God? God is truth, beauty and benevolence.
In the world, there is an underlying truth that everything is One, and that One is so benevolent, so beautiful. That is satyam shivam sundaram! That is divinity, and it is blissful.

What is the relationship between a master and a student? It should be one of ease.
What is your relationship with yourself? You are honest with yourself, you are truthful to yourself, you are at ease with yourself. I feel that should be your relationship with not just the master, but with everybody. You should feel at home with everyone. Doesn’t matter if they feel or not. It is their problem. From your side you should be natural.
That is what I have believed and practiced. I am at home with anybody, anywhere in the world. I don’t judge people, I am home with them.

If you can’ be at home with everybody, at least start with the master. With the master, be sincere, feel like you are at home, feel free. That’s it.
I would say, just relax and don’t worry. Don’t try to behave in a way which you are not. You don’t have to cultivate a behavior, ‘Oh, how I should behave with my parents, how I should be with my mother, how I should behave with my friends.’
This cosmetic behavior is not going to work. You be free from all stress. If you are free from stress, if you are true to yourself, you are natural and you are sensitive, that is good enough. Any interaction of yours with anyone will be of harmony and pleasantness.