Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What is causing so many people fall in depression?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If we keep thinking what about ourselves all the time, we will get depressed. You should see what you can do, and how you can contribute to the world.We all have to work towards having a stress free, violence-free, drug and alcohol free, and healthy society.
Violence free society, disease free body, confusion free mind, inhibition free intellect, trauma free memory and sorrow free soul is the birth right of every individual, and that’s what I have been telling around the world. We are all one family; we all belong to one family.
Q:
I find it difficult to like my wife. How can I make myself love her to have a fulfilling life together?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I cannot speak on that because I have no experience. But I have a suggestion for you.Tip for women: Never step on the ego of your man. You should always pump the ego of a man. You should not put him under pressure to prove his love for you. The whole world demands a man to prove himself. At home he should come and simply relax. At many times men cannot express their love the way women may wish. You should ask him why he loves you so much even if he doesn’t, and then he will start loving you really. Don’t put him under pressure to prove his love for you. This is very important.
For men: Never step on the emotions of your wife. She may complain to you about her family, but if you join her, she will spin around. It is a very delicate area. Be politically correct. Don’t say a word about her family because it’s very dear to her. Also don’t stop her if she wants to go on pilgrimage, temple, meditation or a spiritual program. If she wants to go for shopping just give her your credit card. Then you will have peace at home.
Q:
I see lots of people around me and I do not know why they have come here. Even I am sitting here and I have no clue why I am here. Is it because of some hollowness within me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is more of a wonder then a question. I leave that wonder with you. Life should be full of wonders and it’s good to wonder.Every wonder is nothing but a question which is not looking for an answer. Life is a journey where you turn question in to wonder.
Q:
What made God alive? When did you start believing in God? Have you seen God? What does God look like?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This same question was asked 10,000 years ago by a little boy of 8-9 years old to his father.The boy to his father: What is God and how does God Look like?
His father takes him by hand and brings him out of his house, and asked him what was there at the place of their house before it was built.
The boy said ‘Space’.
Father: Where is the house built?
Boy: space.
Father: What will exist and what will remain when this house will demolish?
Boy: space.
Father: That is God.
God is not a person sitting somewhere. It is so depicted in paintings only. God is love, God is the space in which everything exists, from which everything has come into existence, and in which everything dissolves. God is the space, joy, and love, which is all pervading. The space around you is not the dead space. It is filled with energy and intelligence. That energy and intelligence is divinity. It is everywhere –your inside as well as your outside.
Most of the native cultures of the world have the same concept. They say God is in the mountains, in the rivers, in the flowers, in the trees, in the animals, and in the human beings. God is love. You can feel it but cannot see it. You can experience that enormous energy when you go deep in meditation.
Q:
Does man create wealth for security, or insecurity?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Wealth is the means, but if it becomes a goal in itself, then it leads to insecurity.Q:
Apart from the joy one gets in service, is there anything else also that one gets?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You get what you call good luck. Doing service increases your luck. But doing service in order to enhance luck will be cheating. You do service because you cannot live without that.Do whatever you can in your capacity.
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:
Does time and mind have any relation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You should read the book ‘Celebrating Silence’ or ‘An intimate note to the sincere seeker’.Q:
How should be a disciple’s relation with the master?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What relation you want to have with yourself? A relation in which you are natural and without any hesitation.Q:
Apart from the joy one gets in service, is there anything else also that one gets?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You get what you call good luck. Doing service increases your luck. But doing service in order to enhance luck will be cheating. You do service because you cannot live without that.Do whatever you can in your capacity.
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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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