8 August 2014 - QA 6

Gurudev, there are some prayer rituals that we perform at home to nullify any bad things that are to happen. My question is, will the Divine do bad to us if we do not perform these poojas?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

No, there is nothing like that. The Divine is not going to do anything bad to you, or get angry at you. The purpose of pooja is to keep a good atmosphere, to bring in good energy to your home and to purify your mind and your heart.
If you sit with your eyes closed and go into deep meditation, that is good enough! That is the best thing one can do.

There is a beautiful couplet in Kannada which says, 'When your breath is fragrant, what is the need for flowers?'
When will the breath get fragrant? Only when you are meditating every day. When you are aggressive your breath is hot. When you are obsessed with desires, your breath is shaky. And when you have negative feeling and hatred towards something, your, breath smells bad. Negativity makes the breath smell bad.
When your mind is in deep love, very subtle, very peaceful, and contented, your breath has a fragrance. It is a beautiful thing.
What is the need for Samadhi and meditation when there is peace, forgiveness, compassion and patience. If you have all these qualities in you, what is the need of doing meditation? Then no need of Samadhi, you are already in Samadhi.

What is the point of solitude when the whole world is me only? When everything is a part of me then what is the point of going into solitude? You know, people go to Himalayas to find solitude. Why do you want to go there to find solitude! Everybody is part of you, you have become the world, the world is you. When you get this realization, then you see that there is no need of running away to Himalayas for solitude!
This knowledge is so beautiful, but it is higher knowledge. Don’t tell me tomorrow that since you are quite compassionate and forgiving you don’t need to go and meditate. Continue your meditate and you’ll see that these qualities are already present in you. Then every moment is living serenity.