9 September 2014 - QA 5

Gurudev, you give comfort to so many in distress and fear. What were the biggest moments of stress and anxiety that you have been through in your life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I can't relate to anxiety but there have been many points of stress. We were involved during the tsunami time and we travelled 48 hours continuously. Those days were very stressful. Also, when I was travelling in Iraq there were bombs in the front and at the back. I went into the red zone. I was not anxious of course, but I made people around me anxious. I knew that all will be well with us.
The Government insisted that we should not go into the red zone but I insisted on going and meeting with the tribal people. They gave us 12 vehicles including 2 tankers for my security. A distance which would take normally half an hour took us two hours. So I have experienced travelling in war zones, but I was not anxious.
Long back I also travelled to many places in Kashmir when it was in the grip of militancy.

I travelled to Sri Lanka but my trip there was a disappointment for me. I went to Sri Lanka because I wanted to make peace. I spoke to the Sri Lankan President and I also wanted to speak to Prabhakaran. I wanted to tell him not to go for war and to come to the negotiation table but he did not meet me, so that was a little disappointing.
I stayed for a day in Kilinochchi. I could see that eighty thousand people will be destroyed if this one man’s ego is not pulled down. If he had come to the negotiating table the war in Sri Lanka could have been averted. Of course, people under him were also desperate. They said, 'Gurudev please meet with our leader. His mind will change if he meets with you', but that man refused to meet. He said he will not meet with spiritual leaders.

Again when there were problems happening between North Korea and South Korea, there was some effort made to meet with the new President. He was a young President in his late twenties. We were told that he was surrounded by the mafia and the mafia wouldn’t let us have access to the President. So even though we came close it then fizzled out. These things happen but I am not disturbed by these things.