Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji, I am from Kerela. I want to ask – what does it mean to do puja (worship)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is a saying that talks about puja. Yen ten prakaren,Yatra kutrapi dehina,Santosham janaye pragyaTadaye vishva lochanCreate patience in people. When you bring a wave of happiness, wherever you go, that is puja. Whatever way when you create happiness and patience, that is puja, truly worshiping God. How beautiful it is!Q:
Is there a way to understand the course of karma?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Gehana Karmonogati - who knows the way of karma? It is so deep. Even great sages get confused over what is karma and what is to be done. It is never ending. Every action will have some flaw.There is no one standard to measure it. Jains had put Krishna in hell because of his sins of creating many wars. Then they saw his good deeds and put him in heaven. Do karma according to the intellect. An action which inspires you with enthusiasm and energy, even if it has flaws is worth doing. Leaving your karma by sitting idle is inappropriate.
There is some flaw in the best of the action. For instance, a teacher earns his salary by teaching students. If children were born wise there would be no need for teachers.
A doctor’s job depends on someone’s illness. Lawyers would not be required if there were no quarrels. Their sukh (joy) depends on others’ fights. In every interaction, you will see some flaw. If you focus on the flaws everywhere, the world will not work.
Be gungrahi (imbibing virtues) - put your attention wherever there are positive qualities. The wise give inspiration to everyone for their work. There is no big or small work - every work is respectable.
Q:
Why are there differences between religions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Religion has three components: symbols, customs and traditions, and values. As far as values are concerned, there is no difference, because all talk about oneness. Customs and symbols are all very different; they have to be, this is what makes the world beautiful, because God doesn’t like uniforms! Nature has been created with such diversity- so many flowers, animals, people. Diversity is the language of God. In India, God can have any number of names and forms, and they all point to one Divinity.So in one sense, there is difference, and in another sense there is unity.
Wise ones celebrate diversity, fools fight over it.
Q:
Please speak on love. Also, how is discipline best exercised?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Here again you cannot force yourself to love something or not love something. Just relax and be yourself.Discipline can only be required in three situations. You don’t need discipline when there is love. When you love something you don’t need to discipline yourself to do it, right? The second situation is when there is fear. If you fear you are going to have nervous breakdown that fear will make you do what is required. Third is greed. If someone offers you one million dollars to do something thing for one week, you would not miss one day of doing that thing. So greed, fear and love keep you in discipline.
Q:
Can you please tell us something about the next transformation in the world by 2012?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good times. People will be more spiritual, more kind, less greedy, less hateful, and more understanding. All is good. All is real good.Q:
Which thing makes you the most happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If I say a thing makes me happy, then there is no bigger fool than me. It’s like listening all night to Ramayana and asking if Sita was Ram's first cousin. No thing can make you happy. You are bliss personified, joy personified.Do everything with happiness. Even if you want to slap someone, do it with joy not anger!
Q:
How can senior management get the most out of their teams for maximum performance?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The Art of Living Foundation teaches the APEX course in corporate environments. It has been appreciated all over including the World Bank.Q:
How and when should I use the mantras?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Chant the mantra effortlessly and naturally. You don’t have to do japa (repetition) 24 hours of the day. Chant for a while and move into meditation. You don’t have to bathe 24 hours to be clean! A few minutes of cleansing is enough to keep you fresh for the day or at least half the day. Like that mantrasnana (cleansing oneself in the shower of mantras) is important.Q:
Please bless me for the new project.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I give blessings in plenty, without restriction! It depends on you, how much you want to take.There is plenty of water here, whatever is the capacity of your pot, that much only you can take.
Q:
What is ‘yashti’ and ‘samashti’?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do you sing daily? (The lady said that she sang at home when alone.) When you sing alone, that is yashti. When you sing with everybody here, participate in the bhajan with everyone that is samasthi. Samashti means the entire creation.
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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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