Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The feeling of revenge is not for human beings, it is animalistic. The feeling to take revenge troubles you to a great extent. Till you have achieved it, you remain in hell. The thought of revenge itself puts you in hell. You suffer and others also suffer, there is no gain for anyone. Educating others is important. If someone has done wrong to you, explain to them and reform them. Otherwise you cannot improve the situation. However, remain aware. If some one betrays you, it shows your ignorance. We can be intelligent and give knowledge to others. When the thought for revenge comes, think of how much it would harm you and look at your gain.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Crying out of love, joy is very good. Such tears are very precious. It is a sign of your heart opening up. If you cry because you feel hurt, then invoke the valour inside. Many times you pity yourself. On the spiritual path, self pity and self blame have no place at all. Shun these two. If you blame yourself then you cannot go towards yourself.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are three things to start a good habit: greed, fear or love. First, if someone says they will give you a million dollars for not missing your practice, will you do it? You would say “I will do for five more days, just to be safe.” If you have promised your loved one you will not smoke, you will keep the promise. If your doctor says you will die if you do it, then also you will quit smoking. I prefer love over greed and fear. A Guru is a symbol of love and commitment.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
ConFused – Fusion with the consciousness and cosmos. Everytime you get confused, know that you are growing.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
By doing service, pranayama, and meditation.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Solve the problem. Problems are to be seen as challenges. Someone who is brave like challenges and you are brave, I tell you.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You think life is miserable because you are hanging onto desires of the past, impossibles of the past, you are not accepting the present, you are not moving ahead or you are hoping for something too much. Correct? Be practical. Life is a mixture of problems and pleasure. What does your mind do? It messes up the problems and blows it out of proportion and makes oneself miserable. So who isresponsible for your misery? Yourself. So when is the program? When is the program not to be miserable? (Laughter) Now, right now have you gotten over your misery right now? (A dim ‘yes’ from the audience) The ‘Yes!’ should be louder (A strong ‘Yes’ this time). That is it.You know, if the room is dark for 20 years, it doesn’t take another 20 years to bring light in. it just needs one connection, one switch on and the whole darkness goes away. Your life may have been miserable in the past, but wake up and see, so what? Problems come and go in everybody’s life. Look at your past, problems came and they have all vanished. Right? We forcefully make the problem stay, just wake up and see, where is the problem? The problem is not there. You can have some physical problem in the body sometimes, some pain here and there but is there anyone who has never suffered physical illness?Everybody has some physical problem at some point in their lives and when you violate laws of nature, pain comes, suffering comes. Pain is inevitable, suffering isoptional.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Saint is one whose consciousness is complete. Manifestation follows their words. When such a person speaks, it is not only on the level of mind. Those words have depth. It is more beneficial to directly listen to master’s words because He is speaking life’s experiences only. Experience kindles experience.We communicate more through our presence. If our presence doesn’t have that love, then the words spoken carry no effect. And there is no need of words where presence carries love. Whatever we convey, it is through our whole existence. It is like when a child cries or laughs, it is coming from every cell of his/her body. This is indication of a yogi – He/She speaks through existence.
Truth can not be conveyed on the level of brain.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t get into a dilemma. Be at ease, in your nature. Be the way you are.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Your desire for consistency itself will set you on the right path. As long as you keep going up, never mind if you come down once or twice. If you are worried that you should never go down or if you go down and start blaming, then you get angry and stressed. So just take it.(The person: But what can I do with the insecurity that I will fall down?)
Look back and see. If you have taken 10 steps forward, you can never go back all the 10 steps. Isn’t it? If you climb 10 steps, you may come down three, four or five steps but never all the ten steps. When you look at the positive changes in you, do you relate to the person you were before you started doing practices? (Reply: No).
That was a completely different person. So this gives you complete confidence that you have never come down completely all the ten steps. You are somewhere four, five or six steps down the line.