Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First know what not to do. It’s easier. Purpose of life is not to bemiserable and make others miserable. It is a gut feeling. Chose which gives youlong term happiness even if it gives short term misery. Choosing that whichgives you long term misery and short term joy is not wise.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Happiness is when you want nothing, and you want to give. Where the wanting and desires end, and the sharing begins, happiness is exactly there. Memory is not happiness. When you are happy, you forget everything. It is when happiness is gone that you dwell in its memory. In the world, people are either dreaming of happiness or remembering happiness. That is either being in the past or the future. But happiness is that which is in the present. And it is your very nature.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I will leave that question with you because there are so many ideas. Be of service. These questions do not have one single answer.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When we are peaceful, free of attachment, our message to the world will come on its own.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Drop that which gives you short termhappiness and long term suffering. Just keep this in the back of your mind.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Ok, where there is thirst, water will also be made available. And if you have any conflicts in mind, don’t worry. Aren’t conflicts reducing in mind. This will continue to happen. Increase the level of Sattva in you & Conflicts won’t remain with you with time.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Om is the life force. Sound is energy. When the sound is made with all your heart, it has a very positive effect. Namah Shivaya includes the 5 elements – na – mah – shi – va – ya: Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Space. Chanting and silent meditation also have an impact.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you think it is so simple to be complicated, it is so complicated to be simple then! Then you can easily accept that life is a mixture of both complication and simplicity. And if you don’t want to do only simple things in your life all the time and want to do something complicated as well then, you do something which is so complicated it makes you so simple.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Only God exists. But to realize that takes energy, time and commitment.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Crores, koti means types. 33 crores means 33 types of Divine impulses. In our body also there are 33 types of divine impulses. There are 33 types of genes in our body. A particular type makes the eye, a particular type makes the nose, like that a particular type makes eardrums, hair, nails. All these are made up from a particular type of gene which are of 33 different types.Like this, there are 33 rays of Divinity. There is one light, one God, one Parmatma yet there are 33 aspects. Devas are the 33 different aspects of Divinity. Here crores is not referred to as a number. The Divine has no form but ancient saints have said you can adore Him in any form or name. All the thousand names belong to God only. This is very, very deep science or deep knowledge. It’s amazing. When you go deeper into this, then you feel the ‘wow’. People - who have written this, have discovered this - have simply stupendous knowledge. The Universe is not so simple. It’s very complex. Modern physics also say that the deeper and deeper you go, there are so many different type of particles. So the universe is diverse. The Divinity which manages, rules, and has made this diverse universe is devta.The English name, David, is a Sanskrit word. Dev + vid, dev means Divinity, vid means to know. David means one who knows Divinity. Divinity is not somewhere up in the heaven. It is present in the world, universe, everywhere. And it has to be realized when the mind is calm, serene and settled in our heart and when the emotion and intellect merge into a serene blend in silence then you are able to perceive the subtle reality of Universe and that is devta.