Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji, please promise to come to Vancouver every year now.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, my year has 700 days. (laughter)Q:
Guruji, can you see the aura of other people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Is this a big deal? You can also see.Q:
Why do we cry in front of God and how can we bring ourselves closer to God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It makes you feel better when you release the tears. The impressions go themselves. You don’t need any effort to make yourself close to God. God is the closest thing to you. There is no escape from God! However you are, good or bad, God is all around you. Like there is air all around you. Whether you are awake or asleep, air is all around. When you feel hot, you stand in front of the fan. The fan is just blowing the air ,which is already there. Satsang is like a fan. The Master is like a fan. Only then do you feel the blow of the air.Q:
How does one get over past childhood problems?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It’s already gone. If you think it is still in the mind, then rub it off. De-link the pain from the memory. But if you put effort in trying to do that, you bring the memory back. However, in meditation you feel the pain as a sensation and not as connected to an event. In the Art of Silence Course, during the Hollow and Empty Meditation, you observe pain as a sensation. The very first experience of life was pain, coming out of our mother’s womb through such a small passage. Before that you were in bliss. You didn’t even need to eat. Then suddenly the water got drained and you came out crying. Have you noticed the expression on a newborn’s face? It is as though they came out from ten hours of hard work! The first experience is that of pain. Then the child looks into the mother’s eyes, and then the mother experiences the love.Don’t see pain as an event.
Q:
How can we come out of yes and no in the mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just smile through. Take things as they come.Q:
Why do people meditate? Is it alright to sleep during meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It’s fine unless you are snoring and troubling others! (laughter) Meditation is deep rest. What is samadhi? It is equivalent to a million years of rest. If you meditate even for a second and sleep before and after, never mind. Even if it is sound sleep. So what?Q:
How does one handle fear of death?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you isolate and think only of yourself then you will have the fear of death. Once you are in service, there is no fear of death. Terrorists are committed to something so they are not afraid of life or death. If you want to do good for others, your commitment to it will take care of this fear.Q:
Please speak about what will happen in the year 2012.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The year 2012 is a fascination. It has become such a sensation. No news is good news till it has become a sensation. We will have more work to do. People will become more spiritual. It will become a necessity and not merely a fashion. The Golden Age is already here.I think now I have said everything. Many things can be said without words. Some things can’t be said with words and some cannot be said even without words. Even if you say, you may not grasp it.
You are so fortunate. Remember these words when you go home. You are very fortunate. You are so amazing and beautiful. Remember this knowledge. Spread joy and smiles. Lessen worry and bring more joy in everyone’s lives. You do this job and let the Divine take care of you. Smile at everyone.
Q:
Guruji, we get plenty in life yet a feeling of dissatisfaction remains with unfulfilled desires, which really give pain sometimes. How to deal with them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You have done the basic course. What did you learn in the basic course - There is failure sometimes and there is success sometimes in life, and you have to accept both. You can never be satisfied with a failure, it will give pain only. Then what to do at that time? There are two methods for that-‘so what?’ and ‘so hum’! So you have these keys to handle the situation!Q:
In the modern world today, many suffer from diabetes which cannot be cured fully with allopathic medicines. Can it be cured by yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Some types of diabetes can be cured with the combination of yoga and ayurveda , but they may not work in certain type of diabetes. Here at the Research Center, some research has been conducted by Dr Vedamurthacharya who has published 43 papers on it. You can talk to him. He has tested on over 1000 diabetic people, who after doing Sudarshan Kriya and following proper diet have overcome diabetes.