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  1. Gurudev, I am a Muslim lady and I come from very far to listen to knowledge from you. The Koran is the base of our religion but I cannot identify myself with the Islam of today. But your words go deep into my being. Why?

    Our soul always looks for the truth and wherever it finds the truth, it resonates. When something feels right in your heart just listen to that, and go with that.All other conditioning of the mind, of philosophy, of religion and customs, keep on one ...
  2. We know that each religion has two aspects, one aspect is the beliefs and the other is rituals. Which one is the unifying and which is the dividing factor?

    I would say religion has three aspects:1. Values2. Symbols and3. Rituals and practicesThe values seem to be the same amongst all religions, like brotherhood, oneness of God, love and compassion, serving the poor and needy. This is the sp ...
  3. Gurudev, what if the person you love asks you to change your religion to get married?

    To that you should say, 'I shall follow mine, you follow yours'. There are some religions which accept everything, but there are some religions which say others are evil, and only mine is right. This is difficult.With such religions, you have to say ...
  4. Sometimes I feel like there is a conflict between being in The Art of Living and practicing Islam. Especially when I chant 'Shiva' or 'Ram'. Unfortunately, Islam has gained a bad reputation.

    See, you should know the history of Islam. How Islam was born, when it was written, and how it changed over period of time. What was said then and why; what is practical and what is not practical. In those days the women population was more, so a man wa ...
  5. Which Indian scripture is equal to the Koran or Bible?

    Actually there is none. It is very difficult to say.The Vedas are considered as the main source (of knowledge), but it is so vast. For all practical purposes, Bhagavad Gita is what everyone reads because it has the essence of most of the main knowle ...
  6. Gurudev, we have a tradition of donating a person’s valuables after they die. Some people are able to do this and some cannot. How relevant is this in Hinduism?

    See, many priests nowadays exploit the sentiments of people in this way to make money. If you go to Haridwar or Kashi, the priests in the temples force you to make donations. They make you feel so guilty, or they induce a sort of culprit-c ...
  7. Your Art of Living center in Pakistan was recently burned to the ground. Thank God nobody was hurt. Would you tell us the story of the strange premonition you had before you lost your Art of Living center in Pakistan.

    A couple of days before the incident, we were supposed to have a Silent Retreat (Advance Course) in that place, and then we had shifted the venue to another place. There were 60 members who were going to be in the silence over that weekend.Usually o ...
  8. Gurudev, following religion to a large extent sometimes makes a person rigid. Some people become righteous but ultimately they suffer and others around also suffer. Have we understood religion wrongly?

    That’s it! You said it correctly. We have understood religion wrongly. Now we need to move from religion to spirituality. The intelligent ones will do that. The intelligent one will not get stuck up in the religious sentiments. We are beyond the relig ...
  9. Gurudev, I come from a Christian background and feel the love for Christ reflected in your teachings. However, the Bible says that Christ is the only way.

    Love is the only way. Do you know the Bible was written 70 years after Jesus Christ? There are 72 sects of Christianity, all of which have their own interpretation of the Bible (similar to how there are 32 sects of Buddhism).If ...
  10. Gurudev, in Brazil a lot of people are looking for the meaning to life. But most of them don’t know the difference between religion and spirituality, and many a times, it creates a resistance. What to say to these people so as to not to create a resistance and bring them to love?

    That is why we have kept the name The Art of Living. It is very neutral, very acceptable to everybody. We are not talking about God unless someone asks.The prejudice in the world is what is eating up the cohesive culture in the world. The cohesi ...