5 Mar 2012 - QA 5

Guruji, how can we maintain our innocence and yet be skilful. This seems very difficult these days.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is the whole secret, to be skilful and be innocent as well.
You know, devotion will help. When you have the devotion and the faith that there is a power which is in control then your innocence remains intact.
Even for a few moments if this awareness comes that the whole universe is ruled by some orderliness, something is governing this universe then you don’t think that you are too smart and you will come back to your innocence.
And when you are focused on work, as a by-product of it, naturally you will be skilful.
You can’t say all the time, ‘There is some power that will take care of me.’
When you have to take a proper train or bus, then you have to buy a proper ticket. If you don’t buy the right ticket and just sit thinking, ‘Oh! Someone will take care’, then the police will come and take care of you. They will find out why are you traveling without a ticket!
So that is where life is a combination of skillfulness and universal awareness.