Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri: In the burial ground; you can’t be greedy there.
It is unfortunate that greed has overtaken our society and the world in fact. Do not think corruption is only India specific. Wherever I go it is the same thing, corruption in Bulgaria, corruption in Russia, corruption in Ukraine; every country is suffering from corruption.
In Greece there is a tremendous amount of corruption, the country has drowned because of corruption. In many countries corruption is a problem, not just here in India.

Sri Sri: Yes, you know when the fruit ripens its color also changes. An apple when it becomes ripe its color changes. Like papaya, it becomes yellow color when it is ripe. Like that longing is the sign of the ripening of consciousness.

Sri Sri: The very meaning of Anahat Naad is that which cannot be produced from two objects, and arises spontaneously. Go deep in meditation, only in meditation can you hear it sometime. It is not necessary that everyone should hear it. Some might hear Anahat Naad, some might experience light, some might experience a presence – there are different ways of experiencing.

Sri Sri: Well, see, everything will have to go one day, you also have to go, I also have to go. Usually we go first, and our business goes afterwards. This time business went first, eventually we will also go! What is gone, forget it; move on. When you were born, you were not born with a business. When you were young, someone took care of you – they fed you, and helped you walk by holding your hand and put you to sleep. In the same way, in the future also someone will take care of you. Life will continue, drop all your worries and just keep going.
Yes, you will feel sad, whatever you earned in your life, you invested in something and it failed, it is natural that you will feel pained, but you have come to the right place to drop your pain.
When you are walking on the road, if there is dirt anywhere, do you stop there? What do you do? If you see dirt in front of you, will you stop there or step back? No, neither should one step back nor pause, instead taking a leap, one has to move forward even faster.

Sri Sri: When you say, not this, not this, not this, and discard everything what remains that is Shiv Tatva.

Sri Sri: See there are two kinds of Earthly forces, one is Centripetal force and the other is Centrifugal force. The movement of these forces is not straight but they have a snake like movement. This fact was known to our ancestors. The Earth is not resting on a snake but by snake they mean Centripetal power, and that which is known as Centrifugal power. So, that fact has been explained by them in this form.

For example, Lord Shiva is sitting with a snake around his neck – what this implies is the state of meditation, where the eyes are closed giving the impression that the person is sleeping; but he is not asleep, he is alert within. To express this, a snake is shown around Lord Shiva’s neck. Otherwise, why would Lord Shiva wear a snake around his neck? He is the lord of the universe; could he not find anything else to wear? The Lord of the universe could wear a necklace of all different kind of things, why would he have a snake hanging from his neck? No, whatever our ancestors said, there are such profound mysteries hidden behind it.

In the same way, the Earth on Shesh Naag – naag implies Centripetal force. A snake never moves on a straight course, it makes curves as it slithers forward – this is known as Centripetal force. Centripetal force means that which will not go straight; and the Earth rotates on its axis and around the sun. So these are the 2 kinds of forces Centripetal and Centrifugal. This is what the ancient people have expressed in the form of a cobra.
And what is the cobra standing on? It is standing on a turtle, and a turtle symbolizes stability. This is very interesting!

Now it is also said that if the planet Jupiter (Guru) did not exist, the Earth could not have survived. What the planet Jupiter (Guru) does is, all the meteorites that come from outer space the planet Jupiter (Guru) draws them towards itself, giving protection to the Earth. There is such bombardment going on from outer space on Earth - meteorites, tiny celestial bodies – and what Jupiter does is, it draws them all towards itself and saves the Earth.
NASA has created a very beautiful illustration of this.
We had said that Guru is the guardian of the entire universe. So the planet was also given the same name Guru (Jupiter) because it protects the Earth.

Sri Sri: ‘Pradakshina’means going around. ‘Dakshina’ meansthat which is done with skill. The English word ‘dexterous’ has come from the Sanskritword ‘Daksha’. ‘Dexterous’ means skillful. ‘Pradakshina’ means ‘in a very special way, being skillful’, avery skillful movement, that which is gained with skill, merit which you havegained skillfully. ‘Pra’ is to goaround. ‘Pradakshina’ is qualifyingby going around skillfully.

Sri Sri: There is a whole lot of knowledge about dark energy. The whole universe is full of dark energy. When they say the sun is round, that is because all around the sun is the dark energy that is keeping it round. So all the stars, planets exist in the dark energy.
Like the sky is dark but the stars in the sky are the points of light. We think only that these stars are objects, but science says no, it is the space between the stars that is full of energy like a thick ocean, that is dark energy. You do not see it but the energy between the stars is what they call dark energy.
That is exactly what Shiva Tatva is. Our ancient people knew this and called it Shiva Tatva – Sarvam Sivamayam Jagat. The whole universe is held by Shiva Tatva.

Sri Sri: Well, I do not think we need to delve into it. Why? What happened and when?
There is only one cause for the universe, and for all happenings and that is the Param Karana Karanaya – the cause of all causes – the Shiva Tatva, the Divine will. Let us keep it at that.