Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji, why is it that many times we do not trust our own people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
One could be because you know him very well. That is why you do not trust or you do not consider him as your own and that is why you does not trust.Q:
Guruji, can spirituality be explained by science? Sometimes I get amused by this creation which is yet to be explained by science. Do the Vedas have a solution?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, amusement is the preface for Yoga. When you are amused then you start enquiring into the nature of truth and then your journey begins. So, it is perfect. ‘Vismayo Yoga Bhumika,’ spirituality begins with amusement and then it is like being in an amusement park all the time. You get surprised, wow! What is this? What is this world? So many different varieties of trees, plants, flowers, leaves, vegetables, fruits, people, what is all of this? When such a thought arises, then knowledge begins.Q:
Whom should we pray to, you or God? Will you transfer our prayers to God or go to you directly?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Prayer is innate. It’s not something that you do with your mind or is in your mind. It’s something that happens automatically when you need help. Do not make an effort to pray. Relax. There is only one God who works through everyone. Whomsoever you address your prayer, it only goes to one God who is the cause of the Universe. Don’t worry about anything. Give me all your problems and go back happily.Q:
Are the thoughts in the mind created within or come from outside?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You get more thoughts than me. Then you’re an expert at generating thoughts. You should know. Sit and find out.Q:
Guruji, when we are on the spiritual path, it is okay to be aggressive in our day-to-day life? Sometimes you need to be aggressive in your work place to get things done.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You don’t need to be aggressive but you should be assertive. You be firm and assertive.Q:
Money, mind or meditation – All three are not in my control? Money doesn’t come, mind doesn’t stop and not able to meditate. What will happen to me Guruji?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You can’t do meditation? Okay, so first see why you are not able to meditate. The part of you that is entangled in money and mind, detangling it from there, entangle it in me! Then meditation will also happen, mind will also be happy and money will also come on its own.Q:
Guruji, the fact that meditation alters attitude is clear, does meditation alter aptitude as well?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, of course.Q:
Guruji, I still have doubts when I don’t want to doubt who and what you are. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Never mind, doubt as much as you can. I don’t mind you doubting, go on. Know that what we doubt is always positive. We doubt the love of someone, not the anger of someone. We doubt our capabilities, we never doubt our weaknesses. We doubt our happiness. So understand the nature of our doubt.Q:
Jai Gurudev. Gurudev. I have read a lot of your books and I have read books by Sathya Sai Baba and Osho. I found no difference in them, they all talk about love and I just feel they are different physical manifestations. One thing I am greatly influenced by Osho is his concept of Zorba The Buddha. I wanted your perceptions on that. I really like the way he talked about material and spiritual together. Just want to hear what you feel.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, he was a great orator and he spoke really well. He had a deep intellectual insight which is fine but one thing that was missing there was the knowledge of the mantras; knowledge of the tradition of the mantras. Buddha said it is all nothing, everything is nothing and he also said I searched for the ultimate, I searched for the Self but I found there is no Self, there is no atma. I searched and searched and finally found there is not atma. But in the Sanatana Dharma, Adi Shankara said, ‘Who searched? Who is it that did not find? That is atma.’ So, it is like two sides of the same coin. He talks about the emptiness and on the other side the Vedanta speaks about the fullness. So it is one step, from somebody to nobody is one step. Buddha stops at that, from somebody to nobody, and Vedanta takes you from nobody to everybody.Q:
Is the Golden Age over or is it coming in the future?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The day you feel good, that is the Golden Age for you.