Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I leave it up to you. You discuss and decide. Go through all the confusion and come to your own conclusion. I never say it is the best and I also don’t say it is not the best. It is up to you.It will not be the truth to say it is not the best. And it sounds very funny for whenever someone says, ‘it is the best’, you have a sort of resistance for that. So sometimes some of these questions are best not answered. I am not here to clarify your doubts. I am here to create more doubts.
Doubt is always about something which is positive. When somebody tells you ‘I love you’ and you say ‘really’. But do you say really when somebody says ‘I hate you’? You doubt your capabilities and you never doubt your weaknesses. You are so sure of your weaknesses. You doubt in the honesty of people and never in their dishonesty. Nature of doubt is such that it always clings to something which is positive. So if you have a doubt I will encourage you that this is very positive.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
All these symbols are from various faiths in the world. You see Om, the universal primordial sound. Underneath you see the DharmaChakra of Buddhism. Then you see on the second pillar, Cross, this is the sign of Christianity and then the Feather, which is the sigh on Native American religion. Then you see the Hand, which is the sign of Jainism. Underneath is the Turban and the Sword, which is the sign of Sikhism. Then you have the Conch and the Disk, which is a sign of Vaishnavism- a branch of Hinduism. Underneath you have, Shintoism and Taoism. Then you have Islam. Below Islam, Taoism, Ying and Yang. Then you have signs of other native religions. In the end you have Judaism and underneath is Zoroastrian fire symbol. So, almost all the faiths in the world are represented here.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Thirty years ago, there was so much prejudice towards spirituality and wisdom. People would want to keep it at an arm’s length and blindly believe that it is not for them. Today there is acceptance. People are willing to try and see that something benefits them and are less prejudiced. With this, more human values will surface. And don’t worry about 2012. The world will not collapse. I assure you that.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do you write articles? I want all those who have good writing skills to sit together and have some collection. We will implement this. The Ashram agricultural department is very successful in controlling pollution and purifying sewage water. We are using some ancient techniques, which have been forgotten. It is surprising to see the results that these techniques have brought about. Sewage water is completely purified, ready to drink and the sewage is turned into manure. Using this method we can clean all sewage plants in all villages across India without chemicals. The Agricultural Department also took a project in Nasik where vegetation was grown using seawater. So all this is possible.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you have a doubt, it is true love. We always doubt the positives. We doubt our capabilities. We doubt our happiness but are 100 percent sure of our depression. We doubt a person’s honesty and doubt the existence of higher power. So what is true love? Time will tell you.Love is what we are made up of. All negative emotions are off springs of true love.
Love without wisdom makes life miserable…love with wisdom is bliss.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Avatar means one who has come down. Those who want nothing, they come for the wellbeing of all. They haven’t come for themselves - either to enjoy or burn karmas. They have come for jankalyan (welfare of all).Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Sin is that which inflicts pain on yourself and also on others. Virtuous action is that which brings peace and happiness to you and also to others.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When a robber enters your door, you start shaking, shivering, questioning, it’s of no use. Why did robber rob you is a useless question. It’s his job! Accept he is a robber. Somebody cheats you. When you are caught up in asking why did he cheat? You become upset, and you can’t take action.When you accept the robber, then you call the police, etc. you can take action. Parents get upset over the child not studying. Accept. Then you can act better.If you don’t accept, emotions rise, intellect is clouded and actions become regrettable.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, we should have a goal in life. My goal is to bring happiness to more and more people. If we sit and keep thinking of ourselves all the time, we’ll be depressed. We should see, ‘How can I be of service? How can I be of use to others?’ This thought is very useful. Very, very, very useful. Ya?So, ‘Art of Living’ provides a platform for everyone to come together and do some service. You know, when United Nations announced, ‘Stand up and take action’ - they wanted tree planting; ‘Art of Living’ volunteers have planted 55 million trees around the globe.
We all can jointly do some service activity. Reduce violence, reduce stress, create a sense of belongingness, and spread the positive vibration of love and peace. Shall we all do this together? Is everyone committed to do this? (A resonating yes from the audience.)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You can have your own beliefs and practices because the ’Art of Living’ believes in diversity. One can follow one’s own religion and move on with spirituality.