18 July 2014 - QA 5

Dearest Gurudev, people are enjoying less personal freedom. The Government and the cooperation are taking over our lives more and more. What can the regular average people do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Rules and regulations are essential in any society, but it should not be too stifling. Individual and private life should also not be too stifling.
When you feel life is getting boring and coming to a standstill, that is when you should engage in activities like what you are doing this weekend (The Silence Program). Enroll in such programs at least twice a year. Here we are singing, reflecting, thinking, and doing something more. We should also engage in some group activities for a couple of hours on a day to day basis.
The more we are in our comfort zone, just caring for ourselves and our immediate families, our life starts shrinking. Then we start being angry, upset, frustrated; all these negative thoughts start coming. If you keep yourself a little engaged in social and public activity, you will be less upset at home, and there will be more harmony at the home front.