12 February 2014 - QA 2

Gurudev, my mind wants one thing and my heart wants something else. How can I make them marry each other and want one thing?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Oh, you are in confusion, pulled between the mind and the heart. There is a proverb in China; if you are confused, take a pillow and go to bed. It means everything will fall into place on its own.

Our mind wants something new, it gallops on something new. But the heart yearns for something old; ancient. We never take pride in saying, ‘This is my new friend! This is my friend from two hours ago!’ You take pride in saying, ‘This is my old friend!’
Friendship, love, takes pride in being old. Fashion, innovation, technology, ideas take pride in new. We don’t say, ‘It is an old idea!’ We take pride in new ideas.

Life is a combination of both, the new and the old. You can’t get rid of any one of these, if you do, then life will not be complete. There is no conflict either; they are never divorced, so don’t try to marry them, they are already together. All that is needed is the wisdom to know when to apply your mind and where to apply your heart.