Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
How to retain the positive energy of the ashram in the future?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, by meditating everyday, singing and chanting.Q:
Does the Divine feel like a human being? How can a simple human being be close to God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Only simple human beings can understand The Divine. If someone thinks they are special, they cannot.First understand yourself, and God will chase you Himself. Ask yourself – Who Am I?
Anybody can do that.
Q:
If something bad is happening, what do we do about that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First, you accept that something bad is happening, and then realize that you want to stop the wrong from happening. The wrong will stop at the right time.Q:
What do you think about the election results?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good! It’s better that national parties come to power than smaller parties amalgamating. A party with a national agenda should be there, instead of smaller parties trying to bully each other.Q:
Why do some people love others so much, knowing that they have nothing to get from them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are two types of joys – one joy is that from getting, another joy is giving. That’s a more mature joy. When grandfathers and grandmothers come to meet their grandchildren, they are not waiting for some gifts. They just want to be with them.With children, it’s the other way around – children wait for their uncles and aunts to get gifts.
So the joy in giving is more mature than the joy in getting.
(A child from the audience shouts out - Happy b’day, Guruji! {It was Sri Sri’s birthday on May 13}.)
Q:
How to reduce attachment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why are you so bothered about attachment? Because it gives you pain, suffering. Small attachments always bring you pain.If the attachment is bigger, wider, and deeper, it always uplifts the spirit.
Q:
What is puja, and prayer? What is the significance of Rudra puja? During puja, is it better to watch or meditate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Meditation! What is happening outside, is not important. With your eyes closed, you must feel that when the water is being poured on the shiva lingam, you too are getting an abhishekam (sacred cleansing) of chanting. Just sit, and get immersed in the chanting.Q:
Who controls God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If someone controls God, he cannot be God. The one who cannot be controlled is God.Q:
Why chant the shanti mantra three times after meditation? Does it have a different significance each time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, no. It means ‘Inner peace, peace in the world, peace in the soul.Q:
What is silence? How is it celebrated?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
(He smiles at the audience, and doesn’t say anything. After a few seconds, the audience begins to applaud.)