Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That is ok. Dream is another dimension where all these things exist, all the experiences come. So, when you wake up, be fully in the waking state.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Ego is a sense of seperateness, a sense of identity. There are three ways to see ego.

1. Ego is identity. I am this. This is one ego.

2. Ego is also I am not this.

3. Ego is also I am seperate from others.

How to dissolve this ego?

Either you expand your ego. I am this, I am that, I am that too. For instance, one ego is that you think you are an officer. But if you are stuck with only being an officer, and you come home and be officer to your kids and wife, you create a problem. Suppose you are a major or colonel in the military, and if you behave with your family in the same role, then you are stuck in your ego of being an army officer. Your one identity is that you are a colonel, but you are a father/mother with your children, you are a husband/wife with your spouse, you are a son/daughter with your parents and so many. When you balance all these identities in your life giving equal importance to all these, that is the way you dissolve your ego. Ego is getting stuck with any one identity. From that limited identity to identify with the unlimited divinity is the path of expanding, or you can call it dissolving identity. So you move from me to Aham Brahaman, I am somebody to becoming I am nobody, and I am nobody to I am everybody. Now this looks very philosophical. You can’t go to your office and say that you are nobody, nor can you say at your home that you are everybody. It is not going to work. So, I would say that the simple way to counter your ego is to be natural. Ego makes you feel uncomfortable, unnatural and seperate. Egolessness,or expanded ego or transformed ego is being at home, being natural with everyone in every circumstances. Rather, it is being like a child. I would say just be like a child.

One last thing I would like to say about ego is that if you find you have any ego, then don’t try to dissolve it. You can keep it in your pocket. Don’t meddle with it, and don’t bother about it. Let it be there. Ok?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When you are to do business, you do it with your head. When you are to do service, you do it from your heart.

More from the same knowledge session will be included in the next post.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Don’t worry, you can have them. It is said usually but don’t just eat only those vegetables. Mix with beans, greens and lentils. You can have them but not in excess. Everything in excess is harmful. Just don’t eat them too much, and don’t make them a daily routine. Our system is strong. It can counter the ill affects of lower prana.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Waking up to the reality. Knowing of this ’I’ can lead to a state of devotion, of love. It is spontaneous. There is no need of surrender because it is already there. It does not have to mean a painful part of the ego. It is knowing that everything belongs to the divine, the thorn as well as the roses belong to the divine. What happens when you surrender? A permanent peace dawns in you, a smile that no one can take away from you. You wonder that there was such an illusion. You smile and realize that there is nothing to give away. Suppose you fill a pot from the lake, and you are carrying that pot of water. Then you pour it back into the lake. What can you tell the person when he/she thinks that he/she is giving water to the lake? It brings back a feeling of connectedness, and annihilates the sense of separation which causes pain and suffering. Sense of connectedness always brings peace and joy. So with this self knowledge, practice of meditation, singing, becoming one with the sound of satsang, you become one and merge into one consciousness. Satsang is everyone sharing together the consciousness and energy, everyone is sharing the sound. In Satsang, the mind gets united, all minds get united with the cosmic energy. It brings more benefit in singing when your awareness is focused, and you have one pointed attention.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Only in moments of true confidence do you recognize true success.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Love, fear and greed. If you have an alcohol and cigarette addiction, and I tell you that you will get one million dollars if you don’t smoke for one month, you will stop. Won’t you? Greed can check your bad habit. If you promise someone love, even then they will get over addictions. There is a Catholic tradition as well as in India, that of confession. You confess and say, ”This is my habit, how can I change it?” Third is fear. If I say, you will die in a month if you do this, you will not do it. Fear can stop an addiction. I prefer love over other two.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

If you recognize that you have ego, for God's sake don’t try to get rid of it. If you get rid of your ego, that itself will become the cause of a bigger ego trip. So if you find that there is ego, just keep it in your pocket. You know the only antidote for ego is being natural, or naturalness. Why do you want to get rid of your ego? Because it bothers you. More than others, your ego is bothering you. You are constrained, restrained and uncomfortable. You feel others don’t respect you or you are better than others. You compare yourself with others. So I would say, if you find that there is ego in you, let it be. We will not meddle with it. If it comes, let it come.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Just bless them. When your mind is calm and serene, it becomes like a laser beam. Then you get the power to bless. There is a tradition in India and China. Whenever there is a wedding or any ceremony in the house, you go to the eldest in the family and take their blessings. There is a scientific reason behind this. As you grow older, you are supposed to become more serene and contended. A contented mind has the power to bless. If you are not content, you don’t have the energy to bless, and then how can you bless someone else? When you are grateful for what life has offered you, when you have contentment within you, then you gain that ability to bless people. So serenity and contentment gives you the ability to bless others. First you become centered. If they are averse to you, so what? You be happy and then bless them that they get rid of their hatred. Often we try to correct somebody because their actions disturb us. But if your intention is to correct them because what they are doing is harming them, they get corrected. Do you see what I am saying?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

There are many ways. You can become a teacher or volunteer of the ‘Art of Living’. You can help in schools for rural children. Thousands of them are studying and thousands are waiting to get admission. You can participate in the ‘Dollar a Day’ project. One dollar a day can educate and provide medical, food and clothing for a child. We are 1000 people right here in this auditorium. If each one of us sponsors a child, 1000 more children will get access to education. These children are otherwise forced to work at a young age, and they get into violence without a value based education. If you want to take up any other projects, you are welcome. If you want to give your time, say six months or one year, you can go to places where you can bring peace to people. You are most welcome to come to India.