Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Can I practice Hath yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Whatever yoga you do should be done simply and naturally. You don’t have to give too much trouble to your body and make yourself uncomfortable. Just be normal and simple. To do hath yoga, one has to take a lot of precautions.Q:
Please tell us what we should do for our nation to feel grateful to our nation.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
For showing your love and gratitude for your country, you will have to do a lot of work in the society so that our villages develop and become self helping. To make a society which is void of corruption, violence, all have to put effort whole heartedly, OK.Q:
We have you as Guru in the ‘Art of Living’, but in family there are family Gurus and traditional rituals, different style of worshipping etc. Should these be followed also?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See if there is a family tradition being followed from a long time, then what is the harm in continuing that? One must keep up the family traditions.Q:
After the course, you came thrice in my dream. The second time you came in my dream, the dream was that you are no more in the world.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is ok, does not matter – there is still lot more time for that to happen!Q:
I start to do a lot of things, but I don’t get to complete. Can you tell me a way how can I improve the situation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you want to do, you can do anything. It has to come from within. With the determination, ‘I will do this job, and I will see to it that it gets completed’. This commitment from within will help you, and get you through. Got it? Nobody can do the job other than you.So, take up with small things and follow it through, and then you will get the confidence. That prepares you to take up big tasks. You know, why do you drop things? Because you think they are not important. But there is nothing important or unimportant in life, everything has importance. So, even if something looks unimportant, you say, “I want to finish it, and I will finish it”. Then you will be able to enhance your commitment.
Q:
What does it mean to be superstitious? I am confused whether I behave according to superstitions sometimes. I am not superstitious but I believe in it.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are saying that you are not superstitious but believe in it. Ok, then tell me first what is superstition?See, there may be many beliefs. For what one considers superstition, it may not be for another. But from a broader perspective, things which are illogical, which does not support human evolution and which harm intellectual, mental, spiritual, and physical well being is superstition, and that need to be eradicated. Superstition exists in many parts of the world.
Spirituality and superstition are opposites. They cannot go together. So, we need to bring more and more spirituality, more values in the society, and see that superstition diminishes.
Q:
Of the five elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space, Earth and Water are said to be female; Fire and air are male, then what is space? Why is this differentiation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are various concepts and understanding of this. So, people start attributing male and female genders to everything. But that is how human mind can comprehend things; it cannot comprehend anything which is beyond.Q:
Suppose we want something, or want something to happen, then there are two things one can do–one is to drop the desire and let it happen, and the other is wanting it is so much that it happens. What is it that we should do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Take it as it comes. Sometimes you really pray for something and it comes. Sometimes you just have a gentle thought and it manifests. Right? So, there is no definite criteria for it, all is possible!Q:
Does the soul leave the body after death immediately? What happens in case of unnatural deaths and accidents etc?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is a wonderful relation of body and soul. This is a profound topic. We shall discuss it sometimes later.Q:
How do we get rid of expectations or get free of worry? Also how not to get bothered by the expectation that passes again and again?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Never mind, let it be there. Why do you want to get rid of all the expectations? When it is troubling you, then you want to get rid of it. Right? You know, when you have nothing much to do, then you worry, then you sit and expect, or day dream. When you are busy, it is a different story all together.