Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, it is true that intense desire or greed for Moksha is also a kind of desire ultimately, but that is the final and the last desire that one has to let go of. One needs to cultivate or have this desire for Moksha to overcome and drop all other kinds of desires and feverishness. When even this desire (for Moksha) drops off, one experiences totality and bliss.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Whether the action is from a past life, or something done 10 years back, or done just yesterday, or even 10 minutes back – it really does not matter. Ultimately, all Karma is Karma, that’s it. That is why it is said that the ways of Karma are mysterious and unfathomable. One cannot understand it totally. That is why we say that you should not worry much about Karma. Just keep moving ahead.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Nakshatra refers to the star in which the Moon was present on the day and time you were born. There are 27 stars and the Moon moves through each of these stars. Each star has four divisions. You must have studied this in the Vedic Wisdom series. According to your birth date and time, your star can be determined. It is not difficult at all.

You should speak to the Vaidic Dharma Samsthana Desk (VDS Desk) and consult the Jyotish department there. They will tell you the star under which you were born. And wherever you are studying, that is your Gotra. Gotra means the college or the group in which you are studying. If your whole family has graduated from Stanford or Harvard or New York University, then you take the name of that institution wherever you go, right? In a similar manner, the Gotras were formed in the Vedic tradition. By mentioning a Gotra, one could convey that he studied under so-and-so Rishi in so-and-so Gurukul, and then the whole family gets connected to that school or tradition.

When you are doing your Sadhana, then you belong to this Gotra. Your DNA definitely reflects the things that you do here. It has nothing to do with the religion you follow, and does not interfere with it at all. Religion is a very different thing. The Gotra can depict the impact of your Sadhana on your DNA. So people who do the Sudarshan Kriya, Pranayama and meditation – when they visit an Ayurveda doctor for a Nadi Pariksha (check-up), the doctor can immediately tell and will ask you whether you are doing these practices. So your pulse will tell that you belong to this system of practices. It gets ingrained in our DNA and that is what is broadly called as Gotra from the ancient times.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Smile and move forward. If they are not able to forget the mistakes of the past, then that is their problem. You should forget the mistakes of the past, just drop it and move ahead. You are not the same person as you were in the past when you committed those mistakes, you have changed. When you came to the spiritual path, when you gained this wonderful knowledge, then your entire life has changed. So have complete and unshakeable faith in this fact.

In the ancient times, when people used to approach a Guru, then they would even change their birth names. Why was this done? It was to signify that you have taken a new birth altogether when you have come to the Guru. You have become a new person when you gained access to this knowledge. The mistakes you committed in the past out of ignorance do not exist anymore in light of the knowledge you have now received.

Ignorant people around you may sometimes do such things, but you should have compassion for them instead of feeling hurt or angry. Think that, “Oh, they are still stuck and do not know that I am a totally different person now. I have changed”. This faith you must develop in yourself. There is no need to fall into self-pity.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

We are born with some perfections and we can acquire the others. For a Yogi, the nine types of wealth and eight perfections are acquired.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That is meditation. We led them into short meditations for three days, and you know what they said, "We have heard of saints, but for the first time we are actually seeing a real one".
They also said, "You are the first one who understood us", and by the end of our visit, on the last day, they came with some stone and said, "Please touch this. Keep it in your room, put your energy and then give it to us”.
I said, “Once I touch it, it's enough, I don't need to keep it with me, you take it”. Then they said, “Please don't abandon us, consider us part of your movement. And please come back”.
Then they came to the press conference and said, “Yes, we adopt non-violence”.

See, it's easy for an atheist to get to know spirituality. The believers think they know spirituality, many times they don't. And, some people become very fanatic believers, who are not very open-minded.

I'll tell you about a bed-time story about Buddha. Lord Buddha never spoke about God because India was the land where everybody knew so much about spirituality, but mostly it was all in the head. So Lord Buddha used to announce the eleven questions that he would not answer. Eleven questions should not be asked, and even if someone asked him, he would not answer. God was one of the eleven questions.
He simply said that there is misery in life, but it is possible to get rid of misery because there is a cause for misery.

One guy came he said, "I believe in God, what do you say?" So Buddha said, "You believe in God, okay, good".
Another person said, "I don't believe in God, there is no God", and Buddha said, "Okay, good".
A third person came and he said, "Some people say there is God and some people say there is no God. I don't know but I want to know".
Then Buddha said, "Oh okay, you come be here and we will discover".
So other disciples who were there got so confused because Buddha agreed with everybody. When they asked him, he said, "You know, the first two people who came had a fixed idea in their mind, they were not open. But the last one was open to knowing and he can reach enlightenment. It's hard for people with fixed ideas to get enlightened". So that's the story.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That is it! I think we can all do this. In patanjali Yoga Sutra it is said, “If you are established in non-violence, in your company and in your presence, people also drop their violence. But this is a long-drawn out process. You have to practice for a long time and then you exuberate those vibrations.
Whatever we are doing here, by sitting and mediating, discussing knowledge, we are definitely creating positive vibrations and these vibrations spread into the city of Paris. When you enter into the center, do you feel positive vibrations? How many feel like that? (Many in the audience raise their hands). Everybody! That is very good. Maybe you should even ask the neighbors, they may be feeling very good. That's why almost in every area we should have a center which can be like a lighthouse of peace.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Causal means the cause of all causes. It is not an effect of anything. Effect means it should have had some cause for it. ‘This is causal’ means this is the ultimate cause. Because there is no other cause behind it, that’s why it’s called the causal body.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The news of so many incidences of violence happening again and again should not make us numb. This is important. We tend to become numb toward these violent incidents that happen around us. We should be cautious; we should keep our sensitivity.
Keeping the sensitivity does not mean you get swayed away by it. When you feel you’re getting carried away, affected very heavily, remember there is a power much bigger than you and everyone else, that is in charge. There is a great power in the universe, that has maintained this universe from billions of years. Have faith in that power. It will take care. Not by your doing something, is anything going to happen. The faith in a greater power in control can relieve you of your anxiety.

Now, that does not mean you become inactive and do nothing about it, saying, “Oh everything is done by a greater power, why should I do anything at all?”
That type of irresponsibility is also no good. We need to take a middle path. Not saying, “Everything is being taken care of, I don’t need to do anything,” or getting anxious about how things are happening, of which you are not in control.
Your anxiety is because you’re not in control. If you’re in control, you won’t be anxious. And you can’t control everything. That’s why you must remember there’s a higher power that is taking care of things.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Make a start with the spine being erect, then if the head comes down, the back bends, don’t bother about it. You cannot start meditation in a sleeping posture, because then you will be snoring very soon. So sit down, and start with the spine erect when you meditate, and then let go, let it happen.

There is a song in Kannada which has a very profound meaning. When you are in a garden, in the midst of flowers, then the state of your mind is completely different. If you are in the midst of people, your state of mind is very different - sometimes the emotions of passion, anger, hatred come up. But when you are in the garden, amongst flowers, such emotions will not come up; there will be no feelings of jealousy, no emotional upheaval, nothing of the sort. But if you are in the midst of people, then definitely all this will happen. However good your friends are, when you spend time with people, something or the other comes up. You cannot always live in the midst of people, nor can you live alone in a garden.

Sometimes you have to spend time dreaming, and sometimes you have to listen to music, you cannot be in one state. There are people who work all the time, doing accounts or something or the other. The radio may be playing in the background but they do not pay attention to it; they keep thinking of something else. This is being in an imbalanced state. Who is a balanced person? A person who is sometimes in music, sometimes working; such a person thinks like a scientist, and looks at the world in a scientific manner; sometimes enjoys music, sometimes science and art. You must spend your life in both these streams.

Sometimes you must live in the world, and sometimes in silence. Go with these two and you will experience Brahman. You cannot run away from your responsibilities and go to the Himalayas, or stay in the worldly aspects all the time; you must strike a balance between both and experience the Brahman within you.