Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Jai Gurudev! I have a typical question which majority of the people experience. Basically when I start doing meditation, even if I sit half an hour, still I am functioning and thinking of different things. Even if I concentrate on my breath in and out, still I am not able to get that 30 seconds or 1 minute of a controlled mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Have you done Sudarshan Kriya? (Ans – 'No yet') That is where Sudarshan Kriya helps. It quickly takes you deep in meditation.Q:
Guruji I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t want one also, is something wrong with me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well! Why do you have so much self doubt on that, if you want you have it, if you don’t want you don’t have it, that’s it, finished! Okay, you know sometimes people have this concept, you have to have this. I remember when we were in college they said if you don’t smoke it is not normal. ‘You are not smoking, that is not normal. You are going to college and you don’t smoke?’ ‘You travel in plane then you must smoke.’ That is why every seat had that ash tray. Every seat having ash tray means everyone must be smoking. And they used to bring cigarettes inside the flight as well. Only during take-off and landing you should put-off the cigarettes. But today what has happened? There is no ash tray in any flight around the world; anywhere in the world. I am telling you about thirty, thirty five, forty years ago. It was a norm, if you are to sit in the flight means you have to plug your nose and sit, have a filter. Things change you know, so we never felt that we should smoke and I never touched a cigarette, never! So like that the norms in society change at different times and places. So you are normal whatever you feel like doing, okay! And if that is not anti-social, it doesn’t obstruct that Dharma then it is okay.Q:
Guruji, I want to learn how to make friends and how to sustain them because I really find it difficult.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Okay! You are in the right place okay, it will happen automatically, don’t worry.Q:
Jai Gurudev, this world, the creation, the karma, the suffering whatever it is. It is said that it is all God’s play. Don’t you think God is playing a very dangerous, never ending action sort of game to pass his time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are talking like a villager, who 40 to 50 years back who sit in the cinema house and if their hero is losing he will throw eggs and tomatoes on the screen. Do you know? Have you heard about that? If Rajkumar were to lose the battle in the screen or MGR would lose the battle. What they would do in the villages some 30 to 40 years ago, you may not even know. People would throw stones and tear the curtain, tear the screen because their hero was losing the ground. But see from the eyes of the director, what would he say? One is the player, another is the spectator and the third is the director. From the director’s eyes it is very different.Q:
Guruji, we all have learnt in our path of knowledge that we are connected to you like the hair of your head. My only doubt is that somewhere in-between suppose we miss our Sudarshan Kriya or we deviate, will you disconnect us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, no, nothing like that. Doesn’t matter even if you miss one or two days never mind. We are all anyways connected; the whole world is all connected.Q:
Mind is restless. How to control it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Through practice and experience the mind will settle down. It is through experience that one feels dispassion/detachment (vairaagya). What is dispassion? As a child, you would get excited about cotton candy, as though eating it was the sole aim in life. Chocolate, cake and ice cream were everything to you. But as you grew older, you became indifferent to candies and chocolates and were drawn to attractive young men or women. With age, the looks of a person also ceased to attract your attention. This is known as dispassion. In every human being’s life, some dispassion comes in naturally. But through knowledge, dispassion comes in more quickly. Otherwise, the dispassion does not mature and trickles in here and there. But if there is sharp intellect, knowledge and good satsang, dispassion comes in like a jet plane. Dispassion is not being apathetic, that everything is useless, pointless, but the attitude of having ‘been there, done that; I am above all this.’ A joyful, carefree state of being is known as dispassion. Often, those you consider dispassionate are depressed. That is why some people are scared of those claiming to be dispassionate. Adi Shankaracharya has said, ‘Kasya sukham na karoti viraagaa’ meaning, ‘what kind of joy does dispassion not bring?’ All kinds of joy and comforts come naturally to you, without your making any effort. That is why through practice and dispassion this restless mind becomes still.Q:
I find it difficult to say ‘no’ to people or situations. How do I say ‘no’ without hurting?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you were a child, you didn’t want to go to school. If your parents had said yes to you not going to school and didn’t say no to you, where you would have landed? Do you see what I am saying? Sometimes saying ‘no’ is for good of the person. You must say ‘no’. Don’t worry about if you hurt them or not. Your saying ‘no’ is good for them, beneficial for them, is much more important than your trying not to hurt them. When you do exercise, it pains. If it pains, your exercise is good. Isn’t it? No pain no gain. If your saying ‘no’ is hurting others for no reason, then it is a different question. You should use your brain there.Q:
People say that I am not aggressive. Do I have to be? How can I be?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
To do something good if you need to be aggressive, you can show some aggression; but you know when you are meditating you don’t need to do that at all. You know, you don’t need to be aggressive, things will happen. People will say everything; if you are aggressive someone will say you are too aggressive. Somebody will say something so don’t go by everyone’s opinion. You see what you want to do.Q:
Question asked by Maharajji: All sages and scriptures have said that the greatest beneficence of human existence is the attainment of God, and God realization is the doorway to communion with the soul. Now the soul is already present and yet, in a sense unattained. So how can this impression be erased?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When the mind is outwardly focused, it cannot recognize the soul. It is not aware of its own existence. For instance, when we are looking around at others, we lose awareness of our own body. We are not aware that we are breathing when we are looking outside. Like when you sit in the cinema theatre, all you can see is what is happening on the screen. You have no idea where you are, whether you are tired or your body is healthy. In sleep we forget all our pains and sorrows, similarly when the mind is outwardly directed, it forgets itself and loses awareness (remembrance) of itself. We tend to get absorbed in the scenery and forget about the Self. Now when we sit down with our eyes closed, unable to see what is happening outside, and bring our attention to our self, our breath, then we become aware of the body. Do you know why the body hurts? Your body wants to draw your attention towards itself. When the head hurts, the most beautiful scenery is not appealing. The mind is drawn to the pain in the head or the leg. So pain has the ability to involuntarily pull the attention of the mind to the body. When we consciously bring our attention to the body, it is yoga nidra or meditation. Similarly, when the mind is entangled in the body, then there is no awareness of the soul. You have all experienced in meditation, awareness shifts from the body to thoughts, and finally when it is more inwardly drawn, there is awareness only of ‘I Am’, not where or who I am. From this I Amness to ‘Everything Is’ – is God. A step deeper in meditation lies this awareness that everything ‘Is’ – these trees, mountains, river, this body are no different from one another. I am not anything special - just the awareness of existence. So it is outward focus that leads to forgetfulness. It is not as though the head did not exist before the headache, it did. Similarly, to experience the soul one has to empty the mind of all impressions. This awareness is lost in the tendencies of the mind. That is why it is written in the Vedas to repeatedly practice meditation or erasure of all mental impressions. Just as we alternate between waking and sleeping, repeatedly erasing mental impressions through meditation establishes us in our Self. Those who sleep soundly are alert when awake. In a similar fashion, meditation helps maintain alertness in the waking state. We feel inspired to work only when we find that something is not right; this is not right or that has not been done correctly. When we are involved in activity, we should feel that which is not okay and needs to be corrected. But when we are in meditation, we should feel that everything is fine. A fool does the reverse. When he sits with his eyes closed, he focuses on all that is not right. In activity, he accepts and overlooks everything, the corruption, the inefficiency. Such a person is useful neither to the world nor to himself. That is why Lord Krishna has said in the Gita that knowing when to act and when not to act is the sign of saatvikta. So in meditation relax with the thought that all is well. Anyway, for how long can you fix this world, sixty, seventy years? This world has been in existence since ages and will continue to exist. What will you do if a demon is born a couple of hundred years from now? Know that God is taking care of this world. With this thought one should sit in meditation, then Samadhi will happen, and bliss will arise. Once bliss is awakened, you cannot continue sitting in Samadhi like a stone. Since you have taken this human birth you have to engage in activity. When in activity, recognizing all that is not right awakens enthusiasm within us. This entire world is God. Serving this divine world is itself Pooja. That is why it is said that this entire world is made up of rhythmic vibrations and from these vibrations ambrosia (Amrit) is produced. And what do we do in Sudarshan Kriya? Through the rhythmic breath we become aware of the rhythm of the soul (Self). It is only through these vibrations that bliss can be awakened. If you speak to modern scientists, they will admit that this world is nothing but vibrations.Q:
Thank you His Holiness for being here. Even we are surrounded by sorrow and greed. Here you are a small sparkling light come to heal us. I have two questions for you. Firstly what can we learn from an episode like this and how can we go further on?
Secondly, this inner science of meditation has become very popular and the neuro- science of meditation is growing and definitely it is penetrating in this so-called materially richer part of world. For example in U S more than 7% of the population is meditating today according to recent statistics. Other regions are peaceful so it will penetrate slowly I believe. My question to you is that what I am worried for is that in the gap between the rich and the poor is quickly growing in so-called developing parts of the world. How we can bring wisdom to the institutions in these countries?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, it’s a big question! How can we bring wisdom when there is rich and poor gap? You know there is not one solution, there could be many. So, we need to keep this question alive. From time to time we will get different ideas and we need to implement them, which we feel is best. First of all those who have should come up with this mind or attitude to serve, to share. I would expect everyone to give at least 3% of their earning for social projects or for social causes; we must share. Then for the poor people they should learn how to be entrepreneurs, they should stand on their feet, not expecting others to take care of them all the time but rather become innovative, hard working and try to stand on their own feet. Third is in these situations, these moments what is needed is inner strength, inner peace. So as many people as possible should learn to meditate; don’t you think so? How many of you agree with me raise your hands? This is the time we will have to teach everyone, otherwise anger can come up, frustration can come up, fear can come up. All these negative emotions come up within us when we see an unpleasant event. So to combat this unpleasantness we have to equip our self and the equipment is meditation and breathing techniques. So I have sent all my teachers here to go out and do trauma relief and meditation workshops throughout Norway. Whenever people would like to come and sit for a couple of hours for 2 to 3 days, teach them some breathing techniques, some meditation and then help them gets back on track. This is exactly what we did in New York after 9/11 and so thousands of people learnt to meditate. So we would like to do the same thing here.