Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Many times parents out of over attachment, prejudiced opinions and being football of the relatives opinions stop us from doing seva. Can we make seva our career?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes.Q:
Could you speak a little bit about Sanskrit and its greatness? I would like to take it as one of my Ph.d topics.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, do it. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Whether it is English, Russian, German or Italian, there is a lot of Sanskrit in it. Of course, Sanskrit is the base of all Indian languages.Q:
How do we gear up for enlightenment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Wanting it, itself is half done. The rest is a little discipline and you should know that you will get it. It will be given to you. That’s why you have the path, the guru. You will just get it. Shama jali hai tere liye, tujhko kuch nahi karna hai (The candle is lit for you, you don’t have to do anything). You don’t have to do anything just be hollow and empty from inside.Q:
What is the essence and secret of life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Essence and secret! It will be whispered into your ears when you go into meditation. Do (Sudarshan) Kriya and meditation.Q:
Could you please tell us what we could do to make you proud of us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I have already said it. All the five points that you learn in the Art of Living course. Know them from an existential level, from your heart and being, not just the head. Opposite values are complementary. Accept people and situations as they are. Do not be a foot ball of other people’s opinions. Give your hundred percent. Forgive and forget the past. (You can make me proud) by being useful to the society, by not wasting your time. Keep yourself busy.Q:
What is the way to let go off lokeshna (desire for praise of people), putreshna (desire for children) and vitteshna (greed and influence of money)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Bhakti (devotion) is an easy way to get rid of all these desires. In devotion, we are ready to die and nothing seems like a botheration. There is no question of lokeshna in a devotee as devotees are always crazy (in love). To a devotee, everyone will seem like his own child, so there is no putreshna.Vitteshna also will be dropped as a devotee will have all the siddhis (powers) and will get whatever he wants as the Master of the world belongs to him.
There is no need to try and make an effort to get rid of these. It will happen naturally. Once you know that you have this eshna (desire), half of it drops there and the rest will go away when you surrender to the Divine.
Yet, if putreshna takes over you, just fulfill your duty for your children and be at peace. Don’t try to fight it.
Q:
How to bring naturalness with skillfulness. Isn’t a skillful person being unnatural?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no clash between skillfulness and naturalness. You are worrying unnecessarily. Lord Krishna was sahaj (natural) and kushal (skillful). Do not confuse kuyukti (manipulation) with kushalta (skillfulness). Skillfulness goes with naturalness and not manipulation or betrayal.Naturalness and simplicity do not imply being foolish or unskillful.
Believe that you are intelligent, skilful and natural.
Q:
How to recognize and let go of the doership we are holding on to?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Doership leads to suffocation, misery and guilt. Know that when you are natural and in surrender, doership dissolves automatically. You surrender only that which has happened, which is past. Future is anyways out of your control.We burden the mind with the memories of the past. Let go of the event which has gone and left its shadow, impression in the consciousness. What else can you surrender? Money, leaves, etc already belong to the Divine. Surrendering doership, ‘mine’, ‘me’ is surrender.
Q:
Even in Indralok (heaven), apsaras (Celestial nymphs) like Menaka, Urvashi were used. The same thing continues even now on earth. Why is it so?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Menaka and Urvashi were made to dance in the Indralok and stories like these are all just to tell you that whatever is there in the world, exists in heaven too. It is said there is sukh (joy) in heaven but not love. Don’t imagine heaven to be in some other place.Dive in your consciousness which is an embodiment of bliss. The joy derived from the outside world is limited. To explain this, such stories were created.
In heaven too, there is attachment and complaints. Beings fall for each other and also fight. So there is not much difference between heaven and earth. Better make this earth a heaven and be free from it and dive in the blissful consciousness. This is the saar (essence) of sadhana.
Q:
What is atma (soul) and paramatma(Supreme Self) ?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First, understand atma. Beyond it, is paramatma. These are the two sides of the same coin. Atma means ‘I’. There are two kinds of ‘I’. One is the ego, which says I am something.And the other I, the maipan (‘i’ness- awareness of existence) in us, is that from which we listen, understand and do nothing. That is atma. Once we experience it, we go beyond the first ‘I’.
We can see that my soul is in everyone. Then we say sohum- I am that. There is no difference between Him and me.