Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Swastik is an ancient symbol. Jainism and Buddhism have used this symbol. The Sikhs have also used it. The Swastik symbolises the cyclic nature of time, cyclic nature of the Universe, the four yugas (ages) and the four Vedas. Swasti means health and established in oneself. Swastik is the symbol of the Self, of auspiciousness, of peace.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Even people here (at the Art of Living International Centre) are busy, day and night. Work as much as your system allows you to. Don’t overwork. Work and rest; spirituality and our daily life: find the right combination for these aspects of life. Anytime you feel tired, you can come here. We’re making temples of knowledge everywhere – in every city in India. In fact, in the state of Kerala temples of knowledge are being constructed at a distance of half an hour. Anytime one can go and meditate.It’s like your cell phone. It is charged for sometime and then you take it around. That is the difference between the cell phone and landline.
You’re like a cell phone. Charge yourself.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Give advice – with lots of love. There is a proverb which says that after a child becomes a teenager, become a friend.Prapte tu Shodhashe varshe, Putram mitram, Vada charet.
This is nothing new in this proverb– people have said this for thousands of years.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Then you will believe that all of history is a myth. If Buddha is a myth, then so is Jesus and so is Mahavira. This is because miracles are attached to all these stories. But if you accept only Krishna as true and not Rama or that Jesus lived on the planet and not Rama, then there is something wrong in your thinking.Did Moses exist? Could the Red Sea have been parted? If the Red Sea could have been parted, then the bridge to Sri Lanka could have been built too.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When someone breaks your trust, give them another chance, and another chance and another chance. When they keep breaking your trust, then you know how to behave with them.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, in indifference there is a sense of apathy, rejection and disappointment while in dispassion there is joy and enthusiasm.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I have so many. There is no point in you picking my favorite quote. You read it and find your own favorite quote and keep reviewing it every few years because it may change. You can’t find a more contradictory scripture than Bhagwat Gita. In every chapter Lord Krishna says something different. It is like climbing one step after another. And all that is said is relevant from a bigger picture. Arjuna also said, ‘Krishna, you say different things at different times. I am so confused. Please tell me one thing that I should do.’ Then Lord Krishna says intelligent people know there are many facets, many angles, all is spherical whereas dull people think everything is linear.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My dear, why do you have so much time sitting and thinking about yourself? If you are happy, go and do seva (service). We have lots of things to do. Care for others, do some service. There is so much to learn. Learn more. Don’t run behind joy. Let joy run behind you. If you follow joy, misery will follow. If you follow wisdom, fun and joy follow. Wherever you go, fun tags behind you.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When nothing is of help, Prayer helps! A genuine “help me God!”...Any challenge is a chance to reaffirm our commitment....Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I see violence in a bigger context. I am concerned about all violence. Violence in the red corridor (Maoist)...Even domestic violence. I am also concerned about the increasing suicidal tendency in the country. Suicide is violence against the self.. When mind is stressed, it leads to violence. Depression leads to suicide. We have to work together. We have to bring back the human values. Education about human values...The world is undergoing an identity crisis!.. A reversal of identity is needed.. First of all, our identity is that we are all Divine.. then we are human beings, then our gender, religion, country and so on..
We have to educate the society about the ONE divinity.. When that shift happens, we can relate to anybody, whatever be our ideology. Fear will be eliminated. Inside every culprit, there is a victim crying for help...what is troubling him?...He could have been a victim of ignorance or brain washing or violence...
This education is the only way to bring peace around us, to make this world a beautiful place to live in...Thank you.