Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
What is the secret of life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Life is a secret. If I tell you the secret it will no longer remain a secret (laughter). In this country we honor the secret. So we should do that. In the West, a secret is not revered.Three schools in England have made Sanskrit a compulsory subject. After 20 years of research, they found out that when you speak Sanskrit your tongue rotates properly. Sanskrit is the best language for the development of the brain. It leads to overall development of the brain. We have been speaking Sanskrit in India since ages. Now when it is being uprooted from our own country, somebody else is embracing it.
Q:
Why do we meditate with our eyes closed though we have to live our life with our eyes open? Is it possible to do meditation with eyes open?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That is the second step. The first step is to go where the mind is involved – once the eyes are closed, once the mind is centered – then you can go ahead with the other ways as well. There are different kinds of meditation like walking meditation. Your every action comes from a meditative state.Q:
In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says that one must not care about the result of his work. But if we do not think about the fruits that follow our hard work, then what will motivate us to do that hard work?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is no control over the fruit of action. If the attention is only on the end result, then you can’t perform.Let us take a runner - if he starts looking behind at who is running, and not looking at the path he needs to run on, then ultimately he will lose, no matter how good the runner may be. You have to follow your own track, to complete the run whether you lose or win. Lord Krishna is utterly practical in his advises. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: This is complex, but these are the ways to do it.
Q:
There are some schools of thoughts that say that you must always be aware of what your competitors are doing. Because if you don’t see your competitors, you will be like a bridled horse. You will end up making the best calculator of the world when the world has moved to computers. So how do you reconcile the two schools of thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The challenge is to manage the two contradictions - that is the job of the youth.One should be aware of the competitors. At the same time, one should have an eye of Arjuna. Be aware of what’s happening around you and one-pointedness towards the goal.
Over ambitiousness will not lead to anything.
Improve your intuitive ability, enthusiasm, relaxation.
It will give you everything that you need to.
Q:
What is the difference between being detached or in denial?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Whenever you get so confused analyzing your own feelings, I tell you, just drop it. Many times you go to get counseling and you get even more confused. The counselor tells you, “Oh, in your childhood your mother didn’t take you to the fair so you are feeling that anger.” I would tell you, see your whole past as a dream and move on to the future.Something pleasant happened. Something unpleasant happened. By picking your memory, you spoil your present moment as well. All the past is nothing but a memory. Some of its impact may continue but the event is not there. Wake up. Shake up.
You see these dogs, puppies and cats - how they shake themselves when they get dirty? They shake and move on. We should save our mind.
Q:
Guruji, I have anger and arrogance in me. In anger, I lose awareness. Please tell me some remedy.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you are angry at yourself, you get angry with others also.When you are angry at others you get angry at yourself for getting angry.
This is like a pendulum. We have to stop this.
It’s ok if you get angry. Don’t get angry because you got angry. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you feel bad. Life is like a jungle. Thorns are also there, flowers are also there, fruits, peacocks, deer, lions, tigers everything is there. Have a holistic approach.
Just be natural, easy and relax. Take things as they come and move forward. Don’t get stuck in a place. The mind plays so many tricks to keep you miserable. Sing, meditate, serve. Be part of service. We have to save our mind.
Q:
Why do I fight with my wife though I love her?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When someone asked Mullah Naseeruddin why he fought with his wife so much, he replied, “Because I love her so much. I fight with someone and love someone else? That is not done! I do everything with one person.” Fights are also a part of life.When you focus on each other too much, then fights happen. If you both have a common goal, to serve, to uplift the society, then fights don’t happen and love blossoms and there is plenty of work for every couple.
In the Indian marriage tradition, there is a ceremony called the saptapadi, the seven steps, which the couple has to take together. One of these steps (signifying vows) is that the couple work together for the upliftment of society.
Q:
Where is the mind and where is it in the body?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Who or what is asking this question and what is going to listen to the answer. Intellect is that which registers the answer yet it is the mind which is looking for the answer.Q:
How to control terrorism?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The whole world and all religions are debating on terrorism and how to control it. I tell you - Spirituality and spiritual knowledge have the power to reduce terrorism and fanaticism.Q:
Guruji, we have two requests for you. Why don’t you come more often to Chennai and start an ashram here?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Tomorrow we are going to get a meditation hall started here. You all should come here and meditate.