Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Guruji, why do we have to suffer because of our past impressions? In the present we are innocent.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you plant a coconut tree three years back then you enjoy the fruit later. You put money in the bank and expect it back with interest isn't it? Will you agree if the bank tells you to forget about it because it was so many years ago that you put the money? You want only the fruits which are favorable!We need to realize, accept our mistake and move on. Then the intensity of the karma reduces.
Asking forgiveness for all mistakes made knowingly and unknowingly is part of our pujas also.
Q:
How do I see God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Have you seen the breeze? Yet you know it is there. You can feel it. Similarly you can’t see God but the heart feels the presence, the prana (life-force).Q:
Guruji, you have said to love the secret, but I feel curious to know it also!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Curiosity is natural. It sharpens the intellect. Loving the secret refines the feeling level. Life is a balance of the intellect and the feelings.Q:
Guruji we all know what is right and wrong but why do we still do wrong things. Why does this happen?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
there are only few things which makes us do wrong:-Anger - we know that getting angry is not good for us but still we get angry.
Lust - we know it is not good but still the mind races.
Greed - we know according to the law it is wrong but still your greed increases.
Dishonesty - you know it is not good to speak lies but still you do so.
Anger comes only out of weakness. Yet you see now, after practising meditation and pranayama, it reduces. When you are constantly in knowledge your anger reduces. Behind anger, there is a desire. Anger arises whether your desire is fulfilled or not.
Desires are of two types - from the level of the body and the level of the mind.
At the body level, desires are influenced by the chemical responses in your body due to your food, water, environment, your age and the company you keep.
And at the level of the mind, past impressions influence the desires that arise. Only meditation and pranayama can bring a transformation in this.
Even well-educated people have made mistakes. It is ok. Whatever happened in the past, it is ok. Just drop it. In the present moment you are innocent.
One who is caught in self blame will repeat the same mistakes over and over again. So for this, you should listen to the Bhakti sutras. Surrender your mistakes to the Divine. Just with devotion you can calm down thousands of your desires.
Desires have no end. There are people who spend their lives earning money to simply have more money than somebody else. People keep on buying clothes, shoes, sometimes more than they can ever use. There is no satisfaction
Only through Seva (service) you can experience true satisfaction and joy. And that joy will reduce your desires. Greed has no end. It is ok to have desires. There is no harm. But you must be happy. Your happiness should not depend upon any desire being fulfilled.
One should have a calm and centered disposition, have awareness and live by the yamas and niyamas (the guiding principles for life). Integrate them in your life as much as it is possible. Don’t overdo anything. It is said ‘ahimsa paramodharma’ - Non-violence is the highest dharma. When you speak many germs die, some people always keep their mouths covered because of that. No need to go so far. The more you practise the yamas and niyamas, that much more you will shine. Your interest and pull in life should be towards these principles.
Violence starts in the mind. The root cause for violence is craving and aversion. Craving and aversion can be finished in the mind itself.
What happens at the body level without your knowledge, as Lord Krishna says in the Bhagvad Gita to Arjuna, “Know that you can neither kill any being nor give life.”
You know, the Bhagwad Gita is one of the most ideal scriptures. Even Einstein had said this. Integrate this Knowledge in your life such that your life itself becomes knowledge. And this can happen only through meditation. Only through meditation can true knowledge dawn within you. And then you see the world in new dimensions.
Q:
Dear Guruji, when can I become one with the Divine?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When will the wave meet the ocean?! My dear, Where is the wave?If you feel the restlessness and longing, then you are blessed and fortunate. Your inward journey has begun. Do Seva Sadhana and Satsang. They will free you from restlessness and soak you in the fountain of love.
Q:
Guruji there seem to be so many single parents these days. Why is that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When People are not able to deal with their own stress and negative emotions, they project them onto the people closest to them, usually the husband or wife.If one’s mind is calm and emotions are settled, then there can be love and understanding which is necessary for any marital relationship to work.
Q:
How to bless areas? For example: areas that have been affected by calamities?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Every area is already blessed. Every area belongs to God.Q:
Guruji you are always around so many people, how do you balance your energies?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They balance themselves! I do not do anything that is not in my nature. Just like the wind blows, it does not tire because that is it’s nature.Q:
In difficult situations, sometimes it’s hard to know if I am running away, or retreating strategically. How to resolve this conflict?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When you see your strength is less, you cannot face the fight, that’s when you want to run away. So, when you see that, you have to bring more strength to yourself. You should take time. When you are clear about this; “OK, I should do more, I should meditate, I should strengthen myself, and at the right time I will strike, I will tackle the problem.” That is one way.Second one is prayer. Your worries dominate you if your emotions are dry. When you have pain, you have no worry. When you have worry, you are stuck in the head. There are no emotions. If you are in emotion, you laugh, cry, pray, and you get over it. Worry is wanting to win and having no strength to win. When you realize, “I don’t have any strength and I can’t do anything about it,” then you pray. Prayer is with emotions, feelings.
Q:
When there is a problem in life and you don’t see a solution to this problem and time is running out, what one should do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A problem can be in different dimensions. If it is financial, you have to take action. It is not good to simply sit and wait for money to come from somewhere or run to an astrologer. You have to take alternative precautions. Don’t be too choosy about your job. Take whatever job is available and move on. This is very important. You should have positive thinking and attention and then move ahead.Similarly, where a relationship is concerned, you don’t sit and wait, not doing anything. In Sanskrit there is a saying “One who puts effort, one who is industrial, and who is courageous, towards such a one, the wealth runs.” So, Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) goes to him, who is putting effort and who is like a lion- brave and courageous.
But when we are concerned with enlightenment, we cannot just do, do, and do. Relax. Do nothing. Pray. Then knowledge comes.