Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Do you really need to have purpose for life or can you just be happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, you have made that as the purpose of your life. You have made being happy your purpose. Correct? You’ve already have a purpose.Can you be happy if your family is not happy? Can you really be happy if your environment is not happy and people around you are not happy? You know when you expand your vision and awareness, you see that you are a part of everybody. If people around you are suffering you cannot simply shut your eyes and say, ‘I’ll be really happy’. The subtler you go, the more refined you are. The more sensitive you become, you feel for everyone in the world. Not just people, for trees, animals and plants as well. You begin to care for the environment.
Q:
How do you define success?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Success is measured by the smiles you have had from the heart. It is the confidence you have to face challenges. When everything goes well you can easily smile. Success is when everything falls apart and yet you can smile. One who manages all challenges that life gives is successful.Q:
As there are no Maya dates in the calendar in the Mayar civilization after 2012, what is going to happen after that? Is there some danger to human civilization?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, the world is going to continue the way it is. It will even get better. There will be shift in the consciousness of people. There will be more compassion and human values, and all the consumerism will take a back seat. That’s what I think.Q:
What is the best way to handle religious conflicts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Every child should know a little about all cultures and religions in the world. They will start to feel connection with all the cultures. Every child should know a little bit about all religions like Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism. They will grow up with a broad mindset.I feel at home wherever I go in the world. I feel connected, and everyone can do that because we all have that need to be connected. In fact you don’t have to make an effort, we are anyway connected.
I still remember an incident some 25 years ago, in Manchester, UK. A small girl came to me and asked: ‘Why cannot human beings connect with everyone else in the world?’ I told her this is because we are so stuck in our identities. It’s good to have identity but we have to grow beyond that.
Q:
I find it difficult to forgive my sister who had been very abusive to me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Regarding the inability to forgive somebody, there are 6.5 billion people on this planet. Don’t forgive the 6.5 billon but just forgive this one person.You know inside every culprit there is a victim crying for help. You must understand that they are victims of situation and circumstances. They didn’t have that knowledge. They were never exposed to higher knowledge so they made mistake. Just reading books and understanding doesn’t help to get out of violent tendencies. These have to be fixed through meditation, breathing exercises and yoga.
Prisoners say that ‘the Art of Living’ is responsible for their being in the prison. If the ‘Art of living’ had given them this knowledge earlier, they wouldn’t have landed in the prison. Their life would have been much different’.And I agree with them.
Q:
Does spirituality necessarily lead to inner peace and happiness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Definitely spirituality is for peace. Peace, happiness, Joy and compassion - all these virtues are qualities of the spirit. There is not a single person on this planet who is not a spiritual seeker. You know why? Because everybody is seeking peace, love and happiness, and this is what spirit is.In India we say Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Satyam - truth, Shivam - Divine, and Sundaram - beauty. The divine is beauty, and the divine is the truth. So wherever you see beauty, behind that there is a consciousness from which the whole universe is coming into existence.
Have you heard of String theory in physics? If you study quantum physics you will find as if you are studying Vedanta – an ancient wisdom. The two are exactly the same.
Q:
How does one develop intuitive powers while making a decision?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Intuitive power is like a gut feeling, and to get clear intuitive power you must mediate. Without meditation your intuition will be vague, it won’t be intuition at all.(The next part will be covered in the coming post)
Q:
I often talk to you in heart. How do I satisfy myself that my words have reached you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
My job is not to satisfy you but to make you restless to get the Highest knowledge. In that restlessness you achieve awareness.Q:
I feel fear of you leaving me. What can I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When Earth, air, Sun, stars cannot leave you, then how can I do that!Q:
What is the difference between rest and laziness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What you get after doing work is rest. Doing nothing and keep lying down is not rest. You feel restless in this state.