Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Have you ever cursed anyone?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, never happened a chance to do that. When you are full, the need to give curse never arises; it may happen in those who feel some lack.Q:
I become so over possessive for something, or for some person. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Ooh! , Never mind, you understood that you are over possessive then it has already started loosening up.Q:
I am a student and I am so much impressed with the education system here. Could you please tell me some of the values that I can take back along with me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Respect the teachers. There is so much respect for the teachers in the Indian education system. That respect is missing in the western schools and colleges. Also respecting the elders is one of the beautiful cultural identities here.So, we create a new wave where we take the best of the east and the west, and have a wonderful global family. Take best available in both the worlds, and create a beautiful society.
Q:
Guruji, spiritually is religious conversion. Sometimes my mind says that religious conversion is because at least people are getting food, education, and healthcare. What do you say?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, you can have health-care, education, food everything without conversion too. Religion you are in is over you. You know, if someone likes a particular religion out of full interest, that is a different issue but alluring them with food, medical and all education should not be done.Q:
What do you say about the westernization of our culture?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Pick up good things like cleanliness and following the rules from the Western society. Western Civilization has such cleanliness and the sense of following rules. We need to pick up that in the East.I want to tell you a story. Way back in 1978 when many of you were not even born, I was in Switzerland and it was the first time I had been there. I was walking in one of the areas which hardly had any crowd. I took a chocolate and just put the wrapper on the road – like what we do in India. There was hardly any crowd there. An elderly lady, with a stick, saw me from a far distance. She came to me and said,“You have to pick this up and put it in the dustbin.” She showed me the dustbin placed a little farther. You know an elderly lady coming all the way walking with her stick and telling me that I should pick up that chocolate paper. I was so impressed with the amount of responsibility people take to keep the city clean. We must learn this in India that how clean they keep, and how environmental conscious people in the West are. Even if people protest in western countries, they do it as a silent march. We have to learn all this from Western Civilization.
And then what we don’t have to learn from western civilization?
Too much formality, the mother has to take permission to go to her daughter, or the daughter has to take appointment from the mother. This has started to happen somewhere in urban society also. The naturalness, sense of belongingness is disappearing from the society. There is such a sense of belongingness and human values even in a village in the east, and that is to be maintained.
There are some cultural identities like respecting the elders, and we shouldn’t lose this. This is very important aspect of the entire east.
There is a trend of expressing too much love in the west. People end up being diabetic saying honey, honey all the time! And it is opposite in the east. So, we need to have the middle path in the expression of love. Not expressing even once, like the case is with some parents and their kids, or among siblings, is wrong. Also keep on expressing love all the time is also wrong. Expressing love is like sowing a seed. If you keep it just on the surface, it won’t sprout, but also if you bury it very deep underneath the soil, even then it won’t sprout.
There are many things in the east which people in the west search for, like joint family and the sense of belongingness.
Q:
I know one cannot be happy and married. But can one be married and enlightened?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Why do you think that one cannot be happy and married? Why cannot you be happy and married as well? There are many bachelors who are not happy, and also there many married people who are happy. Happiness is an attitude which you chose. It all depends just on you. There are people with no jobs but are happy. There are people with jobs and are unhappy. Be wise and be happy. Do whatever – married, unmarried, employed, unemployed…But independent of what you are doing, you need to be happy.Q:
Is there life after death?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes.Q:
How do thoughts arise in the mind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I leave that on you to wonder about. This is a secret, a top secret! Top secret cannot be said on the mike.Q:
Why do parents expect so much from their children?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You will come to know this in some years! But then you should remember that you also asked this question at some time in your life.Q:
There are so many staunch followers of the ‘Art of Living’. Why don’t we enter politics?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you have that inclination, you go ahead. I will give you support.