Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
How do you cope with taking on the burdens of people all over the world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You must tell yourself that you are an instrument. You are a part of the universe. Let things come and go and they will be no burden to you. It is certainly possible and you also have that capability.Q:
What are those things a person needs to be committed to in order to grow as an individual?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First there should be commitment to the greater good of the society. I don't have to say that you have to be committed to your own greater good. You already are. If at all you want to take a commitment, make a commitment for the larger benefit of mankind, that one commitment is good. And that too is already there. When we are free from stress, we are naturally committed to the betterment of the society. There is still more work to be done in societies where violence is handed over from one generation to the next. They especially need education about non-violence.Q:
How can senior management get the most out of their teams for maximum performance?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The Art of Living Foundation teaches the APEX course in corporate environments. It has been appreciated all over including the World Bank.Q:
Is it really possible to be stress-free in this world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I am stress-free here in this world and so are many others. It is possible. You would have been like that as a child. I tell you, you can have this. You don’t have to wait till old age. I tell you it is possible now.Q:
Can you talk about how not to see intention behind others actions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes. I say don’t see intention behind others’ mistakes. When somebody does something wrong often we say they intentionally did this wrong to me. So when we see from a broader perspective, every culprit is also a victim. Inside every culprit there is a victim crying for help. They may be a victim of lack of education or lack of information, stress, narrow-mindedness. All these would cause someone to become a culprit. And we are simply looking at the culprit part of them. We don’t see that the person is also a victim.Every child should study a little bit about different religions and cultures. If people knew just a little bit about what Jesus said, what the Upanishads say, what the Vedas say, what Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam say, there would not be a single terrorist in the world. Today’s terrorism is a result of Puritanism: i.e. when people say, “Only my religion is pure. I should keep away from other religious books or I should not be educated in those things. Only this is the way.” That type of religious indoctrination in children has given rise to Taliban sort of movements in the world. We have lost so many people to terrorism.
We have globalized Pepsi, Coke and potato chips but we have not globalized wisdom! It should be compulsory for every nation to give a multi-religious, multi-cultural education to all children. Then not one terrorist will be there in the world.
Q:
If happiness is already inside us, what is the role of a spiritual teacher or teaching?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You want an answer for this question? You have answered your own question my dear! You want an answer. You want someone who answers. Anyone who answers this question for you becomes a teacher! If the question is not there, then no need of an answer. The moment you have come with a question, you are looking for an answer and anyone who gives the answer becomes a teacher. Right? Oh and you can say, “I have a question but I am not a student,” and a teacher can say, “I will give you an answer but I am not a teacher.” Then I would say both are not sincere. It’s like a doctor saying, “I give you medicine but I’m not a doctor, don’t call me a doctor.” It is like a patient saying, “I want medicine but I’m not a patient.”Q:
How do I learn not to be selfish? Can I learn to act without a lot of self-doubt?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are already not selfish! You are already out of it, my dear. Just know that you are not selfish. That’s it. Why? Because when you feel you are selfish, something irritates you, you don’t feel comfortable. You feel comfortable when you are at home and in your element. And that is already being generous. You can never cultivate virtues. You simply have them. You have to assume that you have them; then virtues will grow.You know what is doubt? Doubt is always about something that is positive. Isn’t it? If someone tells you, ‘I love you so much’, you say, “Really?” Yet someone says, ‘I hate you’ and you don’t say this. We never doubt when someone says, ‘I dislike you.’ ‘I too dislike you’, immediately it comes. ‘If you dislike me, I hate you more!’ But if someone says, ‘I love you,’ we say, “Really?” We doubt someone’s integrity. We question someone’s honesty. We never question their dishonesty. We doubt our capabilities. We never doubt our incapabilities or weaknesses. We take our weaknesses as the gospel truth. Similarly when someone asks if we are happy, we say we are not sure! We are never sure about unhappiness but this is never said in regard to depression. If someone asks you if you you depressed, will you say, ‘Well, I am not sure I am depressed.’ No? So sure about your depression! We are certain.
We doubt love. We doubt someone’s honesty. We doubt sincerity. Someone may be sincere all their life and be insincere in one incident. We believe in that insincerity more than their sincerity. Isn’t it? It’s the nature of doubt. That’s why we doubt the existence of God also. God is all truth so we doubt. He may be there or not. When we know the nature of doubt and go through the doubt, something starts to wake up within you. That is what I would call trust.
Trust in yourself. Trust in people around you and the law of nature. This will keep you healthy. Otherwise paranoia takes over the mind. If you can’t believe anybody, you can’t believe your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your friends, your brother. You will find everybody is a cheat and out to get you. Everybody wants something from you. This sort of paranoia shrinks our personality. Peace and spirituality ,I say, are the AC. Just as this room is air-conditioned so that you can feel comfortable sitting here, the spirit and mind function similarly and absolute comfort is called spirituality. AC for the spirit!
Q:
Can business be a force to promote peace between nations?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Three dimensions will bring peace. There should be spirituality in politics, corporate social responsibility in business and secularism in religion.This is deeply ingrained in our minds.Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are examples of secularism in religion and spirituality in politics.
Q:
what is the purpose of life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
One who knows won’t tell you, and anybody who tells you doesn’t know. It is very important question. Keep it with yourself. You should keep yourself asking this question. This very question will clear the entire cobweb around you, and will keep you on track of what you want and where do you want to go.Q:
Who are you and what is your mission?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I will give this question back to you. And that is my mission - to put this question back to you. Who are you? When you ask yourself who you are, the journey has begun. The spiritual journey just begins with these two questions. Asking others is futile. You ask yourself ‘ who am I?’ and ‘what do I want to do in my life?’.