Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
Can you throw some light on Bhakti Yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you sit in the Ganga aarti in the evening, you will find everybody singing so beautifully and a wave of devotion. Bhakti yoga is seeing the Divine as mine and oneself as belonging to the Divine, and all that exists belongs to the Divine.Q:
Guruji we have heard the terms spirituality and enlightenment so often. There are very abstract definitions of the terms. Would you please throw some light on these?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
(Jokingly) You want me to add more confusion to the words and give you one more definition! If I have a choice I would take away all the definitions and leave you in confusion because from that confusion something flowers up in you. My understanding is not going to help you. It has to come from within you. When you wake up and see, you will be surprised. I would like you to experience that WOW. Don’t make it a concept. If you don’t know what enlightenment is, thank God and say ‘ I don’t know what enlightenment is. Let me wait for it.’ It is the concepts that keep us away from experiencing the reality. That’s what I feel.Q:
I was thinking since I was a small child that what the original sin is? I never got a satisfactory answer as it couldn’t be about the apple. I wanted to know if you could explain from your perspective what is it all about or is it all a lie?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I am not a theologian in the first place and so I haven’t studied the original sin concept. So I cannot comment much on that. All I can say is that from Indian perspective sin is that which brings misery to many and merit is that which brings love, happiness and joy to many. Sin is something that could be washed out. It is not your nature. If sin is your very nature, you can never get rid of it. Like if mud is your skin, you cannot get rid of it. But if it is on your skin you can take a dip and it will get washed away. If the flaw is inside the diamond, it can’t be corrected. But if slush is on the diamond, it just needs a little water to be poured on and it gets clean.Here in India we consider sin as a superimposition. There are three things in the yoga- malah, avarna and vikshepa. Malah is impurities in the body, vikshepa is impurity on the mind , restlessness and disturbances in the mind and avarana is the sheath which covers the spirit, which is the ego -identification with one little thing. And the purpose of yoga is to clean the three sheaths of impurity. Yoga loosens up all the three sheaths of impurities. And then the true spirit which is part of the divinity shines through.
So I don’t consider sin is your nature but sin is that which you have acquired due to ignorance. And with the light of knowledge it just disappears.
Q:
If one rotten apple spoils others in the basket then how can we handful of people can make this world a healthy and safe place to live in? There are little more bad people than good ones in the world.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is not the case in reality. There are more good people in the world than there are bad ones. There is more love in the world than hatred. There is more happiness than misery. But it seems the other way around. Don’t blame the society. You have a responsibility and you carry on fulfilling that. Continue spreading satsang (company of truth). Same was done by Mahatama Gandhi. Before independence in India, people were so depressed thinking they would be enslaved forever. So what did Mahatama Gandhi do? He started to have satsangs across various places in the country. People got courage from that. Same way we need to spread that a wave of satsang and awareness, not that of hatred.Q:
How should be one’s relation with the Master? One is an ordinary person and other is a person with so many powers. Should it be like a friend or a beloved?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Let love be love. Don’t give it a name. Love is above all relations. Being in love with the master is like being in Love with the divine. Master, God and spirit are not different. These all are one. Only one exists – one non dual existence. Everything is divine.Q:
Do planets have any effect on us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, planets do have an effect on us. But the effects are minimal on those who are on the path of sadhna, satsang and knowledge. For those, negative effects reduce and positive effects start to increase. It’s like when you take umbrella under the hot sun, you feel less heat on your head. Practices and mantras are the solutions.Q:
How can I be contented? Lots of needs keep bombarding the mind.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Tell me one thing. Are you contented today?(The gentleman said ‘No’)
What do you need?
(The gentleman continues ‘I need to have something after having what, all my desires are pacified)
It’s good if you are aware that lots of desires are disturbing you. This desire - I want to get rid of all desires, is called mumuksha.
Q:
How to be in the present moment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
(Making a snapping sound with his fingers) Like this. Are you here now? (The lady nodded with a yes). Then be here now.Q:
Is criticizing anyone bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In life we don’t want anyone to think badly about us. We don’t like if a few people say bad things about us. Do you also do same with people? Of course, you can't always say that all the apples in the basket are good. Sometimes you have to criticize. But when you criticize, let it come from your lips only and not from your heart. Don’t hold on to it in the mind. Don't hate anyone. It harms only you and no one else.Q:
Guruji, it is said that God is in all. Then how are the avatars different?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Avatar means one who has come down. Those who want nothing, they come for the wellbeing of all. They haven’t come for themselves - either to enjoy or burn karmas. They have come for jankalyan (welfare of all).