Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
My husband is very arrogant. How do I reduce his arrogance?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Ok, make your husband’s arrogance very strong. Say, ‘There is nobody like you.’Keep increasing his arrogance.
Wherever there is arrogance, it will be taught a lesson.
Q:
Why do liars, sinful people progress more than honest people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
People who practice unethical ways, cannot come up in life. This is the truth. It will not be sustained.You have patience. Don’t think that all honest people are suffering. Suffering is not because of honesty, but because of foolishness.
You have to have smartness, intelligence, dynamism, and creativity alongwith honesty.
Sudarshan Kriya* - a stress-elimination breath technique that is taught in Art of Living programs
Q:
What is crisis and how to handle anxiety?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Crisis is the mother of many inventions. A crisis makes us very creative. However the crisis should not go on too long, that is not good.What can help anxiety is breathing techniques like pranayama which channelizes the life force energy in our body. We all float in a sea of prana (life-force energy). There is prana even in a stone.
Q:
Is the future free will or destiny?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Wisdom is to see the past as destiny, future as free will and be in the present moment.Seeing the future as destiny is foolishness and can make you lazy. The past is destiny because you can’t change the past.Q:
What is the purpose of life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is a very precious question. One who knows will not give you an answer, and the one who answers, does not know. However, if you want to reach that answer, think about this: When you die, two questions will be asked.· How much knowledge have you gained?
· How much love have you given? How much have you loved Planet Earth and people?
Q:
Why does the Divine love us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is good to ask this question. When we demand love, we destroy love. When we feel that we have been loved by people in abundance, then we will see that we have also grown in abundance.Q:
What is the difference between my will and God’s will?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When every will is His, every mind is His, then where is your existence? Everything is God’s will. The moment you differentiate between mine and His, there are two.When your mind is clear, then sit and think. Only when your mind is free from feverishness, can His will be done.
Q:
Does God exist?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Only God exists. But to realize that takes energy, time and commitment.Q:
What is more important - faith in ourselves or faith in others?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Both are necessary. However, add one more. That is, faith in God.Q:
What is true love?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you have a doubt, it is true love. We always doubt the positives. We doubt our capabilities. We doubt our happiness but are 100 percent sure of our depression. We doubt a person’s honesty and doubt the existence of higher power. So what is true love? Time will tell you.Love is what we are made up of. All negative emotions are off springs of true love.
Love without wisdom makes life miserable…love with wisdom is bliss.