Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Despite knowing that I should not miss my daily kriya, the gap is increasing. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Never mind. If you cannot do kriya, do some pranayama. If you cannot do that, just sit and meditate. If you cannot mediate, then just think about the time you have spent here; think about the knowledge and the words I have said to you. If you say that you can’t do anything, that is not acceptable; you can at least do something!
If you have no time to meditate, then at least listen to some knowledge when you are driving the car; there are a number of CDs. When you listen to the knowledge, your consciousness expands. But don’t take this as an excuse not to meditate. You should sit, close your eyes and let go. When you become so deep and peaceful, your brain and perceptions become different. It makes a big difference. When you cannot even meditate, at least remember the knowledge, at least feel connected!
Gurudev, can you explain more about mental illness? Is it unbalanced vata or is it karma? How can we help them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just serve such people. People with any mental diseases like depression and others can be helped through yoga, pranayama, and meditation. There are many which you cannot help, you simply have to accept them.
Gurudev, there are many young children who are aware and awake, and know that they are here for some important work. How do we support these gifted children?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, there are many children who are telling their parents that my real home, my real family is in the ashram. Many children are saying these sort of things around the world; many have become vegetarians, isn’t it? How many of you have seen that? Many children like or love chanting.
Yesterday, I saw on a news channel in India that there was a child born to the royal family of Bhutan. He said, “I have come here after 828 years; I was a teacher and a student in Nalanda University, take me there.” And so they took the child from Bhutan to Bihar in India. The child was all dressed in a robe, looked like a monk; he could recall where he used to sit, what was there and everything around.
There are so many such incidents even in The Art of Living. One child in The Art of Living recently said, “I was a Rishi in the Himalayas, and now I have come.” He is a one and half year-old child; he calls my name so perfectly, “Gurudev”. He takes the rudraksha mala, puts it around and says, “This is the rudraksha mala!”
There are many such children. You will find this occurring more in Russia and Mongolia.
Gurudev, is there a punishing God. If not, who is punishing me? I want to live without punishment.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, there is no God punishing you at all, don’t worry. It is only your karma that comes back to you. If you don’t chuck the karma, the karmas come back to you.
Karma is, you do some action and the reaction to the action comes back to you. But if you realize this, and you do some remedies for your karma, then you can reduce it. E.g., if you hear on radio that there will be a heavy traffic jam tomorrow, you take caution and start a little early; that is the remedy, right? Similarly, if there is going to be snow storm tomorrow, then you put your socks on, and do whatever else you need to do.
Gurudev, I always feel that I have received more than I deserve, and I feel uncomfortable..
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You should feel comfortable. When you feel you have received more than you deserve, you become grateful, you feel life is a gift to you. When you feel that you really deserve this, then you become arrogant, dominant, rude, and rough. It is only when you realize that you are not worthy of what you have received and what you are receiving, then you become humble and more grateful! The more grateful you are, the higher you go; humility in you takes you high.
What should we do to read and understand the Vedas?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, you have come to the right place. Keep learning new things here and go on attending the different programs we have.
For example, in Tamil Nadu, they fold their hands into fists and tap their temples and forehead with the knuckles. This is a symbolic way to honour and remember Lord Ganesha. It was supposed to be done 21 times in the earlier days. This custom is called Kopakarnam in Tamil. You would also have to do sit-ups 21 times after this. .
Recently, scientists performed a mapping of the human brain and found that this practice of Thoppukaranam enhances the brain. May be that is why so many brilliant people seem to come from Tamil Nadu (laughter).
You can ask our Chairman of The Art of Living, he too belongs to Tamil Nadu. Even in the Parliament Secretariat in Delhi, there was a time when most of the officials there were from Tamil Nadu. Today the scenario has changed.
In the earlier days all these customs were performed every time one visited a temple.
(A member of the audience asked a question which was inaudible).
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are love. Drop this guilt.
I want to tell you one story. This is the story from the life of Lord Buddha. It also includes forgiveness.
One day Buddha was giving a sermon and conducting a meditation. One gentlemen came from the back to the hall. He was very angry because his son did not join the business and instead joined Lord Buddha and wanted to meditate and propagate peace. So angry gentleman came in front of Buddha and spat on the face of Buddha. There were 10,000 people sitting in the hall, but then Buddha did not react and was just smiling. This man then went away. Just being in Lord Buddha’s presence brought a shift in this gentleman because he has always encountered anger with only anger. Here is a person who did not react and was smiling instead. And that one smile of Buddha did something to him. He could not sleep the whole night. His whole life transformed. He came next day and fell at the feet of Buddha and asked for his pardon. Buddha with the same smile lifted him up and said, “I can’t forgive you”.
Everybody else was shocked. This man is sobbing, crying, asking for pardon and Buddha is saying I cannot forgive you. Then Buddha tells him, “That man who was angry is gone and whom you spat is also not here now. They say, you cannot put your feet twice in the same river. Like that, the consciousness is also changing. The person who was there yesterday is no longer here now. So, if at all I met that person who spat and to whom you spat, I will tell him to forgive you”.
See life from a broad perspective. A mistake happens through you when you are not conscious, when you are in ignorance. So, you are not responsible, it is the ignorance that was responsible.
How to stop worrying?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Know one thing – one day you are going to go under the ground. You will be finished. Everybody else will also be finished. What are you worried about? You are worried about money? You are worried about somebody’s opinion? You are worried about prestige? You are worried about your health? There are four things that people worry about –Money, Relationship, Prestige and Health! All of them is going to go away one day. Then why worry.
See life from a bigger context. Ten years ago, didn’t you worry? You are still alive. Five years ago, didn’t you worry? You are still alive. Three years back you worried. This worrying did not do anything to you. You only created more toxins in your body. Life anyway goes on.
Life is a balance between free will and destiny. How many of you have this question about free will and destiny? (Many in the audience raise their hands). Is life all destined or is it all free will? I tell you, life is a combination of both free will and destiny. Your height is your destiny but your weight is your freewill.
You can’t say this my destiny is to weigh 100 kilos. I will tell you to get on to the treadmill. And don’t eat those burgers. So, your weight is your free will and your height is your destiny. Similarly, it’s raining is destiny, whether to get wet or not is your free will.
How to stop worrying?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Know one thing – one day you are going to go under the ground. You will be finished. Everybody else will also be finished. What are you worried about? You are worried about money? You are worried about somebody’s opinion? You are worried about prestige? You are worried about your health? There are four things that people worry about –Money, Relationship, Prestige and Health! All of them is going to go away one day. Then why worry.
See life from a bigger context. Ten years ago, didn’t you worry? You are still alive. Five years ago, didn’t you worry? You are still alive. Three years back you worried. This worrying did not do anything to you. You only created more toxins in your body. Life anyway goes on.
Life is a balance between free will and destiny. How many of you have this question about free will and destiny? (Many in the audience raise their hands). Is life all destined or is it all free will? I tell you, life is a combination of both free will and destiny. Your height is your destiny but your weight is your freewill.
You can’t say this my destiny is to weigh 100 kilos. I will tell you to get on to the treadmill. And don’t eat those burgers. So, your weight is your free will and your height is your destiny. Similarly, it’s raining is destiny, whether to get wet or not is your free will.
(A member of the audience asked a question which was inaudible).
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are love. Drop this guilt.
I want to tell you one story. This is the story from the life of Lord Buddha. It also includes forgiveness.
One day Buddha was giving a sermon and conducting a meditation. One gentlemen came from the back to the hall. He was very angry because his son did not join the business and instead joined Lord Buddha and wanted to meditate and propagate peace. So angry gentleman came in front of Buddha and spat on the face of Buddha. There were 10,000 people sitting in the hall, but then Buddha did not react and was just smiling. This man then went away. Just being in Lord Buddha’s presence brought a shift in this gentleman because he has always encountered anger with only anger. Here is a person who did not react and was smiling instead. And that one smile of Buddha did something to him. He could not sleep the whole night. His whole life transformed. He came next day and fell at the feet of Buddha and asked for his pardon. Buddha with the same smile lifted him up and said, “I can’t forgive you”.
Everybody else was shocked. This man is sobbing, crying, asking for pardon and Buddha is saying I cannot forgive you. Then Buddha tells him, “That man who was angry is gone and whom you spat is also not here now. They say, you cannot put your feet twice in the same river. Like that, the consciousness is also changing. The person who was there yesterday is no longer here now. So, if at all I met that person who spat and to whom you spat, I will tell him to forgive you”.
See life from a broad perspective. A mistake happens through you when you are not conscious, when you are in ignorance. So, you are not responsible, it is the ignorance that was responsible.