Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

How do you feel today? Very nice! If those things are coming up, let it come up. Do a little bit yoga, some walking, some exercise to supplement that.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Look, Divine and worldly dispensation are one and the same, they are not discrete. God is inseparable from this world. He is all permeating. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma - All this is verily Brahma. If you stick your hand in a fire, you get burnt instantly. However, if you sow a mango seed, or for that matter a coconut seed, in the ground, how long does it take to grow into a fruit-bearing tree - 4-6 years? Similarly, there are some actions whose consequences are immediate and there are some actions with a delayed outcome. If your grandfather/forefather toils for 20 years to set up a factory, who will enjoy the fruits of his labour - you will! Applying the same logic, karma and its consequences are eternal and beyond comprehension. Some karma can be resolved only by dealing with the consequences, whereas the outcome of some karma can be modified / modulated. For example, while preparing sooji (semolina) halva, the proportion of ingredients can be adjusted with respect to one another. However, once cooked sooji cannot be reverted back to its uncooked state. Similarly, what your height is today is praarabdha karma, but what your current body-weight is can be changed (reduced/increased). That is why doing dhyaan (meditation), jaap(chanting), havan(sacrificial fire), daan (charity) help change karma. We may have, unknowingly, harmed someone. Our shaastras (scriptures) recommend sharing a few grains of rice from our meal with birds and other creatures; having an attitude of gratefulness for all we have received in life also resolves karma. Do not criticize or condemn anyone. However, on the path of Self-knowledge forget about your sins and merits, and just relax and be happy. The more relaxed we are, the more spontaneously (naturally) things get done. When we were building the ashram, I did not seek advice from a Vaastu consultant. Several years later, some Vaastu specialists commented on how all structures were in their proper place with respect to one another. Our consciousness itself is Shaastra, so if we listen to our consciousness, our intuition, we will function in accord with nature. Everything will be okay. That is why it is called intuition. Suppose you have no knowledge of electronics, but you need to tackle an electronics issue. You intuitively play around with the wires, and eventually the problem will get resolved. Many people have experienced this. Once I was going from London to Birmingham where I was scheduled to give a talk. This happened more than twenty years ago. Birmingham is a big city. One gentleman realized an hour after we had left London that he had forgotten to obtain the address or the directions to the venue in Birmingham. There were no cell phones in those days. So I decided to intuitively guide him, telling him to take this turn here and that turn there, until we reached the street in Birmingham on which the venue was located! What I am saying is, the Shaastra is not a book, you yourself are Shaastra. If you study your consciousness, your mind, that is what is in the Shaastra. This is how the knowledge of Vaastu Shaastra, Ayurveda has been derived. In this country, dance, music, art, science, have all emerged from the consciousness of the spirit, through meditation. So meditate, meditation is supreme. All this will manifest when you meditate. In english it is known as intuition. Intuition means that which is 'right'. This power is within everyone, but use it occasionally, not all the time.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Because ‘Sarva dharmaan paritajye, ma mekam sharanam’. Take refuge in me, then I will rid you of all sins. He puts a condition for it. Bheeshma Pitaamah didn’t do that. This is my dharma, he was holding on to it. He didn’t totally give up, right?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You have a great responsibility to take care of the health of the people but never stop studying.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That is what we are doing. We are educating people in all levels.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Through practice and experience the mind will settle down. It is through experience that one feels dispassion/detachment (vairaagya). What is dispassion? As a child, you would get excited about cotton candy, as though eating it was the sole aim in life. Chocolate, cake and ice cream were everything to you. But as you grew older, you became indifferent to candies and chocolates and were drawn to attractive young men or women. With age, the looks of a person also ceased to attract your attention. This is known as dispassion. In every human being’s life, some dispassion comes in naturally. But through knowledge, dispassion comes in more quickly. Otherwise, the dispassion does not mature and trickles in here and there. But if there is sharp intellect, knowledge and good satsang, dispassion comes in like a jet plane. Dispassion is not being apathetic, that everything is useless, pointless, but the attitude of having ‘been there, done that; I am above all this.’ A joyful, carefree state of being is known as dispassion. Often, those you consider dispassionate are depressed. That is why some people are scared of those claiming to be dispassionate. Adi Shankaracharya has said, ‘Kasya sukham na karoti viraagaa’ meaning, ‘what kind of joy does dispassion not bring?’ All kinds of joy and comforts come naturally to you, without your making any effort. That is why through practice and dispassion this restless mind becomes still.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When the mind is outwardly focused, it cannot recognize the soul. It is not aware of its own existence. For instance, when we are looking around at others, we lose awareness of our own body. We are not aware that we are breathing when we are looking outside. Like when you sit in the cinema theatre, all you can see is what is happening on the screen. You have no idea where you are, whether you are tired or your body is healthy. In sleep we forget all our pains and sorrows, similarly when the mind is outwardly directed, it forgets itself and loses awareness (remembrance) of itself. We tend to get absorbed in the scenery and forget about the Self. Now when we sit down with our eyes closed, unable to see what is happening outside, and bring our attention to our self, our breath, then we become aware of the body. Do you know why the body hurts? Your body wants to draw your attention towards itself. When the head hurts, the most beautiful scenery is not appealing. The mind is drawn to the pain in the head or the leg. So pain has the ability to involuntarily pull the attention of the mind to the body. When we consciously bring our attention to the body, it is yoga nidra or meditation. Similarly, when the mind is entangled in the body, then there is no awareness of the soul. You have all experienced in meditation, awareness shifts from the body to thoughts, and finally when it is more inwardly drawn, there is awareness only of ‘I Am’, not where or who I am. From this I Amness to ‘Everything Is’ – is God. A step deeper in meditation lies this awareness that everything ‘Is’ – these trees, mountains, river, this body are no different from one another. I am not anything special - just the awareness of existence. So it is outward focus that leads to forgetfulness. It is not as though the head did not exist before the headache, it did. Similarly, to experience the soul one has to empty the mind of all impressions. This awareness is lost in the tendencies of the mind. That is why it is written in the Vedas to repeatedly practice meditation or erasure of all mental impressions. Just as we alternate between waking and sleeping, repeatedly erasing mental impressions through meditation establishes us in our Self. Those who sleep soundly are alert when awake. In a similar fashion, meditation helps maintain alertness in the waking state. We feel inspired to work only when we find that something is not right; this is not right or that has not been done correctly. When we are involved in activity, we should feel that which is not okay and needs to be corrected. But when we are in meditation, we should feel that everything is fine. A fool does the reverse. When he sits with his eyes closed, he focuses on all that is not right. In activity, he accepts and overlooks everything, the corruption, the inefficiency. Such a person is useful neither to the world nor to himself. That is why Lord Krishna has said in the Gita that knowing when to act and when not to act is the sign of saatvikta. So in meditation relax with the thought that all is well. Anyway, for how long can you fix this world, sixty, seventy years? This world has been in existence since ages and will continue to exist. What will you do if a demon is born a couple of hundred years from now? Know that God is taking care of this world. With this thought one should sit in meditation, then Samadhi will happen, and bliss will arise. Once bliss is awakened, you cannot continue sitting in Samadhi like a stone. Since you have taken this human birth you have to engage in activity. When in activity, recognizing all that is not right awakens enthusiasm within us. This entire world is God. Serving this divine world is itself Pooja. That is why it is said that this entire world is made up of rhythmic vibrations and from these vibrations ambrosia (Amrit) is produced. And what do we do in Sudarshan Kriya? Through the rhythmic breath we become aware of the rhythm of the soul (Self). It is only through these vibrations that bliss can be awakened. If you speak to modern scientists, they will admit that this world is nothing but vibrations.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When you were a child, you didn’t want to go to school. If your parents had said yes to you not going to school and didn’t say no to you, where you would have landed? Do you see what I am saying? Sometimes saying ‘no’ is for good of the person. You must say ‘no’. Don’t worry about if you hurt them or not. Your saying ‘no’ is good for them, beneficial for them, is much more important than your trying not to hurt them. When you do exercise, it pains. If it pains, your exercise is good. Isn’t it? No pain no gain. If your saying ‘no’ is hurting others for no reason, then it is a different question. You should use your brain there.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

To do something good if you need to be aggressive, you can show some aggression; but you know when you are meditating you don’t need to do that at all. You know, you don’t need to be aggressive, things will happen. People will say everything; if you are aggressive someone will say you are too aggressive. Somebody will say something so don’t go by everyone’s opinion. You see what you want to do.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

No, we never take anybody or tell anyone not to listen to their parents. Our main thing is listening to your parents. Don’t worry about it, he won’t run away from the home. (Q: What about link failure?) – Charge your batteries! You know for a cell phone to work there should be charge in the cell and then a sim card and it should be within the range. Range is already there but if your battery has lost its charge, you have to plug in and charge your battery again, that is all you need to do.