Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
How can I offer both positive and negative to God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just let go. If you find it difficult, just live in the present moment. Now, now. The past is gone. The future is yet to come.Q:
Guruji, you had said last time that one’s focus should be on oneself or on the master. But the mind tends to be drawn to others frequently making comparisons.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
At least you are aware that the mind is comparing with others. That means you are already becoming free from it, somewhat. Gradually it will move away completely.Q:
You said that the past is a dream. People have been sexually, financially, spiritually abused. I have had nightmares about it. How do you say it can be dream?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Listen, people have gone through abuse. Practices like the Sudarshan Kriya, pranayama, and yogasanas will help them to erase those impressions and move forward. Along with the kriya, see the whole event as a movie, a dream. This understanding, without giving them the depth of meditation, is incomplete.This understanding and the practices complement each other. It’s like watching television and listening to it. You have to do both.
Q:
Can meditation happen if the person next door snores a lot? (laughter)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Many options. Poke them. If they continue, accept it. If you find it is irritating you more and more, get up and sit somewhere else.Q:
If problems come, we surrender them to you and relax. If at all, you face problems, what do you do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I take it as a challenge and I enjoy challenges!Q:
Guruji, my life has been difficult for so many years that I feel like giving up. My father says that someone has done black magic on my family. Do things like black magic exist and how do I get over them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do sadhana, seva and satsang, and no black magic can touch you. Chant the mantras, listen to vedic chants, Rudram, Om Namah Shivaya. All this will help.Q:
Dear Guruji, when and how can I achieve the ultimate bliss?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No chance (laughter). No way. Forget about it. Are you ready to forget it? Then you got it NOW. Your mind is anxious for “ultimate happiness, ultimate bliss, one day I want to achieve...”Q:
How do you know when you have found your Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I have no idea how you will find that out. It’s the heart that tells you. You can’t think about it. It doesn’t happen by judgment. Just be relaxed.Q:
Is homosexuality a sin? Is it possible to change the orientation of a human being by Sadhana and Spiritual Practices?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, these tendencies come in you because you are made up of both mother and father, a combination of two. Everybody has both male genes and female genes. When male chromosomes are dominating or when female chromosomes are dominating, these tendencies come and go. You don’t have to brand yourself about that. It can all change. There is a possibility of those tendencies changing. Know that you are more than just the body. You are a scintillating consciousness, energy. You are sparkling light, and so, identify yourself with that light more.Q:
In the beginning days when we take the japa mantra it feels special. It doesn’t feel the same later. How to maintain the same feeling, how to make our mantra more effective?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t try to make anything. Whenever you remember just know it’s very sacred, very special, take it that way. You know usually when you get into the cold water, when you go to the Ganga the first time, you take a dip. The water is very cold but once you are in the water it is not that cold, so your body gets used to it. In the same way, in-between, you have to come out and go in and then you feel cold again. So you don’t need to worry about it and again and again whenever you feel grateful you feel it as special. Gratefulness always comes in waves.