Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
How does one move past a broken and abandoned heart? Thank you, love you.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are in the right place. You know what, you must know about your death you must know you are going to die one day. That’s it. The whole drama is going to finish. Where are you? Wake up,wake up. We are all going to be finished one day. Everything is going to finish. Something bothers you too much? It is because you have forgotten you are going to die. Knowledge of death or just an awareness that we are going to die one day, everything is going to be finished, nothing will bother you anymore. Got it?Q:
Guruji, who made God and why is God so powerful?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Really! Who made God? We made God, the devotees made God. If devotees are not there then how can God be thereQ:
I say very mean things to people, when I get angry. (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Nothing new, what’s new about it?)
I don’t mean anything. (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Nobody really means anything. Mother tells a kid, ‘Come on, get lost.’ She doesn’t really mean it.)
I don’t know whether I am forgiven for this?
I don’t mean anything. (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Nobody really means anything. Mother tells a kid, ‘Come on, get lost.’ She doesn’t really mean it.)
I don’t know whether I am forgiven for this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are! You were never yourself when you are angry, when you were upset. Why do you have to worry? Whenever a mistake happens, it happens in an unconscious state. So become more conscious.Q:
Guruji, today youth are more interested in drugs, alcohol and pornography. What is your advice for the parents on how should they handle teenagers and how can they have a better relationship with them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, it is a very delicate issue because teenagers don’t like to be dominated by the parents. Usually there is tendency to do that, so here parents should mellow down a little bit and help understand each other. We need to keep teenagers very busy, give them plenty of entertainment and lots of sports. Give them so much work that they do not have any time for anything. They come back home tired and fall asleep. So it is the age between eight to eighteen that they can learn sports. They should go to the gymnasium, do swimming. You know, when someone has done swimming for an hour, and then some exercise they come back home and all their energy is exhausted and they want to sleep. Morning they wake up fresh and they should learn music, they should be given lot of puzzles, and they should be exposed to a lot of information, entertainment, and education. This is how you can keep the teenagers away from sitting and surfing through the internet and viewing all pornography.Q:
Tell us the secret of sankalap siddhi (power of the intention)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
hen there is surrender alongwith having an intention, then it easily bears fruit. It is very easy for intentions to get fulfilled when there is surrender. Thus when intentions are fulfilled without effort, it is called Naishkarmya Siddhi. There are many references to Naishkarmya Siddhi in Vedanta. Even Adi Shankaracharya has spoken extensively on this – getting siddhi (result) without the need to act. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t work for it. You have to put in effort.Q:
What is Dharma? Is Hinduism or Islam dharma? If not then what is dharma. Between dharma and karma which is more important?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Dharma is that which keeps you on track, keeps you on the path. Dhriti (that which sustains), kshama (forgiveness), dama (piety or self- control), asteya (non-stealing), shaucha (cleanliness), indraiya-nigraha (control over the senses), dhi (intellect), vidya (knowledge or learning), satya (truthful) and akrodha (absence of anger). All these 10 rules are there of dharma, if you go on google you will know all the ten rules and what is dharma. Now knowledge is available at the press of one button on the computer. What we don’t want others to do to us, not doing that to others, is dharma. Not treating others the way we would not like to be treated, that is dharma. Now karma and dharma are very close, dharma is that which we have to do, which is our duty, which we hold on to. Karma is of two types, that which is for dharma and that which is against dharma. If you do karma which is against dharma that become adharma and karma which is for dharma is known as Sat Karma.Q:
What is the relation of sin and merit with life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Sin brings sadness and merit attracts happinessQ:
Is homosexuality a sin? Is it possible to change the orientation of a human being by Sadhana and Spiritual Practices?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Q:
I left my previous job because there was too much of jealousy and back-stabbing. How do I work with such negative people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Skillfully. Negative people bring out lots of skills in you. You should thank them, they teach you how to deal with them, how to maneuver through all those situations and make you move ahead. And they push all the buttons and make you free from buttonsQ:
Guruji, please explain to us laws of Karma, how can I revert physical illness and perform selfless seva? My physical illness prevents me from being active and happy and loving. I get tired very fast. Please guide. Love you.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You know, the best thing is not worry about it too much. Got it? Karma is only in the mind, yet you worry about physical illness “oh this is my karma...” See, the body has its limitations. Everybody’s body has a limitation. And if we have violated the laws of nature, it is going to take its toll some time. Okay? So, keep your spirits high, the rest will be taken care of by itself.