Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If your mind says you should do it, then you should. But that shouldn’t be given too much importance. Sometimes the recorded time or place of birth may not be accurate. There are many issues involved. So neither should we totally ignore it nor should we take it to be exactly right.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Is the sun, during daytime, not visible to you? Don’t you see the moon in the evening?It’s only in the absence of the sun and the moon that the stars are visible. Then you run behind the stars. Only those who haven’t seen the sun and moon of their own Self run behind the stars.
Opposite values are complementary. If there is a question, there is an answer.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Use yukti (skill). It’s a test of how good a sadhak you are. You stay put, she will gradually come around and she will also become happy. If you drop your practices and go behind her even you won’t be happy.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This is called janam rahasya (secret of birth). Many souls compete to get a body and only one can win. It’s like a running race. Like millions of people compete and only one wins, in the same way there is a rush and only one gets a body. That’s why it is said that the human birth and life are very precious. Don’t waste it on insignificant things. We eat to live and not live to eat. Many people start living just to eat. There are many possibilities – what soul can come and what not? The possibilities are infinite. Nobody knows.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It is possible in this birth only. You should listen to Ashtavakra (A commentary by His Holiness ).Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You have realized that you have weaknesses. That’s the first step. Now, do you want to remove the weakness or not? The very pinch of having the weaknesses will help you to come out of them. If you simply accept them and say I am an ordinary person only etc…. you will continue to have them.Someone is there to take away your weaknesses. Have this faith. Ok, you slipped once, twice, thrice, doesn’t matter, keep moving ahead. People say take vows never to commit them again. Breaking the vows makes it worse. Surrendering is better.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In ancient India there was a system. The man of the house used to give some money to his wife. This money was not to be touched. The lady’s money was always built up. The man would give a portion of his earnings, five – ten percent of his income to the lady at home and the man had no right to touch it. She would build that money up.This used to be our system. All this is gone. All the good traditions have been ignored and we have adopted all the bad habits.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It’s not enough to say a couple of words to express thankfulness. I won’t take it. Are you surprised? If you are really thankful then you have to bring this joy and comfort to at least ten people around you. When it is very hot you use AC (Air conditioner) so that your body gets comfortable. And spirituality is AC for the spirit, mind, intellect and the self. Meditation is AC. You know what AC means in spiritual realm? Absolute comfort. Your absolute inner comfort is when you repose and relax - relax in faith.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I think I have said it all. All the lines between different disciplines are blurred now. I remember when I was in school there was a thick line of difference between physics and chemistry, and they were thought not to be connected. Today, whether it is astrophysics, physics, knowledge about the spirit or information technology, all have come together. Environment and spirituality are not two different things. Perhaps the ancient people of this country knew this. They worship the trees, mountains, rivers etc in nature. And it is true for all native civilizations in the world. They honored nature. They took care that they care for nature and progress and development was aligned with the sustainable conditions on planet Earth. The most needed thing today is – Globalizing wisdom. There are two types of calamities – one is natural calamities like earthquakes. And second is man - made calamities. Man - made calamities can be overcome by wisdom and a Cultural Revolution, and by spreading this knowledge of a one world family. We are anyway one. There is no two.Natural calamities can be overcome by caring for the planet, planting more trees, preserving water, by spiritual energy and with the thought that you are one with the vishavatma(Universal soul). An intention or thought that you are one with vishatma and a little attention manifests itself.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Good. Greet them all.