Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Shaking of faith and devotion sends you a message about the strength of your faith. What is the need to be afraid of? Shake it as vigorously as you can. I would say only that faith is authentic which stays even after shaking. This is job of the master– to shake the faith and let it grow stronger. Guru doesn’t build your faith but he shakes your faith. This is the strategy moving from ancient times. When the faith shakes, it reveals that it can be made stronger. If it is authentic, anyway it will grow strong. In the whole process you realize, this is all mere a play of mind. Faith and devotion were always present. Devotion towards truth can never disappear. This is maya(illusion) of the mind which makes you feel it is shaken.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
How does it matter whether you find master or the master finds you? It is sufficient that both have met.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, when you are a witness (sakshi) to the thoughts coming and going, no karma is formed. When you feel sad thinking that your thought is bad, it is then when your mind gets affected.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When someone near to you is leaving the body, your words would have no meaning. At those moments you just be there in silence. Those vibrations will work for them.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, no it’s fine. You know, when you are meditating sometimes the head will come down, or your body will rock. This is all normal. Different types of stresses when they get released all these different reactions can come up. That’s ok, nothing to worry about.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If you put natural things, then there is no pollution. They are bio degradable. If you put soap or plastic, it harms the water. Since centuries, in the forest so many leaves and fruits fall in water, but the water is not contaminated. But when we throw artificial things, the water gets contaminated.When we put bowls made of leaves, and garlands made of real flowers into water, it doesn’t get polluted.
It is interesting , one who is familiar with the real stuff, to him even the fake thing seems real.
And to the one who is familiar with the fake thing, even the real appears as fake. This is maya. What is real and what is unreal has to be found out. Therefore you need an inward eye (antar drishti). This is possible through yoga and meditation.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t worry. Everyone will come to the path slowly.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Open your ears wide and listen. You are a devotee and a true devotee. Don’t ever raise a doubt on this. The badness is imposed from outside. Inside you are one with the Truth. Your devotion is also true devotion. This is the way to think. Otherwise, the self doubt transforms into guilt and then you spoil your mind. Move with the belief that I am a true devotee. Hear this with open ears.Q- Krishna ki chaturta, Ram ki gambheeta (Lord Krishna’s mischievousness, the seriousness of Lord Rama) … Guruji, which way to follow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:See there is no fight here. They came at different times, so that there is no competition. They came to tell us that, “We are all one”. Here there is no conflict of which is better which is worse, everything is essential. Each one has a style, place and time.
It is like you sing different songs for different occasions in life. In a marriage you don’t sing a song that is sung at funerals.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You show anger but you don’t have to become angry.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are different methods and patterns but the ultimate aim is same – to uplift humanity. All are good. Inter religious seminars are conducted time and again. As far as my knowledge is concerned there are no conflicts between them.