Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Q:
I am coming from Polachi. I was having a spinal cord problem before taking this course. I took the course and now I can sit and do all my work without anybody's help.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, what doctors can’t do, pranayama does. It can do wondersQ: After solving one problem, one more comes up. What should I do?Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Have the faith that you will be helped and your problem will get solved.
Q:
Guruji, please talk on the story of Ajmila in Srimad Bhagwad.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In Srimad Bhagwad there is a story of king Ajamila. He had many vices. When he was on his death bed he called his son’s name – Narayan. And when he uttered God’s name, he got liberated. This story is there to build trust in people that however their past has been, there is no need to waste time in tension and guilt about the past. Even at the last moment if you chant Narayana’s (Lord’s) name, you have a chance to be liberated. This does not at all mean that you do whatever you want in life and at the last moment chant Narayana’s name. It doesn’t give you the license to indulge in vices. It only indicates that you don’t have to be guilty of your past and go on repenting the past. The past is gone. At least now be devoted and connected to the Divine.Q:
Can a relationship enhance or suppress your spiritual growth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, both can happen. If your partner is also on the path and understands you, it can enhance you both. If one is in doubt, the partner will help you to get over the doubt. If one is not doing the practice, the other one will pull them to do the practice and give them encouragement. Make them move on the spiritual path, so that much help comes from that. I have seen many couples - when one is going astray from the path, the other will pull them back onto the path. Because of the sake of the wife or husband, they continue being on the path, on the knowledge, on the spiritual path. This I have seen happening in many, many families. Though, on the contrary, if both go in different directions and if one of them is not really on the path, it can be a hindrance for the other. It can be, though not necessarily.Q:
What is the purpose of dreams?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There are five kinds of dreams:1. Dreams in which old experiences repeat in the consciousness.
2. The ones that display your desires and fears.
3. Intuitive dreams - that foretell what is going to happen.
4. The dreams which are not related to you but to the place where you are sleeping. For instance, if you are sleeping in China you may see dreams in Chinese.
5. This type is the mixture of all the other types.
99 percent of the dreams that you have belong to the fifth category, so it is wise not to give much importance to them. The wise believe this world itself to be a dream. Whatever we experience through the sense organs is the impression of the world on us. What you did a few hours ago is just like a dream in the present moment. It’s a memory. There is not much difference between a memory and a dream.
*Traditional colorful floor decorations
Q:
What is the finest form of karma?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
What we don’t want for ourselves, we don’t do it unto others also.Q:
How to make the most important decisions in life, decisions that change our entire life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
So far what are all the decisions you have made. Are you happy with all thesedecisions? (Response: Somewhat, and somewhat not). So life will continue like that, got it? Sometimes you made good decisions, and then you see the positive side. See everything has a positive side and everything has its lapses. So if you focus only on the lapses then every decision you make you will regret. But if you see the positive side then you will be happy and contented. And the more you are happy and contented more such things will happen in life. Got it?
Q:
Life has a dual nature. How do you feel oneness in that duality?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Like high tide and low tide in an ocean, they come and go but the ocean remains. How was it five, ten, fifteen years ago? You went through a down time and a high time. It came and it went. Looking back in time you gain strength. “This will pass.”Q:
Guruji whenever I think of you I become very emotional, tears begin to roll down and my heart starts melting. What to do? Is it good or bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don’t tag your emotions as good or bad. When your heart opens up tears come, it’s natural. Let it be. It is said in scriptures that tears of love are so precious that even angels run to collect them. Even on heaven, there are no tears of love. The most wonderful thing on the planet, on earth is to have tears of love, tears of gratitude. That indicates that our life is glorious. That makes our life rich and fulfilled. Fulfillment in life is when you have tears of gratitude and that comes by luck. You can’t manufacture tears of gratitude; you can’t put glycerin and have tears of gratitude coming in. When you realize what all you have received in life, your heart opens up.Q:
What is the importance of a name?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, you need something by which people can call you! One name is the name our parents gave to us at the time of birth. We are deeply connected to this name. To be completely free, the last attachment that we let go is that of our name. Connect and attach yourself to the name (the mantra that you receive from the Master). The mantra establishes you in the witness consciousness. Of the mantras, the highest is the 'ajapa jap', the mantra which resonates effortlessly and spontaneously in our consciousness. It is not a doing but a happening. That is So Ham. It resonates eternally. When we experience this with awareness, it becomes meditation.Q:
I want to do a lot of work in society but I don’t know where to start, how to start?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
The seed is there and it will grow. You want to work for society, the seed will grow. Good. Let it grow. Satsang, sadhana will nurture this seed.
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