Be Open Minded

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  Rudrabhishek is an ancient chanting which was downloaded from the Aakasha (space). When the ancient sages and Rishis sat in meditation, they heard, and what they heard, they started transferring to other people. The effect of Rudrabhishek is it creates positive energy and removes negative vibes. And a lot is said about the Rudrabhishek. When Rudrabishek happens nature flourishes, nature becomes joyful, happy.
Main thing is the vibration, that is it. If you ask me, ’Do you know the meaning of all the chants? I will say, ’I also don’t know.’ It’s the vibration of the chants that is important and then the meaning.
There are two parts, the first part says, ’Namo, namo, namo, namo!’
Mana, means mind. The word mind in English comes from Sanskrit word Mana.
Nama is the reverse of the mind. The mind going to its source is called Nama.
When the mind goes outside to experience the world, it is Mana. So Nama. is the mind going back to its source.
When it goes to its source, what does it find? Everything is made up of one consciousness.
Now, what do the scientists today say? God Particle – by which everything has been made. Thousands of years ago the Rishis said the same thing, that everything is made up of one thing, and that they called Brahman. – that which is neither male nor female. It is nothing but a Tattva. Tattva means principle. A great principle by which everything is made of, they called it Bramhan. And when that Bramhan becomes personal, it is called Shiva Tattva – the innocent Divinity; that is in everything. That is why we say, ‘Namo, namo!’
In the trees, in the greenery, in the birds, even in the thieves, and in a dacoit, everywhere, it is the same one principle.

Then, the second part will say, ‘Chame, chame, chame, chame.’ You have heard this, isn’t it?! This means, everything is in Me.
‘Me’ in English comes from the Sanskrit word ’ Ma’, which means Myself.
‘Ma Ma’ means ’ For Me’, ‘In Me’. So, everything is in terms of ; myself;. The second part is everything is for me and everything is in terms of me.
Even for numbers they say, ‘Ekaachame’, which means, one, two, three, four, they are all my form; Myself. Like that, ‘Sugamchame’, happiness for me!
‘Abhayanchame’, fearlessness, happiness, health, all the good things in the universe, let them all come to me, and they are all part of me. That is it.

And as this is being chanted, usually milk and water runs through the crystal, drop by drop. This is the ancient method. It is done with water or in fire as well.
What they do is they keep a fire and they put different herbs for the different chants. Or you allow a string of water to keep falling on a crystal and you listen to this chanting – this is the ancient method.
And done on Mondays it is even more special. Monday is the day of the moon and the moon and mind are connected. Mantra, mind, moon, they are all connected somewhere. So, in India, it is a tradition, they have this chanting going on in the Ashrams. So in our ashram also, every Monday, we have this.
All the five elements are used in pooja. Pooja means honoring all the elements, born out of fullness. So, fire, water, incense sticks, fruits, flowers, rice, whatever nature has given to us, those things are used and the chanting goes on.
There is a lot of depth and meaning to it. You can go and do some research on it, more and more things will come out.
Mainly, it creates more positive ions, more so when people are meditating.
Just doing it as a ritual is not that effective because it is said that the Veda Mantras are effective when people are awake from within; for them, these mantras have more meaning. So, they help you to go deep into meditation.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  Do you know, 30 years ago, when we first started The Art of Living then also it was very difficult. Teaching yoga means only someone who is out there, someone who is crazy, would do yoga. But today people like yoga.

I want to tell you one thing. You don’t have to talk about pooja, chanting and all that to one who does not know. Just talk about meditation, Sudarshan Kriya, Part 1 course, this is good enough. And I tell you, today people are much more open than before.
There are big programs happening around the world. The Buddhists do the Mandala Pooja, and everybody flocks to see the ritual. Buddhism has similar chanting and people love to listen to the chanting.
So, sometimes, it is our mind only that put the blocks.

In a city like New York, there are a number of classes for chanting; Sanskrit chanting. And these classes are full, there is no place available.
Our own center in New York has three to four shifts for Kriya and for meditation. Everyday there are so many people visiting.
So today, West is not West and East is not East. You will find agnostics, non-believers in the East also. And you find believers in the West also. So people are more open and their prejudices are lesser than before. If you find they have prejudices, tell them, ‘Hey, you should not be prejudiced. You should be a global citizen. You should be open to multi-culturalism and multi-cultural religious festivals; otherwise you are in the middle- ages, dark ages. You are not open-minded. Your mind is very closed. And whenever there is any good thing anywhere, you should accept that.’
You don’t need to say, ’I follow a Master’, and this and that.

I make everybody leaders. I am in the back giving you a push to go forward. A coach is essential everywhere, whether it is sports, or music, or cooking. Unless you have a coach who helps you learn how to be a good cook, you cannot get certified. So, for yoga, for exercise, even soccer you need a good coach, isn’t it?
So similarly, for spirituality, which is very abstract, you definitely need a coach, someone who trains you.
A Master never tell you, ‘Shut your brain and don’t think’, no! He encourages you to think freely. This is what you need to know.
The Art of Living encourages Reasoning and Faith, both. Faith and Reason, they may appear to be conflicting. It has happened in the past like that. That is how the Spanish inquisition happened. In the past if the Church said something you should never question it. So, the entire revolution in Russia about Communism started because reason was shunned. But in the East that never happened. East always said, ‘Honor your reason.’
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna gives Arjuna the entire knowledge, and then finally he says, ‘You reason, if it appeals to your intellect then you accept it. Whatever I said, if your intellect does not accept it then you need not accept whatever I have said.’
Buddha said the same thing, ‘You must have Reason and Surrender as well. Have faith.’ This is what Lord Buddha said.

If you say, ‘Let me first learn swimming then I will get in to water’, a real coach will say, ‘Get into the water and I will tell you how to swim.’
So it is not one after another, yes! As you get into water you have to swim immediately. You have to learn simultaneously. That is why Reason and Faith, they both are essential in life. You can’t learn swimming in the air first and then get into the water. Then you will not learn swimming. When you get into the water only then you will learn how to swim, correct! And there is a life jacket around you. The Master is like the life jacket. He teaches you to swim and once you start swimming then you know the value of it, isn’t that so?

So, how to answer people? You need not answer every question that anybody asks. Sometimes just smile. You don’t know the value of it, but just taste it and then tell them. Someone might say, ’Oh! Why are you listening to chanting?’
‘Oh! You don’t know the value of chanting. It is so wonderful. Just do it. Just listen to it once and you will see.’
That is what we want to share. We want to share what is best with everybody; with everyone. Not that in India everything is good or everything better, no! There are many hopeless things also. But we have picked the good things and are sharing it with the world.
Similarly, every religion, every culture has something very beautiful. That we should share. Not the fanaticism and not the small mindedness.
What do you say? We take the good things from everywhere, we do it and we promote it. We see that everyone gets the benefit of those things. Isn’t it?
There are many things even in yoga that they do which are not that scientific. In Hatha Yoga, they pierce the body with a needle. They do things that are not really in the scriptures, but people have been practicing it. Now, we don’t encourage those things. And then people torture themselves in the name of meditation and yoga. So, we say no for these things because these are all not authentic!

Similarly, for rituals also, they add so many things that are not completely authentic, and are not in the scriptures. It is not even necessary but by practice people are using these things. That is where you need the discrimination of what is right and what is not right. Take only that.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  I would like you to keep this question and from time to time do whatever is necessary. There can’t be just one answer for this. This is like a path on which we tread many times.
Right now, I want you to be happy. Be immersed in this knowledge and share this with other people.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  I am thinking of opening a matrimony site here in Germany and Europe as well. May be you can take this seva. You can start this.
We will start Sri Sri Matrimony. There are many men who want to get married, who are in the same boat as you, and so many ladies who are in the same boat as well, so we will just connect. Each of you choose and pick and come to me and I will bless.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  Yes, dose by dose. Sure!
Blessing course is there. How many of you have become blessers? Is it working, yes! How many of you have not taken the blessing course? You have to take the blessing course.
You will find every day so many miracles happening with you.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  You are a machine yourself, yes! Your body is the most amazing machine. Your mind is even better and so is the intellect. You should only know how to operate them better.
I am more concerned about the operator than the machine.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  You know in the beginning days of The Art of Living, one of my first trips was to Switzerland, and I stayed with a few people. Now, one of the ladies I stayed with had this trouble of relating to two realities.
A group of people, all of them thought that KGB (Committee of State Security – Russia) has implanted some mike in their brain and they were recording all their thoughts. And they would say, ’Is it safe to talk here?’
I would look around and say, ‘This is your own house. Why would you not think it very safe to talk here?’
They would say, ’They are hearing in Moscow.’
Those were the days of the Cold Era. The Cold War was still on. The Berlin wall was very much intact, it had not fallen apart. And Russia was not Russia; it was USSR and there was so much paranoia in them all.
When someone goes away, it may be their own friends or their own relatives, they would say, ‘Do you know that guy (pointing at their friend or relative) who went is a KGB agent.’
‘So, he is your own brother.’
‘No! KGB has implanted a mike in his head.’
And the whole 15 to 20 of them, who ever had come, all of them were like this. They were all on some medication.

They were in two realities – Schizophrenic, Bi-Polar, some defects they all had.
I just sat there and thought, ‘Oh my God! Where have you brought me?’ Completely different world I tell you. It was a world which was so different because their thoughts were so different. Their beliefs were completely different, and they sincerely believed that the KGB was recording their thoughts. Only two of them thought CIA was doing it for them; it was most hilarious.

And this lady built one room for me upstairs because I was coming, it was a big thing. So I had a separate room, everything new, everything separate, everything for me, and in the middle of the night, at 1 o’clock or so, she comes and knocks at my room and says, ‘I have to write this house in your name now. I have to gift this to you.’
I said, ‘My dear, you go sleep, tomorrow we can talk about it.’
She said, ‘No! I have to do it right now!’
I said, ’You see, I don’t accept any gifts. If it is in your name, it is as good as being with me, you go rest now.’ In those days, I was not accepting any such gifts.
And she was all worked up and she went to clean the bathroom. And she was cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, for five hours, and the water ran all over the house. She opened the taps and the water ran through the entire house, everywhere, and she was still cleaning.
Of course next day we had to call the doctor. She could not rest.
She would make little, little, nice gifts. She needed to do something, she could not sit quiet. She and her friend they would make nice little paper bags with biscuits, and make gifts for all. If there were 20 people, she would make gifts for 200 people, because she had to keep doing something.
I would say, ‘Rest! Relax!’
‘How can I rest? I want to do this.’
‘Okay do it.’ Very interesting! But very nice people, with a good heart.
In one sense they are very intelligent, but they cannot connect to this reality. They cannot bridge the two realities.

You know, usually when the saints were told that somebody got enlightened, they would first ask, ‘Have they gone crazy?’ That is the question they would ask.
That is why the people who say, ‘Oh, I am bringing up your kundalini, you just do this’, you should stay away from all these people. They can just trigger some points in you or some energy in you and you may feel good for one or two days and then the fuse goes. Then you become completely crazy. You can’t relate to reality.
So, if any one promises, ‘Oh! I am going to awaken your kundalini’, and all that, then just tell them, ‘I am quite awake, I don’t want to go there.’
So, you should stay away from all these kind of people.

This is the best thing; see how step by step we move forward. Just look back and see before Sudarshan Kriya, what was your state of mind? And what it is now? See how much you have progressed. And then with Hollow and Empty Meditation, step-by-step, a natural blossoming of life is happening. You are finding yourself more and more happier. Isn’t it?
How many of you agree with that? (Everyone raises their hands)
See, this is the way we must go. Naturally!