25 Dec 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody.
2012 is just a week ahead. It is a very good year, like every year. Don’t worry about doomsday; it is not going to come. People will wake up to truth and reality and all the false people will go to the background. People who have done wrong things will slide backwards and those in the right direction will move forward. From March onwards a big change will come.
If you see the world through your heart, it is very different.
See the world through your heart and then you will find that there is so much beauty, so much love, so much innocence and such good intentions in people.
If we see the same world through the head then we find a lot of cunningness, a lot of mistrust and doubts. All these come when you see the world through the head. When you see through the heart, it is a little world.
But both are needed. You can’t be naïve and see the world only through the glasses of the heart. Sometimes you need to see through the head, a perfect balance of the two. There are some who are stuck in their head and some who are always in an emotional mess. Both are incomplete. Yoga is that perfect balance between heart and head.
What to do when people do the course and then do not come for the follow-up?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
They come back sometime or the other.
See when you have eaten a full meal you don’t think about food again because you feel so satisfied. But when you get hungry again then you come and look for food.
The basic course itself is so complete and so enriching, it doesn’t leave one hanging in the middle but it gives total fulfillment. So when people do the course then they are happy. This is one reason.
Second reason, is when you insist that they should do pranayama and kriya everyday and supposed somebody has not done it then they feel guilty that they have not done it. They feel, ‘how can I go back and face; how can I go and repeat it.’ That guilt comes into people.
Then they tell themselves, ‘from tomorrow I will do it and then I will go.’
Nobody has regrets for having done the course. They do regret why they didn’t do it earlier.
When that is the case, why they don’t come back it is because they feel so satisfied. But after some time people do attend the follow-ups, they do!
Even after ten years they come back and say I did the course ten years ago.
The chairman of the European commission did the course some fifteen years ago. And when he met with his teachers, he said I do Kriya every day. I do not miss even a single day. He has never come to an advanced course but he does the kriya every single day.
So, people in spite of their busy schedules, they keep doing the kriya.
See when you have eaten a full meal you don’t think about food again because you feel so satisfied. But when you get hungry again then you come and look for food.
The basic course itself is so complete and so enriching, it doesn’t leave one hanging in the middle but it gives total fulfillment. So when people do the course then they are happy. This is one reason.
Second reason, is when you insist that they should do pranayama and kriya everyday and supposed somebody has not done it then they feel guilty that they have not done it. They feel, ‘how can I go back and face; how can I go and repeat it.’ That guilt comes into people.
Then they tell themselves, ‘from tomorrow I will do it and then I will go.’
Nobody has regrets for having done the course. They do regret why they didn’t do it earlier.
When that is the case, why they don’t come back it is because they feel so satisfied. But after some time people do attend the follow-ups, they do!
Even after ten years they come back and say I did the course ten years ago.
The chairman of the European commission did the course some fifteen years ago. And when he met with his teachers, he said I do Kriya every day. I do not miss even a single day. He has never come to an advanced course but he does the kriya every single day.
So, people in spite of their busy schedules, they keep doing the kriya.
You are teaching us that the Guru is inside us. So why do you come and visit me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
To tell you to go deep inside.
Why have you come now to do the course? You should have come some other time when I am not here.
Do you notice what pulls you to come!
If your heart says I should go now then come. Otherwise, do it when I am not here.
Actually silence is better when I am not here, but initially it is an occasion to go deeper inwards.
More and more people sit and meditate and go deep inwards.
See that there is no inside and no outside. If you think something is inside then something is outside also. If you think something is outside, that is inside also.
So real blossoming is when there is no inside and no outside. Everything is same, in and out is same.
Why have you come now to do the course? You should have come some other time when I am not here.
Do you notice what pulls you to come!
If your heart says I should go now then come. Otherwise, do it when I am not here.
Actually silence is better when I am not here, but initially it is an occasion to go deeper inwards.
More and more people sit and meditate and go deep inwards.
See that there is no inside and no outside. If you think something is inside then something is outside also. If you think something is outside, that is inside also.
So real blossoming is when there is no inside and no outside. Everything is same, in and out is same.
(A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Like in deep sleep there is no two. There is no, ‘I am sleeping’.
Like that in a deep state of meditation there is no two. The body is as good as a pillow on the couch. If you feel there is no difference between the two things, then that is total detachment of consciousness from the physical. Then you see there is no other thing.
Like ice, water and vapor. Ice is solid, water is fluid and water vapor is even more subtle. But they are all made up of the same substance. So there is no two.
There is no me and there is no you. Your little mind puts a barrier, this is me and that is you.
The little mind judges and discriminates.
Just let go and relax and you will see that there is only one; one vibration.
Like ice, water and vapor. Ice is solid, water is fluid and water vapor is even more subtle. But they are all made up of the same substance. So there is no two.
There is no me and there is no you. Your little mind puts a barrier, this is me and that is you.
The little mind judges and discriminates.
Just let go and relax and you will see that there is only one; one vibration.
How can I start a kindergarten?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just get some children.
I think I am in kindergarten all the time. Even adults who come here, they become kids.
There is a beautiful story in the Puranas.
There is a particular garden up above Tibet called Kumara-vanam and the Lord lives in that garden. Anyone who goes into that garden becomes a child.
There is a similar story in another text. There is a garden and men cannot enter into that place. Anyone who enters into the garden becomes a woman. Males do not have entry into this place. That is where the Lord lives.
All these stories are to give you a message that you have to get down from your head to your heart. Children are innocent and they are in their heart. They are not judgmental.
Similarly women are more emotional and stuck in the heart rather than the head.
But I would say you need to have a balance of both, head and heart.
I think I am in kindergarten all the time. Even adults who come here, they become kids.
There is a beautiful story in the Puranas.
There is a particular garden up above Tibet called Kumara-vanam and the Lord lives in that garden. Anyone who goes into that garden becomes a child.
There is a similar story in another text. There is a garden and men cannot enter into that place. Anyone who enters into the garden becomes a woman. Males do not have entry into this place. That is where the Lord lives.
All these stories are to give you a message that you have to get down from your head to your heart. Children are innocent and they are in their heart. They are not judgmental.
Similarly women are more emotional and stuck in the heart rather than the head.
But I would say you need to have a balance of both, head and heart.
What caused the big bang?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There was matter. Without matter big bang cannot happen. What would bang on what? Even for something to bang on each other there needs to be something. A mass, a field, energy, so that field of energy was never created nor destroyed but there was only transformation.
Big bang was only transformation of energy.
From a gas or quantum energy into substantial energy, matter energy, that is all.
This is what the ancient Rishis have said and they called it Anadi (without a beginning) and Ananta (endless).
This creation is beginningless and endless, like the space.
Where is the beginning of space? Where is the beginning of Earth? There is no beginning, or every point is the beginning and every point is the end.
If you say the globe began here, it has to end at the same point where it began; otherwise it won’t be a sphere.
So these are the brilliant thoughts revealed some thousands of years ago.
Whatever begins wherever should end at the same place and that is a sphere.
So there is no beginning and no end. Anadi and Ananta: The universe is without a beginning and endless.
Big bang was only transformation of energy.
From a gas or quantum energy into substantial energy, matter energy, that is all.
This is what the ancient Rishis have said and they called it Anadi (without a beginning) and Ananta (endless).
This creation is beginningless and endless, like the space.
Where is the beginning of space? Where is the beginning of Earth? There is no beginning, or every point is the beginning and every point is the end.
If you say the globe began here, it has to end at the same point where it began; otherwise it won’t be a sphere.
So these are the brilliant thoughts revealed some thousands of years ago.
Whatever begins wherever should end at the same place and that is a sphere.
So there is no beginning and no end. Anadi and Ananta: The universe is without a beginning and endless.
If we have to become 'hollow and empty', why do we have to fill our minds with knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
A thorn has to remove another thorn.
See, this is like asking, what is the need to put soap on your body when you have to wash it off anyways.
To wash clothes, what do you do? You put the soap and then you wash it away.
Similarly, it is like asking me, if I need to get out of the bus then why should I get into the bus?
But where you get into the bus and where you get out of the bus is different.
See, this is like asking, what is the need to put soap on your body when you have to wash it off anyways.
To wash clothes, what do you do? You put the soap and then you wash it away.
Similarly, it is like asking me, if I need to get out of the bus then why should I get into the bus?
But where you get into the bus and where you get out of the bus is different.
Why does the mind clings on to the negative and not to the positive?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, that is its nature.
You give someone ten compliments and one insult, the mind holds on to that insult.
When you become aware of this, a shift happens in you. When you are unaware of this, you get trapped and get carried away by this. But in a good atmosphere with high prana and high energy it doesn’t happen.
The Guru comes to raise the prana level. The prana and energy level raises in the physical presence of the Guru. When the prana level is high, negativity goes down and disappears.
Also by long sustained practice (sadhana) negativity does not touch you. You become so strong and you create the prana wherever you go.
If the glow of the lamp is very high, no wind can blow it away. But if it is small then it can be blown away.
There is a need of ‘Buddha’, ‘Sangha’ and ‘Dharma’.
First you go to Buddha (the enlightened); you sit and meditate with the enlightened. This is equivalent to Sangha, meditating in a group, and then also prana level goes up.
When both are not available, then Dharma, be totally dispassionate, drop everything and be in your ‘self’, in your nature. That also uplifts the prana.
Three options and all three are the same.
You give someone ten compliments and one insult, the mind holds on to that insult.
When you become aware of this, a shift happens in you. When you are unaware of this, you get trapped and get carried away by this. But in a good atmosphere with high prana and high energy it doesn’t happen.
The Guru comes to raise the prana level. The prana and energy level raises in the physical presence of the Guru. When the prana level is high, negativity goes down and disappears.
Also by long sustained practice (sadhana) negativity does not touch you. You become so strong and you create the prana wherever you go.
If the glow of the lamp is very high, no wind can blow it away. But if it is small then it can be blown away.
There is a need of ‘Buddha’, ‘Sangha’ and ‘Dharma’.
First you go to Buddha (the enlightened); you sit and meditate with the enlightened. This is equivalent to Sangha, meditating in a group, and then also prana level goes up.
When both are not available, then Dharma, be totally dispassionate, drop everything and be in your ‘self’, in your nature. That also uplifts the prana.
Three options and all three are the same.
Gurudev, there are times I have a lot of faith and sometimes too many doubts. How to overcome this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
When there is positive energy, there is faith. When there is negative energy there is doubt. But never mind if doubts come, so what!
Life is a play and display of all these.
Doubts come and then faith comes. You should not be afraid of doubts. I would say welcome them all
Life is a play and display of all these.
Doubts come and then faith comes. You should not be afraid of doubts. I would say welcome them all
(A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, they are similar.
Buddha said, ‘everything is emptiness’, and Adi Shankara said, ‘everything is full’.
Buddha said, ‘life is sorrow’, and Adi Shankara said, ‘life is bliss’.
What Buddha said is right for the first instance. Unless you see everything is sorrow and misery, you don’t turn inward. So this is a process.
Once you turn inward, then you find everything is blissful. This is where Adi Shankara comes from, within!
Buddha said, ‘everything is emptiness’, and Adi Shankara said, ‘everything is full’.
Buddha said, ‘life is sorrow’, and Adi Shankara said, ‘life is bliss’.
What Buddha said is right for the first instance. Unless you see everything is sorrow and misery, you don’t turn inward. So this is a process.
Once you turn inward, then you find everything is blissful. This is where Adi Shankara comes from, within!
Gurudev, can we get a bhajans CD in your voice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I don’t want to dominate everything.
There are great musicians who sing so well. I want you to listen to their voice.
I do just So Hum and for the rest you listen to the musicians. Of course talks and discourses are also there.
Otherwise it will be bhajans by Guruji, talks by Guruji, everything by Guruji, no!
That is why even Yoga is let by somebody else.
We are all partners; everybody has a role to play. I don’t want to take all the roles. Thought I can play any role. I don’t want to assume all the roles myself.
Then you will say, ‘Guruji, you cook so well, why don’t you cook every day?!’
Sometimes I do cook here but you don’t know when. One of the meals you will get from me.
It is practically impossible to cook in India now. I can’t even enter the kitchen, there is so much rush.
Usually in the olden days, I would go to the kitchen and experiment some new dishes.
At least here I still have that privilege to do that, but in India it is not possible.
You know how much salt we use in India per day? When I am there we use 150 kilos per meal. When I am not there, we use 100 kilos per meal.
Sometimes it goes up to 300 kilos per meal, so you can imagine the amount of food that is cooked and so many people come.
There are great musicians who sing so well. I want you to listen to their voice.
I do just So Hum and for the rest you listen to the musicians. Of course talks and discourses are also there.
Otherwise it will be bhajans by Guruji, talks by Guruji, everything by Guruji, no!
That is why even Yoga is let by somebody else.
We are all partners; everybody has a role to play. I don’t want to take all the roles. Thought I can play any role. I don’t want to assume all the roles myself.
Then you will say, ‘Guruji, you cook so well, why don’t you cook every day?!’
Sometimes I do cook here but you don’t know when. One of the meals you will get from me.
It is practically impossible to cook in India now. I can’t even enter the kitchen, there is so much rush.
Usually in the olden days, I would go to the kitchen and experiment some new dishes.
At least here I still have that privilege to do that, but in India it is not possible.
You know how much salt we use in India per day? When I am there we use 150 kilos per meal. When I am not there, we use 100 kilos per meal.
Sometimes it goes up to 300 kilos per meal, so you can imagine the amount of food that is cooked and so many people come.
Gurudev, how can we bring more spirituality to Europe?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
We must all think how we can bring more spirituality to Europe. We will do everything possible to bring spirituality to Europe.
130 members of Parliament learnt the Art of Living course in Mexico. A lot of work is happening everywhere.
130 members of Parliament learnt the Art of Living course in Mexico. A lot of work is happening everywhere.
Gurudev, is there a limit to expanding?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Keep expanding, I will tell you! Sit and be in the course 100% and become more hollow and empty. All clarity will come too.
What do we do while we are listening to mantras? Is it necessary to know the meaning of the chants?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Allow the mantra to shower on you. It is called ‘Mantra Snana,’ taking a shower of the mantras. Memories may come up from past lives. Akashic records can come, it is okay. Don’t make a big deal out of it, take it as it comes.
