19 August 2016 - QA 1

How do I handle racism and bullying? I am victimized. How do I handle this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

First of all get out of this victim consciousness. When you feel you are a victim, you keep looking for a culprit, and you get so upset. You will pity yourself, and one needs to get out of this.

In this world, there are good people and there are bad people as well. I would say, the bad people are also actually good people. Goodness is hidden in the bad people also. It is just veiled and covered by ignorance.

I am not saying not to fight injustice. Take a strong step to fight injustice. Also, you cannot fight injustice alone. You need to gather people and bring them together to fight injustice. If you want to fight injustice then you must. But fight it out with a deep sense of peace and confidence inside. Knowledge will give you that peace and much-needed confidence to fight injustice with an unshakeable smile.
See, if you lose your temper and become angry, you become weak. It drains your energy. Anger drains your energy ten times more. Hatred drains the energy much more than anger does. Anger and hatred make you weak, and then you lose the energy to fight.
To fight, you need strength and strength can only come through centeredness and inner peace. That is the whole message of the Bhagavad Gita.
Lord Krishna says, “You fight, but after finding your inner peace, after getting out of your cravings and aversions. Fight for justice”.

I am not saying that you should bow down to injustice and just take the lies in the world. No, not at all. We should never bow down to injustice, lies (falsehood), and deceit. We definitely should stand up against it, but not with anger, arrogance or with a disturbed mind. We should do so with a firm mind and steady resolution.