(Someone from the audience asks a question)
Q: How do I drop the desire of alcohol and cigarette?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are three things that you can do to drop such a desire for alcohol or cigarette.
- Do your spiritual practices daily. It will take you out of such desires.
- Think that intake of alcohol or cigarette smoking will diminish your good luck. If you take like that, then something unlucky or unfortunate may happen.
- Suppose someone offers you a crore ($10 million), if you stop alcohol or cigarettes for a month. Will you still do it? Each time you get a desire to do that, you will think that you will lose the 1 crore.
So, you will control yourself because of greed or fear. To come out of a bad habit, fear and greed are divya aushadi, best or even magical remedies!
After that, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led the audience through a meditation. “That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
When you are angry at yourself you get angry with others also. When you are angry at others you get angry at yourself for getting angry. This is like a pendulum. We have to stop this. It’s ok if you get angry. Don’t get angry because you got angry. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes bad. Life is like a jungle. Thorns, flowers, fruits, peacocks, deer, lions, tigers everything is there. Just be natural, easy and relax!
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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Objects need me but I don’t need objects. After the first two becomes strong, then three. The car needs me but I don’t need it. This world needs me but I don’t need the world. You don’t have to reject externally but know in your mind. Even your body is an object. This is subtle. But when this knowledge dawns, there can never be poverty or lack. We keep thinking, ‘We need this and that’. But when we have the dharana that ‘the Divine cares for me and I don’t need anything’, then your needs are taken care of anyway.
Q: Why this year called virodhi?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Maybe to keep a space for conflict also in society. It finishes in March. March ahead.
Q: Who is atma?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The one who asks, the one who hears, the one who understands, the jeeva is all atma.
Q: Guruji, I have sinned in the past…
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, forget all sin and merit, when you come here. Punya brought you here, and sin is all gone. Washed off.
Q: At home, how to handle the situation when people have different thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Accept that. There can be differences. And you will become settled. Can you say there should not be waves in the ocean? That is the nature. Similarly in this world, different people will say different things. You should just smile and move ahead. If I keep saying, at sometime, it will get into a person.
Q: People are talking about the end of the world in 2012. When I started thinking about the end of the world, I wonder – what is creation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 2012 – nothing is going to happen. We will still do satsang like this. Only there will be more people! If creation was not made, how will you ask this question? It was made so that you can ask and I can tell!
Q: What do I do when there is duality while meditating and too many thoughts come?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t try to see something in meditation. Just relax. If too many thoughts arise, give them all a hug. Duality is what? Good and bad right? Right and wrong? These are the conflicts. Keep in mind three laws while meditating – I am nothing , I need nothing, I am going to do nothing - akincan, achah, aprayatna. If you have these three principles, you will be able to meditate.
Q: When will there be complete peace?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First, in you is there complete peace? Then there will be peace in the world. Waves come and go. In the world, all are happy at all times – this is not possible. The importance of food is when there is hunger. If there is no hunger in the world, what to do with food?
Q: I am unable to fulfill my commitments.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What you can fulfil, focus on that! Be happy you fulfilled two commitments, next time go on with three, four..., focus on that.
Q: How to know you have given 100 percent?
SriSri: 100 percent - you will feel! You know! I will ask 10 people to feed you in kitchen. Will run away! You will know.
Q: I want to contribute towards the environment…
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do u have balcony in your flat? Take a pot, add some tomatoes, coriander, chillies. Grow it.
Q: What is Shiva?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Shiva is called Mahakala – grand time!
Q: I am anxious about the results of my interview. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do Ujjai breath, bastrika, meditation, sing and dance.
Q: When do you call something mature? I am confused?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When confusion is gone, then you call mature!
Q: Sometimes, I feel a disconnect with everybody?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Good, that time close your eyes and smile. I am with you at that time!
Q: When will everyone embrace the Art of Living?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is nothing inside or outside the Art of Living.
Q: Why aren’t you hitting the world just like that? Why so slow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You all need a job too!
Then Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said: The pink sky on Sunday asks you to sing a song! You know which song? Jai Jai Radha Raman Hari Bhol!
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
When you move with a connection to the divinity there is nothing that is richer than this. That rich feeling comes inside you when you feel connected to the divinity, connected to the infinite. When the wave remembers that it is connected to the ocean, that it is part of the ocean, that strength is enormous!
Knowledge Sheet: Aishwarya & Madhurya
In the world, usually where there is Aishwarya (Lordship), there is no Madhurya (Sweetness) and where there is Madhurya, there is no Aishwarya.
Where life has blossomed fully, there is both Aishwarya and Madhurya.
Aishwarya means Ishwaratva – Lordship of that which IS. Wealth, too, is referred to as Aishwarya because wealth does command a certain amount of authority.
Can love and authority co-exist?
Only in a fully blossomed Being, there is both Lordship and Sweetness.
There was Aishwarya in Sri Rama, but only glimpses of Madhurya.
Parshuram’s life shows only Lordship, but no Madhurya.
Buddha manifested more of Madhurya – the sweetness, and less of authority.
But Krishna manifested both Aishwarya and Madhurya. So did Jesus.
There is Lordship when they said, “I am the way!”
And there is Sweetness in their expression of Prayer and Love.
- Sri Sri
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Q: What can we do on our level to get people of all cultures and religions together in celebration?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We are already doing it. We continue doing the same thing. Call everybody and say, ‘Let’s sing together, let’s do service together, let’s sit together in silence.’ Silence is the best form of prayer. Often prayer is in some language – German, Hindi, English, Spanish. In fact, they all mean the same. But silence is one step further, one step beyond the barriers of language which the whole universe can understand. Nature resonates with it. Silent prayer! Prayer in words also has to lead you to silence in the heart. Purpose of words is to create silence. Purpose of action is to bring deep rest. Purpose of deep rest is to bring you fulfillment. In fulfillment you find joy, bliss. Purpose of love is to create blissful state deep within.
Q: What is the difference between prayer and meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I have already said it. Prayer is asking, meditation is listening. In prayer, you ask, ‘Give me this, give me that, giving instructions, demanding.’ In meditation you say, ‘I am here to listen, what is it that you want to tell?’ Listening to God is meditation. Asking God is Prayer.
Q: How to be non-judgmental?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: By studying your own past. Look at how many times you have been judgmental. Every time you have been judgmental, you have been on the wrong foot. So just be aware of that. The moment you are aware that you are judgmental, you are already out of it. You can’t be judgmental in the present moment. You are judgmental in the past.
Q: Guruji, you say, ‘I am you and you are me’. But I feel a difference. How to realize that I am you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In silence, in service.
Q: I don’t have a job and parents and relatives worry about it and keep on asking, ‘Where am I? When am I going to have a job?’ What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You don’t have a job (Yes, came the reply). Keep looking for a job. Don’t be too choosy. Once you get a job that they won’t ask the same question. They will ask something else. (laughter) When are you getting married? And once you get married, the question will be, ‘When will you have kids?’ One after another, people will keep asking questions and you are not to satisfy them all. Count on those paths, status. (Then the person asks, ‘Guruji, I am contented but my parents…’ to which Sri Sri replies: There is no but - if you are contented - the ‘but’ disappears!)
Q: Why does our mind run after fame money and glamour? Is it necessary?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, you got this question! First, you understand that the mind is running. Then you get this question, ‘Is it necessary?’ I leave this question to you. It is very personal, very individual. I don't think it is necessary. But my answer will not necessarily suffice for you. It is has to come from within. Otherwise, it will be just a mood making. ‘Oh, I don’t want money’, but one part of the mind will say, ‘No, I need money.’ One mind will say, ‘I don’t need fame and another will say, ‘No, I need fame’. Like this, the conflict starts happening. But when you wake up and see, and see those people who have had all this - how shallow and hollow they are, then naturally you find there is no significance in all this. Then neither will you crave for it, nor will you make any effort to renounce it. People who say, ‘I don’t want fame’, inside, somewhere, the mind is saying, ‘Oh, I want fame, I want fame’. When the sun has arisen, what is the use of a torchlight? You are moving with a torchlight and suddenly you realize there is no meaning in moving with the torchlight, when the sun is there. Then that is your experience, your true experience. So when you run behind things which are illusive - you will realize that it is causing more pain, more suffering and ‘it is not giving me what I really want’.
Then there is fulfillment, centeredness, a subtle solid strength comes from within. Then if fame comes, money comes, it doesn’t touch you. It comes or doesn’t come, doesn’t matter to you. ‘I want it’ or ‘I don’t want it’ are two sides of the same coin. Somewhat we need to be – let it be.
Q: How does one handle disappointment when something undesirable happens or you lose a dear one? How one can still smile and be centered?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Come on, wake up and see. It’s all a dream. Things happen or don’t happen. It is still a dream. An intelligent person won’t sit and cry, ‘Oh, yesterday this happened in the dream, I was the Prime Minister’.
Just imagine someone is very happy because yesterday, (in his dreams), he was the prime minister or became the richest man in the world. What will you say? What to tell them? It’s foolishness, stupidity. You are overjoyed about a good dream and you are miserable about a bad dream. A dream is a dream. Come on. Wake up. Have a cup of tea. (laughter) Herbal tea. (Huge Laughter and applause) By the way, I don’t drink any tea, not as a habit. Sometimes, if I go somewhere and they only have tea and nothing else, just to satisfy them I will have.
Q: When to use dispassion and when to use compassion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are bothered about an attachment, use dispassion. And at all other times, use compassion. In fact, you can’t use compassion. Either you are compassionate or you are not. It is not a screwdriver which you can use at sometimes and keep aside some other times. Compassion is like your nose. To realize it is there you have to be there and if it is not there, you are also not there. (Huge laughter) Got it? To realize you have a nose, you have to be there and to realize it is not there, you won’t be there.
Q: What is the alternative solution for white sugar and tea?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, don’t be too fussy about anything. You can’t go to a restaurant and say, ‘You can bring me only jaggery tea and no white sugar tea’. Your body has got enough capability to adjust itself. So, sometimes you have to have white sugar, it’s ok. Your immune system is strong. But don’t make it a habit. Every day, eating a lot of white sugar. Jaggery is the most desirable one.
Organic food is the most desirable one. But sometimes you don’t get organic food, don’t think you are immediately going to fall sick. People who are too finicky about food, their immune system keeps going down and down and down. People who are too fussy about food and all that, they don’t have the strength to defend themselves. When do you give your immune system a chance to work? When something challenging is given to the immune system.
So now and then, once in a while, the immune system should be challenged. Then the self defense will come up from within. Otherwise, you become so finicky and you become so weak and then anger comes in the mind. ‘Oh ah.. I want only organic food. I want only this. I can’t have junk food.’ Your system should be flexible, adjustable. And that can happen when you make it mentally strong. You resolve mentally that ‘this is not going effect my body so much’. I am not saying eat unhealthy food. No, not at all, but I am saying, ‘Don’t be too finicky about food, quality of food and this food.
Chose a middle path.
You know, people in India live or are born in slum areas, and their immune system is so strong. They don’t get affected by diseases easily because their immune system is getting to work. They can come out of any illness. Chose that middle path. I suggest internationals who have come here not to go for hawker food unless you find it hygienic. Don’t have cut fruits on the street for knives may not be sterilized. You better not go for that. You can go for whole food.
Q: When do we know we are on the middle path?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you don’t fall off, you are on the middle path.
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
Q: What can we do on our level to get people of all cultures and religions together in celebration?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We are already doing it. We continue doing the same thing. Call everybody and say, ‘Let’s sing together, let’s do service together, let’s sit together in silence.’ Silence is the best form of prayer. Often prayer is in some language – German, Hindi, English, Spanish. In fact, they all mean the same. But silence is one step further, one step beyond the barriers of language which the whole universe can understand. Nature resonates with it. Silent prayer! Prayer in words also has to lead you to silence in the heart. Purpose of words is to create silence. Purpose of action is to bring deep rest. Purpose of deep rest is to bring you fulfillment. In fulfillment you find joy, bliss. Purpose of love is to create blissful state deep within.
Q: What is the difference between prayer and meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I have already said it. Prayer is asking, meditation is listening. In prayer, you ask, ‘Give me this, give me that, giving instructions, demanding.’ In meditation you say, ‘I am here to listen, what is it that you want to tell?’ Listening to God is meditation. Asking God is Prayer.
Q: How to be non-judgmental?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: By studying your own past. Look at how many times you have been judgmental. Every time you have been judgmental, you have been on the wrong foot. So just be aware of that. The moment you are aware that you are judgmental, you are already out of it. You can’t be judgmental in the present moment. You are judgmental in the past.
Q: Guruji, you say, ‘I am you and you are me’. But I feel a difference. How to realize that I am you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In silence, in service.
Q: I don’t have a job and parents and relatives worry about it and keep on asking, ‘Where am I? When am I going to have a job?’ What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You don’t have a job (Yes, came the reply). Keep looking for a job. Don’t be too choosy. Once you get a job that they won’t ask the same question. They will ask something else. (laughter) When are you getting married? And once you get married, the question will be, ‘When will you have kids?’ One after another, people will keep asking questions and you are not to satisfy them all. Count on those paths, status. (Then the person asks, ‘Guruji, I am contented but my parents…’ to which Sri Sri replies: There is no but - if you are contented - the ‘but’ disappears!)
Q: Why does our mind run after fame money and glamour? Is it necessary?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, you got this question! First, you understand that the mind is running. Then you get this question, ‘Is it necessary?’ I leave this question to you. It is very personal, very individual. I don't think it is necessary. But my answer will not necessarily suffice for you. It is has to come from within. Otherwise, it will be just a mood making. ‘Oh, I don’t want money’, but one part of the mind will say, ‘No, I need money.’ One mind will say, ‘I don’t need fame and another will say, ‘No, I need fame’. Like this, the conflict starts happening. But when you wake up and see, and see those people who have had all this - how shallow and hollow they are, then naturally you find there is no significance in all this. Then neither will you crave for it, nor will you make any effort to renounce it. People who say, ‘I don’t want fame’, inside, somewhere, the mind is saying, ‘Oh, I want fame, I want fame’. When the sun has arisen, what is the use of a torchlight? You are moving with a torchlight and suddenly you realize there is no meaning in moving with the torchlight, when the sun is there. Then that is your experience, your true experience. So when you run behind things which are illusive - you will realize that it is causing more pain, more suffering and ‘it is not giving me what I really want’.
Then there is fulfillment, centeredness, a subtle solid strength comes from within. Then if fame comes, money comes, it doesn’t touch you. It comes or doesn’t come, doesn’t matter to you. ‘I want it’ or ‘I don’t want it’ are two sides of the same coin. Somewhat we need to be – let it be.
Q: How does one handle disappointment when something undesirable happens or you lose a dear one? How one can still smile and be centered?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Come on, wake up and see. It’s all a dream. Things happen or don’t happen. It is still a dream. An intelligent person won’t sit and cry, ‘Oh, yesterday this happened in the dream, I was the Prime Minister’.
Just imagine someone is very happy because yesterday, (in his dreams), he was the prime minister or became the richest man in the world. What will you say? What to tell them? It’s foolishness, stupidity. You are overjoyed about a good dream and you are miserable about a bad dream. A dream is a dream. Come on. Wake up. Have a cup of tea. (laughter) Herbal tea. (Huge Laughter and applause) By the way, I don’t drink any tea, not as a habit. Sometimes, if I go somewhere and they only have tea and nothing else, just to satisfy them I will have.
Q: When to use dispassion and when to use compassion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are bothered about an attachment, use dispassion. And at all other times, use compassion. In fact, you can’t use compassion. Either you are compassionate or you are not. It is not a screwdriver which you can use at sometimes and keep aside some other times. Compassion is like your nose. To realize it is there you have to be there and if it is not there, you are also not there. (Huge laughter) Got it? To realize you have a nose, you have to be there and to realize it is not there, you won’t be there.
Q: What is the alternative solution for white sugar and tea?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, don’t be too fussy about anything. You can’t go to a restaurant and say, ‘You can bring me only jaggery tea and no white sugar tea’. Your body has got enough capability to adjust itself. So, sometimes you have to have white sugar, it’s ok. Your immune system is strong. But don’t make it a habit. Every day, eating a lot of white sugar. Jaggery is the most desirable one.
Organic food is the most desirable one. But sometimes you don’t get organic food, don’t think you are immediately going to fall sick. People who are too finicky about food, their immune system keeps going down and down and down. People who are too fussy about food and all that, they don’t have the strength to defend themselves. When do you give your immune system a chance to work? When something challenging is given to the immune system.
So now and then, once in a while, the immune system should be challenged. Then the self defense will come up from within. Otherwise, you become so finicky and you become so weak and then anger comes in the mind. ‘Oh ah.. I want only organic food. I want only this. I can’t have junk food.’ Your system should be flexible, adjustable. And that can happen when you make it mentally strong. You resolve mentally that ‘this is not going effect my body so much’. I am not saying eat unhealthy food. No, not at all, but I am saying, ‘Don’t be too finicky about food, quality of food and this food.
Chose a middle path.
You know, people in India live or are born in slum areas, and their immune system is so strong. They don’t get affected by diseases easily because their immune system is getting to work. They can come out of any illness. Chose that middle path. I suggest internationals who have come here not to go for hawker food unless you find it hygienic. Don’t have cut fruits on the street for knives may not be sterilized. You better not go for that. You can go for whole food.
Q: When do we know we are on the middle path?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you don’t fall off, you are on the middle path.
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
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