When a devotee asked Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “What is the easiest way to overcome obsession, lust and desire?”
Gurudev smiled: “You want the easiest way for that!”
“Keep yourself busy. Put your passion into a bigger cause.”
“Say to yourself, “I want to create this...” When you become busy spreading the knowledge day and night, your mind will only think of how to reach out to people and do some good work in life. Or write articles, music or songs. You will find that obsessions don’t bother you.”
He further adds, “If you are in the youth age, you must keep yourself utterly busy. From the time you wake up in the morning till you retire to bed, if you keep yourself busy, none of these obsessions will bother you.”
Gurudev recalls his youth days, “That is how we were. At the age of 20 or 25 years, I started to work from 6 am. I used to go to bed at 1 or 2 am. The next morning at 6 o’clock, I was on the run doing work. Especially keep yourself busy in the age when hormones play havoc. You will find it is easy to sail over all those obsessions.”
Parenting tips to overcome lust as a teenager
My father did exactly what Gurudev suggests here while parenting my sister and me. He would keep us busy all the time. Here are the ways he kept us utterly busy. You can implement them for your kids and also for yourself.
- When at home, be busy with household activities, and when at the office, focus completely on your work.
- I learned to play sitar and finally was chosen for the school orchestra. My sister recorded her songs at home. Today, your kids can create music using the interface, monitors and headphones, and a digital audio workstation and make it live on the digital platform. An ideal way to be creative and keep yourself busy.
- My sister took up a part-time sales job in her first year of college. Children and teens can develop their passion, add value to their skills, and market out in the virtual or real world.
Make jewelry
Sell used items
Take surveys
Become an online tutor
Paint plain T-shirts and sell them
Become a photographer
Create games
- Help the neighborhood children in their school activities.
- Join hands with a community or be a volunteer for an organization for the betterment of society.
Inspired by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s wisdom talks
Written by: Pratibha Sharma
FAQs
Gurudev suggests teenagers should learn more and more skills and keep themselves utterly busy.
Understand that a relationship is like a bubble in water. How long will it stay? Expand your vision toward life. Listen to Ashtavakra Gita.
Research says, “Higher pornography use correlates with lower grey matter volume in the dorsal striatum, a region associated with sexual arousal and motivation.” A low amount of grey matter in this brain area is related to Alzheimer's disease, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Chakra meditation guided by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar can help you overcome lust and obsession.
In love, the other person is important. In lust, your desires are important to you.
