Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

There are two things in you, one is that there is something inside you which is changing. Do you know that? Your thoughts are changing, your emotions are changing, your body is changing, isn’t it. And there is something inside you which is not changing, do you know that? Or else how do you even know that you are changing and that everything is changing. So you are a combination of both, the change and non-change, you are a combination of the tangible and intangible. Body is very tangible, your thoughts, your mind, your emotions are intangible. You are a combination of both - the form and the formless. Life is a complex phenomenon of form and the formless, manifest and un-manifest. So similarly, you are both the doer and the non-doer. When you are in activity you are a doer, when you are retiring or when you are getting into meditation, you are a non-doer; you are both!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

1) Be stress free - keep your body, mind and spirit free from stress. It is not a one-time job; it is something that has to be done over and over again, like keeping your teeth clean; like dental hygiene.

2) Do something for society - do whatever little you can, and be committed towards it.

3) Keep prejudice away - drop prejudice from your mind and intellect; whether it is against another religion, caste, or gender.

4) Keep balance in your family-society and work-life - some people do so much social work and ignore the family. While some are so stuck with their family that their world does not go beyond the four walls of their home; both are not utilizing their full potential. Those who are confined to the four walls of their homes need to go out, make more friends and do some work for society. Those who are out all the time and not very nice to people at home, consider being more kind at home also. Thus, keep the work-life balance.

5) Have a vision, for yourself and a vision for society and hold on to it. It may be anything but keep it away from your profession, like writing a book, poetry, painting, singing, writing short stories. Be innovative in whatever way you can. Just keep that idea, and it will come up within you. So, keep one vision for yourself, and one for society - inspire people around you! There are a hundred reasons to be miserable, upset, and unhappy in life and in society. Coming out of it is a challenge. You should take up this challenge, "Come what may, I will move through all those negative clouds that surround me; like the planes that take off even in bad weather". You need to have that radar within you, which enables you to move through any negative cloud and create enthusiasm around you.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

My dear, I have given you one of the most beautiful techniques, Sudarshan Kriya. You have already experienced what Swami Vivekananda experienced; a sense of current and a sense of nothingness. Has it not changed your whole outlook? You have two lives - the one before you did Sudarshan Kriya, and the one after. How many of you vouch for it? (Everyone in the audience raises their hands)
See, everyone is raising their hands. You cannot even relate to that person who you were before you did the kriya. You cannot say that it is the same person! This is why I said that you are born again.

When you are initiated into meditation, you start a new life. In some places, they even give you a new name because you are not the same person anymore, you are totally transformed. Your vision has become much broader, your approach is much more intelligent, your perception is much sharper and your heart is much softer and stronger; isn’t that so? There you have it! I don’t have to keep my leg or hand on your head.

You have been given the tools by which you can uplift yourself, and not just one! You have Shakti Kriya, Sahaj Samadhi Meditation. From time to time, different ways are given so that you do not get bored of doing just one thing. I know your mind, how you get bored doing pranayama again and again. The mind runs for new things all the time, and the heart, longs for the old, it takes pride in the old. Here, you have both, the old and the new! I have spoken about the old scriptures, their knowledge and given you new techniques.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Remember one thing - there are many people with many ideas, and many opinions, not all are correct and neither can you correct everyone’s opinions. And people have a right to express their ignorance!

Before Mr. Modi became the Prime Minister, there was such a storm in this country! How many people, even high intellectuals said that they would leave India if he became the Prime Minister. These are short-sighted opinions and understandings. I wish our high intellectuals had a little bit of intuition also, it would make them happier, and bring more sense to what they say. For posterity, and intuitive ability should be developed, not just intellectual blabbering. When there is intuition, what you say carries weight.

Some people are questioning as to why Gurudev said that the US Dollar will become Rs. 40. It is not what I said, it is what banks were saying at that time. Citibank said this, and I said that if a financial analyst is saying this, it is good for the country. Of course, these things cannot happen overnight. But we are going in the right direction, although this country has a long way to go. The intellectuals of this nation should put politics aside, come together and give concrete suggestions to improve the country.

What we need is a corruption-free society, development of every region, and of neglected parts of society. This should happen not only in India, but in every part of the world. Things are definitely improving; but there is still a long way to go.

All that is happening in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, is a matter of concern for everyone. We need to bring more tolerance in these parts of the world. All those who are talking about tolerance in this country, those who want to leave India, it is a good place to go, talk to people, and preach tolerance in these areas! We can make arrangements for them to stay, for food; let them spread their message of peace, oneness and tolerance that is needed today.

It is easy to create and to get into conflicts, it takes no time. In fact, just a few unintentional words will create permanent enemies. You may not even have the intention, just blabber something, and you could make enemies. But to make friends is altogether a different thing, you know what it needs!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I want you to forget about those abusers. I want to ask you, haven’t you caused some pain or hurt to someone else knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly? You have. If others hold on to it for a lifetime and go after you, how would you like it?

My dear, if someone has abused you, they have been ignorant. They have not been in knowledge, they were egoistic. So it is because of ignorance and some hurt inside them, that they have caused it to others. See it from a wider lens, from a different perspective. You will understand that they don’t have knowledge. They are not happy. A happy person will not come and harm anyone else.

If someone is harming others, it is because they are not happy, not centered and they don’t know what you know. Consider them as sick people. If someone is physically sick, do you get angry at them? These people are mentally and emotionally sick, they are spiritually sick, and if you hold a grudge against them, you will also become one among them. You will get sick.
For your own sake, you should let go and move on.
When you get hurt, it is not only the other person at fault, it is also your ignorance and your naivety. You have not been intelligent enough, or intuitive enough to avoid it, or move out of it. So take a little bit of the responsibility on yourself as well. If you had been strong and skilful, nobody could have abused you, you would have not even got into such company. Come on, take some responsibility on yourself. You have made some mistake. So when you see a situation from a very different perspective, atleast you will become calmer.

Forgiving others is not for their sake, it is for your own sake, for your mental health. That person is going to die anyway. You don’t have to take the trouble of sending them to heaven or hell. If you send them earlier, you will have to go to prison. Just remember, they will go with their own train ticket or flight ticket. They have their own time to go. But if you hurry and try to send them earlier, you will be stuck in prison for the rest of your life. So let go of the past.

There are people who are violent and abusive, it is part of this world. If you say, "Why is this thorn pricking?" Well, that is the nature of a thorn, you have got to be careful. Don’t put your finger on it. You're not being careful is the reason for your getting hurt. If you take even 5% responsibility, your mind will be at peace. But if you think everything is the other person’s mistake, you are only harbouring them in your mind and heart, and you will not be any better than those people. You will be harming your surroundings as much as what they are doing to you, without your own knowledge.
So we should be aware, and we should also take some responsibility for our experiences. If a new slipper bites you, will you start biting it back? There can be nothing more foolish than that. Drop it and move on.

Life is too short to keep thinking of the people who hurt you. The world is very large and there are all kinds of people here, the good ones and the bad ones. All kinds of trees are found in a garden, so life is a mix of everything. Wake up and see this. How long are you going to live with all these likes and dislikes in your mind? Where will this lead you? When a person’s end comes, he will go anyway. What is the hurry for you to send him to heaven or hell? Acting in haste and doing something to them will keep you in jail. There are so many such foolish people who have landed behind bars.

So many cases of abuse of mothers-in-law by daughters-in-law. Earlier, people used to pray that they should get good daughters-in-law, but these days, most mothers-in-law are worried about what kind of daughters-in-law they could end up getting. If you look at some of the female prisons, you will be surprised to find some of the old women there. They are from such good families. You would never believe that they could have abused their daughters-in-law. The girls accuse them falsely of dowry cases or other crimes just to send them to prison and out of the house. Let them eat there in prison. You will get tears in your eyes if you see some of them.

In the jails in Pune and Delhi, where we were conducting some of our courses, we saw the women’s prisons. There were 70-80 year old women there looking so sad. We heard stories of how some of their sons fixed CCTVs in the house and found out that it was their wives who were actually abusing their mothers who were falsely accused and sent to jail.

Until we incorporate spirituality in our lives, such things will continue to happen. Between husband and wife, mother and son, etc. Just educating our children doesn’t ensure that their life is good. Unless we inculcate moral and spiritual values in them, they will not be able to lead happy lives. Neither will they be happy nor will they be able to spread happiness around them. Even this has to be learnt you know, i.e., how to be happy and how to spread happiness. That is why spiritual education is very vital.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Let them mock, make fun, so what? It will not change anything. Truth is never afraid of mockery. When the wind blows, dust comes, but the solid rock remains unmoved.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

This rule exists in some countries and it has some advantages. There are some countries where such restrictions are levied on some streets. Before implementing it in Bangalore, we must make sure that the Metro works well across the city.

It has been over ten years and construction work is still going on. When the Metro is completed, and people have an alternate mode of travel, then it may be practical to bring such a rule in Bangalore.

Just see how many hours it takes to go from one place to another. It must have taken some of you more than two hours just to reach here. It must be a challenge for the people of Bangalore to spend four hours every day to go back and forth for work! This is why it is important to develop smaller cities with good infrastructure like roads and transport.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That is a challenge! It is the same thing here in India; there are some beggars who are strong, well-built and yet, people give them alms, don’t do that! Definitely, be charitable to the weak, elderly, children and women.

Similarly, refugees should be screened, and provided with some sort of orientation or training. This is because they come from a space where there has been only violence and mistrust. Often, they are victims of rage, anger and inhuman treatment. We need to remove such psychological impressions and traumas from their minds. Unless they are given training to uplift their spirits, and unless they are educated in etiquacy and behaviour, there will be a disaster in society. They would only express or contribute what they have in their psyche, which is their trauma and violence. Simply providing food and shelter is not sufficient at all!

We need to cater to the emotional scars, spiritual poverty and intellectual misconceptions of the refugees. Provide them proper understanding to remove their emotional scars through techniques and teachings that could make them feel fresh, alive, and take a new look at life; not see society from their past impressions. Unless we do this, it is going to be a disastrous situation that could create more problems.
People living in a civilised society are not used to this sort of behaviour; they are used to peaceful conditions of co-existence, human values of etiquacy. Hence, there will be a mismatch that will result in problems of violence in society. We need to attend to them.

In South Africa, we have seen it happen after the apartheid regime. There was so much hatred amongst the communities, a strong feeling of vengeance. Violence had escalated so much, whether in prison or outside. I am really proud to say that The Art of Living is one of the very few organisations that had people from all communities - Caucasians, Asians, native Africans, and Indians - everyone came together. They worked in prisons, and the change that it has brought about in just seven days of the course being taught in prisons, is still a testimony on how spirituality can change the scenario. How it can remove the root cause of violence from the human psyche, integrate individuals back into society, and bring harmony in society as well as within the individual. (BBC even made a documentary on this transformation.)

In Europe, you may have to look into this; along with bread, butter, and shelter, we will need to counsel the refugees, and give them techniques to remove those violent impressions. It is not their fault. It is unfortunate that there is violence in many societies in the world.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Talk less, and smile more. When you find some friction coming your way and you can feel it, just be aware of what you are doing. And don’t forget to meditate. When you meditate, you emit positive vibes around you. We convey more through our vibes than through our words.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

It does not matter which technique you follow. When you get into the space of stillness, the state of stillness, and space of nothingness, you’ve got it. It can come to you through any technique. Sahaj Samadhi is the best one because you can do it anytime, anywhere.