Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
I want to know how to give honor and respect to the Guru. I feel like my mind is so small and the Guru is so vast and big.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Just be natural!
You say, "Make peace with your past", but when you move on and the same situation crops up then how do we deal with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Now wake up and see, all the situations that happened from the morning till now, is it there now? Is it not like a dream? You went to school, you had so many fights, is it there now? It’s all gone! Everything is gone, why are you hanging on to them? Leave it, shrug it off. Even a dog shrugs off the water that is poured on it. It is cleverer than you are! If sand or mud gets on the dog, it gets up and shrugs it off. We should also shrug things off and move forward.
This is all a dream. Even this moment can be dream. After 10-20 years, after you are gone, it is all a dream then. Wake up and see there is more to life. This world is bigger than what you can see. There are more worlds. If you want to see these other worlds, you have to shrug things off.
During meditation, an energy shock happens. And during this time where does the consciousness go?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Isn’t it amazing? The vibrations are so beautiful, isn’t it? Just relax. Sometimes all these different energies rise, and changes do happen.
You mentioned that on the spiritual path one needs a Guru. How does one identify their Guru, or what are the qualities one should see in a Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You tell me, what should it be? If you have an idea (of the qualities you should see in a Guru) then you have a pre-conceived notion.
Do you feel comfortable here? Are you happy? Are you making progress? That’s it, done!
Please tell us more about 33 divine impulses within the human body which you mentioned in one of the Upanishads.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, see it is one egg and a sperm that got together and made one living cell. Now that one cell has made the eyes, ears, nails, hair, bones and skin, isn't it? These are the divine impulses! It is because of these 33 different things. These 33 Gods are not somewhere out there, they are in our own body and these divine impulses have somewhere become an eye, somewhere become ears, somewhere become the tongue, somewhere it has become the heart, and at another place it has became the liver. It has all happened from that one single cell.
Gurudev, in the mythological story, Ganapati went around his parents and was considered to have gone round the world. Should we also keep our parents as our top priority?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
See, these are okay in stories, but if you actually start only listening to your parents and doing only what they say, soon you will land up frustrated. And if you get very frustrated, you will land up turning all your frustration on them. So in life, a balance is needed in everything. You should listen to them also, and should follow your heart also. Even if they don’t understand immediately, over time they will understand your point of view.
Gurudev, can you please explain the significance of the symbol of The Art of Living logo of the sun between the two swans?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Use your creativity and think up the significance yourself. I will let you interpret it the way you like. Symbol is just a symbol. Some artist drew and showed it to me and I just accepted it. Even the name, 'The Art of Living' was not given by me. It just happened. My talk is always about rising beyond the name and the form. There is nothing in a name, or in symbols.
Gurudev, sometimes what we think happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Why is that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Yes, so you have to improve your thoughts. If it happens, then your thoughts were right, and if doesn’t then your thoughts were not correct.
It is not that your thoughts never materialize. Only sometimes, they don’t. Depending on the sattva inside of you, things will happen. So if you increase the sattva level within you, then more and more of what you desire will happen. Some people barely get a thought and it materializes.
Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of Ramrajya, and said that when women can walk the streets alone at midnight, that is when India would have gotten real freedom?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Where ever there is knowledge there is Ramrajya. Where ever there is ignorance then there is Rakshasrajya! Understand!
What according to you is the definition of love?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Very simple. That which cannot be defined is love. If you have never experienced love, there is no chance that you will experience it in the future. So there is no definition. You are made up of love my dear. This whole universe is made up of this one thing called love. And all other things are either in its pure form or distorted form.
Anger is love distorted. If you love perfection too much, then you get angry at imperfection. So that is love for perfection. Love for objects is called greed. Love for somebody can become jealousy and possessiveness. All the negativities are off springs of love. Love minus knowledge is all these problems. Love with wisdom becomes bliss.