The lack of spirituality more than religiosity was the root cause of corruption, according to spiritual Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is in the city for satsangs, poojas and to meet corporates, spoke with the media at the press club in an interaction organised by them on Wednesday.
“It is lack of spirituality more than religiosity that is leading to corruption and scams in the country. Nobody is corrupt with their own family. Corruption is happening because there is no sense of belonging. We need to create that belonging through satsangs as Mahatma Gandhi did,” he said.
Addressing a gathering of about 50 correspondents,Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar asked questions ranging from slums, terrorism, corruption and corruption in religious and spiritual leaders.
“To ensure that the city does not have more slums, we need to improve the rural economy. If the conditions of livelihood are better in slums, people will opt for it rather than living in rural areas. To stop the spread of slums, one needs to control them,” added Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Stating that it was the responsibility of the spiritual leaders to bring in a value system, the guru also cautioned against the system’s pollution.
“People practicing religion and spirituality have become corrupt. It is unbelievable that people who talk of good of all people, their names too are featured in terror activities,”he said.
However, he cautioned that unless proven guilty, people should be considered innocent.
“What is needed is gross domestic happiness over the GDP. We should not lose out on our happiness in search of development. There has to be calm and peace,” he said. On terrorism, the guru offered a stick-and-rose approach.
On the cause of fundamentalism and a remark by a senior leader on the definition of Hindutva and Hindu religion, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, “Fundamentalism is the cause of lack of understanding of other religions, prophets and their books and confining one to a limited identity. I would not like to comment on the opinion of leaders but Hinduism, according to me, is a way of life that states that even if someone is out of it, he is still a part of the family and should have total liberty to worship anyone.”
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