Who knew that Rainn Wilson, the man behind The Office’s character Dwight Schute, would be one of the leading podcasters exploring the meaning of life?! Rainn’s podcast, Soul Boom, explores the potential for a spiritual revolution to instigate healing transformations—individually and collectively. And here is where his path met with global humanitarian, spiritual leader, and master of meditation, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Speaking for over an hour, here are some excerpts from this fascinating and sometimes funny conversation.
The world of yoga
Rainn: Gurudev, welcome to Soul Boom. Thank you so much for making time to meet with us. I have so many questions to ask you. As I told you before we started, my mother was a yoga teacher for many, many years. She started in the mid-80s, and in the United States, there wasn't a lot of yoga going on in the mid-80s.
Gurudev: When I came to the US for the first time in 1986, people thought yoga was for someone who would put ashes on their body and stand on one leg somewhere on the Ganges bank. That was the sort of prejudice about yoga. Thanks to your mother, who was part of the initial group of very few people who understood the value of yoga and meditation.
Rainn: My most important yoga question for you is, what's your favorite posture, asana?
Gurudev: Yoga is not just posturing.
Rainn: But what's your favorite? I have a favorite; it's corpse pose. 😉
Gurudev: The posture should be comfortable and connect you with infinity. That is the right posture. And any posture that makes you feel a sense of expansion within you, that's the right posture. That's when you don't feel the body; you only feel your spirit. That’s a favorite posture.
Religion and spirituality
Rainn: I love the Bhagavad Gita, and I'm a member of the Bahai faith. We incorporate the
study of the Gita into our practice and work, as well.
Gurudev: You know, that's what is needed today. We need to globalize wisdom. Every child should study a little bit about all the great faiths in the world and great scriptures, even just a little bit—that keeps their minds very open. Then, they don't become fanatics, or fundamentalists, or ideologists. You don't say only my God Is bigger than any other God, or only I have the key to heaven. This idea causes a lot of issues in the world.
Rainn: I'll speak for modern American Western culture because that's all I know. We have lost so much by abandoning spiritual truths and wisdom that have been in humanity’s history.
Gurudev: I make one big distinction between religion and spirituality. You can follow your religion, whatever your faith is. But spirituality is something different; it's experiential. Do you feel peaceful? Do you feel love? Do you feel connected to everybody? Do you feel that Oneness within you? Do you have that unshakeable smile or joy within you? These are some measures that we can put across, whether you're growing spiritually or not. I often say religion is like the banana skin, and spirituality is the banana.
Rainn: I’m going to steal that!
Gurudev: People hold the skin and throw the banana out.
On the topic of joy
Rainn: You’ve talked about that constant joy, the constant smile. I've seen so many videos of you and heard interviews with you and podcasts and lectures [on this topic], and you have such a radiant smile. How does one achieve a radiant smile in the way that you do?
Gurudev: You don’t need to achieve it. You had it. I have not lost it. I would say every child born on this planet is born with bubbling enthusiasm and happiness. But somewhere, somehow, we lose touch with ourselves, lose touch with that inner core of our being. All these practices get you back to yourself, and once you are in the inner space of total freedom then, you feel connected to everybody. You know, I've traveled around the world so many times, and I've never felt out of place, or I never felt this is not my country; these are not my people. Never. I've traveled from Mongolia to Argentina, everywhere, and people feel totally at home with me and me, too. So, that one human connectivity can happen when we realize we are part of one universal spirit.
Rainn: But I love this idea that, in some ways, the spiritual journey towards peace, happiness, joy, and connectivity is about shedding barriers that have gotten in the way that we had when we were three or four years old.
Gurudev: I think the barriers develop a little later. You put children in a room, and you know they mix with everybody. You know, every baby, every child is a yoga teacher. Have you noticed that? If you observe a baby from the age of 3 months to three years, they would do all the postures. Their breathing and the rhythm of their breathing are much different from those of an adult. You know they breathe more from their belly. And if they cry, they cry, and they get angry, they get angry intensely, but that just disappears as fast as they get into it.
You must have noticed this. It's a beautiful scene to see a baby crying, the teardrops not yet dried, and they start smiling. How can we do that? By living in the present moment. When our mind is free from stress, inhibition, and narrow-mindedness, and when we are relaxed totally, we do have it. There are tools to help one achieve this: meditation and breathing techniques. All this will help you.
In ancient days, people would sit for hours together and meditate. Today, we want everything quick, right? We don't have much time. But in a short time, we can learn how to use our own breath and wisdom, and we can bring that quietness within us.
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You can watch the rest of this fascinating dialogue below:
Register for the Art of Living Part 1 to experience Gurudev’s ancient secret to modern well-being, SKY Breath Meditation (Sudarshan Kriya), for yourself. SKY has helped millions of people worldwide improve all aspects of their lives.
