Guru punch 21st Feb

The very meaning of Kailash is where there is only celebration, only joy, nothing else besides it. Vaikunth is where Narayana resides, a place where there is no lack of anything; everything is in abundance, and there is all prosperity and all joy. Where are Kailash and Vaikunth? Right here! ~ Sri Sri

A Guru is a mirror

(Below is the transcript of Satsang with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.You can watch the Live webcast of future satsangs)

Welcome back home everybody! You all have come from long distances, so rest well.
After many years we are having Shivarathri in the ashram. Usually Shivarathri program needs a bigger venue, but we thought somehow we will fit in and we will accommodate. We keep needing bigger places all the time. If there is place in the heart, there is place everywhere. But this means that you all will have to take a little bit of responsibility as well.

Q: Guruji, here in Russia some people say that they have found the Vedas in Russia too. Can you please comment on this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yeah, it is possible. 
Once upon a time it was everywhere in the world, it was in South America, Mexico, in Peru. It was in all these places. The Mayan civilization in Peru went from Sri Lanka actually. So the whole world was connected at one point of time in history. That is why the Vedas are not to one particular country or language, it is universal. 
If you listen to Russian language, the expert scholars say that the language has a lot of Sanskrit words. So does German. 

Q: How to take a sankalpa and how to make one’s sankalpa strong and effective?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Being hollow and empty! 
When sankalpa arises in your heart then take the sankalpa and expand your consciousness with the context of time and space in the vast universe. In this huge universe, in this huge time, I want this little sankalpa to happen and I am confident it will happen by God’s grace. This is what has to be done. 
Take a desire and feel it will be heard. 
Suppose you are asking a question to somebody and you have a doubt whether the question will be answered or not, you will not fully ask the question, right? You will hesitate to ask the question or somewhere you will make errors even in process of asking. So the right way of asking is first knowing that the person knows and is going to give the answer. 
Suppose in a gas station you go and ask the person, how to go to this particular place. You do it with full confidence that the person knows it at the gas station. Otherwise you will not ask them, isn’t it? 
That confidence you should have. I have this request and it will be granted to me. 

Q: Guruji would you even consider writing your autobiography? Please share your stories which you have never shared with us. I am sure that you will answer this question.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sometime, yes!

Q: I have read about Goliwale baba in ’Stumbling Into Infinity’ by Michael Fischman. As per Michael, Goliwale baba got enlightened in an accident. He did not have any guru. Is it possible to get enlightened without Guru’s grace? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, grace is needed. But life is so vast and so infinite. This is not just the only lifetime we have been here. It is not Goliwale, he is Gouwale Guruji. 
There was a gentleman - Gauwale Guruji in Delhi, who used to sit in Kotla Mubarakpur. I was introduced to him. He used to stay in a small place. He also had a guru, not that he never had a guru. In those days I was only seventeen, eighteen or nineteen or something like that. 
He used to say, ‘Yogiraj, come!’ He used to give me a lot of respect. First I thought he was making fun of me. I was only a small kid; even now I am only a child!

Q: Guruji can I live with full freedom? Many times my freedom becomes a problem for another.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you should see that your freedom should not create trouble for someone else. You should take a middle path. If you always focus your attention on others, at some point you will feel frustrated, and if you think only of yourself, you will cause frustration to others. So somewhere along the line you need to take a middle path; take some and give some. 
Suppose you feel like doing meditation and somebody else wants you do their work, it is okay to do their work if it is an emergency. But if it is not very important, it is just a daily routine thing, then do your meditation, take out time for yourself. 

Q: Guruji, whenever we look at you, something happens. When you look at yourself in the mirror, does something happen to you as well?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (Laughs) Oh really! Something happens?! I myself am a mirror. If you look at me, you see yourself. If you are loving, you will see love in me. A Guru is a mirror. 

Q: Guruji, when we have accepted the Guru as everything then what is the purpose of worshiping all the other Gods?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, there is no compulsion. It is only a tradition which has been continuing. There is only one Bramha, only one God; but sometimes we worship Him in the form of Ganesh, sometimes as Shiva, sometimes as Kartikeya and sometimes in the form of Divine Mother. So whenever you do pooja, see everything in that One. That is why, any mantra or any pooja begins with Guru pooja first ‘Gurubhyo Namah Harihi Om’ – this is how it starts. Guru is honored first and then God is worshipped. 
There should be a feeling of oneness - first oneness with the Guru and God, and then oneness between the Self, Guru and God. There is no difference between God and myself. I, Guru and God are One. This is called Advaita knowledge. Repeating ‘everything is one’, realizing this and reposing in it is samadhi; meditation. 

Q: Guruji, in Shiva Purana, Shivaji has been considered supreme, and in Devi Bhagvat, Devi has been considered supreme. So which Purana is supreme?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whichever you are reading, at that time that is supreme. When you are reading Bhagavad, then Krishna is everything. There is nothing else other than that. When reading Devi Bhagvata, that alone is everything, that is supreme. That is what it is. Whatever is on my plate today is the best food for today.

Q: Guruji, these days, Ayurveda has changed all the definitions. If someone is angry, they say, ‘Today his pitta is very high.’ If work gets messed up, it is a problem of vata, and if someone does something bad towards me, it is a matter of tamas. Ayurveda has created a big problem, Guruji. Now one cannot say anything to anyone!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! Ayurveda has made it very easy for you. It has made it so easy, that it has prevented anger and hatred from entering into you! You can understand the people, who have got what problem, and it has made it much easier for you to understand the situation better. You should be grateful, you should give thanks. Ayurveda has revealed such a perspective to you that you will stop finding fault in people. 
Someone has so much hatred and hostility - it is because of ignorance, on account of tamo-guna and rajo-guna. He is immature and that is why he feels hate.
See, whatever one has, only that he can give. One who has only garbage in his mind can give only garbage; one who has anger will give anger; one who has abuse will give abuses.
When you see it from this perspective, you will not have any hatred towards that person. At least your mind will be at peace. 

Q: Guruji, many psychologists say that love is just our imagination. I have also read that true love is born out of truth alone. Is there a relationship between love and truth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Love is something which is present everywhere. Sometimes it can arise from imagination, sometimes it can arise spontaneously without any reason. Sometimes it can arise by just seeing someone or while resting it can arise. Sometimes, while taking a walk in the evening or while the sun is setting something might stir inside your mind, or it can also happen in meditation. 
Love is your very nature; it is there within you, and around you, eternally. So when, what will become a reason for love to blossom, cannot be said. 

Three types of logical reasoning

To know yourself or to judge your actions you need to know Tarka, Vitarka and Kutarka.

Kutarka is wrong logic. Most people apply this logic and get caught up in ignorance.

For example : The door is half open means the door is half closed. Therefore, the door is fully open means the door is fully closed! Or: God is Love. Love is Blind. Therefore, God is Blind!!!
Tarka is sequential logical understanding; it increases scientific knowledge. When sequential logical understanding changes, then scientific conclusions change.

For example: Pesticides and antibiotics were considered to be very useful in the past, and are now proven to be more harmful. In Tarka, the paradigm changes.
Vitarka is asking questions to which there are no evident answers....
For example: Who am I? Where am I? What do I really want?

These philosophically appealing questions bring forth spiritual knowledge, increase your awareness and bring about the blossoming of Consciousness i.e. Atma Gyan increases.

The wise know to distinguish between the three. They will not apply kutarka or tarka for vitarka, and vitarka for tarka.

guru punch!---18th feb

When you relax you find that you are love. You are made up of a substance called love. Love is not just an emotion; it is your very existence. It also gets expressed in emotion but in reality our consciousness, our mind and our spirit is made up of love ~ Sri Sri

Guru Punch!--- 7'Feb

When you are connected to this knowledge, know that you are very pure. This is the Ganges of knowledge. Whoever takes a dip in this will not consider himself as a sinner. Once you are on this path, know that you are purified ~ Sri Sri

The Bhagavad Gita

Terrorists are cowards. Whenever terror has struck in any part of the world, we have heard people say that it is an act of cowardice. A coward runs away from action but harbors all negative feelings and does it surreptitiously.

This is exactly what happened to Arjuna. Arjuna was angry, upset, sad and wanted to run away. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said not to be a coward. So, it is an antidote to terrorism. Lord Krishna said, "Bravery is the way -- face the war when it is inevitable and do your duty."

A terrorist is stuck in his identity. He hides it -- has no rationale and inflicts pain. Whereas Bhagavad Gita helps one transcend one's identity, encourages reason and infuses wisdom. In this sense, it could be called the antidote to terrorism.

The duty of a policeman, a soldier or a king is to be impartial for the sake of the nation, whether it is their mentors or relatives. But terrorists are never impartial.

A soldier is brave and a terrorist is a coward. A soldier is protecting and preventing violence and a terrorist is inflicting pain and suffering. The Bhagavad Gita is the scripture of bravery in both realms of physical and metaphysical.

Terrorism is deeply steeped in hatred. An act without hatred is what Bhagavad Gita propounds. The Bhagavad Gita epitomizes the correct action -- of righteousness, of upliftment of spirit and an action or duty that ought to be performed even in the most compelling situation.
In the last 5,149 years of the existence of the Bhagavad Gita, there is no evidence of someone becoming a terrorist after reading it. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi wrote commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and it was an inspiration for his non-violent movement. The Bhagavad Gita is a unique scripture which caters to the entire range of human evolution, comprising every level of this vast existence.

Bhagavad Gita stands for poise and equanimity and for performing one's designated duty. Lord Krishna does not encourage everyone to take the weapons and fight but a soldier cannot sell bananas in the market. He has to take his weapon to bring security to his people.

If Bhagavad Gita is a terrorist scripture then all military academies in the world are nothing but terrorist organizations. Doesn't this sound strange? Would the courts ban Lenin, Stalin or Mao, who to stay in power inflicted terror on millions?

A terrorist or a coward hides and inflicts pain on others whereas a soldier sacrifices his own life to bring security and peace to people. They both may take the gun but their intentions are poles apart.

The Bhagavad Gita encourages reasoning and dialogue while terrorists are blind to any reasoning and are closed to any form of dialogue.

Interestingly, in any military training all over the world, the soldiers are asked to see the enemies as dangerous objects which need to be eliminated. The psychology behind indoctrination of such an idea is that when they think the enemy is a human being the soldiers are unable to raise their arms. There are many such survival tactics where the army men are desensitized.

A similar situation happened to Arjuna. Lord Krishna went step by step to deal with Arjuna's emotions, ego, mindsets and concepts. He finally touched on the nature of his spiritual being; revealing him the highest knowledge and making him realize his eternal nature. This brought him enormous strength and then propelled him to perform his worldly duties. A doctor cannot be taken as a dacoit just because he opens up the stomach of the patient.

Lord Krishna says "no sin begets him whose intellect is unattached and free from cravings and aversions, even if he kills the whole world."

Now, the condition of an intellect free from cravings and aversions itself counters terrorism. Terrorism is done when the intellect is deeply attached and is hateful. The metaphors and the high standards of humanism exhibited in the Bhagavad Gita are unparalleled.

Jesus had said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household."

In the Quran, there are many verses which talk about striking terror in the hearts of the infidels and cutting off their fingers. By these standards, if you still call Bhagavad Gita a terrorist scripture, then you have to precede such statements by the Bible and Quran.

The fact is that it is not the scriptures that inflict terrorism; it is the misinterpretation of an ignorant and stressed mind which justifies their actions quoting scriptures.

Guru Punch!--- 5th Feb

Everything is in the name. If someone calls you a donkey, how do you feel? You don’t feel good. When someone says you are very beautiful, just listening to that makes you feel good. Similarly when we chant the Divine’s name, the life force in us goes up ~ Sri Sri