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Friday, March 9, 2012
Guru Punch!
The less love you have, the more pronounced will be your authority. The greater you love, the subtler will be your authority. The subtler you become, the more authority you gain ~ Sri Sri
Wisdom from Guruji!!
Poojya Swamiji has already spoken on what the mystery of life - the Art of Living is.
Swamiji is so simple, he changed his schedule to be here with us and bless everyone. Many thanks to you!
Okay, do you all participate in singing when the bhajans are going on? How many of you were not participating? How many of you were not singing along but just listening?
In satsang it does not matter if you sing well or not, just join with everyone and sing together, that is all! Someone asked me just yesterday at the Hindu college, ‘What is the essence behind doing keertan/bhajan? What is the purpose of ‘naam’ (mantra chanting)?’
I asked them, ‘If someone abuses you, is there any effect of it on your body?’
They said, ‘Yes, absolutely!’
What happens? The mind becomes heated, there is anxiety, something happens in the stomach. In the entire body something happens and negative energy is felt, isn’t it?
If there is so much power in an abuse that it can impact your body so deeply, do you think there is no power in the name of God?
There is a lot of power. The vibrations inside you change and get altered. That is why for a little while every day you must sit and do some chanting and sing some bhajans.
Then this becomes like a shield which stops negativity from coming anywhere near you; and a positive vibration spreads from you.
See, many times you meet someone and you feel that you should stay away from them. And with some other person, you feel like meeting them more frequently. Do you feel that way or not?
Many times, you wonder why someone feels repulsiveness towards you. Why do they dislike you? We are unable to understand this.
This is because of our vibrations. Most of what we convey to people is simply by our presence. Through speech whatever is conveyed is on the next level, but first the vibrations that are there in our presence influence others. Nowhere are we taught how to fix our vibrations.
Why do you go and sit with saints, or sit on the banks of river Ganga or river Yamuna? Why do you go to places that are sacred? We do all this to bring the positive vibrations inside us.
So now that you have come here, drop all your worries and take back completely positive vibrations from here!
We have to change our vibrations by doing Meditation, Pranayama and Kriya. By doing all these practices it happens.
In life, keep one goal for yourself and one goal for society, and both should move together. If you are only focused on a small goal for yourself, then grace does not flow in life in abundance. But when you start doing for everybody, then your job gets done easily. How many of you have experienced this, when you are doing seva your work gets done easily, without much effort and without any trouble? (Many in the audience raise their hands)
So, you have to keep a goal for yourself and society.
You need to think what you want in life. Then think what you can do for the society.
I keep talking about the four A’s:
The first is Agyan (ignorance) – we need to remove ignorance. There are different kinds of superstitions that people believe in because of lack of knowledge. We need to remove this. People should get the taste of meditation and do a little bit of spiritual practices.
The second is Anyaay (injustice). We need to stand against injustice and create a corruption-free and violence-free society. We must have a vision for a society where each one can walk without any fear.
Nowadays when you open the newspaper, every day there are stories of crime that has happened and in Delhi, the crime rate is very high!
Do you like Delhi like this? Would you like the coming generation being in fear and each person walking with a security guard next to him, do you want a Delhi like that? No!
We need a violence-free society and that is the birthright of every person. But such a society cannot be built by the government or anyone else. It is only when all us come together can such a society be built. For a stress-free and violence-free society, we need to stand against injustice and corruption.
Are you all ready? How many of you are ready?
We will raise our voice against corruption.
So many people told me, ‘Guruji, being in the line of spirituality, your job is only to teach meditation. Why are you talking about corruption?’ You should not say such a thing. What do you think, I should not talk about it?
I told them, whatever my conscience says I will follow that.
If I do not stand up against corruption then who will. The corrupt will not stand against corruption? So you need to stand against anyaay (injustice).
Third is Abhav (lack), standing up against the different types of lack; the lack of human values.
There is lack not only of food, clothing and shelter but also of human values and we all need to work to bring down this lack and spread a sense of belongingness.
When the Meri Delhi Meri Yamuna movement started here in Delhi three years ago, I remember at that time thousands of our youths from all over the city joined together and cleaned Delhi, and I congratulate all those youths.
Before commonwealth games took place, all the youths came out to the streets and cleaned Delhi in every area. They divided Delhi into 12 zones and in all zones work was done. If we keep initiating this kind of service activities we can remove the lack from this country.
Also, all of us should keep aside 5% or at least 3% of what we earn to be used for the betterment of society. Some are doing blood donation camps; some are giving tuitions to slum children. So much work is going on and so much more can happen if we all come together and do it.
If we keep two hours of two days in a month for service to society we can achieve so much. We can change the look of Delhi. Can we do it? Tell me!
I hear ‘yes’ but it is very feeble. (Audience say ‘Yes’ loudly)
Yes! Now I hear it.
We need to wipe out lack of hygiene. Cleanliness is essential from inside and outside and we have to continue doing it.
So you need to remember all these points.
Be contented! Do not walk around with a long face. Life is short and before you know it would have passed by you. In life, sometimes there is happiness, sometimes sadness; some achievements are there and some failures, but in the midst of all of this we need to keep smiling and move forward with courage and the attitude of service.
When you are happy do seva and when you feel miserable you should get the power to let go, to sacrifice. What can give you that power? A broad vision about yourself, your life and a broad vision about the universe – that can put you back on track. So we need to wake up!
When we are miserable, have the power, have the energy to let go. It is because we are holding on to something we are miserable. And when you are happy, don’t just jump up and down but engage yourself in some constructive service project or work. Any seva would sustain the happiness.
I often say, if you run behind fun, misery follows you. If you follow knowledge, then fun follows you.
So it is better that fun follow you than misery catching on to you, isn’t it?
So we all must take a vow to stand up against corruption and against crime. Crime and corruption and communalism are eating this country and it is so sad. I want to stand up against them and I want all of you to be with me now. Are you all with me? How many are with me?
We should stand up against crime, communalization, corruption, and bring compassion back into the society.
This country is known for its compassion, it’s broad mindedness, it is cosmic knowledge and we have forgotten our roots. So we need to get back to our roots.
Q: Guruji, sometimes even after putting all efforts, if we continuously fail and life becomes a burden what should be done? So should we carry on with the burden or end life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should not end life but you should end the burden.
Surrender your burdens to your dear one, or to God, or to your Guru.
‘I have this burden, you take this. I do not want to do anything; I want to be relieved of it.’
So surrender all you problems and just relax.
This is what surrender is. It means giving all the problems which you are not able to handle to the Divine to take care of. This is the art of surrender.
Never commit suicide. Suicide is the most foolish thing a person can ever do. It is like you are shivering in the cold and you go out remove all your clothes. Will the cold become any less? No!
So never commit suicide.
If you find someone who is having such thoughts, send them to any Art of Living teacher. When they are made to do some pranayama and kriya they will become alright completely.
Q: Guruji, when we do Sudarshan Kriya are we increasing or decreasing our lifespan?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is the specialty of Kriya. By just breathing in different rhythms for some time, we can experience that peaceful state of Samadhi.
That is why when you learn the Kriya, you should learn it from a teacher because they know the precise timing of the big circles, medium circles and short circles. All these are counted according to time. So by practicing the Kriya your lifespan will increase.
Q: Guruji, it is said that we receive only as much as we deserve and only when time is right. If that is true then why should we make an effort to do anything?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, just keep doing you duty and be 100% in whatever you do. See the past as destiny, future as free will and be happy in the present. This is the intelligent way to be.
You know what fools do? They keep regretting the past, thinking the past was free will. Then they think the future is all destined and so they don’t do anything about it, and in the present they are miserable.
So, you have two choices. Got it?
Q: Guruji, even though I try hard to make everyone happy even then there is unhappiness all around me. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: At least you be happy. Don’t lose you happiness even if others are not uplifted by your efforts.
See this world like a dream. Sometimes even in a wakeful state you need to see this world like a dream. Now you are looking at me, is it a dream or truth? Have you ever had this though in your mind?
This could be a dream!
So when you see all events and incidents in life as a dream, then there is a shift in the energy inside you and you feel so contented and strong. Then no matter what the event, you can smile through it. And with the help of devotion and sadhana (practices) this strength comes very naturally to you.
Q: Guruji, in our land women are worshiped, even then I don’t feel safe in Delhi. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If we all form groups and work together we can remove the violence that we see today from the society and from the country.
Recently in the North East district we had a one day course for 360 people who were criminals, dacoits, drug peddlers, robbers, etc. And after the course, they all have spoken of how their lives have transformed and how much change they see in themselves. It is worth listening to their experiences. Many of them are now part of seva projects, and they have started a library of their own.
90% crime rate has come down in one district of the North East area and this transformation has brought so much hope.
If it can happen in North East, it can happen in the entire Delhi. Yes or no?
But for this we will all have to work together.
So many teachers came together and they spent time with these people. They taught them Kriya and taught them about life. Many were relived of the pain inside them and that is how the transformation happened.
No one is bad. If is only when one is hurt from the inside that they do bad things. When you apply balm to the wound then they become good!
Q: Guruji, I want to have faith but I doubts keep coming in my mind. How to overcome this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know the nature of doubt? How many know the nature of doubt?
Doubt is always about something positive.
We doubt the honesty of a person, but we are never doubt the dishonesty of a person.
If someone tells you this person is dishonest, you believe it; but if someone tells you this person is very honest, that is when you doubt, is this person really very honest. Isn’t it?! If someone asks you, ‘Are you happy?’ You will say, ‘I don’t know whether I am happy or not.’
But if you are depressed then you never doubt your depression. Similarly, if someone tells you, ‘I love you so much’, you will say, ‘Really?’ But if someone says, ‘I am angry with you’, you won’t ask, ‘Really?’
So our doubts are always about the positive. We doubt our strengths but never doubt our weaknesses. That is why we doubt God.
In this world whatever you see is nothing and all that cannot be seen is everything!
All this is nothing and nothing is everything. Got it?!
Whatever is seen is all going to vanish one day. That which is not seen will never vanish. This is an experiential fact.
Do not accept this just because I telling you but experience it in your life.
Having this experience for a few moments even once in your life can bring enormous amount of peace and strength inside you.
Are you able to understand this?
Just wake up and see all of this is a dream. You need experience this state of consciousness where you recognize that this is all dream, and only you can do this. The Guru and the scriptures can only direct you, but you have to sit and think.
Q: Guruji when I did the basic course I got a house. When I did the advance course my business flourished. When I did DSN, I got married. Now I am about to do another advance course and I got the news that I am becoming a father. Still I have botherations. Why?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Your job is getting done and still you are having botherations. This is because you have the habit of thinking too much. So now think about the whole country. Be bothered about the world, about where it is heading. Bother about the environment.
Q: What is the importance of a life partner? How to choose who to marry and what should one see in them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look, I have no experience in this so I cannot advise you. Go for someone who has experience, they can advises you.
Probably they will advise you to stay where you are. (Laughing) Anyway by changing the boat you are not going to learn how to row the boat. If you cannot row one boat, there is no guarantee you can row another boat, as simple as that.
Q: Guruji there are so many things which are wrong only for us, but right for the whole world. Should we do them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, anything that inflicts pain to you and your family and people around you, in any manner, we should desist from doing it, we should not do it.
May be somewhere else, in some other country somebody may be doing it, but you have a social circumstance.
Like in Europe and America they drive on the right side of the road. You cannot say, ‘They drive on the right side so I am also going to drive on the right side here.’ If you do that you are going to cause a traffic jam all over. So you should follow the norms of your society, your environment, your family and your associates. Don’t you think so?
At the same time if there is any practice that is injurious, which is harmful and is being followed by people then you must stand up desist. That you should say no.
Q: Guruji, when our work gets done by your grace we feel grateful to you but when what we want does not happen then we become sad and miserable. Why is it like that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is why when you are miserable have the strength to let go. When your work gets done, be grateful and do some seva. Seva purifies our karma.
Charity purifies the money that you earn. At least three to four percent of what you earn should be given away in charity. A spoonful of ghee purifies food.
There is a proverb in India, ’a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) on rice purifies the rice.’
You know why? This is because if you eat rice just like that it digests very fast and becomes sugar very quickly. Many people who eat rice like that, they become diabetics.
A cardiologist told me, anytime you take cereals you should have a little bit of fat with it. A spoon of ghee on top of it slows down the digestion. It becomes complex carbohydrates and helps to balance the sugar level in the body and that helps a healthy heart function.
That is why the ancient people had said this, ‘a spoon of ghee purifies the rice.’
Similarly, with music the emotions get purified. So everyone must sing, it does not matter if you are singing a movie song but sing. A little bit of singing purifies the emotions.
Then with knowledge the intellect gets purified. You need to have knowledge. What is knowledge? What we have been discussing here.
Then, meditation purifies the soul and Ayurveda purifies the body. When we take Triphala two or three times a week, the stomach gets cleaned and the mind becomes clear.
A saint used to say, warm feet, a soft stomach and a cool head, this is the sign of a healthy person.
But if it is opposite, feet are cold, stomach is hard and head is hot, it is a sign of unhealthiness.
For the stomach to be light and clean you need Ayurveda. You keep eating something or the other throughout the day and this has an effect on the body. So to cleanse the body, Ayurveda is essential.
Through yoga and pranayama also body gets cleansed.
Q: Guruji can we donate our organs after death or is it essential to offer them into the fire?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you can donate your organs. Nowhere in the scriptures has it been prohibited.
Swamiji is so simple, he changed his schedule to be here with us and bless everyone. Many thanks to you!
Okay, do you all participate in singing when the bhajans are going on? How many of you were not participating? How many of you were not singing along but just listening?
In satsang it does not matter if you sing well or not, just join with everyone and sing together, that is all! Someone asked me just yesterday at the Hindu college, ‘What is the essence behind doing keertan/bhajan? What is the purpose of ‘naam’ (mantra chanting)?’
I asked them, ‘If someone abuses you, is there any effect of it on your body?’
They said, ‘Yes, absolutely!’
What happens? The mind becomes heated, there is anxiety, something happens in the stomach. In the entire body something happens and negative energy is felt, isn’t it?
If there is so much power in an abuse that it can impact your body so deeply, do you think there is no power in the name of God?
There is a lot of power. The vibrations inside you change and get altered. That is why for a little while every day you must sit and do some chanting and sing some bhajans.
Then this becomes like a shield which stops negativity from coming anywhere near you; and a positive vibration spreads from you.
See, many times you meet someone and you feel that you should stay away from them. And with some other person, you feel like meeting them more frequently. Do you feel that way or not?
Many times, you wonder why someone feels repulsiveness towards you. Why do they dislike you? We are unable to understand this.
This is because of our vibrations. Most of what we convey to people is simply by our presence. Through speech whatever is conveyed is on the next level, but first the vibrations that are there in our presence influence others. Nowhere are we taught how to fix our vibrations.
Why do you go and sit with saints, or sit on the banks of river Ganga or river Yamuna? Why do you go to places that are sacred? We do all this to bring the positive vibrations inside us.
So now that you have come here, drop all your worries and take back completely positive vibrations from here!
We have to change our vibrations by doing Meditation, Pranayama and Kriya. By doing all these practices it happens.
In life, keep one goal for yourself and one goal for society, and both should move together. If you are only focused on a small goal for yourself, then grace does not flow in life in abundance. But when you start doing for everybody, then your job gets done easily. How many of you have experienced this, when you are doing seva your work gets done easily, without much effort and without any trouble? (Many in the audience raise their hands)
So, you have to keep a goal for yourself and society.
You need to think what you want in life. Then think what you can do for the society.
I keep talking about the four A’s:
The first is Agyan (ignorance) – we need to remove ignorance. There are different kinds of superstitions that people believe in because of lack of knowledge. We need to remove this. People should get the taste of meditation and do a little bit of spiritual practices.
The second is Anyaay (injustice). We need to stand against injustice and create a corruption-free and violence-free society. We must have a vision for a society where each one can walk without any fear.
Nowadays when you open the newspaper, every day there are stories of crime that has happened and in Delhi, the crime rate is very high!
Do you like Delhi like this? Would you like the coming generation being in fear and each person walking with a security guard next to him, do you want a Delhi like that? No!
We need a violence-free society and that is the birthright of every person. But such a society cannot be built by the government or anyone else. It is only when all us come together can such a society be built. For a stress-free and violence-free society, we need to stand against injustice and corruption.
Are you all ready? How many of you are ready?
We will raise our voice against corruption.
So many people told me, ‘Guruji, being in the line of spirituality, your job is only to teach meditation. Why are you talking about corruption?’ You should not say such a thing. What do you think, I should not talk about it?
I told them, whatever my conscience says I will follow that.
If I do not stand up against corruption then who will. The corrupt will not stand against corruption? So you need to stand against anyaay (injustice).
Third is Abhav (lack), standing up against the different types of lack; the lack of human values.
There is lack not only of food, clothing and shelter but also of human values and we all need to work to bring down this lack and spread a sense of belongingness.
When the Meri Delhi Meri Yamuna movement started here in Delhi three years ago, I remember at that time thousands of our youths from all over the city joined together and cleaned Delhi, and I congratulate all those youths.
Before commonwealth games took place, all the youths came out to the streets and cleaned Delhi in every area. They divided Delhi into 12 zones and in all zones work was done. If we keep initiating this kind of service activities we can remove the lack from this country.
Also, all of us should keep aside 5% or at least 3% of what we earn to be used for the betterment of society. Some are doing blood donation camps; some are giving tuitions to slum children. So much work is going on and so much more can happen if we all come together and do it.
If we keep two hours of two days in a month for service to society we can achieve so much. We can change the look of Delhi. Can we do it? Tell me!
I hear ‘yes’ but it is very feeble. (Audience say ‘Yes’ loudly)
Yes! Now I hear it.
We need to wipe out lack of hygiene. Cleanliness is essential from inside and outside and we have to continue doing it.
So you need to remember all these points.
Be contented! Do not walk around with a long face. Life is short and before you know it would have passed by you. In life, sometimes there is happiness, sometimes sadness; some achievements are there and some failures, but in the midst of all of this we need to keep smiling and move forward with courage and the attitude of service.
When you are happy do seva and when you feel miserable you should get the power to let go, to sacrifice. What can give you that power? A broad vision about yourself, your life and a broad vision about the universe – that can put you back on track. So we need to wake up!
When we are miserable, have the power, have the energy to let go. It is because we are holding on to something we are miserable. And when you are happy, don’t just jump up and down but engage yourself in some constructive service project or work. Any seva would sustain the happiness.
I often say, if you run behind fun, misery follows you. If you follow knowledge, then fun follows you.
So it is better that fun follow you than misery catching on to you, isn’t it?
So we all must take a vow to stand up against corruption and against crime. Crime and corruption and communalism are eating this country and it is so sad. I want to stand up against them and I want all of you to be with me now. Are you all with me? How many are with me?
We should stand up against crime, communalization, corruption, and bring compassion back into the society.
This country is known for its compassion, it’s broad mindedness, it is cosmic knowledge and we have forgotten our roots. So we need to get back to our roots.
Q: Guruji, sometimes even after putting all efforts, if we continuously fail and life becomes a burden what should be done? So should we carry on with the burden or end life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should not end life but you should end the burden.
Surrender your burdens to your dear one, or to God, or to your Guru.
‘I have this burden, you take this. I do not want to do anything; I want to be relieved of it.’
So surrender all you problems and just relax.
This is what surrender is. It means giving all the problems which you are not able to handle to the Divine to take care of. This is the art of surrender.
Never commit suicide. Suicide is the most foolish thing a person can ever do. It is like you are shivering in the cold and you go out remove all your clothes. Will the cold become any less? No!
So never commit suicide.
If you find someone who is having such thoughts, send them to any Art of Living teacher. When they are made to do some pranayama and kriya they will become alright completely.
Q: Guruji, when we do Sudarshan Kriya are we increasing or decreasing our lifespan?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is the specialty of Kriya. By just breathing in different rhythms for some time, we can experience that peaceful state of Samadhi.
That is why when you learn the Kriya, you should learn it from a teacher because they know the precise timing of the big circles, medium circles and short circles. All these are counted according to time. So by practicing the Kriya your lifespan will increase.
Q: Guruji, it is said that we receive only as much as we deserve and only when time is right. If that is true then why should we make an effort to do anything?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, just keep doing you duty and be 100% in whatever you do. See the past as destiny, future as free will and be happy in the present. This is the intelligent way to be.
You know what fools do? They keep regretting the past, thinking the past was free will. Then they think the future is all destined and so they don’t do anything about it, and in the present they are miserable.
So, you have two choices. Got it?
Q: Guruji, even though I try hard to make everyone happy even then there is unhappiness all around me. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: At least you be happy. Don’t lose you happiness even if others are not uplifted by your efforts.
See this world like a dream. Sometimes even in a wakeful state you need to see this world like a dream. Now you are looking at me, is it a dream or truth? Have you ever had this though in your mind?
This could be a dream!
So when you see all events and incidents in life as a dream, then there is a shift in the energy inside you and you feel so contented and strong. Then no matter what the event, you can smile through it. And with the help of devotion and sadhana (practices) this strength comes very naturally to you.
Q: Guruji, in our land women are worshiped, even then I don’t feel safe in Delhi. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If we all form groups and work together we can remove the violence that we see today from the society and from the country.
Recently in the North East district we had a one day course for 360 people who were criminals, dacoits, drug peddlers, robbers, etc. And after the course, they all have spoken of how their lives have transformed and how much change they see in themselves. It is worth listening to their experiences. Many of them are now part of seva projects, and they have started a library of their own.
90% crime rate has come down in one district of the North East area and this transformation has brought so much hope.
If it can happen in North East, it can happen in the entire Delhi. Yes or no?
But for this we will all have to work together.
So many teachers came together and they spent time with these people. They taught them Kriya and taught them about life. Many were relived of the pain inside them and that is how the transformation happened.
No one is bad. If is only when one is hurt from the inside that they do bad things. When you apply balm to the wound then they become good!
Q: Guruji, I want to have faith but I doubts keep coming in my mind. How to overcome this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know the nature of doubt? How many know the nature of doubt?
Doubt is always about something positive.
We doubt the honesty of a person, but we are never doubt the dishonesty of a person.
If someone tells you this person is dishonest, you believe it; but if someone tells you this person is very honest, that is when you doubt, is this person really very honest. Isn’t it?! If someone asks you, ‘Are you happy?’ You will say, ‘I don’t know whether I am happy or not.’
But if you are depressed then you never doubt your depression. Similarly, if someone tells you, ‘I love you so much’, you will say, ‘Really?’ But if someone says, ‘I am angry with you’, you won’t ask, ‘Really?’
So our doubts are always about the positive. We doubt our strengths but never doubt our weaknesses. That is why we doubt God.
In this world whatever you see is nothing and all that cannot be seen is everything!
All this is nothing and nothing is everything. Got it?!
Whatever is seen is all going to vanish one day. That which is not seen will never vanish. This is an experiential fact.
Do not accept this just because I telling you but experience it in your life.
Having this experience for a few moments even once in your life can bring enormous amount of peace and strength inside you.
Are you able to understand this?
Just wake up and see all of this is a dream. You need experience this state of consciousness where you recognize that this is all dream, and only you can do this. The Guru and the scriptures can only direct you, but you have to sit and think.
Q: Guruji when I did the basic course I got a house. When I did the advance course my business flourished. When I did DSN, I got married. Now I am about to do another advance course and I got the news that I am becoming a father. Still I have botherations. Why?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Your job is getting done and still you are having botherations. This is because you have the habit of thinking too much. So now think about the whole country. Be bothered about the world, about where it is heading. Bother about the environment.
Q: What is the importance of a life partner? How to choose who to marry and what should one see in them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look, I have no experience in this so I cannot advise you. Go for someone who has experience, they can advises you.
Probably they will advise you to stay where you are. (Laughing) Anyway by changing the boat you are not going to learn how to row the boat. If you cannot row one boat, there is no guarantee you can row another boat, as simple as that.
Q: Guruji there are so many things which are wrong only for us, but right for the whole world. Should we do them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, anything that inflicts pain to you and your family and people around you, in any manner, we should desist from doing it, we should not do it.
May be somewhere else, in some other country somebody may be doing it, but you have a social circumstance.
Like in Europe and America they drive on the right side of the road. You cannot say, ‘They drive on the right side so I am also going to drive on the right side here.’ If you do that you are going to cause a traffic jam all over. So you should follow the norms of your society, your environment, your family and your associates. Don’t you think so?
At the same time if there is any practice that is injurious, which is harmful and is being followed by people then you must stand up desist. That you should say no.
Q: Guruji, when our work gets done by your grace we feel grateful to you but when what we want does not happen then we become sad and miserable. Why is it like that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is why when you are miserable have the strength to let go. When your work gets done, be grateful and do some seva. Seva purifies our karma.
Charity purifies the money that you earn. At least three to four percent of what you earn should be given away in charity. A spoonful of ghee purifies food.
There is a proverb in India, ’a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) on rice purifies the rice.’
You know why? This is because if you eat rice just like that it digests very fast and becomes sugar very quickly. Many people who eat rice like that, they become diabetics.
A cardiologist told me, anytime you take cereals you should have a little bit of fat with it. A spoon of ghee on top of it slows down the digestion. It becomes complex carbohydrates and helps to balance the sugar level in the body and that helps a healthy heart function.
That is why the ancient people had said this, ‘a spoon of ghee purifies the rice.’
Similarly, with music the emotions get purified. So everyone must sing, it does not matter if you are singing a movie song but sing. A little bit of singing purifies the emotions.
Then with knowledge the intellect gets purified. You need to have knowledge. What is knowledge? What we have been discussing here.
Then, meditation purifies the soul and Ayurveda purifies the body. When we take Triphala two or three times a week, the stomach gets cleaned and the mind becomes clear.
A saint used to say, warm feet, a soft stomach and a cool head, this is the sign of a healthy person.
But if it is opposite, feet are cold, stomach is hard and head is hot, it is a sign of unhealthiness.
For the stomach to be light and clean you need Ayurveda. You keep eating something or the other throughout the day and this has an effect on the body. So to cleanse the body, Ayurveda is essential.
Through yoga and pranayama also body gets cleansed.
Q: Guruji can we donate our organs after death or is it essential to offer them into the fire?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you can donate your organs. Nowhere in the scriptures has it been prohibited.
Wisdom from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
All foolish people are there in the world to make you skillful
March 05, 2012
(Below is the transcript of Satsang with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.You can watch the Live webcast of future satsangs)Q: Dear Guruji, in the Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says, ‘Bow down to me, I will free you. Follow Me!’ and a common man is also caught up in the ‘me’ and ‘mine’! So how is Krishna different from us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One is the person who is capable of taking the sins saying, ‘You give it to me.’
Another is someone who is incapable of taking anything and saying ‘Me.’
There is a difference.
When a doctor comes and says, ‘You have fever? I will take care of you’. It is a different issue.
But someone who has no knowledge of medicine, if they say, ‘I will take care of you,’ has no meaning.
So the space from which Krishna says, ‘Me’, that me is not the body.
That is why Krishna himself has said, ‘Avajananti Mam Mudha Manusim Tanum Asritam; Param Bhavam Ajananto Mama Bhuta-Maheshvaram’.
The ‘Me’ in me is a very different me, and not knowing that transcendental nature of mine, people think I am just a human body and mind.
So that is the difference.
Even when Arjuna asked Krishna to repeat Bhagvad Gita again after the war was over, he said, ‘No, I cannot. That moment I was in a Samadhi; in a different state of consciousness and so I said it. Now I cannot repeat it.’
Q: Guruji, what is the difference between a thought and intention?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Intention is also a thought, a stronger thought or a resolved thought. So many thoughts come and float around but some thoughts are resolved. Those resolute thoughts we call intentions.
Q: How to utilize this life properly? I feel like I have wasted twenty seven years of my life. I want to be useful now.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, it is a very good realization. You want to be useful, that is a very good intention.
So first the realization comes, ‘I have wasted’, and then the resolution comes, ‘I want to be useful’, and then nothing stops you. Go ahead, it is very good.
But there is no point in regretting the past. You should not sit and keep regretting. Move on in the future because you have learnt something very valuable to life in the past through all the mistakes.
Q: In Kena Upanishad, it is said that those who worship ignorance, they go to hell. And those who worship knowledge, they go to a darker hell. Please elaborate on this.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are two types of knowledge, Vidya and Avidya.
Avidya does not mean ignorance; it means the knowledge of the relative.
Vidya means the knowledge of the absolute.
If one catches only the knowledge of the absolute, he will go to hell. If one catches only the knowledge of the relative, he will also go to hell.
That is what it says, ‘They will go to deeper darkness.’
It is like body and mind. If you are thinking only about the mind and ignore the body, then you will be in trouble. Similarly, if you are thinking only of the body and not attending to the mind, then also you will not be complete. Body and mind is a complex and they go together. That is life.
So it is perfect what has been said.
Q: Guruji, how can we maintain our innocence and yet be skilful. This seems very difficult these days.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is the whole secret, to be skilful and be innocent as well.
You know, devotion will help. When you have the devotion and the faith that there is a power which is in control then your innocence remains intact.
Even for a few moments if this awareness comes that the whole universe is ruled by some orderliness, something is governing this universe then you don’t think that you are too smart and you will come back to your innocence.
And when you are focused on work, as a by-product of it, naturally you will be skilful.
You can’t say all the time, ‘There is some power that will take care of me.’
When you have to take a proper train or bus, then you have to buy a proper ticket. If you don’t buy the right ticket and just sit thinking, ‘Oh! Someone will take care’, then the police will come and take care of you. They will find out why are you traveling without a ticket?
So that is where life is a combination of skillfulness and universal awareness.
Q: How is laziness different from the yoga of non-action?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, laziness just makes you dull. It makes you heavy. Laziness doesn’t bring you energy, happiness or dynamism.
Yoga of non-action brings lot of energy and enthusiasm. Even before you intend to do something, things are already happening and that is called Naishkarmya Siddhi.
Before you even act, you just intend and it is already done. That is a higher state. When you get into that state you won’t even get this question, whether this is laziness or not. This question even does not arise.
Q: Dear Guruji, please tell me how can I maintain individuality in a group without it being seen as ego?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just be natural. Be considerate, be compassionate and learn team work.
Q: Dear Guruji, does the jeevatma experience anything after death? Can the jeevatma communicate with us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes!
Jeevatma or the individual soul after death remains in a plane with all its deepest impressions till it finds another suitable body to come back and to get rid of all those impressions. And in the process of getting rid of all those impressions, it collects more impressions and then goes back, and the cycle continues. That is why to break this cycle – yoga, meditation, devotion, all these are the ways.
Contentment is essential, deep contentment brings liberation.
Q: Guruji, you tell us to seek mukti (liberation) in life. How can I seek something without tasting it? Isn’t it just blind faith?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, don’t you want freedom? A sort of inner freedom where you feel so content and happy. That is mukti.
You know it somewhere deep inside, but what clouds it is one desire after another and so on. One desire gets fulfilled and another desire comes. So your spirit gets covered by requirements and desires and you will keep going round and round in circles, and you don’t realize that there is something much deeper inside.
Q: Guruji, I did my advance course last week and I am feeling energetic right now. But as soon as I join my office back again, I lose my temper due to my boss. Either tell me how to get rid of my temper or please get rid of my boss.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both are there for a reason.
Observe how the irritation begins when your boss behaves the way he behaves.
What happens? If inside something starts boiling up then take a deep breath in, and instead of focusing on your boss, focus on the sensations in your body.
Work on yourself, you can become more skilful.
All foolish and stupid people are there in the world to make you skilful. They bring out the skills within you. How to handle them, how to behave, all these skills come out of you.
Q: Dear Guruji, how can I know if it is the right time to separate from someone? I have been struggling with one relationship for almost five years now. It has become one of the biggest struggles of my life.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I can’t advice you on this because I have no experience of separation from anybody.
I would say, ask yourself, have you given 100% to your relationship. If you feel that you haven’t, then give it and try. If it doesn’t work and if it has only been a struggle in hope of getting some pleasure or some joy, it is better you move your way. Don’t waste your life, move on.
There are so many things to do in life besides a relationship, so don’t get stuck.
Q: Guruji, we in this life or some other lifetimes have done some bad karma either by thoughts, words or deeds. Which karma can be erased and which ones do we have to suffer for?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t sit and analyse these things, just move on in life. You never know.
Even in the Bhagavad Gita it is said, ’Gahana Karmano Gatih’, even the greatest man on earth is confused on which karma does what. So, best is to surrender all the karma.
Drop thinking about all the karmas and do your dharma and move on.
If you do your dharma, automatically those karmas which can be erased will get erased.
Of course sadhana definitely erases some bad karma and for some karma we will have to go through it. There is no choice or option; you have to go through it.
Q: Guruji, amongst the politicians of this time, some are good but they are very few in number. Can you open some good schools and colleges where they can be trained to become better politicians?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, in our university in Orissa, we are opening a college of ’Good Governance’.
This college of Good Governance that we are starting is to train people for all the different leadership positions in society, like the Gram Panchayat, Bloc Presidents, District President, Zila Adhyaksha.
All those who stand in the elections for Nagar Nigam and Nagar Palika will qualify from the university we are opening up. The work has already started.
These days anybody becomes part of the Gram Panchayat, regardless of whether they know what their responsibilities are or not. Many of them don’t know their responsibilities, or what the work involves or how to conduct themselves.
I am thinking on similar lines for journalists and lawyers. Training them on how to conduct themselves is very important.
See what is happening in Bangalore these days. Lawyers behave in one way, the media in another way and the journalists in completely different way and everything combined are making simple problems all the more complex. To solve this complex problem, attention needs to be drawn to individual behaviour.
That is why it is said in the Gita, 'Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt’, even a little bit of dharma, a little bit of knowledge is good enough. If one takes a single step towards this direction it is assured that he will be rid of all his fears. He will not fear even the greatest terror. This is what Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagvad Gita.
Q: Guruji, I am a student and I feel that I should study more. Yesterday, you asked us to drop our desire to want more and more. What to drop and for what should I put in more effort?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: For a student I will say you should study more.
This I said for the adults, to drop their desire to have more of happiness in life. But when it comes to knowledge, sadhana and seva, for that you can desire for more, that is no problem.
Q: Guruji, my elder brother got married a few years back. Now, he says just like how the TV is controlled by a remote, similarly a wife is controlled by currency notes. These days, to maintain a wife has become a costly affair. What is the remedy for this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen, you will have to do it. There is no way out. If the maintenance cost is high then put in more effort.
Q: Guruji, I love you a lot. But whenever I come in front of you, tears start rolling down my eyes. Is there something wrong with me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, it is absolutely fine. There is nothing wrong with tears rolling down your eyes. It is very natural and good. There is no problem with it.
When the heart blossoms then tears come, this is very natural.
What happens when you come close to one who is dear to you, close to the Guru?
There is a shloka in the Upanishads which says, 'Bhidhyathe hridaya granthi, Chidhyanthe sarva samshayaah, Ksheeyanthe cha asya karmaani, Tasmin drista paraavare’
The knots in the hearts are undone, questions and doubts in the mind vanish, karmas are washed away, by being the presence of a loved one or a Guru or a Gyaani.
This has been said. This means what is written in the Upanishad is true!
Q: Guruji, we have heard that there are some enlightened beings present in this world to help people, just like you help us. But they prefer to stay away from people. Are such people present today as well?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There could be some people like that, some sadhaks who keep doing sadhana. And some feel, ‘why should I get caught up, what is the need ’, they think like that.
There are all kinds of people in the world. There aren’t just one or two great people in the world, but plenty in number.
But that does not mean that those who live in the jungles are superior to those who live in cities.
Q: Guruji, you always say, ‘choice is yours and blessing is mine’. But all troubles lie in making a choice. How to make the right choice? Is there any formula or does it come with the blessings?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Time will tell you what the right choice is. A little while after choosing you will get to know whether you made the right choice or not.
Why do you leave everything for me do? You also do something.
Q: Guruji, when I see certain men I get very fearful. Sometimes the fear I experience is intolerable. What do I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is quite natural for a lady to feel this way, and especially if you are alone and you find some really not right intended men around, you should feel afraid, naturally.
Good, that keeps you safe as you would not go there alone.
The society is not yet that refined and that sattvik that everybody is good. One should be scared of people who are not very good and without good intentions, that’s fine!
Crime against women is so much today, all over the world. This has to go.
Only through a wave of spirituality can we change this situation.
Q: Parmahansa Yoganadaji initiated people into something called Kriya Yoga. I always wanted to know if Sudarshan Kriya is different from Kriya Yoga and how?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, Kriya Yoga is meditating on different chakras. Similar to what we do in ‘Hari Om’ meditation. But Sudarshan Kriya is completely different. In Sudarshan Kriya, the breath, rhythm of the soul, rhythm of the mind and rhythm of the spirit, all this is involved. So that gives you a deeper experience, and it helps one to go deep in meditation.
Only when you do it, you will understand.
Q: The policies that the government is making these days is taking away the values from the society at a very fast pace. To work to understand these policies and fight for the right of the people takes a lot of time and can get one very involved. If I work towards this will it take me away from you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! Not at all.
You can really be a reformer in the society but you will have to balance your life. Do this work and also take time out for yourself. Do your practices, do your pranayama, do your meditation and then be involved in the activity and in the reforming the society.
Q: Guruji, in the 7 layers of existence, mind and ego have been classified as different entities, but isn’t ego a thought or an emotion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No, ego is an awareness of ‘I’. All the four (mind, intellect, memory, ego) have different functions. However, they belong to the same consciousness.
Mind is thoughts.
Memory is that which appears to record them.
Intellect does the decision-making, to decide between right and wrong.
Ego is the one that experiences everything. It is the awareness that ‘I exist’.
During sleep, the intellect rests, the ego exists, there are thoughts in the mind and memory is present too. Since the intellect is not present during sleep there is no reasoning and so the thoughts are not coherent.
The mind is calm during sleep and the memory just knows that, ‘I am sleeping’.
During meditation all of them dissolve.
As you meditate you will know more about this.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 - Verse 13
Chapter 1 -- Verse 13
Verse: tatah sankhas ca bheryas ca
panavanaka-gomukhah
sahasaivabhyahanyanta
sa shabdas tumulo ’bhavat
panavanaka-gomukhah
sahasaivabhyahanyanta
sa shabdas tumulo ’bhavat
Translation: After that, the conchshells, drums, bugles, trumpets and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound was tumultuous
AOL Knowledge Sheet!----Love Is Your Very Existence
Suppose someone shows a lot of love to you, what do you do?
1. Often you do not know how to respond.
2. You feel obliged and bound.
3. Shrink or shy away.
4. Feel foolish and awkward.
5. Try to reciprocate even though it is not genuine.
6. Doubt the love expressed and ones own worthiness.
7. You are afraid of losing respect because love does not allow distance and respect tends to keep distance.
8. Your ego hardens and does not allow you to receive and reciprocate.
9. Anything else. (Fill in the blanks).
The ability to receive genuine love comes with the ability to give love. The more you are centered and, by experience, know that you are love, the more you feel at home with any amount of love being expressed in any manner, for deep inside, you know :
Love is not an emotion !!
It is your very Existence !!!
1. Often you do not know how to respond.
2. You feel obliged and bound.
3. Shrink or shy away.
4. Feel foolish and awkward.
5. Try to reciprocate even though it is not genuine.
6. Doubt the love expressed and ones own worthiness.
7. You are afraid of losing respect because love does not allow distance and respect tends to keep distance.
8. Your ego hardens and does not allow you to receive and reciprocate.
9. Anything else. (Fill in the blanks).
The ability to receive genuine love comes with the ability to give love. The more you are centered and, by experience, know that you are love, the more you feel at home with any amount of love being expressed in any manner, for deep inside, you know :
Love is not an emotion !!
It is your very Existence !!!
Guru Punch!
"I am living. What is there in this body? Who am I really? Are you aware where you are? When awareness of time, of the place where we are living comes, our life becomes complete. It becomes perfect ~ Sri Sri
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
AP Advance Meditation Program (Part II) in the physical presence of Guruji from May 31st to June 3rd, 2012 at our Bangalore Ashram!
Dear Ones,
It is our pleasure to invite you for the AP Advance Meditation Program (Part II) in the physical presence of Guruji from May 31st to June 3rd, 2012 at our Bangalore Ashram!
Come and have the real and royal experience of silence at Ashram's serene and beautiful environment.
The Art of Living's Advanced Meditation Program guides one on a journey deeper into one's self.... enabling the spontaneous integration of life with wisdom. Rest and rejuvenate the mind and body in the best way possible.
This Advanced Meditation Program is open to all resident Indian nationals (who have completed the Part I program, at least one Part 2 already & 21 years old).
Earliest Arrival : May 31st, 2012
Program dates : May 31st (Thursday) – June 3rd (Sunday), 2012
Latest Arrival : May 30th by 12 noon, 2012
Medium : Telugu
Program contributions (Inclusive of food and accommodation during May 31st to June 3rd, 2012 & program cost) for resident Indian Nationals
Six to Nine Sharing – Rs 2700
4 Sharing – Rs 3800
3 Sharing – Rs 6800
2 Sharing – Rs 9200
(Please note, participants can upgrade their accommodation to TWIN & TRIPLE sharing rooms on arrival at ashram (subject to availability) by paying additional contribution)
For Spot registration Dormitory accommodation will be available. Other accommodation is subject to availability.
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