Knowledge came from hayagriva

It is said in the Vedas, knowledge came from Hayagriva, the man with a face of a horse. What is the significance of horse in the scriptures?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Horse is called Ashwa. Shwa means yesterday or tomorrow. Ashwa means now. So the word 'now' in Sanskrit, is the same as horse. That one word, Ashwa has two meanings:
1. Now or the present moment
2. Horse
So instead of saying - all the knowledge came in the moment, they said it came through the horse!
In Hayagriva, haya means head.
When your head is in the present moment then knowledge just comes up from within.
I know all The Art of Living teachers have experienced this. Haven’t you? You don’t know the answer to the questions that your students ask, but you are able to answer them! So where did the knowledge come from? You were in the moment, you were connected to the ocean of knowledge, the tradition of knowledge and so you were able to just download it instantaneously. That’s what it is.

The science of aggression

Being right does not mean being harsh and being kind doesn’t mean just letting anything happen. Kindness is not complacence and righteousness is not just aggression. Unfortunately, today, when we are right we get aggressive. It need not be, it should not be. In fact, aggression only shows our weakness; our lack of faith in our own power. Isn’t this strange? You think that the powerful will be aggressive? No! People who feel they have no power, or they have lost power, they become aggressive. Just look a little deep into it. When do you get aggressive? When you can’t do things easily. When things can happen easily, will you get aggressive?

So when you don’t have confidence in your power or the power of your being then you get aggressive. I know it is difficult to get that! When all these things were happening in Delhi, someone asked me, "How were you so cool Gurudev? We were all tensed!"
I know everything will happen well. And when I know that everything will happen, then what is the point of becoming aggressive, upset, sad or unhappy.
When you know the power within you, you don’t get aggressive. The powerful don’t get aggressive. Who gets aggressive? When you feel that the situation, person, people are beyond your control, or you feel that it is not possible. Or when you feel that you are smaller than the situation, then you become aggressive. I think you should ponder on this. Often you see a person with aggression, you feel that he is powerful. He is really not!

Guru one liner: when do you get aggressive?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you feel that the situation, person, people are beyond your control, or you feel that it is not possible.

Guru punch - do not sit and analyse

You should not sit and analyse yourself too much, may be you have too much free time. When you are busy, where is the time to sit and analyse? Action is spontaneous; sometimes you do the wrong things and you bear the consequences and move on. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

you will never perish

You should know that you will never perish. There is something in you that stays forever. The water in the ocean is always there, and the pattern of waves that rise and fall, that is always there. Similarly, our body is like the pattern of waves, but the spirit is like the water of the ocean. It always stays.

What Obscures Your Smile?

You know what obscures your smile? It is your desire. You want something and you are holding onto that thinking, “I want this, I want this.” That is what is making you miserable. Just wake up and say, "I don’t care" for a minute. Drop the desire and say, "I don’t want this", the next second something comes up in you, and that is a smile. Just say “I don’t want this, I’ll get whatever I need. Even if I want to meet Gurudev, I don’t care, I don’t want to meet him!” If that is bothering you, kick that desire too! Then you will see that you are totally relaxed and in total peace. As I said, three things obscure our being:
The ego
Desires
The intellect
So freeze these things for a little while and then see how meditation happens. Even just this intention, “I want to freeze these three things”, immediately makes a difference.

Why do we need Guru?

When you think that you are walking alone on the path, fear will definitely be there. That’s how fear comes. When you know you have a guide and that there is someone who is taking you along the unknown, how can there be any fear? That is the reason you need a Guru; a spiritual guide because walking in the unknown is always tough. And if you think you are walking alone, then that is even more tough. That is why there are all these traditions from thousands of years.