Politics

*Politics*

Don't let politics sway you away from the path. If you are afraid of politics you cannot be successful in the spiritual realm. You have to cross the barricade of politics. It is the test of your strength, commitment, and your focus. You cannot avoid politics, but to harbor it in your mind or not, is your choice. There were politics among the 12 apostles, and with Buddha. And Krishna was in politics from head to toe. And you say you don't want politics? The more you don't want it, the more you will harbor it in your consciousness. When you recognize politics in any group or Satsang, that is a blessing for you to be centered and go inward. You can do that without blaming the group and running away from people, or chickening out. It can enhance your skill to act and not get attached.

Advantages of politics:

-- Brings up diversity in people.

-- Puts in front of you different viewpoints, ways, and tendencies.

-- Enhances your skill to communicate and act.

-- Brings centeredness and dispassion.

-- Shakes you up and makes you stand up to the knowledge.

-- Enhances your capacity to accept and tolerate.

-- Makes you realize the whole life is a game.

Cross the threshold of politics and come to the Divine.

The strong will smile through the politics and the weak will lament.

�� *Jai Guru Dev* ��

Tolerance

*Neither Accept People As They Are*

*Not Tolerate Them*

Many people think tolerance is a virtue.

Tolerance is a negative term. If you like something you don't have to tolerate. Tolerance indicates a deep sense of dislike, which can at any time turn into hatred. It indicates a sense of separateness . . small mindedness . . limitation of consciousness.

When you are tolerating, it is a temporary state. Tolerance is a potential volcano. If you are tolerating it means you are holding on.

Acceptance is also negative. You accept that which is not lovable.

Question: Don't you need a sense of self-assurance to then go and love people?

This is our company. The Self-Assurance Company. It is only the Self that is always assuring. Nothing else.

Tolerance and acceptance come with judgment and separation. These words which are used, tolerance and acceptance are thought to be positive. I say they are not.

Question: But aren't we supposed to accept people as they are?

If you don't love them, then you have to accept them.

DON'T ACCEPT PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. JUST LOVE THEM AS THEY ARE.

�� *Jai Guru Dev* ��

Dealing with flaws

DEALING WITH FLAWS

Even then be grateful to God.
What good is the faith that shakes? Faith is that which remains firm even
during tough times. Suppose you place your trust in someone and got
betrayed. Then just remind yourself that it is all a play of the Divine.
Think that God wanted to make you learn some important lesson, and so he
came in this person’s form to your life. So just see the situation with
this understanding.

Why am I saying this? See, in the end, it is all one consciousness which
assumes different forms and different ways to teach us something important
in life. So have this understanding and just move ahead.

Do not go looking for faults in others. If you do so, then you will find
numerous flaws even in all the avatars (incarnations of the Divine). You
will find flaws with Narasimha Avatar (a fierce incarnation of Lord Vishnu
as half-man, half-lion); the Vamana Avatar (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu
as a young Brahmin boy seeking alms). In Lord Parshurama you will see so
many flaws. You will also find faults with Lord Rama. And don’t even ask
about Lord Krishna! (Laughter) If you get stuck in this habit of finding
flaws, then you will find flaws and shortcomings everywhere and in every
person.

To improve one’s understanding, our Puranas (sacred Hindu scriptures of
mythology) have linked even flaws and shortcomings with some or the other
form of Divinity. So in the Puranas, you find stories in which even the
ever-blissful Lord Shiva gets angry; Devi Parvati (a form of the Mother
Divine) also gets angry, and the ever-smiling Lord Vishnu too becomes sad
and dejected. So our Puranas have shown all these flaws and distortions in
the deities also, to make you understand that Divinity is truly
all-encompassing, and even flaws or shortcomings are an aspect of the
Divine.

Be it perfection or shortcomings - there is nothing beyond the Divine. So
the Puranashave portrayed even the deities with a few flaws, to make you
capable of accepting such things with ease, rather than getting entangled
with it.

Divinity is all-encompassing and beyond all attributes – whether good or
bad. That is why when we worship the Mother Divine, we say, 'Prakratim
vikratim vidhyam'. It means that both good qualities and their distortions
are in the Mother Divine. This is how our scriptures have mentioned about
the Divine. This (understanding of duality) is a step towards the Advaita
Siddhanta (the philosophy of Non-duality of the Divine).

The Advaita philosophy is the highest of all, and it is also the essence of
everything that exists. It says that everything is one and everything
arises from that One Divinity only, so that you do not forget the totality
of Divinity, or misunderstand the Divine in any way.

Our wise sages have described the aspects of Divinity in a very beautiful
manner. This is why even flaws have been given a rightful place and have
been shown as an aspect of the Divine.

All the six distortions that we know – anger, greed, lust, jealousy,
attachment, false pride and delusion – are represented through various
deities, to only strengthen your faith in the Divine. The wise sages did
this to pave a path for you to move forward towards the Divine.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

Spreading the peace and joy

Some people say, "Don’t worry about the world, find your joy and your peace that is more important". Correct, that is the first step, you find your peace. But once you have found your peace, what you do? And when your peace is connected with so many people around you, how can you be in an island of peace? Can you be? No! So, when you spread peace around you only then your peace can be permanent. So going inward is as important as reaching out outside and transforming our environment. This has to happen simultaneously.

Some people say, "Forget about the world, don’t try to bring peace in the world, don’t try to reform the world, just go within yourself, you find your peace". But in The Art of Living we have found our peace, haven’t we? (Unanimous response from the crowd saying 'Yes'). The very first sitting in the Happiness Course, you are already peaceful. You understood to some extent the principles of life. And when we have found our peace and joy, it is our duty to spread it all around.

Someone who has seen a good movie is all enthusiastic to tell everybody, "Hey, come see this movie, I will also come with you and watch it", isn’t it? So that is the spirit in which The Art of Living is working. You can only spread what you have and if we are spreading peace and joy it is because we have it. Those who do not have it, let them search for it and find it. We have found it and we want to spread it!

When it comes to joy there is no end for joy, there is no end to personal comfort. You can go on looking for it, but the nature of joy is to share and care and that’s what The Art of Living stands for. And the basis for this is the spiritual connect, spiritual elevation and spiritual attainment.

Guru punch 14 May 2016

Come what may, I will move through all negative clouds that surround me; like the planes that take off even in bad weather". You need to have that radar within you, which enables you to move through any negative cloud and create enthusiasm around you. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

How to deal with spiritual mockery

Q: How to deal with people who mock spirituality and spiritual leaders in the name of freedom of expression? Should we be strict with them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let them mock, make fun, so what? It will not change anything. Truth is never afraid of mockery. When the wind blows, dust comes, but the solid rock remains unmoved.

Matchstick

Remember that you are a match stick. The purpose of a match stick is to light the lamps. You know, you strike the match stick and it burns and it lights several candles. Like that so many match sticks in a box can light so many lives. So think you are a super-sized match box. You are here to bring light, wisdom and happiness into the lives of people. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar