artoflivingshimla

INVITATION for 'Green Simla Run'

2011-05-20T16:17:00.003+05:30

Dear All,

I would like to invite you all for a Fun filling morning that would commence on 22nd May (Sunday) at 7.00am on the Ridge.

Its a cross country race from Ridge till Indian Institute of Advance study. This event is sponsoured by SJVN and Times of India and We (Aol family) should also show our support towards this Green cause + lets make our Sunday a Funday :)

I request you to MSG or email me your confirmation in order to arrange T-shirts and Caps.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-04-04T12:30:00.001+05:30

When mind is free from lust, greed, possessiveness, arrogance etc., when the mind is in the pure form with which we were all born with, then nature listens to you. You are a child of nature and nature loves you. When that manifests, when you are clear then two things happen - your wishes get fulfilled and you can fulfill others’ wishes also.

Subject: ‘Enlightenment is a connection with the universal spirit’

Q: Does man need money or God?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Some think God is money. Many think money is God and very few know that God himself is money. God is love and when you have richness of love in you, you will see how abundance flows in life. There is a saying in sanskrit: ‘Udyoginam purush sindh mupayi tilaxmi’ God comes to you in the form of money - wealth is a consort of God. Consort of God, spirit of God comes to you as abundance when you put effort, to one who is working and not to one who is lazy. And one who has confidence and courage. So the one who has courage and confidence, and who puts in effort will get money. Don’t keep buying lottery tickets and sit at home. This is the biggest problem - you want money but you don’t want to do anything. So we have to put in effort. Money is just a means not an end in itself. You will need that but is it everything? No. You may have a lot of money but if you can’t eat, you can’t sleep well at night then that money is of no use. It loses it’s utility. So many people come here who have a lot of wealth and are depressed. They want to quit everything, their job, everything.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that in the next 20 years, 40–45 percent of the population will be depressed. What’s the point in having so much money and prosperity in the world when so many people are getting depressed? That’s why you need to have balance in life, balance of material and spiritual life. Isn’t it? Often people think spirituality means do nothing and sit quietly. No, it is not so. You should work. Even in the ashram there are 600 people who work -day and night. There is no Sunday and no Monday for them and they work round the clock. People come here all the time and they work. Kitchen people are working so hard. The kitchen never takes rest. You have any idea how much food they cook everyday when there is no big program? 600 – 700 Kg of rice is being cooked daily, 70 Kg of salt is put in, and 100 kg of vegetables are cut every day. So much of work they do. The housing department works tirelessly. And they are still smiling. And there are people who go and work in the fields. They are working in slums. There are teachers who are working worldwide. They work day and night. In Karnataka, itself, we have 78 slums and there are many different classes being run, educational classes, computer classes. Seva is a part of spirituality and definitely you can’t do charity with an empty bowl. You need money for service. But here nobody worries about money and charity happens, everything happens spontaneously. So these are some of the things we need to keep in our mind. You have money, you earn money, it’s good but you should keep aside some part for charity, whatever your capacity is 3 – 10%. Keep it aside. Along with it do your spiritual practices daily.

Once in a year, keep seven days completely for spirituality and then you don’t sit and calculate money. You come here and be 100 percent here, and take care of your health, do yoga, pranayama, meditation and learning. It is a very common experience when businessmen come here leaving their jobs for some time and do seva, meditation and the advance course, they start getting better contracts. Their wealth on the other side starts increasing. What they used to get putting in a lot of effort, starts to happen with very less effort. That is when sattva in you rises. Sattva is positive harmony within you and when that dwells up, your work outside also becomes smother and better.

Q: What is enlightenment? When is one said to be enlightened?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you say a word, you have already heard a definition for it. I would say enlightenment is a connection with the universal spirit, realizing that you are part of it, you are that. Living unconditional love without any effort, you don’t have to put any effort for that. Being like an open book, being natural and all these qualities are there in every individual. It only needs a little nurturing and then it starts blossoming. So when you walk, walk like you are enlightened, you are open, you are like a child, and you are free - emotionally, mentally and intellectually. Enjoy the freedom. When you don’t have any cravings and aversions of your own, then you can give yourself a certificate that you are enlightened. But you should be over all your cravings and aversions. Clear heart, clear mind and clarity in action are all part of enlightenment. If you look at a child of two-three years, or a baby of six months - there is unconditional love in his eyes. Every baby has all these qualities but minus wisdom. When you grow old keep all these qualities in you like innocence, and have the depth of wisdom along with it. That is what it is.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-04-03T00:13:00.001+05:30

The intellect may not understand but the subtle body understands the depth of Mantras. And the vibrations that are produced are doing good to all the subtle layers of existence. This energy creates benevolence, benefits the whole mankind, washes away our bad karma, promotes harmony in the world and desires get fulfilled. Desires get fulfilled when there is strength in the subtle. These bring us close to self- realization and also to achieve success in the world.

Subject: 30th Anniversary of the Bangalore Ashram

An Ashram is a place where there is no shram/effort. Keeping the mind at peace and letting divinity flow through you is effortlessness. And when does that happen? When you are at ease with yourself and the surroundings. And this is, in fact, the significance of the Ashram – where you are at home.
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Ashram. This was a barren land before that, and there was nothing but rocks. The land has been transformed into a beautiful place. This has all happened because of the meditation, seva and satsang.

When you have experienced inner peace, then either the Ashram has no significance or all the places become an Ashram for you. Yet till then, the Ashram and its vibrations, do have an impact. So, on this occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Ashram, be at home, be at Ashram, and be at peace with yourself. Wherever you are, make it an Ashram. Every home becomes an Ashram, this should be our wish!

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-04-01T19:42:00.001+05:30

You know there are two types of joy. One type of joy is that you get while getting something. As a child you always wanted to get something. Getting something used to make you happy. But the mature joy is that you get when you give something. When you share, you feel happy. When you see a good movie, you force everybody, ‘It’s a very good movie. You must see it.’ You just feel good because you have seen a good movie and you want your loved ones to experience the same. This joy of sharing is much superior and the world is forgetting that joy of sharing.

Subject: Truth can not be conveyed on the the level of brain

Q: What is the difference between religion and spirituality?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Spirituality joins everything. Different beliefs are there like somebody may be Vaishnav, somebody may be Hindu, somebody may be Christian, but spirituality is experience. I often say, religion is like a banana peel and spirituality is the fruit inside.

Q: Saints say that suicide is a crime. Then what is jeev Samadhi?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, suicide is wrong. Some saints take jeev Samadhi. They can effortlessly separate their mind and soul, and continue to live like that for 20 years or so. Saint Gyaneshwar and some other very great saints did that in the past. I am not in favor for it.
One commits suicide out of sorrow, and tries to destroy the body. One tries to commit such a thing burdened with the sorrow, and in search of happiness. But committing suicide is like you removing your coat when you are feeling cold. There is only repentance after suicide, and one keeps on struggling to get a new body. Don’t try to finish this body, and also don’t hold on to it very strongly.

Q: Even after doing Advance course, I have negative emotions like anger, jealousy and greed. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have already assumed that you have all this. Now imagine what the case would be if you had never done meditation. These emotions were happening in you earlier also, and these are happening now also. But now these lose their grip on you very quickly. May be, few more Advance courses and you find that you are out of the grip of these emotions.
Don’t assume that you have all these negative emotions in you. If you assume this, same will start manifesting. Where are these emotions right now? You are pure in the present moment. Have faith in your innocence in the present moment. Gradually, you will experience that all these are not present in you, and you would start feeling how beautiful you are from inside. You have heard this earlier, but now you would experience it.

Q: You are not only a Guru, a Spiritual Master, but you are also so skilled in management. How come you manage everything?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Guru is not a physical entity, but Guru is embodiment of knowledge and discretion. Guru is pure consciousness. There is no difference between universal consciousness, Guru and the Self. You should also be a Guru to someone. What does it mean to be a Guru? You don’t expect anything from them, and do whatever you can to uplift them with the feeling of love. Start with the one, then two, three…..10. ‘I am for you; you don’t need to worry’ - Then you would also be able to say this for everybody.

Q: How does one get rid of lust in the mind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you suppress lust totally, you won’t be able to rise high. Also if you indulge too much in it, then also it is not going to work. Adopt the middle path. You can progress on the path being a family man. Neither you should force celibacy on you nor should you indulge too much in it. If you see the faces of people who visit these night clubs, you will not find even a glimpse of happiness on their faces. It is like sadness and heaviness are dropping out from their faces.

Q: There are so many definitions of Saints. In reality, whom do we call a saint or a Yogi?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Saint is one whose consciousness is complete. Manifestation follows their words. When such a person speaks, it is not only on the level of mind. Those words have depth. It is more beneficial to directly listen to master’s words because He is speaking life’s experiences only. Experience kindles experience.
We communicate more through our presence. If our presence doesn’t have that love, then the words spoken carry no effect. And there is no need of words where presence carries love. Whatever we convey, it is through our whole existence. It is like when a child cries or laughs, it is coming from every cell of his/her body. This is indication of a yogi – He/She speaks through existence.
Truth can not be conveyed on the level of brain.

Q: Money cannot bring us happiness – this knowledge happens after accumulating money or before it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you are intelligent, it happens before. And if you are little less intelligent, then it happens afterward. An intelligent person also learns from others’ experiences. But this realization is only authentic if you can experience someone’s experience as your own. It doesn’t carry any value if a beggar says that he has abandoned everything. How can a beggar abandon anything? He has not earned anything at the first place. Also there are some people who do not understand this even after accumulating a lot of money. But this doesn’t mean that you should not earn money. If you are too feverish for money thinking that only it can bring you happiness, then either earn money and see yourself, or learn from others’ experience.

Next part of the conversation with Sri Sri in the next post:

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-03-23T17:20:00.001+05:30

Meditation has 3 rules.
1) I don't want anything. How is it possible when I want better job, grades in school, family and prosperity? Only for next 10 minutes say “I want nothing”. Can you say that? Remove your wants like a cap & keep it on the side. Just for 10 minutes.
2) I do nothing: When a scholar came to Lord Buddha, HE said just relax, become hollow & empty. I do nothing for next 10 minutes. I don’t concentrate on anything, don’t focus mind on any thoughts: good thoughts, bad thoughts let them come & pass.
3) I am nothing. For next few minutes, put off the label of being student, corporate, male, female…anything.

Subject: Knowledge feast: Short Questions extracted and complied!

Q: These days most Gurus have long hair and long beard. Is it a dress code?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 'Yes, you can call it as dress code. The long hair is like an antenna to receive messages from God and the long beard is like an earthing to transmit those messages to the people.

Q: Guruji what is Shanti(peace)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We must make you sit in a closed small room and play loudspeaker 24 hrs. And not some good music, some heavy music. Then after 24 hrs, when we switch it off you will come to know what is Shanti. (Laughter!!!)

Q: Dear Guruji, when we take responsibility, how can we tackle obstacles?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The test of your peace is only when there are obstacles. Be thankful for obstacles

Q: Do you get stressed?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The product really works well! Just last week I went to Kerala. They had organized 19 appointments in a day. I cancelled some of them before I went there. Yet, I ended up attending 22 appointments. I thought I would get irritated, but I surprised myself and didn't. Each one of us has tremendous energy within us. One single cell can light up the entire city of Bangalore for 24 hours.

Q: Can you talk a little about the Soul - the self or Atma?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is step by step experiential understanding. Before going to atma, the self, you have to know the five elements of creation. What are the tatvas? Prithvi, ap, tej, vayu, and akash - Earth, water, fire, air and ether. Then comes the mind, buddhi (intellect), memory, ego, and maha tattva (self).

Q: How does God see the world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: God cannot see two. For God there is no you and I! He can only see himself in everything and everyone!!

Q: Guruji, telling the truth causes problems outside and telling lie creates problems inside? What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Solve the problem. Problems are to be seen as challenges. Someone who is brave like challenges and you are brave, I tell you.

Q: Sometimes it seems all this is untruth, we running after things knowingly or unknowingly. Sometimes I feel I am compulsorily driven away with the flow and that distresses me. What is it that doesn’t change? What is the truth?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Truth cannot be spoken. Only in Silence, in deep meditation you can experience the truth!

Q: Why aren’t you hitting the world just like that? Why so slow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You all need a job too!

Q: Is there such a thing life after death? If there is no life after death what is the meaning of our existence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is good to have some suspense!

Q: Are there fixed number of souls? If yes, then how come so many people are getting reborn on the planet? Why is population increasing in the world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Hmmm! There are so many animals getting extinct also!

Q: What advice would you give to a skeptical non-believer?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A very good beginning point. See that you don’t become cynical and frustrated. Skepticism is perfectly alright, but not cynicism. That drains your energy. One can be skeptical to begin one’s journey and I would very much appreciate and welcome that. Because you would have gone through skepticism, the faith will be strongly built.

Q: Guruji, I appreciate the Sun and the Moon and the Nature, why can’t God appreciate when I do something good?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: He doesn't appreciate you, because he knows you can do better. If he starts appreciating you every moment, then your desire to perform better will not be there.

Knowledge Byte:Truth is that which does not change. Examine your life and identify all that changes as "not truth." With this outlook, you will find that you are surrounded by only untruth.
When you identify untruth, then you will become free from it. When you do not identify the untruth, you cannot become free from it. Your own experiences in life make you identify your own untruth.
As you mature in life, you find everything is untruth - events, situations, people, emotions, thoughts, opinions, concepts, your body - everything is untruth. It is only then that Satsang – the company of truth - happens in the real sense. A mother cannot see the child as untruth until the child becomes an adult. For a baby, sweetness is not untruth, and for a teenager, sex is not untruth.
Knowledge is untruth if it is only words. But as existence, it is truth. Love as an emotion is not truth; as existence, it is truth.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-03-21T11:16:00.002+05:30

Mind means moods, thoughts, opinions, ideas, all these things that we collect. And, no mind is meditation. Dawn and dusk are considered very good for mediation. So, whenever you meditate, or whenever the bad time is there, you meditate. When you meditate you go off the influence of the mind and go into the self. The self is Shiva tatva. Shiva tatva means, always benevolent, caring, loving, uplifing. That consciousness deep within you which is caring, loving, uplifting and benevolent, will nullify the negative influences of the mind and the time.

Subject: Consciousness is stronger than matter

Jan 25, 2011, Bangalore Ashram, India

Q. The more and more my love blossoms for the Divine – the harder I find it to give away my pains and worries. How can we give garbage to the most precious ones?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Never mind. Divine will take it. He’ll snatch it from you if you don’t want to give it. As long as there is connection, there is attention - there is always give and take. You will always receive blessings. You will always receive bliss and unwanted things will just drop off.
And it is nice of you to think that way - it also shows the level of consciousness. In this level of consciousness, drop this identity of garbage as part of you or yours. You find something pricking the mind, just see it as garbage, not yours or someone else’s.

Q. Dear Guruji, I’m feeling so lost in this world. You always say, ‘Life must be juicy’. But there is no juice anywhere. In every work, there seems to be complete emptiness. Don’t know what to do, where to go? Please guide.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are in the right place. Just be here. Is it not juicy here? Is it dry and empty? Of course, it’s hollow and empty when you sit and meditate. But now, you see it’s so celebratory and fun. No one can ever say its dry here.
Look at everyone and the smile on their face. Yes, when you want to take something from the world, the world will appear to be completely dull and lack. But when you want to contribute, the picture changes drastically!

Q.Is peace a state of mind in which no desire or craving etc. arise at all or they arise and subside very fast. How to attain peace permanently?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you drop this wanting permanency, there will be peace.

Q. The soul takes staying forever and takes birth till getting moksha. Then, who lives in hell?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you want to explore hell now? I have never been there, so I can’t tell you what it is.

Q. What is unconditional love and how can we love a person unconditionally, and when can we do that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you don’t want anything in return, that is called unconditional love. Not even a thanks or a sense of gratitude or gratefulness. A lot of times people help others but these little expectations are there and that is what bugs them and pulls them down. That is also a condition.
Unconditional love comes naturally as your consciousness blossoms. You can’t force it on yourself or cultivate it. I don’t know how to cultivate it. It’s simply a phenomenon. When your consciousness expands, rises, then, what comes out of it is unconditional love. You say, I’m here for you and I want nothing from you. This comes to you and it has come to you with some people but with many others, you have some expectations.

Q. Guruji, how do we handle situations where we feel we have been blamed unfairly?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just with a smile. In this world, there is place for ignorance also. If someone is blaming you, it is out of their ignorance. And if it is not ignorance, it is mal-intention or jealousy and I would club all these emotions as part of ignorance. So, the best is you move on and don’t get stuck because you have no way to control other’s opinion and you don’t need to - everyone can have their own opinion. The best formula is to educate and ignore. You have to; if someone says, you are a thief, you can’t say, let him have his opinion. You educate him. If they believe it or not it’s up to them. So, keep this as a formula in every relationship. Educate and ignore. If you just ignore in the beginning, you will only exhibit arrogance. Educate is also a little strong word. You can say inform and ignore, which is even better. In education, there is more effort. In anger, people say, I will teach him a lesson.

Q. Sometimes the inability to plan in advance and the resulting chaos is passed on as divine chaos. How to tackle such chaotic people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The person who has created chaos wants a cover and in the cover, he will always say to save his face and position. He will bring up many justifications. So, you understand that position
- may be you’d be doing the same thing when you are in that position. Don’t depend on what people say. Most of our problems begin when we lock on to their words and not their feeling or where they stand. A mother says to the child, get lost and she doesn’t really mean it but the words that come are very powerful and if the children take on the words, then, the child gets into trauma unnecessarily. I would say you should see beyond words.
Your communication should be more than verbal – it should transcend the verbal communication. Even if someone says all nasty things to you, can you just be grounded and keep your mind at calm. Then, you have achieved something. You are able to connect to people beyond their words.
Don’t expect that they should also connect. It’s always one way. I tell you communication is always one-sided. You have the skill, you can communicate and you can receive it in that sense. You do not worry about what their reactions are, what they blabber.
They usually say all these blame games are blabbering and you get caught up in this blame game. Someone blames, you get caught up in this blame game. You stand up and say - I have the master key and I know which button to press and how people will react and how things would change. You should have this confidence – the soul, the spirit in you is the master key. It can turn around the situation, the way you want it. You should have that faith. It may not happen five times but sixth time it will happen. It all depends on your conviction and persistence. And don’t bother about what they say.

Q: Could you please explain how consciousness is stronger than matter?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, in the pressure cooker, when you are cooking, when there is more pressure – how is it built up? Water vapor! And is that more powerful than water or not? So, subtler you go, the more powerful the things are. Now, this thing (Guruji shows the small silver cymbals in the hands) has silver molecules. When you break the silver molecules down, you get into atomic particles, and, when you break them you get sub-atomic molecules, which is minuter than the minutest. Are they not powerful? Which is powerful – this cymbal is powerful or the atom is powerful? Atom is powerful.
The subtler we go, it becomes more and more powerful. Though, everything is made up of consciousness. This entire universe is made up of consciousness, when you become subtler and subtler, they become more powerful.
Today I was watching a research done with water in Japan by a gentleman. He kept a little water in a bottle and took a photograph. Later he has used the same water for prayer and then after prayer he has took a photograph. You can see the impact of prayer - the subtle thought vibration has gone into the water. It’s obviously visible.
He took a bottle of water and kept blaming it and then took a microscopic picture of it. With another bottle, he said some pleasing words and you can see the difference.
In India, this process is called Abhimantra. You take a pot of water, place your hand on top and then chant mantras. The mantras are supposed to be absorbed into the water. It is an old tradition in India. When you go to any holy man or saint, you take a pot of water and ask them to bless the water. Among the sindhi community, they do this a lot.
This Abhimantra - mantra chanting on the water - has a huge impact on the water, because 70% of our body is water. In the Rudrabhisheka, water is made to fall on a crystal lingam while a particular chanting is being done and then it flows down. That water is very charged and it helps to uplift the atmosphere.
Now it is visible in the microscopic images, the changes that happen by these practices.
Similarly a gentleman from Russia came and conducted an experiment in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu when they were doing the Aarti. He took the pictures and found that all the negative ions in the atmosphere suddenly disappeared; they turned into positive ions. It is the positive ions which bring changes. All these things are meant to create the positive ions; to bring the required changes. The same is the case with the use of fire. During fire ceremonies, when they put the mantra with the intention, there is a qualitative change that happens in the atmosphere.

Q: Dear Guruji, I believe in this: As we sow, so we reap. But many instances we see that a person is going through bad times, even if we don’t see any major fault done by him or her. Why it happens?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Karma! The ways of karma are unfathomable. Karma is like an ocean. This is not one lifetime. In many lifetimes, we have done so many actions and they all have repercussions. Which karma has sprouted from which seed and what fruit this karma will give is very difficult to pin point. That is why it is said ‘gahana karmanogati’ . Unfathomable are the ways of karma. Because it is not just one lifetime, many lifetimes, we have done many things and we don’t know which karma sprouts when. That’s why don't worry about the karma, just be active and follow your conscience.
Act with conscience!

Q: How to take full responsibility for your actions without feeling doership?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are taking responsibility, just take the responsibility. Doership means brooding over the consequences.
Whatever has happened, the moment you take responsibility, you are empowered. You come to the present. You have already accepted the consequences.
When you are in action, don’t get into this philosophy of doership or non-doership else the mind gets confused. When you act, you act hundred per cent. When you are acting hundred per cent, suddenly you will realize I am not doing, it is all happening. Non- doership is an experience; it is not something you try to do or achieve.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-03-19T12:05:00.001+05:30

Know that you have abundance of grace with you, and God is your very own. Satsang is the charger and Seva is the sim card. What happens with Seva? When you do Seva, you gain blessings and those blessings add strength to your life. And then Sadhana(Practices)? What is Sadhana – That which makes you establish connection with the Self, with the Divine, that infinite power can be experienced through Sadhana.

Subject: When your devotion is strongly rooted, Nature listens to you!

Mumbai, January 15, 2011
Anand Tandav – Meditating while being merged in the dance of creation! Shiva consciousness means that which is pure and complete. When both the shores of sound and silence, music and meditation are inculcated in life then only perfection dawns! We will meditate for some time now! There are three rules to meditation: For some time, I do nothing, I want nothing and I am nothing. Whatever you need, think of that afterwards. I am neither intelligent nor stupid, I am neither rich nor poor, I am neither sinful nor a noble soul. For next few minutes, Akinchan, Achah and Aprayatan!
(As usual, 20 – 25 minutes of meditation flies away in less than a tangible minute)
Yoga is the art of doing nothing. Being in a total calm and serene state of mind is yoga, and yoga enables one reach such a state of mind. Physical yoga is to reduce tamoguna*. A little practice of being peaceful before and after doing work gives such strength and erases so many distortions from the mind. More are the distortions, more sorrow one experiences.
Dhyan, Pranayama, Service and intelligence!

Q: How intelligent is it to be angry on the past?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Is there any profit of being angry at the past? A business minded person would never do that!
There is a story of Mullah Nassurudin. His son was about to hold an expensive electronic equipment and he slapped his son. When asked, he said what the fun would be to slap after it has broken! It is a sign of foolishness to be angry at something that had happened in the past. People ask me if I don’t get angry. But at what should I be angry at? Past that has already gone!
You get angry at something which is happening in the present. But reacting to anger with anger! What foolishness! If somebody does mistake again and again, you can show anger but don’t get swayed away with that. Arogya vardhak gussa – Healthy anger is that which stays only for that much time as a line drawn on water stays.
It doesn’t mean not to show anger when someone is wrong but it is unintelligent to flow away with that. Sadhana is to protect mind from any vikara( Distortion that takes one away from the self).

Q: Sometimes it seems nature putting obstacles on the path while doing something. Is it so? If yes, how to go about that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Nature may put many vikalpa on the way to shake your faith. Satsang, the right company would help. Which is the right company? That which makes you feel light, which makes you feel the problem is very trivial as compared to what you thought. That is no satsang which makes you perceive an exaggerated view of the problem.
Nature may put 1000 hurdles on the way but you come out smilingly with a much strong personality. This is just another way of Nature to strengthen the faith. An enormous strength rises in you. Your faith in God is no favor to God! One who has tasted the devotion, He knows. Sankalpa gets manifested with devotion. When your devotion is strongly rooted, Nature listens to you!

Q: Can you talk about grace of the Divine and gratitude for the Divine in life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Happiness comes by grace, Joy comes by grace, and even devotion comes by grace. Whatever one gets in life, that comes with grace. Every instant one is grateful to the God being beneficial for one self and for others also!
Live your life which radiates a fragrance which makes you and also others happy.

Q: How do we get our sankalpas accomplished?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: These cell phones are so powerful that you can reach anybody in the world through it. So, the mind which has made these cell phones, won’t that be more powerful than this? If these radiations can produce such effect, what effect would human radiations produce?
The Sankalpa that one takes for the goodness of society, that definitely gets accomplished. Drop your worries and the Divine will care of you. Be in the innocent state of surrender.

Q: We get inspired so soon but then that inspiration doesn’t stay for long. What can one do to have persistent inspiration?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t make an effort. It takes its natural course. Never try to hold on to joy, happiness and inspiration. When you try to, it runs even more quickly.
Sri Sri invites all professionals to volunteer for the running projects in Mumbai. Doctors to take three free medical camps in Dharavi, Engineers to take up some project and teachers to take three tuitions for free!

Q: How to deal with people who think ‘I know it all’?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: With a big smile! You can tell, ‘you have your right for ignorance’.

Q: sometimes lots of visions come in meditation. What should one do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Take it as a thought and leave it. Sometimes hallucinations may come as imaginations.

Q: Can you talk about Darwin’s theory of evolution?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Did you forget about Dashavatara? Darwin’s theory came much later and there are many loopholes in it. It is being questioned now. He was a linear thinker. Before quantum physics come into picture and ancient Vedic knowledge was revived, lot many were into linear thinking. According to linear thinking there is beginning to everything and everything comes to an end. But we were of spherical thinking – No beginning and no end. The Adwait (Non – dual) existence!
Everything here radiates vibrations, and those vibrations make things happen around you.

Q: Sometimes I stuck up in some identity and I find myself stuck in that limited sphere of role. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The first and foremost identity is that you are a part of Divine. You are beautiful human being. Then you can be Hindu, Muslim, Christian, engineer, teacher or whatever. All identities come later.

Q: What is the line of demarcation between parents’ guiding the children and interference?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t think it as interference. Elders should be guiding and later you only will be happy. They are telling something because of some reason. We have these workshops called ‘Know your child’ and ‘know your teen’. You can attend that if you wish to.

Q: How intelligent is it to identify oneself with a particular culture?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are a global person, but at the same time one should not forget one’s cultural roots.

*Tamoguna: is one of the primordial three gunas, the gunas that regulate the nature. However, a little is required to relax but if imbalanced, causes lethargy, heaviness and downward flow in evolution.

Jai Gurudev

PART-1, PART-2 (Avance Course) & YLTP with Guruji

2011-03-12T18:20:00.003+05:30

Brilliant opportunity to do Part-1, Part-2(Adv course) & YLTP with Guruji.

Knowledge Sheet

2011-02-24T11:58:00.001+05:30

A lady once asked, “Why did God make this place so sad?” So that you can turn to Him. Even though the world is so sad, you still cannot drop it! Can you imagine what would happen if it was all good? You have to turn to the Creator through the creation, recognize the Creator inside the creation. It’s like a hologram.

During moments of misery, we need the strength of sacrifice. During moments of happiness, we need to share our happiness.

Subject: When belongingness expands to include everyone, spirituality has grown

Q. How to bring up children in a competitive world?
Sri Sri: The world has always been competitive. In the past, competition was present on a smaller scale. It is much bigger now. We need to instill values. Even in the satyuga, there were rakshasas (demons). So don't blame time. You do your part. Instill values in children.

Q. What is the difference between jeeva (individual consciousness) and brahma (infinite cosmic consciousness)?
Sri Sri: Jeeva is a part of Brahma.
The balloon has air outside and inside it. Inside a vessel, there is space and outside there is space as well. The inside space is jeeva,the outside space is brahma.
The jeeva is desire, aversion, craving. All this is the balloon. That is why the Lord is not somebody separate, but it is,‘what I am.’ If the wave asks,‘Where is the ocean then what to say? The wave itself is the ocean. You have to only realize this. That is why it is said that while it takes a moment to break a flower stem, the Divine can be realized in a fraction of that moment.

Q.I cannot accept criticism. So I get disturbed.
Sri Sri: For how long does this happen?For some time right?So, it’s alright. If you think you shouldn't get disturbed, then you get more disturbed. The disturbance doesn't stay for all time.If there is some point in their comments, take it. Welcome the criticism. Is it for your improvement or is it the impression that you have created?
You doubt compliments. So doubt the criticism as well.

Q. I feel unhappy very often. How can I get out of it?
Sri Sri: Right now are you happy or sad? Just be happy. So, the answer is within you.
Once, a woman went to a saint and asked, ’Why is the world so sad?’
If you can’t leave the world when there is unhappiness, how will you leave a world full of happiness?
You will be in a great loss if you can’t let go of the world. Just turn inwards to the Source, there is no sadness. Once you learn how to go inwards the world doesn't seem sad.
Just look at the world, where is the sadness? Birds are chirping;the river is flowing. Where is the sadness? I only see beauty in the world. Just look at all the faces (here)they are so happy!
In life, there’s 20 percent sadness and 80 percent happiness. But our mind makes the 20 percent into 2000 percent.

Q. Could you please comment on the Naxalite issue?
Sri Sri: The Naxal problem is not of poverty. A poor man cannot lift a gun or make a bomb. These are people who have wrong education. They say,‘If people can elect us, they can bring us down also. Did Napoleon ask anyone for a vote, did Mao or Stalin ask?’ They feel that they should come to power on their own power.
This education turns people towards violence.People who walk the path of spirituality, who know history,will never go into Naxal activities. They are ignorant of spirituality. That is why spirituality is most important.
That is why I often say Krishna was the first communist. Krishna said, ‘See Me in all and all in Me’. This is the real communism.

Q. There is a lot of poverty. How do we find a solution for that?
Sri Sri: One of the main reasons for poverty is alcoholism.
Many villagers spend 60 percent of their earnings in the toddy shop. If you think they are poor, then from where have they got toddy? Villages have risen above the poverty line just by closing the toddy shops. The poorest of the poor can earn and not stay hungry, wherever alcohol has stopped. Youngsters in rural areas are now dealing with this problem.
People of all castes should celebrate together. Everyone should come together for one meal in a week. When people in the village will come together, then the feeling of Dalit and non Dalits will be removed. In every village, ask those who can to contribute for those who don’t have enough. Such development cannot be done by the government alone. NGOs have to initiate this change.

Q. What carries the samskaara through different lifetime? The body dies and the consciousness is pure.
Sri Sri: The mind carries the samskaaras.

Q. What is spirituality?
Sri Sri: Do you feel belongingness? That is spirituality.
When this belongingness expands to include everyone, then spirituality has grown.

(A girl from the audience asks)
Q: How do you know if you really love somebody?
Sri Sri: Suppose you sit for four–five hours. Do you get a pain in your leg? (The girl nods her head.) How do you know? (Sri Sri addresses the audience in general)Our doubt is always about something positive. Someone asks, ‘Are you happy?’ And we say,‘Well…I am not sure.’ You have never doubt your depression.

Jai Gurudev...

Knowledge Sheet

2011-02-22T11:26:00.001+05:30

GDP of a country should be now measured with GDH- Gross Domestic Happiness. Factor which state is happy, which country is happier than the other. Having a big bank balance and being depressed is not prosperity. You should have the mind to enjoy that prosperity. You may have enough food, but you suffer from diabetes and depression and heart problem. That doesn’t count to be a healthy society. So whether it is economy or politics, social entrepreneurship or any activity, everything is centered around one fact: welfare of the society.

Subject: Have a combination of both – sensitiveness and strength

Q. How can I not see ugly feelings behind ugly words?
Sri Sri: Sometimes people say words and they really don’t feel that way. Don’t you do it sometimes? As children, you say things that you don’t really mean. Kids usually say things they mean. As we grow older, our feelings and words grow apart. They are not the same. Now, don’t worry about what other people are feeling. Feelings are fleeting. One day they feel good, next day they don’t. Don’t bother about this. Simply acknowledge that that person is not feeling good and that they are here to work on it. Our being angry that someone is feeling bad doesn’t make sense. Sometimes their feelings change but your feelings remain the same. Someone puts a doubt in your head and then they forget but you hold on to it. The same is with senior citizens who complain but then forget while you hold on to the complaint.

Look at the present moment - now, now, now! Wake up NOW! Everything else is stupid. All that has happened has gone into emptiness. Everything dissolves into emptiness. Your entire past - wiped out! All the things that you felt are gone. Good or bad, they are gone. So, wake up to the truth of the present moment. Divinity is in the present moment. This is yoga. Yoga is being established in the moment. And moment does not mean fleeting moment. The moment has the depth of infinity; it has all the past and all the future.

Who cares what you feel? Throw your feelings into the ocean. A little sensation or discomfort arises. Who cares? Are you doing what you want to do? And, in doing what you want to do, are you keeping the delicacy of your consciousness or are you being like a bulldozer (I will do whatever I want)? Being like a bulldozer is being insensitive. Being oversensitive and very weak and being like a bulldozer are both not correct. The best combination is being sensitive and strong. This is wisdom and this is what we have to work on.

The effect of past actions is limited. Past actions definitely affect you e.g. you drive fast, get a ticket, and you have to pay. Get three tickets and you have to surrender your license, no doubt. But don’t brood over it. Wake up. When you wake up, even the consequences you fear will not happen. You will be forgiven in that moment. The moment we acknowledge our mistake, we are forgiven. So you are innocent every moment you are awake. Now! Now! Now!

Take the challenge. Whenever someone is nasty towards you, do something so nice that it takes them by surprise. You will suddenly find there is a shift happening. If it does not happen also it is fine. At least you have done something good.

The world is a very funny place, I tell you. Either it is very entertaining or it is such a pain and so miserable! You can’t take it. Sometimes, you do so much for someone and they turn their back and do things that harm you. Many parents say, ‘I did so much for my children and now they are dissociating from me.’ Not just with parents, but same with employers, friends, siblings, and even spouse. Speaking of spouse, there are four stages of marriage. First stage is mad for each other. Second stage is made for each other. Third stage is mad at each other. The fourth stage is mad because of each other.

Q. Some days I feel so much love for the Divine. Other days, I feel like praying for desires.
Sri Sri: Just be natural. When prayer is happening, don’t create a conflict and confusion in yourself. Don’t say, “Oh it will happen anyways!” But prayer does not have to happen by compulsion.

Q. Please tell us what is so special about the tip of this nose?
Sri Sri: All the sensory nerves end in the tip of the nose. There are two points that are important for alertness and focus of the brain - the ear lobes and tip of the nose. They are the marma points. These are the secret points. If you keep your attention on the tip of the nose, your focus improves, especially for children. In the Jain tradition, they can multiply 100 numbers (avadhan). They focus on the tip of the nose. It’s amazing! They are faster than computers.

Shathavadhanis, as they are called. Avadhan is the technique of holding memories in your consciousness. It is like a photographic memory. People who follow this technique, Avadhanis, can tell you what date was Tuesday in 1700. This knowledge was systematically erased. That is the unfortunate part.

Q. What does ayurveda have to do with meditation?
Sri Sri: Ayurveda is a complete science. It describes dincharaya (daily routine) and ritucharya (seasonal routine). Dinacharya includes meditation for balancing of the three doshas (mind or body type). The mind has an impact on the body and all its doshas and gunas (three qualities of nature: sattva, rajas and tamas). So, the mind, breath, herbs - they are all linked. Similarly, ayurveda helps one to meditate deeply. Too many thoughts indicates high pitta (one of the three doshas). So pitta must be treated. In ayurveda, combinations are referred to as ‘yoga’. For example, when two herbs are put together it is called yoga. So that concept of yoga is similar to meditation and to ayurveda.

Q. Where do you see The Art of Living 25 years from now?
Sri Sri: I leave that vision to you. Now each of you must think about how you want The Art of Living to blossom. It’s for you to think about. Today, The Art of Living is all over the world. See it was not too long ago that cell phones were introduced. But it has reached all nooks and corners of the world. Why? Because, it is useful. Similarly, the knowledge of how to connect to one’s mind, how to handle one’s emotions - this knowledge is useful and it will spread.

Q. How do you initiate your disciples? Do you choose your disciples?
Sri Sri: Don’t limit our relationship. Let love be love, don’t give it a name. For a master, no disciples exist. But for a disciple, the Master exists. See, if you do the Kriya, you are initiated.

Q. Does one have to become a teacher to progress on the spiritual path? Knowledge, experience or faith, which comes first?
Sri Sri: See, from a little experience knowledge develops, and then faith happens. They are all intertwined. In The Art of Living, we say first experience and then you go up, step by step. It’s good to become a teacher because then you can teach others and there is so much joy. But don’t think you must become a teacher. You still hold the same status whether you are a teacher or not. Don’t think that you are more evolved because you are a teacher.

Q. How does one come to embrace nature? Especially the terrible rain, snow in this country?
Sri Sri: I enjoy this weather. Maybe you should go to the Sahara desert and see how nice it is to be in such a cool country. It is in your mind. Accept it, or move to Florida!

Q. I have been on the path for so long, but I still get attracted to violent and non sattvic partners. What can I do? The attraction is almost irresistible.
Sri Sri: What can I say? Go for it! It will be beneficial to the nearby doctors and hospitals if you keep breaking parts of your body with violent partners! See, it’s about patterns… when you recognize that this is your pattern, wake up and say, “I will not be a victim of this pattern!” You have that strength! You will be given that strength.

Jai Gurudev

Announcement

2011-02-18T11:23:00.002+05:30

Jai Gurudev,

Combined follow up on 20th Feb, 2011(Sunday) 3pm at SD school, Ganj bazar, with renowned International Yoga Teacher Kamlesh Barwal ji.

Pls pass on the word to all you can.

Jai Gurudev :))

Knowledge Sheet

2011-02-18T11:20:00.001+05:30

Subject: 30th Anniversary of the Bangalore Ashram

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-02-15T11:21:00.001+05:30

After reciting 18 chapters of The Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, ‘You think about it, analyze it, if it appeals to your mind and if you agree then you accept it.’ This means the strength that is within us; the strength of the soul is what gives us this freedom. So now we have to utilize it in the right direction. So whenever we are happy and joyful, we should make an effort to spread this happiness, this joy to minimum ten other people. Will you all do it? Everybody?

Subject: 30th Anniversary of the Bangalore Ashram

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-02-14T11:42:00.002+05:30

In life, there should be all types of prosperity – usually money is associated with prosperity. Satisfaction is true wealth. The air, earth and time are also wealth. The right usage of time is very important. There is a wealth in knowledge. Its nectar should be in our consciousness. Whatever we have, whatever we can give, should be shared. We must practice charity.

Subject: With satsang, sadhana and seva our faith becomes very strong

More happiness we share with others, more happiness we experience.Do you agree with it? Don’t just say yes. First you think and if you agree, then accept that. One can travel the whole world, but only in the Indian tradition you will see that even when the best of knowledge is spoken, one says, ‘You think about it, only if you find it’s right, then accept it.’

After reciting 18 chapters of The Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, ‘You think about it, analyze it, if it appeals to your mind and if you agree then you accept it.’ This means the strength that is within us; the strength of the soul is what gives us this freedom. So now we have to utilize it in the right direction. So whenever we are happy and joyful, we should make an effort to spread this happiness, this joy to minimum ten other people. Will you all do it? Everybody? In my opinion each person has the capability to give happiness to a thousand people. Each one of you can bring light to the lives of a thousand people or more.

Like I said, spirituality is the only way through which we can be free from depression. Whether our society gets freedom from misconduct, corruption, injustice or not, we must spread spirituality. In every house, we must tell people to meditate, to get together and have satsang. In whichever village, people have gotten together and done satsang, all negativities have gone away. Mahatma Gandhi had once desired for an honest society that is now becoming a reality in many villages in India. Even in Gujarat, in many villages, this work is ongoing where people have left alcohol, drugs and with much joy and love are serving others.

One thing that is very important for you to remember: In everyday life, you may experience some lack here and there. Your mind gets upset or someone has tears in their eyes… this is all part of life, which keeps happening. It has never been like everything in life is perfect, ideal or rosy-rosy. It has never been like that, but to deal with problems we need strength and patience and that comes through sadhana. Don’t think of life as separate from sadhana, your life itself is your sadhana. Understand this and move forward. Don’t think that just by closing my eyes for a few minutes and doing something, sadhana is done. No! Whatever you do, walking, moving about, getting up or sitting down, smiling or getting angry, whatever you do in life is sadhana. We need to look from this perspective and then we experience so much relief. When in yourself, this cool breeze of relief and peace starts to flow then you will see how people around you will also start to feel the same. Already many people are feeling it, isn’t it?

It is said that devotion was born in Tamil Nadu, raised in Karnataka and blossomed in Gujarat. So here in Gujarat, devotion blossomed and became complete. Where is the blossoming of devotion? It is in service! We must do as much seva as we can. This does not mean we have to do what we cannot do. No. We have to do as much as is possible for us; and there is nothing as big or small service, the fruit of all service is the same. We must not feel that I have to do that service which is important or big, no, what is important is to have the feeling to be of help to others, and we serve with that feeling. It is in your nature to help and you are helping by doing that. That’s it!

If any of you are feeling ‘I am doing a lot of seva, remove that from your mind today. Who are you doing seva for? Without doing something we cannot live. That’s why we are doing something and if others are benefiting by us doing something, then it is a very good thing, isn’t it. So we must not feel proud of our seva or proud of our good qualities, this is what we need to offer into the fire of knowledge. So offer your negative qualities, also offer your good qualities and good actions, and live life smiling, feeling light and at the same time being immersed into the depths of knowledge.

You don’t have to work very hard to achieve love and peace in your life; this is easily achieved in a state of rest and such rest we can experience when there are no small botherations lingering in the mind. Then you experience deep rest; and desires linger in your mind when you do not have faith. When you are thirsty then only the desire for water arises, but what will happen if you sit and think about water all day? Do you understand what I am saying? What does desire mean? A lack of faith that I am going to get what I need. So with satsang, sadhana and seva, our faith becomes very strong and all work gets done like it’s getting done in your lives right now.

How many of you have experienced that what you desire is getting fulfilled? So whatever you desire is getting fulfilled, then you should desire for big things. What is the use of desiring for small things? There is no fun in that.

I am not saying do this, do that, I am saying do nothing. Now just five minutes before I said spread happiness, now I am saying you don’t have to do anything. Just relax… the contradiction between these two states only is life. That’s why if you read the Gita you will understand everything is contradictory. Gita is our very life; it is not only a holy text. Gita is for everybody, it is our life and in life there are contradictions.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet

2011-02-11T23:25:00.001+05:30

There are three levels of existence - Outer world, subtle world of different energies and Divinity or God. All the yagnas being performed here aim to achieve both spiritual and material benefits. When you go deep inside yourself, from where everything has come from, you experience the Supreme Peace. Only when you are in deep meditation, these mantras have effect. These are very powerful and beautiful and enrich the subtle creation.

Subject: Diwali is a time to drop everything and start afresh

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s address at Annam Brahm, an event that showcased 5,600 vegetarian food items. This initiative also brought to the forefront the unifying power of food. People of all religions participated in this event with the aim to showcase the unique cuisines from different communities.
Sri Sri:
“We are part of a Smashta Jeevan - An individual human being is connected to the whole universe, with all its life forms. Birds, animals and the life of people should be respected. When we care for nature, nature cares for us. It makes us complete and completeness is the basis of a human being. We need to take care of plants and animals. One of the most divine expressions is to plant a tree. Then we need to take care of people. Ladies while cooking should take out one handful of grains everyday and once a week or once a month should feed the poor. It is said that two to three hundred years back, there was not even one poor or hungry person in India. Such a complete and capable country we had.
Once again we must resurrect this country to that state. We should all work towards this.

Life without joy,
Heart without compassion,
Mind without imagination,
And Intellect without intuition is incomplete.

Life is all celebration. Celebration happens when all come together, and a society without celebration is no good.

Gujarat is full of celebration. The amount of dance people do out here, one will hardly find anywhere else in the world. The whole of Gujarat rises to dance during Navratras.

We are having Diwali. Greeting each other and singing with each other, we light the lamps on Diwali and celebrate. A single lamp is not enough, and we have to light the lamp in every field. Let the light shine on spiritual, social, financial and all other fields – This is the message for Diwali. While involving in daily activities, we do get upset with each other, we get upset and we make others also upset. But how long can you burn in that fire? Diwali is a time to drop everything and start afresh. That is why in this region, Diwali is immediately followed by the New Year. So, on this occasion my wish for everybody is to have the light of wisdom and spirituality in their lives, and the waves of joy keep rising in all hearts.

Today is Annam Brahma – the topic is food. It is said in all our Upanishads that Food is Brahma, and one should honor it. Like they say "Jaisa ann vaisa mann" – The state of your mind depends on your diet. Pure vegetarian food keeps our mind perfect, intellect sharp and body fit. That is why many scientists today are switching to vegetarianism.

We are not even aware of the huge variety of food which is there in India. From Tripura to Kerala and Kashmir to Kanyakumari, whatever type of dishes people eat, are present here today.

We offer prayers before eating. The food that we eat absorbs the vibrations. Respecting food means respecting farmers, we should always keep in mind that the one who is producing food should always be happy, because that is the origin of the thought cycle. This is our beautiful tradition, with such deep science behind. Food makes us experience the chaitanya (the consciousness), that is why it is called Brahman.

India is famous for its contribution in seven spheres. First is the variety of clothing available. Then is the huge variety of food. After this comes Nritya and Sangeet (Dance and Music) – India is being recognized in these fields also. Then comes tourism - Pravaas Udhyog, and the I.T Industry, and of course India is making its name in the field of Spirituality - Knowledge industry. Like this, India has made an extraordinary mark in these seven spheres. We have to popularize it. It is very important today. These things should be recognized as a world heritage.

Jai Guru dev

Knowledge Sheet 68

2011-02-10T12:59:00.001+05:30

Life without joy,
Heart without compassion,
Mind without imagination,
And Intellect without intuition is incomplete.

Life is all celebration. Celebration happens when all come together, and a society without celebration is no good.

Subject: ‘In the rush of our daily lives, we forget that Divinity is within us’

There are many meanings of Dhantaras. In life, there should be all types of prosperity – usually money is associated with prosperity. Satisfaction is true wealth. The air, earth and time are also wealth. The right usage of time is very important. There is a wealth in knowledge. Its nectar should be in our consciousness. Whatever we have, whatever we can give, should be shared. We must practice charity.

Today the priests performed a yagya with Vedic rituals. Prayer is an expression of showing your gratitude towards God. Eight years ago we performed a yagya here. Since then there has been no famine. Earlier there were parch lands everywhere, today there is greenery all over. We should thank Goddess Laxmi for bringing prosperity to Saurashtra.

Divine love is not somewhere far, it is with me right here. If we have this faith, then we can never feel separate from Divine love. I have come to tell you that you can never be far from God. If you understand this today then I will consider my work done.

Devi and Devtas are forms of God. Honor them and rest deep in your subtle Self.
Is there only one type of sweet, then how can God be of one kind? Yesterday 5,600 types of dishes were displayed. 35,000 children, who had never seen these many varieties of sweets, ate from the spread.
Two years ago an event called Brahma Naad was organized in Delhi where 1,200 sitarists performed.
People said it’s not possible. Yet to make the impossible possible is our work. In Pune, 2,700 vocalists came together. Then the Gujarat team came up with this idea of Annam Brahm.

All this is a part of Goddess Laxmi. There are eight kinds of wealth that come in everybody’s life.
We rekindled this spark of Goddess Laxmi in our consciousness.

Just know that whatever you want, you will get.
Lord Krishna said that leave all religions and come to Me, I will liberate you from all your sins.
But we do just the opposite. We keep clinging to religion and start our journey to save ourselves from our own sins.

In the rush of our daily lives, we forget that Divinity is within us.
Let us all take this sankalpa - Remembering again and again that the Divine music is within us, my family and I take this commitment that people all over the world should stay happy.

Jai Gurudev

knowledge Sheet 67

2011-02-09T17:39:00.001+05:30

When you don’t want anything in return, that is called unconditional love. Not even a thanks or a sense of gratitude or gratefulness. A lot of times people help others but these little expectations are there and that is what bugs them and pulls them down. That is also a condition.
Unconditional love comes naturally as your consciousness blossoms. You can’t force it on yourself or cultivate it. I don’t know how to cultivate it. It’s simply a phenomenon.

Subject: Knowledge nugget from Delhi

In life if you want satisfaction, then you need an ice factory in the brain, a sweet factory in the mouth and a compassion factory in the heart.

Whatever demands you have, surrender them to the Divine. As dukh (sadness) means tyag ka bal (strength to surrender) and sukh (happiness) means seva ka bal (strength to serve).

Q: Any amount of positivity I try in life, small failure makes me feel low?
Sri Sri: How are you feeling now? Failures come in life - do you do sadhana everyday? Chant Om Namah Shivay for ten minutes everyday. The energy you get from chanting is amazing

In China, there was a popular person who had seven diseases. He started chanting Om everyday for two hours and the diseases got cured. Sage Patanjali said this many years ago: if we chant Om every day, it reduces negative energy at home.

There are many health problems because of the number of chemicals used in food, soap and also radiations. We should keep our food satvic, do chanting and pranayama.

The incidence of cancer is increasing nowadays because we don’t give enough importance to food.

Q: How to do samarpan (surrender) in bhakti (devotion)?
Sri Sri: In the same way how we have sweetness in sugar.

Q: You always say we should be like children. I was careless and fearless as a child. Now as an adult a new fear has come.
Sri Sri: Just relax and keep doing sadhana. Don’t worry.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet 66

2011-02-07T17:13:00.000+05:30

In this world, there is place for ignorance also. If someone is blaming you, it is out of their ignorance. And if it is not ignorance, it is mal-intention or jealousy and I would club all these emotions as part of ignorance. So, the best is you move on and don’t get stuck because you have no way to control other’s opinion and you don’t need to - everyone can have their own opinion. The best formula is to educate and ignore.

Subject: ‘Let the light in my life and wisdom around me always be there’

This fortnight is the period of the Divine and we do puja every day. Today is the concluding day and also Sharad Poornima/full moon. Each poornima (full moon) is associated with a very significant event in history.
Buddha Poornima, the full moon day in the month of Vaishakh (usually falls in April or May) is connected to the birth, enlightenment and attainment of Mahasamadhi by Gautama Buddha. The next Poornima is dedicated to Rishi Vyasa. Sage Vyasa was the master of both the realms – material as well as spiritual. He knew the ways of the world, and that of the spirit as well. Veda Vyasa organized the entire knowledge, and there was no knowledge about which he didn’t know. Guru Poornima is the day on which all the Masters of all the Traditions are venerated. The last full moon is dedicated to Anant or infinity. Celebrating infinity – no boundaries – no beginning or end.

This month’s full moon is called Sharad Poornima. The brightest and without any blemish, it is supposed to stay longer too, the full moon of Celebration. It is said that Divine dance happened on the day between Lord Krishna and the Gopies – symbolic of grateful devotees. It is said that Lord Krishna danced with all the Gopis under this moon so many thousands of years ago. Sharad Poornima is known for dance and celebration. It is the time when devotees feel the presence of the Divine in their life. This moon is also dedicated to beauty. The sky is clear and the largest moon shines brightly. Our mind and the moon are connected. When the moon is full, the mind is also full. The energy on the day is very high and celebration will keep it up. But this energy needs to be channelized.

With every full moon, we find an excuse to celebrate - Celebration with the spiritual flavor.
The period of last fifteen days was a Divine period. We do all poojas and yagyas. What is pooja? Reciprocating what Divinity is doing to us. God makes Sun and Moon go around us, showers flowers, rain and fruits. Imitation of that Divine expression is called pooja. Pooja is the most natural way of showing one’s gratitude.

We conclude this beautiful period doing pooja with a playful heart and keeping this intention, “Let the light in my life, the enthusiasm and wisdom around me always be there. I take the light of life into me. I accept wisdom and love.”

Divinity is everywhere like the air. Yet you feel the air near the fan. Similarly, Divinity is everywhere but you feel it more near the fan. Knowledge, yagya and Guru are like the fan. Near these you feel the presence of Divinity.

Jai Gurudeva!

Knowledge Sheet 65

2011-02-06T21:59:00.000+05:30

Karma! The ways of karma are unfathomable. Karma is like an ocean. This is not one lifetime. In many lifetimes, we have done so many actions and they all have repercussions. Which karma has sprouted from which seed and what fruit this karma will give is very difficult to pin point. That is why it is said ‘gahana karmanogati’ . Unfathomable are the ways of karma. That’s why don't worry about the karma, just be active and follow your conscience.
Act with conscience!

Subject: Navratri: A Journey to the Source

The festival of Navratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety in the beginning of the Ashwin (autumn) and the beginning of Chatira (spring). This period is a time for self-referral and getting back to the Source. During this time of transformation, nature sheds the old and gets rejuvenated; animals hibernate and life emerges back afresh in the spring.

According to Vedic sciences, matter reverts to its original form to recreate itself again and again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled by nature - a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however, lags behind in this routine cycle of creation. Navratri is a festival for one to take the mind back to its Source.

The Mother Divine is recognized not just as the brilliance of intellect (buddhi), but also the confusion (bhranti); she is not just abundance (lakshmi), she is also hunger (shudha) and thirst (trishna). Realizing this aspect of the Mother Divine in the entire creation, leads one to a deep state of Samadhi. This gives an answer to the age-old theological struggle of the Occident. Through wisdom, devotion and nishkama karma, one can attain advaita siddhi or perfection in the non-dual consciousness.

Kali is the most horrific manifestation of Nature. Nature symbolizes beauty, yet it has a horrific form. Acknowledging the duality brings a total acceptance in the mind and puts the mind at ease.
Though Navratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the actual fight is not between good and evil. From the Vedantic point of view, the victory is of the absolute reality over the apparent duality. In the words of Ashtavakra, it is the poor wave which tries to keep its identity separate from the ocean, but to no avail.

The three primordial gunas are considered as the feminine force of our magnificent universe. By worshiping the Mother Divine during Navratri, we harmonize the three gunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere.

The inward journey nullifies our negative karmas. Navratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy mahishasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They are completely opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomralochan) can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy.

The seeker gets back to the true Source through fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is also called ratri because it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of our existence – physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body, silence purifies the speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, and meditation takes one deep into one's own being.

The nine days of Navratri are also an opportunity to rejoice in the three primordial qualities that make up the universe. Though our life is governed by the three gunas, we seldom recognize and reflect on them. The first three days of Navratri are attributed to tamo guna, the next three days to rajo guna and the last three days to sattva guna. Our consciousness sails through the tamo and rajo gunas and blossoms in the sattva guna of the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates in life, victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honored by celebrating the tenth day as Vijaydashmi.

Though the microcosm is very well within the macrocosm, it’s perceived separateness is the cause of conflict. For a gyani (wise), the entire creation becomes alive and he recognizes life in everything in the same way children see life in everything. The Mother Divine or the Pure Consciousness itself pervades all the forms and has all the names. Recognizing the one Divinity in every form and every name is the celebration of Navratri. Hence, special pujas honoring all aspects of life and nature are performed during the last three days.

Jai Gurudeva!

Knowledge Sheet 64

2011-02-04T12:06:00.000+05:30

Well, in the pressure cooker, when you are cooking, when there is more pressure – how is it built up? Water vapor! And is that more powerful than water or not? So, subtler you go, the more powerful the things are. Which is powerful – molecule or atom? Atom is powerful. The subtler we go, it becomes more and more powerful. Though, everything is made up of consciousness. This entire universe is made up of consciousness, when you become subtler and subtler, they become more powerful.

Subject: Sri Sri’s message on non-violence day

“October 2 is remembered as a day of Non-Violence to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Mahatma Gandhi is synonymous with non-violence and truth. In today's times, we see so much domestic violence, societal violence, tension and depression that it's appropriate to honor October 2 as Non-Violence Day. Every day should, in fact, be a non-violence day and that is the art of living. Every day should be a celebration and when there is celebration there is no violence."

Jai Gurudeva!

Satsang and Gurupooja

2011-02-03T21:38:00.003+05:30

Please inform all around and far, through text or call, personally or casually, but make sure you do inform... :)

Satsang and Gurupooja

Venue: Indian Heritage Classes, near Budha institute, BCS choke, New Shimla.

Time: 4 pm.

Date: SUNDAY 06/02/11

LONG KRIYA also at 9am same venue.

Contact for more details

9805086663, 9459437500, 9418036697

PS: this would be a regular schedule from now onwards until Guruji's visit i.e. 22nd March. You would be informed about venue change every now and then. pls keep checking the blog daily.

Jai Gurudeva!

Knowledge Sheet 63

2011-02-03T21:18:00.002+05:30

Someone blames, you get caught up in this blame game. You stand up and say - I have the master key and I know which button to press and how people will react and how things would change. You should have this confidence – the soul, the spirit in you is the master key. It can turn around the situation, the way you want it. You should have that faith. It may not happen five times but sixth time it will happen. It all depends on your conviction and persistence.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: ‘Inner joy and true happiness alone can stop the feverishness in society that arises through desires’

The most fortunate event that can take place in our lives is when we feel, “I do not want anything, and I am here for you”. I have been bestowed with the good fortune of feeling this way right from the beginning. My wish is to see more and more people being able to think in this manner. Imagine how society would be if each member of the society thinks the same way! This feeling, this virtue is already there in everyone, but it is just hidden somewhere deep inside.

When the leader of a country feels in this manner, only then will the country progress; and when he is focused on the development of the country and its people, it is impossible that the needs of the leader are not fulfilled. But if we focus only on our needs, then we don’t give ourselves and our abilities a chance to blossom. We must always believe that our needs will be fulfilled.

This does not mean that when you have some needs, you suppress them saying, “I do not want anything”. This is a feeling that arises from a state of contentment or fulfillment, and not by neglecting or suppressing your needs, and fulfillment comes from spiritual knowledge. When you pay attention and focus on the highest knowledge, then your needs are fulfilled even before time.

Inner joy and true happiness alone can stop the feverishness in society that arises through desires. This kind of inner joy and happiness can only be achieved through knowledge. It is a matter of joy that The Art of Living is bringing together the various communities of the world. The core of every religion and culture is love, and The Art of Living is also based on the same principle of LOVE, “I do not want anything and I am here for you”. More and more people around the world should be able to develop the ability to say this.

If everyone starts to think like this, this world will become heaven. If everyone only thinks of taking something from someone, then we will continue to see the current world situation.

We are developing the world to make it a heaven, and it feels very good to see it happening. So every day we move forward with this belief that ‘I am yours’. Love, action, fun and celebration are all present in this knowledge. All of this comes from the knowledge.

Jai Gurudeva

Knowledge Sheet 62

2011-02-02T15:59:00.001+05:30

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One was sung in a royal palace and other in a battle field. You yourself see now what the difference is. It is like a song having different tunes. Both have their own value. When life seems to be a battle, Bhagwad Geeta will give you solace, and then Ashtavakra Geeta.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: "Bondage is in the mind"

Bad Antogast, Germany
August 7, 2010

Q: Can you bring more sun here?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Today there is enough sun. We will take it one day at a time.

Q: Is genetically modified seed OK, or should we oppose it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I don’t think genetically modified food is good. But genetically, we can help people get rid of diseases and problems. I am very worried about modifying food grains.

Q: Guruji, I want to be free. How can I be?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (laughs), Freedom? How will I become free? You have to assume that you are free. Bondage is assumed, so freedom should also be assumed. Bondage is in the mind.

Today is a very special day. Every day is a special day, but today is ‘Shani pradosha’ i.e. Shivaratri on Saturday. Every month has one Shivaratri. On the 13th day after the full moon or two days before the new moon is Shivaratri. It is either on Monday or Saturday. If it falls on a Saturday, it is considered very auspicious. People chant and sing a lot of Shiva bhajans in the evening and meditate.

Q: Guruji, tell us about pradosha.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: ‘Pradosha’ is the time when divine energy dawns on the planet and redeems all the spirits. There are so many spirits. For people who die and exist as spirits, the day of pradosha redeems them, frees them. Freedom not just for the spirits but also for human beings. Desires are fulfilled and mind gets cleared. Shivaratri that comes once a year, known as ‘Maha Shivaratri’, is very special, the great night of Lord Shiva.

Every month, there is a special day of Shivratri. When you find there is festival every month, you become busy with the festivity, then you have no time to worry or do anything else.

Q: Please, tell us how to prevent pollution.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : We have to plant more trees and care for the nature. Drive less, more car pools, etc.

Q: What if you give a promise and then take it back?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is not the promise which is important. What is important is: what is best for ever body, for all human beings. Suppose you have promised your daughter to take her skiing but if the weather forecast says that there will be a snow storm, what will you do? Will you take her out because you promised or will you be intelligent and say, “The promise will not bring happiness now, so I take back my promise and not take you there now”.

Jai Gurudev!

"Beyond Me"

2011-02-01T12:22:00.000+05:30

Brilliant Video on why we should Meditate.

"Beyond Me"

Click the link below:

http://vimeo.com/18217038

Jai Gurudeva!

Knowledge Sheet 61

2011-02-01T09:10:00.000+05:30

Our mind feels and perceives differently in the morning than it does in the evening.
The placement of planets also affects the mind. Sometimes faith arises in the mind, sometimes hatred envelopes the mind. It is natural for different waves of emotions to rise in the mind.
I am separate from all this, I am Atma. Contemplating on this is the sign of intelligence.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: "Certain questions should be made as a path"

European Business Group (EBG)

Venue: Imperial Hotel, New Delhi
Date: August 10, 2010

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let me give my own introduction. Shall I do that? I’m a child who refuses to grow up. (Laughter) That’s one line introduction of myself. And I’ve seen that all of us, every human being has that child-likeness within us but it is buried under the debris of the past or concerns about the future. Our job or the job of anyone who is wishing good for the society is to remove this debris and allow this beautiful gift that nature has embedded in us to blossom, the simplicity, the naturalness, the human values of compassion and friendliness. These don’t have to be cultivated. These are there in us, and only need to be nurtured and brought to light again. And I would call this as spirituality. See we are all made up of both matter and spirit. Matter - amino acids, carbohydrates, protein etc. Spirit is love, compassion, sense of belonging, all inclusive feeling, a broad vision about oneself, ones life, and the world. This is what comprises of spirit and anything that uplifts spirit and the spiritual values, I would call that spirituality. What do you say? Ya. It is not some ritual or some belief system. It is much beyond that. It is the essence of good human being. In fact, there is not a single human being who does not want happiness, love or compassion in his/her life. In that sense everyone is spiritual whether they recognize it or not. So, coming to this evening’s session with me, I would like you to ask questions. You know, there is a saying in ancient India - The first sign of intelligence is not to speak at all. (Laughter) And suppose if you have lost the first sign then the second sign of intelligence is not to speak when a question is not asked. (Laughter) So, all our scriptures here in this land begin with a question. Whether you take Bhagwad Geeta, you take Purana, or the Ramayana. Any scripture you see, any ancient text, Someone puts forward a question and then someone else answers. It could be a dialogue between a master and his disciple, husband and wife, between a group of seekers and a wise man. It has always begun in question/answer form. How do you like?

Q: How would you make Indian political leadership honest?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know a question has got a single answer. But certain questions should not be answered. It should be made as a path. A road can be tread many a times. Like this question, we will have to ask again and again in various circumstances. Why someone is not honest? Basically, it is lack of sense of belonging. You know what; corruption begins outside the purview of sense of belonging. No one can be corrupt with their own family, and if you extend it a little bit, to the near and dear ones. They’re not corrupt with their friend circle, but when they put a boundary beyond that friend circle, when one thinks that only these people belong to me, then the people are no longer mine. Then the corruption begins. We have to educate people to expand a sense of belonging. Second aspect of corruption is insecurity. People who don’t have friends try to find the security in money. Gosh, they don’t know money is not going to bring them security. It’s the company of right people who will bring more security in their life. You know if you go and ask a school boy or a girl how many friends he/she has, they will count on their fingers - 2,3,4,5. And I ask them, “hey, look you are spending 5 - 8 hours every day in a classroom of 50 - 100 kids, and you can’t be friendly with everybody? And how are you going to live your life when you come out of the schools and colleges with the billion people, 6 billion people in the world? So, the basic quality of being friendly is sort of foreign, sort of alien to our kids. Then what happens? Insecurity creeps in. And to manage this insecurity, the only idea one gets is ok I should have more money. So, then by somehow you amass money, be corrupt. So, first of all we have to spiritualize the politics, socialize the business and secularize the religions. If we can do these three things, society will be a better place to live in.

Every leader should see beyond his/her community and people. They should have a vision for the entire human race. You know, the Hindu priest, he should not only pray for Hindus. He should pray for every human being. Similarly a Muslim or Christian priest, he should feel for the entire humanity then we have achieved the purpose of religion.

So, I would say secularize the religion, socialize the business. If every business undertakes corporate social responsibility of investing 1, 2, 3, 10 or whatever 10 percent of their profit in developing rural areas, I tell you this planet will have no hunger, will have no disease, will have no illiteracy. Because governments alone cannot do this, it is a social partnership with the NGOs and business organizations. They can do much more. So, socialize the business, bring social corporate responsibility and then spiritualize the politics. Now politicians, they had such integrity in the time of Mahatma Gandhi, they were respected highly. Today the situation is completely opposite.

You Know, we need to spiritualize the politics. Politicians should care for people. I just want to share with you a particular story with my grandfather. You know, when my grandfather met Mahatma Gandhi, he went and stayed with him in sevagram for 20 years. My grandmother gave 10.5 kilos of gold. My grandmother was a beautiful lady. Those days the women used to don a lot of gold, dipped from head to toe is all gold. Except the mangalsutra and a set of bangles, she willingly gave all her gold and she said, “I will take care of the kids, you go and serve for the country”. So he went and stayed in Mahatma Gandhi ashram.

You know, that sense of contributing and giving, taking pride in giving is missing today. If that comes up, there will be a big difference. Pride in giving, pride in non-violence are two things which are missing in today’s education. If you see movies, one who is aggressive and loses his temper, is shown as hero. One who is calm, accepts everything and turns other cheek around, they are not considered heroes. This value shift has to happen. I’m just now coming from America where in Chicago we had a program for school district children.

That was the most notorious school, 268 crimes happened in the previous year. And when we introduced meditations, simple pranayama and simple values like making one new friend every day, and stand up and be compassionate, the crime incident rate this year dropped down to 60 from 268. They were amazed and the school district councilors came to thank me. 50 top officials of education said the techniques that we have introduced have brought real transformation. Otherwise, people there don’t feel safe, you don’t know what will happen there tomorrow, whether the child will come back with all the limbs intact. We need to bring this back. Sense of belonging, sense of caring and sharing, and pride in giving.

Q: From the ‘Art of Living’ to the Art of giving, we hear that in arguably lesser spiritual society, people are giving more and more. We just heard what’s going on in the US where many billionaires can’t recall the number, giving away at least 50% of their wealth for the betterment of society. So that concept, that nature of giving, “more spiritual society” has still not seeped in. How do you reconcile that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I would say America is very spiritual. There is 500% increase in spiritual interest in past 10 yrs. If you go to California, there is a lot of awareness about spirituality, especially eastern spirituality. In India, there has been this tradition of giving from long back. All the hospitals are built by business families. Every dharamshalas, it was called dharamshala, talabs or the ponds are made by the business houses. Temples are built by business houses. Not by the government, but business houses. If at all Indian spirituality is sustaining, it is being sustained by the business rather than the state throughout the country. Yes, there has been a decline in giving in the past few years. It is lack of spirituality. Maybe they are going down in spiritual values.

Maybe in some places, they are becoming more religious than spiritual. That could be a reason also. But still even today if you go to villages, the amount of caring and sharing the people have is amazing. You go to any village, they may have just 1 glass of lassi but they will share half with you. They do value these values of sharing. It’s in the villages but is disappearing from the urban areas as you say. And it has to be brought back.

Q: I have one classical question. When we put lots of passion in our work, we develop attachment to the result. But same attachment and clinging of result gives stress when we do not achieve it, and happiness when we achieve it. Going by my limited understanding of Bhagwad Geeta, they say do your work with dispassion. But if we do that we see that results can go haywire. How do we resolve this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ya, I think it’s little bit different understanding of Geeta. Actually the understanding of Geeta should be, ‘you work hard, you put your 100%, you look for the goals, you look to achieve the goals. But at the same time you should have that faith, that confidence and relax’.

You know to achieve anything you need 3 type of confidence. First is confidence in yourself, Then you have no anxiety. It’s very easy for me to handle this issue. I can do this. Second is confidence in the society around, people around. If you know that your team is good and they will achieve it, or if you have faith in the system that the system is continual and justice will be done to you. You know, if you have done well then you will definitely get well.

But if you don’t have trust or faith in the system, if it’s very corrupt then you will not pass it. So, we have to have faith and trust in system. Third is trust in a power which is compassionate, higher power, the higher self, and this faith that it will always do best to people. These 3 types of trust can take us out of anxiety. For this, I would say take out few minutes for yourself. Relax and Look back. How many times in the past you got stressed? You got some failures? You went through some failures and you achieved something. So, in the same way, now also you will achieve. That gives you that inner strength which is more needed at the time.

I would say it’s like the cell phone. You know, for a cell phone you need to have the sim card. Correct? And you need the battery to be charged and you should be close to a tower. (Laughter) Should be within the range. If any of this is missing then you can go on dialing, say hello and nothing, there’ll be no response

Q: How do you fan the fire of spirituality and not allow it to be inundated by day to day life. You don’t want to abdicate your responsibilities. What do you suggest, simple steps you as an enlightened person to keep spirituality alive in us. What I understood the way u expressed was very beautiful, to spread happiness, to be simple at the same time keep giving.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I would give you 3 suggestions. One is spend 10-15 mins with yourself. What is it that you want? What is life all about? 50- 60 yrs ago, where I was and where I will be 50 years later? What is my origin? What is my definition? Just don’t look for an immediate answer. Even questioning yourself – ‘what is life all about?’ uplifts the spirit. This is what I would call as knowledge. Dwelling sometime with knowledge, you can read books like Yoga Vashista, Ashtavakra or even Geeta. Just few lines or any other uplifting knowledge books. And then 10-15 minutes of meditation. We will do a short meditation now. 10-15 minutes of meditation will give so much energy that it can refresh the brain, Refresh the spirit and energize the body. Fantastic! And the third thing is do some act of kindness, don’t have to be in the routine. Take some time out. Do some Random acts of kindness. Spend some time with music or art. These 3 things can bring you a lot of fulfillment and keep you away from stress.

You would’ve seen in the last month, a month ago, there was a program in News 24 channel about a village Kathiawad in Maharashtra, near Nanded. One of our teachers went there. He stayed there for 3 months in the village. Transformed the entire village. 700 families. In this village, everyone removed the locks from the door. And they have a shop without a shopkeeper. People go and put the money in a box and take whatever goods they want to take. And the village is so self sufficient. The entire village went organic. All the farmers went organic. Everyday they come together and sing, they removed all the caste boards. Here now in the country, they are contemplating about reintroducing caste census. In this village first thing is they removed all the caste boards, Dalit, Kshatriya, Brahmin. All the caste boards were removed. Govt of India also gave them an award. It is a crime free village. This was the most notorious village which had so many cases. Today in 3 years time this village has stood up to be most self sufficient. Everybody has water. Roads are there. Every home has a toilet. And they have smokeless chullahs. Most honest village. This village inspired 118 villages to follow.

Not one person smokes or drinks in the village. Everybody abandoned the tobacco, tambaku, alcohol and drugs. So it gave a new energy and enthusiasm to all our teachers and workers. It is possible what Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt - Ram rajya. Where there is no dacoity, no crime. Today it is possible.

You can see in the youtube. They have done a beautiful program about that. I wish we can do many such, if all different corporate could take 10 villages each. It doesn’t cost much. It is just a matter of educating people on hygiene, educating them to keep their homes clean. Every home got painted in pink.

Jai Gurudeva!

Sri Sri...

Knowledge Sheet 60

2011-01-18T22:00:00.000+05:30

World peace come with individual peace. If individual becomes peaceful, communtiy becomes peaceful. Then the leader of the world will also become peaceful, and we can have world peace. When people have broad vision for the whole world, world peace is possible. We need to spiritualise the politics, socialise the business and seculrise the religion.

Jai Gurudev

knowledge sheet 59

2010-11-12T18:39:00.000+05:30

The guru makes the abstract more real and what you thought as solid appears to be more unreal. Sensitivity and subtlety dawns. Perception of love, not as an emotion, but as the substratum of existence becomes evident. The formless spirit shines through every form in creation and the mystery of life deepens, shattering the atheism. Then the journey begins!

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Our Connection to Nature

The realities explored in science and spirituality are often assumed to be unrelated to one another. Both find their basis in a spirit of inquiry. Modern science is objective analysis, while spirituality is subjective understanding. Science explores the outer world with a series of questions beginning with the basic query, “what is this? What is this world all about,” while spirituality begins with the question, “who am I?”

In the ancient world these two forms of knowledge were not in conflict, but were understood to have a deep and subtle connection. Man’s knowledge of himself complemented his understanding of the universe and formed the basis for a strong and healthy relationship to the creation in which he lived. It is the disconnect between these two types of knowledge which is causing many of the challenges that we face as a global community today.

Ancient wisdom describes human beings as having five layers of experience: the environment, the physical body, the mind, the intuition and our self or spirit.

Our connection with the environment is our first level of experience, and one of the most important. If our environment is clean and positive, it has a positive impact on all the other layers of our existence. As a result, they come into balance and we experience a greater sense of peace and connection within ourselves and with others around us.

An intimate relationship with the environment is built into the human psyche. Historically, nature, mountains, rivers, trees, the sun, the moon have always been honored in ancient cultures. It’s only when we start moving away from our connection to nature and our selves, that we begin polluting and destroying the environment. We need to revive these attitudes that foster our connection with nature.

Today we live in a world where many have become greedy and want to make quick profits and achieve quick results. Their actions disrupt the ecological balance, and not only pollute the physical environment, but also stimulate negative emotions on a subtle level, within themselves and also in those around them. These negative energies expanded and compounded again and again are the root cause of much of the violence and misery in this world.

Most wars and conflicts are triggered by such feelings, and result in damage to the environment, which then takes a long time to restore and repair. We need to attend to the human psyche which is the root cause of pollution, both physical and emotional. If compassion and care are kindled within our selves, they will form the basis for a deeper connection to, and care for, both others and the environment.

In ancient times, if a person cut one tree, he planted five in return. The ancient people did not wash clothes in holy rivers; only ashes from cremation were submerged in the river so that everything dissolved back into nature. We need to revive traditional practices of honoring and conserving nature.

Nature has its own means of balance. If you observe nature, you will see that the five elements which form its basis are opposed to each other. Water destroys fire, fire destroys air. Then there are so many species in nature – the birds, reptiles, mammals; all these different species are hostile towards each other, and yet nature balances them out. We need to learn from nature how to balance opposing forces, within ourselves and in the world around us.

Above all, we need to be able to experience our world with an open mind that is free from stress, and from that place we need to create the means of protecting our beautiful planet earth. For this to happen, human consciousness must rise above greed and exploitation. Spirituality, the experience of one’s own nature, deep within, provides the key to this vital relationship with oneself, with others and with our environment. This connection to our own essential nature eliminates negative emotions, elevates one’s consciousness and creates a spirit of care and commitment for the whole planet.

What would help to elevate our consciousness and deepen our connection? Here are a few basic and effective pointers:

A proper diet. Our food influences our mind. The Jain tradition has done much research on the effect of food on the mind. Ayurveda and Chinese systems and many other native systems the world over have recognized the effect of food on the psyche. Modern science confirms that food can have a direct bearing on our emotions. Emotionally disturbed children tend to eat more and suffer from obesity. A properly balanced diet has a positive impact on our emotions and thereby on our consciousness.
Light to moderate exercise.
Panchakarma. In the ancient medical system of Ayurveda, there is a process of internal cleansing called panchakarma that involves massages, a prescribed diet and cleansing. This has helped thousands of people to come out of stress and behavioral disorders and is also a curative for many illnesses.
Yoga, Pranayama and meditation. These are extremely vital to induce a sense of respect for one’s own body and the environment. They help to maintain a toxin-free system and thereby reduce the occurrence of emotional disturbances.
Music and dance. These can bring rhythm and harmony in the body-mind complex; especially music that is not too loud and violent. Music that is soothing and creates a gentle sway and rhythm in one’s system, like folk and classical music.
Nature. Spending time in nature, observing silence and engaging in prayer is very congenial for helping us to reflect on our own mind.

Last but not the least: service to the less fortunate.

Jai Gurudev

Knowledge Sheet 58

2010-11-11T11:16:00.000+05:30

Do you use a cell phone? If you keep on pressing numbers but there is no SIM card inside, will it work? Now if you have the SIM card and no range, will it work? If the range and SIM card are there, but no charge, will it work? Sadhana is the SIM card, range is faith. If you pray and claim that God didn’t hear, you don’t have a SIM card. No prayer will work. The charge is satsang. Temples and Gurudwaras are places to charge up.

What do you do when you are stuck in traffic? (Audience lists out suggestions) You can honestly pray to God to clear it. You can enjoy the music playing in the car. You can take the nearest exit. You can just enjoy the traffic or chant a mantra. Now what should we not do? Complain. Just stop this and you will be able to keep your enthusiasm. We come into the world with it but somewhere along the way it is lost. As we grow up, we switch from positive over to negative mode. So just see the traffic jam as an exercise in testing this, in pushing those buttons.

Every event is an opportunity to deepen your wisdom. An unpleasant event somewhere kindles the deep wisdom we are born with. Whether positive or negative, every event kindles this in us. If an event overpowers us, we lose our emotions and intellect. Then we need help. That is where communion comes in. We sit together and sing and the load is lifted off. Everyone must take some time in life to dwell on the truth. This is satsang, to be in the company of truth. Keep on encountering truth in our lives. Just a few moments can bring such peace, stability and strength.

People think this is something boring. They feel knowledge is so serious. I say follow knowledge and fun follows you, but follow fun and only misery will follow. Self-knowledge is that which makes you lighter and like a child again. It brings enthusiasm from within. That is exactly what spirituality is.

Realize that everything is ok. All is well. Then you can go inward and meditate. When you meditate, everything is ok. When you come out of meditation you find that everything is not. You become aware again of all the problems in your life, in the world. You must do something about this. Meditation is smiling within and service is bringing the smile to others. So first you must go inward and be in the space of “all is well.” Know that you are protected and being taken care of. This confidence has to come. That is meditation.

Then when you come out, in action you can see what is not right and work for it. Do not do so out of obligation. Let it come as your very nature rather than as a duty. If you feel duty, there is no beauty. Just serve and smile. Smile and serve. Often we don’t smile in service. People get burned out and start irritating others in the name of service. And often people who are happy do no service! Both kinds of people are walking on just one foot. You need both qualities, inner richness and outer dynamism.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai GuruDev

knowledge Sheet 57

2010-10-01T10:59:00.000+05:30

Waking up to the reality. Knowing of this ’I’ can lead to a state of devotion, of love. It is spontaneous. There is no need of surrender because it is already there. It does not have to mean a painful part of the ego. It is knowing that everything belongs to the divine, the thorn as well as the roses belong to the divine. What happens when you surrender? A permanent peace dawns in you, a smile that no one can take away from you.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Charity purifies the wealth

Religion with spirituality is wonderful. Religion without spirituality is disastrous!

Q: Why do we seek God when we know God is already within us?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Because we don’t know but some idea is there. There is some prior experience of God. If you don’t know mango exists, you won’t go searching for it. You don’t go in search of something like burr-burr because burr-burr doesn’t exist! You have had some experience in the past but it is not there in the present. Don’t look here and there for God. Go deep within and look inside. Relax. It is there.

Q: Is there such a thing as absolute truth?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Adi Shankaracharya said that the definition of truth is that which is untouched by time. It is that which stays the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So going by this definition, body and mind are not the truth. Truth is the substratum of creation. There is something at the core of our being that is not changing and that is the absolute truth. That’s why even when you become old, you don’t feel you have become old. Somewhere we know that something in us will not die at all.

Q: Is it necessary to be religious in order to be spiritual?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Spirituality is the way you live, feel and relate. It is the essence of all religions. Religion with spirituality is wonderful. Religion without spirituality is disastrous!

Q: How do we eliminate terrorism for future generations?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Terrorism arises when someone starts thinking that only they will go to heaven and everyone else will go to hell. They think, “let me teach the others my ways so that they also can go to heaven.” Narrow-mindedness is a cause of misery. If each child is educated in a multicultural environment, tolerance is bound to develop. If the kids in Afghanistan were taught a little bit about their roots, a little a bit about Hinduism, Christianity and so on, they would not have become so intolerant. The Taliban would not have arisen. They should have some idea of the great sayings like that of Buddha, of the Upanishads. Krishna said the same thing that Jesus said. Multi-religious upbringing will bring about love and harmony in the world. Interfaith education and inter-religious exposure will bring about love and harmony. If all countries spend even less than 2% of their budget towards globalizing wisdom, every child in the world would be a more happy individual.
A young woman in India from the ’ The Art of Living’ Foundation went to the Ivory Coast to teach. Ivory Coast has very polarized Islamic and Christian communities. They live in different villages and historically have had little or no tolerance towards each other. Within a month of her being there, because of her work, communication opened up between the different religious communities. The Muslims built a school in the Christian village. The Christians built roads and toilets for the Muslims. This miracle happened in a very short span of time. If one individual could bring about this change, imagine what would happen if we all go together. If we move together, we can do something big!

Q: What should be the place of money in the quest for a spiritual life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The problem arises when you carry money not only in your pocket but in your head also! Also what is the use of thinking about it all the time if your pockets are empty? Money is the means and not an end in itself. Have faith that you will get whatever money you need. Put in your effort and move forward with this conviction. Also out of the money you earn, 2-3% should be spent for others. We call it dhana-shuddhi (purification of wealth).
In Sanskrit there is a word anna-shuddhi (purification of grains). It prescribes adding ghee (clarified butter) to rice. If you eat rice alone, it is not as good for your body as the sugar level in your blood suddenly increases. By adding just a little bit of clarified butter or ghee, the process of converting the starch into sugar is slowed down. So the digestion process becomes slower and you are less prone to diabetes. So we say rice gets purified when we add ghee to it. Similarly money gets purified when we contribute to those in need.
’The Art of Living’ does service in schools in villages. We have the ’Dollar a Day’ program under which we feed, provide clothing and educate a child. We have 100 such free schools for people in need. This helps release a child from forced child labor. The burden is taken away from them. These children get to be the first generation learners and the change that is brought about is really powerful. It is like teaching someone to fish rather than giving them the fish. Also if women are enrolled into empowerment programs, there are wonderful experiences. This is what is necessary - Education that is technical, scientific and spiritual at the same time.

Q: How can we continue to love people who commit fraud or other such crimes?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: They are not incorrigible.There is a victim crying for help inside every culprit. You will observe in society, those who are greedy usually have no friends. The greed disappears the minute they make friends. Similarly, corruption cannot happen within the boundaries of friendliness. People who are corrupt or commit fraud are victims themselves. They are not spiritually educated. You know, we know one thing from all our programs, especially the ’Prison SMART program’, that there is a good soul crying for help and starved for love even within a criminal. Yes, we can help them.

Q: What is the mind capable of during sleep? Is it possible to transcend all states of consciousness?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. In the waking state, you get the best rest and nourishment through knowledge. Dreaming state is deep rest. Sleep is even deeper rest. The fourth state is the meditative state.

Q: How do breathing techniques and meditation benefit those with heart disease?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Breathing and meditation have been found to lower cholesterol and strengthen the heart. They lower stress and control hormones by making a positive impact on the endocrine system. There have been several studies and research is still going on.

Q: What is the first thing we should do when we wake up in the morning and the last thing before we go to sleep?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look at your face in the mirror and give yourself a big smile. If you can’t smile, you can frown. You will gradually start smiling.

Q: How important is self-love? Is it necessary to love oneself before we can reach out to the rest of the world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. But please don’t sit and chant “I love myself!” Do you chant “I am in Milwaukee!”? Your body, mind, consciousness are all made up of truth, love, beauty and peace. Take it for granted that you love yourself. Nobody can afford not to love oneself because you are love. That’s just an illusion if it appears that you don’t love yourself.

Q: Do you believe that this is the time and age for large-scale global transformation of human evolution?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Thirty years ago, there was so much prejudice towards spirituality and wisdom. People would want to keep it at an arm’s length and blindly believe that it is not for them. Today there is acceptance. People are willing to try and see that something benefits them and are less prejudiced. With this, more human values will surface. And don’t worry about 2012. The world will not collapse. I assure you that.

Q: What is beyond the experience we call death?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you want to know everything right away? I don’t want you to be bored even after you die! Let’s first understand life. We can understand death later.

Q: What are you the most optimistic about in the world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I’m realistic about my vision. So far ’The Art of Living’ has reached about 151 countries. So many people are learning these techniques today. If the technology of cell phones can reach everywhere in the world, why would techniques & wisdom that make people happy and peaceful not reach every home? They definitely will. We should have a vision to do something that appears impossible and make it possible. It is my habit and hobby!

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge Sheet 56

2010-09-29T21:09:00.000+05:30

Never link money with happiness. Even the poorest people are happy, if you see. In fact they are more happy. But money can create a false notion of security to you: You think if you have money, you have everything. The idea of money is for comfort. Isn’t it? Why do you want money? For comfort. But money can give you only one type of comfort. Physical comfort. It doesn’t give emotional and spiritual comfort.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Sadhna is the real currency that you can use anywhere

What is stress? When there is too much to do with too little time, or we want a lot but we don’t have enough resources, this causes stress. Also if the resources are there but our ability is not, then also we get stressed. So, how can we manage stress and live more in the moment? With certain energy you can do this. When you meditate, you can increase your ability. When you meditate, you are able to get rid of stress. Eliminate stress by bringing more energy into the body.

Now love is our very nature. You know, I can stand and talk to you for hours about love. It doesn’t mean anything. We can read love through our lives, not through books. You can listen to someone speak on love, but if you have a puppy, the puppy goes mad jumping all over you the moment you come back home. This says much more than reading books all night about love. We can read through our presence and our own lives. Here, I will come to meditation and breath. By doing breathing exercises, we can make our lives so positive. Many of us have had the experience of going to meet somebody and wanting to avoid them. Some people you meet and you just don’t feel like talking to. You feel compelled to avoid them. WIth some Others you feel like conversing. People will have the same experience of you also. Without reason they may avoid you. You want to connect to a person but your stress has created such vibes around, that people are repelled. Here again you must do a bit of pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya and yoga to increase the positive vibes around you.

There are so many stories to tell. A teacher was in Botswana and some four terrorists came there. They wanted to steal everything. They were so aggressive yet the teacher looked at them with such positive vibes and said, “hey, my friend what do you want? Some money? Ok, we’ll give you money.” The calmness and serenity in them shook the terrorists. Usually, what they have seen is people panicking. Here someone was looking at them with a human eye. They just took some money and left with it. They didn’t harm anyone. And I tell you, I have so many people emailing me such stories. There are stories of robbers having a change of heart. So, in a similar manner people who are antagonistic towards us can be positively affected if we ourselves live in a space of love and free from stress. I tell you, it is not too easy. It’s challenging but we need to move in that direction. We should first extend peace and compassion to others.

Nature has put compassion at the very core of every human being. Love is the central point for each one of us. Stress is only at the periphery. Negativity is only the circumference. We should dream for a world which is free of violence and hatred. Let us all believe in that first of all. Otherwise, we become paranoid. When we become fearful, we lose our strength. The times when you are afraid are when you need more strength. Yet that is when you don’t have it. It is like forgetting your wallet at home and you are in a shopping mall. Suppose you are in the shopping mall and you don’t have a credit card or any money. What do you do? You will look at everything and come back with nothing. But each one of us has this power of love. We are in no debt. There is this amazing unconditional love but we have no access. We have not had access to that somehow. It’s like having your wealth at home without having the key to the almirah (the place where you store your treasures). You have lost the key but you say “oh, I have that there.”

So, we need to wake up to the power that we are made up of, that is love. Like our body is made up of amino acids, carbohydrates and protein, our spirit is made up of love. It is love that gets distorted and becomes all other negative emotions. Why do you get angry? Because you love perfection. When you love perfection, you can’t but get angry. Why are you jealous? Because you love somebody so much that you want them all for yourself. Jealousy is another distortion of love. Greed is your love for objects. You love things more than you love people. This is called greed. If you love your own glorification, it is arrogance. You love yourself more than anybody else. So, love gets distorted and manifests in all of these negative emotions. It is wisdom which can keep love pure. Love without knowledge or wisdom is misery. Love plus wisdom is happiness. It is as simple as that.
Just a few moments every day reflect on your own life. What am I? Who am I? What do I want? Where do I want to go in my life? You may not get an answer for any of these questions but certainly the question itself is very valuable to you. We can use them to sharpen our mind a little bit and connect with our spirit.
The term for spiritual practice,sadhana, is evolved from money. “Dhana” means money and “Sa” means true wealth. That is the real currency you can use anywhere. Money is important in life but keep money where it belongs to. Do not keep it in the head or in the heart. We often misplace money. We keep it in our head while our pockets are empty. Keep money in the pocket but don’t keep thinking about money. You know, how someone becomes rich? Someone becomes rich when they do something useful for society. How did the cell phone companies become rich? They made something which everybody needs. The newspapers make something that everybody needs. So, you too should do something which is useful for everyone. Then you will become richer. If you keep thinking about yourself all the time, you will only keep thinking. That’s it. If you selflessly serve and leave your needs to society, society will take care of you. You will not experience lack even for one day. Do service without worrying about money or your own needs. Society will take care of it, or by trusting in God. It comes to the same thing. You trust in God and ask whatever you need. Those things will always be taken care of when you have confidence and deep faith. And if you do something that is useful for people, you will automatically make money. If people need milk, you supply milk. If people need groceries, you supply groceries. Work on that which is most needed in society and your needs will be met.

Mahatma Gandhi believed in non-accumulation. In fact it is one of the principles of yoga. You don’t need to accumulate a lot if you are dedicated to service. We need to do something. Pick a goal and it will bring more meaning to your life. When you are working with an idea rather than money as your main goal, you will see that money will anyways come. In the 'Art of Living' we never take money factor into the plan. We just start a project and find that the money somehow comes. Whatever is needed, and when it is needed, it comes. You don’t need to have too much but you should not have any lack. Pranayama and meditation make your life such that there is no dearth of anything. You lack nothing. There is a proverb in India that says - you are aspiring for nuts but they come to you when you have lost all your teeth. What’s the point of getting nuts when you don’t even have teeth? You need to get something when you need it. Right? If you have money to buy sweets, a great air-conditioned room and wonderful home and bed, but you are an insomniac and have diabetes, then what is the point of that? So we must create that positive energy around ourselves. This cannot happen just by worrying and thinking.

Q: What is your inspiration?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are two ways of going about work. One is wanting to do something for which you can always find an inspiration. Another is since you already have something, so you want to do it as an expression of joy. It makes all the difference whether work is done as an expression of joy versus expecting some joy. So, I’m not expecting joy in doing something. Rather, I am doing everything as an expression of joy. Everything is happening spontaneously. People find it very hard to understand this. These people ask me, “What is your motivation?, What is it that you want by doing all of this?”. I say, "nothing. I want nothing". It’s a little hard to understand at that time. For instance, suppose you have seen a nice movie. So many people who saw Avatar told me, “Guruji, you must go.” By canvassing for a movie you enjoyed, you are not getting anything. You are not getting paid for canvassing for that movie. You go around telling everybody, “oh, that movie is so good, you should watch it.” What do you get by that? You just tell people because you enjoyed watching it, and you want to share that happiness with everybody. Infinite joy is what we’ve all been born with. I give joy by sharing myself with everybody. So, we need to bring this shift from the joy of receiving to the joy of giving.

Q: Are you frustrated with what has been happening on Wall Street?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Wall Street has lost the trust of people, as have the government and the church. We need to bring spirituality, the type of spirituality that Mahatma Gandhi spoke about, into politics. We need to spiritualize politics, socialize business and secularize religion. Religious leaders need to worry more about people than their institutions. They should care for people more. At the same time politicians should think about the values that leaders like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and George Washington had. This country had Lincoln. He was a great visionary. There have been leaders who have given their whole lives in service to the people rather than out of a desire to achieve something. There is the Lincoln Memorial here, but it was not Lincoln who asked for it to be built. He stood for justice, equality and truth. That is real spirituality. I consider the founders of this nation and also the founders of India, South America and South Africa as people who had zeal. They were innately spiritual in their nature. This indicates how spirituality relates to politics. The backbone of business is trust. If lost, it cannot survive too long. So businesses should practice corporate social responsibility. We should care for one another. Otherwise, when we lose love for people, when we have no friends, we think money brings us happiness. It doesn’t.

Q: If God is omniscient, why do we praise Him or pray to Him?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Your praise is not for God’s sake. It is for your sake. You praise God, and that praising uplifts your own spirit. You imbibe all those good qualities in you. It’s not that God, when praised, becomes very happy and places those boons on you. You cannot bribe God like that. We pray to God. We do it in every religion. We seem to think that by praying we are appeasing God and by not praying we are annoying God. I don’t think so. Prayer is your innate call. You want something and you pray. Meditation is even better than prayer. The culmination of prayer must be meditation. Meditation is telling God, “I am here to listen to you. What do you want to tell me? Let thy will be done". That is meditation.

Q: Who is your inspiration?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are two books you can read to find an answer to this. One is 'Guru of Joy' and the other is 'Walking the Path'. I would say my inspiration is every child. I want to see everyone to be like a child. Of course, I must say my mother was a great force. She was always concerned that I had to do better. Anything I did, she would say that you had to do better. So, she was pushing me all the while.

Q: Despite so much research there’s not yet a cure for HIV. Is there any hope and what is your message to those afflicted with HIV?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Those who are living with HIV and AIDS must remember that we are all going to lose our body one way or another. Everybody is going to die. Now lift your eye above this body consciousness to know your spirit. Spirit has no disease. Spirit is beyond it. Keep your mind alive, energetic, loving and happy. People with disease die and people with no disease also die. Sometimes they die out of nowhere. Sometimes sick people live longer and many times healthy people suddenly die. All possibilities are there. So, know that you are more than the body. You are consciousness. You are light. Honor that light. Please don’t sit and brood over it. Look ahead and engage your life in educating others who are not informed about HIV. And instead of seeking solace, become a giver of solace to others.

Q: Is homosexuality evil?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I don’t think so. Eastern philosophy does not even say that it is evil because you are made up of both male and female DNA. In your DNA, you are half your mother and half your father. Both male and female aspects are in you. In some people the male is more dominant, though your physical body is female. Then you become lesbian. And if your female aspect becomes more dominant and you have a male body, these tendencies may come up at different times. So don’t label yourself as wrong or feel guilty. These tendencies come and go. Many people, who are straight, suddenly have these feelings, and then they are so shaken within themselves. Many people come and talk to me about this problem. Similarly, people who label themselves as gays or lesbians suddenly find their preferences changing. So, all this is fluid. Our tendencies and mind are fluid. I tell you, we should not blame ourselves at any cost. Self-blame is a sin. When you blame yourself, you can never settle down. When you haven’t settled down, you can never focus on anything.

Q: How do you let go of someone you love?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You must know that love is your nature. Love doesn’t mean possessiveness. Love is not “Oh I love you so much, don’t go anywhere. Sit next to me all the time.” That is not love.

Q: What brings about the misuse of power?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Misuse of power is immaturity. Someone who is not mature misuses power. Such power do not stay long because it’s not power at all. It is only an illusion of power.

Q: The Vedas say that God is one and true scholars call Him by many names. Today religions have moved away from this truth of inter-religious harmony. What can we do as individuals to bring that harmony back?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To bring harmony between the religions, we must uplift everyone to a spiritual level. Spirituality is the common thread. There was only one Jesus, but how many sects of Christianity are there? Seventy-two. There was only one Prophet Muhammed and how many schools of Islam are there? Five. There was only one Lord Buddha and how many types of Buddhism are there? Thirty-two. There was one Lord Mahadeva. How many sects of Jainism are there? Four. So many different schools of thought. Yet the six far Eastern religions had no conflict at all. There was never a conflict between Jainism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Taoism or Shintoism in the world. They always co-existed in harmony. The thing is, Middle Eastern religions have had conflict throughout history. Judaism, Christianity and Islam always had conflict. I was told of a particular incident in Japan. When President Nixon visited Japan for a conference, on one side of him was a Buddhist monk and on the other was a Shinto priest. He asked the Shinto priest, “what is the percentage of Shintoism in Japan?” The Shinto priest replied – 80 percent. He then turned to the Buddhist monk thinking there would be 20% Buddhists in Japan. He asked, “What is the percentage of Buddhists in Japan?”. The monk said 80 percent. President Nixon was so confused. He asked how it was possible. Both priests said that it was possible. You know, that type of harmony existed between religions in the Far East because nobody tried to convert anybody. Religious conversion was not an agenda. Uplifting human consciousness was the main goal. Giving the knowledge was the main goal. It was not about saying, ‘my way is the only way and follow it and go to Heaven, otherwise you will go to Hell’. People, who think that only they have the key to Heaven, create such Hell for everyone else. So, a grounded understanding of religious philosophy is essential. If every child knows little bit about all the philosophies of the world, nobody will grow up to be a terrorist. You know, Einstein said that the best book he ever read was the Gita. He said that it has contributed so much to his understanding of the world and about life. Einstein has read it several times.
The Matrix movie was based on Hindu scripture, Yoga Vashista. The main point was about the whole theme of consciousness. It is an excellent book describing the relationship between mind, consciousness and the universe around us.

Q: What does it mean to live completely in the present moment?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Drop the wanting of this answer because the question is already in the past.

Q: How can one experience true love in a relationship?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I can give you three suggestions. One is for men, one for women and one for both. Women should never step on the ego of a man. Women should always boost the ego of a man. Even if the husband is a stupid, the wife should say, “You are the most brilliant man I have ever seen.” You should always praise him. He shouldn’t have to prove himself to you at home because the world requires him to prove himself. He should find peace at home. You should say, “You are the most brilliant man I have ever seen. Just the fact that you don’t use your brain doesn’t mean that you don’t have it. You are the most brilliant.” So, praise your man all the time.
Now there is one suggestion for men. Never step on the emotions of a woman. She may complain to you about her family but you should better not join the bandwagon. She may turn it around. She may take a U-Turn and say, “How dare you say such things about my family. What do you know about my family?” So if she is complaining, you just listen. She is paying lip service. If you say something and you hurt her, it is not worth it. When she wants to go for a religious service or a meditation program or retreat, don’t stop her. And when she wants to go for shopping, just give her your credit card. This will keep peace at home.
There is a suggestion for both men and women. The key to keeping peace at home is that you stop demanding love. You normally say, “Do you really love me? You don’t love me the same way. You have changed. You are different.” Asking people to prove their love for you is such a psychological burden. Just imagine yourself in their place. Imagine if someone demands from you to prove your love for them. What would you do? You’d say, “Oh my God, how long do I have to prove my love for this person?” One day, two days, three days, four days and then you feel like enough. This is what happens. There is a book called ‘Celebrating Love’ that you can read. There are many ideas about love in the book. We don’t know how to receive love unless we know how to give love. How can we express that love? Our expression is something that we keep looking for. So, don’t demand that others express their love. Instead, you should ask, “Why do you love me so much?” Especially on a day when you disagree or they are being nasty, you can say “why do you love me so much? I don’t deserve it!” Even for someone who is angry, you say, “you love me much more than I deserve”. Their attitude would change. Love would spring up in them. If you start demanding, you are destroying love.

Q: Survivors of war and disaster sometimes feel guilty about being alive when so many around them have died. What message do you have for these people?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Life is eternal. That’s it.

Q: What’s the fastest and easiest way to avoid stress and depression?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Inside every culprit there is a victim crying out for help. We need to heal the victim. We all have to try to do some work in this society. You know, we can create a violence-free society, disease-free body, confusion-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, trauma-free memory and sorrow-free soul. This should be our mission.

Q: In your books, most of the examples come from the Hindu tradition of the Gita, not so much from the Koran and the Bible? Have you read the Koran, the Bible or any other religious books other than of your own religious tradition?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I am not a theologian. I speak from my experience. One of the scriptures that I usually quote from is of course the Gita. I also quote from the Bible. I am not averse to any religious scripture in the world. What I am averse to is fanaticism of any sort. You need to study every religion or scripture before you can come and talk about it. So, since I have not studied all of the disciplines like Bible and Quran, I must spend at least four to five years studying each before speaking about them. Yet the essence of all these scriptures are spiritual values which I think I can very easily find in my life. I can easily speak on the essence of the Bible. That is why I say unless you become like a child, you can’t get so far. This is true because every child has that freedom. The child inside you is alive. You are still that innocence. That is spirituality. It is when you meditate, when there is unity among diversity and oneness with the whole universe.

Q: Is it ever possible to be free from desires?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. Otherwise you could never sleep. If the desire haunts your head, you can’t sleep. You let go of the desire so you can sleep. At different times, different needs arise in your body and mind. So, you do not sit here and worry about what you are going to have for tomorrow’s dinner. You know that you have come here for a different purpose. An intention is different from the desire. An example of intention would be the thought that you want to go to New York, and you sit in the car and you drive. You go through Philadelphia and New Jersey. You take the turnpike or I-95 North until you get to New York. This is an intention. Desire is when you sit in the car and say, “I am going to New York, I am going to New York, I want to go to New York, I want to go to New York.” Continuously chanting like this may lead you ending up in the mental hospital. You won’t end up in New York. This is the difference with a sankalpa (an intention). An intention with attention and it will manifest. If the intention becomes a desire, it only brings grief whether it’s fulfilled or unfulfilled.
You know, in the 1960’s and 70’s we had the Hippie Movement. It was created out of abundance rather than lack. All of these people had everything in abundance. People who go to drug abuse or who are indulging in alcoholism are lacking in spiritual education or knowledge. They are seeking an experiential validation of their spirit. That is what leads to depression. There are large populations suffering from depression in the world today. According to statistics it will rise to as much as 50 percent in the coming decade, half the population will be depressed. We need to change this and Prozaic is not the solution. The solution is meditation and yoga.

Q: Any suggestions for people who suffer from allergies?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation, pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya will help. Also, there are two books all should pick up - Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love. Last time I traveled to the U.S., I came through JFK. As I was passing through security, the man behind the X-ray machine in the next row came to me and showed me the book ‘Celebrating Silence’. He asked, “Are you this person?” I looked at it and said, “Looks like that”. He asked me to sign the book. I said that usually I only sign the customs form! I gave my signature and he told me, “Someone gave me this book on my birthday last December and since then my life has changed. I’ve just read one page here and there over time and it has made such a difference”. He has not done a meditation course or anything. So, it would be good if all read it. It is not any big philosophical text but just snippets of wisdom. ‘Celebrating Silence’ and ‘Celebrating Love’. Also you can put on a meditation CD to relax. After a while, you won’t need any extra support.
You have come now, so drop all your worries here. Give me all your worries, botherations and problems. I want you to go home knowing that you are not alone. You can heal and bless other people. I tell you, it’s not only Guruji who gives blessings and healing. Everyone has this power to heal and to bless. So, anyone of you who wants to do that, you have to do a little bit more meditation, pranayama, kriya and you will have the power to bless others. There are seven billion people on the planet. So, we each must come up with this ability to bless others.

Jai GuruDeva!

knowledge sheet 55

2010-09-25T11:54:00.000+05:30

One of the names of Lord Shiva is Virupaksha - meaning one who is formless yet sees all. We know that there is air all around us and we can feel the air as well. But what if the air also starts feeling you? Space is all around us, we identify space. But what if space also recognizes and feels your presence? This happens. Only we don’t know it. Scientists know this and they call it the theory of relativity.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Life becomes pure when there is dedication.

Q: Guruji, what importance, if any, should we hold on to what the Pundits, Astrologers and the Psychics say about our future and its course?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Take it with a pinch of salt. Take it lightly, everything will change. You know, what your Astrologer says, you don’t have to believe one hundred percent. Astrology is a science, but not all astrologers are scientists. You have to take it with a pinch of salt. It can change also.

Q: Beloved Guruji, I have been practicing to give a percentage of my income to uplift the society for the last twenty years. Would you please elaborate on the idea and power of charity as a spiritual practice? Love and Gratitude!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ya ya, giving something back to the society is very important. You know, there is a proverb that says, “Rice is purified by a drop of ghee on it”. You know ghee, butter, a little fat. It was a practice in India, but we didn’t see any scientific basis for it. Lately, when we spoke to a scientist doctor, he said it is good to have a spoon of ghee, the clarified butter, on rice, because that prevents one from having diabetes. You know why? Rice or any food, starch or carbohydrates quickly gets digested, but it takes a little longer to digest that if it has a little bit fat. Then there is less chance of you getting diabetic or heart problems. So, a cardiologist said, “it is necessary to have a little fat in carbohydrates so that it becomes complex to digest it”. I said, “look, this was said some thousands of years ago. They said, ‘rice gets purified with a drop of ghee.’ ”. In the same way the money gets purified by charity. When you give a portion of what you have earned for a good cause then the rest of the money that you have is pure money. Similarly, the mind becomes pure by meditation, body get pure by bathing, by a shower; mind becomes pure by prana, pranayama and meditation; Intellect becomes purer by knowledge, by wisdom. See, what we are listening make us pure. There is something that happens in you when you are listening to knowledge or read Yoga Vasistha. Right? You listen to Ashtavakra and that wow sprouts from within. Knowledge makes the intellect pure. And life becomes pure when there is dedication.

Q: Dear Guruji, many of us who are on the spiritual path desire self-realization not only for ourselves but for society at large. Has such an enlightened human society ever existed on this planet, and is it utopian for one to desire this for our society in the future?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should desire for utopia, you should have dream. You know, what you think impossible, you should really dream for it and make it possible. We did one village like that in India. There was a notorious village, notorious in the sense that nobody would go into the village after five or six o’ clock, because of robbers, thieves, full of crime and a lot of problems. This village was adopted by one of our teachers, and you know, what he turned that whole place into in three months? Unbelievable! He took this village and made everyone do the course. Now, everybody in the village, Young and old, sing and dance in the satsang everyday. They have made a rule that anybody, who smokes or drinks or any substance abuse, will be fined. So, the village is free of smoking and drinking, the entire village has become organic, and they have a shop without a shopkeeper. I have also brought a CD of this village. In my last trip, Swami Pragyapalji told me that we have such a village, and that there is a shop without any shopkeeper but the shop runs very well. People take the needed stuff and put the money in the basket there. People were all astonished that the village has been running like this since the last two and half years. A shop without a shopkeeper and nobody steals. And they have removed locks from all the doors. No door has any locks, no house has any locks; and it has become the most self-sufficient village. It has pure drinking water and the entire village is painted in pink color. Everybody chose to have pink color on their walls as a symbol of unity. Both the government of India and government of Maharashtra gave this village cash awards calling it the most ideal village. So, one teacher, if you could imagine something that is thought of as utopia, made it possible.
After seeing this, 180 villages are on the way to become ideal villages.
In New Delhi, few volunteers thought to clean the Delhi for Asian games are coming. In India, there is lot of garbage here and there, and people don’t keep streets clean. They would take things out and dump those in streets. So, they started with this idea to clean Delhi. They thought to forget about government for everyone keep blaming the government. You cannot imagine what a group of few ‘Art of Living’ volunteers have achieved? They inspired one million people to come up and take the brooms, take the plastic bags and segregate the garbage, and clean the whole city. They could gather one million volunteers in a city of 15 million people, and they are doing this from 12th of September. The Delhi government, who was never cooperative with the ‘Art of Living’, in the sense they never came to any of our functions, suddenly woke up and decided to help them. Now, the government is announcing the great job done by the ‘Art of Living’ volunteers.
So, you should think, plan and dream what you really want. It may not happen immediately but you can achieve that.

Q: How do I overcome and move beyond the physical desires?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It depends on what is your age. If you are a teenager or just out of teenage, then it is quite but natural. There is nothing you can do about it. Keep yourself busy. If you have too much free time, only sex will occupy the mind. Have you noticed in your exam times, or when you are too busy, or you have to take a challenge, or you are going on a sports trip, or when your mind is occupied and engaged, then sex is not a big issue, it is not so compelling. But when you are too free, that is when it takes over the seat. Now, sex is not bad, but the obsession is horrible. One type of sex is when you try to satisfy, and if you do not get satisfied, there is another type that starts happening. So many different distortions and tendencies would come up in the mind. The best thing is to do pranayama. Pranayama helps. Then, watching your food will help. If you eat too much, so much energy is there, and it needs an outlet to go somewhere. And if you are not creative, then it definitely takes the other route. So, a little bit say on the food. It is said if you cannot control your tongue, you can never control your genitals, because your tongue and genitals are connected. Sex and food are very much linked. So, your obsession can be controlled if your food is lighter and moderate in amount. Pranayama can help you to control excessive tendencies. Music and dance will help. Some creative art, painting, writing story, and appreciating beauty will help. When you are more happy, inclination towards sex is less. But if you are miserable, restless and unhappy then inclination towards sex is much more. So, by all these things and keeping yourself busy, you can sail through the tough time. Because when you indulge in it, later on you don’t like it, and not going into sex makes you completely nuts. So, you are in a limbo sort of state. This is very difficult in teenage time; there is no way out of it other than keeping someone very very busy.And then the middle age crisis! I am analyzing all these different age groups when one has to overcome these hurdles. Still, if none of these works, just wait for the time. As you grow older, it will simply disappear. You know, time will take care of it. When you are 60, 70 or may be 80, sometime it has to drop of you. Mind, sometime, will become cool. At least then, something will wake up from within.

Q: Why do we experience death and rebirth again and again? What does it do for us?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, Ground hug day!

Jai GuruDev

knowledge sheet 54

2010-09-24T10:25:00.000+05:30

We need to wake up to the power that we are made up of, that is love. Like our body is made up of amino acids, carbohydrates and protein, our spirit is made up of love. It is love that gets distorted and becomes all other negative emotions. It is wisdom which can keep love pure. Love without knowledge or wisdom is misery. Love plus wisdom is happiness. It is as simple as that.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Self is the ocean and mind is a wave

Q: I feel happy and peaceful here. My heart is really contented. All negativity comes when I go out. I encounter all problems like corruption and bribery. How to face these problems? How to maintain the same positivity when I go from here?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You forget a strength in you – Prayer and power of your Sankalpa (positive intention). You keep doing practices and your things are taken care of. Don’t ask for small things in your prayers. Ask for big things – Let government be good and stable, Let this knowledge reach out to many more people. It is up to you to make a divine society. You can start a collective moment. There are many good people and a very few people who cause disturbance, but their influence looks like they are many. You come together and you will find what difference you can make.

Q: How to overcome self pity?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The moment you recognize, you stop it. That is it. If you are asking for someone else, then only they can come out of it. Only meditation can help. Do advance course.

Q: Many people have started preaching their own practices like Sudarshan Kriya. What to do about it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Many people have started their own things. These kind of wrong practices don’t work in the long run. Don’t worry about all of them. People try, get headache and then they come here.
The spiritual practices like Sudarshan Kriya are not only at physical level. It is the divine grace which works.
One can do 21 days teacher training, and spread this knowledge everywhere after becoming a teacher.

Q: How to transform negative energies into positive energies?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is what we all have to do, and that is what we are doing. Let us get more and more youth together and change this atmosphere in society.

Q: Is memory a blessing or curse?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Forgetting bad things is a blessing. Forgetting good things can be a curse.

Q: What is the best thing to do after one recognizes one's mistake?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Recognizing your mistake and going forward is good. There is no point in hiding or justifying. Save the mind. When the mind is established, you can’t do mistakes even if you want. With the knowledge of the self, all negative emotions like fear, anger and sorrow disappear.

Q: How to achieve excellence while following the middle path?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It will happen. Your intention is enough. Main thing is Sadhna(Practices and self effort), next is awareness, and third is - no feverishness.

Q: What is difference between self and mind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Self is the ocean and mind is a wave.

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 53

2010-09-23T09:38:00.000+05:30

When mind is free from lust, greed, possessiveness, arrogance etc., when the mind is in the pure form with which we were all born with, then nature listens to you. You are a child of nature and nature loves you. When that manifests, when you are clear then two things happen - your wishes get fulfilled and you can fulfill others’ wishes also.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: ‘Enlightenment is a connection with the universal spirit’

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 52

2010-09-22T12:32:00.000+05:30

A very good beginning point. See that you don’t become cynical and frustrated. Skepticism is perfectly alright, but not cynicism. That drains your energy. One can be skeptical to begin one’s journey and I would very much appreciate and welcome that. Because you would have gone through skepticism, the faith will be strongly built.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: ‘Get back to beauty and power that is within’

When we become like children, then we realize that we have greater power. It is within each and everyone. Realizing this, is most beautiful. Beauty is not in clothes. It is in the inner quality. Appearance is beautiful, but if anger, jealously or greed finds a place, then it reflects in the personality, and all the beauty is lost.

How to get back to that beauty that we are born with? Go anywhere, to the North, South, West or East, one finds every child beautiful. Children radiate joy and love. As we become adults, we learn skills and gain abilities but we somewhere miss maintaining the inner beauty, that spark of love in our life. Can we maintain those powerful skills and yet retain that beauty we were born with? I would say yes, that is what The Art of Living is all about - Making life a celebration; dream about a stress-free, violence-free society, disease-free body, confusion-free mind and sorrow-free soul. Tell me who doesn’t want all this? It is possible. In the last 30 years of The Art of Living, we have seen that everybody needs love in every corner of this planet. And that is what we spread.

Talking about this Russian tour, I feel absolutely at home. Nice people here. I want this sweetness to be maintained. But we see it is disappearing in the younger generation.

There is more stress accumulating in youth, and we need to see that our younger generation is free from stress and depression. The World Health Organization says that 30 percent of Europe is suffering from depression! Let us all take commitment that we will not let it happen. We want to see a happy world. I want every tear to be turned into a smile. That is why all this yoga, pranayama and kriya are so important to relieve this stress. In the ballet, we observe the whole body can balance on the toes. One leg in the air and one firm on the ground makes the dance. A solid material and spiritual foundation makes a dance. Spiritual experience is having one foot in the air and the other firm. That balance is power. We find ourselves in trouble when we lose this balance.

The ancient spirituality always united people of all cultures and religions. Don’t you think this is what we need today? In the name of religion, so many wars and terrorism are coming into picture. One solution is that everyone gets back to spirituality. Get back to beauty and power that is within. We communicate much more through our presence than the words. I have said all that I want to say.

Q: What is the visualization of God in ancient India?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In ancient India, they described God as beauty. A disciple once asked what God is. The Master replied – Truth, beauty and love. That is God. Is God sitting in heaven giving a little finger? No, it is only in the painting. God is truth, beauty and love. It is that field and energy present in the entire creation. When can you appreciate beauty? And what doesn’t allow you to appreciate? When mind is bombarded with worry, anger, hate and tension, you can’t even smile from your heart.
Though you are sitting in a ballet, but you can’t appreciate if you are angry. You can only appreciate when you are in the present moment.

Q. What is the future of St. Petersburg?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is in your hands.

Q: What do you say on the rumors of destruction of the world in the year 2012?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I want to tell you a story. In 1999, when I was in North America, there was a rumor that everything will shut down in 2000. People sold homes and stored food for six months - Milk powder, dry vegetables etc. Oh my God! Then also I told that there would be no disaster and everything would be as usual. Now again, I am assuring you that it is only in the movie. The world will continue. In fact, transformation will be there from greedy materialism to humanism. Children will be more aware of spirituality. There is a bright future for the world. Don’t think of any disaster. A disaster is already happening. This is because we have exploited the planet. We have put so many dynamites to take minerals, and hence earthquakes have become dominant. The weather! Russia never had such hot temperatures. So we have to care for the planet Earth. Plant trees and do all that is needed to reduce human greed. What do you think?

Q: How do I feel more energetic repeating the same old routine everyday?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First look into the mirror and give a big smile to yourself. Ok? Then do breathing technique, little bit of yoga and meditation. Give some time to yourself everyday and you will be more energetic and beautiful.

Q: How to make someone dear to you understand that something is useful for them and they must go for it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Keep pursuing gently and have patience, they will all understand. First you should have the conviction that this is good for them, and they will get it. How to get a thought or a desire manifested is very simple. First intention and keep attention on it and then manifestation will follow.

Q. You travel so much…
I feel at home with everyone and everywhere. I don’t find anyone a stranger. I often say that I am a child who refuses to grow up.

Q: I am running after a dream since long. How to get that fulfilled?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Be practical in taking care of your daily needs and see what the reality is at that point. You have a dream and you want to achieve something. But that dream or idea may not match the reality that is right now. So understand the present reality and match it with your dream. This is what everybody has to do.
See, suppose you are teaching mathematics to a student. First you should know the present state of the child’s mind. If the child can’t count two plus two is four, there is no point in teaching the multiplication table. Do you see the practicality now?

Q: How are science and spirituality related?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Science and spirituality were never in conflict; in fact they are very complimentary. In India, it is always said, ‘Before you try to understand the nature of your spirit, you should understand the five elements of creation Earth, water, fire, air and ether’. So once you understand the five elements then you understand intellect, ego and self. All is the nature of the spirit. Spirituality is knowing who am I, the subject analysis. Objective analysis is science, and they go together. Scientists were always encouraged.

Q: People around the world need these stress relieving techniques. How can we contribute?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is why I keep traveling. So, we have to keep practicing, have to sit in groups and do some pranayama and some meditation. We have to renew our energy time to time. When you eat, your stomach becomes empty again, it is quite natural. Like that when you are happy and joyful, sometime when being so busy and engaged in so many activities, you seem to collect all that dust and your energy seems to go down. Then it is the time to recharge again. So we will meditate now for few minutes.

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 51

2010-09-18T12:05:00.000+05:30

What to do to always be happy? First, drop the feverishness to hold onto ALWAYS and you will find yourself happy. And then, if some moments of unpleasantness creep into life, accept that also.

{Knowledge Sheet}Subject: ‘When you are free from stress, you have a sense of belongingness and understanding’

Russia, Sept. 10:
Q: I feel very shy while interacting with people. What is the remedy for the same?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, when you have a sense of belongingness, shyness disappears.

Q: What is the fastest way to feel belongingness and unity?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are free from stress, you have a sense of belongingness and understanding. This is what happens when people undergo The Art of Living program. It happens so naturally.

Q: Should yoga become an integrated subject in school, especially if training/practicing can help our students to achieve something higher?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, certainly. In several countries, they have already made yoga compulsory in schools.

Q: Do you follow any religion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, I am a born Hindu. I continue to be a Hindu, but the programs we teach are very secular. People of any religion can practice it.

Q: Please tell us what does ‘one word family’ mean to you and what should we do to make this family happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What family means to me? The whole world is one family for me. You know, I feel absolutely at home wherever I am. I never have a feeling of being in a country or land that is not mine. I never felt strange anywhere. My concept is to see the whole world as one family; of course family is a very important institution, it is the foundation of a society.

Q: What shall we do to always be happy, because as I know your concept is to relax and attain happiness by that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What to do to always be happy? First, drop the feverishness to hold onto ALWAYS and you will find yourself happy. And then, if some moments of unpleasantness creep into life, accept that also.

Q: You have a very big dream in bringing world peace. If, in our lives, we meet people who follow orthodox and rigid ideas and are ready to die and harm other people, how should we deal with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We need to deal with such people with patience and we have to educate them, it’s not an easy task. First, we should begin from prisons. When one amongst them joins us in spreading peace, it is much easier.

Q: Do you have any special courses or programs to help the people working honestly in mass media to reduce the stress?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. You know, this program that we teach is very useful in reducing stress, irrespective of whether you are in a media company or in the corporate sector or in aviation. Stress is a common factor in any work place and this will definitely help people get out of stress. Mainly, what we need to see in the world today is a violence-free society, a disease-free body, a confusion-free mind, an inhibition-free intellect and trauma-free memory. You know, we nurture so many types of inhibitions; if ten compliments are given to you and only one insult is given, your mind locks onto the one insult. So we need to bring a change to that - a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul. This is the birth right of every individual and this is what these practices bring to you.

Q: In today’s world, people really think of survival. How to deal with it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is a natural concept where survival is the first thing. It is a natural instinct but when self-confidence and vision is infused, survival will naturally be included in it, without any kind of fear. I have spoken about this in our books - Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love. You can read these books when you have a question.

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 50

2010-09-17T10:32:00.000+05:30

Love with wisdom is bliss. Love without knowledge or wisdom is pain. Why is there pain in love? That is what you are wondering or questioning about! It is not love which is giving you pain. If it is just purely love, that means you just care for someone, you want the best for them, and then there is no pain. But when you want something in return from them or you have demands from them, then there is pain.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: "Accept that you are unaware of your own potentiality"

Q: What can we say to people in our satsangs who keep bringing in knowledge from different gurus?

"Accept that you are unaware of your own potentiality"

Posted: 11 Aug 2010 02:21 AM PDT

Q: What can we say to people in our satsangs who keep bringing in knowledge from different gurus?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen and let go. Don’t engage in too much discussion with them. Let everyone air their own opinions. The main thing is being with your own contemplation.

Q: How does one balance work and life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How do you balance on a bicycle? There is no “how.” You just do it.

Q: How can I sustain the peace of meditation, the “all is well” feeling?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How do you sleep at night? You simply drop everything. When you wake up, you are fresh and have the energy and dynamism to deal with the situations. It is the same with meditation. You will see the contrast if you don’t meditate for some time.

Q: How do I break the cycle of feeling victimized whenever I go through difficulties?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have already broken it the moment you realize the pattern. You realize it is your own mind’s making and that it has happened over and over again. This realization will come in its own time. And when this happens, be happy and grateful. Imagine where you were five or ten years back. How have you changed? How much better it has become since then. Put your attention on this. The more we are grateful, the more grace we will have in our life.

The first step to fun is relaxation. What tires you is anxiety and ambition for tomorrow. The anger and hatred of yesterday are also clogging our mind. In the same way feverishness pulls down our enthusiasm. In deep relaxation, you will find everything funny.

Q: How can I become more disciplined?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you want to be disciplined? It will make you happier? It will improve your fitness or health? So it is the love for being in shape or the fear of becoming unhealthy that will keep you disciplined. Love, fear and greed bring discipline. If someone says you will get $1 million for being disciplined in your life, that will make you so.

Q: How can I feel your presence in my everyday life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You already feel it, no?

Q: How does one deal with the loss of a loved one?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When a dear one is lost, just bear it. Be with that moment. Let time take you out of it. There is no “dealing” with this. Just be in the knowledge.

Q: Is there a higher purpose to art?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no purpose to art. It is an expression of happiness. For the onlooker, art brings a sort of solace and comfort. For the creator, it is just an expression.

Q: I always run into obstacles when there is something I really want to achieve. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whatever intention you put, that will manifest. Do not label yourself. There should be no “always.” Accept that you are unaware of your own potentiality. You may think you always have some difficulty, but thinking so is what points the intention in a negative direction. Just know that whatever you want will happen.

Q: How to get rid of hurt and anger?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do Sudarshan Kriya, breathe, sing and meditate. There is no point in brooding. Move on in life. Don’t waste today for what happened yesterday. Wake up and say, “I have the valor and the courage to overcome this.” With someone else’s anger, you must play all your tricks to calm them. Then leave it to God. Educate and ignore. Give them some time. Ask for pardon and most people will not hold the grudge. If they do, it is only out of ignorance.

Q: What if we feel we have got more in life than we deserve and are afraid to lose it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Be grateful and prayerful. Know that whoever has given it to you cares for you and would not take it away. Do service. Put your attention on giving back to society. This is giving back to God. If negative thoughts, insecurities, doubts come into the mind, chant Om Namah Shivaya. This itself will put you on the right track. Take the past as destiny and the future as free will. What was meant to happen, happened. We tend to do the reverse. People who are foolish think the past is free will and the future is destiny. This only makes you miserable in the present.

‘Om Namah Shivaya’ has been there for thousands of years. The five elements are represented there and each sound in the mantra corresponds to one of them. For instance, Om is the life force or divinity. Chanting energizes our psyche, our inner self. It is very powerful and we should chant this everyday. It will keep away depression. Just try this. You will see that whenever you are low, saying Om Namah Shivaya removes the negativity.

Q: What is your advice to parents?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Know how to ride a horse! When you sit on horseback, you must move with it. You have to rock with the motion otherwise your back will hurt. Parents have to rock. You have to swing with them, know them and gently guide. Sometimes you tighten the reins, sometimes loosen. It is the same with kids. Put your foot down sometimes, but also give them freedom.

Q: Can you tell me what is the right career for me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I leave the choice to you and give my blessings.

Q: How do I come out of negative patterns in my life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Once you see yourself acting in a pattern, you are already stepping out of it.

Q: You say that choice is mine and blessing is yours. How do I know I have made the right choice?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Time will tell. If it has come with a blessing, it will be good.

Q: How do I find strength in myself?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Be well rested and have your heart in the right place. You need both mental and physical rest. Thinking “Oh I have done so much!” will only bore you down. Just know that you will have enough time and energy to do what you were born to do in this life.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 49

2010-09-16T11:38:00.000+05:30

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 48

2010-09-15T10:24:00.000+05:30

Often people ask, “Why do we pray to so many gods and goddess?” The Paramatma (the Divine) is one, yet called by different names. Just as with the same flour, we may make noodles sometimes and on another occasion, samosa (an Indian snack) or something else. It is still all the same flour. In the same way, it is the same Paramatma that we evoke through different names, forms and colors.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: "Good to be in space of, “I don’t know”, then you have a chance of knowing"

Guruji spoke these beautiful lines just a day before Guru Purnima in USA

I am reminded of a story! It happened 5000 yrs ago, when Lord Krishna sent Uddhava, who was his close associate and a very wise man with so much of wisdom of many techniques and meditation to the place of gopis and gopas, who were full of devotion, always singing and dancing. So, he went to give them some wisdom, to talk about liberation, but none of them were interested in listening to that. They all said, “no, tell us some story about Lord Krishna, tell us what is happening in Dwarka, where he is. We don’t want to hear all this wisdom etc, you can keep that to yourself. But tell us what news you have of Lord Krishna? Come let’s sing and dance. We have heard enough of wisdom, now is the celebration time.

We have longing and love, and nothing else. We don’t care for the wisdom, we are happy with longing and we are happy with love. So, let’s sing and dance”. That’s the story –that’s all they wanted to do. See how love makes you crazy! But it is good to be crazy, at least sometimes in life. That’s when all the boundaries drop; you feel one with everyone around, and one with the whole universe-and that’s called- ‘Guru tattva’..

Guru tattva is the principal., is wisdom and tomorrow is celebration of Guru purnima. From ages, this knowledge and wisdom have been passed on in this world for thousands of years. So, tomorrow we express our gratitude and gratefulness to the tradition of all the Masters of the past. Like there is fatherhood, motherhood, there is also Guru hood! Guru hood is, ‘I want best for you, I want nothing for myself’.
Everyone has a little bit of guru hood in them. So, be a guru at least to somebody.
Of course, the ‘Art of Living’ teachers have played that role. When they come and sit on that seat of a teacher, the whole consciousness shifts, then they are different, isn’t it? And you all are hollow and empty and imparting to others what they need. So, you become a mirror in the world- that is guru tattva, no inhibitions, no impressions, just pure reflection of the being. So, that’s what we will celebrate tomorrow. Many more are arriving tomorrow; today we will sing couple of songs.

Guru tattva is the principal. Now, any questions?

Q: What do you say about doubts? Should we have no doubts?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : No, I never said you shouldn’t have doubts, you should have doubts, have as many doubts as you can, for truth can never be concealed by doubts . Yes, doubt can’t defeat the truth, so you doubt as much as you want, but finish it quickly otherwise you will be wasting so much of time. Have as much of doubt as you want and then get over it.

I remember one incidence which happened in Sweden. There was a public meeting/ gathering and a journalist was sitting right behind. He came forward to me and said- “I want to ask you a question”.

I said- “yes, go ahead.”

He asked, “Are you enlightened?”

I said, “No”.

But he insisted, “No, please tell the truth. I know, you are always making fun, always kidding, please tell me the truth”.

I again said, “No”.

You see, my answer of NO should have finished the conversation there, but he won’t listen and kept insisting, “No, no, you are not telling the truth, tell me the truth, are you enlightened? I want to know the answer right away”.

See when you say , ‘no’ –it finishes , there is no need for further proof or explanation, chapter over, but this person won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I said, “So what takes you not to take a ‘no’ for answer? You should be happy with the answer now”.

But he said, “No, I don’t believe it!

I said, “You see, there is something inside you which is telling you something, some deeper inner feeling saying –this is not correct, right? So you have the answer then!”

So often, you listen to your own inner voice but doubt it from the surface mind but deep inside your heart and mind are saying something, you feel something different- a gut feeling and that is what you always rely on and not on what someone else says, isn’t it so? If someone says, “I love you”, do you take them on face value? No, you look at their face, you look at them and even without looking at them, you feel something deep inside. So, what I am telling you is generally true. And every one has this faculty of intuition and what can overshadow this faculty is your greed.

Greed can overshadow the faculty of your intuition, being over ambitious can overshadow your intuition. Do you understand what I am saying? Wisdom gets covered with greed, feverishness or with over ambition. So, doubt as much as you can!

Q: Dear Guruji, I have never been a spiritual or a true religious person. How can I learn to let go and believe?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You don’t have to label yourself- I am spiritual, religious person etc. No need for it.

Just be natural, beautiful, good human being. That’s it!

If someone is not a beautiful human being and says, ‘I am a spiritual person or a religious person’, what is the use of that? What good he or she is for? Isn’t it? The purpose of spirituality is to make you a beautiful human being, the purpose of religion is to make you a righteous person, connected to the universe, to the universal spirit. And that’s what spirituality is and that’s what a simple, natural, normal human being is! Got it? Right, so it is better not to label yourself.
If you think you are a believer or a non believer, then even a non believer is a wrong label. Someone who says, ‘I am a non believer, I tell you, this is not true. You simply can’t honestly be a non believer; there is no honesty in it. Somewhere in some corner of your consciousness, you believe something; you know something, for your consciousness is very ancient. You don’t know your consciousness, it is so old, so ancient, there are so many layers, so many impressions on our mind, on our consciousness- it is such an amazing phenomenon!

Q: Dear Guruji, I heard and understood the truth, but it is not my experience, please help me realize the truth . Yours truly.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Good! Good to be in space of, “I don’t know”, then you have a chance of knowing. If you think, you know then you are stuck with the concept. In the Upanishad, it is beautifully said, “one who says, ‘I don’t know’, he knows, and the one who says he knows, doesn’t know!”

Q: Dear Guruji, recently scientists have said that they can create life in a laboratory by manipulating and intervening the genes. Isn’t this contradictory to spirituality and religion, with man creating life and giving consciousness to innate objects?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Not at all. You have heard this saying – ‘God made man in his own image’. Right? So, whatever God can do, man can do too. God made man, created him as his own image. It is written in the Bible. Right? There is a story about it in Mahabharata epic also, written some 5000 years ago.
So, test tube babies are not new phenomena. Queen Gandhari , from one embryo, had put pieces in hundred pots and created hundred types of kids. But what quality the kids came out with, that you all know! So, there is a big question about the risk, but this is a fact that Gandhari created 100 children in hundred pots. So, test tube babies or creating life in lab is not a new phenomenon. It was done some 5000 years ago also!

Q: Guruji, are we influenced by mistakes from previous birth? If so, then how does one prevent getting influenced by that or find a way to remove that influence?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You don’t have to make too much effort. Just do your practices, your Sudarshan kriya, sing and meditate and all the bad karmas and impressions, they will get washed away by themselves. And with few advanced courses, few hollow and empty meditations, all impressions get released.

Q: Dear Guruji, is it true that it is not the devotee who chose the Guru but the Guru chooses the devotee? If yes, then what took you so long to choose me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Ha, Ha, Ha!! Let’s not go in the past! Let’s look ahead, having great times. Great days, yes?

Q: Guruji, when you meet terrorists and naxalites, don’t you get frustrated with their attitude and lack of knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : This is like asking a doctor- Don’t you feel sick of seeing the sick patients?!!

Q : Can you give me a suggestion – how to be calm when your spouse is always mad at you?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Well, an answer coming from me won’t be authentic! There are many experienced (spouses) ones here, you can exchange notes with them! But if someone gets angry so often then you get used to it, and it doesn’t bother you so much anymore, isn’t it? But if they are sweet and then get mad at you then you get more bothered about it, right?

There is a very popular story in India. A gentle man got married to a woman who was very shrewd. She would do everything against his will. Whatever he will say, she would do just its opposite and he was so bothered and sad about it. Divorces were not that common those days in India, so he was stuck with this situation. Then, when you are stuck in a situation, you go to a wise man, so he went to meet a yogi.

The yogi whispered something in his ears and three months later when the yogi met this gentle man again, he was beaming with happiness. He came and told the yogi- “Your formula worked, now we have peace at home!” The formula was-whatever he wanted, he said just the opposite to his wife! So if he didn’t want to wear a green shirt that day, he would say- “ I want to wear a green shirt”, and she wouldn’t do that for him anyway! So, you only need to know the pulse and do accordingly.

If your spouse is all the time angry, then I know you might have experienced and found how to handle it , and how to increase or reduce the volume, right? Interesting! May be (with such people), you should try this for one month or two months, and take them by surprise. If they are angry, praise them, and love them so much. Don’t be too predictable with anger.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai GuruDev!

Knowledge sheet 47

2010-09-14T09:05:00.000+05:30

It is when life feels like a struggle that we must focus on knowledge. Even Arjuna was not first told to fight. He was told to be in knowledge and meditation. Only then should we work. Always be in knowledge and then work. To get knowledge we don’t need to go to the Himalayas. Knowledge can come even in the activities of everyday life.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: 'Don't be a football of other people's opinions'

France, 30th July 2010.

Q: Why does a desire arise? Where does it come from? What is the purpose?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: All desires have got one goal, and that is happiness. If a desire brings unhappiness, it has not reached its goal. The goal of desires is to bring happiness. So, that is the purpose.

Where does it come from? It comes when you are not aware of your Being, your Self. Desire is your wanting to stay in the moment. Desire is to experience joy. Joy is only in the moment. And when you are in the moment, there is no desire. When you are joyful, when you are satisfied, there is no burning desire at that time.

Q: Why is it that people who are not on the same path don’t understand us and take it against us? I don’t understand.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let them talk. So what? Take it. It doesn’t matter. We don’t insist that everyone talk only good. By their talking, you don’t become negative.

So, don’t be football of others’ opinion. Let anybody say anything. It doesn’t matter. When you are clear in your heart, and what you do is right, what you want to do is right, you just do it. What do you say? (Clapping from the audience.)
Q: Please can you teach me how to be connected to the faith?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Trying to connect to the faith is trying to connect to the air around you. ‘I want to be connected to the air.’ My dear, you can’t be but! You are already connected. Relax. Why do you try to connect to air? Are you getting what I am saying? Doubt as much as you can. I would say, you should doubt as much as you can. A point comes when you no longer can doubt, the truth will stand up. Truth can never be destroyed by doubt. Do you understand what I am saying? Truth will stand. Doubt can cover it, delay it for some time, drag on for some time, but it can never destroy the truth. Therefore, when people have doubts, I say, ‘doubt as much as you can. One day those doubts will fall off.’ If you are lucky, it will fall off immediately the way it comes. Unlucky ones hang on to it for a little longer time. That’s all. Unlucky ones will carry the garbage on their back for some long distance. Lucky ones know that they carry garbage and throw it right there. Two steps, and they drop their garbage. Otherwise one carries on the shoulder for a long distance.

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 46

2010-09-13T12:11:00.000+05:30

Nature has its own means of balance. If you observe nature, you will see that the five elements which form its basis are opposed to each other. Water destroys fire, fire destroys air. Then there are so many species in nature – the birds, reptiles, mammals; all these different species are hostile towards each other, and yet nature balances them out. We need to learn from nature how to balance opposing forces, within ourselves and in the world around us.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: 'Enlightenment is unconditional'

Q: Because I travel a lot to places where vegetarian food is hard to find, and I have to eat with office colleagues. I eat wrong foods and find energy is really low. What to do in such situations?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know when people have some allergies they don’t eat those foods for which they have allergies just because of company. Suppose you have milk allergy, and because the company is all drinking tea and milk, you’ll not say, ‘Ok, I’ll also drink.’ Because you’ll suffer. Right?

So similarly, in any company you can choose your food, you can say ‘Ok. I am going to eat only chips, or vegetables, or bread...’ You are not compelled to eat non-veg if you don’t want to. Ok? Or unhealthy food. You don’t need to drink Pepsi or Coke if you don’t feel it’s good for you. Right? See, when people drink lots of Pepsi and Coke, it burns the lining of the stomach and the intestine. Later on you develop so many problems. All these carbonated drinks should be avoided. Someone had demonstrated, in a cup of Pepsi they put a tooth, a tooth which had fallen. It dissolves! If teeth can dissolve (which stay for a long time in nature) in Pepsi Cola. It is so corrosive. And that corrosive fluid can cause so much damage to our intestine, our brain, our nerve cells. So we must keep healthy eating habits and propagate them.

Today is much better than 30 years ago. 30 years ago when we started, people were very allergic to vegetarianism and spirituality. But today, it has become a fashion. Because we make a trend. And we create a trend and keep it moving.

Q: I want to serve you. Where do I go?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are so many opportunities here. Bad Antogast needs several people who would like to do some service in the German Ashram. Come there. There are other places also.

Q: I am feeling confused between two men. One is father of our son. But I am not really happy with him as a woman. One is somebody to whom I feel really connected. What can I do? Shall I stay with the father of our son to protect the family life or shall I follow my heart?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Very difficult question! It depends on how old your child is. And if the child needs both parents’ love and care, then you should attend to that first. Children’s life is very much important. We need to sacrifice some of our personal wishes for the sake of the child when they are growing up. You know that. You have been doing it. So protect the family. Must be the first thing. Many times you have to let go of some of your temptations. Let go some of your personal ambitions. Ya?

It’s very important. Children need both, father and mother. So, as far as possible…
If it’s impossible because the husband is so bad or the wife is so bad, then you have to go your separate ways. Then there is no option. But, as far as possible, give the children a good family life.

Q: How to increase the belongingness and Satva in energy, to be able to bring more people into this path?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This question, I leave it with you. Keep asking this question. Time to time you get ideas and do those ideas. And get people to be peaceful, happy, what we call satvik. Satvik means harmonious. The harmony within yourself and the harmony with your world.

Q: Dear Guruji, I don’t want to get married but I find living alone very difficult too. No one to talk to or do things with, I end up watching too much TV. What to do and how to cope?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ya, when you are living alone, this’ll be the problem. That is why the ashrams are created, where many people are there and they have so many things to do together. Everyday satsang. You are busy. Taking a project and working on a project. France needs help. You can come and join the French team.

Q: Is anger related to ego? Several Rishis in the Hindu tradition have been known to be very short-tempered. How did this affect their peace?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Not several. One of the Rishis is known for his anger. But always good happened through his anger. That’s why I say, even the anger of a wise man does so much good, and love of an ignorant person causes more problems.

See, an illiterate mother, an uneducated mother, she doesn’t like her children going to school because the young ones they cry when going to school. Then she says, ‘No, no. Ok, don’t go to school.’ They say we don’t want to study. She says, ‘Ok, don’t study.’ Her love for her children so that they don’t need to study hard or go to school has spoiled their whole life. Isn’t it? So, even the love of an ignorant person does harm. And even anger of a saint always does good.

There are so many stories about one sage, his name was Durvasa. In India, if someone is very angry, they say ‘Oh, he is a Durvasa!’ means he is someone who gets angry at the tip of the nose. At the drop of a hat. Just gets upset. But he would come back to normal immediately.
This is to say, don’t feel bad about yourself if you have anger. Even a Rishi had some anger. So, you don’t have to be too hard on yourself by blaming yourself. That is just to give you self confidence. To make you feel, you are ok, inspite of your little bit anger. That is only one rare case. That is to say that enlightenment is unconditional. It is what? It is unconditional. You can’t put any condition on that freedom. Just to tell you, there is no conditioning. So it’s possible to get angry also. And, sometimes anger can also do good.

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 45

2010-09-12T10:45:00.000+05:30

First, have confidence in yourself that only good will happen to you. Once you have come on this path, know that only something good will happen to you at every step. So, this confidence that ‘Only good can happen to me’. And then opposite values are complimentary! So, if you seem to have some loss now, it is only for some bigger profit, some good will happen. So, first is to have this definite intention, definite confirmation.

Second is to know that there are good people on the planet, very kind and compassionate people, and people will help us whenever we are in need. The world will help us when we need it. There are very few bad people. Even bad people are bad only from outside. From inside, they also have some good thing. Someone who is 100 percent bad does not exist on the planet.

So, everybody has some good thing and how we enhance that goodness, is our place of work. That is what we are born to work at.

'People are good! The world is good! Good people are here! And when I need, they will help me'. There will be no insecurity in life with this conviction.

Thirdly, there is a universal power that is inside of me, outside of me, and everywhere in the universe. That power is responsible for everything in the universe. All the diverse creation is because of this power and that power cares for me. Some people call it God, some call it something else. But it does not matter what one calls it. There is a power, there is a spirit. That is so compassionate, and it is with you and will help you. It is also helping you now. See, when you were a child, when you could not even wipe your nose, when you could not even stand up, didn’t nature take care of you? (Affirmative, 'Yes,' from the audience.) And when you get old, you need someone to help you. Right? Somebody will take care of your needs. So, when you were very young, someone took care of you, and someone will definitely take care of you when you will be very old. So, who is putting this thought in that someone’s mind to take care of you? That is the power. So, you have always been taken care of?

Even when you are capable and strong, you must know that there is a power that takes care of you. So, if we just understand this, a great relaxation happens, and the insecurity in the mind goes away, all the fear goes away. Great relaxation, confidence, trust and everything comes. All that is needed in life just come up. So, when we were incapable, we were taken care of, and if we become incapable, we will be taken care of. Now also, we are taken care of and we should also do the same thing. We should also take care in whatever possible manner, wherever it is necessary. This is human life.

Human life has two purposes. One is how much you take, and second is how much you give. So, what is that you can take in the world? You cannot take all the money out of this world. You may earn millions of dollars, but you will have to leave it here. It cannot go with you. The millions of dollars or euro you earn come to help to take care of your food, clothing, a little comfortable bed and room to sleep, and travel a bit here and there. That is all. It cannot bring happiness. We should not expect money to bring us happiness. If we do it, we are not intelligent. If we think money is going to bring us happiness, it is like saying, “I can eat coins and get rid of my hunger”. You need an eatable to get out of your hunger, and not Euros or coins. That is all. It cannot bring happiness. You should not expect money to bring you happiness. You can buy an eatable with Euro, that is a different thing.

Ultimately, happiness cannot be bought by money. We must know this very well. So, get all this comfort in life. But what is it you should get? Comfort is a small thing. But what is it that you can take with you? What can go with you is knowledge. What gets imprinted in the consciousness is knowledge. So, how much knowledge have you gained? Knowledge is not what you read in a book, but it is awareness. How much awareness you have gained? How much broadness in your mind has come up? And in giving, how much love have you given back to the world.

So, how much love have you given?

And how much knowledge have you taken?

These are the only two things that will be asked, and that makes life more fruitful. So, we are all on the right track.

Are you all happy? (A loud, 'Yes!') This is so nice and fortunate. We completed Guru Purnima few days back – 25 July. That was the day we celebrate the knowledge and the love together. Full moon is the symbol of love. It is lovely to walk in the full moon. Moon is very romantic. Isn’t it? So, knowledge is not dry. Knowledge is so romantic and so full of love. That is what we celebrated few days back – Guru Purnima. We thanked all the Masters of the tradition. From thousands of years, the tradition has kept this knowledge intact. So, everyone feels so grateful for the beautiful knowledge we have received in our lives. That is the celebration when you feel so grateful for something that is so life transforming, something that is so important for our life to be uplifted. We feel more grace flowing into our lives. More gratefulness and gratitude means more grace. More grace means more happiness, more knowledge.

Jai GuruDev!

knowledge sheet 44

2010-09-10T11:52:00.000+05:30

Divinity permeates everything in this Earth. Puja is not complete without honoring the trees, mountains, rivers, Earth and the people living on the Earth. Honoring everyone is Dakshina. Da means to give and Dakshina means giving something that will cleanse us of all impurities. Offering with which all your sins vanish. No puja is complete without Dakshina. When we act in society with skill and free from the distortions of the mind, all negative tendencies like anger, worries, sorrow are destroyed. I will say give your tensions, worries and sorrows as Dakshina.
{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Look around and see who is not smiling. Now for the next few days you should take care of them.

Q: I am often outraged by the injustice happening around me, but realize there is also a need for love and understanding. How can I balance these feelings?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When many bristles are put together to make a broom, they are far more effective in sweeping a large hall than they would have been individually. Similarly, as sangha (group), you can achieve more. Whether it is for service or justice, you should work in groups. This is very important.
Injustice is there. It is your work to turn it around. In Chinese, there is one word for both crisis and
opportunity. If you only see the problem, you become frustrated. This is no good. Work with the
group and just see what you can do. In many parts of the world there is so much corruption. Money is required for everything. When our sangha stood up against corruption, we accomplished a lot. Our youth refused to pay any bribes. When officers see this kind of conviction, It was so refreshing for them. They are also human beings after all. For our Ayurveda projects, we needed 10 different licenses. People said it would take two years just to get these! We applied for the licenses and resolved not to give any bribes. We said that we were prepared to go there 50 times if necessary. Within one month, we had all 10 licenses! So do fight against injustice, but without anger. Fight with a calm and serene mind. This
is said even in the Bhagavad-Gita.

Q: My father recently passed away. How can I know how he is, where he is and what he thinks of
me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Those who have passed on to the other side shower their blessings on you. They don’t judge you and have no concerns about you. They know you will be taken care of.

Q: On one hand, desires need to be dropped, but is it okay to have a desire for liberation? When
will that get dropped?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is okay to have a desire for liberation.

Q: If God is within us, why does God not guide us all towards good deeds alone? Why is there so
much crime and violence in the world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Imagine a movie with no villain. Imagine there is only a hero who is eating, sleeping and generally just hanging around with nothing to do! Would you watch such a movie? Opposite
values are complementary. Thorns and petals both exist. You have the choice to pick up either
the thorns or the petals. God is there within. He is sometimes sleeping and hiding, sometimes
awake and dancing. After some sadhana, God is awake. Then He is rocking. Awaken the God
and Goddess in you! A stone does not feel, but a living being does. Waking the godliness in you
is essential. This is why there are particular hymns sung in India in the morning, ‘Wake up and
bless us, O Lord’! On one level, it sounds ridiculous. It is the parents’ job to wake up children, but
in this hymn, human beings are singing to the Gods to wake up and bless the creation. This is a
paradox, and in this paradox, is hidden a deep secret of existence.

Q: Why does love always come with attachment? Is it possible to love your partner and still be
dispassionate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Attachment brings pain, but nothing comes without pain. We came into this world in a lot of pain. The process of birth itself is very painful. For nine months, we were comfortable and then suddenly the ocean around us disappeared and we had to come out! Attachment happens when
your focus is not on the Being, but on the outside. Wanting to control, possess and hold on brings
pain. When we are relaxed and content, love transforms to bliss. Demand and control only bring
pain. Wisdom, along with love, is the answer.

Q: How can I control my anger?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Anger comes out of your love for perfection. Create some space for imperfection around you. Make a list of all the things you consider to be wrong. Then have people around you do
everything on that list! When you get angry, just observe that sensation. Observe how your teeth
are clenching and how the mind becomes. Take a few long deep breaths and see if it changes.
However, I have no experience, since I myself have never had this problem. So my advice may
not be authentic. You should ask others. There are many here who will tell you. After regular
practice of Sudarshan Kriya, anger tends to settle down.

Q: What is the whole point of this life? We are born, we study, we work and then eventually one
day we die. I am losing my passion for life.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Good. You are on track. What you are saying is like our intro talk. Imagine we live for eighty years. Out of that, twenty-five or thirty years we simply sleep. Ten years we spend in the
bathroom. Another ten years, we are stuck in traffic. Then so many years we spend being sad
and miserable. Ultimately, only some two or three years we spend in prayer, service and so on.
Good that you are thinking along these lines. You are definitely on the right track.

Q: What to do when a loved one is diagnosed with a potentially terminal condition?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Bless them. Carry on, Sing, dance, meditate. If you think too much about the illness, it pulls down your energy. Medical attention is required, but have faith also. A turnaround can happen at any time. There is divine grace that is present with you. Anytime, anything is possible.

Q: Is it possible for all of us to get enlightened?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definitely. Anytime! The seed is there. It can sprout anytime. It can become a big tree anytime.

Q: For fifteen years I’ve been with the same job and my boss doesn’t respect me at all. Should I
quit and start my own business? Please give me some direction.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Choice is yours, blessings are mine.

Q: The knowledge in the Vedas contains the truth and laws of nature. Is modern science also a
part of this body of knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. Knowledge is infinite. Many scientists of modern age are the rishis (sages) of today. They explore the universe. All are to be honored, whether ancient or modern. Today’s quantum physics discoveries are startling. There is so much similarity to Vedic knowledge. For instance, dark
matter and String Theory are both present in the ancient knowledge. Dr.Hans-Peter Dürr, the
physicist has told me that whenever he is giving a lecture, he feels as if he is speaking on Vedanta. The whole universe is made up of one substance, and not two. This is Vedanta. Ancient rishis and modern physicists both say the same thing.

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 43

2010-09-09T12:51:00.000+05:30

The word Shambho means to realize how beautiful the Divine is, how beautiful the creation and the Self is! It is a miracle how the same consciousness is present in every being in this creation! There is no other miracle greater than this. How did this One become so many? This tradition of moving from many to one is so unique. Yoga and meditation is necessary for that!

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Ego is the biggest problem. Yet it is very easy to overcome

Q: Silence, music and logic are the three essential ingredients you have spoken of. How does logic relate to knowledge or consciousness?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Logic is essential. If you see an idol of Goddess Saraswati she is sitting on solid rock. She has a book in one hand which is logic. In the others she has rosemary beads for meditation and veena (a musical instrument). Logic, music, mauna (silence) are all essential for total development of consciousness. Knowledge is logical understanding of existence.

Q: Please say something about spiritual materialism.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I am hearing a new word today. Well, don’t divide life: this is spiritual or this is materialistic. Take a holistic view of life. In a temple there is food. In that sense both material and spiritual aspects are there. Music is both a form of entertainment and spirituality. We even put ornate clothes on our deities. Ancient people never separated the spiritual and material. They enjoyed putting precious jewels in temples.

In South India, in Madurai, kings gave away most of their precious jewels to the temples. Everything co-existed. In the same way you can treat work as worship. It is sacred. Spirituality has entered our material life. Action is sacred. Lord Krishna says, “Janma karma samay divya”. All actions are divine.Lord Krishna himself was very much of the material world except for his discourse to Arjuna. All he did was materialistic. He ruled the country, advised as a minister, and so on. Life should not be compartmentalized. Materialism and spirituality are not opposed to each other.

However, money earned through unethical means is never spiritual. It will pinch your heart. The spirit is awake in you. It is your natural instinct. If you have a plate full of food and someone comes to you, you will not be able to eat it alone. It is such a natural part of your life that you cannot renounce one for the other. Every spiritual person has to do charity. You want to be compassionate, but how can you be when you have nothing to give away. Charity cannot happen with an empty bowl.

Narayana is the pinnacle of spiritual life and Laxmi is the symbol of wealth. Both Narayana and Laxmi go together. Saraswati sat on a rock. The knowledge that you have gained will always be with you. Laxmi sits on a lotus which floats on water. You will never believe what happens in the share market. Wealth is unsteady just as a lotus floating on water. These are the eternal symbols that convey truth. Grasp what is needed. This is very important.

Q: In Celebrating Silence you say that ambition indicates lack of self-confidence. Is this so?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If I say, “I have successfully lifted this bottle of water”, this indicates I was not confident that I could have done it. Being ambitious is when you are not confident of achieving something. ‘I ran ten miles. I did not think I would do it’ - Claiming success indicates your limitation. You are unaware of your huge potential. But the attitude should be ‘ I ran ten miles? I don’t realize that I can also do 100 miles’!

Q: I have recently begun meditating. Through this I have experienced God and power of spirituality. I don’t realize what is happening when I meditate. How can I continue to progress on this path? Can you be my Guru?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I think I am doing my job. If you face any issues, have questions related to energy, yoga or meditation, you can contact me or one of the teachers at any time. It is good to follow one technique at a time. It is not good to mix techniques. When you have a deep experience, it is better to consult a trained teacher. And you can always email me.

Q: What happens to the soul after we pass away?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What happens when a television set is switched off? The screen will go blank but TV waves are still being projected. Our bodies are like a TV screen. Of course the relay station is elsewhere. (laughter)

Q: How can one conquer the ego?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The tendency of the ego is to say “I am not crazy, I am proper. Ego is the biggest problem. Yet it is very easy to overcome. It is a one-day job. Just act like a crazy person. Can you do that? For one day. Done! Make people believe you have gone completely crazy. It is the best antidote for ego.” If you cannot do this, can you simply behave as a child for the rest of your life? No third option. Be a baby for the rest of your life or a crazy person. Be one who has attained the essence. Apart from this, keep the ego. Don’t try to get rid of it. Do this slowly. Otherwise it is impossible.

When people laugh at you, can you relax? When people point at you, just relax. Smile and accept it. A mother has no ego. Whatever the children say, she accepts. If they kick , does the mother get perturbed? If you are unperturbed, you have conquered the ego. Ego is just a feeling of having a wall between you and others. There is no wall. You belong to me and I belong to you. You are accepted the way you are.

Naturalness is the antidote for you. Be spontaneous! Ego cannot stand spontaneity. Ego wants to present everything properly and prepare beforehand. Children are so spontaneous. They make mistakes. Never mind making mistakes. Just be like a child. Anybody can say anything about you.

Another block we often have is to feel something is not practical. No need to practice anything. Our own mind is saying it is not practical. We wanted 2,000 Hindustani classical musicians to perform together. Every teacher said it was impossible. A choir in India! It is not like here with so many people and that many styles. They have their own octaves. We had a program called Antarnaad. You should see it on Youtube. There were 2,750 singers. Only one day of practice! Make the impossible possible. We should remove the block in our own mind. Top musicians were spellbound at the Antarnaad event.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet 42

2010-09-06T10:32:00.000+05:30

The Divine is all around you and is seeing you. He doesn’t have a form. He is the formless core of existence and the goal. He is the seer, sight and the scene. This formless Divinity is Shiva. Just simply wake-up and experience this Shiva tattva.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Guru Purnima message by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

“Among the 12-13 full moons in a year the vaishakha full moon is dedicated to (his birth and enlightenment), jyeshtha full moon to mother earth and the aashadha full moon is dedicated to the memory of masters. This is Guru-Purnima.

It is the day when the disciple wakes up in his fullness and in the wakefulness he can’t be but grateful. This gratitude is not of dwaita (you and me), but of advaita. It is not a river moving from somewhere to somewhere, but is the ocean moving within itself. So, gratefulness on Guru-Purnima symbolizes that fullness.

The purpose of the Guru Purnima celebration is to turn back and review and see in this last one year how much one has progressed in life. For a seeker, Guru Purnima is a day of significance, is a day of New Year. It is the day to review one’s progress on the spiritual path and renew one’s determination and focus on the goal, and to resolve what one wants to do in the coming year. As the full moon rises and sets, tears of gratitude arise and repose into the vastness of one’s own self.”

You know, our body has millions of cells, and each cell has its own life. Many cells are being born every day and many are dying. So, you are a moving town. So many cities are on the planet Earth and planet Earth is revolving and moving around the Sun. Same way, there are so many cells and so many living beings inside you and you are moving around. You are a moving township. Like in a beehive, there are so many bees which come and sit, but there is one queen bee. If the queen bee goes away, every other bee goes away. In the same way, there is an atom in our body, the queen bee. If that is not there, everything else goes away. Locate in that, in that tiniest of the tiny atom, the atma or the self. It is everywhere yet nowhere. That is the queen bee and that is what you are. That is what the Divine is, and that is the Guru principle. Like there is fatherhood, motherhood, there is Guruhood also. You all have to play Guruhood at least to somebody. You do play, you keep giving advices and guiding people consciously or unconsciously, and give them love and care. But do it with 100 percent without expecting anything in return. That is living the Guruhood, living the self. There is no difference between the Divine, you and the Guru Principle. It is all coming to one thing, the queen bee.

Meditation is relaxing and reposing in that atom. So, think of all the things that you could be grateful for, and ask what you want. And bless everybody. We receive, but not just receiving is enough, we should give and bless those who are in need.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai GuruDev!

Knowledge sheet 41

2010-09-03T23:07:00.000+05:30

We think Shiva is somewhere else sitting with a snake around his neck. Shiva is one in whom everything has taken birth, who encompasses everything right this moment, and in whom everything in creation dissolves. Every form you see in this creation is all his form.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: 'Music, knowledge and silence are ingredients for development of the consciousness'

There are three essential ingredients for the development of consciousness - Music, knowledge and silence. Knowledge is logical understanding. With a few moments of silence practiced every day, we can shift our awareness. This is called Patrata. Building the capacity of the intellect can happen in a few moments of silence. This is all that is needed. The purpose of music is to lead to a space of silence and the purpose of knowledge is to lead to a space of wonderment.

Mindfulness

What is happening right now? (Laughter) Sense of mindfulness, yes? I am not saying anything and you are waiting to catch something. Are you aware of this? Instead of catching something, put your attention into the waiting. This is mindfulness. It is meditative awareness. Are you getting what I am saying? What happens when you are mindful? Suddenly a shift starts happening within you. From the scenery, you are going towards the seer. Now you are the seer and the scenery. You are looking at me, trying to understand what I am saying.

Take your attention back to yourself. You are sitting.. reading..

Observe your breath. In your mind, understand something. All the time you are saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and having a private dialogue in your mind. It is like having a discourse with yourself. Are you getting what I am saying? The shift from scenery to the seer happens with yoga. It happens with Ujjai breath and meditation. It brings up an ocean of compassion within you. It makes the intellect sharp and attentive. You become more intuitive and aware. You become friendlier and more confident.

3 levels of trust

There are three levels of trust. First, when you have confidence in yourself, you are able to trust people around you. This is the trust in the goodness of people in society. There are so many good people here (laughter). Then, trust in something that is not seen but felt. It is too big to understand, yet cannot be dismissed. Lastly, there is trust in the divinity. Before your trust in God, you need to have trust in the goodness of the world. The world contains more good than what we think of. There are only a few confused, misguided and stressed out people who are involved in all sorts of violence. In general, the world is good.

The first law of spirituality

We often blame the world and this leads to blaming ourselves. The first law of spirituality is to stop blaming others as well as yourself. Have you taken this first step? Can you do that? Without this, there is no point in going ahead. Stop blaming others and yourself. Then see what happens. Such a burst of energy and enthusiasm come up at once. I don’t mean you should never find fault with yourself. Find mistakes in yourself and correct them. You must acknowledge your weaknesses and move on. This is different from blaming yourself. Have faith in yourself and in the goodness of society. Have faith in the essence of this whole creation.

Do you use cell phones? You need a SIM card for a cell phone to work. If you don’t have a SIM card and you are dialing a number, you cannot reach anyone. Similarly, most of our prayers are not getting connected and that is why they are not being answered. My dear, you haven’t put in the SIM card.

Now, you have put the SIM card but you are in the basement. Again it doesn’t work! You are not in range in the basement. It cannot pick up the signal. Similarly, you need a battery. You need SIM card, battery and range and only then you can call anyone, anywhere. In this way, our spirit needs to be calm, serene and settled. Knowledge, music and silence are the three things which make life complete. Prayers get answered. Keep singing with emotion. With faith, silence, confidence and knowledge, prayers get heard.

Are you all still here?

What is this soul? We have heard so much about it, about self-realization. What is soul? What is self?

Want to know it? How many here have studied Physics or Chemistry? Everyone here must know a little about Physics. Our body is made up of billions of cells. Each cell in the body has a life. You use body scrub to get rid of dead skin cells. So many cells are born and dying every day. You are not an individual person. This is how the ancient rishis or sages referred to it. You are a walking township. Purusha is a town. The soul lives in the town or the body that moves around. Do you know that in your intestines there are 50,000 bacteria?

This body is changing everyday. Yet something is also not changing. To understand this, you should study a beehive. You have seen a beehive? What keeps it there? The queen bee. Once the queen bee is gone, everything disappears. In the same way, your body is made up of billions of atoms. There is a queen bee in your body. Each body is a beehive full of honey. Locate the queen bee within yourself and that is meditation. Billions of atoms are present throughout your body. It is the same in a human body as in an ant or an elephant. The outer size of the body is irrelevant. It is the unknown or atma (self) which is non-changing. It always remains. Nothing can shake you with this knowledge. You will feel at home with everybody. Nothing will disturb you. This is the essence of spirituality.

To be continued in the next post...

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai Gurudev!

YES!+ Course in SHIMLA

2010-09-01T12:09:00.001+05:30

The Youth Empowerment and Skills Seminar Plus (YES!+) is an
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heighten awareness and increase mental focus. This challenging 30 hour
program (spanning 6 consecutive days) also includes practical sessions
on entrepreneurial skills and improving your physical, mental and
emotional health. It's a great way to meet new people, explore your
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Benifits of the Program:-
ABILITY TO BE FOCUSED AND RELAXED AT THE SAME TIME:
As a student or a young professional don't you think that if you are
focused and relaxed at the same time you as a youth would be able to
take more efficient, rational decisions for your life.

ABILITY TO SUSTAIN ENTHUSIASM
Youth denotes energy right? We want to do so many things in life. We
want to learn guitar, do good in academics, go out with friends, but
do we have that much energy to sustain all this.

ABILITY TO HANDLE EMOTIONAL GARBAGE
Everybody throws waste outside their homes right. You don't share your
banana's peel with your friends right? But we do this with our
emotional garbage. Its like shit exchange- "Do you know what happened
with me today? Or you know what he said to me?".

Everybody since our childhood has been telling us not be angry or not
to be jealous, but when we are angry then what to do, that nobody has
told us.

If you think that all these things relate to your life, then this
workshop is for you. 18-32 years old, tighten your seat belts, a
roller coaster YES!+ is about to start in Shimla.

ONE TIME CONTRIBUTION FOR THE COURSE : 750/- ONLY.

Venue: Gaiety Theater Shimla.
Date: 3rd Sep - 8th Sept
Time: 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Contact: 9805086663

Important information!

2010-08-26T22:27:00.000+05:30

The truth about the negative blogs – by swami Sadhyojathah

First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Swami Sadyojathah and I have been with Guruji and the Art of Living for more than 18 years. Even though I was born into a royal family in Kerala, I became a strong communist during my school/college days. In our communist study classes we were taught that spirituality is a hoax and we should go to a spiritual master ONLY to expose them! It was such a coincidence then that I first heard about Guruji from a friend whom I adored because he was also inclined towards communist ideology. When i actually went to meet Guruji it was only to check him out more for being a fraud than anything else! Because of my communist background and my education in Mechanical Engineering, I was not inclined to believe anything so easily. Everything had to appeal my intellect and I would react strongly if i saw even an iota of injustice or irregularity. The very fact that I have been with Guruji and the Art of Living for more than 18 years is testimony to the fact that our organization is transparent and clean for i have not lost that sense of justice and standing up for the truth.

Today, the Art of Living has 10,000 teachers worldwide. The motivation and intention of the 5-6 people who are behind these unsavoury blogs is questionable to say the least. If they wished to save the world, why don’t they work against drug trafficking or poverty or do any other service project instead of trying to stab the hope and solace that millions of people have found in their lives through Guruji? None of these bloggers can touch their hearts and say that what they have written is true.

If you are really sincere, then you should have no fear of revealing your identity. Why don’t you come out in open and confront Guruji? Guruji gives Darshan to everyone and meets anyone who comes to him. Just ”blowing the whistle” without revealing your identity is an act of cowardice. And this is nothing short of terrorism by pen. When these negative blogs against Guruji and Art of Living were brought to Guruji’s notice, he just smiled and said, “it is good to have bad press. This will filter the weak and we can identify our strong pillars.” Millions of strong pillars of AOL worldwide just laugh at these negative blogs and ignore them. But, we feel that it is our responsibility to present the facts and expose this bunch of negative bloggers.

Who are these negative bloggers?

The first one is a lady called Eng an from South America. She is bipolar and comes from a troubled background. To get sympathy from people she used to tell everyone that her father used to throw shoes at her and her mother used to throw hot tea cups at her. Later on we found that this was just a figment of her imagination and that her parents are from very respectable families. Because of her unstable nature but coming across as perfectly rational she used to take advantage of people. When her whole family rejected her, she was given shelter. She was prone to sudden bouts of violence and make a spectacle of herself screaming and running around even in places such as the airport! This became less frequent when she was regular in her spiritual practices. When she stopped doing the practices the erratic behaviour would erupt once again. Out of compassion, her Part 1 teacher Janael Mcqueen pleaded to Guruji to allow her to do TTC because she felt that if this lady was empowered and made a teacher she would be fine. No doubt that she was a good teacher, but, very soon people discovered her strange behaviour. She demanded that the people of Brazil respect her. Guruji said, “I won’t tell anyone to respect you, you have to earn your own respect.” Her own students pleaded to Guruji not to send her to Brazil anymore which was a big blow for her. Her 3 ex-boy friends like Mr Ignacious , Mr Jonnathan Tang etc. can speak volumes about the trouble that they have undergone in their lives because of her. Janael Mcqueen and reputed journalist Beatriz can testify about her state of mind. As also the Art of Living Brazil Board, about her misconduct.

Ignacio Escribano (ignesc@yahoo.com.ar)

Beatriz Goyoaga (bgoyoago@fibertel.com.ar) +54114530407

Souza, Alexandre” , (AOL Brazil) – +551191422502

Janael Mcqueen –

When senior devotees complained about Eng an’s tantrums and abnormal behaviour to Guruji and asked him why they should associate with pathological liars like her, he used to tell them “we stick to our first course point of Art of Living which is: accept people as they are! Nobody wants her, her parents don’t want her, so if we also send her away, where will she go?” Around Guruji there is always lightness and humour. Never is there malicious bad-mouthing. This lady used to get irritated by joy and humour. Only someone who is mentally sick can construe all that as being malicious. Once when someone started praising her about her command of languages (she was conversant in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and English), Guruji had hinted, “a ladder which takes you up can bring one down also.” This is what she twisted and mentioned in the blog. She demanded 3000 usd per month failing which she would write a negative blog and she fulfilled her threat. Even after she started these negative blogs against Guruji and the organization, she still goes to Art of Living people and takes their help!

Another person who has joined this negative blog group is a young girl from Australia. Many people want proximity to Guruji and upon not getting what they want lash out at Guruji or the organization.. He tells them to take a project and sincerely work towards it instead of hanging around him. This girl from Australia even rose to work in the secretariat. AOL is such an open organization that anyone who is in the organization for one year and have done the necessary courses can become even a teacher.

Another blogger, a person from Denmark who left AOL because his parents’ suffered from Parkinson disease and was hoping that Guruji would cure them. When they did not cure fully after coming to the AoL Silver Jubilee celebrations he left.

Another gentleman from Denmark was troubled because he could not come to terms with the adulations that Guruji was getting. He started saying that Art of Living should not worship Hindu Gods/Goddesses. He himself was quite depressed and though he became a teacher and was well aware of customs in the Ashram which adhere to ancient Indian spiritual traditions such as Vedic chanting, the singing of bhajans and the Indian custom of bowing down and touching the feet of the Master he used to vehemently object to them. He repeatedly asked Guruji to stop all these practices. Guruji however made it clear that these customs were part of Indian culture. Guruji himslef does not desire for devotees to touch his feet, but that is what devotees wish to do. Althought Guruji explained all this to him very politely He did not take kindly to it.

Two Indian sisters are also part of this negative blog group. They did not have any genuine interest towards knowledge or service. They used to over exhibit their devotion to the Master, constantly vying for his attention. Their own brother, sister in law and other family members are all still actively involved in AOL. One of these sisters wanted to become an Advanced course teacher but was not made one. That factor combined with the not getting the kind of attention they wanted made both sisters leave AOL and take to writing these negative blogs.

Another group which has joined in the fray is an extremist Jihadi group. When it was brought to Guruji’s notice, he said, “welcome them, let them come and see everything, we have nothing to hide, perhaps they will get transformed.” It has happened many a time that agnostics/atheists who come to disprove Guruji have landed up becoming devotees.

Guruji deals with mentally challenged people as compassionately as possible.

There are only two occasions when Guruji avoids answering questions. First is when someone insists Guruji to support abortion and second is when people are diagnosed with serious illnesses but want to go against medical advice. There are a few such people who refuse to take medical help and we call them Blue Stars. Not meant derogatorily. Only Guruji can handle them with patience. We have seen Guruji doing all out to help people irrespective of their attitude or behaviour.

We don’t need to refute that the allegations made by these people are not true. But, since someone has taken the pains to compile the so called allegations, I am decided to take the trouble of making the facts to a sincere seeker who may wander on this site, loud and clear.

1. Anyone who has been associated with the Art of Living knows that nobody is ever compelled by anyone to do seva nor is put on ‘a guilt trip’by Guruji as has been suggested.

2. Only those who are totally ignorant about Ayurveda can say that Sri Sri Ayurveda formulas are copied from Maharishi Ayurveda . None of our people have visited Maharishi Ayurveda in the first place. Most of our products are based on the ancient Ayurvedic texts of Charaka (Ashtanga Hridaya etc) and we don’t need to copy the formula from anyone else. Anyone who has visited our Ayurveda factory can vouch for the high standards of cleanliness and hygiene that are maintained in the manufacturing process. The allegation that our products are substandard is utter nonsense.

Mr Narasimhan is not at all involved in the purchase of any materials in the ayurveda factory. Let anyone be able to produce one bill to prove that there is someone taking commission in the purchase of raw materials.

First they accuse AoL of financial irregularities. When all accounts are in ‘’webstar’’, now they are talking about kickback from suppliers!. Those making these allegations have absolutely no proof of financial irregularities and therefore it is therefore even more surprising that they do it with such ease.

3. The preposterous suggestion that we smuggle medicines to countries and sell them is again wholly untrue. Proper clearances and licenses from each country are procured and all those who have bought our products know that they are sold at market prices.

4. Anyone who has even a little knowledge about AoL know that the AoL European headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. We don’t need to transfer money to any country to evade tax because our organization is exempted from tax in all these countries.

5. It is a joke that the contents of AoL are copied from other institutions.

6. And the same goes for Sahaj Samadhi meditation.

7. Oury Engolz was our guest and we invited him a few times. We invite them, but we don’t need to steal their ideas from them

8. I personally have been involved in the trauma relief and rehabilitation projects in the tsunami hit areas of Tamilnadu and Sri Lanka. Anyone who has been involved in any of the service projects of AoL will know that these allegations are false. The very fact that these negative bloggers have made factual errors about our projects in itself shows that they are all false. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir (SSRVM) schools are not charitable schools and no where we have claimed that. It is Sri Sri Vidya Mandirs and Bal Mandirs across the country which are free schools.

The charity we do is supported by the fees we charge for the courses. Is it fair to say that just because someone is Guruji’s nephew, he should not get proper education?

9. Those who have visited our rural school where more than 2000 first generation children from neighbouring villages are studying, would have seen for themselves how the money is spent. Children get uniforms, mid-day meals, transportation etc. free of cost.

10. Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI) accounts are audited and anyone can verify them. We save only 25% from the course fees that is collected.

11. In fact our experience is that not all full-time teachers perform very well.

12. Guruji directly corrects people when they are wrong . He never humiliates anyone. The skill and knack with which he makes people realize their mistake without making them feel guilty is really amazing. All senior teachers would stand testimony to this.

13. There are 10,000 teachers worldwide in AOL. Except a handful of teachers who have left AOL, all the teachers will vouch for the organization and how it has benefitted them.

14. You can malign any organization on two accounts. One is sex, the other is money. AOL has stood the test of these accusattions. It is easy to label anyone as immoral and create doubts. If there is anyone who is the victim of a sex scandal, let them give evidence or face trial in the court for defamation.

15. Same as above.

16. AGNI is a yellow journalism magazine which writes ONLY false stories about anyone and everyone. It is run by a person who is an underworld don. He has four cases of contempt of court and a dozen criminal charges pending against him. If anyone is quoting this magazine to accuse AoL or its teachers, then it is a very clear indication that they are also of the same calibre. The man in question, Sridhar (AGNI) demanded 42 crores rupees and 2 crores every year from AOL failing which he threatened to malign the organization. When the organization refused to entertain him he accused AoL of grabbing land from a Dalit which the world now knows to be an absolute hoax. The land was bought from a Brahmin at market price. Sridhar then came up with another land issue but failed in that also. However that has not deterred him for he is still desperately trying to malign the organization.

The firing of the bullet in the ashram was extremely dubious and no satisfactory explanation was offered by the cops. In every field there are a few disgruntled individuals whose motivations may not be above board. Guruji doesn’t not worry if anyone tries to malign him or his organization. Accolades and brickbats are the same for him, they do not affect him.

17. We started this 21 days TTC format to lessen the burden on people coming from far off places like Bihar, UP and North East.

18. Anyone who has travelled with Guruji even once in their life know how much he takes care of them. He makes sure that they have have had food (many a time he himself serves food to everyone) and a place to stay. We receive emails or people ask Guruji directly whether they can travel with him abroad. It does not mean that AOL has to pay for their flights. We only pay the fares of full-time teachers who travel to conduct the courses.

It seems that the lady who has written this has a deep psychological imbalance.

19. Guruji goes through nearly 600 emails/letters everyday. Any email /letter which is marked ‘confidential’, he looks into it himself. But, those mails which are not in English/Kannada/Hindi, he asks translators to read, confidentially. This lady could read 2-3 languages like Portuguese. Since they were not many who can read Portuguese , she was asked to read those mails. The way she has twisted this shows the disturbed way in which her mind works.

20. We don’t compel anyone to give donations. Those who donate do so out of gratitude, or their commitment to be part of service projects or whatever reason but totally of their own volition.

21. This Swamis and Rishis sit and discuss the amount of money collected for Poojas is baseless and ludicrous. I myself have conducted many Navaratri poojas and we leave it totally to the local organizers to conduct the entire event.

22. Guruji discourages anyone to become full time teachers. This lady did not wanted to take up a job. She only wanted to become full time teacher. She claimed that she was sick and was given three months free treatment in the German ashram even though doctors found that she was perfectly okay to work. As per Guruji’s instruction, we were giving her per month. Without doing anything she was being paid every month. Her best friend tried to put sense into her head. But she was constantly bickering and negative. Even after she left AOL and started writing these negative blogs, it is an AOL devotee who is still helping her to date!

23. Guruji has never predicted anything about Bush nor on Obama. Have these predictions appeared in the media? Where has this lady got these ideas if she is not in AOL anylonger? Once again fabrications of her own mind.

24. This soap story itself is enough to expose how much one can stoop in making allegations. It is rubbish to say that Guruji demanded to stay in a 5 star hotel! While he was in Brazil for the third time, he mentioned to the organizers that the hotel where he had stayed twice before had bigger meeting room to accommodate more people. 200-300 devotees could sit in that bigger meeting room whilst in the current meeting room not even 50 people were able to sit. The rest of the people were hovering in the lobby and Guruji was concerned as he did not want to inconvenience other guests staying in the hotel. Once again the lady has potrayed an a malicious version of what actually took place.

Guruji was visiting Brazil for just a day and this lady had ordered worth of cosmetics(soaps, shampoos etc). The moment Guruji saw that, he asked her ‘’why did you buy so much and that too when I don’t need to use them at all?’’. Guruji carries his own toiletries wherever he goes. Immediately she replied that she got it sponsored by devotees. There were half a dozen shampoo bottles and soaps. Guruji asked her ‘’why do you have to spend so much money whether it is devotee’s money or that of the organization’s?’’. Everyone present there knew that this lady got all those soaps and shampoos and other cosmetics in Guruji’s name so that she can have all that!

Any sensible person will just laugh at the allegation that Guruji yelled for a soap!!! This lady has a habit of imagining that people are yelling at her. People who have interacted with her know that she yells herself! This lady had shouted at a whole group even at Buenos Aires airport as they waited to receive Guruji. All teachers and devotees who were present were witness as to how Guruji handled the situation with utmost patience.

Even when someone was talking to her in a normal tone, she would say, ‘”don’t yell at me.” And every now and then she would say, “I am quitting.”

Guruji has stayed in tents, he has stayed in villages. He always adjusts to his surroundings with utmost ease and is always considerate about not inconveniencing his hosts wherever he might be. Anyone in a right frame of mind cannot accuseGuruji of yelling for soap!

I still remember an occasion when Guruji himself started cleaning the place where he had to stay! This was in Japan and his room had lot of dust, windows unclean etc. He took a cloth and started cleaning without any complaining.

25. AoL are not a herd of sheep! We are a heterogeneous group, of various backgrounds and from every walk of life right from prisoners to people who hold high posts in different fields. Only Guruji can bring such diverse group together. Guruji never shies away from taking responsibility for the misdeeds of people –not just the organization, but just about everybody. In our Teachers Refresher Meet( TRM) every teacher gets a chance to express their view point or difference of opinion if any, but, at the end everyone goes back charged with enthusiasm, to teach more courses and take up big service projects. This has been happening every single time.

26. The hearts that are grateful and mature people always give credit to those whom they love. It is only the disgruntled that find fault in the noblest of people. Whether someone performs or not Guruji gives such care to every person.

27. This teacher from Denmark wanted to stop teaching because of his wife and his career. He had no complaint against Guruji or AOL. Since he is a cook, he wanted to take up the job of a chef and Guruji had told him ‘’if you want to leave, you are welcome’’.

28. Once again this person is contradicting herself. On the one hand she says that Guruji said that she was free to leave. And on the other hand she says that Guruji cursed her. Anyone who knows Guruji knows that this is absolute nonsense and if anything shows the hatred in her. If anyone meets her for even a single day , they will know the truth. Those who were with Guruji are utterly shocked by the way she has deliberately misinterpreted everything.

It should be noted that none of these negative blogs/articles are written by close associates of Guruji or by any ashramite. There are hundreds of people who are engineers/doctors/lawyers/MBA s who are at the helm of affairs in AoL and they are not fools who can be deceived. These negative bloggers only prove the old saying that, ‘’no saint or prophet escaped criticism/condemnation’’. On the one hand they talk about the so called inner circle of Guruji and on the other hand claim to have had access to the inner circle! These are the people who blame Guruji for their own failures and shortcomings. And they do so shamelessly and without hesitation. Only a saint can tolerate such a barrage of ill will. It is tough to be a Guru! But Guruji does it with a smile!!!!

PS: As copied from Kamlesh di's Notes column on facebook

knowledge sheet 41

2010-08-26T20:12:00.000+05:30

It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited. So some people prefer to be atheists. But atheism is not a reality, it is just a matter of convenience.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: ‘The moment you are centered, you see Divinity everywhere’

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke about the true essence of Shiva andShivratri. Let us understand a little about the Shiva tattva. Only a little can be known. The intellect has to be content and finer feelings awakened. Both scientific understanding and spiritual wisdom are necessary to bring this contentment that is holistic and complete.There is no need to go to on long pilgrimages to find the Divine. If you don’t find God here, where you are, then it is not possible anywhere else. Where the minddissolves, Shiva is there. Be established wherever you are. The moment you areestablished, centered, you see that there is Divinity present everywhere. This is meditation. One of the names of Lord Shiva is Virupaksha - meaning one who is formless yet sees all. We know that there is air all around us and we can feel the air as well. But what if the air also starts feeling you? Space is all around us, we identify space. But what if space also recognizes and feels your presence? This happens. Only we don’t know it. Scientists know this and they call it the theory of relativity. The one who sees and that which is seen are both affected when seen. The Divine is all around you and is seeing you. He doesn’t have a form. He is the formless core of existence and the goal. He is the seer, sight and the scene. This formless Divinity is Shiva.To simply wake-up and experience this Shiva tattva is Shivratri.

Usually when there is celebration, awareness is lost. Deep rest in celebration with awareness is Shivratri. When you face some problem, you become aware and alert. We are at rest when everything is well; on Shivratri we rest with awareness. It is said that a yogi remains awake when everybody else is sleeping. For a yogi, everyday isShivratri. Lord Shiva is beautifully explained in a verse by Adi Shankaracharya (Sri Sri recites a few lines from the verse).

Adyantahinam - One without a beginning or end. Sarvada - He is the Bholenath (innocent ruler of all) who is present everywhere all the time. We think Shiva is somewhere else sitting with a snake around his neck.Shiva is one in whom everything has taken birth, who encompasses everything right this moment, and in whom everything in creation dissolves. Every form you see in thiscreation is all his form.

He permeates the entire creation. He is never born and has no end. He is eternal.

He is the fourth state of consciousness, the turiya avasta, the meditative state, that is beyond the waking, deep sleep and dream states.

He is the non-dual consciousness that is present everywhere. That’s why to do Shiva puja, you have to dissolve in Shiva yourself. Being Shiva, you do Shiva puja.Chidananda rupa - He is the consciousness that is pure bliss.

Tapo yoga gamya - One who can be known through tapa and yoga. The Shiva tattva can be experienced in the knowledge of the Vedas. The state of Shivoham (I am Shiva), Shiva kevaloham (there is only Shiva) is attained. Shivratri is the day to experience a wave of joy and contentment. Without yoga, Shiva can’t be experienced. Yoga doesn’t mean only asanas (physical postures) but that experience of Shiva tattva which happens with meditation, pranayam: when that ‘WOW’ happens from within.

The word Shambo has come from the same source - to realize how beautiful the Divine is, the creation and the Self is! It is a miracle how the same consciousness ispresent in every being in this creation! There is no other miracle greater than this. How did this One become so many? This tradition (of Shivratri) of moving from many to one is so unique. Yoga and meditation is necessary for that. Without meditation, the mind is not calmed. On the occasion of Shivratri meditation, bhajans are all part of the celebration. Everyone participates with a full heart. Everyone should sing.Shiva is the cause of all causes. Because of which everything is there – the tree growing, the sun rising, the wind blowing... The reason for everything happening is Shiva - because of whom everything happens and without whom, nothing happens.Panchmukha, Panchtattva – There are five faces to Shiva - Water, Air, Earth, Fire and Space. Understanding these five elements is tattva gyana (knowledge of the fiveelements). And then Shiva is worshipped as Ashtamurti (eight forms)– Mind, Memory, Ego are also included. This is both the form and formless aspect of Shiva. Worshipping Shiva is dissolving in the Shiv tattva and then wishing for something good. What to wish for? Wish with a liberal heart for the universal good, nobody should be unhappy in the world. ‘Sarve janah sukhino bhavantu .’ And make one sankalpa on this occasion. It is something which comes to you again and again like your breath, like yourheartbeat. And when you surrender such a sankalpa to the Divine, it will definitely come true.

We also worship nature. Divinity permeates everything in this Earth. Puja is not complete without honoring the trees, mountains, rivers, Earth and the people living on the Earth. Honoring everyone is Dakshina. Da means to give and Dakshina means giving something that will cleanse us of all impurities. Offering with which all your sins vanish. No puja is complete without Dakshina. When we act in society with skill and free from the distortions of the mind, all negative tendencies like anger, worries, sorrow are destroyed. I will say give your tensions, worries and sorrows as Dakshina. And how does that happen? With Sadhana (spiritual practices), Seva (service) andSatsang (company of the truth).

Ride the boat of the intellect to dissolve in the ocean of finer feelings and faith.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet 40

2010-08-26T20:10:00.000+05:30

There is a universal power that is inside of me, outside of me, and everywhere in the universe. That power is responsible for everything in the universe. All the diverse creation is because of this power and that power cares for me. Some people call it God, some call it something else. But it does not matter what one calls it. There is a power, there is a spirit. That is so compassionate, and it is with me and will help me!

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: God for the disbelievers soul

You have always thought of God as a father, up in the heavens somewhere. But can you see God as a child? When you see God as a father, you will want to demand and take from Him. But when you see God as a child, you have no demands. God is the very core of your existence. You are pregnant with God. You have to take care of your pregnancy and deliver this Child into the worl d. God is your child who clings onto you like a baby till you grow old and die. This child clings on to you crying for nourishment. Sadhana, Satsang and Seva are the nourishment.

It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited. So some people prefer to be atheists. But atheism is not a reality, it is just a matter of convenience.

When you have a spirit of inquiry, or are in search of truth, atheism falls apart. With a spirit of inquiry, you cannot deny something which you have not disproved. An atheist denies God without first disproving it. In order to disprove God, you must have enormous knowledge. And when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot disprove God For one to say that something does not exist, one should know about the whole universe. So you can never be 100 percent atheist. An atheist is only a believer who is sleeping In fact an atheist is someone who has a concept of God For a person to say, I dont believe in anything, means he must believe in himself so he believes in himself about whom he
does not even know

An atheist can never be sincere because sincerity needs depth and an atheist refuses to go to the depths. Because the deeper he goes, he finds a void, a field of all possibilities he has
to accept that there are many secrets he does not know. He would then need to acknowledge his ignorance, which he refuses to do, because the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts doubting his atheism.

A doubt-free atheist is next to impossible So you can never be a sincere and doubt-free atheist. When the atheist realises his ignorance, what does he do? Where does he go? Does he go to a Guru? What does a guru do to him? Atheism is when one does not believe either in values or in the abstract. When an atheist comes to the guru, what happens? You
start experiencing your own form and discover that you are indeed formless, hollow and empty. And this abstract non-form in you becomes more and more concrete

The guru makes the abstract more real and what you thought as solid appears to be more unreal. Sensitivity and subtlety dawns. Perception of love, not as an emotion, but as the
substratum of existence becomes evident. The formless spirit shines through every form in creation and the mystery of life deepens, shattering the atheism. Then the journey begins and it has four stages.

The first stage is Saarupya (to see the formless in the form) ie, seeing God in all the forms. Often, one feels more comfortable seeing God as formless rather than with a form, because with a form, one feels a distance, a duality, a fear of rejection and other limitations.

In life all our interactions are with the form, other than in deep sleep and in Samadhi. And, if you do not see God in the form, then the waking part of life remains devoid of the Divine. All those who accept God to be formless use symbols, and perhaps love the
symbols more than God himself If God comes and tells a Christian to leave the cross or a Muslim to drop the crescent, perhaps he may not do it To begin with, loving the formless is possible only through forms.

The second stage is Saamipya (closeness) ie, feeling absolutely close to the form you have chosen and reaching out to the formless. This leads to a sense of intimacy with the whole of creation. In this stage, one overcomes the fear of rejection and other fears. But this
is time and space bound.

The third stage is Saanidhya feeling the presence of the Divine by which you transcend the limitations of time and space. Then the final stage is Saayujya, ie, when you are firmly
entrenched with the Divine. It is then that you realise you are one with the Divine. There is a total merging with the Beloved and all duality disappears.

Take care of your God Atheists lurk around the corner Doubts, disbelief and ignorance are the atheists in your mind so you better take care

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 39

2010-08-26T20:07:00.000+05:30

In a guitar, all the six strings have to be tuned; a drum needs to be tuned. Similarly, the various aspects of life have to be tuned. Our relationship with our Self, the people in our family, in the work-place, in society – all these need to be tuned. The nurturing of the physical, social and spiritual aspects is called the Art of Living.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: The universe is so mysterious

Sweden, June 25: The universe is so mysterious. Everything is mysterious. We shouldn’t try to understand everything. Just leave the mystery. The whole knowledge is to move from an ugly ‘I don’t know, don’t ask me’ to a beautiful ‘Wow, I don’t know’.

This is very significant that we’re meditating at this time of the year. When you’re meditating, we’re doing so much good to society, to the world around. It generates and releases positive ions in the environment and it is the positive ions that effect thinking, mind, spirit and body, the environment in the universe. It is very important, very precious - not only for us, but also for the world around.

After World War II, this time again there is a triple eclipse this month – this means three eclipses in one month, one after another.

It’s a phenomenon in the world. It could be very good or very bad – either things could be very much better or go back to worst. This is the effect of the triple eclipse that is happening now. From now on to 2016, there will be many phenomena happening.

Singing bhajans, and meditation create a positive impact. It is very good for nature, and for the environment.

Q. Is eating vegetarian food said to have better karma than eating meat? I’ve also heard that all things have consciousness. What should we do?

Sri Sri: There are several angles to it. Karma means the latent impression in a substance and how your body matches.

Suppose a lion hunts a deer and eats the deer, the lion does not get the karma. A cat eats a mouse, the cat does not get the karma of the mouse. All these animals are designed to prey and eat. However, if you see the human physiology, it is more akin to herbivores. There is a substance called tannin in our saliva which is present only in the cow, elephant, horse, goat – in all the herbivorous animals. This indicates that that the human saliva is made for herbivorous animals.

Secondly, the human intestine is so long – six feet. This is not present in lion, tiger or dog but it is present in all herbivores. If you look at the physiology of human beings, we don’t have canine teeth. All herbivorous animals don’t have canine teeth. Only the carnivorous animals do.

If you look at these aspects, physiologically our system is more akin to vegetarianism. So in that sense, we say, when you eat a vegetarian diet, you don’t get the karma of it. If you eat anything that is not aligning with your body – like if an elephant eats an egg or if you feed a cow with meat, then the cow will get the karma.

What is karma? Karma is the impression which is against the nature that can produce some change in the consciousness. It can be harmful to the consciousness.

Similarly, when we are exposed to radiation, which we are not supposed to, we get diseases. That means, we acquire those karma. Karma means the strongest impressions on the nervous system which is not all the time necessarily desirable.

If you have drugs, you have drug karma and the karma of the drug on the nervous system is so huge that after sometime, you can’t stop the drug. Then your body craves for it. Your body distorts. You go through so much of pain and suffering. It needs lot of de-programming to come out of drug addiction. It is the same for alcohol.

Food is not that strong. Yet our system is made for herbivorous, especially, if you want to go more subtle in your mind and in your consciousness.

All top scientists, many achievers are vegetarians. It naturally happens. Your system wants only that. That means they are in tune with nature. That’s all. It’s not that those who are not vegetarian are not good. No, they are as good as you are. But their consciousness is much better if they tune themselves to nature.

Someone from the audience: We’re organizing a peace march in a high school. Will you come?

Sri Sri: I’ll be there in spirit. The spirit is much bigger. Body is small. The body is like a tiny stone, tied to a huge balloon.

Q. Could you please explain about karma?

Sri Sri: Karma is the impression in the consciousness. The impression draws similar situations, events and actions. So karma has three things:

One is the latent karma. It is karma as an impression
Karma as an action, and
Karma as a result

You look at a banana. Looking at a banana is a karma. It is an action, and you want to eat it because you know that you have eaten it before. That is the impression of the banana. It is karma as an impression. Then you crave for it. That is a result of it. That’s also karma. Looking at it, wanting to have it, craving for it, and, in fact, really eating it is also karma.

Q.: If someone is very stressed, how do we explain the benefits about the Art of Living program?

Sri Sri: Just tell them, ‘Hey, I want you to do something, just sign here.’

They need a little push and encouragement. When stressed, logic does not work, the mind will not work, and clarity will not be there. Decisions are never correct in that state. So they just need some help.

Q: I have insomnia for many years. I am unable to do the things that I want to do.

Sri Sri: This is the difficulty. Too much dreaming, too much wanting to do, this has all caused the insomnia. I want nothing, I do nothing. – keep these two things in mind. You will fall asleep like a baby.

Someone from the audience: Thank you for the course! I feel so good with it.

Sri Sri: I belong to you, you belong to me!

Q.: Should we meditate after kriya?

Sri Sri: Meditate after kriya. Don’t get up immediately after kirya. Meditate for at least 10 -15 minutes. Learn Sahaj Samadhi meditation. Mantra meditation is good. Practice a guided meditation and just let go.

Q. Why is there disturbance in the world?

Sri Sri: There will be some pockets of disturbances in the world. There could be some gap or interval between conflicts. It is our responsibility to increase the gap between conflicts and bring peace

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet 38

2010-08-26T20:05:00.000+05:30

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that one who is dear to me, who doesn’t hate anybody, who doesn’t have any ego – I, I, me. One who is calm in success or failure. Whatever he gets - sorrow or happiness - he takes it all with a smile.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Nindak neare rakiya - keep your critics close!

Q: Guruji, the world knows you as a spiritual leader. Would you please share your experiences of your knowing that you are endowed with such spiritual power?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What do you want to know? I am like this from the beginning and I will continue to be like this in the future also. Usually, people come to the spiritual path when they get some disappointment. This is not the case always, but usually it is such. People take sanyas (renounce the world) when they have had failures in their love lives, or some problem or another. Nothing like that, at all for me. In fact, every child is born with spiritual knowledge but when you grow up, you start losing that. A yogi is becoming a child again, getting in touch with your pure essence.

Q: Guruji whenever I think of you I become very emotional, tears begin to roll down and my heart starts melting. What to do? Is it good or bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t tag your emotions as good or bad. When your heart opens up tears come, it’s natural. Let it be. It is said in scriptures that tears of love are so precious that even angels run to collect them. Even on heaven, there are no tears of love. The most wonderful thing on the planet, on earth is to have tears of love, tears of gratitude. That indicates that our life is glorious. That makes our life rich and fulfilled. Fulfillment in life is when you have tears of gratitude and that comes by luck. You can’t manufacture tears of gratitude; you can’t put glycerin and have tears of gratitude coming in. When you realize what all you have received in life, your heart opens up.

Q: Guruji, sometimes I feel connected to you and sometimes I don’t. I am confused if you are my master or someone else. What should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know on these matters I don’t give any clarifications. I create even more confusion for you to work on that confusion .You are given an exercise so that you do it. The teacher gives you the problem and he wants you to find a solution to the problem. In schools and colleges you are not given solutions and asked to find problems for that. A teacher’s job is to create confusion so that you can exercise your intellect, your mind, your intuition and your inner voice to see and come up with a solution.

Q: Dear Guruji, our brain is more than a computer. Scientists say that we use very little of our brain. Einstein is said to have used 32 percent of his brain. If we want to use 40 – 50 percent of our brain what efforts do we need to put? What will be its consequences if our brain becomes overactive?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That’s a problem. So we need to first learn how to calm our mind down. Only a calm mind can come up with collective thoughts. Disturbed and chaotic mind will give rise to chaotic thoughts only and chaotic thoughts are coming in abundance. How to streamline the thoughts is an art in itself, the art of silence. How can you do it? With meditation, the mind becomes calm and collective, thoughts become focused, meaningful, purposeful and focused.

Q: What does a Guru want from a disciple and what does a disciple want from his Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A Guru only wants the disciple to progress, to blossom, not to be unstable, just be happy, unselfish and serve people. And whatever a disciple wants from Guru, Guru keeps on bestowing that. Initially, a disciple asks for little things and then asks for great things. The Guru sometimes give him the little things he wants and sometimes doesn’t. (laughter)

Q: Guruji, Kabirdas has said Nindak neare rakiya angan kuti shava, bin pani sabun bina nirmal kare suhay How to identify a good critique?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How can a critique can be classified as good or bad? (laughter) Nindak neare rakiya angan kuti shava, bin pani sabun bina nirmal kare suhay The great Indian saint Kabirdas has said that keep someone who criticizes you close by, that will keep your house, your mind clean - without soap and water. Like you need soap and water to keep your body clean, like that one who blames you, you should keep close by. If everybody around keeps praising you, they may not keep all the facts in front of you. Someone who is criticizing you, will show you your pitfalls. Welcome criticism, anybody who criticizes you, welcome that. Don’t shy away from criticism. Isn’t it a part of DSN? (an Art of Living program) You all have done DSN? You should be able to give constructive criticism and also take criticism. That is the strength. And there is no good critique or bad critique. Keep them nearby means that don’t run away from critique, don’t stop talking to them. You stop talking with someone who criticizes you. Yesterday if somebody criticizes you; you talk to them normally today. Don’t shun them.

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 37

2010-08-20T12:11:00.000+05:30

The guru makes the abstract more real and what you thought as solid appears to be more unreal. Sensitivity and subtlety dawns. Perception of love, not as an emotion, but as the
substratum of existence becomes evident. The formless spirit shines through every form in creation and the mystery of life deepens, shattering the atheism. Then the journey begins!

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Our Connection to Nature

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 36

2010-08-19T21:12:00.000+05:30

Longing and love are two sides of the same coin. You can’t say, ‘I love you but I don’t long for you’. And it is impossible to long for someone without having love. That is why it is said: ‘RadheShyam’. Radha is longing and Sham is love. RadheSham (longing and love) go together in life.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: The centeredness of the mind is the most important thing in spiritual evolution

Q: How important is prana (life force energy)? One, of course, is it gives life. How does one improve one’s prana?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Prana is present in everything. In fact, we are floating in air, in prana, an ocean of prana. When the unit of expression varies, it makes a difference. Stones have got one unit of prana. Water has got two units of prana. Fire has got three units of prana. Air has got four units of prana. Plants have got five units of prana. Animals have got six units of prana. Human beings are capable of holding from seven to 16 units of prana. The expression of prana is the whole universe. When prana is lower than one, that’s when you feel depressed. When prana goes further low then you feel suicidal. When prana is normal, you feel normal. When prana is higher, you feel enthusiastic. When prana is very high, you feel energetic and blissful. That is why when people are depressed, low just giving counseling doesn’t work, what needs to be done is to raise the level of prana. When prana is high there is joy, vibrancy, understanding. When prana is low, then the mind starts complaining, depression, lethargy, suicidal tendencies arise. All is play and display of prana.

Q: Guruji, the other day you talked about effort and effortless. But it needs lot of effort to be effortless.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It’s worth doing it.

Q: Why was Krishna’s navel called Padamnabha (solar plexus)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The solar plexus is called the second brain or mid brain. For a yogi, the solar plexus is larger in size. Scientists have also said this. It is small in a person who doesn’t do yoga and meditation. A yogi who does meditation and yoga has a larger solar plexus. When solar plexus is larger, one is creative and generous. When it is smaller, one is jealous.

Lord Krishna is called Padamnabha, his solar plexus was like a fully blossomed flower. Padma not only means lotus, it also means flower. Fully blossomed flower is usually referred to as padma.

Q: There are so many attractions and distractions but still youth are so bored.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Youth are bored and it’s their fortune. If they were satisfied, then growth would have stopped. When they are bored, then the quest comes in them. They are not satisfied with the things available around. And this is the stage when they can take a step to look within, a leap in their inner journey, a step towards spirituality. An interest in higher growth gets kindled, when you are bored with things around. When you find the source of joy within, then obviously everything around is also reflecting the same source of joy, then you find interest in everything. Continuous bombardment of senses by stimuli can cause inertia. Inertia is boredom, is a form of boredom. Again, when prana level goes up, you move from inertia to enthusiasm.

Q: Guruji, you give so much importance to Satsang. Is there any scientific reason behind?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Satsang means the company of reality, being in touch with the truth. Satsang is not just singing. Singing some complicated songs which you don’t understand is not Satsang. Music is a part of it. The second part is understanding the logic. The third part is sitting and reposing in yourself, in deep meditation, being with yourself.

Q: Why does the Divine answer and reward some while the prayers of others go unanswered?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I don’t know why some prayers get answered and some are not. I have no idea. Perhaps it is good for you. Perhaps you may change your mind about what you want. People go for shopping - this often happens at least in India - go for shopping and ask shopkeeper, ‘Can I come later and exchange it if I don’t like it?’ They go home and don’t like it and get it exchanged the next day.

The most unreliable thing you have is your own mind because you don’t know what it likes and when it doesn’t like that. That is why bringing mind to its source is so important. Its centeredness is the most important thing in spiritual evolution. Understanding what is transient and what is permanent, what brings you permanent joy and what causes temporary convenience and long term misery, what causes temporary discomfort and permanent joy and what causes long term discomfort. That is what is called viveka, discrimination, wisdom – knowing this from that.

Q: Guruji can a woman follow Brahamcharya (celibacy)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Brahamcharya - it’s your personal choice. If you want to get married then marry. If you don’t want to get married then don’t marry. There are people who are married and miserable. There are people who are unmarried and miserable. All I want you to be is wise. Be wise in either case. Be centered. That is most important.

Q: Guruji, are there a fixed number of souls or one soul in the whole universe?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Infinite souls. It’s like asking are there fixed number of stars in the sky? There are infinite stars. Vedic shastra and Agma shastra says there are 224 earths, worlds like ours in this galaxy. There are many but mainly 224. These are the visions of saints who have gone deep in meditation and explored the universe.

Q: You have talked about hidden meanings behind symbols in Hinduism which seems to be very illogical. Could you please talk about many crores of devtas?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Crores, koti means types. 33 crores means 33 types of Divine impulses. In our body also there are 33 types of divine impulses. There are 33 types of genes in our body. A particular type makes the eye, a particular type makes the nose, like that a particular type makes eardrums, hair, nails. All these are made up from a particular type of gene which are of 33 different types.

Like this, there are 33 rays of Divinity. There is one light, one God, one Parmatma yet there are 33 aspects. Devas are the 33 different aspects of Divinity. Here crores is not referred to as a number. The Divine has no form but ancient saints have said you can adore Him in any form or name. All the thousand names belong to God only. This is very, very deep science or deep knowledge. It’s amazing. When you go deeper into this, then you feel the ‘wow’. People - who have written this, have discovered this - have simply stupendous knowledge. The Universe is not so simple. It’s very complex. Modern physics also say that the deeper and deeper you go, there are so many different type of particles. So the universe is diverse. The Divinity which manages, rules, and has made this diverse universe is devta.

The English name, David, is a Sanskrit word. Dev + vid, dev means Divinity, vid means to know. David means one who knows Divinity. Divinity is not somewhere up in the heaven. It is present in the world, universe, everywhere. And it has to be realized when the mind is calm, serene and settled in our heart and when the emotion and intellect merge into a serene blend in silence then you are able to perceive the subtle reality of Universe and that is devta.

Q: When a disciple is dead what is the role of the Satguru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Satguru knows that there is no death to the disciple. Atma never dies. Even after death he continues to get direction on the path.

Q: Guruji, is it difficult for a woman to organize something for she has to manage the home also. How does a woman do it effectively?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t think of anything as difficult. Even if it is difficult, it becomes more difficult when you perceive it to be difficult in your mind. If you get a difficult task to do, however much difficult it seems to be, know that we have an even greater power within. It is available to us and according to that we get tasks to do.

Q: Is the world permanent or changing?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You can see that the world is not permanent.

Q: What is puja?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That which is born from purnata (fullness) is puja. When gratitude is overwhelming, the throat chokes in gratitude then whatever action you perform in such a state is puja. We surrender everything – that bhavana (feeling) is puja.

Q: To whom do I surrender?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To the Divine who resides within me as me, to that Divine I surrender.

Q: How do we remember the good things and forget the bad?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is better to forget bad things and it is good to remember good things. Both together are life but we forget this and remember all the negative things. It is important to remember what you hear in Satsang. Forgetting other people’s mistakes is important. Remembering not to repeat our mistakes is important. Remembering lessons from others’ mistakes is also important.

Q: What is meaning of kodagana koli nungitha (a bhajan in Kannada)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Its meaning is so amazing. I was thinking I was a big person but when I look at the Guru’s feet, so magnanimous. My ego, that I thought was so big and Guru’s feet small, but it was the reverse. The feet of the Guru swallowed my big ego.

Q: What is the meaning of Ashwamedha?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ashwamedha means to purify. Shwa means that which is the past or future. Ashwa means that which is present and medha means cleansing. Ashwamedha is when the cleansing of the mind and buddhi (intellect) happens in the present moment. Keep the mind/buddhi (intellect) in the present moment.

Q: How to increase atmabal?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Atmabal…do prarthna(prayer), pranayama, sadhana.

Q: What is Guru tattva and who is Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Guru tattva is viveka, discrimination. Does it matter who the Guru is? It is enough to take the knowledge and move forward. Don’t worry who the Guru is.

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 35

2010-08-18T20:08:00.000+05:30

You have already broken it the moment you realize the pattern. You realize it is your own mind’s making and that it has happened over and over again. This realization will come in its own time. And when this happens, be happy and grateful. Imagine where you were five or ten years back. How have you changed? How much better it has become since then. Put your attention on this. The more we are grateful, the more grace we will have in our life.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: That which happens with surrender is love

Q: How to have devotion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You assume that you have devotion. Don’t strive to have devotion. We should assume that we have love and devotion in us. When you believe in this, the devotion in you enhances. When you think you don’t have devotion at all, it wouldn’t manifest.

Q: Where do you go when you meditate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I do not go anywhere, I just be everywhere.

Q: When intellect and heart say different things, whom should we follow?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When it comes to work, follow your intellect. And follow your heart when it comes to service.

Q: How to give 100 percent. I often feel I don’t know how to give my 100 percent?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you want the answer?
(Yes from the boy)
Do you really want the answer?
(Yes from the answer)
Do you 100 percent want the answer?
(Very Intense yes from the boy)
Really?
(Calm and Enthusiastic Yes from the boy)
See, you already have it.

Q: Is it true that my previous and the coming generations also get the merit when I meditate. Are my parents also benefitted when I meditate?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, there is something like that also.
Q: I read books on knowledge. How do I know that knowledge is only at intellectual level or is actually realized by me?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is very simple. You go to a restaurant and you read the menu card. By the time you have eaten it, you know you have eaten it. Experience is so irrefutable. Reading about back pain in a book and actually having back pain are different. So, it is very obvious. Your experience is what is most important.

Q: What is the relation between meditation, sleep and dream?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have used three different words; you first tell me what definition do you have for these three?
Meditation is when you are awake as well as relaxed.
You don’t know anything in deep sleep. Only after you wake up, you get to know that you were sleeping. And a dream is a dream. The experiences that you already have had, when those reflect again in your mind, your consciousness, that is dream.

Q: There are some blind faiths like not doing certain things on tuesday or thursday, or not crossing the path when a cat passes by. Do these carry any truth in them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Nothing in all this according to me.

Q: Which has a higher place – Devotion for the country or for the religion?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why to prioritize out of these two? You tell me which has higher value out of seeing and listening. Both have their own place and both go simultaneously.

Q: Is it love or surrender when I feel your presence in meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Surrender with love. And that which happens with surrender is love.

Q: When something great is accomplished, normally some sort of celebration is conducted. We were also expecting a huge ceremony after the completion of Ashtavakra Geeta, but nothing special of that sort happens?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is celebration here every day, it never ends. There is a lot left yet.

Q: What to do when love, devotion and faith gets shaken?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is very good. It goes deeper when it is challenged, true love and devotion gets deeper. Testing times comes in everybody’s life. You pray and sometimes your prayers don’t get answered. 10 times you get what you wanted, and when 11th time you don’t get, you start complaining. Is it the case? (The boy said, “Yes, one of my friends ditched me and I am feeling intense pain”). That is when you pull on yourself. Keep on your practices. God is in every heart, everywhere, all around you, and inside you. He knows what is best for you and he will give you the best.
That is why when you ask for something, ask this or something better.

Q: Why do negative feelings like regret and frustration exist? Has anything productive ever come out of them? And if not, what is the way to turn these emotions into productive one?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should read ‘Celebrating Silence’. I have answered all these questions there.

Q: If we are not getting something even after putting in continuous effort, should we accept the reality as it is, or should we keep on praying to get it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If that is very much needed by you, you would not be able to go without praying. And have this faith that God will give you what you need.

Q: Do numerology has an effect? There is a number which I consider lucky for me, and there are certain numbers which are not so lucky. Is this just a notion in mind or the effect actually exists?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That has some effect but the power of chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaye’ mantra is much more. The power of mantras can nullify the effect of any unlucky numbers, and then all the numbers will be lucky for you.

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge Sheet 34

2010-08-09T09:27:00.000+05:30

Vairagya or dispassion is associated with viveka or the power of discrimination. When we were small children, we wanted to have cotton candy or lollipops and toys. As we grew up, these desires dropped by themselves. We became dispassionate about toys but got attached to something else. In course of time, desires drop effortlessly. When we move ahead with awareness then our attachments drop even faster, and with love.
{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: ‘Divine is my very own’

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Daily Sutras and Knowledge Sheets 5th Oct.2007,Delhi The auditorium was fully packed withyoungsters, without any space to stand seeing this, GURUJI said:"Before we make this world a better place to live,lets make some place for people who r standing"... this is how he started the talk. The empty space on the stage was filled with 25, 30 youths and Guruji was sitting in the middle. He said yes those who are young at heart, those who are full ofenthusiasm, one who has this spirit of inquiry. Have you noticed youth always asks,why to put this bindi? why to do pooja, why to bow down?And spirituality is something which kindles this enthusiasm, sustains it and never let it down. In India, never there was this conflict between science and spirituality. In this country, both started with experience first and then belief followed. Whilethe whole world was in conflict between spirituality and science, In India it did not happen at all.1) What is the difference between science and spirituality? HE said pointing towards the rangoli on the floor: Asking "what is this"? is science and then he pointed towards his heart and said what is this? is spirituality. 2) Guruji I always have this judgmental attitude towards everybody is it right or wrong? Do u like it when people judge you all the time. NO isn't it. Then why to judge others. 3) Are we all destined to do something or be something, or do we have choices?Yes and NO. There are few things u can have control over and there are something which u cannot change. for e.g. whenit rains , you have the choice to get drenched or cover up with umbrella or raincoat. This is in your hand. But its raining that is already destined.. 4) How to handle Business and spirituality?Business is done through the head and spirituality through the heart. Never mix the two. 5) What to do when we love somebody and he/she rejects you?Love is the precious thing, you have offered her love and she rejected, that is her problem, her ignorance. You shouldmove on.6) Do you believe in spirituality?I don't believe. Belief happens when u don't know about something. So I don't believe in spirituality, I KNOW it. 7) When we do satsang, we enjoy 100% but when we sit for sadhna mind does not stay at one place, it runs here and there. What to do? Pay attention to your food Habit, food plays an important role. If you notice those who study in college or school, after the lunch break, the next lecture you don't pay much attention, you become dull. The area of your attention contracts. Thishappens when you eat carbohydrates like paratha, curd, lassi.. So lets do one thing for one week or 2 days we will eat only salads, green vegetables and have juices. You will notice a big difference in your focus and concentration.8) Guruji is it ok to fall in love in the student life? It will be ok if you fall in love with your studies and books, your career's that you will not regret in the future. 9) Guruji how to be consistent in getting good performance in my studies, my studies goes up and down?See if you have the sankalpa of what you want you will have what you want. Sankalpa is very powerful. So if you havethis sankalpa that I have to be consistent, it will happen.After the Question and Answer session...He made us do a meditation and at the end of the program. The whole stage was covered by 50 ,60 youths climbing the stage to meet the Master. He left everybody so mesmerized and fulfilled in such a short time.

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet no 33

2010-08-06T22:06:00.000+05:30

“Life needs to be a perfect balance between sound and silence, between dynamic activity and stillness, between being funny and jovial, and then being serious. If one aspect is missing, life is incomplete. If you are only serious, and not funny, then it’s not complete. If you are only funny, you become superficial. You are not deep. Silence is our ability to switch between them, this is most important.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: "When you are filled with Divine love, then there is no desire for liberation nor sadness due to bondage "

Knowledge sheet no 32

2010-08-05T21:23:00.000+05:30

The effect of divine energy is such that it transforms all the negative tendencies in the mind. Whatever has been said in Yogasutras, “Tat sanidho vair tyaga”, is very true – One gets free from the feeling of animosity in the company of truth, in the company of those who practice meditation.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Everybody has independence of karma as well as effects of previous karma in his/her life

Q: If whatever we do is in search of happiness, then why is there so much pain and misery in the world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a story of Mullah Nasurudin. His wife was pregnant and the time of delivery had come. But the baby was not coming out. When doctor told this to Mullah Nasurudin, he ran to the market, bought a toy, and kept that toy in front of her wife. He said, “After all this is my child, so he will surely come out with greed”. Whole our life we keep on running behind things with the hope of getting something. We keep on looking for some kind of profit. How would such person experience happiness? Neither does a greedy person get happiness nor does a person who is bombarded with too many desires. The one who relaxes in his consciousness is happy. One, who is centered, experiences the true happiness. I am not saying there is no happiness in the outer world, but the happiness you get when you go within is incomparable.

The world is running in search of happiness. The body gets baked, the mind gets baked, the intellect gets deluded but still we keep on getting stuck in the same repetitive cycle. When you meet Guru, you come to know that you are the source of happiness. Then the mind calms down, and you realize that you are the one in whose search you kept on running here and there.

Q: There has been life for so many centuries on this planet. I wish to know why is it that some creatures live a prosperous and extravagant life, and yet there are some creatures who do not even have enough to eat? What is the basis on which a creature gets birth?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is one of the five secrets – the secret of birth. Nature has been very kind that birth has been kept as a secret. Otherwise, you would be living a miserable life remembering all previous incidents that happened in the past lives. But a time will come in your life when your mind would be completely established in the present moment, memory would awake, and you will remember what you were and who you were in your previous births. It is alright if it does not happen with some people.

The whole world is made up of cause and effect. If somebody is rich, that has a reason. If somebody is poor, that also has a reason. But does that mean we don’t have any independence of Karma? You definitely have freedom. We have been given discrimination. So, we do have freedom of karma, and also we are bearing fruits of past actions also. It is like you get some capital from someone. Now, it is up to you what do you want to do with it. A poor man can become rich, and a rich can become poor. There are all possibilities. Your karma decided where you were born. But it depends on you where do you want to reach.

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet no 31

2010-08-04T22:44:00.000+05:30

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sitting close by and listening is Upanishad. Upanishad is a collection of discourses of high knowledge, how it was transmitted from a Master to students. It is very interesting.

In one of the Upanishads, it is beautifully said.

Once a boy goes to his father who is also his Guru and asked what is God. Father replied, ‘Food is God’ for everything grows from food, everything is sustained by food and in the lack of it, everything dissolves and everything again becomes food. So the boy went and thought about it for several months, understood all about food and came back to his father, and again asked ‘What is God?’

The father, also his Guru, said, ‘Prana is God’. The boy went, thought and understood all about prana, how it is going in and out of the body, how many types of prana are there and read all experiments about prana.
He again came back to his father and asked, ‘What is God?’ The father looked at child’s face, so glowing and so vibrant. Father said, 'Ok, the mind is Brahman, mind is God.'

Like that, the boy went and thought till he finds the ultimate bliss. Neither the student complaint to the teacher that he was told, ‘Food is God, but it is not the ultimate, you told me the wrong thing'. He simply came and again asked the question. So this is ancient way of teaching step by step – food, then prana, then the mind, then the inner spirit, then the universal spirit, bliss.

Bliss is Divinity, the space. You are like the space. Then he said, 'There is no difference between you, me and the infinite self. We all are one. The Self, Guru and the universal energy are not different. All are made up of one substance. Today if you talk to scientists who study string theory, who study quantum physics they will say the same thing that is said in the upanishads.

In upanishads, it was said thousands of years ago, ‘God is not a person, sitting somewhere up in heaven but God is present everywhere. He is omnipresent and omnipotent, the energy of which you are also made up of, everything is made up of’.

Jai Gurudev!

knowledge sheet 30

2010-08-03T23:06:00.000+05:30

Nature of devotion is such that you feel longing in its absence. Once you get a glimpse of devotion, then its absence causes perturbation in mind. It is not that devotion is absent there but you feel as if it is not there, and you feel restless with this feeling. If we look in the light of knowledge, Shri Narada has said in Bhakti Sutras that the very indication of devotion is that you experience bliss in its presence and its absence makes you restless. This shows that you have devotion, and consider yourself as lucky when you experience such restlessness in mind.

{Knowledge Sheet} Subject: Truth is never afraid of doubt

Q: Are you really enlightened? I won’t go from here if you don’t give me a direct answer.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Every question is not answered on the spot. Once a couple went to a Master and expressed their wish to ask two questions. The Master said, “You will get your answers if you do service for two years”. The more precious is the question, more effort is to be done to get the answer. I will give answer to your question, but I will also put a condition if you are putting a condition.

Q: How does one know whom to trust and whom not to especially, after Swami Nityananda incident?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Trust in yourself. Have faith in your choice of actions and the path you would be following. If you don’t trust yourself, how can you trust the Master? It is enough to have faith in yourself.

A Master or a Guru does not remove the doubt, but He creates more doubt. The more you burn in the fire of doubt, the more strong you come out to be. Truth is never afraid of doubt, and truth can never hide.
There have been so many saints in ancient India like Vishavamitra, Valmiki, Gautum, and you will deprive yourself of knowledge if you start doubting all of them.
If you put your attention on the real and authentic, you would doubt the fake. But if all your attention is on the fake, you would start doubting the authentic also.

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet no 29

2010-08-01T19:29:00.000+05:30

Enlightenment is the biggest happiness. Why to go after small happiness when the biggest is there? It is not easy to believe in God. God is there: if you experience this then the mind calms down. Then you find only God is there and I don’t exist.

{Knowledge Sheet}Subject: Sanyas is getting established in the Self

Q: Out of two options available to do Seva or to be in Satsang with you, I chose Satsang but now my consciousness is pricking me. What should one chose?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you have a responsibility to do seva, then you come to satsang so that when you are tired of doing seva, you can energize yourself.

Q: I am academically good but not successful in my career. I am not able to support my family financially. I feel I am unworthy. Please help.

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Breath it out if you feel you are unworthy. Meditate and don’t be hard on yourself.

Q: What is dispassion? Do you have to be a sanyasi to experience dispassion?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Dispassion starts happening naturally. When you grow up, your mind doesn’t get stuck to small things like you were so much attached to lollypop when you were small, yet when you reached school or college that attachment naturally dropped. Similarly, with toys or even friends. When you grow up, you still have friends but you rise above that entanglement. Similar is the case with mother and child. Naturally entanglement starts leaving you. If dispassion doesn’t happen then you experience sorrow. We get into the cycle of sorrow thinking – ‘Oh, I did so much. I did so much for my kids and see what they are doing now.’ What responsibility I was supposed to do, I have fulfilled. There is no restriction on others’, your children’s feelings. We can’t ask anybody to express feelings forcefully. Feelings naturally arise in anybody’s heart whatever those feelings are. Feelings don’t ask for permission before arising. But if you live in knowledge then negative feelings are almost negligible. Also positive feelings exist not as craving but love.

People say knowledgeable is one who kills one’s feelings. No, it’s not like that. Sadbhav, saintly feelings continue to exist. Lord Krishna also said in the Bhagwad Geeta ‘One who is not tied to me - the Consciousness, Higher Self - neither has intellect nor feelings. Without feelings and intellect, there is no question of peace or happiness.

Transforming craving and aversion into love is dispassion.
Lord Shankaracharya also said there is no happiness in world which can’t be received through dispassion. Dispassion doesn’t mean going to forests. It has
been so wrongly interpreted. Bliss and happiness are there in dispassion.
Like the lotus resides in water but still remains free from getting wet, in the same way while living in society one is not to let society enter one’s mind. Birds fly above you that’s ok, but don’t let them build a nest in your head.
Sanyas (an ascetic) is getting established in the Self. One who is unshaken by anything is a sanyasi. Sanyas is 100 percent dispassion and 100 percent bliss and has no demand. It’s very good if sanyas happens after the fourth ashram, the vanaprasth ashram. So much satisfaction in the mind that
‘Nobody is my own’ and ‘Nobody is the other’, or ‘Everybody is my very own’, or even ‘this body is not mine’ is the state of sanyas. Total happiness in mind is sanyas. Leaving clothes and going to forests is not sanyas.

Q: Should we follow the character and play of Gods?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a story in each character. One should follow the character of God like Sri Rama’s character but the play of Lord Krishna is not to be followed. Play of God is not comprehensible.
Do as what Sri Rama did but do as what Sri Krishna said and not did. If you follow Lord Krishna’s play and do all that He did, you will end up in a jail, then you reach your birth place. (Audience laughs) When you listen to Lord’s play, your heart becomes joyful. Everything is Lord’s play only.

Q: They say cats are fiercer than tiger. I am relating this to women. Women nowadays are not open to accept men’s opinion. I am concerned about the male species.

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You mean we should start men empowering seminar. (Laughter). Perhaps!!

Q: What can be done for peace between Israel and Palestine?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We all have to work for it. When all of us work together to bring people together, to forget the past and make people live in the present, we will have the bond tied very soon. The Art of Living has already started quite a few programs in Palestine. But if only the government spends one percent of the military budget on educating people, in inter-faith and inter-cultural celebrations and attend to building this gap, all these conflicts will be resolved. NGOs can do limited work.
Perhaps the narrow vision of politicians is making them thrive on conflicts. Unless our politicians become spiritual like Mahatama Gandhi, our world doesn’t have a bright future.

Q: Guruji, how to handle the shattered mind of a person after the untimely death of a closed one?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A shattered mind will give them strength because the departed soul will give power. You know, we should stop pitying people as well as ourselves. No self pity or pitying others should be there. You only have to know that nature gives you power. The Divine is with you and is giving you power to withstand pain.

Q: Do you see any golden age coming up?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In the world, good is going up. There is always dawn happening somewhere in the world and there is dawn 24 hours on this planet. There is always dusk happening somewhere in the world and there is dusk 24 hours on this planet.

Q: Guruji, please comment on this: act don’t react.

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is very simple. When you react, what happens? You regret afterwards. Reaction happens through an emotional upsurge. When someone says something you don’t like, your emotions swell up. Anything you do in an emotionally disturbed state, you repent afterwards. When emotions are on peak, the intellect goes in background.
Your actions are from the intellect and your reactions are from emotions.

Q: I feel more connected to people here in Art of Living but I feel a disconnect from people in my office or even at home. I feel weak that way.

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you think you are weak? Wake up and see you have all the strength. You should do the DSN (Divya Samaj ka Nirman- one of the Art of Living programs which helps an individual to move beyond one’s barriers and limitations.). There is no outside, no other at all. The Art of Living teaches you that the whole world is your family.
The ashram is your home, of course people are rosy here but everywhere you can’t expect the same atmosphere. You may have to face hard criticism in the office. You have reach meditation to people. But what is the first principle of Art of Living? Accept people and situations as they are. If you don’t learn the very first principle, you can’t say you are doing the Art of Living.

Q: Once you said you exist in more than one places at a time. Please elaborate that.

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is one element in each one of us. There is one Divinity in everyone.

Q: What karma gives you liberation from the cycle of birth and death?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are at the right place.

Q: Guruji, if souls are immortal does that mean there are finite number of souls on the planet?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Have you seen that signboard for advertisements? So many lights are there on it but not all are lit at one time. At some time some patterns of lights are there on board and at some other time some other patterns. Same is with the souls. It all depends on what souls are exhibited at one time.

Q: Out of meditation and prayer which is preferable?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation is a better form of prayer. In prayer you are asking for something. Meditation is saying, ‘I am ready to listen’. Just imagine if somebody only keeps on asking and is not ready to listen to you. Don’t you get frustrated? In the same way, God also gets frustrated but when you sit for meditation, and ready to listen to him, He bestows all the favors to you.

Q: What is Kundalini shakti?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We talk about it in the advance course. There are seven chakras in the body. When energy finds its way through these seven chakras, different emotions rise. When energy fully expresses itself through these seven chakras, then such perfection is attained that your desire gets fulfilled even before it arises.

Q: I dropped alcohol after Art of Living course. If I meet my old friends who still engage in these sorts of habits will they extract my positive energy?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t worry. As long as you remain firm in knowledge, and Sadhana - you can help them come out of all sorts of negative habits.

Jai Gurudev!