knowledge sheet no 8

Subject: Our presence conveys more than our words

If we understand the rhythm of our breath, we are able to have a say over our mind, we can win over any negative emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, and we are able to smile more from our heart. I think we need to bring the child like beauty and innocence, that God gifted every human being, back into our lives.

In order to discuss about true contentment, we need to be in a cordial and informal atmosphere. Do you all agree with this? It is important that we feel at home. A formal atmosphere is not congenial to discuss something that is so close to your heart. Why not we take a couple of minutes to greet people around us? You know, why do we feel very dry in life? Because we live in a very formal world. Our greetings are so formal, our Sorry is formal. So, we live in a word which is just words without feelings and presence behind it. Suppose you go as a guest to somebody’s house and they are just formally greeting you. Do you feel satisfied? You know, if you go into the huts of people in Indian villages. There is greeting that comes from the innocence of their hearts. It touches your heart. Otherwise, most of the pleasantries we exchange are like the words of an Air hostess saying, “Have a nice day”. They don’t mean it. Today, we have forgotten to be authentic. Why have we built walls between us? Sometimes I wonder people are so formal even with their own children. We have built solid boundaries around us. Isn’t it so? We speak and convey more through our presence than through our words. I often say that a dog is a better communicator than human beings. It cannot speak your language but it conveys the sense of belongingness through its actions and behavior. It breaks all the barriers to express its love. It does not mind jumping on you even if you are wearing new dress. It invades your boundaries and expresses itself. True contentment can come when we are in touch with our core being, our selves. And what helps in that to happen is releasing the stress.

Q: You have been involved in this. How do you propose or manage to reconcile between enemies?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Many times those who appear to be enemies are not actually enemies. I would give you an example of what we did in Iraq. We gave some meditation and Sudarshan Kriya to the troubled youth there. There was such a huge transformation in them. The youth minister sent 50 youth leaders to the ‘Art of Living’ international centre in Bangalore to be trained as ambassadors of peace. It was challenging to begin with, but there was amazing transformation in them in a period of one month. The same boys went back and started to teach thousands of people how to be calm. You know, we are not taught how to manage negative emotions neither at home nor at school. You get angry, upset, greedy or depressed, but we are not taught how to manage our mind.
I am not saying that we have solutions to resolve all the conflicts in the worlds tomorrow itself. It is not practical. But what has given us hope is, after experiencing meditation, there is enormous change in the same people who appear to be aggressive or enemies.
In 2001, there was a difficult situation in Kashmir. But things have changed now. We can make effort drop by drop. In Jahanabad also our efforts have given good results. All this has given me enthusiasm to go in all conflict zones and do more work. Though, it is a big challenge.
When some people think that only they will go to heaven and others to hell, they create hell for others. We need to educate them with a broader mindset. So, every child should know little bit about all the world’s wisdom. We have globalized things like potato chips but we haven’t globalized wisdom, and education on peace and non-violence. When people are stressed, they either become violent and aggressive or suicidal tendencies arise in them. The solution for depression, suicidal tendencies, social and domestic violence is to teach them how to calm their mind. It is very important to teach them how they can get rid of negative emotions, stress, and all those unwanted emotions. How can we heal them? That healing touch is essential.

Q: Can you please talk about Trauma care?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is what happened after Tsunami. All these fishermen were afraid even to go near the sea. They were begging to be taken away to some hill. All their life what they did was fishing. Simple pranayama and a few minutes of meditation brought them out of trauma in matter of three days. The same people asked for boats to go back to sea on the very third day. So, trauma can be released. Same was observed in after 9/11 incident and Katrina. There are many volunteers who are devoted to bring peace in such areas.

Q: What role has a woman to play in bringing transformation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Woman has great role to play. Women can influence many men around them – father, brother, children, spouse. They have more power and more influence. In Indian mythology all the powerful portfolios like defense ministry, finance and education are with women. What else do you want? In India we believe man and woman are equal partners. There is concept of Ardhnarishver – God is neither male nor female. Divine is half male and half female. Everyone is like that. Nobody is full male or full female. There are genes of both mother and father within each one of us. So, we must respect women. Women should take more lead in the society. And I think that women can be better peace maker, and then less conflict, greed and corruption will be there in the world. Corruption can only happen outside the boundary of belongingness. Heart can never be corrupt. It is mind which goes corrupt. Heart always longs for old and mind for new. Isn’t it so? You want more and more in mind but the heart says,” I am happy”. Heart wants to give and mind wants to take. women are more with their heart. She should keep that quality while developing leadership and taking more social responsibility.

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet no 7

he 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

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. 6

Subject: "We need to bring child like beauty and innocence back into our lives"

We are all children in some sense. I wish we are more of a child than an adult. You know, a child smiles 400 times a day, adolescent smiles 17 times and an adult does not smile at all. There will be very less conflicts in the world if people in the world can only smile more.

We have been discussing the problem of violence and conflicts in the world since morning. What is the solution? Where are we heading to? We grew up with the ideology of Mahatama Gandhi. We used to attach pride in being non-violent.

Unfortunately, today, the pride is associated with aggression and violence. Someone who is aggressive and loses temper easily is considered heroic in schools and colleges. We need to make the shift from attaching pride to violence to attaching pride to non-violence. We need to give our children a world vision of violence free and stress free society.

I am sure we can achieve this by five things in our hand:
1. First thing is music and dance.
2. Second is - sports. With the advent of computer and video games, children don’t go out and play as they used to do before. They lock themselves up with the video games, most of which are violent. We need to give an orientation to function more in sports.
3. Third is travel. We conduct programs in India, America, sometimes in Europe, Poland, Germany, also here in black forest, where we bring children from all countries together for a week. Many times, they speak their own language, but just being with each other creates such a bonding between them that the barriers melt down and they feel at home.
We should help them travel around and communicate with people of other cultures and religions.
We need to give children multi-cultural and multi-religious education. I feel all the children should know a little bit about all the knowledge in the world – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Catholicism, Shaoism, Shintoism. A little bit understanding of all the major religions and cultures of the world help them grow up with a broad mindset. Even if a small part in the world is left with people thinking that only they are right, the world will not be a safe place to live. The sense of belongingness, that we belong to one global family in spite of different colors, language and food habits, has to be developed in children and youths.
4. Fourth thing is involving kids in some service projects. There is such an opening that happens in youths when they are associated with some service project.
5. Then is Yoga and meditation. I have made yoga so secular that people from any religious background have no objection in doing it. It is just some breathing techniques and some postures, not attached to any belief system.

Our breath is linked to our emotions. For every emotion, there is a particular rhythm in the breath. So, when you cannot directly harness your emotions, with the help of breath you can do that. If you are in theatre, you would know that a director asks you to breathe faster when you have to show anger. If you have to show a serene scene, director would tell you to breathe softer and slower.

If we understand the rhythm of our breath, we are able to have a say over our mind, we can win over any negative emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, and we are able to smile more from our heart. I think we need to bring the child like beauty and innocence, that God gifted every human being, back into our lives.

Now, I want to narrate an incident. Two years ago, we had a group of 200 youths from Arab countries that came to Bangalore. At the same time, we had about 35 youths from Israel also. When youth from Arab came to know that there were youth from Israel also, they turned to be so violent, wild and angry that they were ready to pack their luggage and leave. But it took us less than couple of hours to sit and talk with them, during which they learn some breathing exercises, meditation and a little bit of yoga, and they become such good friends at the end of the third day. At the end of the week, the two groups had tears in their eyes while departing from each other. Their experiences are worth listening.

Jai Gurudev!

Knowledge sheet no. 5

Subject: 'When we are joyous with ourselves, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us'

The contrast between the ups and downs in life is greater. On a white cloth, even a small dust particle is clearly seen. Similarly, when the mind becomes more pure, even small jealousy or anger is an irritant. It is unbearable and you have to get rid of it quickly. This is but quite natural.
At the same time, you get the inner strength to endure situations.

Subject: 'When we are joyous with ourselves, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us'

Q. Why is it difficult to get focused on things that I don’t like to do?

Sri Sri: If you don’t like something, then your focus is all the more on it. If you like something, then you focus on it. When you’re neutral about something, when there is no aversion, then there is no focus.

Studying the nature of mind is itself is an amazing phenomena. You will be thrilled knowing and learning more and more about your own mind. When I say mind, I don’t mean just mind. I would rather say the consciousness because the mind is one function of the consciousness. The perception is what we call the mind. The perceptible aspect of the consciousness is called mind. The judgmental aspect, the intellect.

The study of consciousness is the most difficult. And with time and maturity, everybody gets it.

Q. Can we aspire for something higher like enlightenment at the age of twenty one?

Sri Sri: Definitely. You should aspire for enlightenment and enlightenment is unconditional happiness, unconditional love and a life in which you are in the driver’s seat. You must aspire for enlightenment. Right from when you recognize to aspire anything in life. Go to the highest first and all the good things will come along, you don’t have to make an effort for it.

When I say you don’t have to make an effort, I mean you don’t have to sit and worry about it. When you aspire for the highest, your action will be spontaneous and in the spontaneity you will see things have started falling into place.

Q. What is a self referral attitude?

Sri Sri: Being in touch with your very center. When you worry there is a tendency to lose that focus or centredness. It is the same when you are tired or too busy. Self referral means coming back to yourself, to your center again and again. The core value within you.

Q. Are there any plus points of doing a job other than earning money

Sri Sri: Money and experience. That’s all and some discipline. If you have to do a job you have to discipline your life in a certain fashion.

Q. Is there a gene for knowledge, any nadi (channel for energy flow) that has to be opened for creativity?

Sri Sri: Definitely and you all have it. And it opens whenever you listen to knowledge.

Q. How does it feel to be God?

Sri Sri: Absolutely natural.

Q. We are not supposed to marry in our own gotra (family tree). Scientifically, what does a gotra mean?

Sri Sri: Gotra is a family tree, like you know if you marry your own siblings, or cousins, they say the genes will not develop properly, children will not develop. The family trees go back to some rishis in the past. And they say that gotra means we belong to this (a particular) family. Today what the scientists say about blood groups was known to people thousands of years ago. Yet people from the same gotra have spread. If you marry in the same gotra the children will not be too healthy. That is the main thing. It’s better to avoid.

But those were the thoughts from some thousands of years ago but now since we have gone so far away and the population has spread so much, it has become so vast. I don’t know how relevant it is. But (marriage within) gotra is better to avoid.

Q. Many times parents out of over attachment, prejudiced opinions and being football of the relatives opinions stop us from doing seva. Can we make seva our career?

Sri Sri: Yes.

Q. What is beauty and how to enhance it within and around us?

Sri Sri: First of all you should know you have a beautiful mind. The mind is free, it is loving, beautiful, satisfied and not feverish. So when the spirit is centred or your mind is centred, that beauty shines through.

Q. Could you speak a little bit about Sanskrit and its greatness? I would like to take it as one of my Ph.d topics.

Sri Sri: Yes, do it. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. Whether it is English, Russian, German or Italian, there is a lot of Sanskrit in it. Of course, Sanskrit is the base of all Indian languages.

Q. Every day, in different corners of the world, people ask you the same questions. Don’t you get bored? I am very inspired by your patience.

Sri Sri: My consciousness is nitnutan (new every moment). First we get bored with ourselves and then bore others or get bored from others. When we are joyous with ourself, then nothing from outside can seem boring to us.

Q. How do we gear up for enlightenment?

Sri Sri: Wanting it, itself is half done. The rest is a little discipline and you should know that you will get it. It will be given to you. That’s why you have the path, the guru. You will just get it. Shama jali hai tere liye, tujhko kuch nahi karna hai (The candle is lit for you, you don’t have to do anything). You don’t have to do anything just be hollow and empty from inside.

Q. I have a habit of recalling the pleasant memories of life again and again, as it gives a glimpse of the same pleasure as I felt in the past. Is it something to be cautious of, can it hinder my growth?

Sri Sri: It’s alright, don’t make an effort to sit and go on remembering the past. I think you have too much free time. Get busy and start working. There are so many things to do in the world. Where is the time to live in the past, recollect all the past. Right? The world is new every moment. Go with it. Don’t turn back and keep looking back. Move forward.

Q. Why does everyone not aspire to serve the society, in their youth?

Sri Sri: It must be there. There is no heart that does not get affected at the sight of misery. This we assume. At one time, everyone should desire to do seva. This we cannot say.

Q. What is the essence and secret of life?

Sri Sri: Essence and secret! It will be whispered into your ears when you go into meditation. Do (Sudarshan) Kriya and meditation.

Q. Why is that we are unable to understand the mind- which is the most powerful thing in the world?

Sri Sri Have you begun to understand it? (reply: No) then start from somewhere and then we will see whether it is fully understandable or not.

Jai Gurudev!