Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
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. Small things like you love somebody and they didn’t smile at you, that is enough! You love somebody and they are interested in someone else, they flirt around or complement someone, good enough for you to burn the next 24 hours or days. Jealousy, hatred, greed, arrogance and attachment are all love’s distortions. Love by itself doesn’t bring a misery. That is why knowledge and centered-ness are so important. If you centered, you can handle all these distortions, they come for a while and they disappear. Doesn’t matter, I will handle! I can easily manage people from falling!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, the money is purified with charity”. 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”. 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.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Where does thought come from? It comes from a free mind or an un-free mind? Thoughts are not free. So, you have answered the question. Free your mind of thoughts for a few moments. When astonished, shocked, in deep love, samadhi, meditation or deep sleep, your mind is free from thoughts. You get energized then.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. There is also food in a temple. 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.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.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Definitely. Anytime! The seed is there. It can sprout anytime. It can become a big tree anytime.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.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.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.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This question, I leave it with you. Keep asking this question. Time to time you get ideas and implement those ideas. And get people to be peaceful, happy, what we call sattvik. Sattvik means harmonious, the harmony within yourself and the harmony with your world.