Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Gurudev, some rapid fire Questions?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Art Excel?
Excellent Art
Master?
Inevitable
Sudarshan Kriya?
Gift to humanity
An Art of Living Teacher?
Example of character
Heartbreak
Doesn’t happen here!
Studies?
A lifelong thing to do.
Patriotism?
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Most needed at this time and at this hour.
A broad vision?
That which education is supposed to give you.
Smoking?
The ills that burn life.
Ojasvita?
Just drink it!
Cricket?
Today in big trouble!
Parents?
Respect them
Seva?
Make it a part of your life
Smile?
Keep it and put it on everybody also.
Teenager?
Challenge for parents, problem for oneself! But you will overcome it.
Success
The world is running behind it but it runs behind us!
Anger
Should be used as a good tool to fasten action.
Rash driving
Unfortunate.
Goals
Set them and then change them. Set a goal and then change them because you find it’s too small a goal, then you set a bigger goal.
Devotion
The lucky ones have.
Friends
One who points out your shortcomings
Exams
Do them well with a relaxed mind!
Teamwork
Needed for fast progress and productivity.
Games
One should play and sometimes win and sometimes make others win.
Gurudev
Always there with you and for you!
Dearest Gurudev, I believe that we are eternal. But what does eternal mean?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Listen, the Sun has been there since a long time, right? And it will continue to be there. So the Sun is eternal; Earth is eternal. Everything that surpasses time, is eternal.
Like, you are the same person yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You were the one who went to school, and you are the one who went to college. There is something in you that is continuing, but your body has changed. Body is not the same, every cell in your body is changing. Old cells go away, new cells get generated. But still there is something that is continuing inside, isn’t it?
Gurudev, when something good happens, we say it is Guru kripa (grace). Then what do we say when something bad happens? You say that having a Guru means one is protected, then why do bad things happen to Good people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, the divine loves everybody, however they are. If the happening of bad things takes your faith away, then it is no longer faith. But if faith stays in spite of all the bad things that are happening, then the end result will always be great and wonderful.
Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas asked Krishna for a very peculiar boon. She said, ‘Lord Krishna, let bad things happen in my life.’
Krishna was shocked, he said, ‘Why do you ask for this?’
Kunti said, ‘Whenever bad things happened, I know you were with me, and helped me get over that, so I don’t mind. Every time I was in danger, I knew you were always with me.’
A realisation like that is very unique. Bad things do not happen because you are good or not, but because you must have done something bad in the past; that karma is showing up now, and we have to face the consequences. If we had wrong food, it will show up as some disease. If your state of mind was very tense, then it will show up in your body as some disease.
Guruji, I am a Muslim, can I also learn Sudarshan Kriya? Will I have to leave anything for that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
No, there is no need to leave anything at all.
I just returned from Pakistan and thousands of people have done the course in Pakistan and are practicing Sudarshan Kriya. They have even established a center there. Around one lakh people have received training there and they are all very happy.
When I went there, I didn’t feel that I am in Pakistan. They welcomed me with so much warmth and feelings. I am telling you, Sudarshan Kriya does not take you away from your religion but in fact it brings more depth to your prayers. It brings forth that inner happiness.
Yoga and Sudarshan Kriya keeps you strong and healthy. That is why drop all doubts.
In Iraq, Iran and in many other countries, people are doing Sudarshan Kriya and are enjoying the benefit of it. In many mosques in Africa also they are teaching the Art of Living courses.
Even after chanting the name of God, the mind is not contented and happy. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
That is why we have the Art of Living Course. When you will do Sudarshan Kriya then in the very first sitting itself you will experience so much of contentment and the mind becomes so peaceful. Just experience it.
That is why so many thousands of Muslim people have done the course in Pakistan, and then called me there. Why? Because they did Sudarshan Kriya and they felt connected. They started feeling good, they experienced completeness and a change happened in life. So you also do the Kriya.
Gurudev, I want to become like you. Is it possible?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Definitely! Do seva, sadhana and satsang.
There is no difference between you and me. You are what I am. When we came here we were all the same. When children are born they are all the same. Just that I didn’t lose my childlike nature, but you probably got lost somewhere. But you can come back, there is no problem.
I consider myself as a boy who hasn’t grown up yet.
Can you please speak about Kaal Bhairava?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Kaal Bhairava is the Lord of Time. Time itself is the Divinity.
Do you know what the vehicle of Kaal Bhairava is? It is Shwana (Dog). Shwa means Yesterday or Tomorrow, Na means Not. So, Shwana means, not yesterday, nor tomorrow; which means Now.
So, where does Kaal Bhairava reside? In the now.
Gurudev, it might sound silly but it is a genuine question from the heart. How does one begin to love oneself more?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
There is an anecdote. Someone was trying to catch a black cat in a dark room which was not there.
First of all, you think there is a cat and then you try to catch it. The first assumption that you don’t love yourself is itself wrong. You ARE Love. When you think I don’t love myself, and make so much effort to love yourself, it results in total failure. I tell you, you cannot make an effort to love, either yourself or anybody. You simply have to relax and realize that you are love. Got it?
Even the person who wants to commit suicide and thinks he doesn’t love himself, loves himself much more. He loves pleasure so much that he is unable to go through a little discomfort. That is why people commit suicide.
By committing suicide you will not get out of discomfort. It is like removing your jacket when you are feeling so cold. You are feeling so cold and you remove your jacket. How does it help? Simply realize that you are love. Don’t try to love yourself, just relax. The best way is pranayama and mediation. Breathing exercise and meditation.
I am not sure about what I want to do in life. I want to ask you but I don’t even know what to ask and what exactly I want. I get bored doing anything in very little time. I find myself being very moody. I am not satisfied or happy doing anything. How can I live my life with this kind of mental state?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You want comfort too much. Get out of your comfort zone. You are only thinking of your comfort and pleasure; that is when you get into this sort of stage or state.
You are here to be useful to somebody else. You are here to do something useful to someone. How can you be bored? Even if you are bored, you have to do that, because what you do is useful to someone else. If you are self-centered, and you think, ‘If I like it only then I will do it’, then that is not seva. That won’t bring you satisfaction. Do you see what I’m saying?
‘I don’t like meeting people’, but you are meeting people for your sake or for their sake? If you are meeting people for their sake, then your life is fulfilling.
You may say, ‘Guruji, you can do this, but what about me? I cannot do this.’ At least do something! You don’t have to do what I am doing; at least do a portion of it, maybe ten percent or five percent. See, I am very free, but yet I am not free. Every day of mine is bound. Do you see what I am saying?
You have all come here to be in satsang with me, I will say, ‘Oh, I don’t feel like being here. I feel moody. I want to go somewhere, to Shawinigan, Trois-Riveres’, and I take a car and just walk away and you are sitting here, waiting for Guruji, where is Guruji?
I don’t want to do this but I am doing it all the 365 days. I am answering the same questions; people are saying, ‘Will you find a husband for me?’ ‘Will you find a wife for me?’ or ‘Get me a job’, or do this, or do that, or take a picture with me, ‘You don’t care for me’, ‘You care for me’; all these stories. Do I feel bored? I have been doing this for 30 years now; more than 30 years, even before The Art of Living too, for 40 years!
I can’t say I want to go somewhere for a ride. So, do something that is good for others. I need so much of your time, your work. Don’t worry about whether you like it or not, just do it and see. Sometimes you don’t like doing things in the beginning, but later on, you will reap the fruit of that action. Any seva you do will always take you up; it will always bring you benefits, beyond your imagination. So don’t underestimate that. Do you see what I am saying?
Otherwise, if you are doing everything to satisfy your own self, you will be bored, because nothing in the world can satisfy you. And you are lucky in a way that you are getting so bored so quickly. You are so lucky; you are the right person as a seeker, you have the right ingredients to grow because you get bored with all these material things. That is good.
One very good thing with the kids these days is that they get bored with everything very soon, but instead of getting frustrated, they should move that whole energy in another direction of evolution, to go higher.
Guruji, we are unable to resolve the problems of daily life. How do you manage to resolve such huge problems with such ease? Tell us the secret.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
This secret itself is the Art of Living. You do the camp, do meditation, and get involved in seva and satsang. Get engaged in seva work, you will see, you will also be able to accomplish big tasks. One should be joyful. There should be contentment in the mind, and for the country, one should be ready to serve the nation.