Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Love is in your heart only, isn’t it?
If your actions are being challenged, then look into them -- are they alright, did you do something wrong, can you do any better, or is it just the other person’s perception?
When people criticize you, welcome them with all your heart! Why? Because they are putting their friendship with you at risk, being bold and brave enough to comment so that you improve! Don’t they need some appreciation? If they are doing it out of jealousy, or if they are upset with you or at your accomplishment, then you can spare some compassion for them.
Whenever someone criticises you, first welcome their criticism, thank them and stand up to it! No one has any interest in putting you down, why would they do that? A normal healthy person will not try to put someone down. People either need your compassion because they are not normal, and if they are normal and healthy, then they need your appreciation, I don’t see a third angle here. Life cannot be goody-goody all the time. Challenges exist, and it is for us to take them with a smile. What do you say?
Today, let us all take up this one intention, "Come what may, I will not lose my smile, my spirit, and my enthusiasm!" Then you can be of great help to people around you. You will be a guiding light in your family, to your friends circle, in society -- everywhere! You will be the most 'wanted’ person, in the good sense, not in any other sense.
In Hindu temples, an ‘aarti’ is performed, i.e., a wick is lit up and taken around the deity. Do you know why they do that? Because life is synonymous to light. When you light a candle and turn it upside down, where does the flame go? Up or down? The flame always goes up! Similarly, the meaning of ‘aarti’ is ‘let the light of my life always go around the divine; let me see divinity everywhere, let me see light everywhere!’ This is the purpose of aarti.
Gurudev, I work with the Police, and deal with very negative people, in a very negative work environment. How should I deal with this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
If a doctor tells me that I have to be with patients all day, what can I say? It is a sacred job! If you are working with people who are feeling sick, negative, and stressed; in such an environment, if you have a calm and positive state of mind, then you will be the most needed person. Please don’t run away from there, they all need you. What you can do to alleviate the environment, is to make your colleagues take one or two doses of M&M (music & meditation sessions).
The police force, the military forces, and for that matter, even schools and colleges are places of high stress. Do you know, the latest statistics in Europe show that 40% of the school teachers are depressed? Are you surprised to hear that? If teachers are depressed, what will they give to the children? It is alarming! We need to bring meditation to the teachers, the armed forces, the police; everyone needs it, because we are living in stressful situations!
Do you know the definition of stress? Too much to do, too little time and no energy - this is the formula for stress. Meditation helps overcome stress!
Can you explain, what is the difference between meditation and having a short nap?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
In meditation there is a gentle awareness, that “I am”. In a nap you’re totally off, you don’t know where you are. In meditation, the body is relaxed, mind is somewhat alert and this is more powerful than power nap -- in the sense that the oxygen consumption rate in the body goes down. Physiologically deeper rest happens in 20 minutes than what can happen in 6 hours or 8 hours of sleep.
In your point of view, what is the purpose of the business world as you see it today and what should it be?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
I see business as a means to bring happiness in life. If the end product of business is misery, I tell you, nobody would want to do it. But somehow people end up in that space because they are not clear about their goal.
The goal of business is happiness through prosperity, happiness through sharing, happiness through freedom, as freedom is the basic ingredient of happiness. If you are not free, how can you be happy, and wealth creates freedom; it is supposed to create freedom, and freedom in turn brings happiness. I think this is the goal of business. Maybe you have different thoughts about it.
So we need to move from GDP to GDH, don't you think so? The world is already moving in that direction.
If you could introduce meditation and these practices in the business world, what impact do you think it would have globally and nationally?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
It will help people handle stress. You know, businessmen need intuition. They need to know where to invest. Such decisions depend totally on intuitive knowledge. Meditation improves your intuitive ability. It enables you to endure tough times and it makes you innovative. No business can survive without innovation. Intuition is that which never goes wrong, otherwise it is not intuition. When the stock market is about to go down, where you should invest and where you should not, that comes somewhere from gut feeling.
Where do you strike the balance between ambition and greed?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Greed is when you disrespect the laws. You want to make money anyhow, and so you drop the ethics and go for profit, that is called greed. Ambition is within the permit of ethics. You can be ambitious but greed takes you away from ethics. Simple thing what I would say is: clarity in mind, purity in heart, sincerity in action. That has been my guiding principle. It does not stress you out, doesn’t put a load on you and success is for sure.
Do you have any thoughts on how to deal with a Chief Executive Officer who is not familiar with humility?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Well, you can be compassionate. People who don’t know humility have missed out on a lot in their life, and they are in a small shell. So when a person does not know something that you know, don't get angry at them but be compassionate towards them. Sympathize with them.
Work, family, children, friends, films – between all of these, time management becomes quite difficult. What advice would you give us to try and step back a bit.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Don't let the time manage you. First of all, you must see to it that you go with the feeling that you have time. When you put this thought in your mind that you don’t have time, then that itself becomes a block.
Everybody has only 24 hours, whether it is the Prime Minister or a clerk working in the bank. You have to hold on to this aphorism 'I can do it' because the pressure of time is more when you do not feel confident of accomplishing your work. Even when it appears to be impossible, even then you should have confidence; probably give miracles a chance. This very confidence in yourself that 'I will be able to manage' will take you through. And once something sets into your routine, then you have no problem.
Everyone takes out time to brush their teeth. This is dental hygiene, isn't it? However busy you are, you don’t say, "I have to rush to the office" and jump out of your bed, wear your shoes and run. No! You take the time to brush your teeth, that’s dental hygiene. Similarly, I would say, take a few minutes of mental hygiene (meditation). When it fits into your routine, you’ll not find it as something you have to do extra. For 10-20 minutes, relax and do some yoga exercise, and then you go with the fresh mind.
How to stay in the present?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First of all, you must know that my mind is wandering, then, half the job is done! The second thing is, take out a little time for yourself - just 15 seconds in between.
I want to share a little story with you. There was an executive who said that he was very upset with his boss. So he wrote a very nasty letter to his own boss. He signed it and decided to send it out after his meeting with me. When he mentioned this to me, I gave him this idea, that before signing any important paper, take a 15 seconds gap and just be still and reflect. So he did it, and he later said, "Gurudev, I did not send that letter that I had written, and it saved me a lot of embarrassment. And it saved my job as well".
Taking that little time, that 15 seconds gap, can make a big different. You can do this several times during the course of the day.
As children, we used to play this game called ‘Statue’. We would be running and playing and someone would say, ‘Statue’, and we had to stand still. Have you played this game? This is one of the brilliant things to do to bring the mind to the present moment. And of course, meditation is very important. A few minutes of meditation keeps your mind like a clean slate to take on new load of work.
How to manage stress?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
First of all, do you know what stress is? Stress is too much to do and too little time or energy. When we have too much to do with not enough time and energy, the we get stressed. So either you reduce your workload, which doesn’t seem to be a possibility these days, or you increase your time – this is not possible either. So what we are left with is to increase your energy levels.
Now how do we increase our energy levels?
1. The right amount of food – not too much and not too little. A balanced diet with enough carbohydrates and proteins.
2. The right amount of sleep. 6-8 hours of sleep, not more not less.
3. Learning some deep breathing exercises - this increases your energy.
4, Few moments of a meditative mind. Few minutes of deep relaxation - conscious deep relaxation is what I would call meditation. A few minutes of meditation can relieve all types of stress. If you meditate in the morning and evening for 15-20 minutes, it is good enough. It will keep you going.
Usually, I recommend meals and meditation in the afternoon. In work places when people sit together and meditate for a few minutes and share a meal together, they find it so refreshing and are able to carry on through the day with the same energy which they came to the office with.