Our presence conveys
more than our words

28.05.2010 Turkey

May 2010,
German


Excerpts from Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s talk while addressing Indian Embassy.
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.

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