Forgive, it shows compassion

Gurudev, is there any limit to forgiving or asking for forgiveness? Is there any governing principle for this?

Sri Sri: Forgiving someone shows one’s compassion. Asking for forgiveness shows that you recognize your mistakes, and that you resolve not to repeat them in the future. Now to say, 'Only if he/she asks me for forgiveness will I forgive them', this is of a lower form of forgiveness. The highest form of forgiveness is to realize that the other committed a mistake out to ignorance, and having a sense of compassion for them. Forgiving others with a sense of compassion is the best for of forgiveness. 

Cultivating this sense of forgiveness in oneself is a mark of being noble in character.

Gurudev, how can we control fear?

Sri Sri: Fear is what you feel when you think you have no support. When you feel separate, you feel fear. 

There is a beautiful saying in Sanskrit, 'Dvitiyadvayi bhayam bhavati'. Fear happens when there are two (meaning when there is no feeling of belongingness). We simply need to recognize our origin, our source and get connected to our higher Self. Then fear simply vanishes. It only needs this recognition that, ‘The Divine loves me very dearly; the Infinity is with me and all of Nature is a part of me. There is someone to care for me’. 

Just these thoughts and positive affirmations are enough to make that fear run away.

Gurudev, in yesterday’s meditation you said that almost everything is irrelevant. Can you please explain this further?

Sri Sri: That is in meditation. When you go into meditation, you should consider everything irrelevant. Only then can you become quiet. But do not think this when doing some activity. During activity, everything is relevant.

Gurudev, why was the Kumudvathi river chosen to be revived? How many villages benefitted from this?

Sri Sri: See, we have to begin somewhere. So we chose one river and started work. There are so many rivers that have dried up, and we are taking up the relief work gradually. For example in Maharashtra, we took up relief work for the river Dharani and five other rivers. In Karnataka, we chose three rivers to start work with, of which the river Kumudvathi was one of them. 

The Kumudvathi project involves 268 villages as it will provide water supply to all of them. And 60% of the water shortage that is faced by the city of Bangalore will be solved by this. This is what our scientists believe.

Gurudev, a related question. Should we do something to keep those rivers that alive from drying up?

Sri Sri: For rivers that are still flowing and have not dried up, we need to protect their water from getting polluted. There is so much work that needs to be done to fight water pollution. We all will have to join in and contribute towards this cause. 

Rivers like the Ganges and Yamuna need to be saved from pollution. This should be our aim.

Gurudev, will doing Sudarshan Kriya and regular Sadhana (spiritual practices) solve all my problems?

Sri Sri: You first do it and see. If they get solved, then that is good. 

At least you will not be at any loss by doing sadhana. It will give you the strength to face those problems and overcome them. You are only going to benefit by doing sadhana. There is no loss or harm that can come to you by doing sadhana. 

By sadhana, either your problems will ward off beforehand, or you will gain the strength to solve your problems.

Gurudev, is it necessary to eat a healthy, low fat diet?

Sri Sri: You know, there are so many theories nowadays. At first people used to say that you should eat only low-fat, or no fat diet. Now they say that our body converts anything we eat into fat if we do not eat fat at all. So they say you must eat a high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet. There are so many different theories now. But the elderly Ayurveda doctors say that you should eat fat. They will often advise you to have a lot of butter! So there is a lot of confusion about what one must eat and what one must not eat. You should listen to your body, and have that which suits your body.

Gurudev, there is a constant struggle between responsibilities and my personal desires. How do I create a balance?

Sri Sri: Well, when you say that is a constant struggle, then just let it be. When anything becomes constant, you get used to it. Then it is no longer a struggle. But anything is a struggle if you are not used to it. 

If you are used to something, then you cannot be without it. Got it? So first of all, you need to take back your words that it is a constant struggle. If it is a constant struggle, then you do not even feel it is a struggle.

Meaning of Gayatri

Every moment we are new, and different.. how?

I am not able to do anything consistently. How can I develop this quality in me?

Sri Sri: This you need to realize for yourself. How do you say that you cannot do anything consistently? Why do you label yourself like that?
First you should admit that you do not truly know yourself. When you do not know yourself, you do not know how much potential you have within you.
You have no idea about how many things you can do. So you have to first simply remove this label that ‘I cannot do this consistently’. That was the past. Right now you are different. Every moment you are new and different from what you were earlier.

Our life is like a river. You cannot get into the same water twice. So life is both new and ancient at the same time. Your consciousness is older than the stones, the rivers, the mountains and everything else in the universe. In fact, it is much older. Just like the sun is so old; it is around 19 billion years old. Yet every day the rays of the sun are new and fresh. You do not ever get the same rays tomorrow.

Let us accept imperfections - others' and ours

What is the art of living?

'Your concept in the mind that things should be a certain way causes pain in the mind. The cause of distress is set concepts in the mind. The art of living is to gain this simple ability in life - just a skill: the ability to free your mind of the past, to free your mind of future fears, and to be able to play with every situation that is in front of you'

- H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Gain Knowledge & Share Love

Gurudev, I’ve heard Gayatri mantra being played on tapes in public. How important is it to get initiated?

Sri Sri: We will go into all those details some other time. 

Ga-ya-tri – there are three types of misery. We have three bodies, the gross body, the subtle and the causal body. And in all the three levels there is misery. The human life has to cross-over all the three, and that is what Gayatri means. One who sings it, sails over the ocean of misery to go to bliss.

Gurudev, you said in Sanskrit, the word for water and love is the same. In this context, is there some significance of offering water to the Shiva linga.

Sri Sri: Yes, it is a symbol. 

In ancient times people would take water in both hands, gaze at the Sun and offer the water. Sun gazing is very good, because our eyes are photosensitive. So Sun gazing can get the Sun’s energy in the body. 

Sun gazing is known all over the world now. When people do Sun gazing, their hunger reduces, there is a boost in their immune system, and a lot of things happen.

There is an expression which is used around the world when one feels so much love or pain. What is that expression?I want to pour my heart out. 

The pouring out, gives you a sense of offering everything. So when you offer water to the Shiva Linga, it is a symbol of offering everything, where one feels, 'All that I have, all that I am, these all belong to you my Lord'. 

This is the prayer. Namah Na Mamah, nothing is mine, my life is not mine, it is all yours. 

So as a gesture of pouring everything out, one takes water (as water is the same as love in Sanskrit) and offers to Shiva. Not that Shiva needs water.

Dear Gurudev, the participants aspiring to do the Vedic Wisdom course want to know more about the Gayatri mantra and Sandhyavandanam. Can you please talk about this.

Sri Sri: You know life is three states of consciousness – waking, dreaming and sleeping. When waking state ends and dreaming state begins; when dreaming state ends and sleeping state begins, and when sleeping state ends and waking state begins, at these junction points something fantastic happens. What is that? You get a glimpse of that which is beyond the three.

Mind can experience only these three, but when it stops, you somewhere experience a state which is neither waking nor dreaming nor sleeping. And that is so Divine. And that is the basis of all of creation. A glimpse of that state is what is called Yoga.

Now, what does it do, it removes all fears and it gives a bigger dimension to life. 

We think that life is my body, my mind, etc., no! There is much more to life than this. 

This experience, i.e., transcending the thought and the emotions and going to another level of stillness, that is calledSandhya. Vandan means adoring that inner state.

When do you usually do Sandyavandanam? When there is transition. When the Sun is rising, the whole creation is undergoing a transition. When the Sun sets again there is a transition . So usually sunrise, sunset and the noon time, you just sit and meditate and do pranayama.

The Gayatri mantra is one of the greatest prayers mankind has. 

What does it say? Let me soak in the Divine, and let the Divine destroy all my sins. The Divine light that burns all sin, let me adore and soak in that Divine light. And let the Divinity inspire my intellect. 

See, all our actions happen through our intellect, right? Thoughts come and then you act. So you pray to the Divine to bring good thoughts into your mind. You pray to the Divine, 'Take over my intellect. Inspire my intellect'; dhiyo yonah prachodayat. 

Dhi means intellect. May my intellect be guided by, kindled by, and inspired by you (Divinity).

When right thoughts come, your action will always be right. When intuitive thoughts come, your actions will be fruitful. So praying for the best thought. Let my mind, my whole life energy be soaked in Divinity. That is it.

Can ladies chant Gayatri mantra?

Sri Sri: Yes. Nowhere it is said that ladies cannot chant.

It is unfortunate that somewhere in the middle ages, these rights of women were taken away. We have reinstated this in the Ashram. Many ladies are learning.

See it was a male dominated society. The men thought that if ladies do Gayatri Mantra, it will bring them a lot of power; healing power and sankalpa Shakti. Whatever they wish for those things will start happening. So the men said, 'No our wives are already powerful, we don’t want to make them more powerful. So we won’t let them chant the mantra'. 

This is why only a small section of people kept this as a highly guarded secret. 

Even yoga and pranayama was not taught to common people because it brings so much mental power. It also increases the power of the spirit in a person. And that is why they kept it as a big secret, not letting everybody know it, learn it, or practice it. But we said no way, this belongs to mankind. 

So whatever faith one is, religion one is, everyone should be benefit from pranayama, meditation, and chanting.

In many hospitals nowadays, they are using Om chanting. 

In Madras, in the hospital, they are chanting Om to get rid of many illnesses. The chantings are very powerful.

Gurudev, people sin in one life, why does God punish them in the next lives. Wouldn’t it be better to know the reason while you’re being punished.

Sri Sri: There are many different types of karma. Some things if you do today, it gives you result immediately.

Suppose there is fire, and you keep your hand in it, will it burn today or tomorrow? It will burn now. But if you sow a mango seed, for it to grow and give fruit, how many years it will take? Six years. Six years later you get the fruit. And if you sow a jackfruit tree, it takes 10 years to give fruit.

A gentleman puts an iron ore factory, it takes so many years to start giving profit. The real profit is enjoyed by his children. The one who struggled and toiled all his life to make the factory run does not enjoy the fruits. When the profit starts coming it is the next generation who enjoys it.

In the Bhagavat Gita it is said, 'Gahana karmano gatih', the ways of karma are unfathomable. There are many different karmas, individual karma, collective karma; there is a karma for time. For every place there is a karma.

A tsunami comes and so many people in one area die. Why only that area? It is the karma of that place .

So the more you go deep in karma, it is amazing.

In Hinduism, in the Upanishads, one of the six darshanas is Karma Mimamsa. It talks all about karma. 

That book is so big that you hardly find any scholars. Around 35-40 years ago there was only this one gentleman in Benares who had studied the Mimansa. Today we don’t have any scholars in this at all. 

Similarly Buddhism has done quite a bit of study on this. And Jains have done lot of research on karma. But the best is to do service (seva).

When you serve others, when you bring relief to people who are in need of solace, that brings you very good karma. That is why charity should be part of everybody’s life. 

Meditation washes out the bad karma and charity brings in good karma. And both should go simultaneously. Go inward to find the knowledge, the stillness, the peace, and the outward expression of that is your love.

Two things very important in life, knowledge and love.

When you die, two questions will be posed to you, how much knowledge have you gained and how much love you gave?

You are what you think

When you think of someone you love so much, the love gets kindled in you. When you think of your enemy or someone you don’t like, an unpleasant sensation arises in your body; every cell in your body is agitated. Whatever or whomsoever we think of, that happens in our body. So, when you think of awakened people, you feel that sense of purity dawns within you. If you think of someone who is very greedy and ambitious, you will get that type of vibration in you. If you think of someone who is very peaceful or joyous, you will feel that same vibration. The same sense of joy catches onto your consciousness. Why should you not hate anybody? It is because whomsoever you hate, that person occupies a big portion in your consciousness. Whomsoever you think about, you imbibe their qualities in you. So, when you think about a blossomed, witness consciousness of a higher order, you suddenly feel the purity within you and around you. This is so scientific and true. Do you know why Lord Buddha’s statues were kept for meditation? After Buddha left the body, they started having Buddha’s statues. When you sit in front of Buddha’s statues, you also start sitting like Buddha. You close your eyes and you feel like imbibing all that stillness. This was the original idea of having Buddha’s statues. Today, it has just become fashionable to have large, expensive statues. The significance is not the statue, it is you sitting like a statue, with a smile on your face. Relax, let go all that you are holding on to, unnecessarily. Realise, 'I am a diamond, ever pure'. Then you imbibe those qualities within you.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||