Intuition means that which simply comes up beyond reason

January 09, 2012

Q: Dear Guruji, I find it difficult to be natural with everyone. You have said we are closer to the Divine when we are natural. How can I be natural?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What makes you unnatural is the fear that somebody may criticize you. 
Someone may think you are a fool. Why don’t you act like a fool for half a day? Then you will see that all the fear will disappear. Fear of committing mistakes makes you unnatural. Just see, it is okay to commit mistakes. If they are not big blunders, mistakes are okay. You should be afraid of committing blunders, but not small mistakes.

Q: Guruji, many times I promise you that I will never repeat the same mistake. I repeat it again, and I get very upset and I feel very bad after that.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is good. It is good to feel that pinch.
Once, twice, thrice or four times it happens, then the tenth time at least you will be aware of it and you will move away from it. Don’t worry, it is good to have that pinch, and keep promising me. 

Q: Can going deep in sadhana and making people meditate take care of the problems of today’s world, of corruption and terrorism? Or do we need to make an effort on the physical level as well?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both! We need to make effort on the physical level and with the inner and spiritual strength. Both are essential. 
They are like the eyes and ears when you are watching television. You need to see and you need to hear as well.

Q: Guruji, you said accept everybody and don’t leave them, just because they are not like you. But you have also said, if the company is affecting you, you can take yourself away from that company. Please throw some light as it seems like a contradiction.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, life is full of contradictions, and all the instructions will be contradictory. That is why it is the truth. That is where vivek (discrimination) is essential. You have to balance, see when, where, what!

Q: Dear Guruji, how to honor the Gunas and not indulge in them? Sometimes one is unable to resist the grip of indulgence. How to overcome this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The mind having an intention not to commit a mistake is like having a brake in the car. You are going somewhere and if there is a hand brake and it works well, then you put the brake anytime you want! And if there is no brake at all, you will be prone to accidents. 
Similarly, when the mind says, I don’t want to do this or I shouldn’t do this, that is because it just promises joy but it doesn’t really deliver and gives pain. 
Why something is bad? Because it gives pain to oneself and pain to someone else. That is the reason something is said as bad. It gives short term pleasure but long term pain to both you and to others.

Q: Guruji, when Krishna was there, the Gopas and Gopis were also there with Krishna. My heart knows who Krishna is now, but are we the same Gopas and Gopis?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What if you are someone new. Why do you have to be the same ones? Could be! You could be the same ones!
See, the knowledge is eternal and feelings are eternal too. Now don’t tell me, ‘Guruji, you said feelings are temporary, they come and go!’ 
It is temporary too and it is eternal too! 
Are you confused? Then my job is done. 
Who said my job is to convince people? No! My job is to confuse you! And every time you get confused, you go one step higher. 

Q: There is a lot of confusion and lack of decision making even with small things. Confusion is between the good as you said, but how do I make a choice between the good.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If I tell you something more, you will get even more confused. You think your confusion is not enough? I don’t want to add more. Too much confusion becomes a problem too. 
Be with your confusion and see where it leads you. 
Check the greed in you. If you are too greedy, check the greed and the right thing will fall on your lap. 

Q: I read in one of the knowledge books that ‘Fear is love standing upside down.’ Is love also fear standing upside down? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you look at it from the other side, if you are upside down, then you will see it is upside down. Got it? 

Q: Many festivals are celebrated in Nepal by animal sacrifices. Do we have such practices mentioned in our sacred texts as well? How do we bring about a shift?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Education! You have to educate people. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that you should kill an animal to please Gods and Goddesses. No! 
‘Ahimsa paramo dharma’. You should not sacrifice any animal.
You know what has happened in the world amongst all the religions and cultures? It has become like a mixture of sand and sugar. There are good things, but there are other things which are not in the scriptures but have been interpolated, or have come as a practice. And people think this is the religion and this is the tradition. This is unfortunate. Such practices need to be shunned and stopped. 
You should educate people not to kill animals!
The scriptures have said, let go of your animalistic tendencies. Let go of the inertia in you. 
You know in Sanskrit many words have two different meanings. Like ‘mahisha’ means inertia. It is not just buffalo. 
A buffalo is also called buffalo because it is inert. If you honk the car, it won’t move. You have to get down from the car and push it. If you show a stick, it doesn’t move. 
Cows are very sensitive, but buffalos are not that sensitive. So a buffalo is also called mahisha. 
So mahisha means the inertia should be killed inside you. Similarly, ’Aja’ does not just mean goat. It also means that which is neither born yesterday or tomorrow. ‘Ja’ means born. So, there are deeper meanings in all this. 
Usually ’Gau’ means cow. The word cow comes from the Sanskrit root ‘Gau’. And ’Gau’ also means knowledge, movement, attainment. 
There are four meaning for ‘Gau’: 
- Gyan (knowledge) 
- Gaman (assimilation)
- Prapthi (attainment)
- Moksh (liberation) 
Unfortunately the meanings have been distorted.

Q: Jai Gurudev, I don’t understand the knowledge point which says, ‘the best work comes out when you work without any motive’.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, this is intuitive work or a sudden sprout of thought. In intuition, you do not sit and calculate. Intuition means that which simply comes up beyond reason.
Did you get it? You have seen when Archimedes was thinking and thinking, it didn’t work. But, when he relaxed, suddenly he got the Archimedes principle. 
Like that, many scientists got something out of the sixth sense. That is intuition and that needs to be developed. So don’t’ depend only on your five senses or the intellect. Intuitive sense is also important. That is a deeper, closer to the truth, reality. Otherwise you see your judgments are often wrong. 
How many of you find your judgments were wrong? You judged people and a little later on you felt that is not the way it was. I thought something else, there was something else. Isn’t it? So, your intuition will not fail you because it is coming from a deeper space. 
If it is intuition and if it really comes!

Q: Guruji, for how long should a man make an effort to succeed. If after ten years of effort, one has not achieved success, then what should one do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, then you should change your strategy. If you have strength, then try a little longer, for as long as possible. Use your entire strength, and if it doesn't work out even then, then 'Haare ko Hari naam'; accept that it is not working out and move on. Relax! 
For a sankalpa or an intention to manifest, effort will definitely be needed, energy will be expended. However, the satisfaction that you get after accomplishing the task was there even before the desire to do the task; just remember this! 
This sankalpa arose ten years back - were you happy before that or not? And you will be happy afterwards also - this is what we need to keep in mind. 
We should not think that we will be happy only after fulfillment of our desires or sankalpa. Then the feverishness within us will subside. Once the feverishness is at rest, whatever is to happen will happen. This does not mean you should not work. One should apply effort, work, and relax.