Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are people sitting there in their air-conditioned rooms in Mumbai and in Delhi and criticizing left, right and center, Art of Living. They have no idea! They write whatever they want to write, cynical, sceptical...they don’t realize how much this can help the society. The world is appreciating, all over the world, so many countries! Kamal was in Pakistan. She was sharing her experience, how people in Pakistan welcome this whole knowledge. She was on three television shows and people were calling in and they were all saying, ‘this is what we need’. And in Pakistan the courses are happening. Just imagine if the whole of Pakistan does Sudarshan Kriya, and nobody started hating anybody, terrorism would simply be finished; not necessarily even the whole of Pakistan, at least ten percent of the population started doing, it will make a huge difference.
Q: All the scriptures we have, in all the religions say the same thing that God is love, and love is God. Then why are there so many scriptures all over the world?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why should there not be,tell me why should there not be?
Q: Guruji, the entire India knows that all the people came together and through peaceful protest we have compelled the parliament to go through a resolution. But what is the way forward now? How can we really eradicate corruption from the nation? What is the practical way and how we should go about it, especially all the youth of this nation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know I have said there are three formulas: One is everyone take pledge, ‘we will not give bribe’, second youths like you go with a sticker, ’I will not take bribe’ stickers and put it in all the government offices and the third thing is a strong Lokpal bill. For that we have already impressed it on all the members of the parliament. See, unless the electoral reforms happen, and the parliamentary democracy has some loopholes, those things are corrected, just a legislation alone will not help. There are many legislations in this country, but they are not being honoured.
Q: I am the mother of an eighteen-year old. My son used to have a lot of problems just like any other teenager and I had reached a stage where I used to wonder how I could change my son, And then I came to know about the YES plus course and I put him through it and there is a whole lot of changes in my son, a huge transformation. I see him doing yoga. And the reason why I am here standing in front of you is because of my son - I saw the transformation in him and I am here. Okay, I am hooked on to you now, thanks to my son. Now my point is there must be a lot of mothers like me suffering silently, trying to figure out what exactly they can do to change their children, because especially the way things are going on these days, so much money, pubs, whole lot of things happening. Why can’t Art of Living reach out to schools? Talk about all that you have to offer, reach out to 16 year olds and 17 year olds. Please. Reach out with this course. I am sure a lot of people are going to change.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know mothers like you can contribute. Mothers like you, few of you can join together. If you talk to principals in various schools, colleges, in your free time; take a little time and do this seva, do this service - that would be even better. Our approach, any way we are doing, it has its limitation. People think we have an ulterior motive. Oh, they want to increase their...whatever. They may need something for themselves that is why they are doing. They don’t realize we are doing for the sake of the children and for the sake of our society. So we will do that, we are anyway doing. We have done here in Karnataka, all the second year engineering college students in Maanyavati college project, twenty two thousand of them. It was one of the best projects because the youth had such a transformation, just engineering college students. But they should do it for all the students in all the degree colleges, all levels, but for that you all have to write to the government, and the education department.
Q: Guruji, how to implement ‘sampoorna sharanaagati’ (total surrender) in day to day life? How to be conscious while doing daily tasks? That ‘I’ factor is there.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let it be there. Don’t worry. Don’t try to erase your ego; if you find your ego sticks, never mind, let it be there. Keep it in the pocket or your handbag.
Q: Would writing in a newspaper help? I am a journalist myself.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yeah, yeah, sure! There is ABC, Art of Living Bureau of Communication here.
Q: Guruji, what is the effect of tantras?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Now that you are on this path and you have your mantra, you do not have to worry about tantras.
Q: Gurudev, I was thinking since you spoke about Pakistan, so don’t you think Art of Living is a better option than educational reforms in Pakistan because any educational reform in my opinion is going to cover people of age group, let us say, five to twenty five; any one older than that might be reluctant to go to school or attend educational seminars or things like that, but Art of Living is such that it covers the whole range of population?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That is what we are doing. We are educating people in all levels.
Q: (A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How do you feel today? Very nice! If those things are coming up, let it come up. Do a little bit yoga, some walking, some exercise to supplement that.
Q: (A member of the audience asked a question and it was inaudible)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Because ‘Sarva dharmaan paritajye, ma mekam sharanam’. Take refuge in me, then I will rid you of all sins. He puts a condition for it. Bheeshma Pitaamah didn’t do that. This is my dharma, he was holding on to it. He didn’t totally give up, right?
Q: You were talking about people criticizing and all that. I did a lot of reading up about you on the net. There are a whole lot of negative things written, and there is nothing contradicting it. Also, whatever is there on the net, it is not very clear cut. It is more like a publicity thing, I am sorry to say this. I think the real essence of Art of Living is not really coming out. If I did not know about my son, believe me, I am sorry if I can be honest with you, I didn’t believe in you before. What happened to my son, I am a non-believer in all this; but I am here because I saw it happening in my life. But how many people are going to know by just reading your postings etc? No. So I believe that what you probably need is effective writing, books, maybe on the net, giving proper contradictory statements, giving answers. There are so many things being said which are not right! Why isn’t it being answered?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (Sri Sri Laughs)Correct, correct, correct. We need good writers, yeah! You all can come forward and you can just write. You know one thing, some of these people who write negatively, I tell them write as much as you want. It doesn’t matter. It is that if one person is benefited from there, all the people around are benefited. Like this it catches on. Nothing can stop this flow. It will go on. And I like critics. Critics are very good. We should welcome critics. But cynical people, they are suffering themselves. We can’t tell anything about them. Cynicism is bad. Criticism is good.
Q: Guruji, I am from Gujarat and am a school teacher in a tribal village. When I taught them Surya Namaskaar, some of them refused because of conversion. So much conversion is happening that they think that by my making them do Surya Namaskaar, I will change their religion. What can I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Show them videos of westerners and nuns doing Sourya Namaskaar. Take one of the American teachers from the ashram and have them teach it. The whole world is doing it, why can’t you?