Is Faith Important?

August 13, 2012

Bangalore, India

Yes, today your silence is over! (Sri Sri says to the Advanced Course Participants)
I heard two Advanced Course participants who were walking towards the lakeside. One asked, ‘When will the silence be over?’
The other one said, ‘Tomorrow morning! It will be over tomorrow morning.’
(Laughter)
So, some people have kept such silence as well!

There are three types of faith. Faith in yourself, faith in the goodness of people around you and faith in the abstract power which seems to be running everything. The first two are very essential; the third will make life much better.

And some people kept silence with full devotion.

In silence you conserve your energy. With talking a lot of energy gets spent that is why sometimes it is good to be silent for some time.

Two or three times a year, or once in four months, it is very good to take a silence program for three to four days. There is a lot of advantage in doing this. There is physical and mental advantage. All the stress in the nervous system gets released; your batteries get charged and you become joyful!

Also with silence, our speech gets purified, and then whatever we say starts happening. That is why Sadhana has its own importance.

Q: How important is faith?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You cannot exist without faith!

Listen, suppose you have come here in a car and you have parked the car in the parking area. Now when you are sitting here you have faith that the car will be there when you go back, isn’t it?! So, without this faith can you exist? No!

First, you should have faith in yourself.

There are three types of faith which are important

1. Faith in yourself. If you do not have faith in yourself it is called paranoia. It is a disease.

2. Faith in the goodness of people around you. There are good people in the world, you should have that faith; otherwise you cannot move one inch in society.

3. Faith in the unknown; faith in the abstract power which seems to be running everything. That is the third type of faith.

So, of these three faiths, the first two are very essential; the third will make life much better.

Q: Even after putting efforts I do not get success?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You cannot get success with effort alone. Along with effort you need faith and devotion. If you have faith and devotion and both go together then you will get success.

Also, it is not that if you only have devotion, you will get success, no! You need devotion and effort; a combination of both is required.

Q: Please tell us about ego.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In love a loss is also a win, and in ego a win is also a loss!

Q: Gurudev, in the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says that whatever comes naturally keep doing that, even if it is not the perfect thing to do. Please advice.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, be in your nature, don't be unnatural. What is not in your nature, do not project that. But that does not mean you be foolish, okay!

Let us say you are attending a funeral and you feel like dancing. You think, ‘Gurudev said be natural’, and so you start dancing and clapping. No, this will not work. You have to maintain decorum as well.

You think, Gurudev has said, ‘One world family, embrace everyone and move ahead’, and so you see a woman walking on the road and you go and hug her thinking, ‘Anyways, everything is mine only!’

If you do this then you will get a stick. So don’t do that.

Yes, it is good to cultivate Brahma Bhaav – everything is One; it is all a part of me. But that does not mean you steal from someone’s pocket and say it is all mine only.

To get rid of any addiction the only thing that can help is Sadhana. Come here, sit and do Sadhana. Do Advance Courses. Not just one or two, but keep doing, and then the addictions will go away.

Q: Gurudev, I feel people don’t accept me because I am boring. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t worry what people think about you. Have a goal and march ahead. If you have to walk alone then walk alone and achieve what you want to achieve in life. Then everyone will come along.

I also thought that I was very boring because I could never talk about cricket and in those days everybody would talk about cricket and I would just stare. It never interested me, when I was a teenager. I would not enjoy it but people were going crazy. For five days continuously they would put the radio on to their ear, listening to the commentaries.

At that time, I used to feel, what to talk. Everyone was only talking about cricket, no other talk.

You make your path and walk on it. Do not judge yourself and do not judge others.

Q: Gurudev, how do we know what is the right thing to do when there are so many choices? Also when all of them are equally good, how do I pick the right one?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The right choice will appear on its own. When such a situation arises, have patience, wait a little and it will happen.

Q: Gurudev, my brother and me received the same upbringing, but at the same time we both are very different, how is it like that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is very deep science. You need to think about it some time.

The microcosm and the macrocosm are united. In fact it is only one thing. But there is a link from the microcosm to the macrocosm. Every little grain on this planet is linked to the universe in some special manner.

The ancient people knew this. So they said that in our solar system there are nine planets, and these nine planets are linked to nine different grains, nine different animals, nine different shapes, nine different colors and nine different substances.

It is amazing how they traced the connection from one to another. It is simply amazing!

We have studied in our college and schools that it was Galileo who first found out that the Earth is round, and the Earth is going around the Sun. In the west they always thought the Sun is going around the Earth. But if you go to any temple in India they know that the Sun is the centre of the solar system.

This has been practiced from thousands of years in India. They put the Sun in the middle and the planets all around.

And what they also did is they connected each planet with a Mantra (chant) and a Yantra (diagram). And the Prana Shakti is connected with a particular gem and a particular grain. Like Mars is connected with Bengal Gram, Mercury is connected with Moong Dal, Saturn is connected with Sesame Seeds, Sun and Moon is connected with Rice and Wheat.

Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the moon are also connected with different grams.

So each planet is connected with a particular grain, a particular shape and color, and a particular part of our body.

Each part of our body is connected with a particular planet. So in your body all the planetary systems are present. It is an amazing science.

There used to be this science called Samudrika Lakshana. In that, they would look at your face and make your horoscope. Sometimes, they look at your teeth and tell you exactly which year you were born in. But this science is somehow lost. A lot of knowledge has been misused and lost.

Today, pundits from different temples have come and they are doing a Yagya of the nine planets for the welfare of the world and people. The coming few days could be very tough, so to bring more of a positive influence in the world and reduce the negative vibrations, they are doing this Yagya today and tomorrow.

Don’t worry what people think about you. Have a goal and march ahead. If you have to walk alone then walk alone and achieve what you want to achieve in life. Then everyone will come along. You make your path and walk on it. Do not judge yourself and do not judge others.

So these are ancient things. But nobody understood them properly and there were no proper people to do this either. That is where we need to encourage the youngsters.

So, I thought that we will bring all these pundits and ask them to train the youngsters.

Q: How does one get out of addictions?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: By doing Sadhana. To get rid of any addiction the only thing that can help is Sadhana. Come here, sit and do Sadhana.

Do Advance Courses. Not just one or two, but keep doing and then the addictions will go.

Keep asking, ‘Who am I? Who am I?’ That is the best. From that only you will get the answer.

Q: Gurudev, I have only one daughter. She has moved to Canada after her marriage and I have not been able to meet her since one and half years. Will I be able to meet her?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, go meet her!

Your daughter also should feel, ‘I want to meet my mother.’

What has happened is that we sometimes raise our children in such way that they don’t have any feeling or compassion. We have not given them the right values or taught them any virtues, and so, when they go abroad they forget everything and become selfish.

You let go and be peaceful! Everything will be fine!

Sri Sri talks about the recently discovered God Particle

Bad Antogast, Germany

July 10, 2012

The scientists have discovered the God Particle; that is what they are saying – Higgs Boson. And they say that the entire universe is made up of this. It is a field, and this field is energy. It gives shape to the planets, stars and everything.
This sounds so familiar to someone who has studied Vedanta, or someone who has experienced deep meditation.
The whole universe is made up of consciousness. It is a play and display of one consciousness. The Vedic Rishis also said the same. They said first know the elements; they called even Brahman, the Ultimate, as a Tattva. Tattva means Principle. Like God Particle, they said Brahman Principle.

 

 

The Brahman or God is not
a He or She; they say it is a
field. It is a field, it is a space,
the basis of everything, and
everything is just its own
reflection. Everything forms
of its own reflection. It is
neither a thing, nor nothing.

 

 

What is the first principle? They said the Elements; Earth element, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, and then the Mind, the Intellect – the subtler and subtler you go, you reach there.
Subtler than space is mind, subtler than that is intellect and knowledge is present there. And subtler than that is ego, and hundred times subtler than ego is the Mahat Tattva – The Principle called Mahat, field called Mahat.
Ego itself is an atom, but finer than the ego, beyond the ego, that point, that particle is a field called Mahat Tattva, and finer than that is Moola Prakurti – the primordial energy.
And beyond that primordial energy, is Brahman, of which everything is made, which is the substance of the whole creation. Brahman is infinity, it is neither born nor will it ever die.

In the Rig Veda, there is a Sukta called Nasadiya Sukta, in the 10th Mandala, 129th Adhyaya, there, around seven verses are written. In the seven verses of The Hymn of Creation, it is so striking how these aspects which we now know through quantum mechanics and through quantum physics were present then and there.
What scientists call as Dark Matter and Dark Energy which is everywhere, and which is what we are talking about, theNasadiya Sukta says the same thing.

Nasadasinno sadasittadanim nasidrajo no vyom paro yat
Kimavarivah kuha kasya sharmannambhah kimasid gahanam gabhiram

Beyond the space, then, in the beginning, there was neither existence nor non-existence; neither birth nor death. It was all only energy. And it also talks about, ‘Darkness enveloped by darkness. ’ In the third verse it says, ‘Darkness was all wrapped around by darkness.’
So these verses strikingly indicate what today’s scientists talk about almost in the same language.

Let me read the translation:
At first was neither Being or Non-being. There was not air nor yet sky beyond. What was it wrapping? Where? In what protection?
Was water there, unfathomable and deep?
There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness; of night or day, there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own impulse. Other than that was nothing else at all.
Darkness was there all wrapped around by darkness, and all was water indiscriminate. All was energy indiscriminate.
Then that which was hidden by the void, the one emerging, stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be.
In the beginning Love arose, which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The seers, searching in their heart with wisdom, discovered the connection of Being in Non-being. A crosswise line cut Being from Non-being.
What was described above it, what below? Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces, thrust from below and forward move above.
Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?
When was it born? Whence issued this creation? Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?
That out of which creation has arisen, whether it held it from or it did not; He who surveys it in the highest heaven, He surely knows or maybe He does not!

That is very interesting – He surely knows or maybe He does not – because even the knower is part of the phenomenon.

The three types of space are described. One is the space in which we see all the matter that exists; the outer space –Bhutakasha. Then there is the intermediate space or inner space, where all thoughts and emotions float. This is calledChittakasha - the space of the Chitta (consciousness). And then Chidakasha, the space of pure consciousness or energy, which here and there appears to have consolidated and appears to be matter. What appears to be matter is really not matter, it is all One energy, and that One field is called Brahman, and that is what everybody is, that is what everything is.
Doesn't it sound very similar to the Higgs Boson?
So the Brahman or God is not a He or She, they say it is a field. It is a field, it is a space, the basis of everything, and everything is just its own reflection. Everything forms of its own reflection. It is neither a thing, nor nothing.
And they also said this will be known by the scientist of the past and the scientist of the future.

Rishi means one who discovers. The scientists of the ancient times and the scientists of the modern times, in coming years will explore this. And even those, they may not know it. Who knows whether they will know it, or not know?
So further they go, they see it is unknowable.
It is very interesting – Higgs Boson, the concept of it, has come from the past.

 

 

It is also said that every
particle of the space is filled
with knowledge, information,
– Chittakasha; Akashik Records.
All that happened in the past
is all present in the Akasha.
And what is going to happen in
the future is also present in the
Akasha. This is what they say,
if you get access to the Akasha.

 

 

Actually, these verses, when people use to say, ‘Darkness is enveloped with darkness’, it wouldn’t make much sense, and Sanskrit and Vedic scholars were struggling to give some meaning to it. It appeared to be completely a meaningless –neither this nor that; it exists or it doesn't exist.
These sorts of words are good enough to confuse a person. I think with the discovery of Higgs Boson, you are able to understand these verses better, because this itself is called The Hymn of Creation. And it is not very straight, like there was a man and a woman and they fell in love, and they brought forth a progeny – it was not like this. The Hymn of Creation here is so mystical and so mysterious.
The mysticism in it is that it is said in the beginning there was neither Being nor Non-being. Neither Matter or Non-matter, and everything was beyond the space.
So, first of all, you should know space, and then you can know beyond the space.
Always they have said that the Brahman is Parame Vyoman (beyond space). You have to go beyond the space. And space is permeating the entire creation.
They have also said about the three types of space – Bhutakasha, Chittakasha andChidakasha; dissecting the three types of space and then finding.
The scientists never conclude things as an ultimate thing but they will always leave room for further research. They keep the things open-ended and so do the Vedas. They leave it at that. Maybe somebody will discover, somebody knows or somebody doesn't know. It is absolutely fascinating and interesting.
So we need to look at these Vedas, not from a traditional point of view but with a scientific temper. You need to probe into it with a scientific mind. Perhaps you may get some more ideas from this, or maybe not.

Q: (A member of the audience asked a question spontaneously which was inaudible in the recording)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes because God Particle is in Dark Energy only. Nothing is out of Dark Energy. Dark matter and Dark energy is what exists, and all these light bubbles are like drops on a sheet of paper.
Suppose you have a plastic sheet and you put a few drops of water, it forms a round shape. Why is that? It is because of the sheet. In the same way, this whole universe is enveloped by Dark Matter and Dark Energy and that is what it says, ‘Tama Asitamasa Gudhamagre.’
In the beginning the darkness was in a mysterious manner enveloped with another darkness, and all this what you see was all energy - Salilam.
Salilam in simple translation means water, that which is fluid. But another meaning for it is energy that moves. Water moves, that is why it is also called Salilam. Air moves, that is why air is called Sameer.
So, Salilam means that energy that is not stagnant, but which is dynamic; moving. And the entire universe was just energy which was dynamic.
Unfortunately people who know the Vedas know nothing about science, and people who know about science know nothing about Vedas. There is a big gap. It will be very difficult for Vedic people to graduate in science. What would be easier is for scientists to learn a little bit of the Vedas. If they go into the books a little bit, even as a pass time, they may be able to explore and get ideas which may be of some use.

It is also said that every particle of the space is filled with knowledge, information. Chittakasha – the space is filled with information; Akashik Records. All that happened in the past; whatsoever anybody or everybody has spoken in the past is all present in the Akasha (space). And what is going to happen and what someone will speak in the future is also present in the Akasha. This is what they say, if you get access to the Akasha.
People who are psychic and those who get premonitions, clairvoyants, all this can be answered with this one field ofChittakasha.
And superior to Chittakasha is Chidakasha - the operator.
Chittakasha is simply a store house; like you type a text message here and press the send button and electronically it goes and delivers to the number you sent it to. Similarly, when you send and receive emails, they all remain in the space, and you are able to download it. That uploading and downloading that happens is in Chittakasha - the space of Chitta. But one step higher than that is Chidakasha.
Chidakasha is the field of intelligence.
Chidakasha is the designer and Chittakasha is the design. And when you do yoga and meditation and go deep into it, then you go into these three spaces. Bhutakasha, where first you find nothingness, and you think that this ‘nothingness’ is everything, no! You go beyond that, it is Chittakasha, and then beyond that you see Chid-atma - The Self; theChidakasha, and that is Shiva Tattva - Chidakasha.

See, when you sit for meditation, the first thing you experience is thoughts, and from thoughts you experience emptiness. And then from emptiness you further experience the energy – tremendous energy, isn’t it?! How many of you experience energy in deep meditation? (Many raise their hands)
Yes, that is Chidakasha.

So someone asked, ‘How is The Self?’
It is empty like the sky and full like the ocean.

 

 

Subtler than space is mind,
subtler than that is intellect
and knowledge is present
there. And subtler than that
is ego. Ego itself is an atom,
but finer than the ego is a
field called Mahat Tattva,
and finer than that is Moola
Prakurti – the primordial
energy. And beyond that is
Brahman, which is the sub-
stance of the whole creation.

 

 

Q: What karma determines what bodily elements one gets? Example if someone has eye ailments does it mean it is because they gave eye troubles to others in their previous lifetimes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No!
Gahana Karmano Gatih – it is very difficult to fathom the laws of karma. Don’t go into it, just don’t worry. What types of karma brings what problem with it is a huge thing. Its better you don’t go into it. It will only create more paranoia.
Whatever karma is there, knowledge can burn them all, you just drop them all and move on. Otherwise it will be like picking on the garbage can, which garbage is from the morning and which is from yesterday or three days ago. How does it matter? Drop all the karmas and just move on.

Q: Guruji, why did God give us the five sense objects when all the wise people ask us to control them?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: So that you can express something even better than that.
You know, cotton candies are given to babies, but when they grow a little older, nobody goes for those toffees or candies. They go in for some higher joy, some higher experiences.
See, our ability to enjoy sense objects is limited; but when the desire is unlimited there is an imbalance. That is when you have to watch out!
For example, take Bulimia, how much food can you eat? This much (cupping his hands together), bulimia is when you eat but then also you are not satisfied. Then you say, ‘Come on, have control over your senses’, because if not it is going to harm your own body.

It is similar with all sense objects because experiencing them is draining. If you eat little food it gives you energy, but if you eat a little more then it tires you. How many of you have had this experience? Instead of giving you energy it has made you so tired.
So they say ‘Tena Tyaktena Bhunjitha’ – which means, experience it but go beyond it as well; let go. You can breathe in, but you cannot only breathe in, you have to breathe out as well, otherwise you will die, isn’t it?
So when you turn inward, when you go to yoga then you are able to experience greater joy. Yoga is energy conservation, otherwise it is energy spending.

If kids spend then nobody bothers, the parents say, ‘Okay, you spend.’
But if a teenager spends, or one who has grown beyond teenage, then parents say, ‘Be careful in spending. Earn as well, you can’t only spend.’
If you have become an adult they will tell you that you should earn too. But babies don’t earn, even then parents say, ‘You go and spend.’
In the same way, with sense objects, you enjoy good taste, good sight, good sound, everything, but then come and conserve your energy, go deep in meditation and realize that there is a bigger joy and greater happiness there and look at that also.

Q: Guruji, please speak about being a vegetarian. 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, if you go to Google and search, there are number of reasons.
‘Why should I be vegetarian?’, or just type, ‘Vegetarian’, or type, ‘Benefits of Vegetarianism’.
It should run into pages and pages. You will also have many videos by doctors, scientists, nutritionists, and all that.

Q: Guruji, could you talk about Tantra and Khajuraho temples? I have been visiting these temples with different groups and each guide says different things, and I do not find truth in it.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Tantra means technique. Yantra, Mantra and Tantra - these are three things.
Mantra is the sound. Yantra is the diagram. Like the Star of David, it is one such Yantra which Judaisim uses as its main symbol. And Tantra is the technique to combine a physical diagram, or a posture with the sound; this is Tantra – the skill to do it.
Now, Tantra as I said is a technique. The ancient Rishis wrote on sex as well – Kama Sutra was written, different postures, and different theories and principles about Tantra. It is used to get rid of obsession. 

Why it is on the outer walls of the temple, for that there is a reason. Pilgrims are first asked to go around the temple and look at all the statues, and if any statue, in any way pulls you to excitement you sit there and keep watching. The moment you keep watching, the excitement comes down. So when the mind loses excitement for all these different postures then you go inside. Then your mind is hollow and empty. The mind is blank and then you are able to see the inner sun. That (Khajuraho) is a Sun temple.

 

 

Certain rough times come
in life, just have patience.
Don’t be in a hurry to take
any decision. At times of
dire confusion and conflict
you should have some
patience.

 

 

You may ask, ‘But the Sun is outside, why should we go inside the temple to see the Sun.’ Now the ancient people said that is an outer sun, there is an inner Sun - The Self.
To see The Self what is an obstruction? Excitement about the sense organs. The flow of the sense organs towards sense objects keeps your mind outward which needs to move inward.
So in the temple you go around several times and sit in front of those statues. It is like a pornography movie, but there is sense in it. Pornography movies are used to excite people, but this is used to calm people down. And so this is used as a therapy for obsession to sex.
Obsession to sex is not a new thing, it is an old disease. You can’t even call it a disease; it is an old inheritance in people. And you need to skillfully go past that to see the light of the being, and so they use these things. They sit with anything that might trigger, obsess you or excite you, and the more you watch it the excitement is gone. Mind calms down.
But Tantras have to be practiced under very strict guidance otherwise it is like walking on a sword. People who fall from there they fall completely down, and it is dangerous. Usually people say it is a dangerous thing to do.

In Tantra also, there is White Tantra, Black Tantra, and all sorts of things. Yoga is the best, a safe and secure way to move forward. Mantra, Yantra and Yoga, this Tantra in Yoga is the technique of how to settle the mind down.

Q: Guruji, my family is falling apart and I am worried about my two children. The relationship with my spouse is becoming bitter with mistrust and misunderstanding. I need your advice.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Certain rough times come in life, just have patience. Don’t be in a hurry to take any decision. At times of dire confusion and conflict you should have some patience.

Corruption begins where a sense of belongingness ends

June 15, 2012

Breukelen, Netherlands

(At an impressive ceremony at the prestigious Nyenrode University, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was conferred with an honorary doctorate today.

Addressing the gathering , the Rector of Nyenrode, Dr. Maurits van Rooijen FRSA, said that it was a great privilege for the university that Sri Sri has accepted this doctorate. In its 65 years since inception, the university has conferred this doctorate on very few individuals, some of whom include Mr Nelson Mandela, Mr A P J Abdul Kalam and Mr Bill Gates.

He added that the work and life of Sri Sri is a true representation of Leadership, Entreprenuership and Stewardship, the three core values of the University.

Sri Sri then address the gathering with the following words)

Honorable Rector, Honorable Dean, Honorable Board of Trustees, and all the dignitaries present here. I am so honored to receive this doctorate degree from Nyenrode University. I really appreciate and feel grateful to you for choosing me to be part of this university. Even without studying in this university I have become an Alumnus of the University today.

I feel there are three important aspects to education;

first is information,

second is observation and

third is intuition.

I am so happy to hear that this university has all these aspects.

Often when we think of education, we think it is only gathering of information; that is not sufficient. You need keenness of mind, a mind which is alert and sharp enough to absorb what is happening around, and what is happening within. Ethics is listening to the consciousness that is deep within, and acting according to it when it comes to social interactions.

We need to take responsibility for the atmosphere that we are in. That attitude of taking responsibility for our own environment makes all the difference. It can make you very happy, and motivate you to take up more work.

Observation is a very important aspect of education, which has not been given much attention by many of the educational institutions.

The third thing is the intuitive ability. If you turn back and look at the past, there have been great scientists who have not gone to college and obtained a degree. They had developed an intuitive ability, whether it is Thomas Alva Edison or even Albert Einstein. They all had that intuitive ability, which they nurtured within themselves. To me, spirituality begins here. Spirituality is that which enables you to get in touch with your observation, your perceptual ability, and enhance your intuitive faculty. When the mind is calm it is able to perceive things better. When the mind is disturbed, our perception is also totally disturbed. So the mind needs to be calm then perception becomes better, observation becomes much clearer, and expression becomes more understandable.

So perception, observation and expression are three ways to communicate with the world around us.

Business depends a lot on communication. When communication breaks down, business breaks down. Communication can be better only when there is an element of spiritual awakening, or spiritual power, or force within each one of us.

Again, when we say spirituality, we simply think it is someone sitting and doing something out there - no, that is not the case. We are all made up of matter and spirit. Our bodies are made up of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids. Our spirit, our mind is made up of truth, integrity, honesty, beauty, compassion, love, cooperation and creativity. All these qualities are considered as spirituality, they are part of our spirit.

Today in the world this huge menace of depression is arising - mental depression, lack of trust or trust being broken down. Fear and insecurity about financial aspects and relationship aspects of life is also increasing. So, it is all the more vital that we place more emphasis on spirituality, i.e., building inner strength, bringing back confidence in the humanness of our society, turning our mind back to compassion and love which is the very breath of our existence. From being a mechanically driven life, we need to turn into a life full of enthusiasm, cooperation and humanness.

I am glad that Nyenrode University has already taken this step and is working towards this.

I was so happy to hear that there is a whole Department on Business and Ethics; this would give hope to our society. If there is Narayana there should be Lakshmi; means when there is spirituality, there should be wealth as well.

Today the mess that we are facing in Europe and in other parts of the world also, is because of the greed of a few. Isn't it so? We hear about scam after scam after scam because corruption has in some way been accepted, socially and politically. Though there are some voices that come up, but again they subside, and things continue the way they were. That is where a big wave of awakening has to happen against corruption.

According to me, corruption begins where a sense of belongingness ends. When you have a sense of belongingness, you will never be corrupt with those people. You will never take or give bribe from those who you feel belong to you. When that sense of belongingness ends, that is exactly when corruption begins.

In today’s world, technology has shrunk the world into a global village; we cannot afford to have a sectarian mindset where you think, ‘This belongs to me and this does not.’

We need to have a broad vision that the whole world is one human family. The lack of this has created so much strife. Otherwise we will go back to the Middle-Ages when we used to fight in the name of race, religion, language, with war after war. significantly destroying ourselves.

As I was saying, India was at the peak of its economic growth when the spiritual awakening was very high. It contributed to 33% of the world's GDP. When Lord Macaulay traveled the length and breadth of the country, he did not find one poor or sick person. That was the state of affairs when there was so much of heart, so much of service, and so much of a sense of belongingness. When this started declining, greed, anger, jealousy and hatred overtook the society, and economic downturn came very fast.

This is the lesson we need to learn from history. We need to connect people from that inner core of our existence. To say it simply, we have to become like children again.

From acting as grown-up-robots, we need to come back to a position where we maintain our innocence and still be very intelligent. In short, a violence-free society, a stress-free mind, a disease-free body, an inhibition-free intellect, a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul is the birthright of every human being. We should dream of this big dream, and make it possible.

Q: You once said the body is in the mind, not the other way around. Please explain what you mean by this.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I give a very simple example to a layman. When you light a candle and keep it inside a glass, the flame remains only as long as there is oxygen inside the glass. In the same way, if you put a man or a woman in a room and lock them up, they will be alive only as long as there is oxygen in that room. So we are akin to the flame, we live on oxygen. Our consciousness, our life, our mind lives on oxygen, just like a flame. The body is like the wick of a flame, the mind is like the glow all around; though we don't see the mind.

When we take a picture through Kirlian photography, the aura of a person can be measured; the energy field around a man or woman can be measured. This is what I would say is mind. Mind is nothing but a mass of energy and intelligence. It is the wave function, the wave of vibrations around you.

When the body is relaxed, the mind expands. This is our feeling generally. When you are happy, what is the feeling you get? You feel that something in you is expanding, isn’t it? And when you are upset, you find that something in you is shrinking; the energy in you shrinks and that is when you feel uncomfortable. When the energy expands, you feel happy, elevated and comfortable. And this particular phenomenon indicates that our body is inside the mind, and not the other way around.

Again through medical science, there is other evidence. Have you heard about Phantom Limbs? When somebody's arm has been amputated, still they feel itching and pain in that area where there is no arm, and they find it even bigger than the arm. This also indicates that our body is inside the glow called the mind.

You know spirituality is so abstract, and business is such a concrete thing, isn't it? They are very contrasting, yet very complimentary.

Everyone has the right to be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is not the property of a few people. Everyone can be enthusiastic, unique and creative in their own way. And spirituality is that which supports this - the growth of every human being.

Q: You have mentioned that the ABC of life is awareness, belongingness and commitment. What is the ABC for our management students? As a graduate of Vedic Literature and Science, you may be aware of the holistic approach to education. Please tell us something about it.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: ABC, i.e., Awareness, Belongingness and Commitment are universal. I think you can apply this in any field, not just spirituality, business or politics; it cuts across different fields of human relevance. These three aspects can be applied anywhere.

Without commitment nothing works in the world. If it works, then it is just God’s grace. It is just God who is working through you.

Once somebody said, ‘God is in control but He should make it more obvious to us.’ It is not very obvious when we think we are in control. A sense of belongingness makes a big difference in the way we function, and in the way we perceive our atmosphere. We need to take responsibility for the atmosphere that we are in. So, that empowerment, that attitude of taking responsibility for our own environment makes all the difference. It can make you very happy, and motivate you to take up more work. But if you lack the attitude, then you simply slip into a corner and get more depressed.

We have started Sri Sri University in Orrisa with the idea of bringing the East and the West together. The best of the East and the best of the West will be married there. The idea is to give the best form of education in all the different fields - in the traditional field of Ayurveda (herbal medicines) and in the field of business.

We have already started one business school in Goa, and it is running for the last five years. The objective is to give an idea of how the ancient and the modern can be married and brought together, and the best of each world can be provided to our new generation.

Along with this, I have this dream of creating a stress-free and violence free society; a just society where everyone smiles more. Today, you must have already heard about the focus moving away from GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness); it is very important. About 30% of the European population is in depression. There is no point in having a higher GDP and having no smiles on the faces of people. We need to have people appreciate GDH, i.e., become happier.

Happiness has nothing to do with the prosperity of the country, and this is another theory that we have seen in the recent years. Countries like Bhutan and Bangladesh are much happier than countries like India or China, or the USA. What is in these countries that we are missing? We need to explore that now, and bring this wave of happiness in society, to see not just a prosperous but a happier society.

Q: Intuition is important for entrepreneurs as it creates unique resources for gaining competitive advantages. From a management context, we are saying that companies that are investing in resources with unique capabilities are at an advantage. If we spread spirituality everywhere, what will be the uniqueness then, and how will we still gain the competitive advantage?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We all sleep; we all have a good meal and a good nap. If everyone takes very good and deep sleep, will they all become the same? No! If everyone has a good meal, will they all express themselves in the same way? No! But everyone is entitled to have a good sleep, and everyone is entitled to listen to good music, be relaxed and be happy.

Being happy does not bar you from being unique. It is not that if the sun comes through one window, it comes in any way less from another window. Spirituality is like that - everyone is entitled to enjoy the full sunshine without having to worry that if someone else is enjoying the sunshine as well then they will get less of it. Nature is abundant, and spirituality is something basic to our life.

So everyone can learn how to manage their anger. Everyone can learn how to feel uplifted and elevated. Everyone has the right to be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is not the property of just a few people, and others should be unenthusiastic about things, no! Everyone can be enthusiastic, unique and creative in their own way. And spirituality is that which supports this - the growth of every human being.

Meditation maintains what you have

What we need to understand is that we should know that we already have what we want in life. You start with this intention, ‘I already have what I want’, then what you want will fructify easily. Thinking, ‘I have it’, is like sowing a seed. Once you sow a seed, then you put water and manure and it will sprout and grow. So you know mentally that the seed is there. Same way, whatever you want to achieve in life, know that you are that and you have it. If you think, you don’t have it then only lack grows.


That is the reason why people who have money keep getting more money and those who do not have; they don’t get because they keep saying. ‘I don’t have, I don’t have’. So the mind goes in the direction of lack.

Do you know, whenever things were not there at home or when we would ask for chocolate, my grandmother used to always say, ‘It is in plenty, in abundance, we will go to the shop.’ For someone who listens to it, it appears completely absurd. We never heard her say that we don’t have.

So that ‘lack’ consciousness should go and you should feel the abundance. So whatever goal you want to achieve, first know that you have it, you have achieved it, and then put your effort to achieve it. Effort should be put, but only effort will not work. Before effort, there should be the seed of the goal as well. So, the goal is already present in the seeker. The goal is not somewhere out there and you have to try to reach it, no! Just relax; the goal is here and now. So, Enlightenment is present in you. If you think you lack it, you are never going to achieve it. You should know that it is present in you as a seed. You should know you are already a yogi and keep doing yoga, you will find perfection in it. If you think you are not a yogi and then try to achieve yoga perfection it is not going to work. So know that the seed is already there.

So, if you want to be a businessman, put the seed, ‘I am a businessman’, and then work towards being a businessman. It may appear very absurd. Usually people think, ‘I don’t have and so I have to achieve’, but seldom are they able to do it. The secret of success is in the understanding that goal is already present in the seeker.

So, today you got a very big secret knowledge. What is the significance of the crescent moon on Lord Shiva’s
head? Shiva tatva is where there is no mind, and the Moon signifies the mind.You need a little bit of mind to understand, experience and to express. So to express that inexpressible, you need a little bit of mind and that is why that little mind (crescent moon) is on the head.

Q: Dear Guruji, it is said that during the time of the Mahabharata, technology was much more advanced than it is now. What happened? Where did all the progress and advancement disappear? How do we move backward?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, this is a cycle in nature. Everything goes in cycles.

There were dinosaurs on this planet, and there were big birds which could be trained. On the back of these big birds they used to build mantaps (halls) and train the birds to go places and it would fly and go.

Huge birds used to be present during the dinosaur age, almost the size of our aero planes. Have you see the documentary on that? Some birds would weight around 3000 kilos and people would build rooms on top of them.

In Ramayana, it is written how Ravana was going with Sita, and Jatayu (a huge bird) came in the way and Ravana cut its wing.

So I don’t know how we lost and why we lost, but right now we are losing our freedom. With great difficulty our country gained freedom, but now the way we are seeing corruption growing in this country is pathetic. We need to set those things right.

Q: Dear Guruji, I am so successful in business but a disaster in personal life. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First of all, remove this label from you, ‘I am a disaster’. If you have realized that you have committed disaster in the past, then you are already moving in the right direction. The disaster is when you don’t realize that you are a disaster. When you have caused a disaster and known that it was a disaster then you are out of it. So walk freely now, don’t worry.

Q: Dear Guruji, please explain the significance of the Damru (the drum), the Trishul (the trident) and the crescent moon on Lord Shiva’s head.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Shiva tatva is where there is no mind, and the Moon signifies the mind. When there is no mind then how can this ‘no mindedness’ be expressed and how can anybody understand? You need a little bit of mind to understand, experience and to express.

So, it is not a full moon, but it is a little crescent moon on the head which means there is only a little bit of the mind needed to express the inexpressible.

Shiva tatva is inexpressible; no one can find its root.

There is a story relating to this where Brahma went to find the head and Vishnu went to find the feet but no one could find anything. So the Infinity cannot be comprehended unless there is a mind.

You sit in meditation and you experience the nothingness, but then the thought comes, ‘I am experiencing this beautiful meditation’. Who experienced that? That is the mind. The mind cognizes, ‘Oh, I had good sleep’, or, ‘I had good meditation’.

So to express that inexpressible, you need a little bit of mind and that is why that little mind (crescent moon) is on the head.

The head is all wisdom. Wisdom is beyond mind, but it needs to be expressed with a little tinge of mind and this is symbolized by the crescent moon.

Damru symbolizes the Universe which is always expanding and collapsing. From an expansion it collapses and then it re-expands, this is the process of creation.

If you see your heartbeat, it is not just one straight line but it is a rhythm that goes up and down.

The whole world is nothing but rhythms, energy rising and collapsing to rise again. So the Damru signifies that. Look at the shape of the Damru, from expansion it collapses and again expands.

The Darmru is also a symbol of sound. Sound is rhythm and sound is energy. The whole universe is nothing but a wave function, it is nothing but rhythms.

What does quantum physics say? It says the same thing – the whole universe is nothing but rhythms.

So there are no two things, there is only one thing. It is just one wave. This is what Adi Shankara said, there is only one thing.

If it appears to you as though this bulb is different, that bulb is different, the fan is different, then you are confused, you don’t know the reality. The reality is that there is only one electricity, only one main switch and if that is on, all the bulbs are on. If that is off, everything is off. So one thing runs everything and that is electricity. So this entire universe is consciousness or one energy.

Now is electricity good or bad? It is neither.

If you put your hand in the socket and you get a shock, is that good? But at the same time, if you get a shock, is electricity bad? No! It is stupid to say that electricity is bad because it gives so much comfort – light, sound, air, food – everything comes out of electricity. At the same time electricity is very harmful. If a high tension wire is passing from above your home, there is so much radiation which is very bad.

So electricity is neither good nor bad. This is what we must understand. That is why we say the Brahmatatvam or life is beyond good and bad. Good and bad is always relative, there is nothing evil or nothing good, it is all beyond that, it is all only one thing – this is called Tatva Gyan, the real knowledge.

Q: Dear Guruji, when you mentioned that rich people get richer and poor people become poorer when they think that they lack. Is there some way that nature compensates for these imbalances?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, through knowledge. That is why we need to encourage everyone to be self confident and come out of this ‘lack’ consciousness. Those who have should start serving. Those who don’t have, they should start knowing that they will get what they need and work hard.

Q: When was did you realized that you are meant to be Guruji?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a nice story in the Ramayana.

That was a stray dog that was walking on the street and someone threw a stone at the dog and chased it. So the dog went to court.

It is said that in Lord Rama’s court, everyone got justice, even animals. So, the dog went to court and said, ‘The road is for everybody. It doesn't say anywhere on the road that dogs are not permitted here. I was walking on the road and this man hurt me; you should punish him.’

So Lord Rama asked the person if it was true. The person could not lie, and agreed that he had hurt the dog.

In those days, they used to ask the victims on what punishment should be given to the culprit.

So when the dog was asked on what punishment should be given to the man who hurt him with the stone, the dog said, ‘Make him the head of a religious institution. Make him a Guru of some Ashram.’

The people said that this is a very strange punishment.

The dog said, ‘Why are you asking? Just make him that. I was also a Guru in my past life, see what has happened! Then before dying, I thought that I should have been a stray dog that would have been better than being a Guru. See, that is why I have become a dog now. I had so much trouble. He too should become the head of an Ashram, and then he will experience what is trouble in life, and what is pain, and what is suffering.’

It is a very funny story in the Ramayan.

See, one who goes around saying, ‘I am a Guru’, does not become a Guru. The Guru tatva manifests in one who does not proclaim to be a Guru. One who remains simple and natural is a Sadguru.

And a little bit of this Guru tatva is present in every one of you as well. You also now and then give some good advice to someone or the other, and you also spread love and joy to those around you, isn’t it?!

We must love and serve others without wanting anything in return. This is important.

Usually, we think, I gave so much love to that person, what he gave me in return. In this way, we try to make the other person feel that we have done them a great favor by loving them, this we must not do.

Love is your nature, love does not mean that you keep saying, ‘Oh I love you so much’, no! It is acting with dignity, naturalness, compassion and simplicity, and we are born with these qualities.

If sometimes you need be firm then be firm. You can get angry only when there is love.

Nevertheless, surrender all your qualities and become hollow and empty. To come closer to the Guru tatva, this is what you need to do – surrender all your positive and negative qualities and be happy.

Do you want to maintain good health, good relationships? Then you have to do meditation. Meditation helps you to be sane and helps you to maintain what you already have. That is why it is called Yogakshemam; Yoga is to attain what you don’t have, and kshemam is to protect what you already have.

Q: Guruji, in the old days, it is said that people used to be in Samadhi for years. But in today’s age, in twenty minutes the work gets done. Are those stories true?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, they wrote stories of how someone sat in Samadhi and over time an anthill grew over them. It is not like that. What it signifies is that when one sits in meditation certain sensations arise all over the body as if ants are crawling.

If there is a good teacher then one can attain Samadhi easily. Without a Guru, Samadhi cannot be experienced.

Q: Guruji, what is Kundalini and how to awaken the Kundalini?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Kunda means body, and Kundalini means the conscious energy in this body.

Whatever happens in meditations in the Advance Course is Kundalini itself. There is no other way to interpret Kundalini. If meditation happened, it would not be possible without the awakening of the Kundalini. If you went into meditation, it means the Kundalini has been awakened in you.

Q: Guruji, like you said what we want in life we should know that we already have it. Can I feel the same for a person in my life whom I want?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it may happen but there is no guarantee that it will happen in this lifetime. It may happen in the next lifetime or after ten lifetimes. That is why I said that an intention will fructify at its own time.

Q: Guruji, I am having a good family life, a good career, good interpersonal relationships, and I am very satisfied and know God is within me, do I still need to do meditation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, meditation is something that maintains what you have. You have everything going good for you; do you want to maintain it? Do you want to maintain good health, good relationships? Then you have to do meditation. Meditation reduces stress otherwise tension builds up and after five to ten years, you will burst out. Meditation helps you to be sane and helps you to maintain what you already have.

That is why it is called Yogakshemam; Yoga is to attain what you don’t have, and kshemam is to protect what you already have. If you already have and you want to maintain it, then also meditation is essential. If you don’t have something, to get it also you need to do meditation.

To become successful you need three things...

April 29, 2012
Norway

See one thing I want to tell you, don’t judge yourself too much.
We have this tendency, we judge our self too much, or we judge others.
Either you start blaming yourself, or you blame somebody else. Either you find you are not right, or you find someone else is not okay. You should wake up and stop judging.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. You are part of a phenomenon that is happening. Like there are trees, there are rivers, there are birds; like that you also are here.
So many birds are born, so many birds are dying. Isn’t it? So many trees are coming up and they all vanish. Like this, so many people, so many bodies have come and they will all vanish. And then new people will come and they will vanish.

This planet has been there for billions of years. See your life from a bigger context then you will stop blaming yourself. The first rule on the spiritual path is to stop blaming yourself, because whom so ever you blame, do you like to be with them? Do you like to be with someone you are unhappy with? No! So, if you blame yourself, you can’t be with yourself.

The first rule on the
spiritual path is to stop
blaming yourself. That does
not mean that you justify
all the mistakes you do.
It is not to justify
your mistake but recognize
your mistake and at the same
time, not blaming yourself.

Spirituality is an appointment with yourself.
If you keep blaming yourself, you can never keep an appointment with yourself. So the first law on the spiritual journey or path is to stop blaming yourself.
Now, don’t say, ’Oh! That means now I can blame others.’ No! Every time you have blamed somebody, when you see what you blamed them for, from a broader perspective, you will find that it was wrong and it was futile.
Now, when you found that your judgments were wrong, then very quickly you can start blaming yourself.
So, why I say don’t blame others is because if you blame others, it is going to re-bounce on you. You should not blame anybody.
I have not said one bad word to anybody all these 56 years. The worst that has come out of my mouth is ‘You stupid.’ Sometimes, when I was angry or upset, all that I said is, ’You stupid’, nothing more than this.
I have never blamed anyone or never said any bad words. It has not come out of me at all. I didn’t do anything to make it happen; it was naturally like that from the very beginning. I could never abuse anybody; verbal abuse or any other abuse.
When you pay attention to this, when you stop using bad words, your words gain the power to bless. And your blessings will work. Do you see what I am saying?

So, stop blaming yourself and stop blaming others. Things are the way they are, just move on and that is it. You know, sometimes people say, ’Oh! This person is a fraud. He is not genuine.’
But one should have some criteria to say, what is genuine and what is fraud. Many times, you don’t even have a criteria to judge somebody, you simply blame somebody, ’Oh! He is a fraud.’ And that’s it, finished.
This is an unconscious tendency that has developed in society to blame others, and to blame oneself and then feel guilty about it. And the spiritual journey is to remove this and reverse it.
It is such a delicate thing.
That does not mean that you justify all the mistakes you do. When you make some mistake, they you say, ‘Oh I am on the spiritual path, I cannot accept my mistake and I cannot blame myself. So whatever I did is right.’ No!
It is such a delicate balance. It is not to justify your mistake but recognize your mistake and at the same time, not blaming yourself.
If you don’t accept and recognize your mistakes you will never improve. That’s the end of the story. At the same time, if you recognize your mistake and you feel so guilty, and you keep blaming yourself, then also, it is a hopeless case. So, you need that very delicate balance. Walk on the razor’s edge, neither this side nor that side.

Q: If we are insignificant, then why are we using so much money, time, resources and energy on ourselves here at this course? Why should we become spiritual and all that if each one of us doesn’t even matter? Who are we helping by being good if they don’t matter either! 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you need the answer for this question? It doesn’t matter either! Why are you bothered about this question? It doesn’t matter!

Listen; there are many levels of existence, but two levels of knowledge.
One is the applied knowledge, and the other is the pure knowledge.
Pure Science and Applied Science.
Pure science is what? In this room, everything is made up of wood. The sofa is wood, the table is wood, and the door is wood. So this is all wood. Everything is atoms, to be even more precise!
What is it? Everything is atoms!
So, everything is made up of wood, or everything is atoms – This is pure science.
But you can’t use the sofa as the door or the door as the sofa, even though everything is made up of atoms. Do you understand?

See, diamond and charcoal, they are made up of the same material. It is virtually the same. But, you can’t hang charcoal on your ears, and you can’t put diamonds in the stove, correct?!
So, they are different at one level. It is like saying that ice and water is the same, it is only H2O. But you can make tea out of water. You can’t make tea out of ice. Ice has to become water, only then you can make tea out of it. Isn’t it? So that is applied knowledge.

So, in pure knowledge, it is said that you are insignificant. Why? It is because suddenly you see your life in context with the universe.
That doesn’t mean you should not eat. If you are insignificant, then why exist? Why eat? Why sleep? Why do anything? Right?! You need to do all that, and so you need to be in the course also. Got it?

Being here what happens? The mind gets energized, the body gets energized and the knowledge gets lodged in you. So many things happen.

Q: Is it okay to cry during meditation and while resting? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is okay to cry. Once or twice it is okay but don’t encourage that habit all the time. Especially, when everyone is meditating and when there is stillness, it is better to observe those sensations and let it pass.

Q: Is it ok to take a little nap during day-time?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you have crossed 45 then yes, but not before.

Q: What if I don’t feel anything at all?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You feel emptiness? That is something!
You know, sometimes you want to feel. You hear about others’ experiences and you sit and you want to feel it, and that is when it doesn’t happen. Just let go of wanting to feel something. Are you with me?

See, an expectation or too much alertness puts you in the frontal lobe of the brain, and you are too alert. At that time, you can’t sleep, you can’t relax, and you can’t even go deep and experience something. So, that is one possibility.

Second, many of you have asked, ’What do I do, all the time I fall asleep.’
We must have deprived our system of sleep that was needed and so the body takes it. You will fall asleep very often if your sugar level is low or high, this is number one.
Second, if there is not enough prana in the system, then also you will fall asleep. So some pranayama will help. Just before meditation, a few deep breaths will help. And definitely look into the minerals and sugar levels in the body. Sometimes when you lack them then also you feel that dullness and you fall asleep.
Then another possibility is the body is so tired. There are times when you are tired and you feel sleepy, and sometimes you are tired and you can’t sleep.
How many of you have this experience? You are tired but you can’t sleep.
So in meditation these things get reversed, and that is one reason why you may just fall asleep during meditation. But never mind.

Q: Why is my head always singing?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t say always. I don’t think it is always singing. You must have used that part of your brain more, i.e., the right side of your brain, and so music comes to you naturally.

Life is a combination of
a fixed destiny and an
amount of free will also.
It is a combination of both.

Another alternative is to spend some time solving puzzles. Like crosswords, then you use the other side of the brain. You can sit down and count numbers; do some mathematics, or count money. Do those activities that will the balance the other side of the brain. Or read something, or listen to knowledge. 
Now you are listening to knowledge and your mind is not singing. So, reading, listening, counting, all this will help you to activate the left brain as well.

Q: We are all born with the breath and with all the knowledge inside. So, why is everybody not a Guru like you? Using the knowledge why have you become a Guru? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know in the grand design we all have come here with some grand plan. It is like – you do this, you do this and you do that.
See, when this building was built, all the material was kept somewhere. But, then the architect said, ‘The window will be here, and that will be the door, and that will be the roof.’ The architect planned everything and put it all there, right?
Similarly, that is how all our lives are!
A grand plan has said, ‘You will be born there, and you will be born there, and you will be born here.’
So, we all take birth in different parts of the world and at some particular time, we all come together here.
I tell you, it is so fascinating peeping into the reality. It is much more than what we consider here in this world. What we see here is only the tip of the iceberg, and we think this is what the whole world is.
We are like a frog that sits in a well and thinks this is the whole ocean. We live life very similar to that. If we wake up and see that the world is beyond the well, then many things open up to you and many things make sense.
So, in the subtle world all the plans are already done. If someone has to be a doctor, it is already done.
Now, you may ask me, ‘Then there is no free-will at all?’
I say, yes, there is! Life is a combination of a fixed destiny and an amount of free will also. It is a combination of both.

Q: My sister is mentally ill. She is really good at pulling our energy down and making us upset. I stay away from her, as much as I can. But she is very lonely. How to find the balance between responsibility for others and for yourself? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you know someone is a patient, don’t listen to them. Be with them with ear-plugs.
You get upset because you take their words and behavior inside your head. You should make your head foolproof so that you don’t absorb things from others, and help them whenever possible.
There is an ancient saying that says, ‘There is no giver of pleasure or pain.’
If you are suffering pain, it is your own doing; it is not that somebody has given it to you. And if you are enjoying, if you are joyful, that is also your own merits that is bringing you joy.
When you know this, you don’t blame someone else for your happiness or unhappiness. Because you get happiness from somebody, you tend to blame them for not giving it as often as you want. Are you getting what I am saying?
Why love turns into hatred? It is because you love somebody and they gave you so much pleasure, and then you are angry at them because you have become sort of a slave to that sensation. So when they don’t give you that pleasure you blame them, you are angry at them, you hate them, and the whole relationship goes away. Isn’t it? So, know that your joy and your happiness come to you on your own merit. Others are there only as postmen to deliver it to you. Thank them! Then you will always have a good relation with everybody around.

Q: Please bless me to find my way in life.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are already on your path! You are in the right place. I tell you. Relax!
See you only need to make an effort till you catch a train or a plane. Once you are in the plane, there is no point in running up and down the aisle. The plane is not going to reach any faster.
Just imagine, someone got into the train and they are running with the luggage saying, ‘I want to reach before everybody else.’
Just relax! Put your luggage down. You are on the path, you are into meditation.
If you have not learnt Sahaj Samadhi Meditation then learn it. Listen to Ashtavakra Gita.
How many of you have heard Ashtavakra here? Has it made a difference in your life? The others, who have not heard it, listen to it. You must hear it, and discuss it and dwell on it. Spending a few minutes in knowledge everyday is very useful.
You have the books, Celebrating Silence and Intimate note to a Sincere Seeker, take these books in your hands and keep flipping them around. It just changes your way of thinking, and your way of dealing with problems. This will definitely help you.

Q: If I don’t wish to keep contact with a person, how do I cut contact or let them know that I don’t wish to have contact with them anymore, without hurting them, but still being clear, loving and caring? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

If you are suffering pain,
it is your own doing;
it is not that somebody
has given it to you.
And if you are enjoying, if
you are joyful, that is
also your own merits that
is bringing you joy.

You can always do that when you want to. It is not a big issue. 
You can very gently say this. 
You don’t have to say everything verbally. Life moves so fast, why do you have to yap, yap, yap? 
I feel like this today; I felt like that yesterday. Who cares about your feelings? Who cares about your joy? Life is moving at such a fast pace. The Earth is revolving so fast, it is going around the sun so fast. 
Everything is changing, leaves are falling and new leaves are coming. Who is counting how many leaves have fallen from a tree? So, why do you worry about how you feel or how you don’t feel? 
You should bundle all your feelings and throw them in the ocean, and relax. Who cares?! Your feelings change all the time. Isn’t that so? How many times have your feelings changed? How often have they changed? So what is the big deal about it? We make such a big issue of our feelings. 
I feel this, I feel that. Who cares? Just stand up! What you want to do in this world, just do it and just finish it. That’s it. Time runs like that. 
30 years of the Art of Living is done. We started Art of Living in 1982, but we started our organization a few months earlier. We registered our Ved Vigyan Maha Vidhya Peeth, Bangalore Ashram on 13 November 1981. 
What has happened? Already 30 years are over. In March 1982 we started the first basic course. We have already stepped into the 30th year. Time has gone! 
I think this is my 14th stop in this month. I have visited 14 cities around the globe, from 1st April to now. I see everywhere there is so much joy and enthusiasm.

There is no time to express our love or to express life, where is the time to sit and think how we feel, how we don’t feel. There is so much to do in the world and yet nothing to do. They go together. There is so much to do, and yet there is nothing you need to do. It’s all done; total fulfillment.

Q: Can the self exist without the other six layers of existence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. Definitely! All other six layers are its own projection. Like the spider, it weaves the whole web from its own saliva. But, the spider can also exist without its web.
A consciousness has created all the layers, yet it can exist without any of those layers.

Q: I know the silence is about filling my batteries, but why do I get this lonely feeling? There is so much to share with so many people! 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This lonely feeling is only a temporary in-between phase.
You never felt lonely when you came to this world. You came alone. Even if you had come as twins, even then, it is as good as coming to this world alone. And when we go, we go alone from here.
If you sit and say, ‘I feel lonely, I feel lonely’, no! Drop that. Go deep into the feeling that there is no other.

Q: Guruji, how can I become successful and happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To become successful you need three things.
1. Skill
2. Energy, and
3. Dynamism
If you have skill, you have energy and you don’t do anything, then you can’t be successful. And you simply doing things without having skill, then also it doesn’t work.
Also, if you have skill and dynamism, but don’t have the energy then also success will not come.
For success to come what is needed are skill, energy, and then dynamism. You have to be dynamic. You have to work hard. All three things are needed!
There are people who sit and plan and plan and plan. They spend all their life planning but don’t do anything.
Around 15 to 20 years ago, a youth used to come to our satsangs in Bangalore. And he would buy every month about 25 magazines on How to be successful and How to make money. And he would go on reading them, and go on planning, and every time he would come and say, ‘I have this great magazine, I got this great idea, please bless me.’ I said, ‘Okay! Go do it.’
The next week he would come with another magazine and ask the same type of blessing. One year passed by; I also had patience and thought one day he would start something. But he never started anything. He would only keep buying magazines, keep asking me for advice, and keep making big plans, typing it all on the computer and that is it. 

You should bundle all your
feelings and throw them in
the ocean, and relax! Who
cares?! Your feelings change
all the time. Isn’t that so?

We have 100 acres of land for agriculture at the Bangalore Ashram, and this other gentleman, he would sit on the computer and make all these plans of where he will sow which seed, and how he will cultivate. He was the Head of Department for Agriculture.
All other people at the Ashram would say, ‘He does agriculture only on the computer.’ 
He would sit in the room and plan. Never went to the field to sow the seeds. 

Similarly, this man was buying all these magazines and reading. One day, I called him and said, ‘Look, no more blessings. I do not want my blessings to go waste. Blessings will work only when you make an effort. So, you keep all these magazines aside. Don’t read or buy anymore magazines. Take up one thing and work on it, and you will be successful.’
Why I said this is because sometimes people with great idea don’t bring it into the practical field. And there are others who do a lot of hard work without thinking and without planning. They also can’t be successful. So you have to do both. 
Without blessings things don’t move, I know. Blessings are essential, but blessings alone will not work, because somebody has to do work as well. Yes! 
Work along with blessings, will make you successful. 
I would say, even after you do your hard work and you find success, the real success is in your confidence. The real success is how confident you are, how much you keep smiling, and how boldly you can walk. That indicates your success.

Q: I have done the Part 1 Course and the Art of Silence Program two times. I am doing seva from the last one year in my area. My area has no teacher, so can I become one? 
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Definitely! I want more and more teachers now. As many teachers as is possible because we need to cover a large population. How many of you here want to become teachers? Yes, you should all become teachers. You can do so much for people around. Very Good!