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Q:  Gurudev, our true good actions might cause troubles to someone else. How do we handle the affected person?

 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

If your intentions are correct, then that is all that matters.

See, a doctor also cuts open the stomach of a patient and a thief also puts a knife into someone. They both are using the knife on someone, but for very different causes. One is to keep someone alive and the other is to kill someone. And there are chances in both cases that people may die, and in both cases people may survive. So what matters here? It is the intention.

JAI GURUDEV

JAI GURUDEV

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Q:  How does one know if something is coming from one’s head or heart?

 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

The heart is stronger than the head. Anything that comes from the heart comes with passion; anything that comes from the head comes with ambition. Sometimes, both together, can bring up your feelings, emotions and thoughts.

Do business with your head, and live life with your heart, both are needed. Don’t relate with your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend or friends only with the head. At the same time, there is no point in being too emotional, too wiggly-wiggly.

Don’t keep on questioning the past, asking people, ‘Why did you do this in the past?’ When you love somebody, never question their love for you! ‘Do you really love me?’ Never ask this! Just imagine, if someone is asking you every day, ‘Do you really love me?’ You will say, ‘My God! How am I going to prove to this lady or this boy that I really love them?’
Don’t put the burden of proof of love on anybody’s head. This is the way you destroy love. When you demand love, you destroy love. Instead, you should be more grateful. If you find someone loves you less, you should ask him, ‘Why do you love me so much?’

You should always feel that you are not worthy of the love that you receive; think that the love you receive is much more than what you deserve. If you come from this space of humility, then you will behave with magnanimity and dignity in all your dealings. You won’t chew on the past, you will live in the present moment, you will honor other people’s opinions, you will understand other’s predicaments; that magnanimity will come from within. If you keep this in mind (that I don’t deserve this love), you will not demand love. And when you don’t demand love in your life, it keeps on increasing.

When you demand love, you destroy love. Even if someone has a lot of love for you, they feel fed up. Just imagine if someone is complaining to you every day, questioning you, policing you all the time, doubting your intention; how many of you will feel suffocated? (Many in the audience raise their hands).
It is totally suffocating. The suffocation will show up in your behavior, and your relationships will get strained and suffer.

In all relationships, whether it is your parents, children, siblings, spouse, friends, families, neighbors; what is most important is your understanding of your emotions, your mind, your ability to be stable, and your own ability to see things from a broader perspective. And that is spirituality. 

Spirituality is that which gives you a broader perspective in life; it gives you strength and stability; it gives you a vision and a mission in life.

If you don’t have a vision or a mission in your life, then you feel like a person roaming around without a goal, you have nowhere to go; you simply keep on going around in circles, and then you feel depressed. This is what is happening in today’s society.

Any achievement does not bring about happiness in people’s lives. Even though you have achieved material comforts, family, friends, in spite of all that, there is an emptiness that haunts you. And this haunting emptiness is so painful. To fill that emptiness, people take all sorts of addiction. Okay, you intoxicate yourself, you forget about this world for a few moments, but when you wake up, you are back to square one, the same place or even worse. This is because the intoxication drains you of your energy, and you then have low prana. And with low prana, what comes to mind is the feeling of life being meaningless, you feel, ‘Let me end it here’.

We need to reverse this feeling by being in knowledge. Listen to Ashtavakra Gita, do some Pranayama, Shakti Kriya, Sudarshan Kriya. Millions around the world have found solace, how come you will not find it? You will definitely find it!

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Q:  How to pray and what should I ask for in my prayers?

 

Prayer is something that no one needs to explain to you. Real fulfillment of prayer happens in two conditions:
1. When you are desperate and totally helpless. When all doors are shut, and when all your efforts seem to be leading you nowhere, then you pray. Whatever you pray for, the prayer is sincere and it would be heard. So when you feel like this, pray and have patience.

2 Prayer also happens when you get what you wanted. You feel so grateful and so you thank God. You say, “Dear God, you have given me everything”. When you remember all the good things you have gotten in your life, prayer happens. You thank God, and you thank the divinity.

When you pray, you should say, "I want this or anything better than this". But you need to ask. You need to say what is your wish, and then acknowledge that the Divine is much more intelligent, and that it will give you what is best for you. The space around us is much more intelligent than us.

In prayer language does not matter, you can pray in any language because prayer is not through language, it is beyond language. It is through feeling. Feeling is more important. If you are used to praying in Sanskrit, that is fine. It is the most ancient language of mankind and it has a connection to almost all languages in the world.
Language is secondary. Today we are divided in religion because of language. The content is what we need to worry about, not the language. We think that if we pray in that language then only God will hear us but the Divinity is beyond language.

SRI SRI MESSAGE ON DIWALI

Our life is like a lamp. Just like a lamp needs oxygen to keep burning, the same is with our life. If you were to be locked up in a glass cage, then you would be able to survive only as long as there is oxygen in the cage. In the same way, if you cover a lamp with a glass, then the lamp will burn only as long as there is oxygen. So there is definitely some similarity between a lamp and our life. That similarity is fundamental to the celebration of Diwali. It is to remind you that you too are a lamp.

Diwali celebration has been celebrated in our country since time immemorial. Life is like a light, it has always been associated with light. Our soul is also a light, it has always been associated with light. That is why whenever someone dies, it is a custom to light a lamp near the head of the dead body. Whenever a child is born in a house, the first thing people do is light a lamp in the house. So the lamp has a very unique relationship with our life.

It is not sufficient to light just one lamp to bring light. All the lamps in our society need to be lit (here meaning people need to shine with joy and wisdom). Only then can our society make progress. That is why in Sanskrit we chant, “Sangachhatwam”, which means let us all walk together, and may there be light and happiness in everyone’s lives. This is the unique message of Diwali. That is why on the festival of Diwali, we light not one but a 1000 lamps. Lighting one lamp alone does not suffice to dispel the darkness (here meaning the darkness of ignorance and negativity). Many thousands of lamps need to be lit to dispel the darkness. That is why in Diwali we light so many lamps during the night and come together to celebrate. That is why it is called as Deepawali.

There is a strong relationship of the festival of Diwali with our ancient epics and scriptures such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Many events in the Mahabharata and the Puranas are related to the festival of Diwali. For example, when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after completing 14 years of exile, everyone in the city celebrated His return by lighting lamps everywhere. There is a deeper meaning to this as well. It means that once the light of knowledge dawns from within, then there is light everywhere in the world around us. The whole world starts scintillating with the light of knowledge. To convey the unique importance of spiritual knowledge in our life, we celebrate Diwali.

Lord Buddha said, “Aappah Dipo Bhavah”. Lord Buddha says that one should not think that one has really celebrated Diwali simply by lighting oil lamps in the house. The real essence is that you too should shine with the radiance of knowledge, so that you can illumine the path of many others in life. This is what Lord Buddha has said. So everyone should meditate regularly.

In the Yoga Sutras, Rishi Patanjali has said, “Murdha jyotishi siddha darshanam”(Vibhuti Pada, #32). It means that once you recognize the (Divine) light within you, you will attain perfection, and many Siddhis (extraordinary abilities) will be awakened. Your intellect will be refined and illumined. This is what is said here.
So this Diwali, light the lamp of knowledge within you, be happy, content and spread this happiness to many others around you. Drop all the problems and negativity of the past and put it aside. Be in harmony with everyone else, let there be sweetness and gentility in your behaviour towards everyone.

During Diwali we burn firecrackers to bring our mind to the present. Have you noticed, when your mind is disturbed with too many cravings and aversions, you feel as if your head will burst, isn't it? That is why when you burst crackers, the burst on the outside settles something inside, and you feel light and more alive. Also, in the earlier days, there was no electricity, and so children used to burn fireworks to have fun and feel happy. Today we are living in the age of electricity, so you all do not need to burn fireworks. You can light up so many places using electric lights instead of using firecrackers. This will also prevent air pollution.
It is alright to burn a few crackers, but again you should not burn crackers that are very loud and create too much smoke. So many birds and animals get very disturbed because of the noise. They experience a sense of shock because of these fireworks. You know, birds experience trauma because of loud crackers. So, I would suggest you all to refrain from fireworks this Diwali. If at all you cannot keep yourself from bursting firecrackers, then you can light a few sparklers and celebrate. There is no need to burn loud crackers which create so much sound and disturb everyone. Even the birds and animals in the environment get so scared because of these disturbing fireworks.
Also, it is not necessary to eat a lot of fried foods to celebrate Diwali. Have food that is healthy and nutritious and serve the same to others as well.

Remember the vastness and eternal nature of your life and feel a deep sense of gratitude for all that you have received in life. Light lamps to spread light everywhere and also remind yourself that you too are a beautiful lamp and are here to spread the light of joy and knowledge. Everyone who comes to you should experience the light of joy, no one should feel sad. This is what you should pray for.

Jai Gurudev

WHAT SRI SRI SAID

WHAT SRI SRI SAID

Happy Diwali to everyone! So today is Dhanteras, Diwali starts today. Dhanteras is where you feel abundance, you feel everything is there. From abundance, abundance grows. So everyone feel content and abundant. Walk with the feeling that whatever we need is already with us. This is the message of Dhanteras. Whatever we want will keeping happening, will keep coming to us. Abundance."

"Whenever there is victory, it is due to some grace. Whether it is victory in sports, in lottery, in studies, you win a competition or in politics, that happens through grace alone. If a person forgets that and gets into ego then their downfall takes place. So always remember that whenever, wherever there is victory, it is through grace."

KARMA

Astonishing and Mysterious Karma

What do we get upset with? We don’t get upset with the birds, or the clouds, or with Nature. We don’t get upset with the environment. So, what do we get upset with?
We get upset with the people around us. Our enemies upset us and our friends upset us as well. Our mind gets stuck either in our friends or in our enemies. We either think about our friends or we think about our enemies the entire day.

People become our enemies even when we have not done any wrong to them. Many people have had this experience. We didn’t do any wrong to them; neither did we misbehave and still they became our enemies. This is very surprising!
We think, ‘Oh! Why has he become my enemy? Until yesterday he was my friend.’ In the same way, we do not do any special favours for some people, yet they become our close friends.
That is why I tell you, this is some astonishing and mysterious Karma – how some people become our enemies and some our friends.

So what should we do?
We should place both our friends and enemies in one basket, and just become empty from within and be joyful.
All these happenings (people becoming friends and enemies) are run by some law and we don’t know how and where it comes from. We just can’t say when someone’s feelings towards us will change and whether it will be in our favour or not in our favour. We just can’t say. That is why we should place absolute faith on our Self, on God, and not on friendship and enmity.
We should not waste our time thinking about friends and enemies.
What do you all think?

This does not mean you distance yourself from your friends, or that you stop making new friends. That is not what I am saying. Friendliness should be in our nature; love should be in our very nature. We are love after all!
When someone comes and sits beside us, we do smile at them and exchange a few words. This does not mean you think, ‘Anyways, who is a friend or who is an enemy, there is nothing to share with anyone’, and you walk around with a gloomy face being angry with everyone – this is not a sign of wisdom. This is ignorance and foolishness.
We must interact with everyone around us but at the same time be centred from within. Do you understand?
When we are centred, then we will not feel sad, angry or possessive. Then we will not have disappointment of any kind. Otherwise many times what happens, we become sad – ‘Oh! Look, I made him such a good friend and today he does not even talk to me. I did so many favours for him and he has turned against me!’
By thinking all these thoughts we waste the time we have in the present. We should not do this, Okay!
It is futile to search for a true friend in the world. Befriend the Truth (Divine) and the World is yours.

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“Difficulties do come in life,

but to overcome difficulties,

one needs to be strong

& strength comes only through

spiritual knowledge.”

- Sri Sri

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Q:  We were studying about the Vaisheshika Darshana (one of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism from ancient India). Could you speak on how the ancient saints knew so much scientific knowledge without any instruments like a microscope?

 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

I think it is mind boggling.
This morning I was reading a book by a scientist who has written about the physics in the Vaisheshika Darshan. I just read a couple of sutras and thought, this is mind boggling.
The Rishis in the ancient days (which is some 10,000 years ago) have described the atom. They have described that how if one atom is destroyed, it destroys many other atoms. They have explained the connection and movement of atoms, and how the knowledge of one atom alone is so liberating.
This only indicates that there is another way to know things, which is not through the senses. There is what is called the sixth sense. Using the sixth sense, you can know many things about the past and the future.

In The Art of Living, we have developed a program for the kids to open up their sixth sense. Adults can also do this course, but for them it will take a longer time. For children, it only take a few hours or weeks to develop this. They will be able to read with their eyes closed. You know, some children even told me what I am going to say at satsang the following evening. So their ability to access the sixth sense is developing very fast. I’m sure this is what the ancient Rishi’s had; very strong intuitive abilities.

If you go to the Thanjavur temple which is in Tamil Nadu which was built 1000 years ago, you can see they have carved a picture of a British man with hat and a gun. A thousand years ago there were no British people in India, and there were no guns, but they had foreseen that the British would come and rule over this place. And so they made a carving of a British soldier with a hat and a gun. So, this is possible because of their intuitive ability or the sixth sense which all of us have used at some point of time. It has to be methodically accessed through Meditation.

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My daughter has married a boy from another religion. My wife holds me responsible for this, since it was my idea to send her for further studies. How is this my fault, what position do I take and how do I get out of all this?

 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

Everyone has to get out of here, some day. Until one leaves, keep smiling, keep good relations and give love to everyone. Make everyone happy.

Tell your daughter not to leave her religion. She should continue to have faith in her religion and also have respect for the other religion. Explain to her that she should sit with her mother and respect her too.

Pujas, especially Durga puja have a lot of significance for Bengalis. Tell her to come home especially for puja holidays. Lay that down as a condition for her. Many times, when people get married into other religions, they are told to drop their own religions and not celebrate their festivals or follow their rituals; then there is a breakdown in the relationship between both the families. Tell your daughter to celebrate their festival too, and come home for her own celebrations.

Daughters should be able to have their say. Daughters should not live like slaves. In love, there is co-partnering, not slavery or bondage.

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Q:  How does one know if something is coming from one’s head or heart

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

The heart is stronger than the head. Anything that comes from the heart comes with passion; anything that comes from the head comes with ambition. Sometimes, both together, can bring up your feelings, emotions and thoughts.

Do business with your head, and live life with your heart, both are needed. Don’t relate with your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend or friends only with the head. At the same time, there is no point in being too emotional, too wiggly-wiggly.

Don’t keep on questioning the past, asking people, ‘Why did you do this in the past?’ When you love somebody, never question their love for you! ‘Do you really love me?’ Never ask this! Just imagine, if someone is asking you every day, ‘Do you really love me?’ You will say, ‘My God! How am I going to prove to this lady or this boy that I really love them?’
Don’t put the burden of proof of love on anybody’s head. This is the way you destroy love. When you demand love, you destroy love. Instead, you should be more grateful. If you find someone loves you less, you should ask him, ‘Why do you love me so much?’

You should always feel that you are not worthy of the love that you receive; think that the love you receive is much more than what you deserve. If you come from this space of humility, then you will behave with magnanimity and dignity in all your dealings. You won’t chew on the past, you will live in the present moment, you will honor other people’s opinions, you will understand other’s predicaments; that magnanimity will come from within. If you keep this in mind (that I don’t deserve this love), you will not demand love. And when you don’t demand love in your life, it keeps on increasing.

When you demand love, you destroy love. Even if someone has a lot of love for you, they feel fed up. Just imagine if someone is complaining to you every day, questioning you, policing you all the time, doubting your intention; how many of you will feel suffocated? (Many in the audience raise their hands).
It is totally suffocating. The suffocation will show up in your behavior, and your relationships will get strained and suffer.

In all relationships, whether it is your parents, children, siblings, spouse, friends, families, neighbors; what is most important is your understanding of your emotions, your mind, your ability to be stable, and your own ability to see things from a broader perspective. And that is spirituality. 

Spirituality is that which gives you a broader perspective in life; it gives you strength and stability; it gives you a vision and a mission in life.

If you don’t have a vision or a mission in your life, then you feel like a person roaming around without a goal, you have nowhere to go; you simply keep on going around in circles, and then you feel depressed. This is what is happening in today’s society.

Any achievement does not bring about happiness in people’s lives. Even though you have achieved material comforts, family, friends, in spite of all that, there is an emptiness that haunts you. And this haunting emptiness is so painful. To fill that emptiness, people take all sorts of addiction. Okay, you intoxicate yourself, you forget about this world for a few moments, but when you wake up, you are back to square one, the same place or even worse. This is because the intoxication drains you of your energy, and you then have low prana. And with low prana, what comes to mind is the feeling of life being meaningless, you feel, ‘Let me end it here’.

We need to reverse this feeling by being in knowledge. Listen to Ashtavakra Gita, do some Pranayama, Shakti Kriya, Sudarshan Kriya. Millions around the world have found solace, how come you will not find it? You will definitely find it!