Q: Guruji I wish I were you. Is it possible or not?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Of course! You don’t have to wish, you are already! We are all one. I am you and you are me.
See, the mind is like the space. The self is like the space inside and
outside the body. The thoughts come and go, emotions come and go, but
when you go inside there is only empty space. And our true nature is
that. When we identify ourselves too much with thoughts, with feelings
and emotions, that is when we feel we are stuck, we are small. But, the
‘Real, Magnanimous You’ are that space inside where you feel totally at
peace. Those moments when you are totally in peace or fully in love, you
feel an expansion, right? You feel boundless, you feel limitless, and
that is our true nature. That is what the beauty is. We are all one in
that, there is no two!
I will give you an example. Suppose you keep here many different vessels
with different sizes. They have different capacities: one can have two
liters, one can have ten liters, and one can have five litres. But the
space is the same. The capacity of each vessel may be different. So
what! But it is the same space which is inside, outside and which is
everywhere. Our ability to do different things, our energy to do
different things is immaterial to what we are. And this ability, this
energy doesn’t stay the same throughout life. See, when you were a baby
your abilities were different, rather nothing. You could not help even
yourself. Somebody had to care for you. And what happens when you get
very old? Then also your abilities are different. So changing of our
abilities, our thought is immaterial to the real you, to who you are.
You are simply space, you are love, you are peace and this
identification removes all other complexes in life. Otherwise you will
always find somebody is more capable than you and somebody is less
capable than you. You are better somewhere and you are not in some
others. When you compare yourself with others in the world, either who
are living or dead or may be being born in the future, there will always
be a difference. This is part of the world, part of the Universe, okay?
Q: If joy and peace are truly our nature, why is it so difficult to be happy and satisfied in our daily life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Is it so difficult? You know you should have one
policy, ‘We will not do anything which is too difficult!’ Be easy going,
a happy go lucky person. Why do you have to struggle? If being unhappy
is easy, just go for it. If being miserable is the easiest thing and
being happy is so difficult, why do you have to struggle to be happy!
Got it? Go for the easiest, and the easiest is to be unhappy? NO! The
simplest, the easiest thing is to be relaxed and happy. If you say why
it is so difficult, we have to fix this a little bit. And that thing
which fixes this is knowledge. Got it? (After a break of a few breaths)
And I tell you, it’s easy!
Q: I feel sick, weak and tired. What’s happening?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What you said is exactly what is happening! You have said it! It will pass, it will pass definitely.
You know, if you are tired, either you have not taken enough water or
too little sugar. Either too little energy or too much energy, or your
system has some bugs or not any stress release. Any one of these can
cause that. When you go deep in meditation, what happens? The stresses
come out. When they come out, either you feel tired or feel like running
away. All this is possible. If you take a few breaths or walk in the
fresh snow, it will help. And take plenty of water, fluids, fruits,
vegetables. All this would help.
Q: I am very restless or I am very sleepy. How do I get a better balance for meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Again these experiences are so common for a
beginner. If you are just beginning to meditate, restlessness comes up
or you feel very sleepy. When stresses get released from your system,
such a passage may be common. Farry will tell you more on this. When it
comes from a scientist mouth, it has more flavors to it. He is doing a
lot of research in Oslo University on Kriya. They found how the
chromosomes of your body change! He just told me some very exciting
news. So when stress release happens, the chemical or structural form in
which stress was stored gets released, you get all these experiences.
Your endocrine system readjusts itself, because we have violated our
body in so many ways so many times. We have not kept the balance; we
have not honored our own body, so jerks may happen. How many of you have
found some jerks? Emotions may come up and you feel completely
confused. All this may happen. It’s not that it should happen. Sometimes
it doesn’t happen and you say am I not releasing any stress? That
person is getting stress released and I am so quiet. Don’t compare your
experience with anybody whatsoever. We all are so different. Everybody’s
nervous system is so different. And at different times, different
experiences come to different people. So at any time we should never
compare our experiences with others and feel sorry or happy about it.
Q: I like fresh air, pure air but sometimes people add to the air
artificial smell to make the air more pleasant and destroy the purity of
the air. In the same way, I like your voice in meditation, but when I
bought a CD for meditation I was surprised to find out that somebody had
added music to your voice. Please give us a chance to have your voice
in meditation without additional music.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Suggestion taken! We will request our Publications
department for some CDs without music, but your comparison was very
good!
Q: I didn’t feel anything after ‘Your throat is hollow and empty’ both
the times. In that meditation does Guruji say something after that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Wait for the next year.
Q: Guruji, it didn’t seem Sudarshan Kriya is indicated for a person with
psychotic problems like schizophrenia. What can be done to help them
reduce their suffering?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, people with schizophrenia, you think
they are suffering, they are enjoying themselves! Ask me how many people
I have encountered who have this problem. Sometimes they stop taking
their medication because they stop having fun with that. See, there is
no charm, no energy, no fun, so they stop medication. We have this
experience. Many times parents or spouse came and left them in the
Ashram. So we have dealt with them all. I tell you, they are really not
suffering! They are in their own world. They are here in the world for
you to serve them. And be patient, they increase your patience. They
make you well grounded to your own reality. It’s an experience to be
with them. Because their mind is between two worlds -this world and
another world, their realities fused and confused. They can invoke a lot
of compassion from within you. And that is what you can do about it.
Yes, they can do some physical yoga, dance, enjoy music and take a good
walk. These are things you can engage them in.
Q: What could help me prioritize one thing against another in my life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Your broader vision!
Q: Which is the way of being considerate in my society, neighborhood, my Art of Living group and my friends?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why are you asking this question? You think you
are not considerate of others? If you are very stressed then you don’t
care what other people think or what others are doing. You just do what
you want to do. But sensitivity comes with serenity, sensitivity comes
with calmness, sensitivity comes with culture. Your background, your
culture, how you grow up, and what were the situations around you. You
have that ability to be considerate. Do not doubt that. Compassion is in
our very nature. Only when you are extremely stressed, compassion
appears to have disappeared. It really doesn’t disappear, it stays
somewhere deep inside.
Q: I have been having so many different dreams. They are full of fear
and anger. I even say I hate you to a person and I say that to a person I
love. What is that? My heart is happy, then why is this so?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Past impressions! You know, there are five types
of dreams. Do you know about that? How many of you don’t know?
One is your past impressions in the mind come to you as dreams. Second
is your desires, ambitions, dreams come to you as dreams. Your
unfulfilled desires come to you as dream. Like you wanted to have hot
chocolate and you sleep, you have hot chocolate in your dream. Have you
had this type of dreams? Third type of dream is premonition. What is
going to happen in the future, you get it in your dream. Everyone gets
once in a while such dreams, premonitions. Fourth type of dream has
nothing to do with you but the place you are in. Suppose you go and
sleep in France, you get a dream in which everybody is speaking French,
French words and faces that you have never seen before or sometimes the
people who were there in that area or the impressions in that space come
to you as dream. The fifth type is a mix of all these – a hotchpotch.
That is what mostly dreams are. Ninety percent dreams are of this
category. You are riding a horse and suddenly the horse is inside a
train. There is no logic to it and it all appears to be very perfect and
really clear. Suddenly the train transforms into a boat and the boat
turns into a train! All these things can happen. This is all possible in
dreams. So many possibilities because it’s a mixture of all: your
desires, past impressions, what may happen in the future and then the
place. That’s why you don’t need to analyze too much. It’s another form
of stress release. Wake up!
Q: If everything is as God wants it and if everything is written then why do we need to put effort for anything?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Even that is written. Your asking this question is
written too, got it? But me giving an answer for it is not written!
Come on! Animals are governed by instincts. They have no choice, they
are programmed. But the human system is programmed with a possibility of
either / or. Human system has the choice also programmed. But animals
have no program of choice. Do you get what I am saying? In the program
it is fixed that human beings can have the choice. Intellect is present
in the human system which can make the choices. That means there is
freedom also. Got it?
Q: Guruji, can you tell us some story when you were a child.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I continue to be one even today! I leave the story for others to say.
Knowledge byte: Remember one thing. The centre core of your existence is
all positivity. All imperfection is only on the circumference. So deep
inside you are pure, you are innocent, you are beautiful, and you must
have total conviction in this. That is it. I am totally pure hundred
percent, two hundred percent positive. Deep inside you are simply a most
adorable, most lovable person. You should have zero doubt about it. And
whatever imperfections you may find in yourself or in others are only
on the circumference. This conviction is most important in spiritual
growth. Otherwise someone blames you, you take the blame and then you
burn with it. When you have this conviction, if anybody says anything to
you, you will not care and will simply smile at them. You will not be
an emotional wreck anytime, because you are so solid and well founded in
the self. And that is what the whole spiritual exercise is! Shudhohum,
budhohum – You are pure, crystal clear and solid. That conviction makes
you rest so peacefully. If you are made by nature, you are perfect.
Everything in nature is perfect. There is one school of thought which
says find imperfection. Another school of thought is to move from
perfection to greater perfection. That is what we understand. Praising
each other and praising oneself, uplift the spirit all the time. Give
criticism and stand up to criticism. If someone criticizes you, welcome
that, knowing too well that whatever is the criticism is part of their
perception or your projection. Imperfection is nothing but a projection
or perception. From your side you have projected like that to the other
person or that person has perceived you like that. Imperfection is
nothing but your inability to project the way you are to others or the
perception of other person towards you. That’s it. Got it? All these
practices you do are to get to this stage – Improving perception,
observation and expression. And that is it. It can never be hundred
percent. It is relative, this is the thing. There can always be a chance
for improvement in perception and expression. But there is no chance
for any improvement in the being.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
