In his fifth visit to Sri Lanka yesterday Sri Sri Ravishankar blessed over 10,000 people with meditation, prayers and sacred chants at the country’s largest, Sugatha Dasa indoor stadium in Colombo. The mega event titled “Uniting Hearts and Minds” held on October 5th 2009 brought people from all walks of life and from across the country. Several Christian priests, Islamic scholars, Buddhist monks, Hindu Swamis and priests came together in a spirit of unity and faith. Several hundreds came to catch a glimpse of Sri Sri in trains and buses from Jaffna, Tricomalee, Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Mannar, Galle, Matara, Colombo and several other far-flung areas. As soon as Sri Sri entered the stadium, hundreds of school children sang Thevaram. Then Sri Sri conducted Sukshma Yoga Himself. After that he taught ''Naadi shodhan Pranayama'' before leading into meditation.
Meditation is doing nothing; being still, do nothing, - we say another 10 minutes I will meditate. I do nothing, I want nothing and I am nothing. If u think I am somebody, meditation will not happen, so, I do nothing, I am nothing and you can see how the mind automatically settles and become still. Don't concentrate. Meditation is not concentration, it is not thinking something. Simply relaxation - got it? Did u all get it? Meditation is simply relaxation. Om means peace, Om means love, - unconditional love. Meditation takes you inside and makes you realize that kingdom of God is inside. Love is God (Anmbe Shivam''ulla kadakkara kadal thaan kadavul'', leave all your botherations here. One rule when you come for satsang is that you can bring all your worries here, but you cannot take them back. You can drop them all here and go back smiling, and serve people who are in need. Smile and serve.
Question: What is the state of Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamils all over the world? Sri Sri Ravishankar : Tamils should live without fear, they shouldn't be afraid. Fear is only inside their mind. They should drop their fear, they should be with everybody. They have great culture of peace, they should promote peace and join hands with everybody to build a very prosperous society. Peace and prosperity go together. So, have peace in your heart, in your mind, family and society and peace comes when you have trust and confidence. Nobody can take away your self-respect and dignity. You have all the opportunities in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the world to progress in your life. Spread peace, love and bring prosperity. Tamils everywhere in the world are hard working people, they definitely bring prosperity and what we need is unity of minds and hearts. Question: Does Karmas and tendencies get carried forward through generations? Sri Sri Ravishankar : It is not necessary that habits are hereditary, not necessary that every disease is hereditary. Of course our genes do carry the tendencies of mother and father, but we can change many of these tendencies, many of these Karmas. Karma means what? It means deep impression in the DNA. This is what Lord Gautama Buddha said, ''Karmas can be erased through Dhyana, through meditation', through Sharanagathi'' Question: In this selfish world why should I only have broad vision? H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Good and bad things happen in the world. But our consciousness can gain from all these situations. Like, when there is rain or too much of heat (sun), you take an umbrella and protect yourself. Same way, awareness, knowledge, devotion is that umbrella to protect you from all unpleasant situations. Peace and love are the foundation on which we progress individually and collectively and for the nation and for the world. You know, the word Pooja, - Poo means fullness and ''Ja'' means that which has come out of fullness. When your heart is full, you say gratitude to God: how do you say? with flowers, you tell God, ''my heart is blossomed like this flower'' . The world is made up of five elements - ether, air, fire, water and earth. Ancient people used all these five elements. Chanting or sound is space element, burning some incense is air element, camphor and lamp is fire element, and then water and earth element, different types of flowers, fruits, milk, curd, honey all these things are used. With the chanting you create the inner vibration all around us. Ancient chanting is there since thousands of years. What is the chanting? Namo Namo Namo, Mana is mind, the mind which goes outwards, when mind turns inwards it becomes ''Nama'', Namo means mind inwards. Oh Divine, you are in the child, you are in the aged, you are in the tree, bird, water, stones. You are in sun, moon, you are everywhere, there’s not a bit of creation that is devoid of You, and I adore you, dissolve in You and merge in You. Like camphor my life burns and dissolves in You. Like incense, my life spreads fragrance all around. Like flowers, I blossom and bring joy to everybody. Like fruit, all my actions become fruitful, let my intentions become fruitful. Like water, let us always we be humble. If water is poured, it goes to the lowest point. Isn't it? Like that, humility - let me take the lowest point to serve the society. Let me be like fire that always goes up, let my enthusiasm always go up. You do ''Aarathi'', having a lamp and say let the light of my life always be around God, around divinity, let it never go down, let the enthusiasm always go up and bring joy to everybody's life. This is what is called Pooja. With these feelings, with these simple little actions we do Pooja. And when ''deepa aarathi'' is brought, everyone takes meaning ''let me receive the knowledge in my life'' (while saying this Sri Sri is demonstrating how we receive the Aaarathi). Let the light that is the symbol of knowledge come into my life. Let me not be in darkness, let there be light in my life, so, I accept this beautiful light of wisdom in my life. And then you take the Mangala aarathi. And then little water is given, you sip that saying let my heart be cool, let there be pleasantness inside. And this is the universal message of gratefulness that is what is called Pooja, dawning out of fullness. If you go to any religious program, everywhere these feelings are there. Like, lighting a candle is in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, everywhere we light a candle and keep it in front of Buddha statue, incense is lit and flowers are offered around Buddha. The same is done in Church, light a candle and keep in front of Lord Jesus Christ or Mother Mary. Offering of fruits is done in Buddhism, isn’t it? It is more of inner feeling that is important, more important than the external act. Just doing a ritual is not sufficient enough, it has to be meditative. It has to come from our feeling level. Today's Pooja is to bring health, happiness and peace to every individual especially in this continent to all those who have suffered to give them more strength and to eliminate all those negative vibrations and of pain and suffering and to bring peace and happiness to every single person and to clear the entire atmosphere in the country to bring more peaceful, loving and joyful atmosphere. This is the sankalpa/ intention we are taking today for the Pooja. After Rudrabhishek, satsang followed.
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