Continued from the last post:
Excerpts of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s talk in Hamburg, Germany
You know, I remember an incident. My father used to tell me that my grandmother gave ten and a half kilo of gold that she had to my grandfather to give it to Mahatma Gandhi, and my grandfather stayed with Mahatma Gandhi for 20 years. You know, Indian women love gold a lot. So, usually they receive gold as gift in marriage and every function. My grandmother was a very beautiful woman. She had received a lot of gold. She had ten and half kilo gold at that time. Imagine how much it was! Except one chain, she gave away everything to Mahatma Gandhi when he started the freedom movement in India. You know, nobody compels you to give, but your giving brings certain amount of satisfaction.
I say two things that you have to have in life. One is smile more, serve as much as you can and not to worry.
Q: What is the link between ego and self confidence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ego is feeling uncomfortable in the presence of someone else. Self confidence is, feeling at home. Ya? Being natural is antidote to ego, and being natural is so complementary to confidence. It goes with confidence and is inseparable from confidence. When you are confident, you are natural. If you are natural, you are confident.
Q: Is money a prior requirement in order to feel happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no doubt that you need some money for your day to day survival. But, money cannot buy you happiness. It’s knowledge or wisdom that brings you happiness.
Q: How come you manage to smile in all the circumstances?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, this is our brand mark. Our logo is smile. If you see somebody and they are not smiling, and they say they have done ‘Art of Living’, don’t believe them. I am sure, all those who are here, who have truly done it will agree with me.
Q: What is role of service in order to have inner contentment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, we should have a goal in life. My goal is to bring happiness to more and more people. If we sit and keep thinking of ourselves all the time, we’ll be depressed. We should see, ‘How can I be of service? How can I be of use to others?’ This thought is very useful. Very, very, very useful. Ya?
So, ‘Art of Living’ provides a platform for everyone to come together and do some service. You know, when United Nations announced, ‘Stand up and take action’ - they wanted tree planting; ‘Art of Living’ volunteers have planted 55 million trees around the globe.
We all can jointly do some service activity. Reduce violence, reduce stress, create a sense of belongingness, and spread the positive vibration of love and peace. Shall we all do this together? Is everyone committed to do this? (A resonating yes from the audience.)
Q: What is the base of Advaita(Non-duality)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Advaita is quantum physics. Quantum physics says that this is all atoms or this is all wave function, vibration (referring to the space and things around). That’s exactly what Advaita says. So, the whole universe is made up of one substance. Me, you, she, he…everybody and everything is made up of one substance. And the nature of that substance is bliss. This is what Advaita is.
Just a glimpse of that experience gives you so much strength and stability, that nothing can shake you; nobody can take the smile from you.
Q: Where do you get courage from?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: From Advaita - Knowing that there is something in you that is not changing. A little experience of silence, calmness and meditation will give you enormous courage from within.
Q: ‘Art of Living’ is doing a great job. But with 30 percent of population in depression, and this figure being expected to reach 50 percent in the coming decade, do you still see a hope for mankind? Do we still have hope?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, and we all have to work for it. You know, when we started in India, it was a small program. We had no resources and manpower. But we had a vision – We have to reach many people in the world. So, in these 30 years we have reached millions of people. So, it is possible.
You know, the cell phone has reached the whole world. If cell phone could reach the whole world, do you think wisdom and compassion cannot reach the whole world? We must make an effort. Ok?
Q: I have lost my trust, how can I regain it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t make an effort to regain it. Listen to your heart. Trust can never be lost. Doubt as much as possible, but truth always stands up to the doubt. Truth is so strong that doubt cannot destroy it. So, it is good to doubt. And the trust which moves through the doubt and stands, that is true trust.
How many of you here have not visited India yet? How many of you would like to come to India? Oh, very good. You know, we will organize a group from here. You have a home there in India. All of you come for a week, ten days, 15 days…whatever is possible. You can all come to India, and have a glimpse of all the service activity.
“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
~ Sri Sri Ravishankar
© The Art of Living Foundation
