Q: You said Ashtavakra session has not ended and it continues. We had an unforgettable time here during these days. Please bless me so that I can come here when you have next Ashtavakra session.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Every step is complete. Whatever you have acquired is complete in itself. So, do not encourage any feeling of discontentment. Go back with contentment. You yourself are contentment.
Q: Whenever there is choice, is it previously decided what we are going to chose? Or it can change also according to what choice we make?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It can change also. That is why 'Dhiyo yona prachodyat' is a part of the Gayatri mantra.
Q: What happens to the consciousness of a person when it dies? Does it enter another body or get dissolved in the universal consciousness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is both. A part of the consciousness is all pervading and a part remains. It is like the air in the balloon, it is trapped in the impressions, and then it comes back.
Q: Sometimes I sleep while sitting for meditation. Is it ok?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You sleep in the middle of the meditation! It is ok. When your sleep is completed, you can meditate.
Q: I am in all love and bliss here. Can you bless me to be always in this love?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, this ‘always’ is the problem. Don’t try to hold on to the always. Take life as it comes. So what if all those clouds come for a moment. Your nature never goes and your nature is love. That cannot be changed.
Q: If one desires to have something with all the heart, does he/she get it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If it is good for you, you will get that.
Q: We are trying to reach to our seventh level of existence. Do we have to cross the all levels, or balance all to reach the self?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: They all exist simultaneously.
Q: Sometimes I find myself too much stuck in the intellect. I think so much over small issues also, as trivial as choosing what clothes to wear. What should I do? Please guide.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have lots of time in your hands and that is why you keep on thinking sitting idle. Do little exercises also. Then the mind wouldn’t run so much.
Q: I grew up in a small town and have seen many ups and down in the life. But now when I am into a job, I see all this corruption. People demanding bribe, this and that. It pains in the heart. I don’t know how to go about it? Also I have heard from Swamiji that when we do meditation, the satva in the atmosphere raises, and that can result in the transformation of these negative tendencies in the society.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are worried about all the corruption in the society! That is why I say we all have to stand up by principles. Our boys went to Hyderabad and they needed some license to start some project. They stood by their principles and they get their job accomplished without having to bribe anyone. Like them, you also stand by your principles. It could be little difficult in the beginning. That is why we have to inculcate spirituality in every aspect of society. Non-violence and integrity have to be inculcated. We have to fight against corruption.
Q: Should one follow the visions that one has in deep meditation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You take it with a pinch of salt. Sometimes because of your own impressions, your own desires, or own fears, you have those visions. So, you cannot trust your vision 100 percent till you are totally hollow and empty.
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