Continued from the last post..
Bangalore Ashram, India
Q: Guruji, how much of Mahatma Gandhi’s principal of non violence should we apply in life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is nothing new to follow the principal of non violence which is being applied since ancient time. One should follow and keep the principal of non violence in life. Sometimes if one has to slap someone for his good, but does it with a smile then it is not violence. See, one has to kick with a cane to make a buffalo move forward, where as a cow just moves with a sound. The gentle animals may not need the cane, but for animals like buffaloes and donkeys, cane is the only language they understand.
If we do any work with anger, hatred, jealousy, feeling of revenge etc. in mind –then that is an act of violence.
Q: Guruji, so if someone slaps us, should we offer the other cheek also for the slap?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If the person is sensitive, offer your other cheek, and he will not be able to do it. But if someone is insensitive like a buffalo, then you can give two three also!
Q: Sometimes people ask why you believe in Guru, and not just in God. My answer most of the times is Guru is my God. But is there any difference in God and Guru, please tell.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is fine. You don’t have to bother and justify so much to verify your statement. Just smile. There is no need to answer every question. You can say, ‘don’t you know that Soul, God, Guru –all are the same’. The whole universe is made up of one substance only. Like there is same electricity but flowing in different things-the bulb, the fan, the Air Conditioner etc. Likewise there may be different forms and norms, but we are made up of same thing (consciousness).
Q: If there is something that we are not getting from God, will we get it if we make our Sudarshan kriya and sadhna strong?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:Have patience, keep up the hope that it may happen. Know that whatever is good for us will be given.
Q: Guruji, the self control that I keep on myself gets broken sometimes. What to do in such case?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It does not matter if it happens sometimes. It is not happening always?
Q: Doing Sudarshan kriya, we feel relaxed and happy but after that the mind again wanders in its imaginations.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You turn around and see.
(The questioner turns around, and audience laughs)
Sri Sri continued: Not now! You turn around in your life, one year, two years, three years before, and see what were you then and what are you now? Do you see the difference? How much difference? You say a lot of difference in a month since you did Sudarshan kriya, so there will be more in the future.
Q: We 25 people have come from Nepal, and have a question - when are you coming to Nepal?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I will come soon.
Q: In the ‘Art of living’, which yoga do we practice -hath yoga, raj yoga, karma yoga, or dhayan yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The ‘Art of living’ has everything in it. All the yogas together form ‘Art of living’. There is Bhakti* yoga, Karma** yoga, Dhyan*** yoga, everything is there.
Q: Can I practice Hath yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whatever yoga you do should be done simply and naturally. You don’t have to give too much trouble to your body and make yourself uncomfortable. Just be normal and simple. To do hath yoga, one has to take a lot of precautions.
Q: Guruji, I feel like doing a lot of work but that falls outside my boundaries. Do I have to think and dream about it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you must have a dream for it.
Q: Please tell us what we should do for our nation to feel grateful to our nation.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: For showing your love and gratitude for your country, you will have to do a lot of work in the society so that our villages develop and become self helping. To make a society which is void of corruption, violence, all have to put effort whole heartedly, OK.
Q: I have finished my final year engineering exam. I want to study, I want to pursue higher studies, but I cannot concentrate when I sit to study. I want to study, what should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you are not getting concentration in your studies, watch for these three things
(i) Your diet, watch what you are eating. Diet makes a big difference.
(ii) Do you do any physical exercises? If you just keep sitting on a couch watching TV, or keep sitting on computer with internet etc. then the circulation is less in your body. Then you tend to become lazy and will not feel like studying. So, it is necessary to do a little bit of physical exercise, yoga, pranayama, meditation and also participate a little in singing etc. Doing all these, whatever is the need for your system will be furnished, and then you can grasp more in studies. Also your learning and retaining capacity will increase, and you will be able to study as well as gain much more in shorter time.
Go for higher studies if you want to. Choice is yours, blessings are mine!
Q: What is the difference between Lord Shankar and Lord Krishna? Some worship Shiva while others worship Krishna?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are different forms and names, but they all are same.
Q: What is more important, ones upbringing or one’s cast? People who believe in cast system and religion are against intercast marriages. So what matters most-the values of that human or the cast and religion of that human?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One should see the humanity the most.
Q: In the continuation of the same thing, should we believe in the match- making of the birth chart etc. Should we believe in all that? Does match of mangalik-non mangalik matter?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is science but it depends on who does it. Many times in the name of astrology, people cheat others. There is something in chart matching, and you can do all that if you like. But Chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaye’ is best cure for all the short comings.
Q: We have you as Guru in the ‘Art of Living’, but in family there are family Gurus and traditional rituals, different style of worshipping etc. Should these be followed also?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See if there is a family tradition being followed from a long time, then what is the harm in continuing that? One must keep up the family traditions.
Q: Guruji, how to deal with the failures?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Knowing that it is the step to success in the future.
Q: After the course, you came thrice in my dream. The second time you came in my dream, the dream was that you are no more in the world.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is ok, does not matter – there is still lot more time for that to happen!
Q: The ‘Art of living’ is full of inspirational teachers. What does it require to be a good teacher? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, take a teachers training, and get well trained.
Q: First of all, thank you for being my master. Secondly, I am a sikh and in Sikhism our last Guru told that there is no other master now but only ‘Guru Granth Sahib’. So, my family members do not want me to follow you as a guru. How to convince them about you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is alright. Say Wahe guru, Wahe guru. Let them follow whatever your tradition is, but they can do the course, can make friends with all!
Q: Some volunteers from the ‘Art of living’ want to enter into politics with your blessings.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is alright, they should go into politics, clean up the politics like the ‘Art of Living’ volunteers cleaned up Yamuna!
*Devotion
**Karma
***Meditation
© The Art of Living Foundation
Bangalore Ashram, India
Q: Guruji, how much of Mahatma Gandhi’s principal of non violence should we apply in life?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is nothing new to follow the principal of non violence which is being applied since ancient time. One should follow and keep the principal of non violence in life. Sometimes if one has to slap someone for his good, but does it with a smile then it is not violence. See, one has to kick with a cane to make a buffalo move forward, where as a cow just moves with a sound. The gentle animals may not need the cane, but for animals like buffaloes and donkeys, cane is the only language they understand.
If we do any work with anger, hatred, jealousy, feeling of revenge etc. in mind –then that is an act of violence.
Q: Guruji, so if someone slaps us, should we offer the other cheek also for the slap?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If the person is sensitive, offer your other cheek, and he will not be able to do it. But if someone is insensitive like a buffalo, then you can give two three also!
Q: Sometimes people ask why you believe in Guru, and not just in God. My answer most of the times is Guru is my God. But is there any difference in God and Guru, please tell.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is fine. You don’t have to bother and justify so much to verify your statement. Just smile. There is no need to answer every question. You can say, ‘don’t you know that Soul, God, Guru –all are the same’. The whole universe is made up of one substance only. Like there is same electricity but flowing in different things-the bulb, the fan, the Air Conditioner etc. Likewise there may be different forms and norms, but we are made up of same thing (consciousness).
Q: If there is something that we are not getting from God, will we get it if we make our Sudarshan kriya and sadhna strong?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:Have patience, keep up the hope that it may happen. Know that whatever is good for us will be given.
Q: Guruji, the self control that I keep on myself gets broken sometimes. What to do in such case?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It does not matter if it happens sometimes. It is not happening always?
Q: Doing Sudarshan kriya, we feel relaxed and happy but after that the mind again wanders in its imaginations.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You turn around and see.
(The questioner turns around, and audience laughs)
Sri Sri continued: Not now! You turn around in your life, one year, two years, three years before, and see what were you then and what are you now? Do you see the difference? How much difference? You say a lot of difference in a month since you did Sudarshan kriya, so there will be more in the future.
Q: We 25 people have come from Nepal, and have a question - when are you coming to Nepal?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I will come soon.
Q: In the ‘Art of living’, which yoga do we practice -hath yoga, raj yoga, karma yoga, or dhayan yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The ‘Art of living’ has everything in it. All the yogas together form ‘Art of living’. There is Bhakti* yoga, Karma** yoga, Dhyan*** yoga, everything is there.
Q: Can I practice Hath yoga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whatever yoga you do should be done simply and naturally. You don’t have to give too much trouble to your body and make yourself uncomfortable. Just be normal and simple. To do hath yoga, one has to take a lot of precautions.
Q: Guruji, I feel like doing a lot of work but that falls outside my boundaries. Do I have to think and dream about it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you must have a dream for it.
Q: Please tell us what we should do for our nation to feel grateful to our nation.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: For showing your love and gratitude for your country, you will have to do a lot of work in the society so that our villages develop and become self helping. To make a society which is void of corruption, violence, all have to put effort whole heartedly, OK.
Q: I have finished my final year engineering exam. I want to study, I want to pursue higher studies, but I cannot concentrate when I sit to study. I want to study, what should I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you are not getting concentration in your studies, watch for these three things
(i) Your diet, watch what you are eating. Diet makes a big difference.
(ii) Do you do any physical exercises? If you just keep sitting on a couch watching TV, or keep sitting on computer with internet etc. then the circulation is less in your body. Then you tend to become lazy and will not feel like studying. So, it is necessary to do a little bit of physical exercise, yoga, pranayama, meditation and also participate a little in singing etc. Doing all these, whatever is the need for your system will be furnished, and then you can grasp more in studies. Also your learning and retaining capacity will increase, and you will be able to study as well as gain much more in shorter time.
Go for higher studies if you want to. Choice is yours, blessings are mine!
Q: What is the difference between Lord Shankar and Lord Krishna? Some worship Shiva while others worship Krishna?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are different forms and names, but they all are same.
Q: What is more important, ones upbringing or one’s cast? People who believe in cast system and religion are against intercast marriages. So what matters most-the values of that human or the cast and religion of that human?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One should see the humanity the most.
Q: In the continuation of the same thing, should we believe in the match- making of the birth chart etc. Should we believe in all that? Does match of mangalik-non mangalik matter?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is science but it depends on who does it. Many times in the name of astrology, people cheat others. There is something in chart matching, and you can do all that if you like. But Chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaye’ is best cure for all the short comings.
Q: We have you as Guru in the ‘Art of Living’, but in family there are family Gurus and traditional rituals, different style of worshipping etc. Should these be followed also?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See if there is a family tradition being followed from a long time, then what is the harm in continuing that? One must keep up the family traditions.
Q: Guruji, how to deal with the failures?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Knowing that it is the step to success in the future.
Q: After the course, you came thrice in my dream. The second time you came in my dream, the dream was that you are no more in the world.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is ok, does not matter – there is still lot more time for that to happen!
Q: The ‘Art of living’ is full of inspirational teachers. What does it require to be a good teacher? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, take a teachers training, and get well trained.
Q: First of all, thank you for being my master. Secondly, I am a sikh and in Sikhism our last Guru told that there is no other master now but only ‘Guru Granth Sahib’. So, my family members do not want me to follow you as a guru. How to convince them about you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is alright. Say Wahe guru, Wahe guru. Let them follow whatever your tradition is, but they can do the course, can make friends with all!
Q: Some volunteers from the ‘Art of living’ want to enter into politics with your blessings.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is alright, they should go into politics, clean up the politics like the ‘Art of Living’ volunteers cleaned up Yamuna!
*Devotion
**Karma
***Meditation
“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
