Reason for war

 

The worst act of reason is war. Every war has a reason, and the reason justifies the war.

Those who engage in war reason it out. But reason is limited. As reason changes, the justification falls apart. All the reasons for every war appear to be justifiable to some limited minds and for a limited time. Hence, war becomes inevitable on this planet.

Only human beings wage war. No other species in creation engages in war or mass destruction, as they have no reason to do so. Animals take their prey and let everything else just be. But mankind, from time immemorial, has engaged in war because man bases his actions on reason.

Man gives a reason to every act of his and justifies it. But as reasons change, his justifications fall apart. Man must transcend reason – only then can he realize Divinity and will not engage in war. Only when people become sensible, rise above hatred and have heightened consciousness, can war be stopped.

The act which is only destructive and inflicts suffering on both oneself and others is terrorism. In such an act human values are lost in the process of achieving a goal.

Some of the factors that lead to terrorism are frustration and desperation in achieving a goal, impulsive action, shortsightedness and confused emotions. Terrorism can also stem from having a non-verifiable concept of heaven and merit, and a childish concept of God where God favors some and is angry with others, undermining the Divine’s omniscience and omnipotence. 

Terrorism induces a psychosis of fear in everyone, and it increases poverty, suffering, and loss of life with no apparent gain. Instead of life-supporting solutions, the terrorist chooses destruction as an answer. If you criticize without giving a solution, know that it comes from the seed of terrorism. 

Although there are certain qualities you can appreciate in a terrorist such as fearlessness, commitment to a goal and sacrifice, you must learn from them things that you should never do – valuing ideas and concepts more than life, having a narrow perspective of life and dishonoring life’s diversity. The remedy for terrorism is to:

• Inculcate a broader perspective of life. 
• Value life more than race, religion and nationality. 
• Provide education in human values – friendliness, compassion, cooperation and upliftment. 
• Teach methods to release stress and tension. 
• Cultivate confidence in achieving noble aims by peaceful and nonviolent means.

Weed      out      destructive      tendencies      with      spiritual upliftment. 

Terrorism can be more than physical violence, such as cultural or economic terrorism. The solution for economic violence is to “Think globally, buy locally,” and the solution for cultural violence is to “Broaden your vision, deepen your roots.”

How does one cope with the aftermath of terrorism? With faith and prayer. When disaster happens, anger is inevitable. Take precautions that you do not react improperly. Wisdom is needed and not emotional outbursts. One mistake cannot be corrected by another mistake. Strive to foster multicultural and multi-religious education and spiritual upliftment in every part of the globe, for the world will not be safe if even a small pocket of people are left in ignorance.

Violence and nonviolence do not depend on an act but on the intention behind it. The basis of violence is anger, lust, hatred, jealousy, greed, frustration and aggression. 

A surgeon cuts open a person’s belly; so does a criminal. The action is similar but the surgeon’s intention is to save life and the criminal’s is to destroy it. Violence or non-violence is determined by the attitude and not by the act. 

Even a war can be non-violent if it is devoid of anger, hatred, jealousy, or greed and if its intent is to educate those who cannot be educated in any other way. Even charity can be an act of violence if it takes away self-esteem and inflicts slavery. A war can be an act of compassion if it helps to establish the right perspective.

Cultivate the joy of giving

 

There is a certain joy in getting something. That’s the joy children experience when they get things like toffees and toys. Parents and grandparents feel happy when they give. The joy in giving is much more fulfilling than the joy of receiving. Have you noticed how happy we feel when we share? When we see a good movie, for instance, we tell everybody about it, even recommending that they must see it. The moviemaker is not giving us any commission to do that! We just feel that our loved ones should have the same experience. Or an elderly lady who cooks different dishes for her grandchildren derives an enormous happiness from doing so. People who give, experience more happiness than people who receive. Graduating from the mindset of taking to that of giving purifies the mind and brings immense joy.

There are three ways to purify the mind. Yagna or collective action that purifies not just our minds and bodies but the environment as well. There are different kinds of yagnas – jnana yagna, dravya, japa and dhyana yagna, for example. Among these, dhyana yagna, a group of individuals that collect to sing and meditate, is considered the highest. When we sing, chant or listen to chants, the sound vibrations penetrate every cell of our being and purifies the whole system. Likewise, when many people meditate together, the impact multiples manifold.

When we do daana, charity, or help someone who is really in need, the sigh of relief from that soul brings positive vibrations to you. These good deeds bring you merit, which in turn helps you go deep in meditation and elevate your consciousness. If we think of how we can be useful to those around us, we can never get depressed. People who get depressed do not know this. They get depressed because they keep thinking only about themselves. If they start to give or serve they will notice that their depression has vanished.

Tapas is the endurance of discomfort or restraining the senses. The practice of knowledge, wisdom, meditation, yoga, pranayama, and fasting, all come under tapas. If you are unhappy, one way to get out of your sorrow is tapas. Tapas is being in total acceptance of the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant.

All three, yagna, daana and tapas, purify our minds, consciousness and actions. They are, however, not one-time actions, but are to be done repeatedly. Make it a habit. Whenever we get an opportunity to be useful, we should embrace it. If, despite our meditation and other practices, we feel discomfort, we should do something to bring happiness and comfort to others. Giving is essential for spiritual growth. Willingness to share what we have and to help others without expecting anything in return, is called seva. Seva connects us to others. It dissolves barriers that separate our happiness from their happiness. We can serve others in endless ways. Serving in whatever possible manner we can, whether by contributing our time, donating money or just by speaking about positive things, will change our consciousness.

Let’s ask ourselves, “How can we be useful to people around us, and to the whole world?” Then our hearts start to blossom. The best seva is helping someone to understand this eternal nature of life. Life is a journey, moving from the joy of taking, to the joy of giving.

You don’t have to be rich to feel the abundance.

What are you struggling for?

Is it Money? You are struggling for money, then don’t sit and day dream, do hard work. If one business does not work, choose another business and do it. 

Don’t sit and day dream and only think about miracles to happen.

Miracles do happen, but if you crave for miracles then they will take a back seat. Nature wants you to be dynamic. There are people who have asked me, ‘Guruji, please give me some numbers for my lottery ticket. I just want to win a lottery so that I don’t have to do anything. Just do sadhana all the time and some seva(service).’ No way! First of all, decide what it is that you want from life. You know money is something that you will always find people short of. Always!

You can see for example, the richest country, the only super power on this planet is USA and it is under heavy debt; trillions of dollars of debt. You take big companies; many of them are in debt. The richer a person gets, the more expenses he has. At the same time, there are poor people who are contributing towards charity, poor people who take time to do service, which is amazing. They feel so much abundance.

Did you know that during our silver jubilee celebration, a beautiful incident happened!

I came down from the steps on the last day and a small boy came running to me with tears in his eyes and gave me an envelope. I took the envelope and it had Rs. 5000 in it. I looked at that boy and I asked, ‘What do you do?’ He said he is a laborer. The money in the envelope that he had given me had two months of his earnings, and he said, ‘Please take this.I can’t tell you how much my life has transformed. Please accept this.’ I took just Rs.100 from that envelope and returned back Rs. 4900. I told him, you know this Rs.100 is so precious for me, this is enough. I will take this. Two months of his salary; someone who is a laborer who does manual work, he comes and offers this. Such a big heart!  You don't have to be very rich to feel the abundance.

In fact many rich people don’t feel abundance at all, they feel lack. They are not generous. But poor people are very generous. Don’t imagine a situation where you will become super rich one day and then you will start doing some seva(service), no, nothing like that. You can feel abundance at any point of time. 

And the moment you start feeling abundance, you will see things will get better! 

Purifying the heart, soul and body

All actions that are evolutionary and all that supports life. Selfless dedicated service. 

Not that I do some service and think what do I get in return? No, that is not called service. Seva is an act done without wishing for something in return. This act is very important. Seva purifies our karma. 

There is a proverb in India, ’a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) on the rice purifies the rice.’ You know why? This is because if you eat rice just like that it digests very fast and becomes sugar very quickly. Many people who eat rice like that, they become diabetic. 

A cardiologist told me, anytime you take cereals; you should have a little bit of fat with it. A spoon of ghee on top of it slows down the digestion. It becomes complex carbohydrates and helps to balance the sugar level in the body and that helps a healthy heart function.

That is why the ancient people had said this, ‘a spoon of ghee purifies the rice.’

Knowledge purifies the intellect. How many of you experienced that knowledge purifies the intellect? All the anger, cravings, aversions about other people, everything disappears.

Music purifies the emotions.

Charity purifies money that you earn. At least three to four percent of what you earn should be given away in charity. If all that we earn we spend on ourselves, it is not considered pure money or good money. Charity purifies the money and then you can enjoy the rest of the money. Otherwise the rest of the money just goes in hospitals and other things. 

Prayer purifies the heart. Meditation purifies the soul.

Ayurveda, triphala purifies the body and cleanses the bowels. We keep stuffing food into our system all the time, but once in a while we need to purge the system. Four or five tablets taken at night before going to bed, in the morning your stomach is all clean.

So Ayurveda, yoga, pranayama and exercise purifies the body. Pranayama purifies the whole system, the body mind complex. That is why after Sudarshan Kriya you feel so clean. It cleanses you of all the karma, it brings that clarity.

Everything manifests when you meditate!

Divine and worldly dispensation are one and the same, they are not disparate. God is inseparable from this world. He is all permeating. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma – All of this is Brahman. 

If you stick your hand in a fire, you get burnt instantly. However, if you sow a mango seed or  a coconut seed, in the ground, it takes 4-6 years to bear fruit. Similarly, there are some actions whose consequences are immediate and there are some actions with a delayed outcome. If your grandfather/forefather toils for 20 years to set up a factory, who will enjoy the fruits of his labour – you will! Applying the same logic, karma and its consequences are eternal and beyond comprehension. Some karma can be resolved only by dealing with the consequences, whereas the outcome of some karma can be modified / modulated.

For example, while preparing a meal, the proportion of ingredients can be adjusted with respect to one another. However, once cooked it cannot be reverted back to its uncooked state. Similarly, what your height is today is praarabdha karma (karma that cannot be changed), but your current body-weight can be changed (reduced/increased). That is why doing dhyaan (meditation), japa (chanting), havan (sacrificial fire), daan (charity) helps in changing your karma.

Having an attitude of gratefulness for all that we have received in life also resolves karma. Do not criticize or condemn anyone. However, on the path of Self-knowledge forget about your sins and merits, and just relax and be happy. The more relaxed we are, the more spontaneously (naturally) things get done.

When we were building the ashram, I did not seek advice from a Vaastu consultant. Several years later, some Vaastu specialists commented on how all structures were in their proper place with respect to one another. Our consciousness itself is Shaastra, so if we listen to our consciousness, our intuition, we will function in accord with nature.

Suppose you have no knowledge of electronics, but you need to tackle an electronics issue, you intuitively play around with the wires, and eventually the problem gets resolved. Many people have experienced this. Once I was going from London to Birmingham where I was scheduled to give a talk. This happened more than twenty years ago. Birmingham is a big city. One gentleman realized an hour after we had left London that he had forgotten to obtain the address or the directions to the venue in Birmingham. There were no cell phones then. So I decided to intuitively guide him, telling him to take this turn here and that turn there, until we reached the street in Birmingham on which the venue was located!

Shaastra is not a book, you yourself are the Shaastras. If you study your consciousness, your mind, that is what is in the Shaastra. This is how the knowledge of Vaastu Shaastra, Ayurveda, etc came into being. Dance, music, art, science, have all emerged from the consciousness of the spirit, through meditation. So meditation is supreme. Everything manifests when you meditate. In english it is known as intuition. Intuition means that which is ‘right’. This power is within everyone.

The Fundamental Basis of Violence

Violence and nonviolence do not depend on an act but on the intention behind it. The basis of violence is anger, lust, hatred, jealousy, greed, frustration and aggression.

A surgeon cuts open a person’s belly; so does a criminal. The action is similar but the surgeon’s intention is to save life and the criminal’s is to destroy it. Violence or nonviolence is determined by the attitude and not by the act.

Even a war can be nonviolent if it is devoid of anger, hatred, jealousy, or greed and if its intent is to educate those who cannot be educated in any other way. A war can be an act of compassion if it helps to establish the right perspective.

Even charity can be an act of violence if it takes away self-esteem and inflicts slavery.

Every life has a purpose

Bangalore, February 12, 2012

Isn’t this bhajan so wonderful (referring to a verse by Basavanna, a 12th century philosopher from Karnataka)? It says that the body, mind and possessions belong to the Divine. Where is the need for worry? The sign of a devotee is one who doesn’t worry about anything. There will be good and bad times in life but you must keep yourself balanced.

If there are tears in the eyes due to devotional peaks, the mind gets purified. Knowledge purifies the intellect. Charity purifies wealth. Yoga and Ayurveda purify the body. Seva (service) purifies karma and meditation purifies the soul.

To purify the intellect, listen to knowledge. What is knowledge? It is the awareness that everything is temporary and I am the witness to everything that is happening. Let my mind merge with the Self. Mind is the wave; the Self is the ocean. We need to constantly direct our mind inward. Then you will see that all worries disappear and the mind becomes empty.

Read more at What Sri Sri Said Today

© The Art of Living Foundation

Truth is one but it has many flavors and many facets

Bangalore, 2 December 2011

Q. Jai Gurudev Guruji, what is the difference between attraction and love?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Attraction is for a short period of time but love is our true nature.
Attraction is related to pleasure and it will come and go, whereas love is a compulsion, it stays with us. You can’t be without love.

Q: Guruji, what is the importance of charity? What is the highest form of charity?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Charity brings purity of mind and purity of heart. Charity means sharing.
But charity is also not considered the most noble act because you always do charity to someone who is not your own. You never say, ‘I did charity to my daughter or my son’.
So the first step is compassion. Second step is charity, giving what you have to others who need it and then the third step is simply a sense of belongingness where you share because you can’t but share. You don’t think that you are doing charity and yet you do charity. That is true charity.
Real service is doing service without asserting that I did service.
Suppose you find a girl has fallen down, you go and you lift her and put a band-aid on her and take care of her. After that you don’t say, ’Oh! I did a great service to the girl!’
You did it because as human beings you can’t but help. You can’t just walk away when someone is hurt. It’s impossible.
So service should be like our nature.

Q: Guruji, how do I make myself such that I do only that which God wishes?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: For that become empty and pray to God, may thy will be done.

Q: Guruji, does a devotee find the Guru or does the Guru find a devotee. What is the meaning of a Guru?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The word ’guide’ comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Guru’.
Guru means the one who removes ignorance and teaches you knowledge. A Guru teaches you how to live by example and not just by books.
Mother teaches you by example, she is the first Guru. Then you have your Gurus who teach you mathematics, music, football or cricket. Then comes the Sadguru who teaches you spiritual knowledge, to make you see that you are consciousness.

Read more at What Sri Sri Said Today


© The Art of Living Foundation

Life becomes pure when there is dedication.

Continued from the last post..

Q: Guruji, what importance, if any, should we hold on to what the Pundits, Astrologers and the Psychics say about our future and its course?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Take it with a pinch of salt. Take it lightly, everything will change. You know, what your Astrologer says, you don’t have to believe one hundred percent. Astrology is a science, but not all astrologers are scientists. You have to take it with a pinch of salt. It can change also.

Q: Beloved Guruji, I have been practicing to give a percentage of my income to uplift the society for the last twenty years. Would you please elaborate on the idea and power of charity as a spiritual practice? Love and Gratitude!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ya ya, giving something back to the society is very important. You know, there is a proverb that says, “Rice is purified by a drop of ghee on it”. You know ghee, butter, a little fat. It was a practice in India, but we didn’t see any scientific basis for it.

Lately, when we spoke to a scientist doctor, he said it is good to have a spoon of ghee, the clarified butter, on rice, because that prevents one from having diabetes. You know why? Rice or any food, starch or carbohydrates quickly gets digested, but it takes a little longer to digest that if it has a little bit fat. Then there is less chance of you getting diabetic or heart problems. So, a cardiologist said, “it is necessary to have a little fat in carbohydrates so that it becomes complex to digest it”. I said, “look, this was said some thousands of years ago. They said, ‘rice gets purified with a drop of ghee.’ ”.

In the same way the money gets purified by charity. When you give a portion of what you have earned for a good cause then the rest of the money that you have is pure money. Similarly, the mind becomes pure by meditation, body get pure by bathing, by a shower; mind becomes pure by prana, pranayama and meditation; Intellect becomes purer by knowledge, by wisdom. See, what we are listening make us pure. There is something that happens in you when you are listening to knowledge or read Yoga Vasistha. Right? You listen to Ashtavakra and that wow sprouts from within. Knowledge makes the intellect pure. And life becomes pure when there is dedication.

Q: Dear Guruji, many of us who are on the spiritual path desire self-realization not only for ourselves but for society at large. Has such an enlightened human society ever existed on this planet, and is it utopian for one to desire this for our society in the future?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should desire for utopia, you should have dream. You know, what you think impossible, you should really dream for it and make it possible. We did one village like that in India. There was a notorious village, notorious in the sense that nobody would go into the village after five or six o’ clock, because of robbers, thieves, full of crime and a lot of problems. This village was adopted by one of our teachers, and you know, what he turned that whole place into in three months? Unbelievable! He took this village and made everyone do the course. Now, everybody in the village, Young and old, sing and dance in the satsang everyday. They have made a rule that anybody, who smokes or drinks or any substance abuse, will be fined. So, the village is free of smoking and drinking, the entire village has become organic, and they have a shop without a shopkeeper. I have also brought a CD of this village.

In my last trip, Swami Pragyapalji told me that we have such a village, and that there is a shop without any shopkeeper but the shop runs very well. People take the needed stuff and put the money in the basket there. People were all astonished that the village has been running like this since the last two and half years. A shop without a shopkeeper and nobody steals. And they have removed locks from all the doors. No door has any locks, no house has any locks and it has become the most self-sufficient village. It has pure drinking water and the entire village is painted in pink color. Everybody chose to have pink color on their walls as a symbol of unity. Both the government of India and government of Maharashtra gave this village cash awards calling it the most ideal village. So, one teacher, if you could imagine something that is thought of as utopia, made it possible.

After seeing this, 180 villages are on the way to become ideal villages.

In New Delhi, few volunteers thought to clean the Delhi for Asian games are coming. In India, there is lot of garbage here and there, and people don’t keep streets clean. They would take things out and dump those in streets. So, they started with this idea to clean Delhi.

They thought to forget about government for everyone keep blaming the government. You cannot imagine what a group of few ‘Art of Living’ volunteers have achieved? They inspired one million people to come up and take the brooms, take the plastic bags and segregate the garbage, and clean the whole city. They could gather one million volunteers in a city of 15 million people, and they are doing this from 12th of September. The Delhi government, who was never cooperative with the ‘Art of Living’, in the sense they never came to any of our functions, suddenly woke up and decided to help them. Now, the government is announcing the great job done by the ‘Art of Living’ volunteers.

So, you should think, plan and dream what you really want. It may not happen immediately but you can achieve that.

Q: How do I overcome and move beyond the physical desires?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It depends on what is your age. If you are a teenager or just out of teenage, then it is quite but natural. There is nothing you can do about it. Keep yourself busy. If you have too much free time, only sex will occupy the mind. Have you noticed in your exam times, or when you are too busy, or you have to take a challenge, or you are going on a sports trip, or when your mind is occupied and engaged, then sex is not a big issue, it is not so compelling. But when you are too free, that is when it takes over the seat. Now, sex is not bad, but the obsession is horrible. One type of sex is when you try to satisfy, and if you do not get satisfied, there is another type that starts happening.

So many different distortions and tendencies would come up in the mind. The best thing is to do pranayama. Pranayama helps. Then, watching your food will help. If you eat too much, so much energy is there, and it needs an outlet to go somewhere. And if you are not creative, then it definitely takes the other route. So, a little bit say on the food. It is said if you cannot control your tongue, you can never control your genitals, because your tongue and genitals are connected. Sex and food are very much linked. So, your obsession can be controlled if your food is lighter and moderate in amount.

Pranayama can help you to control excessive tendencies. Music and dance will help. Some creative art, painting, writing story, and appreciating beauty will help. When you are more happy, inclination towards sex is less. But if you are miserable, restless and unhappy then inclination towards sex is much more. So, by all these things and keeping yourself busy, you can sail through the tough time. Because when you indulge in it, later on you don’t like it, and not going into sex makes you completely nuts. So, you are in a limbo sort of state. This is very difficult in teenage time; there is no way out of it other than keeping someone very very busy.And then the middle age crisis! I am analyzing all these different age groups when one has to overcome these hurdles. Still, if none of these works, just wait for the time. As you grow older, it will simply disappear. You know, time will take care of it. When you are 60, 70 or may be 80, sometime it has to drop of you. Mind, sometime, will become cool. At least then, something will wake up from within.

Q: Why do we experience death and rebirth again and again? What does it do for us?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, Ground hug day!

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

~ Sri Sri Ravishankar

© The Art of Living Foundation

Charity purifies the wealth

Midwest Airlines Center
Milwaukee, WI

April 23, 2010

Religion with spirituality is wonderful. Religion without spirituality is disastrous!

Q: Why do we seek God when we know God is already within us?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Because we don’t know but some idea is there. There is some prior experience of God. If you don’t know mango exists, you won’t go searching for it. You don’t go in search of something like burr-burr because burr-burr doesn’t exist! You have had some experience in the past but it is not there in the present. Don’t look here and there for God. Go deep within and look inside. Relax. It is there.

Q: Is there such a thing as absolute truth?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Adi Shankaracharya said that the definition of truth is that which is untouched by time. It is that which stays the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So going by this definition, body and mind are not the truth. Truth is the substratum of creation. There is something at the core of our being that is not changing and that is the absolute truth. That’s why even when you become old, you don’t feel you have become old. Somewhere we know that something in us will not die at all.

Q: Is it necessary to be religious in order to be spiritual?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Spirituality is the way you live, feel and relate. It is the essence of all religions. Religion with spirituality is wonderful. Religion without spirituality is disastrous!

Q: How do we eliminate terrorism for future generations?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Terrorism arises when someone starts thinking that only they will go to heaven and everyone else will go to hell. They think, “let me teach the others my ways so that they also can go to heaven.” Narrow-mindedness is a cause of misery. If each child is educated in a multicultural environment, tolerance is bound to develop. If the kids in Afghanistan were taught a little bit about their roots, a little a bit about Hinduism, Christianity and so on, they would not have become so intolerant. The Taliban would not have arisen. They should have some idea of the great sayings like that of Buddha, of the Upanishads. Krishna said the same thing that Jesus said. Multi-religious upbringing will bring about love and harmony in the world. Interfaith education and inter-religious exposure will bring about love and harmony. If all countries spend even less than 2% of their budget towards globalizing wisdom, every child in the world would be a more happy individual.
A young woman in India from the ’ The Art of Living’ Foundation went to the Ivory Coast to teach. Ivory Coast has very polarized Islamic and Christian communities. They live in different villages and historically have had little or no tolerance towards each other. Within a month of her being there, because of her work, communication opened up between the different religious communities. The Muslims built a school in the Christian village. The Christians built roads and toilets for the Muslims. This miracle happened in a very short span of time. If one individual could bring about this change, imagine what would happen if we all go together. If we move together, we can do something big!

Q: What should be the place of money in the quest for a spiritual life?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The problem arises when you carry money not only in your pocket but in your head also! Also what is the use of thinking about it all the time if your pockets are empty? Money is the means and not an end in itself. Have faith that you will get whatever money you need. Put in your effort and move forward with this conviction. Also out of the money you earn, 2-3% should be spent for others. We call it dhana-shuddhi (purification of wealth).
In Sanskrit there is a word anna-shuddhi (purification of grains). It prescribes adding ghee (clarified butter) to rice. If you eat rice alone, it is not as good for your body as the sugar level in your blood suddenly increases. By adding just a little bit of clarified butter or ghee, the process of converting the starch into sugar is slowed down. So the digestion process becomes slower and you are less prone to diabetes. So we say rice gets purified when we add ghee to it. Similarly money gets purified when we contribute to those in need.
’The Art of Living’ does service in schools in villages. We have the ’Dollar a Day’ program under which we feed, provide clothing and educate a child. We have 100 such free schools for people in need. This helps release a child from forced child labor. The burden is taken away from them. These children get to be the first generation learners and the change that is brought about is really powerful. It is like teaching someone to fish rather than giving them the fish. Also if women are enrolled into empowerment programs, there are wonderful experiences. This is what is necessary - Education that is technical, scientific and spiritual at the same time.

Q: How can we continue to love people who commit fraud or other such crimes?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: They are not incorrigible.There is a victim crying for help inside every culprit. You will observe in society, those who are greedy usually have no friends. The greed disappears the minute they make friends. Similarly, corruption cannot happen within the boundaries of friendliness. People who are corrupt or commit fraud are victims themselves. They are not spiritually educated. You know, we know one thing from all our programs, especially the ’Prison SMART program’, that there is a good soul crying for help and starved for love even within a criminal. Yes, we can help them.

Q: What is the mind capable of during sleep? Is it possible to transcend all states of consciousness?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. In the waking state, you get the best rest and nourishment through knowledge. Dreaming state is deep rest. Sleep is even deeper rest. The fourth state is the meditative state.

Q: How do breathing techniques and meditation benefit those with heart disease?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Breathing and meditation have been found to lower cholesterol and strengthen the heart. They lower stress and control hormones by making a positive impact on the endocrine system. There have been several studies and research is still going on.

Q: What is the first thing we should do when we wake up in the morning and the last thing before we go to sleep?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Look at your face in the mirror and give yourself a big smile. If you can’t smile, you can frown. You will gradually start smiling.

Q: How important is self-love? Is it necessary to love oneself before we can reach out to the rest of the world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. But please don’t sit and chant “I love myself!” Do you chant “I am in Milwaukee!”? Your body, mind, consciousness are all made up of truth, love, beauty and peace. Take it for granted that you love yourself. Nobody can afford not to love oneself because you are love. That’s just an illusion if it appears that you don’t love yourself.

Q: Do you believe that this is the time and age for large-scale global transformation of human evolution?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Thirty years ago, there was so much prejudice towards spirituality and wisdom. People would want to keep it at an arm’s length and blindly believe that it is not for them. Today there is acceptance. People are willing to try and see that something benefits them and are less prejudiced. With this, more human values will surface. And don’t worry about 2012. The world will not collapse. I assure you that.

Q: What is beyond the experience we call death?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you want to know everything right away? I don’t want you to be bored even after you die! Let’s first understand life. We can understand death later.

Q: What are you the most optimistic about in the world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I’m realistic about my vision. So far ’The Art of Living’ has reached about 151 countries. So many people are learning these techniques today. If the technology of cell phones can reach everywhere in the world, why would techniques & wisdom that make people happy and peaceful not reach every home? They definitely will. We should have a vision to do something that appears impossible and make it possible. It is my habit and hobby!

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”

~ Sri Sri Ravishankar

© The Art of Living Foundation

Life is a fine balance between the emotions & the intellect

Bangalore ashram, Dec. 12:
Q: Guruji, many times you have clarified that the Master is the presence and not the physical entity but when I see you I get so mesmerized with your appearance, your actions. Please tell me what to do?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Simply realize that you appreciate what you have. You are also beautiful. Inside each one of us there is beauty. We all have all these virtues inside us. Some virtues are manifested and some will soon manifest.

Q: Guruji, do you have any unfulfilled desires?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (After a little pause) Yes, I want to see millions of people smiling and all these conflicts in the world to end. There should be no war. WAR itself means ‘Worst Act of Reason’. People who are involved in war give reasons to justify their actions but it is actually the worst act of reason. There is so much domestic violence in the world today. All this must stop. This can happen when people become more compassionate and understanding.

Q: To break the cycle of birth and death we have to attain mukti/liberation, then why do enlightened masters reincarnate?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: With one goal - to help those who are in need and on the other hand just to play.

Q: Is it ok to pray for a peaceful end to the life of a person with Parkinson’s syndrome?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whenever someone suffers, the people around him or her are the ones who suffer more than the person. The family of a mentally retarded child suffers much more than the child himself. That child is in a different paradigm of mind. Nature gives the strength to endure the suffering and walk through with strength. An animal is given only that heavy a tail, which it can wag. Just imagine a rat having the tail of an elephant. Nature is very intelligent. It only gives you that problem which you can handle.

 Q: Guruji, I read somewhere that chanting OM is not good for women. Please elaborate.
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Maybe some man has written that book! (laughter) Perhaps they are afraid that women may become more powerful, intelligent, independent and stronger than men. All this is not true. In the Middle Ages, some people spread this message with the selfish motive of keeping the knowledge only to themselves.

Q: Can charity grant liberation?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Charity purifies wealth. Ghee/clarified butter purifies food. Knowledge purifies the intellect. Bhajan purifies the mind & Service purifies the action.

Q: What is the difference between self–respect and ego? If someone says harsh words to you, it hurts. Is that ego or self-respect?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Nobody can take away your self–respect. If it pinches you then that is due to ego or your foolishness. When someone is harsh to you, it is ok to be hurt but then you should also know how to rise above that. It is because of knowledge that we can come out of that feeling of hurt.

Q: If everything is pre-decided, then what is the need for karma/ action?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We cannot live without karma. All is pre-decided for an animal but not for a human. Some things are pre-decided and some are not. If everything was pre-decided, why would we be doing bhajans here? It would be no different than being an animal then. Humans have responsibilities to fulfill and humans take on responsibility. An animal has neither any responsibility nor any demand. Humans have freedom as well as an intellect.

Q: What is difference between accepting people as they are and labeling them as they are?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You tell me the answer. If you really want an answer then sit and think about it. If in your mind this question has arisen, the answer will also come. You have some notion of acceptance in your mind and some other notion of labeling. That’s why you are using two different words. You won’t ask the difference between ‘Kela’ (banana in Hindi) and ‘Banana’. When we ask the difference we already know what that difference is. You already know in your mind and a little introspection will give you the answer.

Q: I see some images during meditation. Is that ok?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no need to pay attention to that. It is just an experience. In Sudarshan Kriya or meditation you may hear something, see some images or visions but all these come and go. It is a form of stress release.

Q: In one of your books you have said religion is like the banana peel and spirituality is the fruit inside. Does that mean one who is spiritual has nothing to do with religion?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Religion is inevitable. You have a religion since birth. Your name only conveys the religion to which you belong. Your name, marriage all this is part of religion. You can’t deny it. Spirituality unites all religions. That is the core value of all religions.

Q: If a relationship is not going smoothly, what to do?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, I am not an expert to answer this. (Laughter) One thing I can tell you is that you should leave a certain margin in a relationship. The strength of a relationship lies in the ability to accommodate rough patches. How well you handle it gives you skills. Otherwise how do you get to know how accommodating, understanding and considerate you are? These virtues come up only when you have rough patches. See the situation as an opportunity on how to adapt, how to be accommodating, understanding and considerate. You should give a shot to excel in exhibiting your character rather then changing the other person.

Q: Guruji, up to what extent should one sustain a relationship? How much can one bend?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You can’t bend too much if the other person is turning violent, taking advantage of you. Then you have to stand up and state clearly. Deal with all of this using your intellect and not your emotions. Conflict is always emotional. Resolution is intellectual. Emotional conflict can’t be dealt with emotions. Similarly an intellectual argument cannot be dealt with the intellect. The emotional side of it has to be considered. If you observe carefully there is a stream of emotions behind an intellectual argument. Life is a fine balance between the emotions and the intellect. When to use what, is the real wisdom. And how do you gain that wisdom? The answer is meditation, meditation and meditation.

Q: Tell us something about ‘nadi shodan’ (alternate nostril) pranayama.
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are 1,82,000 nadis/ energy channels in our body. When we breathe, these are activated and that is why we are alive. When we breathe through the left nostril, certain nadis are functioning and others function when we breathe through the right nostril. So when we alternate the breath through the nostrils, certain changes happen in the body and in our system. Our system gets purified. Fresh energy moves in the system and the stress is eliminated. The left nostril activates the functioning of the right brain and vice versa. So when we alternate our breathing, all the brain waves get synchronized. Biochemical changes happen in the body. The Endocrine glands function better and any imbalance in body is rooted out. There are many benefits of pranayama.

Q: Guruji newspapers today are filled with so much vague news here and there. Can’t we have one full page on environment?
H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do you write articles? I want all those who have good writing skills to sit together and have some collection. We will implement this. The Ashram agricultural department is very successful in controlling pollution and purifying sewage water. We are using some ancient techniques, which have been forgotten. It is surprising to see the results that these techniques have brought about. Sewage water is completely purified, ready to drink and the sewage is turned into manure. Using this method we can clean all sewage plants in all villages across India without chemicals. The Agricultural Department also took a project in Nasik where vegetation was grown using seawater. So all this is possible.

“That which you cannot express is Love.
That which you cannot reject/renounce is Beauty.
That which you cannot avoid is the Truth.”
~ H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar


© The Art of Living Foundation