Rishikesh, India
Q: How to be free from jealousy and ego?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Antidote to jealousy is the knowledge that everybody is going to die. You and the person, whom you are jealous with, are both going to die. There can be a little difference of time but this is going to happen.
If ego bothers you then keep it with you thinking that God has given it you. Why are you disturbing yourself thinking it as yours? It is another big problem to get rid of ego. Being natural is an antidote to ego. You can do an experiment. Do some stupidity in front of ten people and accept your mistake. Few people will say something here and there, and gone is your ego. If it still bothers you then just think God has given you ego because of some reason. Don’t get too much stuck with it.
Q: If we are dispassionate in life then we won’t remain ambitious in life. To what extent is this true?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I don’t use the word dispassion much because it has been distorted so much. I have seen so called dispassionate people who have no glow or happiness on their face. Dispassion means absence of any kind of feverishness but a joy is there. Adi Shankaracharya has beautifully said that there is no joy which dispassion cannot give you. Dispassion means - You don’t run after joy but you are joyful from within.
Q: I am an ‘Art of Living’ teacher. How do I feel I have done enough service? I always feel I could do more for society?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Parents never feel that they have given enough to their child, esp. to the girl child. The nature of love is like that. Whatever you do in love, you feel you have not done enough. Know that there is something lacking if you feel you have done enough. It is manifestation of love which makes you feel that you can do more. Love is continuous and it never ends.
Q: Is it important to get married? How do I know that someone is right for me or not?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have to decide if you want to get married or not. This is something that neither your parents nor your Guru should decide. With whom, that also you decide. This includes decision of both you and the person whom you want to get married to. What I say in this is ‘Choice is yours, blessing is mine’.
Q: What is the aim of life? If soul is eternal then what is life all about?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To know this, you can make a list of what is not aim of your life.
Being sad or making anybody sad is not aim of your life. Only eating, drinking and sleeping is not aim of your life. Though we need all this for living but that is not life.
Q: Do you think it is right to have 33 percent reservation for women?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In my opinion it is best to have 50 percent reservation for women. We should have equal number of males and females in society also. Then only balance is maintained. Imbalance in the ratio will give rise to crime in society. So ratio has to be same. This is the law of nature and we should follow it.
It is best to have 50 percent females in parliament but it is good that 33 percent are there to start with.
Q: What is inner peace?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The thoughtless state, peace and joy that you experience after Sudarshan Kriya is inner peace.
Q: What is Enlightenment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The book ‘Celebrating Silence’ contains little excerpts on many topics. You read that and then we will discuss about it.
Q: What to do with negative thoughts?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is ok to have negative thoughts at times. When you think a negative thought should never arise, then you encourage it. Accept even the most negative though that comes to you. Then you find it is not even there. It is just a dim energy.
“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 For Global Spirituality
