14 march 2010
Q: Apart from the joy one gets in service, is there anything else also that one gets?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You get what you call good luck. Doing service increases your luck. But doing service in order to enhance luck will be cheating. You do service because you cannot live without that.
Do whatever you can in your capacity.
Q: I often talk to you in heart. How do I satisfy myself that my words have reached you?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My job is not to satisfy you but to make you restless to get the Highest knowledge. In that restlessness you achieve awareness.
Q: I cannot think of moving away from the ‘Art of Living’. Is it attachment or restlessness of soul?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Once you have learnt a language and started to converse in it, you cannot forget that language. Same way once you have acquired knowledge, there is no question of losing it. It gets solidified in you.
Ancient people of India were so intelligent that they kept Laxmi(goddess of wealth) on lotus, and Saraswati(goddess of knowledge) on stone. Lotus does not remain stable on the surface of water and it moves as the water moves. But a stone is solid and stable. Once you get knowledge, it becomes part of you, not only for this lifetime but also for lifetimes to come.
Q: Is religion necessary to get deep into spirituality?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Religion is different from communism. Being religious means being compassionate, honest and not treating others as you do not want to be treated as.
Q: I feel fear of you leaving me. What can I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When Earth, air, Sun, stars cannot leave you, then how can I do that!
Q: Does time and mind have any relation?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should read the book ‘Celebrating Silence’ or ‘An intimate note to the sincere seeker’.
Q: How do I know that I have acquired knowledge?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How do you know if you have some pain in the body? How do you know that you love somebody? How do you know you are feeling fear? It is inbuilt. Same way you get to know. When you get knowledge joy, happiness, cleanliness, sweetness, sincerity, integrity, all reflect by itself.
Q; How should be a disciple’s relation with the master?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What relation you want to have with yourself? A relation in which you are natural and without any hesitation.
Q: What is the difference between rest and laziness?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What you get after doing work is rest. Doing nothing and keep lying down is not rest. You feel restless in this state.
Q: Present moment is inevitable. In spite of this knowledge the mind oscillates between past and present. What to do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Is it better than before? Once you are here it will continue to get better.
“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
