Jan 25, 2011, Bangalore Ashram, India
Q. The more and more my love blossoms for the Divine – the
harder I find it to give away my pains and worries. How can we give garbage to
the most precious ones?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Never mind. Divine will take it. He’ll
snatch it from you if you don’t want to give it. As long as there is
connection, there is attention - there is always give and take. You will always
receive blessings. You will always receive bliss and unwanted things will just
drop off.
And it is nice of you to think that way - it also shows the
level of consciousness. In this level of consciousness, drop this identity of
garbage as part of you or yours. You find something pricking the mind, just see
it as garbage, not yours or someone else’s.
Q. Dear Guruji, I’m feeling so lost in this world. You
always say, ‘Life must be juicy’. But there is no juice anywhere. In every
work, there seems to be complete emptiness. Don’t know what to do, where to go?
Please guide.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are in the right place. Just be
here. Is it not juicy here? Is it dry and empty? Of course, it’s hollow and
empty when you sit and meditate. But now, you see it’s so celebratory and fun.
No one can ever say its dry here.
Look at everyone and the smile on their face. Yes, when you
want to take something from the world, the world will appear to be completely
dull and lack. But when you want to contribute, the picture changes
drastically!
Q.Is peace a state of mind in which no desire or craving
etc. arise at all or they arise and subside very fast. How to attain peace
permanently?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you drop this wanting permanency,
there will be peace.
Q. The soul takes staying forever and takes birth till
getting moksha. Then, who lives in hell?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you want to explore hell now? I
have never been there, so I can’t tell you what it is.
Q. What is unconditional love and how can we love a person
unconditionally, and when can we do that?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you don’t want anything in
return, that is called unconditional love. Not even a thanks or a sense of
gratitude or gratefulness. A lot of times people help others but these little
expectations are there and that is what bugs them and pulls them down. That is also
a condition.
Unconditional love comes naturally as your consciousness
blossoms. You can’t force it on yourself or cultivate it. I don’t know how to
cultivate it. It’s simply a phenomenon. When your consciousness expands, rises,
then, what comes out of it is unconditional love. You say, I’m here for you and
I want nothing from you. This comes to you and it has come to you with some people
but with many others, you have some expectations.
Q. Guruji, how do we handle situations where we feel we have
been blamed unfairly?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just with a smile. In this world,
there is place for ignorance also. If someone is blaming you, it is out of
their ignorance. And if it is not ignorance, it is mal-intention or jealousy
and I would club all these emotions as part of ignorance. So, the best is you move
on and don’t get stuck because you have no way to control other’s opinion and
you don’t need to - everyone can have their own opinion. The best formula is to
educate and ignore. You have to; if someone says, you are a thief, you can’t
say, let him have his opinion. You educate him. If they believe it or not it’s
up to them. So, keep this as a formula in every relationship. Educate and
ignore. If you just ignore in the beginning, you will only exhibit arrogance.
Educate is also a little strong word. You can say inform and ignore, which is
even better. In education, there is more effort. In anger, people say, I will
teach him a lesson.
Q. Sometimes the inability to plan in advance and the resulting
chaos is passed on as divine chaos. How to tackle such chaotic people?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The person who has created chaos wants
a cover and in the cover, he will always say to save his face and position. He
will bring up many justifications. So, you understand that position
- may be you’d be doing the same thing when you are in that position.
Don’t depend on what people say. Most of our problems begin when we lock on to
their words and not their feeling or where they stand. A mother says to the
child, get lost and she doesn’t really mean it but the words that come are very
powerful and if the children take on the words, then, the child gets into trauma
unnecessarily. I would say you should see beyond words.
Your communication should be more than verbal – it should transcend
the verbal communication. Even if someone says all nasty things to you, can you
just be grounded and keep your mind at calm. Then, you have achieved something.
You are able to connect to people beyond their words.
Don’t expect that they should also connect. It’s always one
way. I tell you communication is always one-sided. You have the skill, you can
communicate and you can receive it in that sense. You do not worry about what
their reactions are, what they blabber.
They usually say all these blame games are blabbering and
you get caught up in this blame game. Someone blames, you get caught up in this
blame game. You stand up and say - I have the master key and I know which
button to press and how people will react and how things would change. You
should have this confidence – the soul, the spirit in you is the master key. It
can turn around the situation, the way you want it. You should have that faith.
It may not happen five times but sixth time it will happen. It all depends on
your conviction and persistence. And don’t bother about what they say.
Q: Could you please explain how consciousness is stronger than
matter?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Well, in the pressure cooker, when you
are cooking, when there is more pressure – how is it built up? Water vapor! And
is that more powerful than water or not? So, subtler you go, the more powerful
the things are. Now, this thing (Guruji shows the small silver cymbals in the
hands) has silver molecules. When you break the silver molecules down, you get
into atomic particles, and, when you break them you get sub-atomic molecules,
which is minuter than the minutest. Are they not powerful? Which is powerful –
this cymbal is powerful or the atom is powerful? Atom is powerful.
The subtler we go, it becomes more and more powerful.
Though, everything is made up of consciousness. This entire universe is made up
of consciousness, when you become subtler and subtler, they become more
powerful.
Today I was watching a research done with water in Japan by
a gentleman. He kept a little water in a bottle and took a photograph. Later he
has used the same water for prayer and then after prayer he has took a
photograph. You can see the impact of prayer - the subtle thought vibration has
gone into the water. It’s obviously visible.
He took a bottle of water and kept blaming it and then took
a microscopic picture of it. With another bottle, he said some pleasing words
and you can see the difference.
In India, this process is called Abhimantra. You take
a pot of water, place your hand on top and then chant mantras. The mantras are
supposed to be absorbed into the water. It is an old tradition in India. When
you go to any holy man or saint, you take a pot of water and ask them to bless
the water. Among the sindhi community, they do this a lot.
This Abhimantra - mantra chanting on the water - has
a huge impact on the water, because 70% of our body is water. In the Rudrabhisheka,
water is made to fall on a crystal lingam while a particular chanting is being
done and then it flows down. That water is very charged and it helps to uplift
the atmosphere.
Now it is visible in the microscopic images, the changes
that happen by these practices.
Similarly a gentleman from Russia came and conducted an
experiment in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu when they were doing the Aarti.
He took the pictures and found that all the negative ions in the atmosphere
suddenly disappeared; they turned into positive ions. It is the positive ions
which bring changes. All these things are meant to create the positive ions; to
bring the required changes. The same is the case with the use of fire. During
fire ceremonies, when they put the mantra with the intention, there is a
qualitative change that happens in the atmosphere.
Q: Dear Guruji, I believe in this: As we sow, so we reap.
But many instances we see that a person is going through bad times, even if we
don’t see any major fault done by him or her. Why it happens?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Karma! The ways of karma are
unfathomable. Karma is like an ocean. This is not one lifetime. In many
lifetimes, we have done so many actions and they all have repercussions. Which
karma has sprouted from which seed and what fruit this karma will give is very
difficult to pin point. That is why it is said ‘gahana karmanogati’ . Unfathomable
are the ways of karma. Because it is not just one lifetime, many lifetimes, we
have done many things and we don’t know which karma sprouts when. That’s why
don't worry about the karma, just be active and follow your conscience.
Act with conscience!
Q: How to take full responsibility for your actions without
feeling doership?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are taking responsibility,
just take the responsibility. Doership means brooding over the consequences.
Whatever has happened, the moment you take responsibility, you
are empowered. You come to the present. You have already accepted the
consequences.
When you are in action, don’t get into this philosophy of
doership or non-doership else the mind gets confused. When you act, you act
hundred per cent. When you are acting hundred per cent, suddenly you will
realize I am not doing, it is all happening. Non- doership is an experience;
it is not something you try to do or achieve.
© The Art of Living Foundation
