Feel blessed

Break through all the barriers and feel that you Are Blessed. This Is The One And Only Step You Have To take - the rest will all happen.

This deep sense of feeling that "I am blessed" can help you overcome any obstacles in life. It gives you courage and confidence and it will open your lid for grace to be poured in.

Once you realize that you are blessed, then:

• All the complaints disappear
• All the grumbling disappears
• All the insecurities disappear
• A sense of feeling unloved disappears
• Wanting love disappears.

If you don't realize you are blessed, then the doership begins. If you want to make a difference in your life, feel you are blessed. And especially for those on this path of knowledge, there is no reason for you to not feel blessed. So, feel you are blessed. This is the first step towards the Self.

Longing Itself Is Divine

Longing itself is Divine. Longing for worldly things makes you inert. Longing for Infinity fills you with life. When longing dies, inertia sets in. But longing also brings along a sense of pain. To avoid the pain, you try to push away the longing. The skill is to bear the pain of longing and move on. Don't try to find a shortcut to overcome longing. Don't make the longing short - that's why it's called loooonging :).

True longing in itself brings up spurts of bliss. That's why in ancient days longing was kept alive by singing and listening to kathas (stories). When longing transcends relationships, judgments, jealousy and all other negative feelings drop off. It is only with wisdom and self-knowledge that you can transcend relationships. People often think wisdom is devoid of longing - No! Such wisdom is dry. The longing that comes in true wisdom makes life juicier. Divine is certainly juicy! Longing gives you the power to bless. Bless the entire creation. For, the longing in you is God.

Sublimating Lust

Lust is one of the main botherations that many face. Lust grips the mind and tires the body, and dulls the intellect. Lust, when indulged, brings inertia, and when suppressed brings anger. Lust is nothing but primordial un-harnessed energy. The same when harnessed manifests as enthusiasm, sparkle, sharpness of intellect and love.

What are the factors which can sublimate or transform lust into love?

• Playfulness: People who are in the grip of lust cannot be genuinely playful. When you are genuinely playful, then there is no lust there
• Generosity: When you realize that you are here only to give and give, and you feel that you are very generous, lust is sublimated. Lust makes one possessive and not generous
• Moderate to less intake of food
• Remembrance of death
• Divine Romance
• Cold water baths
• Undertaking creative challenges

Seva is savior

The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is to share others's sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness should also grow. When you expand in Knowledge with time, then depression is not possible. Your inner most source is joy.

The way to overcome personal misery is to share universal misery! The way to expand personal joy is to share universal joy. Instead of thinking "what about me?" "what can I gain from this world?" think "what can I do for the world?" When everyone comes from the point of contributing to society, you have a Divine society. We have to educate and culture our individual consciousness in order to expand in time with the Knowledge . . . from "what about me?" to "what can I contribute?"

If you are not having good experiences in meditation, then do more seva -- you will gain merit and your meditation will be deeper. When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, good vibrations and blessings come to you. Seva brings merit; merit allows you to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile.

Confidence with Humility: The Rarest Combination

One of the rarest combinations in the human personality is the co-existence of confidence and humility. Often people who are confident are not humble and people with humility are not confident. Confidence blended with humility is most appreciated by everybody. Question: How can confidence be developed in one who is humble, and humility in one who is confident? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 1. When you see your life from a bigger context of time and space, then you realize your life is nothing. 2. When you are humble, you need to see that you are unique and dear to the Divine, which brings confidence, and when you realize you are insignificant, that brings humility. 3. When you have a Guru, you cannot be arrogant. Your guru gives you confidence and also brings humility in you. The weakness in humility, and the arrogance in confidence are removed. You are left with confidence and humility!

Commitment and Convenience

A commitment can only be felt when it oversteps convenience. That which is convenient, you do not call commitment. If you just go on your convenience, your commitment falls apart causing more inconvenience! If you keep dropping your commitment because it is inconvenient, can you be comfortable? Often, what is convenient does not bring comfort, but gives an illusion of comfort. Also if you are too stuck in commitment, and it is too inconvenient too often, you will be unable to fulfill your commitment and it will only generate frustration. Wisdom is to strike a balance between convenience and commitment because both bring comfort to the body, mind and spirit.

A seeker of knowledge should forget about convenience, so should soldiers, rulers, students, seekers of wealth and all essential service providers. Those who want to be creative and adventurous transcend convenience. Those who are ambitious and have a passion for a goal do not care for convenience. To the wise their commitment is their comfort. Whenever their commitment is shaken, their comfort is also shaken. To the lazy, commitment is torture though it is the best remedy. Commitment will always bring comfort in the long run.

Are there any commitments that can be given up? Yes. Sometimes when you are committed without a vision, you feel stifled when your vision expands. Such commitments made with shortsightedness can be given up. A smaller less important commitment can be given up for a greater commitment. Commitment to the means can be given up for the sake of the commitment to the goals. When your commitment brings misery to many in the long run it can be given up.

Faith is your wealth

Faith is a wealth. If you think, by having faith in God you are doing a favour to God, you are mistaken. Faith gives you strength instantaneously. Faith brings you stability, centeredness, calmness and love. You’re having faith in the Guru or God does not do anything to Guru or God. Your Having Faith Gives You Immediate Strength. Faith is a great wealth; it is a blessing.

If you lack faith, you have to pray for faith. But to pray, you need faith. This is a paradox. (Laughter)

People have faith in the world - but the whole world is just a soap bubble. People have faith in themselves - but they don't know who they are. People think that they have faith in God - but they have no idea of God. If you want to doubt, you have to doubt everything

There are three types of faith: faith in yourself, faith in the world, and faith in God. You need to have faith in yourself -- without faith, you think, “I can't do this. This is not for me. I will never be liberated in this life”. You must have faith in the world. Without this, you can’t move an inch in the world. Banks give you loans having faith that you will pay it back. You deposit money in the bank having faith that it will be returned. If you doubt everything in the world, nothing will happen. The same is the case with faith in the Divine - have faith in the Divine and you will evolve. All these faiths are connected. You must have all three for each to be strong.

Bill : Atheists have faith in themselves and faith in the world, but not in God.          

Sri Sri: They don't have complete faith in themselves. Lack of faith in God, in the world or in the self brings fear. Faith in the world cannot be constant because there are always changes.

Faith makes you full - faithful. If you have faith, you are full.

Rajesh : What is the difference between faith and confidence ?

Sri Sri : Confidence is the result. Faith is the beginning.

Faith in yourself brings freedom.          

Faith in the world brings you peace of mind.

Faith in God evokes love in you.

You can be at peace by having faith in the world and without faith in God, but it is not complete peace. If you have love, there is automatically peace and freedom. People who are extremely disturbed should only have faith in God.