Understanding an atheist - I

 

It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as having a form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited so some people prefer to be atheists. Atheism is not a reality; it is just a matter of convenience. 

When you have a spirit of inquiry or when you search for truth, atheism falls apart. With a spirit of inquiry, you cannot deny something that you cannot disprove. An atheist denies God without first disproving God’s existence. In order to disprove God, you must have enormous knowledge and when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot disprove it. 

To say that something does not exist, you must know about the whole universe. So you can never be one hundred percent atheistic. An atheist is only a believer who is sleeping. For a person to say, “I don’t believe in anything,” means he must believe in himself. So he believes in a self that he does not even know. 

An atheist can never be sincere because sincerity needs depth and an atheist refuses to go to his depth. The deeper he goes, he finds a void, a field of all possibilities, and he has to accept that there are many secrets he does not know. He would then need to acknowledge his ignorance – which he refuses to do – because the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts doubting his atheism. 

A doubt-free atheist is nearly impossible. An atheist can never be sincere and doubt-free. When an atheist realizes his ignorance, what does he do? Where does he go? Does he go to a guru? What does a guru do to him?

Making the most of a holiday

 

Rest and happiness make a real holiday. Often people go on a holiday and they come back tired and tanned, needing a few more days to recuperate! A real holiday is one that energizes you and does not wear you out. Nothing energizes you like wisdom, so remember: 

• Doubts and complaints are impediments to rest. 
• The moment you set out on your holiday, know that it has begun. Often people expect to find a pinnacle of happiness. Enjoy every moment of the journey as children do; do not wait for the destination. 
• If you cannot be happy in one place, you cannot be happy in any other place. If you do not know how to row one boat, you will not be able to row any other boat. 
• To get maximum satisfaction out of your holiday, you need to do something creative and to engage in seva. Do not ever forget to make meditation and prayer a part of your holiday. 

If your days are holy, then every day is a holiday!

Dissolving into one Divinity

 

When a river meets the ocean, the river no longer remains a river. It becomes the ocean. A drop of the ocean is part of the ocean. 

In the same way, the moment a devotee meets or surrenders to the Divine, the devotee becomes God. When the river meets the ocean, it recognizes that it is the ocean from the beginning to the end. Similarly, the individual “I... I...” dissolves into one Divinity. 

Now some of you may ask, what about backwaters? Sometimes the ocean goes into the river to greet it. Sometimes it seems that the ocean is pushing back the river. Similarly, the Divine puts questions and doubts in the mind or provides an amazing experience to bring you back home.

How to handle doubts

 

Doubt cannot come where there is a sense of closeness. Doubt needs distance to appear. You never doubt something that is dear to you, close to you. The moment you doubt something, it is no longer dear to you; a distance has come. You may doubt yourself, but you do not doubt that which is yours. Self-doubt is a lack of closeness to oneself. Belongingness, closeness and intimacy are all antidotes for doubt.

A doubt is a gray area. Gray area is something which is neither white nor black. Now, how to solve a doubt? Accept a doubt as either black or white. See your doubt as white and there is no doubt. See the doubt as black and accept it. Either way, you accept it and move on. See someone as either honest or dishonest and accept him. Then your mind is quiet. Then you are not in the gray area of doubt. Have conviction - “He is dishonest and yet he is still part of me. I accept him as he is”. 

That’s it. Finished. Doubt is an unstable state with footing neither on this shore nor that shore. From there tension arises. One way or the other, take a direction and regain your footing. Have you noticed that you usually doubt only the things that are positive in your life? Negative things you don’t doubt. You doubt a person’s honesty, and you believe in his dishonesty. 

When someone is angry with you, you have no doubt about his anger. But when someone says he loves you, a doubt creeps in, does he really love me? When you are depressed, do you ever think Am I really depressed? No, you take your depression as a fact. Yet when you are happy, you doubt – Am I really happy, is this really what I wanted You doubt that you are capable, but do you ever doubt that you are incapable? 

See this tendency to doubt the positive things in your life. Put doubt in its proper place and doubt the doubts. Doubt the negative and put your trust more in the positive.

Meditation, pranayama and prayer eliminates doubts

 

When a child starts becoming aware of its own body, it starts asking more and more questions. And when the body matures into adolescent stage, there are ever so many questions that reel in the mind. Doubt is that state of mind where it’s not fully alive. Answers cannot satisfy doubt. Hearing and seeing cannot eliminate doubt. 

Only prana can eliminate doubt. When a doubt arises in your mind, know that your prana has gone down. The life in you is dull. The wick in the lamp is going down. On the day you do pranayama or deep breathing, you feel so alive. Every cell in your body is alive, and then there is no doubt in the mind. You feel so wonderful because of this. There is no split in your consciousness. 

Doubt is the split. A portion is awake and another major portion is asleep – the unfulfilled. And when the prana is high, you are so fulfilled. So when you have doubts, do more sadhana or practice of deep breathing. This is called shraddha or faith, the opposite of doubt. It starts with self-doubt doubting the self, doubting everything in the world and doubting the Divine. 

Moments of doubt are like clouds. The clouds do come, but they come and disappear. If you do not cooperate or engage with them, they will simply come and go. If you shake hands with them and flow with them, then it will take a longer time to overcome them. Truth will always stand out and win in the end. Doubts may come, and this is quite possible because of the company that we keep.

There are three types of faith in the world (being Hindu, Muslim or Christian, is not types of faith). There are only three types of people who have faith, i.e. there are three types of faith – in the divine, in the universe and in the world.  

There are people who just believe or have faith in the material world. You have to believe in the world. You do not know everything about this world and you believe in what you do not know. There is no need to believe what you know. You have to believe what you do not know. You do not know about anybody. You do not know about yourself, your wife, children, husband, your parents, or anybody. Do you think you know anything about them? If you think you do, you are mistaken. You know something about them, partially. 

Faith in your Self, faith in the world and faith in something we do not know, the Divine. You can start from anywhere. Any one point will lead to all three; all three come together. When doubts arise in you, keep a fast, meditate, do pranayama and prayers, and see the shift that happens and the doubts vanish. There’s a shift in your consciousness.

Letting go of the fruit of action is the way to attain the fruit

 

How to be centered when there is a doubt or conflict? In Narada Bhakti Sutras, Narada says, “Karmanyapi Sanyasyati” - take a break, not just from activity, but also from the fruit of the activity.

You can take a break from the fruit of the action when you let go of the result and become totally centered in the action itself. It will bring deep rest from doubts and conflicts in the mind. One who is not concerned about the outcome, is centered in the action itself and reposes in the Self, goes beyond the dualities, beyond conflicts.

This doesn’t mean that you should stop acting. One who is wise, who has attained knowledge, and experienced divine love, is beyond all actions yet he continues to engage himself in action. You can transcend only what you have gone through. You can let go only what you have. So to let go of the fruit of the action. You need to have the fruit and to have the fruit, you need to act! This is so beautiful.

Sri Krishna used the fruit of the action to motivate Arjuna to fight. He told Arjuna that if you die in the battle, you will attain heaven and if you win, you will rule the world. When you have laziness, you need motivation to do something and the expected fruit of action acts as the motivating factor. But once you start acting, let go of the expected result. Just focus on the work in hand.

Why is there restlessness, despite being centered?

In every seeker’s life there comes a time when the heart is at unease, and there is restlessness. In the West, it is known as the “dark day of the soul”. There comes a time when satvik shakti (positive energy) is less and rajoguna and tamoguna are high, that leads to the restlessness. 

There are three kinds of taap (penance) and one such taap is known as adhyatmic taap (spiritual misery). Yet it is for a short while. Therefore satsang is very important, especially when you don’t feel like doing it. 

Once in twelve years a lack in spirituality comes up. There will arise a doubt on the self, the path and the Guru. This is what the scriptures say. Therefore the Kumbh festival takes place once in twelve years and all the saints get together to clear all their sins. This tradition is very old. A place where seekers do satsang and where Vedas are recited- kaliyug never comes there.

Change the Way You See The World

There are basically two types of attitudes or two kinds of people in the world:

1. Those who think that all people are intrinsically bad.

2. Those who think that basically everyone is good deep inside, even if their behaviour is a little bad; the bad behaviour is only at the periphery.

The first kind of people cannot trust anybody, and the second type of people does not doubt anyone too much. Do you see the difference? If you think intrinsically everyone is good, then your doubt is only superficial. You don’t deeply doubt anyone, because you know there is goodness in everybody. You believe in the goodness of everybody.

The other set of people have this big issue of trust because they think intrinsically everybody is bad. Even if they appear to be good outside, deep inside they are not good. This attitude—this assumption in your mind—causes you to not trust anybody. Wisdom is to see that negativity is only at the circumference.

It is so interesting to see that if you find something wrong in a person, you think that is the true nature of that person.

I want to share one incident with you. Last year, I went for a big satsang in one of the northern cities of India. At the satsang, there was this notorious person who came in, climbed on to the stage and started moving around. All the journalists and everyone else said, “This guy is a criminal, how did he get access to Gurudev? How is he standing with Gurudev?”

This man was so notorious; he would say, “I can make a call and stop any airplane.”
He would just tell any taxi driver to get off the car and he would take the taxi and go. He was someone with a big criminal record. So when he came on to the stage, everyone was wondering, “How did Gurudev allow this?”

You know, this same person, who has not done any course or anything, three months later came to the Bangalore Ashram on Shivratri to meet me. He took my picture out of his pocket, and said, “Gurudev, since I kept this picture in my pocket, I am not able to do my work. What has happened? What have you done? My life is all topsy-turvy; my whole life has changed. There is so much joy here! Now I want to take this joy to my state, and to every home.”

This is the same man who was considered to be the most anti-social element by everyone. Even journalists are afraid of him. Journalists, usually, are not afraid of anybody. But they said, “This guy is horrible.” 

You know, how we perceive people, is how the world becomes. In Sanskrit, there is a proverb that goes, Yatha Drishti, Tatha Srishti. As you see the world, that is how the world becomes for you. If you see the world as full of horrible people, in your experience, only such type of things will happen. If you see the world as full of good people, even in the worst criminal, you will see there is a very nice person hiding deep inside him. You will recognize that.

So, don’t judge people, or label them as bad people or good people. There is only one divinity that expresses itself in so many ways, in so many people, in so many moods, and in so many colours. It is one light. If we can recognize this, then we will have such deep peace in our hearts, such trust and faith that nothing whatsoever can shake us.

A seeker is one who should know that, intrinsically, every human being is a spark of God, so they cannot be bad. There is no bad human being created by the Creator. Take it from me – no bad person at all. Everyone has light in them. Somewhere it is hidden, somewhere it is sleepy, and somewhere it is more in action.

So these are the two paths. See in your mind which side are you going. Are you going towards trust, or towards doubt? If you are going on the side of disliking others or disliking yourself, then it is time to give a shift to it, and say, “No, intrinsically everybody is good.”

Making a difference by fostering a sense of belongingness

Turn to the person next to you and tell that person, ‘I don’t trust you.’ Did you do it? To trust someone can be difficult, it is easier to doubt still we are unable to do even that.

Let’s do an exercise. Just close your eyes for thirty seconds and imagine everybody telling you, ‘I don’t trust you.’ Wherever you go, everyone looks at you with suspicion, you go to the supermarket, everyone considers you a thief. Okay, now open your eyes. How did you feel; bad, frustrated? Did some feel a sense of liberation, felt good about it?

Look, we don’t like it when people do not trust us; it doesn’t feel good, right? All the energy that we build up around us is full of tension, right? Unpleasant vibrations being produced and then we walk around with such a vibration which says, ‘I don’t trust you, I don’t trust you.’

If you go to the villages you do not see such a thing. Go to a village, you go to a rural area, everyone will say, ‘Come, come; welcome, welcome!’ A sense of belongingness, this is India, ‘Bharat’, where there is a sense of belongingness. The uniqueness of India you can see in the villages. This warmth and belongingness is spirituality.

Where has the word ‘aatmiyata’ (oneness, belongingness) come from? It has come from ‘aadhyatma’ (spirituality). ‘Aadhyatma’ means that which is connected to the spirit. Sense of belongingness is a unique feature of India.

Now observe, has life improved or worsened? In the home, distance is increasing, from mother and father, between brother and sister, sense of belongingness is dying away. Is that true or not? Then there is only sadness in life, life becomes dull, insipid. As life loses its flavor, greed increases. Dullness gives rise to greed. As dullness spreads in life, what then? Accumulate, accumulate, accumulate; how much to accumulate? You will die one day after having accumulated all that wealth in the bank and the children keep fighting over it and court cases happen. All life was spent in accumulating wealth in the bank, and one day you died without having done anything else. And you made the children fight on account of it! There is no love among children even while the parents are alive. They are busy accumulating money. They will cause fights even after death, this is the situation.

The Indian scriptures have analyzed all this so thoroughly. Whatever you have earned, set aside twenty percent for society, twenty percent for yourself, twenty percent for emergencies – emergency funds, twenty percent for children, one fifth for your wife, one fifth for your work, and spend one-fifth on personal expenses. These rules have been laid out. It’s a very beautiful way. If you look there is so much taxation, nobody gives more than that. Similarly, our scriptures have placed a limit on everything. Not that hundred percent should be saved for children, no! If you have to save money for children, set aside only so much. The children will earn the rest on their own once they stand on their own feet. That is what has been said. Make children earn money rather than store everything and give them and make them lazy and useless.

So it’s very difficult when we say, ‘I don’t trust’ and it’s difficult to feel that nobody trusts you. And we walk around creating such a vibration – ‘I don’t trust you, I don’t trust you,’ and you become so unattractive. We don’t want this to happen in our country, don’t you think so? We need to have a wave of belongingness, sense of freedom, trust.

You know the nature of doubt? Doubt is always about something positive. If someone tells you, ‘I love you so much’, you will say, ‘Really?’ If someone says, ‘I hate you’, you won’t ask, ‘Really?’ If someone asks you, ‘Are you happy?’ You will say, ‘Oh, I’m not sure.’ Someone asks, ‘Are you unhappy,’ you are ready to keep a long face and say, ‘I’m not happy.’ You say, ‘Everything is fine,’ but from the face you can make out nothing is fine.

It’s a useless dialogue that we have on a day-to-day basis. Someone asks, ‘how are you?’ Answer is ‘Very well.’ If you look at their face, they don’t look well. But they say they are well! So we doubt happiness. We are never sure about happiness. But we are so sure about our depression. You are depressed then you do not doubt it. ‘Am I depressed or not?’ No one says that. You don’t doubt your weaknesses; you always doubt your capabilities. Nobody doubts their weaknesses.

Similarly you doubt the honesty of someone but you never doubt their dishonesty. Someone is very honest but on one occasion may have been dishonest. But you are sure about their dishonesty. This is not India. In India we are taught to honour even a dishonest person who is teaching us something by falling into a ditch.

Such awareness is unique to India, something unique! But we are losing it very fast. You know who feels insecure? One who does not have sense of belongingness or one who does not have a guide or someone who is there to say, ‘I am there for you. I am there.’ One who can give this confidence is missing. In this country there used to be a Guru or a Purohit (spiritual adviser) in every village. The elderly would give that confidence, ‘You move forward, I will watch over you.’

Nowadays, so many suicides are happening in the IITs for this very reason. They are asked to do pranayama and meditation, and they say, ‘Oh, this is religious; I am not going to do it.’ While the world is adopting our culture; Harvard University, Columbia University and other universities abroad are saying we need these values. Here in our country we start putting barriers saying these are religious. What is there in religion? Doing Yoga, pranayama, meditation, this is all good. It will build the energy; it will help the person from inside. The mental, spiritual energy, the spirit becomes alive. The thought of committing suicide will not occur at all. The whole atmosphere will be positive and full of energy.

At least do one thing. Wherever you go, at least smile more. And if you find somebody who looks down, face looks tired, sad, just talk to them a little. ‘What is it I can do for you?’ We should do only that which we can. If they expect you to do something you cannot do, just beg their forgiveness. If someone asks you to treat them, you will say, ‘I am not a doctor.’ But at least do what you can. Can you do that? We have to create a divine beautiful society.

Drop all selfishness. Whatever we earn in life, we have to set aside two to three percent. There are so many slums in Delhi, there is so much work to be done, and so many people are drinking alcohol, bickering and fighting. Can we do something for them? If we all gather our energy, if we divide Delhi in zones, go to different locations, areas, and create an atmosphere where people are happy, they are meditating, they are doing satsang, they are singing , they are dancing, you will find a huge difference; a change. We have seen it happening in many, many places. I am very confident we can gather our energy and instil spiritual or humanitarian values. It is very easy to give away food and clothes, but creating a force within them by which they can maintain their smile, sense of belongingness - we will be making a huge difference.

Change the way you see the world

Do you believe in the goodness of people?

There are basically two types of attitudes or two kinds of people in the world. Those who that all people are intrinsically bad. And those who think that basically everyone is good deep inside, even if their behaviour is a little bad; the bad behaviour is only at the periphery.

The first kind of people cannot trust anybody, and the second type of people does not doubt anyone too much. Do you see the difference? If you think intrinsically everyone is good, then your doubt is only superficial. You don’t deeply doubt anyone, because you know there is goodness in everybody. You believe in the goodness of everybody.

The other set of people have this big issue of trust because they think intrinsically everybody is bad. Even if they appear to be good outside, deep inside they are not good. This attitude—this assumption in your mind—causes you to not trust anybody.

Wisdom is to be able to see that negativity is only at the circumference.

It is so interesting to see that if you find something wrong in a person, you think that is the true nature of that person.

I want to share one incident with you. Last year, I went for a big Satsang in one of the northern cities of India. At the satsang, there was this notorious person who came in, climbed on to the stage and started moving around. All the journalists and everyone else said, “This guy is a criminal, how did he get access to Gurudev? How is he standing with Gurudev?”

This man was so notorious; he would say, “I can make a call and stop any airplane.”
He would just tell any taxi driver to get off the car and he would take the taxi and go. He was someone with a big criminal record. So when he came on to the stage, everyone was wondering, “How did Gurudev allow this?”

You know, this same person, who has not done any course or anything, three months later came to the Bangalore Ashram on Shivratri to meet me. He took my picture out of his pocket, and said, “Gurudev, since I kept this picture in my pocket, I am not able to do my work. What has happened? What have you done? My life is all topsy-turvy; my whole life has changed. There is so much joy here! Now I want to take this joy to my state, and to every home.”

This is the same man who was considered to be the most anti-social element by everyone. Even journalists are afraid of him. Journalists, usually, are not afraid of anybody. But they said, “This guy is horrible.”

The world is as you see it.

You know, how we perceive people, is how the world becomes. In Sanskrit, there is a proverb that goes, Yatha Drishti, Tatha Srishti. As you see the world, that is how the world becomes for you. If you see the world as full of horrible people, in your experience, only such type of things will happen. If you see the world as full of good people, even in the worst criminal, you will see there is a very nice person hiding deep inside him. You will recognize that.

So, don’t judge people, or label them as bad people or good people. There is only one Divinity that expresses itself in so many ways, in so many people, in so many moods, and in so many colors. It is one light. If we can recognize this, then we will have such deep peace in our hearts, such trust and faith that nothing whatsoever can shake us.

Everyone has light in them.

A seeker is one who should know that, intrinsically, every human being is a spark of God, so they cannot be bad. There is no bad human being created by the Creator. Take it from me – no bad person at all. Everyone has light in them. Somewhere it is hidden, somewhere it is sleepy, and somewhere it is more in action.

So these are the two paths. See in your mind which side are you going. Are you going towards trust, or towards doubt? If you are going on the side of disliking others or disliking yourself, then it is time to give a shift to it, and say, “No, intrinsically everybody is good.”

Where to get the courage to face fears

Know that you are not alone, and there is a universal power that loves you, and is with you. When you remember that you are being loved very dearly, fear vanishes. All your troubles begin because you don’t believe you are being loved very dearly. That is where the whole problem starts, and you start behaving in ways that pushes everybody away. You create misery for yourself, because you doubt yourself. Am I good enough? Am I being loved? Does God love me or not? Do people love me or not? These sort of doubts.

Just take it for granted that you are loved and liked, even if you’re a buffoon. Even if you are a clown, you are loved and enjoyed. People like you however you are.
Just move on, don’t sit and spend too much time worrying about yourself, examining yourself, and re-examining. Just take up a commitment and do what you need to do, and take deep rest with dispassion. 

Three things are essential, Passion, Dispassion and Compassion.

When you have passion, you don’t worry. When you don’t have passion, that is when you sit and worry. Hesitation comes when you lack passion. Without passion, life loses all its charm and you slip into depression. Passion is essential; invoke the passion. 

Not only passion, dispassion is also essential. People tell you that you should be passionate, but I say you should also have dispassion. Dispassion is often thought to be a depressed state of affairs. People look very depressed and think this is dispassion. This is a completely wrong understanding. 

Dispassion makes you centered. It keeps your smile and equanimity. It keeps the intellect sane and emotions balanced. When you have dispassion you will stop complaining about anything to anybody. The world is the way it is, you won’t complain about people or situations, and you won’t complain about yourself. That is dispassion. 

Many times we complain about others, including the ones we love the most. We make the other person defensive, or make them give explanations. It is such a headache! 

Initially I used to get swayed by this. People would say, ‘You don’t look at me’, or ‘You don’t talk to me’, or ‘Are you angry with me’, my goodness! These days I do not answer such questions. If you think so, let it be. So be it. Never mind! When you get beaten up a little bit by your own emotions, that makes you strong somewhere. 

It’s all just a matter of wanting attention. You give attention and they are alright. Just like babies – if you don’t attend to them they throw tantrums just to draw your attention. Have you noticed this? When you have guests at home and you are busy talking to them, that is when the children want to show you their paintings. They have already shown it to you ten times. But when you are having an important discussion, they come and disturb you! You wonder that this child was quiet, what happened all of a sudden! 

We have not grown up from that stage, we always want attention from people. And for this attention we create tension for the others. 

So with dispassion, you neither have attention deficiency, nor do you have any tension. You won’t sit and crave for attention. Dispassion is essential. 

One more thing that is really beneficial is compassion. When you have compassion it propels you, it motivates you. When you have compassion for those who do wrong, you don’t feel hatred or bitterness towards them. Compassion greases passion and dispassion, and balances them out.

There is hope for every soul, for every human being, to live unconditional love

Faith and Doubt

Faith brings totality in you. It pulls together all the loose ends of your consciousness. It integrates your whole personality. Doubt scatters you. Doubt destroys you.

Worries Washed Away

You can do this as an experiment: when you are very worried or tense, just sit by a flowing river or gushing water and just keep looking at the water. You know, within few moments you feel as though like a magnetic pull, that your mind is being pulled in the direction of the flow of water...and in a short while all that anguish, delusion, whatever you had, [with] the flowing water it all flows away. You become fresh.

Influencing All Levels

When you meditate, you are not just bringing a harmony within yourself, but you are influencing the subtle layers of creation, the subtle bodies of all the different levels of existence in the creation.

The Human Body

There is hope for every soul, for every human being, to live unconditional love. That is why human body is so precious---because in this body you have the ability to erase all the unwanted negative impressions.

“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

Don't be a football of other people's opinions

Continued from the previous post from France..

30th July 2010.

Q: Why does a desire arise? Where does it come from? What is the purpose?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: All desires have got one goal, and that is happiness. If a desire brings unhappiness, it has not reached its goal. The goal of desires is to bring happiness. So, that is the purpose.

Where does it come from? It comes when you are not aware of your Being, your Self. Desire is your wanting to stay in the moment. Desire is to experience joy. Joy is only in the moment. And when you are in the moment, there is no desire. When you are joyful, when you are satisfied, there is no burning desire at that time.

Q: Why is it that people who are not on the same path don’t understand us and take it against us? I don’t understand.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let them talk. So what? Take it. It doesn’t matter. We don’t insist that everyone talk only good. By their talking, you don’t become negative.

So, don’t be football of others’ opinion. Let anybody say anything. It doesn’t matter. When you are clear in your heart, and what you do is right, what you want to do is right, you just do it. What do you say? (Clapping from the audience.)

Q: Please can you teach me how to be connected to the faith?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Trying to connect to the faith is trying to connect to the air around you. ‘I want to be connected to the air.’ My dear, you can’t be but! You are already connected. Relax.

Why do you try to connect to air? Are you getting what I am saying? Doubt as much as you can. I would say, you should doubt as much as you can. A point comes when you no longer can doubt, the truth will stand up. Truth can never be destroyed by doubt. Do you understand what I am saying? Truth will stand. Doubt can cover it, delay it for some time, drag on for some time, but it can never destroy the truth.

Therefore, when people have doubts, I say, ‘doubt as much as you can. One day those doubts will fall off.’ If you are lucky, it will fall off immediately the way it comes. Unlucky ones hang on to it for a little longer time. That’s all. Unlucky ones will carry the garbage on their back for some long distance. Lucky ones know that they carry garbage and throw it right there. Two steps, and they drop their garbage. Otherwise one carries on the shoulder for a long distance.

Catch more from the same conversation in the next post..

“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

Faith which can withstand doubt is authentic

Q: Guruji, in your company we feel as if Vrindavan has been created here and now only. But when we move out in the world, entanglements cling on to us again. How to be free from that?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Keep coming again and again. Have you noticed that the entanglements do not cling on to you with the same intensity as it used to be earlier? That grip is loosened. Gradually, when you become more centered, those worldly things do not distract you anymore.

Q: How do we differentiate between devotion and blind faith?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Blind faith is that which do not give you any positive result. In blind faith you move on with notions that you have heard from people here and there, and carry similar hopes with you. Either you are deluded or you are there for fulfillment of any strong desire or craving holding on to you.

Q: You often say we all are like your hairs and you come to know even if one hair is stretched. I have been pulling your hairs since many days, but it seems as if you haven’t noticed it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (With a naughty laughter) yes, some of the hairs seem to have been uprooted!
Everything has its own time. If you pray and wish all your prayers get fulfilled today itself, it is not possible. Have patience. (Making a gesture with his hands where right hand is facing audience and second is slanted downwards, and both palms shown above) Have you seen hands of all Gods and Goddesses like this? Same for Laxmi, Vishnu…Do you know its meaning? Have patience, I am giving. This is one meaning, when you need something. Another meaning is – come, surrender and you find there is no need to be afraid of anything whatsoever. (Right palm raised and facing audience) This is called abhaya mudra. Abhaya means without any fear. (Left hand slanting downwards with palm facing sky) And this is called Varada mudra which indicates - I am giving you whatever you want.
I don’t mind even if you ask for more.

Q: If one rotten apple spoils others in the basket then how can we handful of people can make this world a healthy and safe place to live in? There are little more bad people than good ones in the world.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is not the case in reality. There are more good people in the world than there are bad ones. There is more love in the world than hatred. There is more happiness than misery. But it seems the other way around. Don’t blame the society. You have a responsibility and you carry on fulfilling that. Continue spreading satsang (company of truth). Same was done by Mahatama Gandhi. Before independence in India, people were so depressed thinking they would be enslaved forever. So what did Mahatama Gandhi do? He started to have satsangs across various places in the country. People got courage from that. Same way we need to spread that a wave of satsang and awareness, not that of hatred.

Q: Guruji, you can do anything. So why don’t you erase all corruption and violence from the world and make it perfect?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (Jokingly) This is a very clever way that you have adopted to skip! If I do everything, then what would be left for you to do! Why have you come in this world at this time? You also have a role to play. It will be a monologue if only one person plays all the characters in a play. I haven’t come here to do that. I am not here even for dialogue but I am here for multi - logue (Laughter). Everyone should play his/her own role.
Have you heard the story of the squirrel? When Sri Rama was building setu with his army of monkeys, a very little squirrel was putting sand in the water. Some members of the team laughed at how much this little squirrel could contribute. But that squirrel was very happy playing his role in Sri Rama’s army. He was happy thinking that he also has his job to do. Sri Rama felt very happy and blessed the squirrel moving his hand at his back. Because of his small size, only three fingers of Sri Rama covered his whole body, and he got mark of three lines on his back. This can be a fictitious tale but the message is - we also have a responsibility even if God is doing everything. Whatever we can do, we do that.
Responsibility is that which we can do.

Q: Guruji, what should a devotee do if his faith is shaken?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Shaking of faith and devotion sends you a message about the strength of your faith. What is the need to be afraid of? Shake it as vigorously as you can. I would say only that faith is authentic which stays even after shaking. This is job of the master– to shake the faith and let it grow stronger. Guru doesn’t build your faith but he shakes your faith. This is the strategy moving from ancient times. When the faith shakes, it reveals that it can be made stronger. If it is authentic, anyway it will grow strong. In the whole process you realize, this is all mere a play of mind. Faith and devotion were always present. Devotion towards truth can never disappear. This is maya(illusion) of the mind which makes you feel it is shaken.

Q: Is there any formula to have peace at home?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have asked a very difficult question! But its answer is very simple. You keep on smiling irrespective of what happens around you. If noise is there, accept it. If somebody is shouting, let it be for some time. Try considering the whole atmosphere of your home as if you are watching any television serial. Do you get upset when you watch television? Some people were telling me that same arguments take place on television which happens at their homes also. Think as if some live show is going on at home. And only a camera is missing. When you remember this thing and see yourself as the director and not actor, then at least you will have peace in your heart. And up to what time others will play their role? They will be tired in sometime. All this trouble is in wake state, neither in dream nor in sleep. God has granted you few hours of sleep and some other routine activities like bathing etc. take some more time. So at least for these ten hours, you are at peace. (Jokingly)And enjoy the other 14 hours show. What else can you do? But if you want to enjoy, remember not to be the actor.

Q: How should be one’s relation with the Master? One is an ordinary person and other is a person with so many powers. Should it be like a friend or a beloved?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Let love be love. Don’t give it a name. Love is above all relations. Being in love with the master is like being in Love with the divine. Master, God and spirit are not different. These all are one. Only one exists – one non dual existence. Everything is divine.

Q: What is the meaning of Kumbh?
(The Kumbh Mela is one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism. The word Kumbh means 'pot' or 'pitcher' and Mela means 'festival' that is why it is known as "the pitcher festival". It is a fair that energizes your mind and soul)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Wherever people come together and do satsang, that is kumbh.

Q: Do planets have any effect on us?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, planets do have an effect on us. But the effects are minimal on those who are on the path of sadhna, satsang and knowledge. For those, negative effects reduce and positive effects start to increase. It’s like when you take umbrella under the hot sun, you feel less heat on your head. Practices and mantras are the solutions.

Q: Should one believe in the horoscopes?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If your mind says you should do it, then you should. But that shouldn’t be given too much importance. Sometimes the recorded time or place of birth may not be accurate. There are many issues involved. So neither should we totally ignore it nor should we take it to be exactly right.

Q: Is it ok to be driven by emotions?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The difference between a human and a stone is that, humans have emotions. When feelings are combined with wisdom, then that is good. It’s like when water flows between two banks, we call it river. But if water is scattered all over the place, then that is flood. In life, along with intellect, feelings are also to be nourished. To maintain a balance between intellect and emotions is wisdom.

Q: What is liberation? Is it possible to be liberated in this birth?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is possible in this birth only. You should listen to Ashtavakra (A commentary by His Holiness ).

Q: How can I be contented? Lots of needs keep bombarding the mind.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Tell me one thing. Are you contented today?
(The gentleman said ‘No’)
What do you need?
(The gentleman continues ‘I need to have something after having what, all my desires are pacified)
It’s good if you are aware that lots of desires are disturbing you. This desire - I want to get rid of all desires, is called mumuksha.

Q: Can you please talk about our karma governing our future?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, your karma forms your future. I have talked about all these things in the book ‘An intimate note to the sincere seeker’. You should read that.

Q: What should we do when nothing is in our hands and we don’t understand what should be and what shouldn’t be done in a relationship or career?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should meditate then. When you are so much deluded and confused, meditate for some time. You will find clarity dawning instantaneously.

Q: What question should I ask?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: My dear, you are asking me to tell you question also! Is it your New Year resolution not to use your brain come what may? You want to borrow even questions! No way. The questions have to be yours. It’s not school where they give you questions and you give answers. Here you have to come up with the question. And you don’t have to; if it comes up in you then that is your question. Nobody can tell you what question you should ask, what you should prayer for or what you should seek. It is a spontaneous outcome from within. Need is not to be dictated by somebody or anybody. Need is that which arises from within. In reality when you come in this energy all questions in you disappears.

Q: How to be in the present moment?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: (Making a snapping sound with his fingers) Like this. Are you here now? (The lady nodded with a yes). Then be here now.

“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
For Global Spirituality

‘Your faith, your love, your beauty, your truth is a 100 times more powerful than the doubt’

26th December 2009

Q. Thank you very much for all I have received from you till today. Even I know you are available on an emergency basis, twenty four hours. I am ashamed to ask you a help. When someone of your family passed and relationship between you and this person was not clear, what can you do to help the process to help that person live peacefully and also to be peaceful yourself? Thank you Guruji.

Sri Sri: Whenever you have to console a bereaved family, keep silent! Too many words does not make any sense there or have any meaning. Someone is in grief, you just be with them, with peace in your heart. They will absorb the peace, they will bask in your peace. They will absorb your peace - they will feel comfortable, happy. So when you are peaceful, you radiate it. They will absorb the peace and they would feel that inner calm, inner peace. So don't have to say, ‘Oh poor thing! This thing has happened with you. Oh, it shouldn't have happened.’ Talking all that type of pity or sympathy is not going to help either you or them. So just be with them and say, ‘God will give you strength’. Just give that to overcome this situation. This is the only thing that you should do. ‘God will give you strength’ or the person who departed, take their name and say, ‘That person will give you strength to go over this tough time, this difficult time.’ These one or two words are good enough. Don't talk too much but just be with them. Few minutes- you being with them will help them. OK?

Q. Dear Guruji, how can we teach the world that there is abundance of food, love for everyone? We don't need to fear lack, and therefore be greedy?

Sri Sri: We have to spread spirituality. We have to make people realize the importance of spirituality. They will have to meditate. Only through meditation would they ever feel the inner richness, inner abundance. Whatever you feel inside, that’s what you project outside. If you have fear inside, you will project it outside. You feel lack inside, and you will feel lack everywhere. So, that abundance has to arise from within. For that, one has to do meditation course like this, no?

Q. Dear Guruji, despite being on the path for almost six years now, we didn't worry about what the results would be later. You know, when we started, so many people ridiculed us and we didn’t mind any of those humiliations. None of those humiliations stopped us from working and reaching out to people. We keep doing it, because we know what we are doing is good and it’s not for our sake that we are doing it, we are doing it for the simple fact that it brings benefit to people. If not today, tomorrow they will understand, recognize it. Right? So you need not be a football of others’ opinion. As long as we know that we need to continue doing this and it helps people, it makes our life worth living. So we continue doing this.

Q. Dear Guruji, what can you do when you doubt the Master? How to overcome the doubt? How to prevent it from happening?

Sri Sri: You know, your doubt is always about something that is good. You only doubt the honest, you never doubt the dishonest. You doubt happiness, you never doubt depression. If you are depressed and someone asks you, ‘Are you depressed?’ Then you are very sure, you don't say, ‘Well, I am not very sure!’ With happiness you say that, ‘Well, I am not sure whether I am happy or not.’ So we doubt love. Someone says, ‘I love you so much’, you say, ‘Really?’ If someone says, ‘I hate you’, you never ask, ‘Really?’ You doubt! So our doubt is always about something that is positive. And doubts - they come and they go. Doubt more. I won’t say, don't doubt. Doubt as much as you can. See I tell you, it will fall away by itself. It cannot stand. So doubt more. A Master only encourages the student to doubt more. He will not clear the doubts. In fact, the job of the master is to create more doubt so that you can bake well and become really solid. Because if not today, ten year later you may get the doubt, better get the doubt right away! Get as much as you can. Once they come, they don't come back again. Same doubts don't arise twice. Different doubts keep coming and when they come, don’t push them under the carpet. Don’t shelve it under, go with it. And a time comes when you become solid. It only makes you stronger, powerful, focused and responsible. I would say, good! Doubts have come about the Master, let them come. Hmm? Cook with them. They are fuel by which the mind can really cook. Hmm! And you will see that you are much stronger than your doubt! Your faith, your love, your beauty, your truth is a hundred times more powerful than the doubt. The faith is like the sun, the doubt is like a cloud. No amount of clouds can cover the sun for long. They just come and they disappear. Yes, there are some cloudy days and it can be there, let it be. The sun will eventually shine.

Q. Beloved Guruji, I have a new job that gives me economic and social stability, it’s good. On the other side, it is based on lies and on taking advantage of peoples' faith. The environment is polluted and colleagues poison me with depression and dishonesty. Still I work hundred percent and I give a good example. But I feel this situation is not good for me. What do you suggest me to do?

 Sri Sri: In a situation like that consider yourself like an oasis in the dessert. Just imagine even the oasis disappears from the dessert, how will people survive? So, your being there has a good influence on the people and keep influencing and see if you can create even one two, three or four people like you in the same work environment. It can change. You have the power to change your situation. On request from people like you who are in the corporate business environment, we tailored our course and changed its jargon, its processes to fit to the corporate world. We call this the APEX course. Today the World Bank and many other institutions are taking it and they are benefiting greatly by this. Yes? So, do it!

Q. Dear Guruji, I feel that my coming to you now has become an ego issue. I come to you to see what you will say to me or to get attention from you and not because I feel deep love and gratitude. I would like to feel the true deep love and gratitude like I have been before. I want to serve out of love and not out of feeling that this is what I am expected to do.

Sri Sri: You know, feelings are like clouds. They are like the waves on the surface of the ocean. They arise, they come and they go. They change. We shouldn’t be bent too much by our feelings. Do you see what I am saying? Life moves with commitment, not just feelings. And love is a gift. You can't force anyone to feel love. Your wanting to feel love becomes a hindrance to feel love. Just relax. I have spoken about this in the Bhakti sutras. When you want love, that want itself is turning or delaying love from manifesting. So all that you need to do is to let go and relax. You will see your nature is love. Love is always there. It will manifest when it should. Like the sun is always there but it comes at its own time. Yes? The sun doesn’t come up all the time though it is there twenty four hours. But it is in different places. In the same way, all the beautiful feelings in your life are there with you all the time. You can’t forcefully manifest them. They will manifest at different times in life. And that’s why be more relaxed and take them as they come. Yes?

Q. Sometimes I get very angry. It is like something gets inside me. How can I get rid of this inner demon?

Sri Sri: I tell you, there is no demon inside. No! If anybody tells you, don’t listen to them. Just walk away. There is no demon inside you. Got it? You are pure light. You are born of light. You are light. All that you need to do is wake up, little more silence, little more meditation and observe the sensations. Start observing the sensations in the body, in the mind. Yes? And such an outburst of anger comes and then subsides. It will take little time so that it doesn't arise at all. The more we are in the state of dispassion or centeredness, lesser is the anger. Behind the anger is a desire for perfection. Wanting perfection makes you angry. Want brings anger in us. So when you keep observing, the want dissolves. You loosen up from inside. You start blossoming from inside. You will see, you will get very few opportunities where you have to get upset. It is ok to get upset once in a while, doesn't matter.

Q. I want to become a therapist but since I have become spiritual, I have come to realize that western psychology is not everything. How can I combine western and eastern psychology?

Sri Sri: Yes, sure! You must! Western psychology gives certain ideas about behavioral patterns, certain impressions and effects of certain chemicals in the mind. Whereas eastern psychology studies the nature of consciousness, studies consciousness itself! So it will be very useful that you would like to combine the both. You study eastern and then you study western so that you can explain to the west what the east says. Because the eastern psychology or knowledge of consciousness is time tested, it’s age old. Ten thousand years, this has been practiced. Hmmm? And it should be interesting. If you take one aspect, say suppose love and examine how love is viewed in both eastern and western psychology. It’s very interesting. Hmmmm?

Q. Dear Guruji, how old are the Vedas? Do we have all the Vedas now? I hear we may have lost some knowledge?

Sri Sri: You are correct! There are four main Vedas. Vedas means a collection of poems- verses heard by Rishis, sages when they went deep in meditation. When someone went deep in meditation, they heard something and whatever they heard, they started telling their students, disciples. So these were truths which were derived or heard and downloaded from the cosmic consciousness. They had a way to download it in those days. The downloading is - close your eyes, meditate and what you notice, what you see - you click and then you download it. Surfing! Surfing around and downloading. So Vedas were downloaded like that. More than one thousand sages or those who are called Rishis - Rishi means the one who saw or one who heard. They saw it, they heard it and they wrote them. They didn't write themselves, they recited and told their students and they recited and so for a long time it was just passed on from one to another - verbally, vocally. That’s why they are called Shrutis. Originally these Vedas were divided into four. Originally the Rigveda had so many- twenty one different branches but today only three are available. Similarly, Yajurveda has some two hundred and eleven branches, but today only few - five or six - are available. Similarly, Samveda – thousand different Samvedic hymns, branches were there. Today only three branches are there. Rest is all lost. During the medieval times in India, when there was so much repeated aggression, those Vedas were all lost.

Q. Which Veda has medical knowledge?

Sri Sri: It is called the Ayurveda. It is the subordinate Veda of the main four Vedas. So both, the Atharvaveda and Rigveda - the first and last Vedas have a connection to Ayurveda. So all the Ayurveda stories are so very, very beautiful. It’s said that one thousand Rishis were sitting and meditating. And a Rishi named Bharadwaja told them, ‘You keep awake. We are going into deep trance, meditation and we are going to say just what we see. But there should be somebody to note down, write everything down’. They told once person, ‘You don't meditate. You sit, watch and note down everything’. And that is how Maharshi Bharadwaja noted down, wrote down in a forest when thousands of the Rishis meditated together and they were downloading it and then they were saying it. Bharadwaja went from one to another, to each person and started noting them down and that is how the Ayurveda books were written. So even today, after so many thousands of years, it holds good. It is a Materia Medica - which herb is for which part of the body and what functions, what are the combinations, what one should do and what one should not. Everything about health is written. When the British ruled India and the man who was in charge of India, the British gentleman, wrote to Queen Victoria of England saying, ‘You know, people should come and learn plastic surgery over here. How people can fix your nose, your skin, your legs,’ he said. It’s amazing that when knowledge was zero or nothing in England, it was so advanced in India. Lord Macaulay said in the parliament, that if you want to rule this country (India), first you must destroy the spirituality. Much has been written about Lord Macaulay's statement. He said, ‘I traveled the length and breadth of India and I did not see one beggar, one poor man. And people know science and medical things so well. 88000 medical institutions were there only in the south of India.’ He said, if you want to rule this country, you must stop this. So they systematically closed down the medical institutions, Sanskrit colleges so that people could no longer read the books. You know, when all your books are in Sanskrit and they shut down all the Sanskrit schools by rule, your next generation gets no access to the knowledge and that is what exactly happened in India. There is a whole presentation about Lord Macaulay's vision that they could rule India only by doing this. Anyway, that is all history. What I am saying is that Ayurveda is still very potent knowledge- it’s a science even today. Hmmm? But many books are missing. Many were burnt down. India had a very crazy king at one point of time, he was called Aurangzeb. He came to power by putting his own father in jail who was the king then. And then he burnt big libraries in India like Nalanda. History says that the books in Nalanda library burned for six months. He called all the scholars and he told them, ‘What is in your library?’ They said, ‘A lot of knowledge.’ He was very fanatic. He took the Quran and asked, ‘Do you agree that this book has all the knowledge that is there in the library?’ They said, ‘Yes’. He said, ‘Then what is the use of having a library and so many books? Burn them down. Then one of them said, ‘No. There is other knowledge that is not in this book.’ Then Aurangzeb said, ‘Then they shouldn't exist. Anything which is not in this book shouldn't exist anywhere, it is not correct. It is not God’s! Burn them down. Thousands of years ago, philosophy of the Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Sikh were available; medical, archeology, astronomy, metallurgy, engineering, science - all these books - were available. They were all burnt down. So whatever people could take overnight and memorize it, those things remained and it continued. So these are all past histories.

Q. In Muslim countries we have some resistance even with some new teachers. One of them read on the internet that the translation of the word Sohum is ‘I am god.’ It is not ok with Islam. Can you explain what it is meant and what is the intention by Sohum?

Sri Sri: Sohum is the natural sound of breath. When you breath out the hum is there. Sohum is the natural sound. If you read it the other way round, it is Humsa. Humsa is that which uplifts, that which floats, that which discriminates. That consciousness which discriminates right from wrong, from the permanent to impermanent, from the beautiful to ugly - discrimination. Sohum does not mean ‘I am God’, it is ‘I am that’. What is the ‘that’? ‘That’ could be love, ‘that’ is truth, ‘that’ is love, ‘that’ is the beautiful space, ‘that’ is what I really am! First I think I am just the thoughts, the emotions, the mind, but the true realization, I am not the thought, I am not the body, but I am that! What is that? It is the experience that is beyond words! That truth which is beyond comprehension! That beauty which is beyond any imagination. That reality which you cannot totally catch. That love is what I am! And if love is God or God is love and I am love then I am God too! Jesus said love is God! And said, I am love! I am that, I am. This is there in the Bible also. I am that I am. Thou art that! All this is there. But it is not the meaning that is important. What is important is the vibration of the sound. The sound Sohum, has some definite vibrations in the cosmos and that helps our spirits to blossom and that is what is most important.

 Q. Dearest Guruji, I sit here with you and after all that happened in my life in the past, today I know it was worth going through it to live and experience what I feel today. Fullness, love, gratitude, excitement and inspiration. All because of what you have given to this world. Eternally yours!

Q. Does the strength of the Guru lie in the fact that he represents a symbolic father who helps to heal the wounds from the real father?

Sri Sri: The wounds need to be healed, that is more important. Whatever relation you put, whatever attachment you put, it is secondary. See the world from a fresh eye, from a fresh look. Anybody who has inflicted pain to you, know that they have done it because they have no knowledge. They were deprived of this spiritual knowledge. That is why they were behaving that way. They were handcuffed, they were blindfolded, they were dumbfounded and they acted the way they acted. They are victims themselves. See them from this angle, you will feel compassion for them and you will feel grateful for what you have got in your life, ya?

 Q. Please explain to me how we are responsible for how we feel? For example when we see a beautiful girl, a thought appears and then pleasure comes to me. But yesterday in the video, I understood it is the opposite. Why the desire appears only with beautiful girls? How do we choose that?

Sri Sri: I think you forgot how you felt when you were five year old. When you were five, six, seven or eight- year-old, it was not a beautiful girl who attracted you it was beautiful food that attracted you! I will tell you a story. There were people of three generation- father, son and grandfather. They all went out for a holiday- vacation. So the youngest of the family, the grand child was so excited, he got good food. And the adult, the father, was so attracted with the beautiful girls at the camp. He said, ‘What a beautiful day! I saw so many beautiful girls here. I had great time!’ Now the grandfather's turn had come. The grandfather said, ‘It was such a relief here. So nice. We came out to this holiday camp. I had such good bowel movement! I never had like that before! What a relief!’ He said, ‘You both talk childishly. He talks about food, you talk about girls but in my age you will understand what the really happiness is’. So when someone is so old if they have a good bowel movement, that is great relief for them. They get good sleep, that is heaven for them. So, wait for some more time and you will see what is more beautiful in life!

Q. Dearest Guruji, I had a question in my mind when we were speaking about energy centers today, in the knowledge tape. I feel constant energy in my second chakra but I don’t have any desires to do sex because I know it leaves me tired and dull. On the other hand my creative energy has not manifested itself. I would like to use my creativity and write, sing, dance, etc. How will it come to this point? Please show me a way. Give me ability to make my creative energy alive.

Sri Sri: Ya! Continue your meditation. If a particular chakra has been used a lot then automatically energy goes there quite a bit. But it will keep moving, definitely moving. You focus more on navel center and then dance, sing. Singing and dancing, that is all part of our practices. You know, it uplifts you in more than one way.

Q. Dear Guruji, I can’t forget this guy. He is not good for me but still I am in love with him. Even though I haven't seen him in ten months and I hardly know him. Can you explain?

Sri Sri: Wait till you find somebody else. Then you will forget all about that guy. Our mind is very strange. You know, the greatest, real stranger to us is not somebody else but our own mind.

Q. Dear Guruji, only today I have fallen in love with nine people. One cute Serbian, one beautiful Croatian, one irresistible Bulgarian, one very nice German, two gorgeous Italians, and two delightful Russians and one really hot Indian. Clearly I can't make up my mind. Can you please help me?

 Sri Sri: I tell you the choice is too little for you. Go for more! Only nine? We have one ninety four countries in the planet! Don't be in a hurry to choose right away. Go slow. You know? Good! We have come to rise in love and on the way, it doesn't surprise me if you keep falling in love here and there. But don't be in a hurry to choose. Hundred and ninety two countries in the United Nations, Right?  

“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
For Global Spirituality

‘This whole creation is made up of vibrations’

Q. Why do people bow down to the Divine?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : There is a tradition in this country – people bow down to show humility. However there is no point in just bowing down from the body, if your mind bows down then it is useful.

Q. People try and hamper my faith by saying that we become what we think of. So, if we worship Krishna, we will become a thief and worshipping Ganesha would make us like an elephant. How do I respond to them?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Giving knowledge to an ignorant person is a skill.

There are many forms for one Divine. Really, any Divine form is light. Form is a symbol. Lord Krishna is the blissful consciousness. According to this argument, those who worship Jesus would have to die at the cross! This is all kutarka, wrong logic - better not indulge in this.

Q. What is the meaning of the shloka- akhanda mandal akaram, vyaptam yena characharam, tad padam darshitam yena tasmai shri guruve namah?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The Guru who gives us the experience of the eternally present consciousness – we bow down to that Guru.

Q. How do I become one with the Divine?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Leave the uniting in love, there is only one love- Cosmic love.

Q. Why are there bad people in this world?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar : Why don’t you ask a movie maker to make a movie only with the hero in it? Life is a struggle of both good and evil but only good will prevail.

Q. People say that we should worship only one God like Krishna or Ganesha so that we know who to call for when we are in trouble. If God is one then why are there so many names and forms?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: These are different names for the one Divinity. Like you wear a different dress every day. Today you are wearing black, tomorrow you will wear something else.

Even when you change your dress tomorrow, you will remain the same, right? Same way whatever names and forms, it is the same Divine.

Q. What does the mantra Bhadram Karne-bhi-h Shrnuyam Deva... mean?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This is the first mantra to be recited before any pooja. It means, let my ears hear good things, let my eyes see good things, let us speak only good words, let our life be on the Divine path.

Q. I am so full of doubt. What should I do?

H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t you doubt your doubting? Doubt your doubt! When there is too much confusion, then find solace in surrender. Surrender to your Guru, the Divine or your mother. You are not alone. Your life will be successful.

* refer to Sri Sri’s discourse on the Ashtavakra Geeta)

(From the Office of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)

© The Art of Living Foundation