Wisdom Of gurudev sri sri ravi shankar

  Question : Guruji, I know one cannot be happy and married. But can one be married and enlightened? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you think that one cannot be happy and married? Why cannot you be happy and married as well? There are many bachelors who are not happy, and also there many married people who are happy. Happiness is an attitude which you chose. It all depends just on you. There are people with no jobs but are happy. There are people with jobs and are unhappy. Be wise and be happy. Do whatever married, unmarried, employed, unemployed, but independent of what you are doing, you need to be happy. Source-      

  Question : Guruji, There are many cultures in the world. Are there things which work same everywhere?   Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Certain things work everywhere.  Sudarshan Kriya works everywhere. Today you go to any part of the world you will find someone doing the Sudarshan Kriya. That is why everything in the Art of Living is kept so universal. At some point in time, there was so much oneness in the world. People of Peru in Argentina do similar things as that of the natives of Arunachal Pradesh. Native tribes of Arunachal Pradesh do similar things as done by people in Venkovour in British. People from both the places worship all four directions. There were lots of similarities among native inhabitants of different parts of the world. People in Lithuania greet you with bread and salt. As there is no ocean there, salt is a very precious commodity there. Similarly people in Kerala put a pot flowing with paddy outside their homes, which shows there is abund...

Question:- Guruji, Money cannot bring us happiness this knowledge happens after accumulating money or before it? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:            If you are intelligent, it happens before. And if you are little less intelligent, then it happens afterward. An intelligent person also learns from others experiences. But this realization is only authentic if you can experience someones experience as your own. It doesnt carry any value if a beggar says that he has abandoned everything. How can a beggar abandon anything? He has not earned anything at the first place. Also there are some people who do not understand this even after accumulating a lot of money. But this doesnt mean that you should not earn money. If you are too feverish for money thinking that only it can bring you happiness, then either earn money and see yourself, or learn from others experience.

Question - How to handle negative emotions? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar  :-            There are two kinds of mind. One is an open mind. Another is a closed mind. A closed mind is that which says, “This is how it is. I know it. That is it.” It gets hardened. An open mind says, “Oh, maybe, perhaps. I do not know.” Limited knowledge, and the conformity about it, makes a mind very hard. Whenever you seem to understand a situation and you label it, “I know this is how it is,” that is the beginning of your problem. And always all problems arise from knowing but not from not knowing. If you do not know, your mind is open, you say “Oh, maybe, something, perhaps, don’t know.” You wait. You cannot label something when you do not know. Whenever you think an injustice has been made to you, or whenever you think you are suffering, whenever you think you are a victim, whenever you think something bad has happened to you— all this falls under the category of “...

Sevak (volunteer) Sri Sri:          As a Sevak(volunteer), you should remember that even if you get stones in return for Seva, it’s fine. If someone scolds you or curses you, you remain unfazed. Don’t make yourself sad or anyone else sad. Remember this - you need nothing in return forSeva - not even a ‘thanks’. Do not say: ‘I have never needed anything else, only a few words of gratitude’ - you shouldn’t expect even that. If you do Seva without expecting anything, then that is bliss. If you expect people to praise you or thank you, then the quality of Seva goes down. Seva should walk hand in hand with sadhana(spiritual practices). If one is absent, you will not gain anything from the other. From sadhana you get strength to do Seva, and from Seva you get depth in sadhana. But remember that sadhana is your first priority! You should make time to do sadhana, you should be smart in managing time. There is no end to work, there is always work every day. S...

Question: How does Seva help us grow in this path? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 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 ℹgain 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. W...

Human Values: The Common Ground Of All Religions I see a crisis facing the world today. It is fundamentally one of identification. People identify themselves with limited charac­teristics such as gender, race, religion and nationality, forget­ting their basic identity as part of the universal spirit. These limited identifications lead to conflict on a personal level and globally. Every individual is much more than the sum of these limited identifications. The highest identification we can make is that we are part of Divinity, and only secondly are we human beings and members of the human family. In divine creation, the whole of the human race is united. Along with the proper identification of our true nature, we need to return to the values that are the essence of all major traditions. Religion has three aspects: values, rituals and symbols. The moral and spiritual values are common to all traditions, and the symbols and practices--those rituals and customs that form a way ...

Question: How important is faith? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:           You cannot exist without faith! Listen, suppose you have come here in a car and you have parked the car in the parking area. Now when you are sitting here you have faith that the car will be there when you go back, isn’t it?! So, without this faith can you exist? No! First, you should have faith in yourself. There are three types of faith which are important 1. Faith in yourself. If you do not have faith in yourself it is called paranoia. It is a disease. 2. Faith in the goodness of people around you. There are good people in the world, you should have that faith; otherwise you cannot move one inch in society. 3. Faith in the unknown; faith in the abstract power which seems to be running everything. That is the third type of faith. So, of these three faiths, the first two are very essential; the third will make life much better.   Source -

  Question : How do I know if I am making the correct decision?   Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:           When you make a decision, somewhere you get the gut feeling that says, ‘Yes, this is correct.' One thing you should know is that even if you take a wrong decision, it always leads you to growth. You become stronger, you learn a lesson somewhere deep inside. So that is why, don’t worry Source-

Pure Knowledge & Applied Knowledge There are two types of knowledge. The first one is pure knowledge and the second one is applied knowledge. Applied knowledge may benefit you directly and immediately but pure knowledge benefits you indirectly in the long run. If there are some things that you have studied or understood that you are unable to put into practice, do not get disheartened. Sometime in the future, if you do not discard the knowledge you have as impractical, it will be of use to you. Often people discard the pure knowledge for its lack of immediate application. In fact these two types of knowledge compliment each other. Applied knowledge without pure knowledge remains weak. And pure knowledge without application will remain unfulfilled. Do not discard or label the knowledge as impractical. Do not label yourself as weak or unworthy because you are unable to apply the knowledge in your day-to-day life.Sometimes when you are alone innature, silent, taking a walk, looking at...

  Q uestion : Guruji, you are very generous.You have fulfilled all of my wishes,but I have not fulfilled all the commitments I made to you. I want to know whether, will you punish me, or will you keep fulfilling my further wishes.   Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:            Why should I reveal it to you now? I will leave you guessing about it. You better fulfil your commitments before you wish for something more. I do not want to make you a greedy person. Otherwise you will become so greedy. When you know that your desires are getting fulfilled, you should desire for bigger things, not just things for yourself. Have desires for the nation, for the world, for humanity. If your desires are for achieving something bigger, and bringing this knowledge to the people, then that is more meaningful. Then you are growing. You should take a sankalpa, Let the knowledge of Vedanta reach thousands of people; let Yoga reach thousands of people.’ You should culti...

Question:- Guruji, you are very generous.You have fulfilled all of my wishes,but I have not fulfilled all the commitments I made to you. I want to know whether, will you punish me, or will you keep fulfilling my further wishes. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:       Why should I reveal it to you now? I will leave you guessing about it. You better fulfil your commitments before you wish for something more. I do not want to make you a greedy person. Otherwise you will become so greedy. When you know that your desires are getting fulfilled, you should desire for bigger things, not just things for yourself. Have desires for the nation, for the world, for humanity. If your desires are for achieving something bigger, and bringing this knowledge to the people, then that is more meaningful. Then you are growing. You should take a sankalpa, Let the knowledge of Vedanta reach thousands of people; let Yoga reach thousands of people.’ You should cultivate such desires in you. Actually you ...

Question:-  Guruji, Vibheeshana was discredited in spite of having supported Lord Rama. He is branded as a traitor. This does not seem appropriate! Why so? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:                            Vibheeshana is a unique example of someone who was caught in a dilemma whether to support righteousness (dharma) or his people. He chose to renounce his brother in favour of dharma. See, in all these stories take only that which you need. What is the point of arguing for or against? If there is something in the lives of Vibheeshana, Rama or Ravana that inspires you, take it, and if it does not fit in, or appeal to you, then you have learnt something from that as well. Some people have asked me, why did Sri Rama send Sita to the forest based on a washer man’s opinion; isn’t this injustice? (‘Kuchh to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna’ (People are bound to say something, that is what they do). Some mi...

  Question:-  Guruji, Is there a relationship between ego, and possessiveness,  and how do we get out of both?   Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: - Yes. Ego,possessiveness, jealousy, anger, greed are all linked. They are linked to the ego. Now, how to get rid of the ego? This is a big problem. Actually the solution is very simple. Just agree to be crazy for one day. Just act like a crazy person for one day. That is good enough. Ego means that you are trying to impress others. You need the other for ego to be there. When you are alone in a place, there cannot be any ego. Ego pops up when the other is there. If you are like a child, if you are natural and feeling at home, that is the best antidote for ego. Ego cannot sustain or survive when naturalness takes over, and when you feel at home with everybody and have a sense of belongingness with everyone. All these qualities can transform you. If the ego still says, ‘I am’, then that ego should be expanded. One is a Transparent Ego...

Question - Gurudev, is there any secret to handle our feelings, that makes us go up and down in life? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji - We can transcend feelings easily when we know that there is something which is much more basic to life than feelings, and that is the self; the life force, which is not changing at all. We have 1,72,000 nadis in the body. Sometimes the knowledge nadi opens up; sometimes the music nadi opens up. Different nadis open up and you experience different things. So, don’t be so obsessed with your feelings. Often, we don’t concentrate on what we have to do but we sit and ponder over that which is happening. We put so much attention on what is happening rather than on what we are doing. Put attention on what you are doing and leave whatever is happening to Nature. Nature will take you through whatever is happening. I tell you, whether it is thoughts or emotions or feelings, it is not an isolated incidence. It is a global phenomenon. Suppose you go t...

Worship – A Sign Of Maturity For a flame to rise, you need space above it. In the same way, for a man to rise up in his life, he needs an ideal, he needs something to adore and worship. What is Worship? Worship is the culmination of love and appreciation. In worship, a sense of belongingness, love, honor, and respect, all come together. Without a sense of belongingness, worship or idealism can bring low self-esteem. The ancient people knew this, and so they insisted that people should feel part of what they worship. They encouraged people to worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, plants, animals, and people. Why is Worship Important? Worship prevents love from turning into hatred or jealousy, and prevents appreciation from becoming low self-esteem. In life, if you do not adore or appreciate anything, you will be filled with negativity. And a person who has nothing to worship or adore is sure to fall into depression. Lack of adoration has led to many emotional, psychologi...

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji explains the importance of silence as a mother of creativity.      We live in a cluttered world! Cities are cluttered, towns are cluttered, markets are cluttered… So is our mind. “Too much to do, very little time…” has almost become a universal phenomenon, creating stress in virtually everyone’s life. Even when one is on leave from work, the mind gets no rest. From the moment it wakes up till the time it goes to sleep, the mind is always engaged – either in something utterly useless or something very important.  As it’s almost impossible to reduce the workload and increase the time, the only option left is to increase the energy level within us. When we have enough energy and enthusiasm, we are able to handle any challenge. The Silent Energy - But the question is how to increase energy? Spiritual practices like meditation, yoga, and pranayama do just that. They all lead one to a space of silence, which is charged with ener...

This Christmas, go to the values that Jesus truly represents and live them. Then he is not of the past. He is here now. And he will be in the future also, forever and ever. Jesus did all he could to help one cross the mind and get into the soul, the spirit, the source of life, the Self. Spirit is eternal and beyond birth, death, name and form. You find the most complete expression of love in Jesus. Jesus and love are synonymous. If you say love, you need not say Jesus and when you say Jesus, it means love. Whatever glimpses you may get here and there indicates that fullness, the ultimate expression of the inexpressible that life is striving to express throughout time. Love goes with courage and look at the courage of Jesus. He says, “The meek shall inherit the earth. The meek shall inherit heaven.” This is because love makes you meek. Yet love is the strongest force on this universe and brings you the kingdom of heaven. In those days too, even after showing all those miracl...

Question: What is the significance of a Christmas tree? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:          Be like the Christmas tree; evergreen, shining, full of lights and full of gifts. So everyone here is a Christmas tree. A Christmas tree only gives, it doesn’t take anything for itself. It just gives. So go with that thought, I’m a Christmas tree!      Come summer or winter or fall, it never falls, never springs. All through the year it’s green and in winter it gives presents.       I want to see everyone smiling and happy. Just create waves of happiness, everything else is irrelevant. In the world things happen, some pleasant, some unpleasant. Some things happen the way you want it, some things don’t happen the way you want. Bundle it all and put it aside. Nothing can really take away your happiness.      When you have had a good meditation, and when the prana is high, what do you feel? Nothing matters! Right? Noth...

Question - Gurudev, what is the purpose of fear? Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar  -             Nature has built a little fear into all living beings. This fear makes life defend itself, protect itself. Like salt in food, a little fear is essential for people to be righteous.  Fear of hurting someone makes you more conscious. Fear of failure makes you more keen and dynamic. Fear moves you from carelessness to taking care. Fear moves you from being insensitive to being sensitive. Fear moves you from dullness to alertness.  Total lack of fear may lead to destructive tendencies – a distorted ego knows no fear. Nor does one with expanded consciousness. While the ego dismisses fear and acts in a destructive manner, the wise one acknowledges fear and takes refuge in the Divine. When you are in love, when you are surrendered, there is no fear.  Ego, too, knows no fear. But there is a difference – like the difference between heave...