Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Karma! The ways of karma areunfathomable. Karma is like an ocean. This is not one lifetime. In manylifetimes, we have done so many actions and they all have repercussions. Whichkarma has sprouted from which seed and what fruit this karma will give is verydifficult to pin point. That is why it is said ‘gahana karmanogati’ . Unfathomableare the ways of karma. Because it is not just one lifetime, many lifetimes, wehave done many things and we don’t know which karma sprouts when. That’s whydon't worry about the karma, just be active and follow your conscience.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes. Your yukti should be like the salt in the food - just a little bit salt in your business. If there is too much salt, it becomes like food in the salt.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

If you have ego, keep it in your pocket. Don’t try to destroy it because that effort will only increase it. Be natural like a child. If it’s there, doesn’t matter. When you feel a separation or distance between yourself and others, then ego arises. We don’t have ego with our family or those who are closest with us. Similarly we don't have an ego issues with people whom we don’t know at all. It happens only with people we know a little. We develop an ego. If everybody belongs to you, or nobody belongs to you, then there is no ego.

It is important to have child-like naturalness. When we are worried about what other people are saying about us, then there is ego. Even when you are doing good, there will be some people who will find fault with it. Similarly, there will be people to praise even if the person is corrupt. So, don't worry about it. If you make a mistake, accept it. That is intelligence. In the same way, others can also make mistakes. Don’t wait for them to ask for forgiveness. You forgive and move on. A mistake happened. Drop it. Don’t keep thinking of past mistakes and chewing on it like gum. It is like churning up a pile of garbage. You must save your mind at all costs.

If you save your mind, then you can be free from desires and needs. When you can bless others, even their needs are fulfilled. That’s why people take blessings from the elders of the house. As you grow older, you become more content. But that is not the case all the time. As people grow older, they collect worries and desires. Only when you are free from worries and desires, you gain the capacity to bless. At some point, you have to say, ‘I am content’. That strength comes from spirituality.
When you realize who you are, all your needs are fulfilled. Your biggest enemy is your mind. That is why we do so many things to calm the mind. Take blessings and be happy.
Many millions have benefitted from the Sudarshan Kriya. Many, many are waiting. Take a sankalpa – ‘Let the whole world also get the joy that I have got.’

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Having a sense of belongingness doesn’t mean to flow emotionally. Use your intelligence. Do only that what you can do. What you cannot do, nobody will expect that from you also.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Life is a combination of both: dynamism and silence, chaos and quietness. You shouldn’t be afraid of either. Those who are used to chaos, are scared of silence. Many times, in my public talks I have observed that some people can't even close their eyes, they’re so scared. Sometimes politicians and even professors can’t sit for 10 minutes with eyes closed. They’re scared to do so. People are so scared of silence, of stillness, of closing their own eyes. Similarly people used to their silence, to their comfort zone are so scared of chaos and disturbance. Both are incomplete. You should feel as comfortable with silence as you are with chaos, and that is the art of living. We see dynamism in silence and silence in chaos. When you are at home with both of them you are able to contribute in both situations.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Do you all have cell phone? How does it work? First, it is to be fully charged. But if is charged but no Sim card! So you need a sim card, and then you need to be in the range of the tower. When all three are there, the cell phone works then only. Similarly, for life to be successful three things are required: Seva, Satsang and Kripa (grace).
Know that you have abundance of grace with you, and God is your very own. Satsang is the charger and Seva is the sim card. What happens with Seva? When you do Seva, you gain blessings and those blessings add strength to your life. And then Sadhana(Practices)? What is Sadhana – Which makes you establish connection with the Self, with the Divine, that infinite power.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Spirituality just means knowing that it is oneconsciousness. One world family - this thought came from India.One side there is slum, the other side is scam. We have toremove slums. For that first we need to remove alcoholism. Nearly 60 percent ofa poor man’s income goes in alcohol.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Those who have left will understand that this world is just a play, there is nothing really; it’s just a wave so there is no need to tell them or explain anything to them, without saying anything they will understand. When in the body, we understand using words but once we are out of the body, then communication happens through feeling. So don’t worry, you be happy, those who have gone have gone and we are here now.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Why do you put a label in your head ‘I am a straight forward person’ and why should a straight forward person not be diplomatic also? A straight forward person need not be rude all the time. Now you hide your rudeness behind that fact that you are straight forward, no you cannot justify the rudeness that way. Straight forwardness is necessary and diplomacy is also necessary, you have to have both. When you meet someone who is blind, you cannot tell that person, ‘You are a blind person’. You may say I am just straight forward, I am just saying the right thing, but you shouldn’t do that. So diplomacy is part of life; that is a skill you need to have. Diplomacy need not be that one is not being straight forward because it is not the opposite of being straight forward, not at all. These two things should go together.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Again these experiences are so common for a beginner. If you are just beginning to meditate, restlessness comes up or you feel very sleepy. When stresses get released from your system, such a passage may be common. Farry will tell you more on this. When it comes from a scientist mouth, it has more flavors to it. He is doing a lot of research in Oslo University on Kriya. They found how the chromosomes of your body change! He just told me some very exciting news. So when stress release happens, the chemical or structural form in which stress was stored gets released, you get all these experiences. Your endocrine system readjusts itself, because we have violated our body in so many ways so many times. We have not kept the balance; we have not honored our own body, so jerks may happen. How many of you have found some jerks? Emotions may come up and you feel completely confused. All this may happen. It’s not that it should happen. Sometimes it doesn’t happen and you say am I not releasing any stress? That person is getting stress released and I am so quiet. Don’t compare your experience with anybody whatsoever. We all are so different. Everybody’s nervous system is so different. And at different times, different experiences come to different people. So at any time we should never compare our experiences with others and feel sorry or happy about it.