SRI SRI RAVI SHANKER - Q. & As.

SHER AGRAWAL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[seattleseva] Q & A with Guruji

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richa Aggarwal Thu, Sep 9, 2010 at 8:03 PM
To: seattleseva@yahoogroups.com

Date: Tue Sep 7, 2010 8:53 pm ((PDT))




Q: I feel afraid at times whether I will be enlightened. What should I do?


Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Once you are on the train, you know that this train will reach. Suppose you are sitting in a car and this car is being driven to Karlsruhe, you don’t ask after every minute if you are going to Karlsruhe, no! You relax! You know the driver is going to take you to Karlsruhe. You won’t be dropped somewhere in the middle. That much of faith that comes from within you is there in you; otherwise, you would not even come here. The very fact that you have come here indicates that there is faith. Otherwise your heart would block you, but your heart says, ‘no, go there’. That means you are doing the right thing. So once you are here, you relax.
Relax and you will always find your life will move in the right direction. Not just here, life after this also, definitely, because the moment we die, the first person we meet is our Guru, our teacher, second person we meet is our mother and then the person whom we loved most. The three people we meet and then later on we meet everybody else. So there will be that assurance, you will be fine, you are moving ahead, so don’t worry.
Arjuna also had this doubt in the Bhagvad Gita, “what will happen to me? He was in the same pain, I may not succeed in these spiritual practices, I may not go anywhere, what will happen to my life, I will be neither enjoying anything here nor will I get the other world. I’ll get confused, I’ll go back into the same stuff in my world, Krishna what do I do then?”Krishna says “Nahi Kalyana Krit Kaschit Durgatim Taata Gachchati”. My dear you will never go down, you will never be miserable, I guarantee you this. You will never go down in life, and you will only go up. When you have done good things in your life, when you are on this path, in this knowledge, you will only progress forward and forward. You will only go up in life here and here after. He says ‘svalpa mapyasya dharmasya trayate’, a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of love, a little bit of dharma, little bit of it is good enough to take you away from fear. So relax. That is
why it is said you need a teacher on the spiritual path, you need a Guru, and you need a personal feeling, connectedness from your side, not from the other side. Why? Because otherwise you have the anguish, uncertainty, fear, but once you have that feeling when you have the trust, ‘okay my Guru is there, he will guide me, he’ll take me on the right path then you are relaxed’. And there is that peace that dawn in your heart and mind. Even if you stumble a little bit here and there, doubts may come, but then they just vanish, they just come for a few hours, at the most for a couple of days, and then they disappear. So there is that assurance that you are not alone.
See how soon the tears are turning into a smile!


/*Q:* After death, does the soul retain any of the senses?
*Sri Sri:* Yes. It is very interesting. After death, the soul retains
the sight, smell and hearing. Touch and taste will go. The sight, smell
and hearing are not retained for ever, but for about eight to ten days.
Then the soul goes into a deep state of rest. /

/
*Q:* Guruji, how do you know this?
*Sri Sri:* Those who have known themselves know this. You know, it is
all in the consciousness. Also this has been recorded in the ancient
texts by scholars. /

/
*Q:* What to do if you have a boss who doesn't recognize your
contributions?
*Sri Sri:* Just smile. /

/
*Q:* Guruji, why do so many innocent people suffer in man-made and
natural disasters?
*Sri Sri:* It makes you wonder about whether there is a God or not,
doesn't it? More than five hundred people in Bombay this week... You
simply have to wonder. You know, you should think about how we can
change the bad people into good people. We have to think constructively. /

/It is also nature's way of telling us to have compassion. Without
misery there would be no compassion, is it not? In Africa millions of
children cannot afford a square meal. In Washington DC, fifty percent of
school children drop out and go into violence. What can we do? How to
reinstate goodness and faith in non-violence? /

/Non-violence is the first limb of yoga. The second limb is truth. Why
do we lie? It is because of our fear of losing our reputation and of
losing others love. You know why spouses lie to each other? Because if
they tell the truth, there will be a fight! When there is a conflict
between love and truth, love always wins, that is why spouses lie. /

/Yogas limbs are non-violence and truth, but yoga also leads to
non-violence and truth. See we have done lots of good work in prisons,
and in places like Israel, Kashmir... Is Dafna here? We have been
teaching in Tel Aviv, and also in the prisons in Israel. And in Iraq.
Recently 43 people, mostly women and some men also, were in the
Bangalore ashram. They took training for eight weeks, and now they are
going back to Iraq to teach various yoga and meditation. /

/
*Q:* What is dharma?
*Sri Sri:* Dharma is more than just duty. It is that which uplifts you.
Serving, etc. It is that which is your inherent nature. /

/
*Q:* Guruji, you said earlier that the ego is useful for action. Is it
possible to act without ego?
*Sri Sri:* Yes. An enlightened person will act without any ego. /

/See, praising a wise person is useless. They will anyway do good work.
They will continue doing good work even if you blame them. Praise a fool
-- that will pump up their ego and motivate them into doing good work.
Have you noticed, the ego troubles ones own mind more than others? /

/
*Q:* Guruji, I have been having bad thoughts throughout this course.
*Sri Sri:* That is because of stress, toxins in the blood. Could also be
due to some hormonal imbalance. More cleansing will help. Don't be
bothered. The more you grow, the more these negative emotions, anger
etc. will be intolerable to you. So it is a good sign. /

/
*Q:* (A question on natural disasters)
*Sri Sri:* Haan, natural disasters will always happen, no? last year we
had 19 water-related disasters around the world. The year before was fire.
*Sri Sri:* Calamities are part of natures work. The ozone layer is
getting depleted, global warming is happening, and so many other things.
There is also so much greed. There is an imbalance in the nature. But
more than that, it is the stress causing man-made calamities. Terrorism
and so on. That is why it is so important to continue doing yoga,
meditation, pranayamas, satsang, to uplift the consciousness. And also
to teach all these practices to more people. Don't you think so?
(Applause.) /

/
*Q:* Is it possible to attain enlightenment while having physical blocks
in the spine?
*Sri Sri:* Why not? Ashtavakra had eight deformities in his body, and he
was enlightened. /

/
*Q:* Guruji, you are our role model.
*Sri Sri:* But I model all your roles! /

/
*Q:* Guruji, who is dearest to you: a sadhak, devotee or an enlightened
person?
*Sri Sri:* Just you! /

/
*Q:* Why do more enlightened masters seem to hail from India then
anywhere else?
*Sri Sri:* It is just a question of time. At this particular time many
masters have come from India. At another time many masters came from the
middle east. And at one time many saints were from Europe. See at one
time there were many scientists only from the west. Merchants were from
Europe. Earlier at one time there were also many saints in China. Why is
maple found only in Canada? We don't know! Or bulls in Texas. But it
doesn't belong only to that place. Knowledge and wisdom belong to the
entire universe. /

/
*Q:* Guruji, I am very attached to you, but at the same time we do this
process of bowing down to the angels to rid ourselves of attachment. How
should I reconcile this? Someone from the crowd: Even the angels are
attached to him.
*Sri Sri:* Yeah! /

/
*Q:* I have noticed that all my botherations are due to the
inconsiderate actions of other people. My mind immediately jumps to
resentment, judgment, etc. How do I make my mind unshakeable? How do I
become accepting of myself and all?
*Sri Sri:* Once you have recognized the situation in the mind, you are
already out of it! You just say, I am going to stand up and smile. /

/
*Q:* How to love somebody you hate the most?
*Sri Sri:* First just accept that person. Just accept that they are
incorrigible and will never change. Then understand that they are a
victim themselves, of their circumstances and their ignorance.
Compassion is the next step. See, step by step we have 1, 2, 3.
Acceptance, understanding and love. /

/
*Q:* What is the difference between skill and manipulation?
*Sri Sri:* Good question. In manipulation, the intentions are not that
good. There is viciousness behind the action. In skill the intentions
are clear and good. Manipulation leaves you with a guilty feeling. It
will pinch you. When you are using your skill your conscience is clear.
With manipulation there is dishonesty. You are dishonest to yourself and
to the other person. When you are using skill there is honesty. And only
you can know the difference! Others can't. /

/
*Q:* What is the difference between sacrifice and service?
*Sri Sri:* In sacrifice someone else's happiness is more important than
our own. /

/
*Q:* Does nature always guide us? If I miss the bus on the way to an
interview, should I take a cab or look for another job?
*Sri Sri:* Take a cab to the interview, and if you don't get the job,
look for another one! /

/
*Q:* How to handle financial burden?
*Sri Sri:* First of all, don't think it is a burden. Have the confidence
that you can make it happen. Burden brings worry, and that will kill
your creativity. /

/
*Q:* Why must people talk all the time? Even in your divine presence?
*Sri Sri:* I don't know! I have the same question. Here when satsang is
going on, people sit and talk. I don't know what they are talking about.
When satsang is happening we should all sit and sing together, no? All
the minds come together. /

/
*Q:* Guruji, can we have Guru Poornima in Tahoe next year?
*Sri Sri:* All is possible! /

/[At the Y&M session:]
*Sri Sri:* Why do we do yoga? In order to make life more beautiful.
Heyam dukham anahatam -- to stop misery from entering our world.
Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. /

/For the body we have asanas. For the mind we have pranayamas, for
emotional and mental well-being. Also asanas work on the mind and
pranayams on the body -- there are no strict boundaries. Meditation
removes spiritual misery, dejection, darkness and depression. That is
why yoga, Yogas-chitta- vritti-nirodhaha , it stops the chitta-vritti,
or the endless activity of the chitta. /

/And also by singing. Be in satsang, and sing with everyone. /

/Also in chanting -- we will do chanting later today, we will chant
sathyam param dhimahi a few times before meditation. It means let the
ultimate truth dawn in my intellect. Beauty, truth and divinity. It is
good to chant just before meditation. /

/
*Q:* Karma vs. free will: how much are we governed by karma and how much
do we have any free will?
*Sri Sri:* You should read Celebrating Silence, its all explained there.
Also in the Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker, the first sheet is on
that topic. /

/
*Q:* When the body dies, does the mind go with the soul?
*Sri Sri:* Yes. /

/
*Q:* How can we change our karma?
*Sri Sri:* By experience and wisdom, and some karma you just have to
overcome it and work through it. /

/
*Q:* How to raise kids to not lose their innocence?
*Sri Sri:* It is good to inculcate human values, love, compassion etc.
in children when they are young. It is also important to make them
strong. Should not make them too strong, then they become aggressive. At
the same time some strength is needed in addition to the innocence,
otherwise how will they go through life? Not too strong or innocent.
Take the middle path. /

/
*Q:*
*Sri Sri:* See, I consider that every tree in the planet is in my
garden. When the whole world is your family, there can be no
homesickness. Feel always at home -- it is all your attitude. /

/
*Q:* Are there any extra-terrestrial beings outside of the earth?
*Sri Sri:* Some may consider that I am one! /

/Some people were not happy that in our prayer meeting we did not
condemn the attacks and we took a soft approach. So people wrote about
us in the papers, are we from another planet or what? /

/Extra-terrestrials are also possible. The universe has many layers of
consciousness. Have you all seen the silver jubilee video? The one with
the angels in it? We should show it here after some time. /

/When we talk of healing and miracles and all, you know what our
teachers say? We don't believe in miracles, we depend on them!
Vismayo-yoga- bhoomika. The preface to yoga is astonishment. Have you
wondered how the seeds sprout into giant trees, and how babies are born,
or how the planets revolve, and so on? That is wonder. /

/
*Q:* Are there any coincidences? /

/
*Sri Sri:* Could be -- we cannot rule anything out!/


|| Jai Guru Dev ||










__._,_.___
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic
Messages in this topic (1)
Recent Activity: New Members 3
Visit Your Group
MARKETPLACE
Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use.


__,_._,___


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------