Enlightenment is unconditional

Wisdom from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

What Guruji said today:

30 July 2010, France

Q: Because I travel a lot to places where vegetarian food is hard to find, and I have to eat with office colleagues. I eat wrong foods and find energy is really low. What to do in such situations?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know when people have some allergies they don’t eat those foods for which they have allergies just because of company. Suppose you have milk allergy, and because the company is all drinking tea and milk, you’ll not say, ‘Ok, I’ll also drink.’ Because you’ll suffer. Right?

So similarly, in any company you can choose your food, you can say ‘Ok. I am going to eat only chips, or vegetables, or bread...’ You are not compelled to eat non-veg if you don’t want to. Ok? Or unhealthy food. You don’t need to drink Pepsi or Coke if you don’t feel it’s good for you. Right? See, when people drink lots of Pepsi and Coke, it burns the lining of the stomach and the intestine. Later on you develop so many problems. All these carbonated drinks should be avoided. Someone had demonstrated, in a cup of Pepsi they put a tooth, a tooth which had fallen. It dissolves! If teeth can dissolve (which stay for a long time in nature) in Pepsi Cola. It is so corrosive. And that corrosive fluid can cause so much damage to our intestine, our brain, our nerve cells. So we must keep healthy eating habits and propagate them.

Today is much better than 30 years ago. 30 years ago when we started, people were very allergic to vegetarianism and spirituality. But today, it has become a fashion. Because we make a trend. And we create a trend and keep it moving. 

Q: I want to serve you. Where do I go?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are so many opportunities here. Bad Antogast needs several people who would like to do some service in the German Ashram. Come there. There are other places also.

Q: I am feeling confused between two men. One is father of our son. But I am not really happy with him as a woman. One is somebody to whom I feel really connected. What can I do? Shall I stay with the father of our son to protect the family life or shall I follow my heart?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Very difficult question! It depends on how old your child is. And if the child needs both parents’ love and care, then you should attend to that first. Children’s life is very much important. We need to sacrifice some of our personal wishes for the sake of the child when they are growing up. You know that. You have been doing it. So protect the family. Must be the first thing. Many times you have to let go of some of your temptations. Let go some of your personal ambitions. Ya?

It’s very important. Children need both, father and mother. So, as far as possible…
If it’s impossible because the husband is so bad or the wife is so bad, then you have to go your separate ways. Then there is no option. But, as far as possible, give the children a good family life. 

Q: How to increase the belongingness and Satva in energy, to be able to bring more people into this path?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This question, I leave it with you. Keep asking this question. Time to time you get ideas and do those ideas. And get people to be peaceful, happy, what we call satvik. Satvik means harmonious. The harmony within yourself and the harmony with your world.

Q: Dear Guruji, I don’t want to get married but I find living alone very difficult too. No one to talk to or do things with, I end up watching too much TV. What to do and how to cope?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ya, when you are living alone, this’ll be the problem. That is why the ashrams are created, where many people are there and they have so many things to do together. Everyday satsang. You are busy. Taking a project and working on a project. France needs help. You can come and join the French team. 

Q: Is anger related to ego? Several Rishis in the Hindu tradition have been known to be very short-tempered. How did this affect their peace?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Not several. One of the Rishis is known for his anger. But always good happened through his anger. That’s why I say, even the anger of a wise man does so much good, and love of an ignorant person causes more problems. 

See, an illiterate mother, an uneducated mother, she doesn’t like her children going to school because the young ones they cry when going to school. Then she says, ‘No, no. Ok, don’t go to school.’ They say we don’t want to study. She says, ‘Ok, don’t study.’ Her love for her children so that they don’t need to study hard or go to school has spoiled their whole life. Isn’t it? So, even the love of an ignorant person does harm. And even anger of a saint always does good. 

There are so many stories about one sage, his name was Durvasa. In India, if someone is very angry, they say ‘Oh, he is a Durvasa!’ means he is someone who gets angry at the tip of the nose. At the drop of a hat. Just gets upset. But he would come back to normal immediately. 
This is to say, don’t feel bad about yourself if you have anger. Even a Rishi had some anger. So, you don’t have to be too hard on yourself by blaming yourself. That is just to give you self confidence. To make you feel, you are ok, inspite of your little bit anger. That is only one rare case. That is to say that enlightenment is unconditional. It is what? It is unconditional. You can’t put any condition on that freedom. Just to tell you, there is no conditioning. So it’s possible to get angry also. And, sometimes anger can also do good.