Wisdom from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar |
Russia, Sept. 10: Q: I feel very shy while interacting with people. What is the remedy for the same? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, when you have a sense of belongingness, shyness disappears. Q: What is the fastest way to feel belongingness and unity? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: When you are free from stress, you have a sense of belongingness and understanding. This is what happens when people undergo The Art of Living program. It happens so naturally. Q: Should yoga become an integrated subject in school, especially if training/practicing can help our students to achieve something higher? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, certainly. In several countries, they have already made yoga compulsory in schools. Q: Do you follow any religion? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, I am a born Hindu. I continue to be a Hindu, but the programs we teach are very secular. People of any religion can practice it. Q: Please tell us what does ‘one word family’ mean to you and what should we do to make this family happy? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What family means to me? The whole world is one family for me. You know, I feel absolutely at home wherever I am. I never have a feeling of being in a country or land that is not mine. I never felt strange anywhere. My concept is to see the whole world as one family; of course family is a very important institution, it is the foundation of a society. Q: What shall we do to always be happy, because as I know your concept is to relax and attain happiness by that? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What to do to always be happy? First, drop the feverishness to hold onto ALWAYS and you will find yourself happy. And then, if some moments of unpleasantness creep into life, accept that also. Q: You have a very big dream in bringing world peace. If, in our lives, we meet people who follow orthodox and rigid ideas and are ready to die and harm other people, how should we deal with it? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: We need to deal with such people with patience and we have to educate them, it’s not an easy task. First, we should begin from prisons. When one amongst them joins us in spreading peace, it is much easier. Q: Do you have any special courses or programs to help the people working honestly in mass media to reduce the stress? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. You know, this program that we teach is very useful in reducing stress, irrespective of whether you are in a media company or in the corporate sector or in aviation. Stress is a common factor in any work place and this will definitely help people get out of stress. Mainly, what we need to see in the world today is a violence-free society, a disease-free body, a confusion-free mind, an inhibition-free intellect and trauma-free memory. You know, we nurture so many types of inhibitions; if ten compliments are given to you and only one insult is given, your mind locks onto the one insult. So we need to bring a change to that - a trauma-free memory and a sorrow-free soul. This is the birth right of every individual and this is what these practices bring to you. Q: In today’s world, people really think of survival. How to deal with it? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is a natural concept where survival is the first thing. It is a natural instinct but when self-confidence and vision is infused, survival will naturally be included in it, without any kind of fear. I have spoken about this in our books - Celebrating Silence and Celebrating Love. You can read these books when you have a question. SUTRA: "Wake up and see that everyone loves you. If you ever feel lonely and feel that no one loves and cares for you - remember me.” - Sri Sri SUTRA: “When your mind is not complaining, responsible, courageous, confident and hollow and empty you are inexplicably beautiful.”- Sri Sri. Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Hungry For Power Why are people hungry for power? People are hungry for power because they want attention and recognition. Power is a means, just like money. Passion is for an end. People who do not see power or money as a means, but see it as an end in itself, they do not live, they simply exist. If you do not realize that you are THE power -- that is to say that you are enlightened, then you crave for power. You crave for attention and recognition if: 1. You don’t have any talents, 2. You have no love or passion, 3. You are not innocent and childlike. If you don’t have any talent and you are not contributing anything substantial to society, like an artist or a scientist, or an Art of Living teacher or volunteer, then you are hungry for power. If you don’t have love or passion to bring about transformation in the society, then you are hungry for power. If you are not innocent and childlike and don’t have a sense of belongingness with the whole world, then you are hungry for power. Those who do not have any of these four, like some politicians, crave for power. The true power is the power of the spirit; real confidence, strength and happiness all spring from the spirit. And one who knows this and has this is not hungry for power at all. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev || SUTRA: "When you are enjoying yourself, feel gratitude. This gratefulness will make the joy stay in your life & that joy turns into love." - Sri Sri. What I would suggest is to take one week off every year for yourself, like you take your car for servicing. During that time, align yourself with nature, wake up with the sunrise, do some exercise, eat proper food, just as much food as necessary, some yoga, and some breathing exercises, a few minutes of singing, and keeping silence, enjoying the creation. Aligning ourselves with nature, our whole system gets recharged, it makes the whole year. We feel so vibrant and enthusiastic." -- His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar So it's time for satsang and it was in VM today (it was houseful :p) and even as we were singing "namah shivay, namah shivay, namah shivay om...." he enters and is completely surrounded! eventually he comes on the stage and waves! he meditates while all the bhajans are on... and finally we get to hear - "hmmmmmmmmmmmm" "How are you all? You are happy, right?" and then he is just looking around and someone says - we missed you/you've been away for long. he replies saying - that's why i came back early! i was supposed to go to delhi but instead came here. You know i was in Mongolia. It's a small place.. actually it's got a small population but lot of land.. today almost 60% of Mongolia has done the Art of Living course (applause from everyone in the audience) Their national flag has 3 symbols on it - showing fire sun and earth and their stories in the olden times started with 'once upon a time under the mountains on Sumeru.....' He was joking around about how the languages are confusing. In Hindi how the "ta" and "ti" work. you say "gaadi chalti hai" but say "bus chalta hai" and it's so hard to figure out when you must say 'ta' and when you must say 'ti'. Likewise in English - Know is spelt one way and pronounced in another. how something is written as one and pronounced as another.... Today's satsang had 2 points which were amazing - 1) Don;t think of life and sadhana as different. Life is sadhana. 2) Sadhana is rest. He spoke on how everything we do in life is sadhana. He spoke about how we shouldn;t be aggressive/annoyed with some people who are trying hard to spread rumors and lies about AOL (since someone in the audience made a reference to some recent developments in this regard) He said even if we slap someone - we should do that with a feeling of compassion, a smile from within and not with anger or frustration otherwise you will get it back the same way! He said how poems come effortlessly and only when you are in rest :D and spoke in Hindi and English and Kannada - but he said - I speak the language of the heart! Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: You Are Free! One who has given everything has also given freedom: Honor the freedom first and make good use of all things given to you. Your sankalpas (intentions) and desires separate you from God. Offer all the desires and your sankalpas to the Divine... then you are divine... you are God... you are free... lacking nothing. Effort is the key in the relative, Effortlessness is the key to the Absolute. Your mind does not belong to you. Don't blame it. Let the BIG SELF embrace it. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev || |
Shyness really inhibits one's development.
ReplyDeleteNice post Kiran, keep sharing.