- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Friday 31 January 2014
Knowledge Sutra for the day!
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is a proverb in America which says, ‘Fake it till you make it’. When in difficult times, you experience pain. I am not saying you should never express the pain that you are experiencing, and fake it with a smile, no! If you feel there is a problem and if you feel like crying, cry, but snap out of it. What makes you snap out of it is knowledge. What does knowledge do? It brings back the smile. I want to tell you an incident. A lady had lost her teenage daughter and she was in a lot of pain. But with the help of knowledge, she could get over the pain. Then she started going to parties, but it was pinching her. She was feeling guilty, ’I am smiling. How can I simply smile when my daughter has died just a month ago?’ With the help of knowledge, she realized that anyway she had to go, so she went; she was sick and she died. But now when she smiled she felt guilty. She didn’t feel any pain anymore for the death of her daughter, and for that she felt guilty. I have seen many people like this. This is where I say, drop all these hesitations and listen to your heart. With knowledge you will be able to smile, and it comes to you naturally. This is the wisdom, i.e., everybody one day is going to die. I am going to die and you are going to die. Everybody will die. That inner strength and conviction (that comes to you when you realize this) will bring back the smile. When smile comes, don’t say, ‘Oh I shouldn’t be smiling!’ Wisdom is something that brings the natural smile within you even in tough times. When everything appears to be falling apart, why should you lose your smile? In everybody's life this happens. Some things that you like happen, some things you don’t like also happen. This is part of life. When such things happen, why do you have to blame yourself and get bogged down? Wisdom gives you the strength to smile even in tough times, and that is a real smile. Everybody anyway smiles when everything is fine. What is the great thing about it? A baby smiles when there is no pain, but an adult can smile even when there is little pain. Wisdom is important in everybody’s life. It is wisdom that uplifts you. It is wisdom that makes you smile even in very tough times.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What would you like to do for the country? Youngsters especially, wake up and take responsibility. In this country we have never seen so much violence and all the ills in the society.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sheet
Achieving Perfection
If
your intention is right, then the right action follows. Now in any
action, there can never be 100% perfection. But your intention can
always be perfect.If you see anywhere in the world, there is always some imperfection in the best of action. So there is always a little room for improvement in any action. Whatever I used do, my mother would always tell me, ‘This could have been done in a better way’. So in that sense, growth is a part of our evolution. Growth is another word for improvement, so there is always some scope for improvement in action. But if you ask about the Being (referring to the Self), or the state of being, it is complete. Like the Sun is complete, but its light would appear to be less or more if the clouds are there in the sky. But you can never foolishly mistake day for night.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Guru Punch of the day
Let Love and Compassion be Your Goal
Let Love and Compassion be Your Goal
By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - CHENNAI
A master and a disciple were in a boat. Behind them there was a group of four people in another boat. These four were teasing the disciple who was going behind the m,aster. You know, usually if you follow some spiritual path, people who don’t consider themselves to be spiritual, or consider themselves very normal people, consider you as abnormal - they make fun of you. So those boys were making fun of him, and sometimes even throwing things at him, torturing him. When they got into the boat, the boat with the four people capsized and started sinking. They had a very difficult time and barely managed to come to the shore alive.
The master’s boat with the disciple reached the shore safely, but because the other boat capsized and they were saved with great difficulty, the master gave a slap to the disciple. You know why? He said, “Look, you should have spoken something back. You kept quiet. And if you had punished them, Nature wouldn’t have punished them. You did not punish them, so Nature punished them even worse. Your patience made them suffer more.” Look at the compassion of the master. It is an event that happened, this is not just a story. It is such a great lesson. A person who is in equanimity and peace, even if he scolds, blames, it is taken as a blessing, something good is happening. (That doesn’t happen very often.)
Don’t drop all your practices. Stick to them until maturity comes. It is said that love and compassion for the whole creation, for all beings is the goal and you are the proof.
Question: Guruji, you said the compassion of the master was shown by that slap? Could you explain why?
Guruji: Yes, he taught a lesson to the disciple. Upto a certain level in your knowledge, in your evolution, you have to be patient. When? When you have feverishness. And then compassion is born, equanimity, because you want to be calm, quiet, peaceful, patient for your own good, isn’t it? But the Master’s mind was thinking about the good of all the others, too. Do you get it?
Question: Yes. Did it also take away some karma from that boy?
Guruji: It taught him something, it lifted him to one more level. Until then he was thinking about his own behaviour, the way to conduct himself, now he was given an understanding that you have to be compassionate. Get it? It is very subtle and very deep.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation
@SriSri - Let Love and Compassion be Your Goal - The New Indian Express http://bit.ly/Lh55jO
Thursday 30 January 2014
Knowledge Sutra for the day!
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Whether a desire is fulfilled or not, just be happy. Don’t cling onto a desire. Because whenever a desire is fulfilled, it leaves you in the same place that you were before the desire arose. Not all desires can be fulfilled. Some get fulfilled, some don’t. But you should take one stance. You know what that stance is? Come what may, I’m going to be happy. Whether single or married, I’m going to be happy. There are more chances for you to be married, if you want to. And when you’re already married, then that’s fine. Still be happy. Whether you have a child or not, just be happy. The one decision that you need to make in life is 'I will not allow any situation to bog down my happiness'. Got it? You have to take that decision, nobody else can take it for you.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don't worry. We all have a pact. Krishna says in Gita, whomsoever you adore, it comes to me. It goes to the one truth, the one reality.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sheet
Life a Destiny or Free Will?
Life
is a combination of both (destiny and chance). There is a little role
played by our destiny, and a greater part played by our free will also.
So it is never either this or that alone. Like for any moment, there is
both a past and a future also. There is not a single moment that does
not have a past or that does not have a future.So, the past is destiny, the future is free will, and the present moment is so beautiful. If you see things this way, then you are very wise. But if you think the other way around – that the past was free will, the future is destiny and the present is miserable, it is not a wise thing to do. It shows a lack of wisdom. Then life becomes miserable.
Can you see a moment without a past? It is impossible. Can there be a moment without a future? Again it is impossible. So if you ask me, 'Is life the past or the future', I would say that it is a combination of both.
Life is a combination of both (destiny and chance). There is a little role played by our destiny, and a greater part played by our free will also. So it is never either this or that alone. Like for any moment, there is both a past and a future also. There is not a single moment that does not have a past or that does not have a future.
So, the past is destiny, the future is free will, and the present moment is so beautiful. If you see things this way, then you are very wise. But if you think the other way around – that the past was free will, the future is destiny and the present is miserable, it is not a wise thing to do. It shows a lack of wisdom. Then life becomes miserable.
Can you see a moment without a past? It is impossible. Can there be a moment without a future? Again it is impossible. So if you ask me, 'Is life the past or the future', I would say that it is a combination of both.
Destiny and free will are not two different things. They are two sides of the same coin. What do you call as destiny? When your thoughts are not in alignment with what is happening, then you call it as destiny. When your thoughts are in alignment with what is happening, then you call it as free will. It all depends on the direction of your thoughts.
How can you choose the direction of your thoughts? You can do that only when your mind is clear and settled. All that we need to do and achieve in our life is: purity in our heart, clarity in our mind and skill or dexterity in our actions.
We need to bring spontaneity in our action. That is what is necessary. Got it?
As a child we had all three, did we not? Children are very clear in their minds. Have you ever seen the way they look at you? They look directly at you. Their mind is very clear. If you look into their eyes, you will see that the mind is very clear. But as adults we seem to have lost the purity of the heart and the clarity of our mind.
A child’s mind is very clear and its heart is very pure. It is so spontaneous. We can do the same thing when we grow up also. So you need to have dexterity both in your action and expression.v
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Guru Punch of the day
Wednesday 29 January 2014
Wake Up And Serve The Nation
January 09, 2014 Bangalore, India
Q: Gurudev, Guru Gobind Singh was a warrior. Can a saint also be a warrior?
Sri Sri: Absolutely! Saints used to be warriors. Vishwamitra, Parshuram, etc. There are so many Rishis in Shrimad Bhagvatam who were warriors. Guru Gobindji raised this slogan, 'Sant sipahi bano' (a saint should become warrior).
In fact only a saint should be a warrior. If someone whose heart is clean becomes a warrior, then good will happen for everyone. If an angry, greedy, arrogant person becomes a warrior, then he will just mess up.
Mahatma Gandhi is also in that category, he was a saint as well as a warrior.
In each one of us there is a saint and a soldier, wake them up, it is time. There is an opportunity in India, in 2014, to be a sant sipahi (saint who is a soldier). Wake up the lion asleep in you. India has fallen, in every way it has fallen. In the world of spirituality also, strange things are being heard. Too much degradation. So, the politics of this country should be cleaned up first. You should stand up for that. Look, if we hire a guard at home, we only give a duty of 8 hours to the guard, isn’t it?
In a day, there are 3 guards. Their duty changes in 8 hours, because they get tired after 8 hours! So, when at home, we change guards every 8 hours, how will it work if we keep the same guard for 10 years!
If you drag a tired person and insist him to guard, is it injustice or not. It is against the labor laws (laughter). A change is required. Time and again, a change is required.
See, we are not of any one party, we belong to everyone. A supreme court’s justice is not for any one party, it is for everyone, isn’t it? The country’s president is for everyone. Similarly, we are for everyone. So we can say, change is needed. And getting the change is in your hands.
Okay, if a change is needed, should we just get any new person?
If you give a broom to someone to clean, they should be told that first the verandah needs to be cleaned, then the house needs to be cleaned from inside. If a broom has been given, and you say, 'Clean the verandah now', and immediately say, 'Clean up inside also now', neither the verandah nor the inside of the house will be clean.
Also, always see which hand is holding the broom. See that it doesn’t so happen that the person you want to change comes back in another form. Be alert on this. Give strength to the country, work for the strength. I am not talking of any one person, but a change is needed. Tell the person on duty that if they are little tired, take a little rest! If you keep working without any rest, scam upon scam will go on. So we should be aware. Everyone should work for a change.
Q: I was abused as a child. What is the best way to forgive that person?
Sri Sri: You know, people who abuse, either they have been victims or they are ignorant. If they are ignorant, it is not their fault. They have never been educated. You have to have pity for them, compassion for them. And if they are victims themselves, then they inturn become culprits, then also they need compassion. They never got a chance to know about themselves, they never got a chance to control their emotions. They were not taught how to control their tendencies, or how to get out of the bad habits that they had cultivated. This guidance was missing.
When you see from this angle, you will find that inside every culprit there is a victim crying for help. And when you recognize the victim inside the culprit, your anger, hatred, and frustration will simply drop. You don’t have to do anything, it will just disappear.
So this is why I say, see the situation from a broader perspective. And forgive for your own sake, not for their sake. When you forgive, what happens? At least your mind gets free from that past, from that trauma, and you move forward.
And help others, there are so many other people who are getting into that trap. See what you can do to help them. This is what we should do. See the past as destiny, the future as freewill and in the present be dynamic, be active. Do the best you can to the world around you.
Q: Gurudev, what was special about Sanjay that he could see what was going on in the war of Mahabharat? What was that divine vision?
Sri Sri: There were no televisions in those days, the humans had to train their minds in such a way. We don’t know how much time he must have taken, meditating to enable him to see things. But it is possible. We all have this power. If the heart is clean and the mind is silent, then if we sit and focus on something, it’s happenings keep occurring to us. It’s also called intuition, or intuitive awareness.
How many of you have experienced this? (Many hands go up)
It increases with meditation.
Q: Gurudev, is money bad or are we bad? When we have money then greed also comes. What should our relationship with money be?
Sri Sri: Neither money is bad nor are you. Don’t treat anything or anyone as bad – not money and not oneself. If you want to be greedy, be greedy for seva (service). If you treat it as bad, then you will be stuck. Nothing is bad.
Why do you blame? In our country, money is treated as Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), Lakshmi certainly isn’t bad.
Q: Do the Arab people and the Indian people share things in common?
Sri Sri: Of course! We all share the same air, the same sun. We are all on the same planet Earth! You can never stop the air from flowing from India to the Gulf, and sometimes from the Gulf to India. It is not possible!
Mohammad Paigambar, the Prophet Mohammad, himself said that he gets a cool breeze from India. And that has been the story for centuries! There has always been harmony in India.
When people were prosecuted elsewhere, this land kept its harmony throughout. The Jewish people were prosecuted elsewhere, and when they came to India, they were welcomed here. Nobody was prosecuted in this country. The Jews were not prosecuted, the Parsis were not prosecuted, Muslims were never.
Christians were here in the 1st century. One of the apostles of Jesus Christ, Thomas, came to India. He was called 'The doubting Thomas'. He came to India and he was welcomed. So this is a land where harmony in diversity has always been acknowledged. So there are many common things. I have also written a book called 'Islam and Hinduism', you may pick up the common thread, the common things between the two religions. Similarly, I have said something about Christianity and Hinduism, you can pick it up.
Q: Gurudev, why is your photo everywhere? What about the ego?
Sri Sri: I in fact, don’t want my photo to be everywhere. I tell people, but they do the same things, they bring it.
Dr. Lawrence Carter also made a portrait of me in Atlanta (laughter). A huge big portrait and put it in the hall of fame there, in the university.
I want to tell you one incident. I was once travelling in a plane and there was a politician, a minister travelling in that same plane. When we got down, the politician was trying to come out, but there were about 200 people trying to give him a garland, and he was refusing. He was running around saying, 'No, no, don’t give me a garland. I am a simple man, don’t honor me'. And the whole drama happened for about half an hour. In his refusing the garland, he made it into a big scene.
I said, 'If they brought it with so much love, you should have just taken it and moved on!' The whole thing would’ve finished in 2-3 minutes.
In Ashtavakra Gita it is said, your wanting something or refusing something, both are same.
You know, for almost 10 years we had no pamphlets, and no photo of mine was published anywhere; in magazines, newspapers, nowhere. For 10 years, we didn’t do any printing, it was all by word of mouth – if you benefit, tell your friend. And they tell their friends. So everything was happening by word of mouth. But when it became larger, people said, 'No, we have to do this'. So to give information we started letters. Then printing, and the magazines, all these things started later to keep people informed.
Those days there was no twitter, not even cell phones. The only way was through magazines or newsletters.
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QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Very easy. Say whatever you want to say the other way around. I want to tell you a small story. This person’s wife was very adamant. She would always do the opposite of what the husband said. The husband was desperate and went to a Swami for advice. The Swami whispered something in his ear. Three months later, the Swami was in the same city and saw that this person looked very happy. The husband thanked the Swamiji and said, “Your trick worked!”Swamiji had advised him to say the opposite of what he wanted! For example, if he wanted fried potatoes, he should tell his wife that he did not want fried potatoes. It’s all about how to handle the mind. Do not talk when communication breaks down. Tough people increase your own skills.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I am easily available. If you really sincerely want something, nature grants you.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sutra for the day!
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Knowledge Sheet
How to Handle Mistakes
Never
mind all the mistakes you did in the past. Whatever mistakes you have
done, you have learnt some lessons from them. There is no point in
regretting this moment for the last moment which is already gone.
Resolve right now, 'This moment I am innocent, I am pure, I am part of
the light, I am love', and think what you can do in the next moment.So, you have to pull yourself up again and again, to see (keep your attention on) the future. Depression is always thinking about the past and then fearing the future.
Spiritual knowledge is that which gives you the strength for the future, 'Nothing to worry, only the best can happen to me because my heart is clean, and my mind is clear'.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Is God Unfair?
January 09, 2014 Bangalore, India
Q: So far I have come across two kinds of people, the first type are so cheerful and gracious all the time, and they even render moral support. But what life has given them is consistent failure and repeated embarrassment.
The second type of people, no matter how much they embarrass and hurt others, they try to push down others and climb over, still they are living gloriously on top with all the riches and beauty. Why this unfairness?
Sri Sri: Why is God unfair? My dear, people who do wrong things, they have to fall. And if they just fall from a short height, they won’t get hurt (laughter). It is not the right punishment! That is why they go all the way up, so that when they fall, they can fall well. You have seen this happening, haven’t you? Is it not happening? All these corrupt people went so high, and then all the way down. They get into a place where they have to count the bars. Have faith that truth will always triumph.
Q: My life goes like a stock market; it reaches a peak and then falls to zero. How do I bring stability? Is it possible to make this graph stable, or is death the only cure?
Sri Sri: No, first of all, don’t think your life is a stock market. Mind goes up and down.
Just look back and notice, so many times you reached a point where you thought that this is the end of life; that heaven has fallen on your head. But there was an unseen hand that pulled you out of every crisis. You have always received help whenever you have been in crisis. Turn back and see, you will see that in your life this is a fact, that you are always helped. And know that in the future also you will get such help from an unseen, unknown hand, and that is the Divinity. When you know there is a power that is watching me, a power that is going to take me along, it’s never going to let me down, then you will never say your life is a stock market. It is a very solid foundation to life.
Q: How does being religious help me in my spiritual quest? How do I ensure that my daughter grows up to be a good girl devoted to god?
Sri Sri: : Honesty in character, purity in heart, clarity in the mind and spontaneity in action, this is what religiosity should bring.
If you think that you are religious and your heart is not pure, I tell you, you are not religious. If you think you are religious and your mind is filled with worries, I tell you, you are not religious. And if you have doubts and fears, then there is something missing; the faith is missing.
So, being religious means being righteous, and preserving tradition. Doing your prayers, celebrating. All this is essential. But more essential is the spiritual upliftment.
Q: Gurudev, why is it important on the spiritual path to be in control of the five senses?
Sri Sri: Not just on spiritual path, if you don’t have control over your tongue, and you just blabber whatever comes to your mind, it will get you into trouble. You can’t speak whatever you want. Though you have freedom of speech, you cannot abuse people, you cannot hurl abuses. You can't say, 'It is my right, I can abuse anybody', no. You are going to face the consequences of it.
Similarly, if you eat too much and don’t listen to the body, you are going to bear the consequences.
Q: Gurudev, what should be done about sorrow? They say, letting go and being dispassionate gives you happiness. Doesn't being dispassionate make you lame, or a pessimist?
Sri Sri: No, dispassion is like breathing out, and passion is like breathing in. You have to have passion, but if you have only passion, you will get into depression sooner or later, because not all your passion comes to fructification immediately, it takes its own time. At that time, dispassion gives you the much needed room for passion to exist.
Passion is like breathing in, and dispassion is like breathing out. You can’t say, 'I will only breathe in, I won’t breathe out', then you will die. It is not possible. So, dispassion is part of life. If you don’t have dispassion, if you are feverish about anything, you will lose sleep. You will not be able to sleep also. Some degree of dispassion allows you to sleep well. If you don’t have that, you will get insomnia.
Passion and dispassion - this is inbuilt in our nature. Somewhere you have to let go. And that letting go is what is dispassion. And in between these two, we need compassion, got it? We need three things in life, passion, dispassion and compassion.
Q: Dear Gurudev, you always say that there are five types of questions. Sometimes in the corporate life, if you don’t ask questions in a meeting, you are perceived as being inattentive. Silence is not construed as wisdom.
Sri Sri: Absolutely. In TV channels and corporate meetings you should keep talking something; whether it makes sense or not is secondary.
In the Nyayashastra (scripture on science of logic and reasoning), it is said, there are eight types of Nyaya (arguments): Vaada, Vivaada, Jalpa, Vithanda, Hetwabhasa; these are the different types of arguments.
This is one of the main philosophies of Nyayashastra. It is very interesting. From an ancient time they have codified all this. So keep talking, but be aware of what you are talking, that’s it.
You don’t have to be silent, at the same time, simply blabbering is also no good. If you speak to the point and when it is needed, you will be more appreciated.
Q: Gurudev, religion is called the opium of the society. Why is there so much violence in the name of religion? What do you think should be the driving force in society: religion, ambitions, ethics, money; what?
Sri Sri: Humanism. If religion is devoid of humanism, only violence will exist in the pretext of religion. If you don’t consider that all the people on the planet belong to you, belonging to one God, and if you think they are your enemies, they are bound to fight. This whole problem in the world today on the pretext of religion is unfortunate.
It first appears like the fight is between Muslims and Jews, or Christians and Muslims, or Muslims and Hindus; these are all appearances. If you go a little deeper, you will find people are fighting even amongst themselves. Among Muslims, among Christians, and among Hindus there is fight. So inter-religious and intra-religious fights and conflicts are happening all around the world. And the main reason is not God, or the prophet, or the philosophy, the main problem is personal egos. It is peoples' ego and narrow mindedness that is the cause, and they use religion as a pretext to bring out of all their pent up anger, frustration and stress, because nobody ever taught them how to get rid of stress and be free, and to live in the moment and be happy. Nobody taught them how to look at everybody with compassion. This teaching, this technique was missing.
Not all the people are like this. There are good people in every religion. And there are so many good people who are striving for the betterment of humanity, in all the religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Islam, Hinduism, everywhere there are good people. There are only a few people who create conflict; they need help. They need help rather than condemnation.
It is easy to condemn a bad guy, but that is not going to help. We need to bring the transformation of hearts and minds. That is what the role of spirituality is. Spirituality unites people of all religions and makes them experience the one truth, the one love that we are all made up of.
Q: Gurudev, what is dharma? What may be dharma for one person may be adharma for another person. How to decide what is my dharma?
Sri Sri: Dharma is that which upholds you. Truth, honesty, compassion, service – these are all in one word called dharma. Duty, one's nature, virtues, values – if you want to put one word in which all of them come together, we say dharma. That which gives you comfort, that which uplifts your spirit, that which upholds your mind, body and soul complex, that is dharma.
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Guru Punch of the day
Tuesday 28 January 2014
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Listen, don’t analyze anybody. This is another conclusion. Stop analyzing anyone. Where is the time to analyze somebody, and don’t analyze yourself also. Just relax, know there is a power that is taking care of everything and the power loves you. Know this and just relax. Yeah? Best idea? You are at peace, and you will be helped that way. It is not someone who is going to help us; we have to do our thing. And nature is with us, there is a power with us which nobody can understand, nobody can understand, even we cannot understand. So, just trust in that power and relax.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should gather all the friends of your children; put them all together. Teach them; play with them. That will make some sense.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sheet
Smiling Through Tough Times
Wisdom is something that brings the natural smile within you even in tough times. When everything appears to be falling apart, why should you lose your smile?
In everybody's life this happens. Some things that you like happens, some things you don’t like happens. This is part of life. When such things happen, why do you have to blame yourself and get bogged down?
Wisdom gives you the strength to smile even in tough times, and that is a real smile.
Everybody anyway smiles when everything is fine. What is the great thing about it? A baby smiles when there is no pain, but an adult can smile even when there is little pain.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Guru Punch of the day
Monday 27 January 2014
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Only when everything happens right then… if things go wrong then it is your own mind! (laughter) See, you got a thought, an intuition, when it is correct. If it doesn’t match the reality, you don’t call it “I had an intuition” how do you say it? “I had an illusion.” Difference between an illusion and intuition is that an intuition is correct, and illusion is not correct.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Anvaya is that which you can apply. Vyatilekha means one that is opposite.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sutra for the day!
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Knowledge Sheet
Health and Vegetarianism
It
is a wrong notion to think that we must eat meat in order to be
healthy. It is not necessary. This is a wrong notion, ‘Oh if you don’t
eat meat you will be very weak’. Come on, look at a horse! You say horse
power, yet a horse is vegetarian. Elephants are vegetarian. Giraffes,
Zebras are vegetarian. The big fives except the lion are all vegetarian.
They are not weak. Even cows are vegetarian. Bulls are so strong. This is a wrong notion in people’s mind that only if you eat meat you will become strong. Meat causes so many diseases. Go on the internet and you can find a lot about it.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Guru Punch of the day
Sunday 26 January 2014
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is like accepting the quantum physics but also accepting the periodic table.
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Sometimes you do so only socially. When you become unhappy, this socialising drink will catch on and you will drink more and more. You could become an alcoholic. Just say no, keep away. Be firm that you won’t have it, then you are in a safe place. From here, you can never turn into an alcoholic. I’ve seen so many people become alcoholic with the same logic. They start with ‘once in a while’. Alcohol does so much damage to your nervous system that can reflect in the pure consciousness, the deeper reality. Drink brings dullness. It is like driving with the brakes on. If you want to progress, you must put some barriers,for instance, tobacco. Smoking was considered part of the culture some 35-40 years ago. Today, it is not. We have been saying this for years and it has taken so long and cost millions of lives. So many lives would have been saved. No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol – put these barriers.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sutra for the day!
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Knowledge Sheet
Overcoming Unhappiness
You
know, you cannot be unhappy without a reason, but you can be happy
without any reason. This is the wisdom that we must bear in mind, 'I can
be happy without any reason!'If I am unhappy I will search for the reason, why am I unhappy. You have to do it, nobody else can do it for you.
This is when you find that your unhappiness is due to physical dependency, or emotional dependency; or physical want or emotional want.
It is your physical and emotional wants that make you unhappy.
First we need to know how to handle the emotional wants. What are emotional wants? Appreciation from people. Let others appreciate me, let others praise me; adoration, and appreciation. Then the inability to handle the altercations of others. These are the emotional needs.
Also, thinking, 'Oh I am so good, I always think good about everybody, but everyone thinks bad about me'. This is the sort of emotional mess that we create for ourselves. We only create this, nobody else creates it for us. Knowledge and meditation is the way to get out of this. Knowledge and meditation helps you to overcome the emotional dependency.
When you have overcome that, then physical dependency has its own parameters.
Work hard, have confidence in your talents and abilities, and then reduce your wants and desires.
If your wants and desires are high up there, and your physical ability is low, then you will be unhappy. See that your wants and desires match your physical ability.
Suppose you don't have hard teeth and you want to crack the shell of a walnut using your teeth, I tell you, the shell will not crack but your teeth will definitely crack. So you must first see how strong your teeth are, accordingly you should choose.
If my physical ability is only to lift 15 kilos, I should not venture to lift 50 kilos. I should limit myself to 15 kilos, and then slowly rise up to lift more by working towards it.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Guru Punch of the day
Saturday 25 January 2014
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I went to Pakistan, Iraq many countries. It felt just like India - so much love and enthusiasm. People said, ‘Guruji, we belong to you. We are yours, and you are ours.’ This feeling is in-born to all of us, inherent to us. This does not mean that there should not be patriotism. Patriotism should be present within us. That is why, devotion to divinity and nation, go hand in hand. So I would say, express your patriotism by taking on seva work. Lakhs of people are gathered in this city, - if we dedicate two hours one Sunday to clean the city, do you know how the city will shine the following day? All the dirt will be removed. It is not the work of the municipal corporation alone. We all can step out with brooms in hand. Will you do it? Next Sunday morning, you will step out at 8:00AM and until 10:00AM everyone will clean their respective communities. Can you do it? Keep your homes clean, keep your streets clean, and your alleyways clean. Inner cleanliness, and outer cleanliness – this is our duty and our responsibility. We should stand up against lack of cleanliness. In the same way, we should stand up against shortage. All the unemployed youth can become entrepreneurs in the country. They can do a lot. A lot of businesses from our country are moving to China. Why? Somewhere we have lost our entrepreneurship. We think the government should give us employment. How can the government give jobs to everyone? You stand on your own feet. I know, for this training is needed. Our Art of Living Vyakti Vikas Kendra is ready to offer training to the youth. Training will be given to the youth. See, in this country the kites that we fly, the statues of Lord Ganesha and other statues, are all being produced in China and brought here. So we can manufacture all these here. In this country each town had its specialty. For example, the kurta of Lucknow is very famous; since ages, Banarasi sarees, Kashmiri shawls, Himachal apples, these are all very well known, so this specialty in every state should be promoted. In China, the whole village manufactures only a single product. In one village only needles are made; in one village only buttons are made. This trend really boosts the economy of the country. We should also do this. Next, tourism is a very good thing. Many of India’s great sages, prophets were born right here in Uttar Pradesh. God knows why everyone picked Uttar Pradesh. Sri Ram and Sri Krishna were born here, and so many great luminaries were also born here. Kabir Dasji was also born here and Buddha lived here for a very long time. But all these religious sites are polluted and dirty. Effort should be made to clean these places and make them shine. With only a little attention we can make it an international tourist destination. And we should stand up against injustice. I already told that we should all stand up against corruption. Can we all raise our hands and promise that we will neither give bribes nor accept bribes. Many of those sitting here have been reluctantly accepting bribes. I am telling you, for just one year, do not take bribes. Afterwards we will see how it is, a year later. After one year, I will come back and again deliver an oath. So today, take the oath that you will not take bribes. Without bribe you will deliver the work. If you are hesitating because you don’t want to take it, but the one who wants to give comes and gives it from under the table, then what to do? I will say, that all the college YES+ youth that are sitting here, they will prepare a strip and come and stick it on your desk which says, ‘I do not accept bribes.’ All these youth will prepare this strip and paste it on your table, and you will not have to take the trouble. So when people see it, they will not give you bribe and you will not even need to speak up. So this work should be done. Okay? So we need to stand up against injustice. Next, we need to renounce caste-discrimination. Our country has suffered a setback because of this. All our sages and saints, thousands of them belonged to all the different castes. We have had saints and sages from all castes, even lower castes, so we should give up caste-distinction. Just remember we only belong to one caste – humanity, okay? We should stand up against ignorance. There should be no superstition or ignorance; we should stand up against this.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If someone controls God, he cannot be God. The one who cannot be controlled is God.
Wisdom Quote of the day
Knowledge Sutra for the day!
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Knowledge Sheet
You are a Spark of Universal Love
What
stops you from honoring yourself? When you think you are a culprit, you
did something wrong. You carry guilt in you and think you are a sinner.
If you are a sinner you can never celebrate yourself. You can never be
at peace with yourself. It will always eat you up deep inside. Only when
you get out of the culprit consciousness, the guilt consciousness,
there is peace and there is spiritual light within you.You should know that there is light inside of you; you are part of the light, and part of Universal Love.
Yes, you are a spark of Universal Love.
Every individual wants to experience this universal love; to be a part of it, a spark of it, and that can only happen when you are out of culprit consciousness.
|| Jai Guru Dev ||
Guru Punch of the day
Friday 24 January 2014
QnA with Sri Sri
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Both. You have to perform your duty and you have to be happy. Why do you want to have a choice between these two? But yes, If there is a choice, go for duty first because if you are unhappy it may be momentary, right? Happiness is there, will come. But if you are choosing happiness before duty then you will be unhappy in the end. So it’s better to be unhappy in the beginning than keep it a long, long program.
Guru One Liner of the day
+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One who is humble like water, water goes and settles at the bottom. One who is subtle like air.
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