QnA with Sri Sri

Q: Guruji, I read recently that in India a new political party has come up that is against corruption and VIP culture, etc., in Delhi. I sometimes see this VIP culture in The Art of Living. Gurudev, do you encourage VIP culture?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Absolutely not. There is no VIP culture, but does that mean everybody gets to do the same thing? No! They should play their roles properly. VIP culture is a preferential treatment that went on in Delhi. I even tell them in our satsangs that we shouldn’t put the board, 'VIPs'. Of course they put it because they have to give passes to people, so that the VIPs who come, come from a different entrance. They come and sit there. I tell you, though this party has started, they are very new. Let us see for a couple of months if they will be able to be that way. Sometimes practically it may not be possible. Imagine the President of Germany come here. Do you think he'll be able to just sit anywhere? No! There will be security guards, there will be sniffing dogs. I even advised Arvind (Leader of the new political party against corruption). I told him that this ideal is very good, but don’t be a soft target for people who may want to create disturbance. The world still has criminal elements. We should be practical. Though from my eyes, everyone is good, but there are still some criminal tendencies. We are not still in what is called Ram Rajya. Ram rajya means where there is no crime. It is written in the scriptures that during Lord Rama’s time there was no crime. There was justice for everybody. Everyone was equal and everyone was loved. This was a great dream of Mahatma Gandhi. He took the name of Rama and united India. He said, ‘Do you want the kingdom of Rama? Then let us unite’, With the ideal of Ram Rajya, he united India. Today, we are not yet a Ram Rajya. Where there is crime you need to be safe, protected. Either you have spiritual power and say, ‘I don’t need protection’, or you have to take protection. It is a good step. But if you ask me, 'Why do you meet some people and not everyone', I meet everybody. Some people come with projects and I spend time with them. They have done some seva, done some work. If you want me to only come and sit with you, then I’ll say, 'I have no time for you. No time for gossip'. But if you have some project, yes, I’ll give you some time. That is there, but not VIP culture.