KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

Posted: 17 Jul 1996

RESPECT EVERYBODY AS YOU RESPECT ME

Respect everybody as you respect Me, but don't expect from everyone what you expect from Me.

You do it the other way. You don't respect everybody as you respect Me, but you expect them to give you joy and behave ideally. When they don't live up to your expectations, you get frustrated and you blame or curse them. By cursing, you lose your spiritual energy. Blessing brings your spiritual energy up.

The world is full of differences and arguments are inevitable. With forbearance or patience and wisdom, skillfully make your way up.

If you find fools around you, they are going to make you wiser. The number of fools around you indicates the strength of your centeredness. Don't try to get rid of them! (Laughter)

If you are not centered you will have no patience to put up with them. When you are totally established, you find the fools come up with wisdom. They are your own reflection, there is no other. Fools offer you frustration and wisdom. Be choosy and make your life juicy.

Hmm . . . What do you say? I think this is something very timely.

Question: How can you stop thinking others are fools?

Answer: You don't have to. You can see the whole world as fools. The advantage is you don't get attached to anyone. (Laughter) No one likes to associate with fools. If you think people are sane, you want to join them.

You can think everybody is a fool and be cool.

Jai Guru Dev