KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2026

Atheism Is Not A Reality

It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited. So some people prefer to be atheists.

Atheism is not a reality, it is just a matter of convenience. When you have a spirit of enquiry, or in search of truth, atheism falls apart. With a spirit of enquiry, you cannot deny something which you have not disproved. An atheist denies God without first disproving it. In order to disprove God, you must have enormous knowledge. And when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot disprove it! (laughter!)For one to say that something does not exist, one should know about the whole universe. So you can never be one hundred percent atheist. An atheist is only a believer who is sleeping!

For a person to say, "I don't believe in anything", means he must believe in himself - so he believes in himself about whom he does not even know!

An atheist can never be sincere because sincerity needs depth - and an atheist refuses to go to his depth. Because the deeper he goes, he finds a void, a field of all possibilities - he has to accept that there are many secrets he does not know. He would then need to acknowledge his ignorance, which he refuses to do, because the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts doubting his atheism. A doubt-free atheist is next to impossible! So you can never be a sincere and doubt-free atheist.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2026

Q: Dear Gurudev, could you please tell us the significance of the Canadian Ashram, why did you choose this place? Are there any historic links?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When I spoke on the Ashtavakara Gita in India in 1990, sometime after that I told our people that I’ll come to Canada only when we have a place of our own. I gave it to them as a challenge, because until then we had been hiring venues here and there. Everyone thought we should have a place of our own, and so our devotees went searching and Ganesh and Janice found this place. When we visited it, we found the place to be appropriate, and it is also close to Trois Rivières.

In India, a place is considered to be very sacred when three rivers meet. In fact, interestingly, the ashram in Poland is also very close to a place where three rivers meet. We somehow get such places, and that is considered to be very good. The meeting of three rivers is actually symbolic of the three energy channels (nadis ) i.e., ida, pingla, sushumna; meditation happens when they meet. And so, at a place where three rivers meet also, meditation is very good.

In this campus, we now have six lakes and three mountains. The gentleman who was building this place also didn’t know why he was creating such a campus; he even expressed to Janice saying, "I don’t know why I’m doing this!" They are a very nice couple who sold this campus to us.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2026

Regardless of the events or circumstances that are happening, remain steady and established in the Self. Then you can be truly happy and blissful.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026

Knowledge And Faith

In science you have knowledge first, and then faith follows.

In spirituality, faith comes first, and then Knowledge follows.

For example, the knowledge that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are good for plants came through science, and people had faith in it, and all over the world they were used. But then knowledge came that they were not good and the faith shifted to organic farming. The same with antibiotics.

The knowledge brought faith, the knowledge changed, and then faith changed. The knowledge and faith of science is of "happening." In spirituality, faith is first and Knowledge comes later. Like Kriya, Yoga, and meditation -- first you have faith and then Knowledge follows. For example, if you do pranayama faithfully then you get the Knowledge of the prana; if your do your meditation faithfully, the Knowledge of consciousness follows. Even an illiterate, through faith, attains deep Knowledge.

Vinod: Human is the best composite material. (Laughter -- this is the NASA scientist mind)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Science considers even human as matter, and spirituality considers even earth as mother, even rivers and mountains as living beings.

Science regards life as matter and spirituality regards even matter as life.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026

Q:

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Happiness is when you want nothing, and you want to give. Where the wanting and desires end, and the sharing begin, happiness is exactly there. Memory is not happiness. When you are happy, you forget everything. It is when happiness is gone that you dwell in its memory. In the world, people are either dreaming of happiness or remembering happiness. That is either being in the past or the future. But happiness is that which is in the present. And it is your very nature.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026

If this world was more joyful, you would never look for something higher, or for something different. So for anything that has happened or not happened, feel grateful, thankful and happy about it.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2026

Tolerance And Acceptance Are Not Virtues

Many people think tolerance is a virtue. Tolerance is a negative term. Tolerance indicates a deep sense of dislike. If you like something, there is no question of tolerating it or not.

When you are tolerating something, it means you are temporarily putting up with it. Tolerance is a potential volcano. If you are tolerating, it means you are still holding on to something. At any time tolerance can turn into hatred. Tolerance indicates a sense of separateness, small mindedness, and limited awareness.

Acceptance is also negative. You accept only that which is not lovable.

Question: Do you need self-assurance to love people?

Sri Sri: Only the Self is always assuring - nothing else! This is our company — the Self-Assurance Company.

Question: Aren't we supposed to accept people as they are?

Sri Sri: If you don't love them, then you will have to accept them.

These words: tolerance and acceptance, are thought to be positive. I say they are not! Tolerance and acceptance come with judgment and separation. Don't accept people as they are or tolerate them, just love them as they are.

II JAI GURUDEV II