KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

POSTED ON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2026

Enlightenment

You can't even say 'enlightened person', you can only say 'enlightenment' because when the person's personalities disappear, dissolve, then that is enlightenment.

II JAI GURUDEV II

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2026

Q: I’m not strong enough to take a commitment for whole one year. What can I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Gurudev: Not strong enough? Take one day at a time. You are strong enough to take commitment for one day, and that is enough. And each day you can continue doing it. Don’t think of one long year, “oh my God! One year I’ve to do something! Today I do, that’s good. Tomorrow I do, that’s good”.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2026

Getting upset is normal, but to carry the emotions for months is not normal. It should stay as long as a line stays on the surface of water.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2026

Evolution: Not part of the self

Are you evolving? If you are evolving, you are not in the Self. And you are not out of the Self, because nothing can exist out of the Self. (Laughter)

Broadly they can be put in these 5 catagories. There are six distortions that do not exist in the Self.

Expansion -- Prasarana. Expansion indicates there is already something into which something expands. That which expands cannot be the basis for expansion.

Contraction -- Akunchana. Contraction means something shrinks from something else. Self does not withdraw or shrink from anything, so contraction does not exist in the Self.

Evolution -- Vriddhi. Evolution is becoming something which it is not already. Self is the same, so it cannot evolve.

Decay -- Kshaya. There is no devolution or decay in the Self. It doesn't get old or stale. That's why, when you are close to your Self, you don't feel that you are aging.

Beginning -- Anaadi. Self has no beginning. If God has a beginning, then He is no God.

Lack -- Abhava. Self has no lack. Whatever lacks something is not complete. Self does not lack anything, it is complete. Lack indicates existence of something outside itself. That doesn't exist for the Self. So if you feel you have not grown at all, don't worry, you are close to the Self. (Laughter)

When your mind is with the Self, then you don't worry about evolution. If you are thinking about evolving, then you are stuck in the mind. And mind is part of the matter, and matter evolves and decays.

And that is how the experience of contraction and expansion is all play and display of the mind. Mind expands and contracts. When it expands, it comes close to the truth, which has no expansion.

Are you still evolving? Good luck!!

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2026

Q: If I am suffering from inside, can I still stay happy and keep a smile on my face?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You know life is like a 'Thali'(plate) in which you have something sweet, something salty, something pungent -- all different tastes are present. Like this, in your life you have little sadness (maybe you have lost something, or lost money), yes that pinches but if you just hold on to that pinch only, hold on to that pain only, then life cannot go on. Unless you are so well soaked in wisdom, in spirituality, you will continue to have some little grievances here and there, and if you stop smiling because of that, you will find the world to be a very depressing place. You should keep smiling, having a strong hope that whatever pain and suffering that you have inside will vanish, anyway it doesn't matter. One should have the wisdom to bear discomfort and move forward with a smile.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2026

If you love somebody, serve them, don't latch onto them.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026

Pravritti Nivritti

Life is a combination of Pravritti and Nivritti.

There are two attitudes that we have to pay attention to. One is, when we go inward, we say, ‘Everything is okay; anyway not a blade of grass moves without Divine intervention. God has kept us like this, so let it be.’
This is the attitude you must have when you have to go inward (Nivritti).

When you have to come out and work (Pravritti), then seek perfection in even small details. Whenever you see imperfection, you have to pay attention on how you can correct it. Find out ways to improve on all the things.

So while acting, see where you can bring improvement and what you can change. When you retire into meditation, say that everything is perfect; only then you can go inwards.

Usually when people close their eyes and go inward, they keep thinking, this is not okay and that is not okay and find fault in everything. They can neither mediate, nor be quiet. And in activity, people think everything is fine the way it is, why do we have to do anything about it? Then, we are at a loss.

So when you are acting, see what it is that you can do, and when you have to retire then say, ‘Everything is fine.’ This attitude will help you go deep in meditation. This is the path of Nivritti – when you have to get establish within yourself.

When you are established within yourself then your capabilities, strengths, intellect and enthusiasm to work are all increased. When all this has arisen, then return to Pravritti (action) and work with awareness and enthusiasm. Not only with awareness or only with enthusiasm, both!

|| Jai Guru Dev ||