KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026

Respect and Ego

There are two types of respect.

1. Respect that comes to you because of your position, fame or wealth. This type of respect is impermanent. It can be lost once you lose your wealth or status.

2. Respect that comes because of your virtues like honesty, kindness, commitment, patience and your smile. This respect, no one can take away.

The less you are attached to your virtues, the more self respect you have. If you get attached to your virtues, you look down upon everybody else, and the virtues start diminishing. Non- attachment to virtues brings the highest self respect.

Often one confuses ego with self esteem. Ego needs the other for comparison; self esteem is just confidence in oneself. For example, a gentleman claims that he is thorough in Mathematics or Geography, this is self esteem. But to say that I know better than you, that is Ego.

Ego simply means lack of respect to the Self.

Ego upsets you very often. Self esteem is immune to getting upset by external factors. In self respect, everything is a game, winning or losing has no meaning, every step is joy, and every move is celebration.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026

Q: Gurudev, how do you distinguish between intuition and Yoga Maya?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Intuition is different. Of course, intuition is also a siddhi. But there is a very clear difference. In Yoga Maya, you will find someone coming and telling you. And you cannot avoid Yoga Maya.

Yoga Maya is not a bad thing. The way to win over it is go through it and not be attached to it; use your brain also. This is a very delicate balance – keeping your mind and also tuning into your intuition. You need to have that balance. Unless and until you are totally centered and hollow and empty, your intuition is always colored by your own cravings and aversions. When you win over these things then Yoga Maya is your friend and does not pose a challenge. That is why path is essential and the Guru is essential because the Guru can guide you and tell you, ‘This is Yoga Maya’. Or he will say, ‘Yes, you are right’. So, without the Guru you cannot win over Yoga Maya. A Guru is very necessary.

Though Lord Krishna was born a Siddha, he had to have a Guru and so he went to Rishi Sandipani.
Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, "Mama maya duratyaya". My Maya is very difficult to cross over but it can be crossed over only by my grace, and only through me one can cross over that. That's what he told Arjun. It's very interesting how this whole thing is. So always be aware, be cautious of Maya. It can just come from somewhere and hold you in its grip, and the mind starts buzzing. Sometimes you have to snap out of that and that happens also by grace.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026

Relax and you find that everything is falling in the right place.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2026

Generosity is the quality of the spirit

When You Feel Stuck In Life And Not Growing, Bombarded By Desires, When There Is Dryness, Lack Of enthusiasm, no juice, what do you do?

Here is the solution....FEEL GENEROUS....right away, not tomorrow.

Either a princess or a pauper can feel generous. Generosity is the quality of the spirit. When you feel generous your life becomes abundant, full of compassion and love.

Question: Is generosity the same as being grateful?

Answer: No. Gratefulness always has self concern. You are grateful because you have something or you get something. Generosity is an expression independent of external circumstances. No one can make you feel generous. That is something that you have to do yourself. Essentially, generosity is not an act. It is a state of consciousness, but it cannot but find its expression in an act.

Question: What about passion?

Answer: Passion indicates scarcity. Dispassion is abundance. Dispassion without generosity makes you self-centered, causes more dryness.

You don't have to think about what you have done in the past. That only brings doership. Just feel generous.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2026

Q: Gurudev, how can one remain sensitive to anything, knowing that everything is unreal?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You cannot exercise sensitivity, either it is there or not. This is because sensitivity is beyond thought, it is at the level of a feeling, you cannot create sensitivity in you. When you are free from stress and are content, you automatically are sensitive. When you are miserable, you are insensitive.

Usually people think a miserable person is very sensitive. When you are miserable, you block yourself out. You may feel sensitive to others comments, but you are not sensitive to others feelings, it’s a one-way sort of sensitivity. Because your perception is totally colored, you are not sensitive to others, you feel vulnerable. But when you are centered, you are sensitive to others feelings.

Do you understand the two types of sensitivity? One is vulnerability, you feel very vulnerable when you are hurt and upset. When you are on your own trip of self-pity, you are ready to accept anything someone says. It does not mean that you are sensitive to others feelings. It is only when you are centered, content and calm that you become sensitive to others needs and requirements -- that is a different kind of sensitivity.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2026

If you try to get rid of the mind, it becomes a monster. If you just let the mind be, it will vanish!

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2026

Always?

How to be happy always?

Forget about always, then you are happy. In wanting to be comfortable always, one becomes lazy. In wanting perfection always, one become angry. In wanting to be rich always, one becomes greedy. When we do not realise that only life is for always, then fear comes. This projection of the nature of self which is "always", on the temporal which can never be "always", is called Maya.

All ways do not lead you, only one way leads you. If you remove always from your dictionary then everything is alright. Drop "always" and all will be right - that is intelligence.

II JAI GURUDEV II