KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

Posted on: Tuesday, June 16, 2026

 

Ego And Self From A Different Angle

 

Ego is that something, which has two aspects – the positive and the negative. The creativity in you – are the results of ego. At the same time, when you break down communication, when you isolate yourself, when you’re in tears, when you’re stressed – that is also ego. We do not know about the ego, and so we don’t pay much attention to it. But just 2-3 facts, awareness of how ego works !

 

The self – the basis of life! You can call it the spirit, the soul, consciousness, the source of the mind – anything. It is that something, which doesn’t change in one’s whole life. After discovering about all these levels, what is left is the Self.

 

Everything is changing, isn’t it? Do you notice this?

 

Just look at yourself in the mirror and then look at your picture taken a few months or a few years ago. Isn’t there a big difference?

 

Your body is changing, your thoughts are changing, the mind is changing, emotions are changing, situations are changing… But still you feel there is something in me which is not changing. So that something which is the basis of all change, that something through which you notice the change is the self – the atma, the spirit. It is the most amazing aspect of our lives. Just a glimpse of it, a dip into your spirit energizes our whole system – and that is what meditation is.

 

Spirituality is the skill of nurturing, purifying and blossoming one’s all levels of existence.

 

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

Posted on: Tuesday, June 16, 2026

 

Q: Gurudev, you have often said that you are not the doer. Please help me understand this as I have been stuck in the self-blame game for past incidents.

 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

 

Come on, wake up! All that happened in the past is finished, it is like a dream, it is done! You did something wrong and you learnt a lesson from it, it is finished. Now, move on. Broaden your vision, and don’t worry about doership and non-doership. Leave all that.

 

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE BY GURUDEV

WISDOM QUOTE BY GURUDEV

Posted on: Tuesday, June 16, 2026

 

Life always flows in search of joy and the highest joy is in the Divine. We must always aim to attain the Divine.

 

~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Monday, June 15, 2026

Joy and Sorrow

The inability to experience joy and sorrow is inertia.

Experiencing joy and sorrow is a trait of consciousness.

Being happy in one's own joy and sad in one's own sorrow is a trait of animals.

Being happy at another's joy and saddened by another's sorrow is a trait of humans.

If you are saddened by other’s sorrow then sorrow will never come to you.

If you are happy at another's joy then joy will never leave you.

Seeing that every relative joy is also a misery is a sign of dispassion.

And seeing both joy and sorrow as just a technique is a sign of the wise.

Considering sorrow as mere illusion is divinity.

Transcending joy and sorrow and being established in the self is perfection.

As the late Swami Sharanananda used to say, "Pray for the strength to serve in joy and to sacrifice in sorrow."

IIJai Guru DevII

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Monday, June 15, 2026

Q: Dearest Gurudev, some young people I know use Marijuana and say that it is their spirituality which helps them connect to different realms. Please speak on the long term effects of Marijuana use.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Marijuana use is the most horrible thing one can do. You know it can give you a temporary effect of an elevated consciousness but it destroys the body. It destroys your nervous system. It is very bad for your physiology.

Though I have never tasted, but people say they got some elevation after having it. But this elevation doesn’t show up on their face. They still look so dull.

If you have experienced bliss like we do in meditation, then you will glow. Look at everybody’s face here, they are glowing. There is joy radiating, there is love oozing out of people’s body when they experience meditation or a higher state of consciousness. But we don’t find this in people using marijuana. Instead you see that they shrink, they look so sad, depressed and sick. It is a crime you are committing against your own body.

You know, it’s the same whether you commit a crime against someone else or your own body. Marijuana is an assault on one’s own body. It is not the right thing. It may momentarily give you some high, but my dear, why do you want to go for that? You do meditation, go for higher energy. In meditation you get higher states of experiences, which makes your body strong, your mind sharp, and your heart compassionate. It makes you very healthy and happy. Why not go into this rather than marijuana? Substance abuse is a crime against one’s self.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Monday, June 15, 2026

Like bubbles come up in water, the whole world has come up in the Consciousness.

~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Sunday, June 14, 2026

Celebrating Diversity

When it comes to interfaith, inter-religious or intercultural dialogue in the world, I would say that there are ten major religions in the world and 600 and so branches of all the religion. If our children know a little bit about all these other religions and they grow up seeing all these are part of one divinity, don’t you think the world will be such a better place? It is not through elimination that we can make a better world. It is through assimilation that we can make a better world.

So the process of elimination should stop. Whatever is the belief system that is prevalent in the world (except if it is a superstitious thing which is harmful for society) have got their own beauty and their own uniqueness. We need to celebrate the multicultural, multi-religious events more and more.

Every child, if he learns a little bit about all these ten different religions, even a couple of pages from each one, then they will know that we live in a very diverse world, and we should honor, love and appreciate these differences. If children grow up with this tendency, I think we can put an end to terrorism, which is taking over the world today. Don’t you think so? This has been my dream from long time.

I would like the UNESCO to take up this one subject of multi-religious education to the whole population of the world, so that every kid learns a little bit about all the traditions in the world and appreciates and celebrates them.

Similarly, we should have more multicultural festivals. In India, we have this ancient saying 'Vasudeva Kutumbakam', which means the world is one family. When you are well-educated, when your heart is larger, the world becomes your family. Technology has shrunk this globe into a village. Distance is no longer a matter of concern. I think it is the humanness and human values that should be the spirit of human education, and that alone is what can make this world into a family.

IIJAI GURUDEVII