KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026

Is This World an Illusion?

This world is a sort of illusion, but don't blame it. A lot of people blame this world saying, 'Oh this is rubbish, this is no good'. The tendency of the mind is to say, 'Oh this is all maya, this is an illusion. This is no good. I have to get away from this and go into myself'. This is when Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita, 'Wait a minute, what you consider as an illusion or ignorance, is also mine'. Then you take a big sigh of relief, 'Ah, okay'.
See, now the mind is relieved from fighting. The mind always wants to do something. In the process of doing it moves away from the being. So the master very skillfully connects you back with the being, easing you from doing, and bringing you back to just knowing. This is exactly what he is doing. The non-dual philosophy can only happen when the tendency of 'doing' rests in the being.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026

Q: Gurudev, I feel jealous when I see people who were at the same level as me earlier, and are now much ahead of me, how to deal with it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Be friendly with those who are progressing and who are happy, and have compassion for those who are unhappy. Don't be friendly with people who are complaining and negative in their mindset because if you are friendly with them you also get into that mode. So, for people who are miserable, have compassion.
If your friend is progressing why should you be jealous? Would you like your friends being jealous of your progress? Just ask this one question to yourself.

I want to tell you an incident: once a boy was very unhappy and his parents brought him to me. This boy always used to get medals in sports but this time he lost to his friend. So I asked him this simple question,

“Why are you unhappy?”

He said, “I didn't get the prize”.

I asked, “Who got it”, to which he said that his friend got it. I said, “That means you are unhappy that your friend got the prize, that suddenly woke him up. “What do you want? You want your friends to be happy when you win or you want your friends to be unhappy when you win?”

He said, “I want my friends to be happy if I win the race”.

I said, “So, now that your friend has won the race why are you not happy?”

There was a sudden shift in the mindset of that boy. I'm telling you this is what is happening in this world: we don't reflect on our self and that little awareness makes it all so different. The whole scenario changes, yes.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026

If human values are not there, then it is meaningless to say that you are prosperous.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

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