Q: Guruji, Thank you for the experience of the present moment and feeling of the space. I have never thought that going into this deeper and deeper could make me so excited. I want to be hollow and empty every day.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You are! I know you all enjoy this. This is so beautiful, right! Similarly, the blessing course is also very nice. Now, after realising this and doing all that I still want you to be very normal. There is a code of conduct for enlightenment; do you know what that is? Be simple, normal. Don’t think you are somebody special. There is a beautiful couplet in India that says how life should be, ‘like the grass under the mountain.’ When boulders fall from the hill, trees fall, but nothing happens to the grass. Be humble like a grass under the mountain. Water comes from the hill, it flows away and it can break the trees, but the grass never breaks, grass stays. Be a like the grass under the mountain. Be like the flower pot in front of the house. The flowers in front of the house bring fragrance into the house. And it also prevents any foul smell from the house going into the street. Be like the flower in front of the house, so if anyone passes by, they look at the flowers and become happy. It not only gives joy to people in the house but also to any passer-by. They say, ‘look at those flowers, it is so nice!’ Haven’t you said this, when you drive and see some nice garden with lots of flowers in front of somebody’s house. Especially when people come from Asia to Germany, in spring or in summer, they love it, because every home has a pot hanging from the window and there are flowers. Especially in Black Forest area, in every home on the street, there are flowers. It is such a celebration for the eyes. And be like sweets for the poor people. Poor people don’t eat sweets every day. The poorest of the poor, they only get a loaf of bread and a glass of milk or whatever. But when they get some cake or sweets, see how the children enjoy it. Be like that for the kids and for the poor people. And become one with everybody. Be like a fool among the fools. Don’t try to be intelligent. Mix with everyone! Many times people put ‘Sri’ 3 times or 108 times. I say, ‘I want to feel closeness to people. So don’t put ‘Sri’ 3 times, two is enough. Stop at two.’ When you consider someone too high up there, you start losing the intimate connection, inner feeling and oneness with them. You have respect but no love, because love means closeness and respect needs a little distance. And the beauty in life is to manage these two. You know why husband and wife fight? They lose respect for each other after a while, so they fight with each other. But if they maintain respect along with love, that relationship goes on forever. So, to live in the world we need to feel one with everybody, feel at home with everyone. Don’t think, ‘oh, I am doing meditation, I am special’. Someone who is not doing meditation, they are also special. We are all one. We should start feeling that sense of oneness. When you start feeling this, you will see that it catches on to others as well. You can change the atmosphere.