QNA WITH SRI SRI
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Q: According to you what is easier, becoming a Guru or or becoming a disciple?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Easy or difficult is just a concept. Anything is difficult when you don’t have energy, anything is easy when you are full of enthusiasm and energy.

You ask someone who is sick and tired, ‘Do you want to walk a mile?’ They will say, ‘Oh, it is so difficult.’

You ask a young person who is full of energy and enthusiasm, ‘Do you want to walk one kilometer?' They will say, 'I will run 10 kilometers!’ You want to stretch yourself beyond your capabilities and limits only when you have energy, when you’re vibrant and enthusiastic. When you’re enthusiastic you are automatically a disciple because you want to know more, and when you’re enthusiastic you’re automatically a Guru because you want to share what you know and care for others.

When you’re sick and tired of everybody, when you can’t care for others, how can you be a Guru for others? So, it all depends on your energy level. This need not be only physical energy. You cannot say, ‘Oh, I am 70 years old and now I don’t have the energy.’ No!

The physical energy has nothing to do with your enthusiasm! You can be physically sick but mentally alert. This is when you can be both a Guru and a disciple, and both will be easy for you. I know people who are 80-90 and who are so enthusiastic. They ask me ‘What seva can I do?’ I say, ‘You just sit and bless people!’

Young people don’t say, 'What seva can I do', but the elderly come and tell me, 'I want to do some seva'. Physically they can’t do much, but the intention to do more indicates how youthful they are.
It is the youthfulness of your spirit that determines whether something is difficult or something is easy. So, if the spirit in you is youthful then you are an eternal disciple, and an eternal teacher too.

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