QNA WITH SRI SRI
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Q: Why does the most beautiful music and most beautiful forms of art come from sadness and longing?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Life has all the moods, only one mood will not help. In India they are called navarasa, which means the nine beautiful emotions. In that, fear is also one of the emotions. If you happen to see the Indian classical dance called Bharatanatyam, it includes all the nine emotions (delight, laughter, sorrow, anger, heroism, fear, disgust, wonder and peace).

Also, we must study how Bharatanatyam and osteopathy are connected. I am sure there is some relation, because the first thing that they teach you in Bharatanatyam is to move your neck. Your neck should move back and forth very nicely. And the second is the movement of the eyes. So eye movement, neck movement, hand movement, finger movement, all these movements are taught in Bharatanatyam, and also in osteopathy. In osteopathy, you are told to move your hands in a certain way, which relate to the spine.

In Bali also, they teach you to move the little finger in the Balinese dance. In this dance, it is very important to keep the index finger and middle finger together and then move the other two fingers, which are difficult to move. Trying to move the little finger and the ring finger independently, it takes some effort. It's a little tough.

You know, there are meridians in the body (a set of pathways in the body along which vital energy is said to flow). In the Balinese dance, this is very important. The dancer moves her fingers continuously for one hour or two hours, through-out the show. If you move your fingers for five minutes, they start aching, but they have to do this for one to two hours, along with eyes movements. With these movements, the different meridians in the body get activated. It happens through the dance. It's all so fascinating.

In your palm, each of your fingers is connected to some planet. The thumb is connected to Mars. Mars stays alone.

Index finger is connected to Jupiter (Jupiter shows the path, it is the teacher). When you want to show something, you show using the index finger, this is Jupiter. The middle finger is connected to Saturn; Saturn is the servant. The ring finger is connected to the Sun; the Sun is the king. And who owns the jewels? The king, and so you put rings only on the ring finger. That's why it's called the ring finger. And the Sun or a king cannot stay alone, you have to have the servant with him. The President of every country has a bodyguard who is taller, fairer and well built because he has to support the President. That's why it's difficult to separate the middle finger and the ring finger. The little finger is connected to Mercury. So when you do chin mudra, what is happening? The index finger (Jupiter) and the thumb (Mars) are coming together, that is wisdom and power.

Why is the thumb Mars? It is because whenever you win, what do you do? You put your thumbs up. Thumbs up is a sign of victory. When you lose what do you do? You put your thumbs down. So these gestures are so inbuilt in us.

Similarly, different planets affect different parts of your body. Your teeth are connected to Saturn. Your eyes are connected to the Sun, your cheeks are connected to Venus, forehead to Mercury, nose to Jupiter. I mean this as the connection of microcosm with the macrocosm. It is so fascinating!

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