QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Saturday, November 2, 2024
Q: (A member of the audience asked a question which was inaudible).
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are love. Drop this guilt.
I want to tell you one story. This is the story from the life of Lord Buddha. It also includes forgiveness.
One day Buddha was giving a sermon and conducting a meditation. One gentlemen came from the back to the hall. He was very angry because his son did not join the business and instead joined Lord Buddha and wanted to meditate and propagate peace. So angry gentleman came in front of Buddha and spat on the face of Buddha. There were 10,000 people sitting in the hall, but then Buddha did not react and was just smiling. This man then went away. Just being in Lord Buddha’s presence brought a shift in this gentleman because he has always encountered anger with only anger. Here is a person who did not react and was smiling instead. And that one smile of Buddha did something to him. He could not sleep the whole night. His whole life transformed. He came next day and fell at the feet of Buddha and asked for his pardon. Buddha with the same smile lifted him up and said, “I can’t forgive you”.
Everybody else was shocked. This man is sobbing, crying, asking for pardon and Buddha is saying I cannot forgive you. Then Buddha tells him, “That man who was angry is gone and whom you spat is also not here now. They say, you cannot put your feet twice in the same river. Like that, the consciousness is also changing. The person who was there yesterday is no longer here now. So, if at all I met that person who spat and to whom you spat, I will tell him to forgive you”.
See life from a broad perspective. A mistake happens through you when you are not conscious, when you are in ignorance. So, you are not responsible, it is the ignorance that was responsible.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Posted on: Saturday, November 2, 2024
Q: (A member of the audience asked a question which was inaudible).
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
You are love. Drop this guilt.
I want to tell you one story. This is the story from the life of Lord Buddha. It also includes forgiveness.
One day Buddha was giving a sermon and conducting a meditation. One gentlemen came from the back to the hall. He was very angry because his son did not join the business and instead joined Lord Buddha and wanted to meditate and propagate peace. So angry gentleman came in front of Buddha and spat on the face of Buddha. There were 10,000 people sitting in the hall, but then Buddha did not react and was just smiling. This man then went away. Just being in Lord Buddha’s presence brought a shift in this gentleman because he has always encountered anger with only anger. Here is a person who did not react and was smiling instead. And that one smile of Buddha did something to him. He could not sleep the whole night. His whole life transformed. He came next day and fell at the feet of Buddha and asked for his pardon. Buddha with the same smile lifted him up and said, “I can’t forgive you”.
Everybody else was shocked. This man is sobbing, crying, asking for pardon and Buddha is saying I cannot forgive you. Then Buddha tells him, “That man who was angry is gone and whom you spat is also not here now. They say, you cannot put your feet twice in the same river. Like that, the consciousness is also changing. The person who was there yesterday is no longer here now. So, if at all I met that person who spat and to whom you spat, I will tell him to forgive you”.
See life from a broad perspective. A mistake happens through you when you are not conscious, when you are in ignorance. So, you are not responsible, it is the ignorance that was responsible.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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