KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026

How to conquer jealousy or envy

Know that the person that you are jealous or envious of has done some good karma in the past and they are now reaping the fruit.
Take it as an inspiration to gain merit now.
Create a sense of belongingness with them. See that they are a part of you.
Think of all you have that they don't have and feel grateful.
Ananda says, "Observe the sensations."
Join hands and form a team with them.
Realise that in the current of moving time all will perish.
Think of everyone that is jealous of you for what you have.

Stephano added: "And see that all that people envy you for has not brought joy anyway."

Stephano: "Go and ask them 'are you happy?' " Caroline: "And what if they say 'Yes?' " (Laughter!).

If the answer is "yes" then they must be in the Art of Living (Laughter!) "What to do if others are jealous or envious of you?" Ananda: "What to do if others are jealous or envious of you?"

Praise them in superlatives.
Create a sense of belongingness in them by your kind actions.
Know that their feelings are temporary.
The best is not to recognise their envy or jealousy at all. If you recognise a feeling as a reality it only makes your ignorance grow.
Know all feelings and emotions are just like passing clouds.
Do not show off your talents to them.
Know that they are puppets. They will all perish like apples and tomatoes - just a longer shelf-life (Laughter!).

If nothing else works just go to sleep (Shirley: "And don't forget to take a pillow").

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026

Q: Gurudev, what brings satisfaction in life? Whatever I do finally does not bring great joy and contentment after a while.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The whole idea of finding satisfaction by doing something itself is not correct. Satisfaction comes from deep rest, by reposing deep within oneself. When you get established within your Self, then there is contentment. The satisfaction you think that comes by doing some work is very temporary and lasts only for a short while.

If your work is successful, then you feel the need to do more work. When you get more success, then that again drives you to work more. You do not feel like stopping after having success. On the other hand, if you face some loss or failure in what you are doing, then also you feel, “Oh, how did it fail despite my efforts? I won’t give up; I will try again and succeed”. You feel challenged to do more. So you want to work more and work harder whether you get success or failure. And in this process the search for contentment continues. You keep searching for contentment when you are constantly engaged in work, or in action. It is only in knowledge that you can find your true contentment. Fulfilment or contentment lies only in wisdom, and in deep meditation; not in any work or action as such.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026

Balance between your search for happiness and the expectation of others from you. It is a little delicate but you should definitely make an effort.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2026

KARMA

Q; What is the difference between Karma and Destiny?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The word destiny means Vidhi, this is how it is. The word Karma has several different connotations. It can mean action or latent action. The impression of an action that might give rise to another action can also be called karma.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2026

Q: Gurudev, what is Mahakaal?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Kaal means ‘time’ and mahakaal means ‘grand time’. Grand time is that which is beyond all human explanation or comprehension. It is that which creates a want in you and also makes you lose your ground. And when you are losing ground, you will definitely feel shaky, and fear also comes up. Fearsome, grandeur, awesome, existence, is what is called Mahakaal.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2026

There is no question of how to overcome self-pity. Do you know how to wake up? You simply wake up. In the same way, if you recognize you are pitying yourself, you have already woken up.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2026

Respect Everybody as you respect me

Respect everybody as you respect Me, but don't expect from everyone what you expect from Me.
You do it the other way. You don't respect everybody as you respect Me, but you expect them to give you joy and behave ideally. When they don't live up to your expectations, you get frustrated and you blame or curse them. By cursing, you lose your spiritual energy. Blessing brings your spiritual energy up.

The world is full of differences and arguments are inevitable. With forbearance or patience and wisdom, skillfully make your way up.

If you find fools around you, they are going to make you wiser. The number of fools around you indicates the strength of your centeredness. Don't try to get rid of them! (Laughter)

If you are not centered you will have no patience to put up with them. When you are totally established, you find the fools come up with wisdom. They are your own reflection, there is no other.

Fools offer you frustration and wisdom. Be choosy and make your life juicy.

Hmm . . . What do you say? I think this is something very timely.

Question: How can you stop thinking others are fools?

Answer: You don't have to. You can see the whole world as fools. The advantage is you don't get attached to anyone. (Laughter) No one likes to associate with fools. If you think people are sane, you want to join them.

You can think everybody is a fool and be cool.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2026

Q: Dear Gurudev, why are we all here in this world?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

This is a very good question. It is a million dollar question. I want you to keep this question with yourself. I will never take it away from you, because this question is like a vehicle for you to transform your life, make unwanted things drop off from your life and help you reach the Ultimate. So keep this question with you. You are on the right track.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2026

Nothing whatsoever in the universe can ever give you contentment. You have to bring it to yourself.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

FAITH AND LOVE

God does not wish you to have more faith because the more faith you have, the more work for God. God will have to run behind you; then you start controlling Him. He is the servant of faithful servants and He does not want too many servants telling Him what He should be doing.

Love is the highest strength, yet it makes you absolutely weak. So God/Enlightened One/Nature does not want you to have more faith or love. With too much faith and love, you make God weak.

So, it is better for God that you have less faith. Things go on as they are. Why transform? Be happy.

Meditation is seeing God in oneself.

Love is seeing God in the person next to you.

Knowledge is seeing God everywhere.

Expression of love is service.

Expression of joy is smile.

Expression of peace is meditation.

Expressing God is conscious action.

II Jai Guru Dev II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

Q: Guruji, can you reveal the secret power by which you grant a fresh lease of life to someone, such as me, who has been suffering from a terminal illness and is reaching the very end of their life journey?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See there is will power and power behind a blessing. You can also do it. There are many people who have done blessing course and really able to bless others. When we don’t want anything for ourselves, there is a power that can allow us to fulfil others’ desires. The main thing is one should not desire anything for oneself. One should be hollow and empty. The desire for moksha is enough, it will be attained.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

Behind every activity, pleasant, unpleasant, chaotic, harmonious, is one Divinity.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026

FAITH IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR

Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita: 'Wherever one has faith, and whomsoever one has faith on, that faith is given by me'. It is the self which translates itself into faith. Faith comes from the self. So he says, 'I am the one who is giving you faith'. This is similar to what I say, even love is a gift. If you feel love for someone, don't think you can take credit for it. If you are in love with somebody, that is also a gift. Joy is a gift, time is a gift; almost everything in life is a gift, or a blessing.

Further Krishna says: 'I have given faith, and with the faith that I have given a person engages in worship, and through this worship he attains his desires. And this is ordained by me. I have ordained this natural law'.

See, doctors give you medicine, but suppose you don't have faith in the doctor, will you take that medicine? No you won't. And even if you do take it without having faith, will it work? No, it will not work. Faith is a factor in every function. Any function, anything you do, faith is an important factor.

II Jai Guru Dev II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026

Q: You have mentioned that the education is essential in order to combat terrorism. Could you please shed light on how we can educate someone who doesn't feel the need of being educated?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Skill. This is where your skilfulness comes into play. How skilfully you can manoeuvre the situation.

Education is not just the technical education. When people say that education is the antidote to terrorism, I don't agree with them because when you see, the biggest terrorists on this planet are all highly educated. One of them was an engineer, the other was a doctor and even today all the terrorists that are caught are not illiterates. They are technically educated and qualified in modern standards. But what they lack is spiritual education. Here we need to be very specific. It is the spiritual education, which broadens the mind, enhances one's ability to honour and respect everybody and everyone's religion. Spiritual education gives one a very compassionate heart. That type of spiritual education is needed, and not just education.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026

Walk lightly on this planet; yet leave such a footprint that cannot be erased for a thousand years.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2026

KNOWLEDGE AND FAITH

In science you have knowledge first, and then faith follows.

In spirituality, faith comes first, and then Knowledge follows.

For example, the knowledge that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are good for plants came through science, and people had faith in it, and all over the world they were used. And then another knowledge came that they were not good and the faith shifted to organic farming. The same with antibiotics.

The knowledge brought faith, the knowledge changed, and then faith changed. The knowledge and faith of science is of "happening." In spirituality, faith is first and Knowledge comes later. Like Kriya, Yoga, and meditation -- first you have faith and then Knowledge follows. For example, if you do pranayama faithfully then you get the Knowledge of the prana; if your do your meditation faithfully, the Knowledge of consciousness follows. Even an illiterate, through faith, attains deep Knowledge.
Science regards life as matter and spirituality regards even matter as life.

II Jai Guru Dev II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2026

Q: Please tell us about “Mahaveer”. How can someone who is non-violent and who meditates be called a great warrior?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

In the word Mahaveer, veer means warrior, and the word warrior comes from the Sanskrit root veera. Mahaveer (a great warrior) is a title given not only to people who fight, win and succeed, but also to people who are in deep meditation.

There is turmoil in the inner world (referring to the mind) as much as there is turmoil in the outer world. There are more conflicts inside you than what you can find outside in the world.

The world is made up of five elements and they are all in conflict; conflict is their nature. Fire and water are never friendly; fire evaporates water and water extinguishes fire. Similarly, air can put off fire and it is only because of air that fire can exist, and it is fire that can split air. And, Earth is affected by all the three elements; fire, water and air.

Similarly, there is conflict world over. Inside you, the heart and mind are in a conflict. The heart is compassionate but the mind is logical and reasons everything. When the mind says, "This is right to do", the heart doesn’t want to do it. When the heart wants to do something, the mind says, "This is no good". The fight between mind and heart, likes and dislikes bother you. These are storms that get created inside you and don’t let your mind be at peace.

If there is nothing for you to worry about, then you worry about your neighbours, friends and family. Worry, conflict, sadness, unhappiness, all these emotions pose a great challenge for meditation to happen and do not let you be at peace. When you are peaceful and happy for few moments, something comes up and it destroys your peace. There are hundred and one reasons for you to be miserable, and if you’re not intelligent, your mind makes up thousand and one reasons to be unhappy. Sometimes you are unhappy because there is conflict, and sometimes you are unhappy just because you have lost your peace of mind. This continues throughout life.

In meditation a million things can come up, but if you raise your head above all these conflicts, and feel unmindful of it, not questioning why they have come, it makes you go deep in your meditation. By thinking why these bad thoughts are coming, you are being party to the conflict, and this makes you weak. Let them come and go. You think that you have nothing to do with it. This is the strategy to win over inner conflict. When inner conflict arises, this strategy is there to remind you that you are much more powerful and much bigger than the conflict. Then you rise above it, flying above the clouds, piercing through them and reaching the clear sky.

Similarly, sit still in your inner space, unmindful of any conflict, any thought or emotion. If they come, let them come and go, and when you think, "I don’t care about how I feel", then that will give you the strength.

You have to stand up against the inner conflict and fight it. The world doesn’t care how you feel; the world is only interested in what you have done and what you are doing. One day you may feel good and another day you may not feel so good. Feelings go up and down but the world will only ask you, "What good have you done, and how have you contributed to the world?"

All the ancient wise men and women have asked, "When will we wake up from this maya? This is all an illusion. It appears to be something but in reality it is not that. And winning over maya is being a mahaveer (a great warrior). You can win over people outside, but when you can win over the turmoil inside and be still and keep a smile, then you are a great warrior, and that requires valour.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2026

True freedom is not an ‘I don't care’ attitude. It is lightness from within, a genuine smile and lack of stiffness. Such freedom will not bring arrogance.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2026

GURU IS LIKE A MIRROR

The consciousness and the universe loves one who is wise and the wise loves the universe.

Seeing this whole universe as made up of just one thing is exactly what Vedanta is. This is called advaita siddhi, perfection of the knowledge of advaita, i.e., when your intention and the nature’s intention is one, not two. You become one with the nature to reflect nature and that is what a Guru is.

Guru is like a mirror, he reflects you, he reflects the time, he reflects the space.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2026

Q: Where should we direct our energy during silence? Where does the attention go when we walk outside?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Two things: Observe the nature, second is, observe yourself, your own breath, your own body. And do it with least amount of effort. Don’t use too much effort. Okay? Just a gentle awareness is good enough; some people put so much effort doing it. Then they get headaches, they get so tired. We shouldn’t do that. The whole process is effortless, sadhana is totally effortless. The only effort you need to put here is to make sure you don’t eat too much food. If it is too tasty, inform the kitchen. Ask them to make it less tasty. That’s the problem, the food is too tasty then you feel like having one more, one more. If you don’t eat too much, then you are on the safe side. Too much food makes you feel dull. Meditation doesn’t happen then. Moderation, don’t fast also, just the right amount of food.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2026

The purpose of words is to create silence. Silence is joy, love, pleasantness, peace.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026

WHAT TO LEARN FROM HUMANS

Humanity! From human beings we can learn two things:

1.What we must do

2. What we must not do

We can learn about the different kinds of animals and birds, we can also learn what we must do from animal and birds, but we cannot learn what not to do from them. Animal and birds cannot teach us what we must not do because they violate nature. It is human beings who violate nature and then get into trouble. So when you see another person falling in the ditch, they are teaching you to be alert so that you do not fall in the ditch. So what not to do is taught by human beings and that is why human being are considered most superior. 

There is an old saying in Sanskrit, 'Durjanam prathamam vande, sujanam tadanantaram'. 

You must first salute the bad person and then salute the good person. Why? This is because the bad person is teaching you a lesson at his own cost: 'Don't do what I did, otherwise you will also go through the same trouble as I am going through'. 

So, salute everyone, whether the person is your enemy or your friend.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026

Q: Guruji, I got divorced four years ago and got remarried less than a year ago. I see that the same situations are repeating in my life. Is this karma or am I not able to apply the knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You will know this better.

See what mistakes you are making. Do you have acceptance? Do you serve a person? Why would someone not like to be with you if you are a fountain of joy and enthusiasm? Why would someone not like to be with you if you are full of love and service, if you are hollow and empty, if you are in wisdom and knowledge, everyone will want to spend time with you. So keep yourself soaked in knowledge, day and night. Sleep with knowledge, and when you wake up, listen to knowledge again. Read Yoga Vasistha, Ashtavakra Gita and Bhakti Sutras.

We have been given such precious knowledge. Just one sutra at a time is enough. For example, 'Yogash chitta vritti nirodhah, Tada drashtuh svarupe avashthanam', establishing in the seer and not in the scenery is yoga. Dwelling on such knowledge, one can move back to the seer, recollecting that all this is scenery. 'The body is the scenery, let me find the seer', this takes you back in, to the source immediately. It makes you realize that the body is all empty. There is emptiness outside, and everything is empty. Look at a cup; there is space inside and outside. The body is a cup, you are a supatra (a good cup), a mind which is hollow and empty.

'Kupatra' is when the mind is filled with all rubbish things. You are a supatra, a good cup, which is free, clean inside and outside. When you realize this, immediately you are able to relax; every cell in your body starts relaxing. All the garbage leaves, all negative thoughts disappear. You are a clean vessel, hollow and empty. How joyful this state of mind is. Then you can work 18-20 hours a day, without feeling tired and bogged down; the mind is fresh. Every day, you should rest well for about six hours.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026

When we transcend the feeling, we become still. Stillness is at the peak of any experience.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

FEEL BLESSED

Break through all the barriers and feel that you Are Blessed. This Is The One And Only Step You Have To take -the rest will all happen.

This deep sense of feeling that "I am blessed" can help you overcome any obstacles in life. It gives you courage and confidence and it will open your lid for grace to be poured in.

Once you realize that you are blessed, then:

All the complaints disappear
All the grumbling disappears
All the insecurities disappear
A sense of feeling unloved disappears
Wanting love disappears.

If you don't realize you are blessed, then the doership begins. If you want to make a difference in your life, feel you are blessed. And especially for those on this path of knowledge, there is no
reason for you to not feel blessed.

So, feel you are blessed.

This is the first step towards the Self.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

Q: What is the most important gift you are blessing me and the world with?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

If you go to the pharmacist and ask him: ‘Give me the best medicine’, what will he say? ‘I have the best medicine, but for what disease?’ Isn’t it?

Similarly, this knowledge gives you everything that you need. You have a headache, you have the best medicine. You have a leg ache, you have the best medicine. You have an ear ache, a heart ache, the best medicine is available to you.

When you are determined to be useful to people, useful in anyway, you don’t have to ask: just be useful. Do whatever is needed whenever, and you will be useful for that purpose. I would always say that this knowledge in the Art of Living is like an ocean. If someone wants to just walk by it, take fresh air, they are welcome. Someone wants to swim in the ocean, they are welcome. Some others will take salt out of the ocean, yes. Some others want to dig deep and take oil, you are most welcome. Someone goes for fishing; take a few fishes, fine. Some others go and find all that precious stones, gems, it’s your choice. All is available here and what you make out of it, how you use it, is entirely up to you.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

Good leaders are the ones who bring enthusiasm, happiness, energy, and encourage others to move ahead.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2026

A Wise Way to Spend The Day

Don’t just sit idly and keep worrying over things all the time, or think that one fine day God will suddenly send many blessings your way and everything will be alright. Do not waste even a single day this way.

What do we usually do? We get up in the morning and start reading the newspaper. This way, we end up spending an hour and a half of precious time. Then we spend two to three hours at home just watching television. If by chance you pick up a magazine, you just go on flipping through its pages even if the information is not worth reading. Nowadays we also spend a lot of time surfing on the internet. If guests come to our home, we spend time chatting and gossiping with them. Some of our time goes into eating and drinking, and finally we get tired and go to sleep at night. This is not a wise way to spend your day.

Get up in the morning, and do your sadhana and meditation. After that, just get busy with your daily activities. Make notes of what you have to do each day, where you have to go, etc., and what you have to buy. Plan your day and write down names of all the people you have to meet that day. Once you have made your notes, just get on with your day and your work. Go on ticking items off your list once you have finished them.

When you have finally done whatever you had planned for the day, just sit and relax for some time in the evening, or listen to nice music, or go for a nature walk in the evening. Every evening, spend some time with yourself. Meditate for 15-20 minutes in the evening again. You will find so much happiness in life. Then you will feel strong and energetic, and not lazy and dull.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2026

Q: Gurudev, the Vedic Wisdom course started today. We have come from all over the world. Please tell us what is the principle of Vedic Wisdom?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

It is amazing to see how much wisdom has been there in the past. From the Vedic Wisdom program, you will get a little glimpse of the various aspects of life and tattvas, i.e., the principles and the natural laws that govern the universe. That is what you will learn.

The first initiation for this is called the Gayatri Mantra, which is a very powerful mantra. It was kept a big secret for all these years. In certain sections of society, it was given only from father to son, it was not available to general public. People were even barred from chanting it aloud. It is only in the last 10-15 years that you have started getting it on tapes, people even sing out aloud. Before that, when we were young, when I was 10, nobody would even utter it, it was kept so secretive.
I thought everyone should now get access to this beautiful chanting. The meaning of the chant is, 'Let all our intellects be inspired by the divinity deep within us. Let noble thoughts and intuitive thoughts come up in our mind and rule our intellect. Let our intellect be soaked in the transcendental consciousness.’

It is our intellect and not just mine, since it is a collective prayer and wish. Similarly, you will understand more and more during the program. Actually, if you have to study any one aspect of the Vedas, it will take 12 years, it is that vast. But in these 4 to 6 weeks, you will get a little sample of everything. I thought people would enjoy it because this Vedic wisdom does not belong to any one religion, nation alone, it is the property of the whole planet, and the whole humanity. That is how I see it. No one can say that only one particular set of people should keep it. Although in the past that has been the case, now, it is available to everybody.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2026

"Love is to see GOD in the person next to us. Meditation is to see GOD within us."

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026

Relationships

How would you like to see yourself happy and bubbling with enthusiasm or dull and difficult to please?

Often you like to be pleased, appeased and cajoled. So you put up a tough, upset face and act difficult to please. If a person has to appease and please ten people all the time, it will be so tiring. People who keep a long face and expect others to cajole and appease them make others run away. Lovers often do this. They expend a lot of energy in cajoling and this brings down the joy and celebration of the moment.

It is okay for you to show your upset mood or tendency once in a while, but doing it over and over again is taxing for you and people you love.

If you feel down, appease and please yourself. Your need to be appeased by someone else is the sign of grossness. This is the root of ignorance. If you want attention, all you get is tension.
Become one whose enthusiasm never dies, come what may.

II JAI GURUDEVII

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026

Q: Gurudev, what is the secret of the exponential growth of Art of Living world over?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The effectiveness, sincerity, beauty and utility it adds to day-to-day life. Anything that is authentic, impactful, and original will always bring about a transformation, and take you on a long journey.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026

That which you can set right, you should set it right, and that which you cannot correct, which is beyond your capacity, for that prayer is the best option.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026

How to Overcome Self-Pity

See, you have already thought of overcoming it. When you thought, 'I should overcome self-pity', you are already one step out of it because you recognized that you are pitying yourself. There are many people who do not recognize that they are pitying themselves. They simply think, 'I am this way'. But when you know 'I am pitying myself', then you are out of it.

There is no how to overcome self-pity. Do you know how to wake up? You simply wake up. When someone is sleeping, and you say wake up, they just wake up. They don’t ask you, 'How do I wake up?' They have already woken up. In the same way, if you recognize you are pitying yourself, you have already woken up. Come on, get out of it, that’s it. There is no poor me. You did something in the past and you are reaping the fruit of that action. You should also not pity anybody.

In the ancient times, if someone told the Guru, 'Oh, I am suffering', they would not care about it. If you suffer, it is because you did some wrong thing. It is your karma, finish it off. It may appear that the Guru is rude and uncaring, but it was to stop you from self-pitying. It was to make you take responsibility for your actions. Otherwise, we try to run away from our responsibilities, and we pity ourselves, and others say, 'Oh you poor thing, God has been so unkind to you. I am so sorry for you'. This is all ignorance.

Pity is ignorance, whether it is self-pity or pitying someone else. Everyone gets what they deserve. But this is higher knowledge, so don’t go and tell everybody about this. People on the streets will not understand. They will think you are very rude.

If someone is suffering, you cannot say, 'It is your problem that you are suffering. You must have done something wrong'. It is true but better not say it. In your mind, you just understand it.
People go to the hospital because they violated laws of nature. You eat too much, you suffer a stomach-ache, you get diabetes. You drink too much; you get liver problems. While someone is lying in hospital you don’t say, 'You did this and now you are suffering'. No, you say, 'Okay we will do whatever we can', but never pity them.

In this universe, there is a cause and effect. For every effect there is a cause. There is a reason. If you get what you want, there is a reason. If you don’t get what you want, there is a reason. Nature is intelligent. Divine is intelligent. Self-pity is bad on the spiritual path. Do not pity yourself and do not pity anybody else also.

The difference between pity and compassion is that, when love flows into action, it is compassion. You can’t say, 'I love you so much, but I won’t do anything for you'. That is neither love nor compassion. Compassion is love plus action.

Pity is an attitude that shows regret and defies the laws of cause and effect, and the law of karma. Pity is ignorance. There is no point in blaming karma which is what you do in pity, and you show remorse.

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026

Q How to deal with blame?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When someone blames you, what do you usually do? You blame them back or you put up a resistance in yourself.

How do you feel when someone blames you? Hurt, unhappy, sad, heavy?

This is all because you are resisting! What you resist, persists.

You get hurt because you resist the blame.

Know that when someone blames you, they take away some negative karma from you. If you understand this, you will only feel happy about it.

If you resist when someone blames you, you are not allowing them to take away the negative karma. Even if you don’t react outwardly, you may still be resisting inside.

Actually, it’s fine to resist outside but inside don’t resist. You will feel im- mediately lighter. You can feel happy: Oh, good, somebody is blaming me and taking some of my negative karma.

The ignorant person says, “Don’t blame me” because it hurts him. An en- lightened person also says, “Don’t blame me.” Do you know why? Because it might hurt you. You can tell someone not to blame you out of anger or out of compassion.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026

Know that you are pure and your heart is clean. In the company of the pure you are also purified. All your past karmas are dropped.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

POSTED ON: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2026

 

Habits and vows

 

How to get rid of vasanas (impressions)? This is a question for all those who want to come out of habits.

 

You want to get rid of habits because they give pain and restrict you. The nature of vasana is to bother you, or bind you, and wanting to be free is the nature of life. Life wants to be free and when a soul doesn't know how to be free, it wanders through lifetimes wanting freedom.

The way to come out of habits is vows. This is samyama. Everybody is endowed with a little samyama.

 

A vow should be time bound. This would bring good conduct and save you from being wayward. Consider the time and place for vows to be taken.

 

When the mind dwells on useless thoughts, then two things happen. One is that all those old patterns come up and you feel discouraged by them. You blame yourself and feel that you have not made any progress.

 

The second thing is that you see it as an opportunity for samyama and feel happy about it. Without samyama, life will not be happy and diseases arise. For example, you know you should not eat three servings of ice cream, or eat ice cream every day, or otherwise you will get sick.

Habits will clog you when there is no liveliness or juice in life. When there is a direction for life force, you can rise above habits through samyama.

 

Take vows according to time and place. For example, suppose someone has a habit of smoking cigarettes and says, "I will quit smoking," but cannot do it. They can take a vow, three months or 90 days; a time-bound vow. If someone is used to cursing and swearing, take a vow not to use bad language for ten days. Don't take it for a lifetime; you will break it immediately. If you happen to break it in between, don't worry. Just begin again. Slowly increase the duration until it becomes your nature.

 

All those habits which bother you, bind them in vows, in samyama. So all those who are in Satsang, take a time-bound vow today and make a note of it. If you break a vow, make a note of it and share the time and date at the next Satsang. Continue it again. Tie those habits which bring you pain in samyama.

 

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2026

Q: Gurudev, why do people resist change?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

People resist change because they are afraid that they would lose something precious, or the change could bring about a disaster for them. But if you communicate to them that the change would make them better, they would definitely take it. Nobody dislikes climbing up the ladder. People do want something positive, more happiness or whatever. What we need to do is to communicate better with them, speak in their language, and explain that the change will make things better. It will take some time, it cannot happen overnight, it takes some persuasion but it does happen.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
POSTED ON: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2026

There may be thousands of reasons to feel down and depressed, but we have to move with the conviction that 'I am not going to let the world around me bury me as long as I am alive'. This is spirituality.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2026

The purpose of life

Our first and foremost commitment is to do seva (service) in the world. If there is fear in your life, it is because of a lack of commitment. If there is confusion in your life, it is because of lack of commitment. The very thought I am here in this world to do seva (service), dissolves the I and when the I dissolves, worries dissolve. Seva is not something u do out of convenience or for pleasure. The ultimate purpose of life is to be of service.

An uncommitted mind is miserable. A committed mind may experience rough weather but will reap the fruits of its toil. When you make the service your sole purpose in life, it eliminates fear, brings focus in your mind and purposefulness, action and long-term joy and may be short term problems!

II JAI GURUDEV II

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
POSTED ON: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2026

Q: If every wish gets fulfilled at a particular time as per the will of God, what is the necessity of prayer?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Well, prayer is not something that you impose on yourself or anyone else. Prayer is a natural call for help, or a natural expression of gratefulness. Prayer can happen only on two occasions:

1. When you are desperately in need of something then you pray. When you realize that you are weak and you cannot handle something, that is when you ask for help and that is a prayer.

2. When you realize that you have received more than what you really deserve, and it has all come to you as a blessing and as a gift, then the gratefulness that you express becomes a prayer. And if you extend this a little further, another occasion when prayer rises from within you is when you are in deep love with the maker of the universe or the divinity, in whatever form or formless way you perceive it to be. That is devotion.

So prayer it is something which happens spontaneously. And it's good to have a few rituals associated with prayer as it adds some colors to life. When you pray in a particular manner by lighting a candle or something that brings up to the surface those emotions that are sleeping in you.
The benefits of prayer are:

1. It invokes those emotions that are sleeping within you.
2. It takes away the worry and burden in your head.
3. It builds confidence in you and you feel the connection from your side. You are already connected to the divine, but from your side you start realizing your connection to the higher power.

4. It puts you into routine. Suppose you make it a habit of praying every day, maybe the first four days go without any experience, but on the fifth day, you experience something. It's almost like any other sadhana. So make prayer a practice in your life so that you know you have something to do that is it ethereal.

Prayer is the way to connect to the something that is not so tangible but is existing. So, prayer could be one such link to the unknown and unseen. Falling in love with the unknown is faith

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar