Divinity: 2026

Saturday, 11 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2026

Respect and Ego

There are two types of respect.

Respect that comes to you because of your position, fame or wealth. This type of respect is impermanent. It can be lost once you lose your wealth or status.

Respect that comes because of your virtues like honesty, kindness, commitment, patience and your smile. This respect, no one can take away.

The less you are attached to your virtues, the more self respect you have. If you get attached to your virtues, you look down upon everybody else, and the virtues start diminishing. Non- attachment to virtues brings the highest self respect.

Often one confuses ego with self esteem. Ego needs the other for comparison; self esteem is just confidence in oneself. For example, a gentleman claims that he is thorough in Mathematics or Geography, this is self esteem. But to say that I know better than you, that is Ego.

Ego simply means lack of respect to the Self.

Ego upsets you very often. Self esteem is immune to getting upset by external factors. In self respect, everything is a game, winning or losing has no meaning, every step is joy, and every move is celebration.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2026

Q: Gurudev, everything seems so simple and so easy when I'm here but once I'm out of here, that’s when all the challenges start.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That's why it is necessary to be in the Guru's cocoon till you are able to fly as a butterfly. Knowledge is easier here. A worm's intention is to become a butterfly, but it does the opposite, it gets into a cocoon where it cannot even move out. Either you can be a worm or you get into the cocoon and then you start flying. That's why you find it easy here.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2026

Grace has the ability to change anything at any time.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Friday, 10 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2026

Desire for Truth

Buddha said that desire is the cause of all misery. If your desire does not get fulfilled, it leads to frustration and causes misery. Even if it does get fulfilled, it leaves you empty.

Vashishhtha said that desire is the cause of pleasure. You get pleasure from an object or a person only when you desire them. When you do not desire an object, you do not get pleasure from it. For example, when a person is hot and thirsty, a sip of cold water gives him pleasure; but not if he is not thirsty. Whatever gives you pleasure binds you and bondage is misery.

Sri Sri says when you desire for truth, all other desires drop off. You always desire for something that is not there. But, truth is always there! Desire for truth removes all other desires and it itself dissolves. And what remains is bliss.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2026

Q: Why does the divine answer and reward some while prayers of others go unanswered?

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Well, I don’t know why some prayers get answered and some are not. I have no idea. Perhaps it is good for you. Perhaps you may change your mind about what you want. People go to shopping, this often happens at least in India, and ask shopkeeper, “Can I come later and exchange it if I don’t like it”. They go home and don’t like it and get it exchanged next day. Most unreliable thing you have is your own mind because you don’t know what it likes and when it doesn’t like that. That is why bringing mind to its source is so important. Its centeredness is the most important thing in spiritual evolution. Understanding what is transient and what is permanent, what brings you permanent joy and what causes temporary convenience and long term misery, what causes temporary discomfort and permanent joy, and what causes long term discomfort. That is what is called viveka, sense of discretion, wisdom – knowing this from that.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2026

Violent games that kids play should be done away with. They should be given more sensitivity towards life, towards animals and towards people.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Thursday, 9 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2026

Reverence and ownership

Often you do not have reverence for that which you own. Whatever you revere becomes bigger than you. When you have reverence in all your relationships then your own consciousness expands. Then even small things appear to be significant and big. Every little creature appears to be dignified. It is the reverence in every relationship that saves the relationship. Often you lose reverence for that which you own, and this happens unconsciously.

When you have reverence for the whole universe, you are in harmony with the while universe. Then, you do not need to reject or renounce anything of this universe. Reverence in ownership frees you from greed, jealousy and lust. Cultivate the skill of having reverence every moment in your life.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2026

Q: Gurudev, what is vairagya and how can I continue to live in it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Let us take vairagya to mean contentment. Whenever you are content, that is vairagya. If you have had a full meal, and someone brings more food, you will say, "No I am full", that is vairagya. You cannot exist without vairagya. Just as you breathe in, at some point, you have to breathe out. Breathing in is raga, passion, and breathing out is vairagya, dispassion. Breathing in is passion and breathing out is dispassion, and both are essential in life.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2026

Don't accept people are they are. Just love them as they are.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wednesday, 8 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2026

Faith and Alertness

Faith and alertness appear to be completely opposite in nature. When you are alert, usually there is no faith and you feel restless and insecure. When there is faith, the mind is secure and rested and you are not alert.

There are three types of faith:

Tamasic faith which is because of dullness. Like when you do not want to take responsibility or action and you say, "Oh it doesn’t matter, anyway God will take care of all these things!" (laughter)

Rajasic faith which is brought on by intense compulsion of desires and ambition. The ambition keeps the faith alive.

Satvic faith is innocent and is born out of fullness of consciousness.

Faith and alertness, though apparently opposite in nature, are actually complementary to each other. In the absence of faith, there can be no growth, and there can be no correct understanding without alertness. Faith can make you complacent. Alertness makes you tense.

If there is no faith, there is fear. And when there is no alertness, one cannot perceive or express properly. A combination of both is essential.

In Gyana (state of wisdom) there is alertness without tension and faith without complacency. The purpose of education should be to remove the element of dullness from faith and the element of fear from alertness. This is a unique and rare combination. If you have faith and alertness at the same time, then you will become a true Gyani (the Wise One)!

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2026

Q: Dear Gurudev, is there a difference between the soul and the mind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Mind is that which perceives. See, 'you are looking at me' is through the mind. If mind is elsewhere, you can’t see me, right? If you’re not paying attention, if you’re not being mindful, you can’t hear what I’m saying. When mind is elsewhere, can you hear what I’m saying? No, right? Though the sound is falling on the ears, if mind is elsewhere, you cannot hear. So our perception depends on the mind. But the totality of energy is what the soul, or you, are.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2026

When you agree to be bogged down, that is the sign of failure. Resist getting bogged down. Be like a candle. Even if you turn a candle upside down, the flame always goes up. It never goes down.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Tuesday, 7 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2026

Astonishing and Mysterious Karma

What do we get upset with? We don’t get upset with the birds, or the clouds, or with Nature. We don’t get upset with the environment. So, what do we get upset with?

We get upset with the people around us. Our enemies upset us and our friends upset us as well. Our mind gets stuck either in our friends or in our enemies. We either think about our friends or we think about our enemies the entire day.

People become our enemies even when we have not done any wrong to them. Many people have had this experience. We didn’t do any wrong to them; neither did we misbehave and still they became our enemies. This is very surprising!

We think, ‘Oh! Why has he become my enemy? Until yesterday he was my friend.’ In the same way, we do not do any special favours for some people, yet they become our close friends.

That is why I tell you, this is some astonishing and mysterious Karma – how some people become our enemies and some our friends.

So what should we do?

We should place both our friends and enemies in one basket, and just become empty from within and be joyful.

All these happenings (people becoming friends and enemies) are run by some law and we don’t know how and where it comes from. We just can’t say when someone’s feelings towards us will change and whether it will be in our favour or not in our favour. We just can’t say. That is why we should place absolute faith on our Self, on God, and not on friendship and enmity.

We should not waste our time thinking about friends and enemies.

What do you all think?

This does not mean you distance yourself from your friends, or that you stop making new friends. That is not what I am saying. Friendliness should be in our nature; love should be in our very nature. We are love after all!

When someone comes and sits beside us, we do smile at them and exchange a few words. This does not mean you think, ‘Anyways, who is a friend or who is an enemy, there is nothing to share with anyone’, and you walk around with a gloomy face being angry with everyone – this is not a sign of wisdom. This is ignorance and foolishness.

We must interact with everyone around us but at the same time be centred from within. Do you understand?

When we are centred, then we will not feel sad, angry or possessive. Then we will not have disappointment of any kind. Otherwise many times what happens, we become sad – ‘Oh! Look, I made him such a good friend and today he does not even talk to me. I did so many favours for him and he has turned against me!’

By thinking all these thoughts we waste the time we have in the present. We should not do this, Okay!

It is futile to search for a true friend in the world. Befriend the Truth (Divine) and the World is yours.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 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

POSTED ON: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2026

Beauty is reflected from within, it is not an outer phenomenon.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Monday, 6 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2026

The Other Side of Ego

Ego is an impediment for a leader, wise man, merchant or a servant, but it is a necessity for a warrior, a competitor.

A warrior is one who takes on challenges and commitment and stands by it.

Ego makes one sacrifice oneself for a cause. Ego gives strength and courage, brings valour to meet the challenges with endurance and perseverance. A strong ego will counteract depression. Often ego is thought to be selfish but it is the greatest motivating factor for creativity and generosity.

Ego propels one to venture into the unknown.

There are 3 types of ego - Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic.

Tamasic ego is barbaric and blind, and has self-destructive tendencies.

Rajasic ego is self-centered and causes misery to oneself and others.

Sattvic ego is creative and has protective tendencies.

If you cannot surrender, at least have a Sattvic ego, as a Sattivic ego is always ready to sacrifice.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2026

Q: In ‘wonder’, is intellect not active?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

In ‘wonder’ the mind comes to a stand-still, the intellect which poses question comes into exclamation. Exclamation or wonder can happen only through intellect.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2026

Mistakes have caused pain, that is good. Pain has given you depth, that is good. You have learnt from your mistakes and don't want to repeat them again, that is also good. Now, it is useless to sit and worry about the past mistakes. Just move on!

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sunday, 5 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: MONDAY, JULY 6, 2026

God is a thorough businessman

The Divine has given you all the small pleasures in the world, but has kept the bliss to Himself. To get the highest bliss you have to go to Him and Him alone.

Don't be too smart with the Divine and try to fool Him. Most of your prayers and rituals are just attempts to trick the Divine. You try to give the least and get the maximum out of the Divine and He knows. He's an astute businessman; He will trick you even more. If you go underneath the carpet, He will go underneath the floor.

Be sincere in your attempts. Do not try to outsmart the Divine. Once you get the bliss, then everything else is joyful. Without the bliss, joy in anything in the world will not stay.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: MONDAY, JULY 6, 2026

Q: Gurudev, I am in love with someone. How can I make out whether it is love or infatuation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You fall in love and you want me to tell you whether it is true love or not! You would need to decipher this yourself. Only the person who is eating would know the taste of the food. How can someone else advise on that?

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: MONDAY, JULY 6, 2026

Q: Why am I here?

Sri Sri: No books will answer this question, because this is the question of 'life'. Your life itself is the answer. Every day, ask yourself, "Why am I here?" Then all the unnecessary things fall off, and the right things come up.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Saturday, 4 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2026

Faces of infinity

You have many faces. Only you don't face them. When you come face to face with your faces then conflicts, confusion and chaos arise in you.

From time to time in different phases, different faces appear. As you come close to your Being, all the faces melt and leave you as the Space that you are.

At the gross level, you identify yourself as somebody. At a subtle level, you identify yourself as some energy or an incarnation of some angel, saint or prophet.

When you go beyond even this identity, you are whole, holy, Brahman - Purna Brahman Narayana.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: SUNDAY, JULY 5, 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 skillfulness comes into play. How skillfully 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

POSTED ON: SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2026

There is nothing that love cannot transform. Accommodate people and see, they will be transformed.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Friday, 3 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2026

Don't make a mistake by pointing out mistakes!

Do not tell a person a mistake he knows. What's the use of pointing out a mistake that he knows he has committed? By doing this, you will only make them feel more guilty, defensive or resentful and this will only create more distance. You should only point out the mistake of a person who does not know, but who wants to know. Do not point out the mistake of a person who knows but doesn't want you to know. Often people know the mistakes that they have committed, but they do not want you to tell them. Think of the usefulness of your comments. Before pointing out the mistake of a person, see whether your comments in any way will help to improve the situation, foster love or bring harmony. A magnanimous person would not pick on the mistakes of others and make them feel guilty. However, they would correct them with compassion and care, not through words but through attitudes.

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2026

Q: Many times the ideals, principles and beliefs taught to us by our parents and grandparents are in conflict with the teachings of The Art of Living. We feel responsible to carry forward their teachings but are in confusion after listening to some of your knowledge. Please help.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I don't see what you are referring to? How could this be confusing with any knowledge, or what parents have said about anything?

Which parent will say no to celebrate life, or to adopt violence as the core value in your life? Which parent would tell their children to go and be violent? Yes, if some people are saying, "My God is the only God, my way is the only way, everyone else is going to hell", or, "Those people who do not subscribe to my God have no right to exist, they are traitors", then I would say do not follow that path. It is only ignorance.

If any parent is saying that you will go to hell if you do meditation, they are ignorant. You don't have to tread the path of ignorance. You educate them, and if you cannot, you walk your path.

The whole world is one family. Uplift yourself beyond race, gender, religions, skin color, and all that. We are all part of one divinity -- which parent will say we are not? Okay, may be your parents want you to follow some rituals, then do it for their sake. Why do you want to resist that? You don't need to behave like a communist. If your parents say that you have to go to church or the temple, go visit it, even if you do not feel much devotion or any such thing. Listen to them and make them happy. If you follow what they want, i.e., to have a certain celebration at home, it can make them happy. But when it comes to your breathing exercises, your food habits and whatever your personal things are, I think you have to take a call, and you cannot say this is all in conflict. Do you see what I am saying?

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

POSTED ON: SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2026

Do you know what intuition means? That which can never go wrong. Anything you say, wherever you look, or whatever you do becomes perfect when it is based on intuition.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Thursday, 2 July 2026

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR

POSTED ON: FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2026

Yagna

Yagna creates energy, energy creates consciousness, awareness. Heightened awareness brings you close to the reality and the reality is a witness.

To realize that everything is happening you need heightened awareness. And to bring about heightened awareness you have to increase the prana.

Prana can be increased through:

Fasting, fresh food

Pranayamas, Kriya, meditation

Silence

Cold water baths

Total exhaustion, not letting sleep take over

Emotional peaks

Presence of the Master

Singing and chanting

Giving without a givership, service without a doership

All of these together is Yagna

II JAI GURUDEV II

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2026

Q: What is the ultimate and greatest truth of life? Is it to be happy, or to make one’s family happy, or to serve humankind, or to reach the Divine?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The ultimate journey starts with one step. Just do not sit and dream about the ultimate. Instead, begin your journey towards the ultimate.

Take small steps towards the Truth; towards this inquiry into life – “What is the goal of life?” This very inquiry can take you far. Everything has some significance in life.

Just eating alone is not the goal of life. Yet eating is essential for sustaining life. Isn’t it? Similarly, sleeping is not the goal of life. But can you discard sleep altogether? No, you cannot. In the same way, you have to be happy and you also have to make others happy. This is the journey towards the Ultimate.

What is the ultimate Truth, or the ultimate purpose of life? I tell you, one who really knows will not tell you, and anyone who does tell you, simply does not know. That is the secret.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar