KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Friday, May 22, 2026

Love and Lust

In love even an object gains life. Stones speak to you, trees speak to you, the sun, the moon and the whole creation becomes alive, Divine. In lust even a living being becomes a mere object. You want to use even people like objects. Here are some salient attributes of love and lust. They are so different yet so close! If you find more you may add to the list.

Lust bring tension Love brings relaxation
Lust focuses on the part Love focuses on the whole
Lust brings violence Love brings sacrifice
In lust you want to grab and possess In love you want to give and surrender
Lust says all I want you to have is what I want Love says I want you to have what you want
In lust there is effort Love is effortless
Lust causes feverishness and frustration Love causes longing and pain
Lust imprisons and destroys Love liberates and sets you free
Lust demands Love commands
Lust gets you mixed up and confused In love you are focused and spaced out!!
Lust is only dark and monotonous Love has many modes and colours
If someone's lust is interrupted they get angry and start hating. Hatred in the world today is not out of love, it is out of lust.

Love is playfulness and in lust there is cunningness and manipulation. Shiva, the embodiment of innocence and love was meditating. His meditation was disturbed by an arrow of flowers from the lord of lust. As soon as Shiva woke up he opened his third eye and the lord of lust, Manmatha (one who churns the mind) was reduced to ashes. Everybody celebrated by throwing colors on each other realising that life is full of colours.

We play many roles in our life. If all the roles get mixed up it becomes dark, like when you mix all the colours. The wise play each role distinctively side by side, like colors displayed side by side form a rainbow.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Friday, May 22, 2026

Q: You have said that like rhythm in nature, our thoughts and emotions also have a rhythm. Please explain.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I want you to take a look at your own emotion and the time scales. See how you felt last year at the same time? What were your feelings and thoughts during Christmas time or Diwali time? Just analyze, you will see that the pattern is happening year after year. This is what I call rhythm.

The objects differ but the pattern remains the same. Last year your were upset about something at the same time. The previous year too you were upset but for something else. So the object of your disturbance and happiness may vary, but your experience remains the same. This is what is called as a pattern.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Friday, May 22, 2026

Self-pity is bad on the spiritual path. Do not pity yourself and do not pity anybody else also.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Thursday, May 21, 2026

The Kumbha Mela

Once every 12 years, all the seers, saints and aspirants of spiritual knowledge congregate at the confluence (sangam), of the 3 holy rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The Ganga is a symbol of Knowledge and Self-inquiry. It is on the banks of the Yamuna that events of love have been immortalized. When Knowledge and Love come together, when the head meets the heart, Saraswati, symbolic of wisdom and the fine arts emerge.

When a tiny atom explodes, the radiation lasts for a long time, the mind is even more subtle than one millionth of an atom. When the mind explodes, that is Enlightenment. Over the centuries, thousands of sages who have meditated, done penance and been enlightened come to the "Kumbha Mela" and relieve themselves of the burden of the merits gained through Sadhana by bathing in the rivers. Water has the quality to absorb the energy that they radiate. The seekers, who come from all corners to be in the company of the seers and saints, gain that merit when they take a dip in the rivers.

Space by itself cannot be bought, and a lump of clay has no value, but when space is enveloped by clay it gains value, this is a Kumbha (pot). Spirit is all over in Nature, but when it dawns in the human body as an elevated state of consciousness, then it gains immense value. An Embodied and elevated spirit is usually referred to as Kumbha. This is why the enlightened age is also called the Aquarian age. Kumbha denotes a pot, which is symbolic of fullness and perfection.

The Kumbha Mela is an ancient version of a spiritual expo.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Thursday, May 21, 2026

Q: You spoke about Ashtalakshmi. Are we born with this luck or can we acquire them also?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

We are born with some perfections and we can acquire the others. For a Yogi, the nine types of wealth and eight perfections are acquired.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Thursday, May 21, 2026

We can pass on ideals to someone else only and only if we ourselves have imbibed and demonstrated those ideals and virtues.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Wednesday, May 20, 2026

If you cannot meditate be stupid,

If You Are Unable To Meditate, Your Mind Is Chattering Too Much And Nothing Works, Just Feel That You Are A little stupid. Then you will be able to sink deep.

Your intellect is a small portion of your total consciousness. If you are stuck in the intellect, you miss a lot. Happiness is when you transcend the intellect. Also, in awe or in feeling stupid, you transcend the intellect. Have you noticed mentally retarded people are more happy?

Question: How do you go beyond the intellect?

Answer: By acting stupid!

Everyone avoids being stupid, no one wants to look dumb. That is really stupid. Stupidity should be followed by meditation, otherwise depression may follow.

Janael: Can I ask a stupid question?

Sri Sri: All questions are anyway stupid.

Mikey: How do you become stupid?

Yash: By asking the question.

Rajshree: Just be yourself!

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Wednesday, May 20, 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: Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Even if you lose everything, if you have the confidence that you can recreate everything again, then that is a true sign of success. Success is an attitude, it is not a phenomenon.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Tuesday, May 19, 2026

When we are joyful

When we are joyful, we don't look for perfection. If you are looking for perfection then you are not at the source of joy. Joy is the realization that there is no vacation from wisdom. The world appears imperfect on the surface but underneath, all is perfect. Perfection hides; imperfection shows off.

The wise will not stay on the surface but will probe into the depth. Things are not blurred; your vision is blurred. Infinite actions prevail in the wholeness of consciousness. And yet the consciousness remains perfect, untouched. As Satsangees, realize this now and be at Home.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Q: Dear Gurudev, is this real or is the worldly family that awaits me real?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

For now, this is real, and tomorrow that is real! This real helps you to deal with that real. (Applause from the audience)

And when that real appears to be very difficult, remember you had another level of reality in which you lived, and experienced. That very remembrance will give you the strength to carry on. Then, when you are totally drained, you can always come back here to recharge.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Tuesday, May 19, 2026

When your heart beats for others, for something higher, something finer & something more meaningful, then there is no boredom in life.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Monday, May 18, 2026

Welcoming and resisting

Do you welcome all that comes to you or do you resist it? If you cannot resist anything, you cannot welcome anything! You cannot resist everything and you cannot welcome everything! You don't welcome all thoughts that come to your mind. When you welcome a thought, it means you find it good and act on it. If you act on all thoughts that come to your mind, you will end up in a mental hospital or in prison. So, you resist or ignore some thoughts and welcome other thoughts. You need discrimination in life. Welcoming and resisting is a swing in life. Welcoming is essential for expansion and growth, and resistance is essential for maintenance.

Audience: But what you resist persists!

Guruji : If you resist a cold it does not persist! If there is no resistance in your body you cannot survive. Your body resists something and welcomes something.

Where the resistance is weak, the persistence happens. A weak resistance makes the opposition persist. A strong resistance erases the opposition. Strong resistance leads to valour, power and samadhi (equanimity). It brings in you the strength of a warrior. Nothing can tempt you, nothing can obstruct you. Then the victory is gained without fighting. Where there is strong resistance or total welcome, the victory is gained without any fighting.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Monday, May 18, 2026

Q: What is spirituality? Is it important for people? Can youth also be spiritual?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, absolutely, spirituality is meant for everyone. We are made up of body, mind, and spirit. The body needs amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals. Similarly, what does the mind need? It needs happiness, love, creativity; all this is part of spirituality. Creativity, enthusiasm, respect, love, joy, happiness; don’t you want this? Anything that brings you closer to yourself, that uplifts your spirit, that makes you feel one with everybody is spirituality.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Monday, May 18, 2026

Suicide is the most foolish thing a person can ever do. It is only through the body that you can dispel agony and get rid of misery, and instead you destroy the very instrument by which this is possible. We must realize that suicide is the worst thing to do.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Sunday, May 17, 2026

The Other Side Of Fear

The Usefulness of Fear, Nature has put an amount of inbuilt fear in all living beings. This fear makes life defend itself, protect itself. Like salt in the food, a little bit of fear is essential for people to be righteous.

⚫Fear of hurting someone makes you more conscious.
⚫Fear of failure makes you more keen and dynamic.
⚫Fear moves you from carelessness to taking care.
⚫Fear moves you from being insensitive to being sensitive.
⚫Fear moves you from dullness to alertness.

Total lack of fear may lead to destructive tendencies - a distorted ego knows no fear. Neither does the expanded consciousness! Whereas the ego dismisses the fear and moves in a disruptive manner, the wise one acknowledges the fear and takes refuge in the Divine.

When you are in love, when you are surrendered, there is no fear. Ego, too, knows no fear. But there is a difference, like that of heaven and earth, between these two types of fearless states. Fear makes you righteous; fear brings you close to surrender; fear keeps you on the path; keeps you from being destructive. Peace and law are maintained on the planet because of fear.

A new-born child knows no fear - it totally relies on its mother. Whether a child, a kitten or a bird, when they start becoming independent they experience fear which makes them go running back to their mothers. This is inbuilt by nature to sustain life. So, the purpose of fear is to bring you back to the source!!

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Sunday, May 17, 2026

Q: If we are truly Space, or a part of Space, then why is it that we feel comfortable in some space and uncomfortable in some other space?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

It is because of ignorance. Or it is because of your body type and vibrations. You may have limited vibrations, or you may not be so centered that you feel comfortable and at ease with all kinds of people. You have limited range of vibrations and not the total range of vibrations. If you are strongly centered then you are comfortable with the entire 360 degree range of vibrations, because just like in a circle, every point becomes equidistant from the centre. But if you are on some chord of this circle, then you are not equidistant from everything. So you are not comfortable with every vibration.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Sunday, May 17, 2026

The past has made you wiser, the future beckons you to act and it is in the present that you can plan and begin.

- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Saturday, May 16, 2026

Do Not Correct Your Mistakes!

Wanting to correct a mistake brings doership and doership is the foundation for mistakes. Often, those who are trying to correct mistakes get caught up in more mistakes. Those who recognize their are mistakes are freed from them.

Often, when one acknowledges a mistake, one tries to justify it, without taking responsibility for it. And sometimes one accepts that one made a mistake and starts justifying it or feeling guilty about it. Mistakes get dropped when one is troubled by ones conscience (viveka) or grief.

There may be flaws in any action, any situation or any person. Treat a flaw as you would treat a flower. Just as a flower has to wither away after sometime, so does a flaw.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Saturday, May 16, 2026

Q: If someone repeatedly insults or criticizes me, what should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I tell you, if someone insults you, criticizes you, let them be! How much harm can they do? Let them go ahead and insult as much as they can. Next time, tell them, “My dear, go ahead and insult me as much as you want. I will not change regardless of how much you want to criticize me”. Face it with courage. Be strong, do not run away from it. Stand tall before them and let them insult you as much as they can.

See, you should respond to an insult with a smile. A person of true patience and courage is one who can respond to any insult or criticism with an unshakeable smile. A real saint is one who responds to a gunfight with bouquets of flowers. The sign of an intelligent person is one who can respond to taunts and criticism with humour and wit. If you also get angry with someone who comments on you or taunts you, then that is not intelligent behaviour on your part. The sign of intelligence is to transform an unpleasant situation into a pleasant one. That is what the intelligent ones do. One who searches for pleasantness even in unpleasant or unfavourable situations is truly an intelligent person.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Saturday, May 16, 2026

If you intention is correct, then that is all that matters.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Friday, May 15, 2026

Was Buddha an Atheist?

A pure atheist is impossible to find. An atheist is one who does not believe in anything that is not concrete and tangible. Life is not all concrete and tangible. Nor is this Universe. Whether it is business, science or art, they all involve a certain amount of guesswork, assumptions, imagination and intuition. All of them are ethereal in nature and are not tangible. The moment an atheist accepts, even remotely a field that is unexplainable, he ceases to be an atheist. Any intelligent person cannot rule out the mystery in life and the universe and hence cannot honestly be an atheist! The so-called atheists are perhaps only denouncing certain concepts of God.

Question: Was Buddha an atheist?

Sri Sri: "No" in one sense because he professed emptiness which is very hard for an atheist to accept and "Yes" in another sense because he did not profess concepts of God.

Jim: An atheist believes only what he can see but Buddha said all that you see is not real.

Sri Sri: If only all present day atheists could be Buddhas.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Friday, May 15, 2026

Q: There are Pancha Bhoota temples around India that are dedicated to Lord Shiva, what is the significance of these temples?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

There are five elements that form this creation: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, and these five things are also called lingam because they signify or tell you that there is something beyond. The un-manifest consciousness is represented by the Earth, so the Earth is a lingam – means the Earth is an identification and a sign of the infinity. Water is the sign of infinity. You look at the mountain, the mountain tells you that there is some power. So, all the five elements remind you that there is consciousness that creates orderliness.

If you see any stone, there are patterns in the stone also and there are colors in the stones. Stones are so fascinating. There is orderliness in that and this indicates that there is consciousness. Water has life and memory, have you heard about water having memory? Google this and you can know about the many experiments that reveal that water has memory; water is alive. Water indicates super consciousness.

Similarly, fire tells you there is consciousness. Air reminds you of the divinity, of the Shiva Tattva. Similarly, space tells you there is a supreme power. So all these five elements in the planet indicate you towards something which is un-manifest because the five elements are manifest, that is why they are called lingam.

Anything that points towards something big, something that is inexpressible, something that is intangible, truth that is beyond all expressions is expressed in five elements.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Friday, May 15, 2026

Marriage means sacrifice; sacrificing your desires for the good of the other, and for the sake of the whole family. If you keep thinking only of what you want, then the marriage will not work.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Life is a Dream a Burden or a Joke,

Often when you are happy you feel life is a dream because you do not believe in the reality of it. When there is misery you feel life as a burden. And we take trivial things very seriously. But one who has really gone through the pleasure realizes that pleasure is a burden. And if you have undergone misery thoroughly you will realize that life is a dream. In every miserable condition you have been walked or carried through and you realize life is a dream. When you see life is dream a burden or a joke only then can you be centered.

And when you have really gone through misery you have really seen life as a dream. And in between the pain and pleasure life is all a joke. Life is very uncertain. Before it takes you away, realize it is a dream, a burden or a joke.

Someone asked: What about life is a joke?

Answer: A joke you do not question. If you question a joke, it is no longer a joke. Do not question a burden either. It is a waste of time to question life and its events.

The burden makes you go deep. It gets you to the core of yourself. Realization of a dream wakes you up. And seeing life as a joke makes you light. The only certainty is that life is a dream, a burden or a joke and only when you realize this can you be centered.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Thursday, May 14, 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

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Suicide is the most foolish thing a person can ever do. It is only through the body that you can dispel agony and get rid of misery, and instead you destroy the very instrument by which this is possible. We must realize that suicide is the worst thing to do.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

Happy Birthday Gurudev!!!

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Advice from hawaii

What type of time do you give the Divine? Usually you give the time that is leftover, when you have nothing else to do, when no guests are coming, there are no parties to go to, no nice movies to watch, no weddings to attend. Such time you give. This is not quality time.

Give quality time to the Divine. It will be rewarded. If your prayers are not answered it is because you have never given quality time. Give Satsang and meditation your highest priority. Give prime time to the Divine. You definitely will be rewarded.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Q: Gurudev, how to keep the spine erect during meditation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Make a start with the spine being erect, then if the head comes down, the back bends, don’t bother about it. You cannot start meditation in a sleeping posture, because then you will be snoring very soon. So sit down, and start with the spine erect when you meditate, and then let go, let it happen.
There is a song in Kannada which has a very profound meaning. When you are in a garden, in the midst of flowers, then the state of your mind is completely different. If you are in the midst of people, your state of mind is very different - sometimes the emotions of passion, anger, hatred come up. But when you are in the garden, amongst flowers, such emotions will not come up; there will be no feelings of jealousy, no emotional upheaval, nothing of the sort. But if you are in the midst of people, then definitely all this will happen. However good your friends are, when you spend time with people, something or the other comes up. You cannot always live in the midst of people, nor can you live alone in a garden.

Sometimes you have to spend time dreaming, and sometimes you have to listen to music, you cannot be in one state. There are people who work all the time, doing accounts or something or the other. The radio may be playing in the background but they do not pay attention to it; they keep thinking of something else. This is being in an imbalanced state. Who is a balanced person? A person who is sometimes in music, sometimes working; such a person thinks like a scientist, and looks at the world in a scientific manner; sometimes enjoys music, sometimes science and art. You must spend your life in both these streams.

Sometimes you must live in the world, and sometimes in silence. Go with these two and you will experience Brahman. You cannot run away from your responsibilities and go to the Himalayas, or stay in the worldly aspects all the time; you must strike a balance between both and experience the Brahman within you.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Once you have the perfect intuition, you don't need to know anything. Even if you have not learn how to repair a refrigerator but you have the intuitive ability, when you go and sit there, you will pull the right screws, the right wires and do just the right thing.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Tuesday, May 12, 2026

HEALTHY LIVING & YOGA

Thousands of miles away and your words here get into this cell phone which is not even connected to a wire. Usually when something is connected with a wire we take it for granted because we see that there is a connection, but here there is not even a solid connection. A cell phone is your hand, you speak and that gets transmitted in this empty space and goes and reaches somewhere so far away. If you just put your mind on this phenomenon you will be amazed. We take this for granted and we just speak on the cell phone and don't even notice the mechanism behind it.

If you look into the mechanism you will be in awe. This awe awakens the spirit inside you. That awe takes you to the state of meditation. 'Vismaya Yoga Bhumika': ASTONISHMENT is the preface for Yoga. If you are astonished/stunned, that is when yoga begins, means your spiritual journey begins, meditation begins. So you must be astonished in order to get into yoga or whenever you feel that 'wow', that astonishment in you, know that you are connected with the spirit that you are. You are in that state of spiritual elevation. Isn't it amazing, isn't it beautiful!!

How could someone think that the 'oh wow' could create such an elevation of the spirit. All present day crisis and problems can be solved by this change in the attitude, don't you think so?!

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Q: Gurudev, I never feel like bringing chocolates, sweets, rakhis or flowers etc., for you. Do I not have the love for you?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, that’s very good. You are wise. And you do have the love for me, I know. You recognize me when you do not bring all this. When people bring flowers to me it means to say, “Gurudev, you have yet to blossom more”.

When people bring sweets, they are giving me a message, “Gurudev, you have to be sweeter”. I think I am already sweet enough (laughter), so I do not need sweets, and I am blossomed and happy so I do not need flowers.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Wake up and see nothing is yours. Can’t you say this – ‘Nothing is mine!’ It is such a freedom I tell you, such a freedom!

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Monday, May 11, 2026

Technology

The purpose of technology is to harness nature to bring information and comfort to human beings. When spiritual values - human values - are ignored and neglected, instead of bringing comfort, technology brings fear and destruction. Technology without human values would see nature as a dead object. Science gives an insight into the life of nature and spirituality makes the nature come alive.

For example, in the eyes of children, there is nothing dead in the world - animals, trees, the sun and the moon - they all have life, they all have emotions, they all have feelings?n the eyes of a stressed and ignorant person, even human beings are like robots - objects!

Technology without spirituality is destructive. Spirituality is the technology of consciousness, and the whole world is the play and display of consciousness.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Monday, May 11, 2026

Q: Why is there suffering when there is God?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

So that you can lift your eyes above this material world. Suffering has a purpose, which is to connect you to your self. Suffering indicates that you got too involved and carried away by all the relative and transient things around you. That is what suffering is all about. Once you understand that it is all transient, your eyes get lifted to something that is eternal. That is when real joy dawns in life.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Monday, May 11, 2026

Be a beacon of light and a beacon of joy to the home you have been married into. Know that you can change the situation and you can change people with love

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Sunday, May 10, 2026

You Are Nothing!

Each experience completes. Completion means leading to void or nothing. In the progression of life, you will leave behind every experience saying, "This is nothing." Anything that is completed loses its importance. That is to say it leads you to void - this is nothing.

A sign of intelligence is how soon you arrive at this understanding. Examine everything in life and say "This is nothing" and what remains after all that is Love, and that is everything.

When "This is nothing" does not come out of knowledge, it comes out of misery. Either through knowledge or through misery, you come to the point of "This is nothing, this is nothing". The choice of how you come to that point is yours.

If you got this, it is really NOTHING, If you didn't get this, never mind - this is nothing. (laughter)

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Sunday, May 10, 2026

Q: You once said that Guru is a presence, it is not a person, what does this mean?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, certain questions have no answers. If you have to say whether you follow a Guru, the answer is neither ‘Yes’ nor ’No’. If you say ‘No’, then the question has no meaning. If you say ‘Yes’, then it has no meaning.

You say, ‘Yes and No’. ‘Yes’ means you have a Guru. ‘No’ means you are not following your Guru because Guru has already reached and he is giving you his hand.

When the Guru is looking down, you don’t look down, you look up. When the Guru is giving his hand down, you don’t give a hand down, you should give your hand up. Got it!

If you say you got it means you didn’t get it, and if you say I didn’t get it, then you got it (laughter). If someone asks you, ‘Do you follow the Guru?’ You can’t say ‘No’ and you can’t say ‘Yes’. Some questions you have to answer then differently.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

WISDOM QUOTE OF SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Sunday, May 10, 2026

A person who is content from within will never think of creating trouble for someone else.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

http://quotesfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/

 

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

KNOWLEDGE SHEET BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
Posted on: Saturday, May 9, 2026

Steeped in Mystery Is Devotion

One who is not amazed by the magnificence of this Creation, his eyes are not yet opened. Once your eyes are open, they close and this is called meditation. (Laughter)

Tell me, what in this Creation? Is not a mystery? Birth is a mystery; death is a mystery. If both birth and death are mysterious, then life is certainly a greater mystery. Isn't it?

Being completely immersed in the mystery of Life and this Creation is Samadhi. Your knowing or believing doesn't really matter to what Is. This Creation is an unfathomable secret, and its mysteries only deepen. Getting steeped in mystery is Devotion. The "Scene" is a mystery; the "Seer" is a mystery. Deepening the mystery of Creation is science. Deepening the mystery of the Self is spirituality. They are the two sides of the same coin. If neither Science nor Spirituality can create wonder and devotion in you, then you are in deep slumber.

II JAI GURUDEV II

https://knowledgesheetsbygurudev.blogspot.com/

 

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV
Posted on: Saturday, May 9, 2026

Q: Gurudev, there are many young children who are aware and awake, and know that they are here for some important work. How do we support these gifted children?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, there are many children who are telling their parents that my real home, my real family is in the ashram. Many children are saying these sort of things around the world; many have become vegetarians, isn’t it? How many of you have seen that? Many children like or love chanting.

Yesterday, I saw on a news channel in India that there was a child born to the royal family of Bhutan. He said, “I have come here after 828 years; I was a teacher and a student in Nalanda University, take me there.” And so they took the child from Bhutan to Bihar in India. The child was all dressed in a robe, looked like a monk; he could recall where he used to sit, what was there and everything around.

There are so many such incidents even in The Art of Living. One child in The Art of Living recently said, “I was a Rishi in the Himalayas, and now I have come.” He is a one and half year-old child; he calls my name so perfectly, “Gurudev”. He takes the rudraksha mala, puts it around and says, “This is the rudraksha mala!”

There are many such children. You will find this occurring more in Russia and Mongolia.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar