Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji in Satsang (17-Dec-2014) at Bangalore Ashram.
#SriSri addresses the Pakistani families who lost their children in the recent terror attacks: Our prayers are with them.. What to say to them? We can only tell them that humanity is still alive, please don’t lose faith in humanity. We are all with you. We share your grief and we are here to share your challenges. And we all need to unitedly need to fight against terrorism, fight against this inhumane tendencies.
Ques: Can we bring about a change in the mindsets of terrorists through our meditation and spiritual practices?
#SriSri: Yes this sort of thing has happened.. You must have heard the story of Angulimala who was there at the time of Buddha. He was the biggest terrorist. He had killed 999 people and cut off their finger. He was on the lookout for the thousandth finger when he came in front of Buddha. Budhha is the embodiment of love, compassion and meditation. The moment he came in front of Buddha, his mind transformed. You cannot change minds only through weapons. You cannot silence a gun with a gun. You can do it only through dialogue, compassion and understanding. That is why it is called soft power.. I always say, you lock up all these people in jails and you are all volunteers, you should go and talk to them and see how their minds change... We put aside such a big budget for defence. If even one percent of this is utilized for peace education, teach every person how to control their anger, how to handle your own mind, then this can bring about a big change. We have seen this transformation in lakhs of people already. So this is necessary. Even in Nepal, so many Maoists came back from their violent ways. You had a given a call to them, ‘From bullet to ballot’(addressing the Nepalis in the gathering). It was successful right? So this sort of work has to be increased. Go to the villages and bring people from bullet to ballot. Urge them not to take up guns, but forge relationships.. And see to it that children do not play violent video games. Because they play it as a game but then in real it removes any hesitation to handle guns. They anyway do the same thing the whole day in the video games, so they don’t think of it as something as something wrong that they are doing. They don’t understand the differences between the real world and the virtual world. To end the violence amongst children, which is increasing in the world, these violent video games have to end. When we were children, well I am still a child (laugheter), we used to listen to stories of Mahatma Gandhi that the one who used to make the most supreme sacrifice used to be the hero. Those who had forbearance were heroes. There was pride in smiling even when you were slapped. The ego was attached with non-violence. Now what has happened is, pride has got attached with violence. In classrooms the one who pushes people around is considered to be a hero. When I was in school and someone would get angry, we would look at them as if there was something wrong with them! We used to look down upon him, because he had lost his balance. Today when we switch on the television, we see that those who have lost their balance, those who are shouting in anger and beating up others, fame is attached to them. This has to be changed. There should be pride attached to those who smile more. How much endurance one has, that he smiles even after being abused, this is considered to be skilful.. today someone says something and we are ready to take up arms. This is not right. We need to change this value system, the principles of life. Focus more on the values of life.
Ques: Why are we not teaching Yoga and meditation in schools?
#SriSri: Now the Government has officially introduced it in the schools. It has been seen that this reduces violence, increases the brain power. One of the latest researchs in New York University show that if a person practices meditation regularly for two months, then the grey matter in his brain increases and the mental structure itself is transformed.
Ques: What can we do to contain terrorist activities?
#SriSri: We should not restrict ourselves to our own communities. We should live together, participate in each other’s festivals. In this way, when we build personal relationships then the possibility of such activities will reduce. Such activities take place in isolation. And keep this question with you and think about it from time to time, as to how to build relationships, eradicate terrorism.
Ques: Who am i?
#SriSri: This is a very good question. Sit in silence and keep asking this to yourself. Bit by bit the answer will start revealing itself to you.
Ques: How can we get the ability to take quick decisions?
#SriSri: Choice is not between good and bad. The choice is always between better and best. If there are two glasses kept in front of you, one with sand and one with water, there is no choice between sand and water. There is a choice between water and juice! I tell you, both are good. Water is as good as juice. The clarity in mind comes when your intentions are correct. That’s why I say, purity in heart, clarity in mind, sincerity in action is what follows.
Ques: Why do we have so many questions?
#SriSri: It’s good to have questions and good to ask questions. You must ask questions. Questions indicate that your intellect is active and alive. Whatever knowledge from whomsoever you get, you take it but you should think about it. Ask questions and only when your intellect is satisfied, then you can move on, beyond the intellect into the realm of experience. So it is good to have questions. But sometimes you must change the questions into wonder. The difference between question and wonder is that, in questions you are looking for an answer, in wonder you are simply amazed. And the amazement is the preface for union with Divinity. That’s what is called Yoga. Yoga means uniting with the cosmos. For that the preface is wonder. So life is a journey from an ‘I don’t know’ (in a frustrated tone), to an ‘I don’t know!’(in a wonder filled tone).. From question to wonder is the journey of human life.
Ques: Why do we repeat our mistakes?
#SriSri: We keep repeating our mistakes because we think there is some pleasure in it. The intellect says this is wrong, but the mind says I am enjoying it. There are three ways to get out of it – through love, through fear or through greed. Suppose you smoke cigarettes and someone says they will give you 10 lakhs if you don’t smoke for a month, you will not smoke for 40 days! So greed will make you get out of it. Then fear is another way. If the doctor says your lung will collapse if you smoke another packet, you will not touch it. Third is you promise to the ones you love. You say, ‘Gurudev, I promise in front of you that I will not smoke again’ or you say that in front of your parents. Then you will be on the right path.
Ques: For enlightenment is necessary that someone will take you to it or can you make it on your own?
#SriSri: Don’t worry about enlightenment. First see to it that you are free from stress, free from negativity. Second, start serving people. Enlightenment is a natural phenomenon, it is your very nature. Just being like a child again is enlightenment. For that, all you need to do are two things – smile and serve!
#SriSri addresses the Pakistani families who lost their children in the recent terror attacks: Our prayers are with them.. What to say to them? We can only tell them that humanity is still alive, please don’t lose faith in humanity. We are all with you. We share your grief and we are here to share your challenges. And we all need to unitedly need to fight against terrorism, fight against this inhumane tendencies.
Ques: Can we bring about a change in the mindsets of terrorists through our meditation and spiritual practices?
#SriSri: Yes this sort of thing has happened.. You must have heard the story of Angulimala who was there at the time of Buddha. He was the biggest terrorist. He had killed 999 people and cut off their finger. He was on the lookout for the thousandth finger when he came in front of Buddha. Budhha is the embodiment of love, compassion and meditation. The moment he came in front of Buddha, his mind transformed. You cannot change minds only through weapons. You cannot silence a gun with a gun. You can do it only through dialogue, compassion and understanding. That is why it is called soft power.. I always say, you lock up all these people in jails and you are all volunteers, you should go and talk to them and see how their minds change... We put aside such a big budget for defence. If even one percent of this is utilized for peace education, teach every person how to control their anger, how to handle your own mind, then this can bring about a big change. We have seen this transformation in lakhs of people already. So this is necessary. Even in Nepal, so many Maoists came back from their violent ways. You had a given a call to them, ‘From bullet to ballot’(addressing the Nepalis in the gathering). It was successful right? So this sort of work has to be increased. Go to the villages and bring people from bullet to ballot. Urge them not to take up guns, but forge relationships.. And see to it that children do not play violent video games. Because they play it as a game but then in real it removes any hesitation to handle guns. They anyway do the same thing the whole day in the video games, so they don’t think of it as something as something wrong that they are doing. They don’t understand the differences between the real world and the virtual world. To end the violence amongst children, which is increasing in the world, these violent video games have to end. When we were children, well I am still a child (laugheter), we used to listen to stories of Mahatma Gandhi that the one who used to make the most supreme sacrifice used to be the hero. Those who had forbearance were heroes. There was pride in smiling even when you were slapped. The ego was attached with non-violence. Now what has happened is, pride has got attached with violence. In classrooms the one who pushes people around is considered to be a hero. When I was in school and someone would get angry, we would look at them as if there was something wrong with them! We used to look down upon him, because he had lost his balance. Today when we switch on the television, we see that those who have lost their balance, those who are shouting in anger and beating up others, fame is attached to them. This has to be changed. There should be pride attached to those who smile more. How much endurance one has, that he smiles even after being abused, this is considered to be skilful.. today someone says something and we are ready to take up arms. This is not right. We need to change this value system, the principles of life. Focus more on the values of life.
Ques: Why are we not teaching Yoga and meditation in schools?
#SriSri: Now the Government has officially introduced it in the schools. It has been seen that this reduces violence, increases the brain power. One of the latest researchs in New York University show that if a person practices meditation regularly for two months, then the grey matter in his brain increases and the mental structure itself is transformed.
Ques: What can we do to contain terrorist activities?
#SriSri: We should not restrict ourselves to our own communities. We should live together, participate in each other’s festivals. In this way, when we build personal relationships then the possibility of such activities will reduce. Such activities take place in isolation. And keep this question with you and think about it from time to time, as to how to build relationships, eradicate terrorism.
Ques: Who am i?
#SriSri: This is a very good question. Sit in silence and keep asking this to yourself. Bit by bit the answer will start revealing itself to you.
Ques: How can we get the ability to take quick decisions?
#SriSri: Choice is not between good and bad. The choice is always between better and best. If there are two glasses kept in front of you, one with sand and one with water, there is no choice between sand and water. There is a choice between water and juice! I tell you, both are good. Water is as good as juice. The clarity in mind comes when your intentions are correct. That’s why I say, purity in heart, clarity in mind, sincerity in action is what follows.
Ques: Why do we have so many questions?
#SriSri: It’s good to have questions and good to ask questions. You must ask questions. Questions indicate that your intellect is active and alive. Whatever knowledge from whomsoever you get, you take it but you should think about it. Ask questions and only when your intellect is satisfied, then you can move on, beyond the intellect into the realm of experience. So it is good to have questions. But sometimes you must change the questions into wonder. The difference between question and wonder is that, in questions you are looking for an answer, in wonder you are simply amazed. And the amazement is the preface for union with Divinity. That’s what is called Yoga. Yoga means uniting with the cosmos. For that the preface is wonder. So life is a journey from an ‘I don’t know’ (in a frustrated tone), to an ‘I don’t know!’(in a wonder filled tone).. From question to wonder is the journey of human life.
Ques: Why do we repeat our mistakes?
#SriSri: We keep repeating our mistakes because we think there is some pleasure in it. The intellect says this is wrong, but the mind says I am enjoying it. There are three ways to get out of it – through love, through fear or through greed. Suppose you smoke cigarettes and someone says they will give you 10 lakhs if you don’t smoke for a month, you will not smoke for 40 days! So greed will make you get out of it. Then fear is another way. If the doctor says your lung will collapse if you smoke another packet, you will not touch it. Third is you promise to the ones you love. You say, ‘Gurudev, I promise in front of you that I will not smoke again’ or you say that in front of your parents. Then you will be on the right path.
Ques: For enlightenment is necessary that someone will take you to it or can you make it on your own?
#SriSri: Don’t worry about enlightenment. First see to it that you are free from stress, free from negativity. Second, start serving people. Enlightenment is a natural phenomenon, it is your very nature. Just being like a child again is enlightenment. For that, all you need to do are two things – smile and serve!
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