Janmashtami : Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Imbibing a bit of avadhoot and a bit of activism in your life is the real significance of celebrating Janmashtami.” - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom by Spiritual leader and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji's words :

Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Ashtami is significant as it indicates a perfect balance between the seen and the unseen aspects of reality; the visible material world and the invisible spiritual realm.

Krishna’s birth on Ashtami signifies his mastery of both the spiritual and material worlds. He is a great teacher and a spiritual inspiration as well as the consummate politician. On one hand, he is Yogeshwara (the Lord of Yogas — the state to which every yogi aspires) while on the other, he is a mischievous thief.

The unique quality of Krishna is that he is at once more pious than the saints and yet a thorough mischief-monger! His behaviour is a perfect balance of the extremes — perhaps this is why the personality of Krishna is so difficult to fathom. The avdhoot is oblivious to the world outside and a materialistic person, a politician or a king is oblivious to the spiritual world. But Krishna is both Dwarkadheesh and Yogeshwar.

Krishna’s teachings are most relevant to our times in the sense that they neither let you get lost in material pursuits nor make you completely withdrawn. They rekindle your life, from being a burnt-out and stressed personality to a more centred and dynamic one. Krishna teaches us devotion with skill. To celebrate Gokulashtami is to imbibe extremely opposite yet compatible qualities and manifest them in your own life.

Hence the most authentic way of celebrating Janamashtami is knowing that you have to play a dual role — of being a responsible human being on the planet and at the same time to realize that you are above all events, the untouched Brahman.

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Rapid fire questions with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom bySpiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: Are there aliens in this universe?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, I am one of them (laughter). At least, some people think so!

Q: Gurudev, there are some rapid fire questions.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Love: Your nature.
Politics: Nature of the world.
Master: Indispensable.
Education: Needed.
Seva: Intelligent people do it.
Money: Intelligent don’t worry about it.
Wisdom: You need to acquire it.
Technology: Brings comfort, it should be used for comfort.
Health: Most people ignore it.
Relationships: Where people get stuck.
Heart: That comes under the hat.
Karma: It is my karma to answer these questions, and your karma to hear them.
Power: Should not be misused.

A talk on Abhaya by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom by Spiritual leader SriSri Ravi Shankar

Q: Gurudev, you have said abhaya (fearlessness) is a divine quality. How to attain total fearlessness? I still have impressions of fear.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

In Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Patanjali says even for the most wise and educated, that which lingers on, is fear or abhinivesh. Nature has kept that somewhere. A deep sense of belongingness, love, dedication and a sense of sacrifice will help one to overcome fear.

Q: Does renunciation bring arrogance? If so, how to overcome it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Definitely. There are two types of arrogance:
1. The arrogance of possessing, of having.
2. The arrogance of letting go, of sacrifice.

Both are equally bad. In fact, the arrogance of possessing sometimes is easy to overcome, but the arrogance of sacrifice is more difficult to overcome, and may stay on for some time.

Ganesha Symbolism: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom by Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 “The whole universe is nothing but groups of atoms, groups of quality, of energy.” - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says : 

The ultimate truth in this existing world is that it is nothing but a collection of molecules. This is called ‘Gana’ (collective form). Our own body is a ‘Gana’. It is made up of flesh, blood and bone marrow. Thus the Lord of all ‘Ganas’ is ‘GANESHA’.

Ganesha is ‘Achintya’, ‘Avyakta’ and ‘Ananta’. That which is beyond thought, beyond expression and is eternal. Thus no other is as beautiful as Him and He is omnipresent.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar elaborates:

Now the question arises that why this one-consciousness and one supreme power is depicted in the form of an elephant? The elephant is endowed with peculiar qualities, like its fearless and royal walk. It proudly destroys any obstacle on its path. An elephant is also a symbol of authority, endurance, strength and courage. We are thus, able to imbibe all these qualities into our consciousness.

The long trunk of the elephant symbolizes that true enlightenment is a good balance between ‘knowledge’ and its implementation (in action). Ganesha has only one tooth that stands for ‘one consciousness’.

We are often struck by the question that why does a big Ganesha sit on a small mouse? This is because the mouse is ‘Logic’ and the ‘Knowledge of Self’ and over it sits the symbol of ‘supreme knowledge’ Ganesha.

The ‘Modak’ in Ganesha’s hand is the attainment of ‘Ultimate Bliss’. Also his one hand showers blessings on those who have faith and have surrendered to him. In one hand, Ganesha holds a ‘Pash’ or a string that is to tie oneself  down in discipline. The other hand of Ganesha holds an ‘Ankush’ or a spear, showing self-control.

Always, the belly of Ganesha is enormous with a snake around it. This stands for acceptance with awareness. Also we surrender all our dreams of woe and distress to Ganesha in the form of ‘Durva’ grass.

We are aware of the story of Ganesha’s birth. Ganesha was born out of the collection of dirt from Parvati’s body. ‘Parvati’ is the high energy of a celebration or festival, and there always is some aspect of negativity in this high energy. This is symbolized by the dirt. When this body of dirt encountered the ‘Shiva element’, the ‘Advait Tatva’ its head, that is ego, fell apart and was then replaced by the head of an elephant. Ganesha was blessed by Lord Shiva himself that he would be worshipped at the start of any auspicious occasion or puja.

Personality, Sadhana and Meditation- A talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom by Spiritual leader andArt of Living Founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: Gurudev, is there an expiry date or best before use date for blessings as well? Sometimes blessings don’t seem to yield the desired result, what is the reason?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I want to ask you a question; do gold and diamond have expiry dates? Do you think blessings are less than gold and diamond and yellow stones and metal? No way!

Q: Gurudev, can one’s basic personality or nature change by practicing sadhana and meditation?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The answer to this depends on what is your understanding of one’s basic nature or personality. If you tell me that anger is your very nature, then I am not ready to believe that.

A person’s essential behavior is determined by the three Gunas – Vata, Pitta

and Kapha, and one's behavior keeps changing due to these Gunas. But the fundamental aspects of one’s nature is the same for everybody, and that is – creativity, enthusiasm, joy, and living in harmony with everyone. These are constant for everybody.

Life is a mixture of things that are constant and things that keep changing dynamically. We can never say, "Everything has changed”, and we also cannot say, "Nothing has changed”. Life is a mix of the two. So some things in us can change and some cannot – and we have to accept them both.

Suppose your height is five feet. Then once you turn 21 years old, your height is not going to change. But your weight can increase or decrease, whatever your age may be. You may weigh 70 kilos or even 100 kilos. Life is a delicate balance between that which is constant and that which is capable of changing. By Sadhana, your basic nature gets strengthened and more established, and that which can be changed undergoes change much faster.

A takl on fear loneliness by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom by Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: Gurudev, why do we fear loneliness? Why do we always long for someone’s company?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You feel this way because you have never gone deep into your inner Self. You have not met your Self. The moment you become aware and realize your inner true Self, I tell you, all fears and negativity simply disappear.

How can one meet one’s true Self? For a few moments just keep all your roles aside and think, 'Who am I?' Go on asking yourself. When you continuously question yourself this way, you sink deeper and deeper into meditation, and then you will realize what the truth is. Once that happens, there will be no place for any kind of hatred, negativity, and aversions. In a matter of moments all this will simply vanish.

So it is a good exercise to keep asking yourself these questions. If you feel like, you can do this every day for a few moments.

Just sit with yourself and go on asking yourself, 'Who am I?' As you do this, you will experience that the mind becomes silent, and begins to settle, and that very moment you becomes joyous and filled with happiness.

Q: Dear Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji, my mind is very scared and not ready to accept the emptiness of the present moment. It constantly looks for something or someone to hold on to.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

This is the nature of the mind! Never mind! People who are fed up with the mind only say, ‘Never mind!’ The mind is like that, but you are not just the mind, you are much more than that.

Don’t try to repair the mind. Repairing the mind is like trying to stop the waves in the ocean. Can you stop the waves in the ocean?

If you want to see an ocean without the waves, you have to dive a little deeper! When you dive deep inside of you, you will experience the stillness of the ocean. And if it all frozen, that is enlightenment!