Questions & Answers : Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Wisdom by Spiritual leader  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: Gurudev, you always say that joy is in the present moment. But there are some events of the past that hold me back from being totally in the present moment. Despite wanting to, many times I am not able to be totally in the present. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, if you try to walk ahead keeping you head turned back, how will that be possible? Just wake up and see, whatever has happened has happened, it’s finished. Life is new every moment.
Just focus on life right now, this very moment. Drop this questioning, “Oh, why did this happen this way? Why did it not happen that way?”

There is nothing to gain by thinking about the past over and over again. Let it go!

Q: If I am the source of thoughts, then is there any difference between the source and the soul? If it is the same, do bad thoughts affect the soul?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

See, when do you realize that a thought is good or bad? You can realize this only when the thought has already come. You cannot stop a thought or know a thought before it comes. And when it comes, it also goes away immediately. If you are a witness to the thought, it simply drifts away and vanishes. But if you hold on to it and chew on it, then it stays with you.

Thoughts come and go, but that which is the basis of thoughts – is the atma (soul). And that is what you are. You are like the sky, and thoughts are like clouds. This could be the nearest example one can give. Clouds come and go in the sky, but can they disturb or limit the vastness of the sky in any way? No, not at all.

So when you fly above the clouds, when you go beyond the clouds, you see that the sky is untouched. It is the same, it is unchanged. It is only the thoughts which keep moving. This is what happens in meditation, when you come into Sakshi bhaav, i.e., when you simply become a witness to the thoughts.

We do not have to attach ourselves to the thoughts. That is foolishness. Whether they are good thoughts, or bad thoughts – they come and go. You are far above and beyond all this. This is called the Vihangam Maarg – it means rising above thoughts and seeing that you have nothing to do with these moving thoughts.

Follow  Google + of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for more updates