Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

(1996 Hawaii)
I want to be a source of light. I don’t know where to go next. Where could I go next to allow my spiritual growth to happen the fastest and strongest? Thank you for your love.
– There is contradiction in your question. You are thanking for love and then say you want to go somewhere. If you have received the love then there is no need to go anywhere. You are the source that you’re seeking. You are in your driveway but you are searching the home. You are asking me where should you go next. What should I tell you? You wouldn’t believe that you are in your driveway. You are busy in trying to change your gear and accelerator. You can go around for some more time but then you’ll have to come back to your driveway again. (Laughter) Our ego wants to do something, which is very difficult. Ego is not ready to accept something simple. Something natural. Something that is easily available. Nature of ego is to do difficult things, not simple ones. Ego would say climb Mount Everest. What you get climbing Mount Everest? Wear and tear in the body and a name in the newspapers, so and so climbed Mount Everest. And if nobody is there to recognize you’re climbing Mount Everest you’d never do it. The other day in CNN news they showed somebody when in gas balloon, around the world, crossed the pacific. And he collapsed in Fredericton, New Brunswick in Canada. What is the need to fly in a gas balloon for so many days, months and then all the emergency medical aid had to rush to put him to the hospital. Ego says I will do this, difficult thing, achieve, do something, which nobody else does. Divine is not an object of ego. It does not demand from you something that is impossible. You don’t have to do something which you cannot do. No need for that at all. Love is not an achievement it is recognition. Peace is not an attainment it is just realizing. Do you see what I’m saying? Meditation is not going somewhere, its diving deep here this moment. You don’t want to be source of life, you are source of life. Weather you want to or not. This wanting to be source of life is the hurdle. You always want to be something that you are not but if you want to be what you are then there is something basically wrong. (Laughter) If you want to be a donkey you have to do something. Attach a tail to yourself, maybe lengthen your ears. Bend your neck and make sounds like donkey. Even then you cannot be, you can fool yourself being a donkey. But what do you have to do to be human, you’re already one. For spiritual growth to happen the fastest, strongest… relax. Have patience. The fastest way is to be slow. (Guruji and rest laugh). Your hurry is an obstacle, your hurry is racing you, taking you away from the driveway. You’re in a hurry to get into the house but you’re running in the opposite direction, into the street. Slow down, relax, rest. Offer to the divine all your wants, your aversions, your cravings. Rest deep in a state of contentment and look what all has been given to you. Look around see how rich your life is. How beautiful the world is. You’ll be taken up by waves of gratitude. And if you can be grateful, you are near the goal. And if gratefulness has not dawned in life, if you’re grumbling, complaining, forget about your growth. Just simply forget. Let things go however it is going. Do you see what I’m saying?

How do you feel the supreme love of God when there seems to be nothing but disappointment and unhappiness in your life?
– There is no life on this planet that has only disappoint. When this mind is causing so much disappointment to you, why don’t you drop it? Why you hang on to that mind. This is ununderstandable, uncomprehandable. World is not troubling you, your mind is troubling you. Have you done something about your mind? Have you learned to drop it or tune it? It is just out of tune I tell you, it needs a little servicing. (Laughter) If you service your mind you’ll see everything is proper. It runs properly on the wheels.

How can you experience divine love with disappointments?
– Every disappointment brings you back your awareness to home. You’re caught up in a situation, or in a person or in an event. In a personality outside of you. It seems to give you joy/pleasure for some time. And then it just right away drops you. Then you come back home. That time sit with your eyes closed and see. All that you are hankering, you’re holding on to will just remain here, will leave you. You have to leave it all and move away one day, and de-hand it. We live as though we have been living here forever and we will continue to live forever here. This ignorance is the cause of your disappointment. And I tell you this disappointment is a blessing so that it makes you aware and see that everything is changing in the world. Friends become foes and foes become friends. Rich become poor and poor suddenly become rich. Things are all changing in the world, including your own body. Your own disappointment, if you were disappointed once you would have learnt a lesson but if you are getting disappointed again and again and again we’ve never learnt anything. We’re beating round the bush. The more you get centred, all that you desire will come to you even before you desire. It’s all a matter of getting centred, coming into your own space. Being so prayerful and grateful in life. That’s what Jesus said in the Bible you know, those who have shall be given more and those who do not, whatever they have will also be taken away. When you see that you have, you have been given, you become more grateful, and in that gratefulness, gratitude, grace will flow in and more will come to you. This is a law. Like water flows down and fire goes up. This is a physical law, the more contented you are the more you will get. And the more lack you feel, that lack will grow. Just wake up to this reality. Every unhappiness shows you that you are helpless, you cannot do anything about it. When you are helpless you have two possibilities. Either you get frustrated/agitated/angry/tense/sad or recognize, you can’t do anything, you become prayerful. Helplessness is the junction that leads you either to prayer or to frustration. You see what I’m saying? So just relax. Again and again I’m telling you, just relax, you are in your driveway.

How can I allow more love in my life and how can I love myself more?
– Service. Do some service. Today depression in the world is just because there is lack of service. What about me? What will happen to me? How will I get more love? This is the cause of misery. You are here only to serve. Just come from a completely different perspective, completely different context. What can I do to the world I am in here? I’m going to live in this world for another 40-50 years, how best I could be of use to people around me? What use I could be for people? What I can do in the world? If you keep thinking in this life, you can never get depressed. And you don’t have to see how much more love should come into my life. This question does not arise at all. You are not savouring the love, you are just serving in love. I would call one as very poor person, one who savours the love that he receives in life. But one who is serving in love is rich. Coz one recognizes that he is the source of love, she is the source of love. Many people thinking, what will happen to me if I become old? See if you have been serving all your life you don’t have to worry about it! And if you have to worry what will happen when you become 60-70 or invalid, then you’ve never lived, better to die now itself! (Laughter) After 60-70-80 years of life, there is nobody to care for you then that means that you’ve done nothing. If you have been useful to people, not 1 will come, 100 will come to help you when you need help. Do you see what I’m saying? If you’ve lived all your life in a shell, better to have lived in a coffin. Go into the coffin straight away, all the miseries are gone. (Guruji laughs) No no no. That is not it, our life is here to serve. And all the time think, how best I could be of use to people, to the society, to everyone around me. What you can do to people around you. Then you come from a completely different context. And I tell you how much joy, you cannot measure it. Do you see what I’m saying? It’s not just an airy-fairy idea, it’s a practical thing. You can see this in the world today. And if you start serving there would be no depth of anything for you. Any means, all the needs would come to you.

Amazon #ads

How can I love myself more?
– You know there is an old saying. The lane of love is very narrow, no two can be fitted there. Either there is love or there is you. You both cannot go there. Either there is love in life or there is ‘I’ in life. Love is forgetting, dissolving ‘what about me’. And if you think more love in my life, then love is dwindling. This is the way to have more love, its to forget it I, forget the self. Forget the small self, the little me, I, I. See you are looking at the vast sky, so many stars, sun, moon, everything. But if a small dust particle gets into your eye, it can shadow, it can cover up the entire sky. Isn’t it? It can blur your whole vision of the infinity. A small particle. Like that the small me, me, me, just covers your infinite potential. Your unbounded love that you are. You are that. You know you say to your very near and dear ones, if you have children, or your husband or wife or your friend. What you tell them ‘I’m here for you’, right? What do you want I’m here for you, I’m there for you. Isn’t it, don’t you say this? I’m here for you, I’m there for you. If you only have to expand that to more people. I’m there for you. Than that is it, you’re already there. But how many more can say that, in your life? That much you have grown, that much you have expanded. Don’t be afraid, nobody will take advantage of you. You know we had a paranoia about people will use me. I joking will say, be very useful. (Laughter) Feel happy that you are being useful, somebody has used you. So you’re not useless. At least you’re useful somewhere. No no, nobody is there to use you, don’t get into paranoia about it, oh people will use me. Be intelligent, I’m not just saying be blind in service. See where it is required and how you should serve. But come from that space within you, of wanting to be useful for everybody.

I wear glasses and I feel as thought I’m ready to see the world clearly now without glasses, what could be my first step in seeing clearly?
– You have already begun. Those who are wearing glasses do not know that they are wearing glasses. This is a difficulty. The crazy people in the mental hospital think that the doctors are crazy. They don’t realize that they are crazy. The moment they realize they were crazy they are getting out of the mental hospital. The same way people who are seeing through glasses they never realize that they are seeing through glasses. The moment you realize that you are seeing through glasses, you are already off the glass. Knowledge of a mistake comes to you only when you’re innocent. Do you see what I’m saying? Knowledge of a mistake comes to you when you are out of the mistake. At that moment you’re already innocent. And those who are doing a mistake at that moment are unaware. They are unconscious. You cannot hold anything against somebody who is unconscious. Someone asked me a question what do you say about forgiveness. I say forgiveness is to see someone as a culprit, but if you wake up a little bit and see from a broader perspective you will see that the culprit is also a victim. And when you realize a culprit is a victim you don’t know question of forgiveness you only have compassion. See what I’m saying, are you getting? You can forgive only when you see someone as a culprit. But if you cannot forgive, just look beyond, that person who is a culprit is not a culprit, he’s a victim of several situations and events and instances and many things in his life or her life. Then you can easily forgive, not only forgive, you’ll have more compassion. Otherwise you’re fighting with yourself to forgive somebody, it never happens. I want to forgive so and so, you say they did a mistake, they are a culprit. And to forgive a culprit it is not easy. But in the light of knowledge you will see they’re all victims, then you cant be but compassionate. And you can be grateful that at least you were not given that role to be played. What would you do?

Would you please give me some advice about a girl who is mean to me in my class thank you?
– You know this is something that everybody gives. The one thing that everybody in the world gives freely is advice. Without even being asked for, it’s given freely. Nobody asks but we’re all giving advices. And the least taken also. The most given and the least taken thing in the world is advice. (Laughter) It’s so unwise. I see advices are hanging in the space like orphans, nobody to care. So giver goes on giving, taker never takes. What happens to these advises. They simply hang in the space like orphans.

My middle name is Ahasen (spelling) what does it mean?
– It’s more useful to find out what your life means than what your name means. Whatever your names means how does it matter? It means so many things in so many different languages. In some languages it means monkey. (Laughter) In some other language it means frog, which language you should say? All the names whatever meaning you attach to it, it will give that. Its up to you to give a meaning to a name. That’s why it is a name. This flower is called by one name here, another name in French, another name in German. But what that name indicates is a substance. Name is only an indication, today we’re holding on to these empty words, and names, and fighting in the whole world. All the religions fight in the name of God, such foolishness. Its like a crowd of people, each one saying ‘peace, peace’ and that shouting peace itself is creating chaos. Everyone is saying be quiet, if a thousand people say be quiet, just imagine how much quietness will be there. This is what we are doing in the name of knowledge, spiritual or religion whatever. Or peace, even love, we are misleading ourselves, deceiving ourselves. Find out what is the meaning of your life. What is the purpose of your life. Name, someone game you a name. You were not born with a label on your forehead with your name. No child comes to this world with a name already written on the forehead, with a sticker. Child comes without a name, you are born in the world without a name. You are being called with a name, doesn’t matter whatever it means. What is it that is so important to you. Attach that meaning to your name. That is fine. Names are there to inspire you to grow to your heights. Isn’t it?

Dearest Panditji, I was hoping you could speak on what is the point of all our spiritual practices?(Guruji smiles or points to his smile)
– That is the point you got it? (Laughter) The point of all spiritual practice is to smile from your heart potentially/authentically (don’t know). Drop your judgmental mind and be friendly and talk to everybody with a sense of belongingness. Do you see? How you would relate to yourself, you can relate in the same way to everyone else, they’re all part of you. Are you able to give some peace, some joy, some love, some solace to people who come around you. Then you are moving in the spiritual direction and that is why we do all these practices. To make you smile in such a way that nothing can take the smile from you, joy from you, come what may. The purpose of practice is to make you so solid and strong that you are able to smile in life uninterruptedly. Come what may. Do you see you’re happy for a moment and a small little thing somebody says something, one little thing and you’re triggered off, finished, you go up, you blow up and you lose yourself. And it takes again few weeks or few months to get back to your natural/innocent/joyful smile. Isn’t it? And these practices will help you strengthen and come from that space of unconditional joy and love.

Everyday I do my asanas/pranayam/kriya, my meditation, I listen to bhajans, go to satsang, eat only organic foods, go on many courses, etc. And sometimes I think maybe I should just give my kids a hotdog. (mad laughter) Turn on the soap and have a beer. (more laughs) Am I really any better off than my contemporaries that go to bowling league instead of satsangs (more laughs) and not that I mind the food here (guruji laughs) but for the same money I could be at club med (more mad laughter) snorkelling and eating lobster. Sometimes I can’t remember why I do this. (Guruji laughs) Is it just my karma to be on this path? Please comment. With love and gratitude… always.
– Go ahead and finish it all off. Do it all. Watch soap operas, how long can you watch. If that is tempting you, don’t dream about them, better do it and finish it. Don’t eat healthy food, eat junk food. Then you will understand the value of the paths. You can value health only when you’re sick. A healthy person cannot value health. Do you see what I’m saying? If you have not tasted ill health, what it is to be sick, you will never be able to value health. If you have not had enough stress and tension you will never value what is peace of mind. If you’re not enough tensed, watch soap operas. Look at all their faces, they come with such a tension, and observe at the same time your breath and your body, what’s happening sitting in the couch. And when you switch off the TV then you will see what a relief it is, to get away from then. When you eat some fresh vegetables, when you bite a cucumber or an apple or a banana, fresh. Then you will see what a treat it is. How the prana (life energy) in you is accelerated. How wonderful you feel. Fast for a day and then you will enjoy the food more. No? So if you have forgotten what it is to be on the path, how wonderful it is, just get off the path for a while. Go ahead, stroll around. (Laughter) Then you will realize what a heaven this is. This path is not dry at all, it is not a path where you have to keep a long face all the time. To be so serious that you are doing something. You’re digging the mountain. People look so serious, who are on the path, as though something has fallen on their head. No. This path is full of fun, joy, love. It’s a very interesting path. That’s why here you sing, you dance, you listen to knowledge, sit still and meditate. All aspects have come together here. Isn’t it?

Amazon #ads