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Gurudev Answers - Sri Sri Ravishanker

What is Truth? What is Love?

Sri Sri: Truth is that which does not change. So to know what is truth, you have to go through the process: What is not truth! … And what is not truth? All that which changes. When do you ask someone, "Why do you lie?" When they change what is or they say something, then they change that… So all that changes, is not truth not that they are lies; it is simply not truth. So life is a quest to find: `What is truth?’ Don’t be in a hurry! It can’t be read in newspapers, libraries or books. Truth is what IS … and that you can only realize when you go deep into meditation. Once you know what is truth, love is the other side of the truth… the other face of truth. Truth and Love are just two sides of the same coin! Love is something, which cannot be described. If you can describe love, it ceases to be love! So in short, you can say, truth is that which never changes and love is that which is indescribable.

Are mind and the Self, one and the same? If yes, where is the mind?

Sri Sri: This is like asking: "Are the ocean and the waves, one and the same? If so, where are the waves?!" Hmm…. The Self is the ocean. The mind is the wave. Without the Self, there can’t be mind, but there can be an ocean without waves… Without the big waves… There could be some ripples in the ocean… The ocean can never be still always…. The ocean can never be without waves.

Mahavira and Buddha said that ‘life is misery’… but you say that ‘life is a celebration’… Aren’t the two contradictory?

Sri Sri: Yes they are… That is why they are complementary! Buddha definitely said ‘life is misery’. Yes it is! You acknowledge misery… and then when you meditate, you overcome misery. When you overcome misery, there is joy. If life is misery and everything stops at that, what is the need of any meditation? What is the need of going any further? What is the need of nirvana? Why do you want nirvana? Buddha didn’t stop at that. Buddha began at that point: Life is a misery… and that is an experience. Here I don’t need to say that! Everybody is already experiencing! In those days, Buddha had to say ‘life is a misery’ because people were all so comfortable in their lives and they thought that was the end of life… They didn’t even wake up to see that there is misery in life… So today I feel that people are already aware of enough misery. Now we have to tell them the next step: "Come on! Life is not just misery. There is a way to get over the misery… and then life is celebration!" Make that your goal.

What is your opinion about conversion?

Sri Sri: conversion is not a good thing. I think it’s a sort of crime against one’s religion. There is no need to covert from one religion to another. Honor every religion. When people go around converting, saying, "Only if you believe in my religion, will you go to heaven," just smile at them. They are ignorant. They don’t know… Such preaching is going on … trying to convert people by alluring them, by giving them money… This is not a good thing to happen to the world. People should be aware of this and should stop all these sorts of conversions. It was in the medieval times that people came with swords and converted people. They punished people if they didn’t follow other religions. This was in the Middle Ages, where people were not so broadminded. They didn’t realize the truth. We have to take good things from everywhere and move on… and become spiritual in life… Conversion should be from religion to spirituality not from religion to religion.

What is the purpose of having a religion?

Sri Sri: You know from birth to death, life is full of rituals… you’re born… your naming ceremony… and then your marriage, your death.. All important events in life are joined, conjoined with religion. So religion has become a part of people’s lives, including their names… But, what is most important today is to rise above religion and become spiritual. Spirituality unites people. Customs and rituals in religion, divide people. Even in one religion, people are not of the same opinion they are all divided because rituals and religion can divide people in many different ways. Yet it has become sort of indispensable, but if you are wise, if you are spiritual, you can be religious and it will not hamper your growth, your joy; nor that of society.

Can a communist be spiritual?

Sri Sri: A communist has to be spiritual otherwise he cannot be a true communist! If a communist is not really spiritual, he will be a pseudo-communist? What is communism? What is the purpose of a communist? He wants good for everybody. He wants everyone to prosper. He wants everyone to rise up in life… and if he’s not spiritual, how can he even wish this?! Spirituality gets you in touch with your feelings, your heart. Spirituality brings integrity, honesty, love, compassion, straightforwardness… All these attributes can only come into you if you are spiritual… The purpose of spirituality is to bring up all these qualities make you very integrated. It removes all that small-mindedness, jealousy, greed, anger, arrogance… All these negative emotions can only be tackled, erased through spirituality. Unless that is done, how can you care for everybody? How can you have concern for everybody? The essence of communism is care and concern… and I tell you it will never be authentic if you have not gone deep into yourself, if you have not got rid of all the stress and narrow mindedness, if you can’t accept that diversity in people, embrace them and make them part of you.

What is God?

Sri Sri: That something which is present everywhere! There is an old story in the Upanishads: A boy goes and asks his father, "Father, how is God? What is God like?" You know what the father says? "My dear son, God is like the sky. Everything is born in the sky. Everything remains in the sky. Everything dissolves in the sky." So God is like sky… like space….How is God? God is like space. What type of space? When you’re happy, have you noticed how you feel? When you’re happy, close your eyes… and feel… What is the space inside you….? It is a joyful space! God is like that joyful space!… And how is God? Empty like the sky and full like an ocean… See it appears we are in an empty space here, but no! It is filled with air… Like that, God fills every bit of creation in and out!…. And what is its nature? `Satt’ (it is Truth), `Chitt’ (it is Conscious). See all the heads that are sitting here, all the brains, are conscious. Are you? I am speaking. You are listening… Who is listening? The mind consciousness is listening and that consciousness is not just limited to this head but it is also present in the space here. When you realize that this consciousness, which is knowing, is not just limited to the body, but is also in the space present everywhere, then a new dimension comes that is called `chitt’. Satt, Chitt and Anand (blissful)… and that is all love asthi, bhaathi and preethi… So God is love and love is God. The ancient people in India said that God really has no form and because he has no form, you can adore him in any form! The spirit loves diversity! That’s why God did not create one type of vegetable, one type of flower, or even one type of people! Even amongst people there are so many differences! Flowers are different! Vegetables are different! So that God, who loves differences, should also be seen in all different forms. God loves form! That’s why he created so many forms! So you can adore him in any form you want! When one does pooja, that’s exactly what one, is doing. When Ganesh pooja is being done, it’s like saying, "God, who is present everywhere, in every atom, for some time, please come into this Ganesha idol... I want to play with you!" (This is in the mantras.) "God, you are always present in my heart, but for some time I would like you to come and be present in this idol in front of me… and I want to play with you." How do you play? "Whatever you did to me, I am going to do to you now! You brought the sun and the moon around me, I am going to take this lamp and do arti around you… You showered water, I am going to pour water on you… You gave me fruits, I am going to give you fruits…" In the end you offer flowers… "I offer myself…. I am so grateful, for all that you have done. Now it is time you come back into my heart…." You take God back into your heart and then you go and put that idol in the water. Visarjana. Immersion happens. So you make life more a play, joy… Even God is part of your play! Don’t become so serious in front of God… God loves fun… He likes to play with you. You don’t have to have a very serious, morose face and go on praying like this… Play with God, dance with God, challenge God… In the ancient days, many people did not know why they were doing all this because they didn’t understand the mantras, what is said in it. Hrid Padmakarnika Madyeshivenasahasuntar. Pravishathvam Mahadevi Sarvayva Avarneyasaha: You come back into my heart with all your glory... Stay there. Now I’m going to do the pooja… immerse the idol in the ocean or water… This is a beautiful concept of worship one of them. It is not necessary that everybody has to do it this way. You can just do it in meditation… Sit with your eyes closed…. And feel the presence of divinity everywhere…. Just be soaked in that! You can feel you are like a rasagulla… soaking in the syrup!

What exactly is praying to God?

Sri Sri: You know prayer happens when you are utterly helpless or when you are very grateful. In moments of gratefulness, the feeling is overwhelming and that feeling is prayer. The same happens when you are utterly helpless… and if both happen together, that would be a very effective form of prayer. You feel helpless for what you cannot change and you’re grateful for what is being given to you… To whom you pray is immaterial! There is a shloka in Sanskrit: Sarva deva namaskaraha keshavam pratigachitthi… Aakaashaath pathidham thoyam yethagachatthi saagaram… Sarva deva namaskaraha keshavam pratigachitthi… Like rain water wherever it falls, it finally all ends up in the ocean. In the same way, to whomsoever you pray, it goes to the same divinity, the same Keshava… So it doesn’t matter to whom you pray. The prayer, itself, is a beautiful phenomenon, the most precious phenomenon that can happen to human beings… Wake up and see that there is prayer in the whole of nature: The trees are praying, the hill is the earth rising up and praying, the wind blows and prays, fire burns and prays, sun shines and prays… So if you look at the whole of nature, every act is filled with love, filled with a sense of gratefulness, fulfillment. That fulfillment is prayer. The mind matures and fulfills. It attains a state that you may call prayer.

Scriptures describe heaven and hell. Is there truth in it?

Sri Sri: There is a saying, ‘mann ayvam manushyanam karanam bandha moksha’. The bondage and freedom is present in the mind. So also heaven and hell. You don’t have to go somewhere else to experience hell it can be right here! When you’re miserable, you experience hell... and you don’t have to believe only this is the end of the universe. The universe has many layers to it. This is not just all that there is. If someone says that, just don’t believe him/her. They know only that much. This creation is a mystery… There are layers and layers of existence. Our brain or our mind is only a frequency analyzer. Our mind is like the radio the tuning needle in the radio. You put the needle at some point and you’ll hear only that station. You tune to All India Radio Thrissur, you will hear only that. You tune to All India Radio Madras/Chennai, you will hear Chennai. You tune to All India Radio Bangalore or Delhi, you will hear only that… or BBC or Illangai… but that doesn’t mean only that many waves are there. In this room there are 100 channels of different televisions right here.. but whatever channel you choose, tune into, on your television, you see that. Similarly with our brain. Whatever our brain is tuned to, you just experience that much. So the universe is so vast, unfathomable. You have to experience in order to prove something… or disprove something… To see that something exists or doesn’t exist, you need to know it thoroughly.

What do you say about today’s education system?

Sri Sri: Today’s education system lacks the juice, lacks that essence which can transform children into beautiful, intelligent beings. Our education needs a human touch to it. Our education has become so mechanical that we are just producing human machines in schools and colleges. We need to build strong personalities, beautiful personalities, adorable personalities in our schools and colleges that’s what is missing. Our education can go through a lot of reforms, from many angles. We are not developing a total personality. A full development of human potential is lacking and that needs to be developed. An all round development is needed.

What is your view about Ayurveda?

Sri Sri: Ayurveda has stood the test of time! In the last century, people did not care for ayurveda so much because the whole focus was on allopathic medicine, but now that allopathic medicine has proved to be not that advantageous in many respects, people are turning back to nature cure, nature medicine. Ayurveda is that harmless, nature supported medicine, which has stood the test of time. People, the world over, are taking to Ayurveda and have realized the benefit of it because Ayurveda treats a person holistically not just one part: It’s not that you treat the heart and your kidney goes bad, you treat your kidney and your liver is affected and if your liver is treated, your brain is affected, and if your brain is treated, your whole life is affected. This is Allopathy medicine. Ayurveda doesn’t try to just repair one part and have another part going off! Ayurveda takes a holistic approach. It re-establishes health and does not just cure one disease, or just convert one disease into another which Allopathy has been very successfully doing! We must all take Ayurveda back to our villages and to every nook and corner of the planet. (Question: What about homeopathy?) Yeah! Homeopathy is also good! Harmless medicine… Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Yunani and nature cure. Homeopathy needs a lot more faith than Ayurveda! You know many people don’t have so much faith in just taking those little white pills and feeling that they can be cured. They need something more solid! They believe in little grosser things! So Ayurveda helps here. The only thing is, you need a little more patience in Ayurveda because with Ayurveda, you have to take care of your food habits, your diet, also.

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