q & a with sri sri

7/30/2019 Q & A with Sri Sri

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Just your own experience. I have gonethrough this many a times, okay, another one more time. That

makes you numb to it. You become sort of immune to it, if it is

happening over and over again.

It is our greed, our possessiveness and the aggression in us that

brings us all this. If you are content, happy and centered,

everything will flow to you. You dont have to go and grab

something; things will come your way. Do you see what I am

saying? This is why this world is called Maya. Do you know what

Maya means? When you try to go and grab it, it runs away from

you. If you try to possess or if you try to grab something, it just

runs away from you.

If you are stable, still and content within yourself then everything

runs towards you. That is why I have said from the very

beginning, if you follow joy, misery follows you and if you follow

knowledge, fun follows you.

Yes, if you are attached to the fruit of action

it can cause feverishness. Like a farmer; you know what the

farmer does? He ploughs the soil and throws the seeds. He is not

anxious to pick up each seed every day to see has it sprouted or

not. Then it will not sprout. So when you have confidence, you

have no attachment to the fruit of action.

That does not mean indifference. Do you understand what I am

saying?


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A farmer throws the seeds and he comes home and sleeps well.

He does not worry that all the seeds may disappear or it may not

sprout. Then he will not even go home, he will sit there and wait

for it to sprout. He will dig the soil every day to see if it has

sprouted. No, nothing is going to happen.

So a farmer is the best example. He throws the seeds on the

fields and he goes back and has a good nap. Next day he comes

and sees all the tulips have come, all the sunflowers have

blossomed. It takes a while; it doesnt come the next day. But inthe next month when he comes and sees, all the seeds have

sprouted. Some of them have not sprouted, so what! If he throws

one kilogram of seeds, not every seed will sprout, correct. And he

doesnt cry, oh, some didnt sprout. Those which blossomed

into flowers, he just enjoys them.

Dharma is your nature and Karma is yourduty.

Suppose your nature is to cook food, or your nature is to teach, or

your nature is to help people, or do business, that is your

Dharma. And the action that follows, what you do in your life, that

is your Karma.


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I will answer this question but first you

should tell me, where is the beginning point of a tennis ball?

We have linear thinking, which means everything has to beginsomewhere and end somewhere. Something begins and

something ends. So the creation happened and one day

everything is going to end. This is linear thinking.

But in the East, there is no linear thinking, it is spherical thinking.

They say three things are uncreated and they will never die or

never end. What are they?

One is the Divine Energy which you may call God. It is not created

and it is never going to end, like space. Can you tell me which is

the beginning point of the space and where does it end? No!

Similarly, matter or this whole universe. The universe is Anadi,

means without a beginning and Ananta, means without an end.

So also the souls, the life has no beginning and no end. It appears

to end but it is going to begin again. It is like the waves in the

ocean. One wave comes and it appears to end, but it is coming

back again. The same water goes and comes back again. So, souls

have no beginning and no end, the Divine or God has no

beginning or no end and the universe has no beginning or no

end. In fact all three are one.

So if you want to see God you should stop seeing the world.

You know in what sense? Like a quantum scientist. If a quantum

scientist had to see this flower, he would say there is no

difference between the leaf, the flower and the stem because

everything is made up of atoms. There is no difference, it is all

one. Any one point anywhere on the flower will work. Similarly, a

quantum physicist says, to find out your DNA just a drop of your


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saliva is good enough, or just one pinch of skin. It is all the same,

this is what a scientist would say.

This is quantum science.

But on other hand, the petals are not stem and the stem is not the

leaf, they are all different. So if you want to see God, just see the

whole Universe as energy and that is it.

What is meditation? Why do we want meditation? In order to go

deep within ourselves, to understand ourselves or to learn

anything about ourselves we need to be in a cordial and homely

atmosphere. A formal atmosphere is not congenial.

Do you all feel at home? Why dont you take just a moment to

greet the person on either side of you and behind you.

Now tell me, how many of you think that meditation is

concentration? No! You will be disappointed, meditation is not

concentration. It is de-concentration.

To do any work, you need concentration but to relax and expand

you dont need concentration. Relaxation is the mother of

concentration and so if you relax well, you are able to concentrate

better. Isnt that so?

Now how do we relax? That is what we will see this evening. As I

am speaking, do you notice what is happening in your mind? Just

notice, your mind says, yes, or no. Do you see a dialogue

happening within you? It is very important to notice this dialogue.


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So there are simple principles that we need to understand about

meditation.

Before we go into that, lets see what the benefits of meditationare.

How many of you would like to know the benefits of meditation?

The first benefit of mediation is it improves the bio-energy in our

body; in our system. Have you noticed, sometimes you meet

someone and for no reason you dont want to talk to them.

Whereas with some other people whom you have not met so

often, still you feel some sort of closeness with them and you feel

comfortable. This is because of the positive energy. Meditation

creates positive and harmonious energy around us.

The second benefit is it improves health. There are number of

researches on how meditation helps in hypertension, diabetes,

heart problems, skin problems, nervous system problems and a

number of other problems.

Third, meditation can help one to keep a pleasant mood. It is a

big help in preventing many of the mental illness and physical

illness.

Apart from the health benefits, meditation improves

concentration. It helps one to be in the present moment. The

mind vacillates between the past and the future. We are either

angry about the past or anxious about the future, all the time. So


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meditation helps keep the mind from swinging between the past

and the future to be more in the present.

Meditation is a journey from sound to silence, from movement tostillness. I would say that meditation is food for the soul.

Music is food for emotions; knowledge is food for the intellect,

entertainment is food for the mind and meditation is the food for

our soul or spirit.

To Say Sorry Is A Good Mistake?

Often, in establishing your righteousness, you are insensitive to

others feelings. When someone is hurt, arguing with them and

establishing your righteousness will be in vain. By saying a simple

"Sorry", you can uplift the other and take away the bitterness. In

many situations saying "Sorry" is better than establishing your

righteousness. It can avert much unpleasantness. This one word

of five letters, when said sincerely can remove anger, guilt, hatred

and distance.

Many people feel pride in hearing "Sorry" from others. This boosts

their ego. But when you say "Sorry" to a wise man, it evokes

compassion at your ignorance. However, when you say "Sorry" to

your Guru, He will get angry and say, "Go! Listen to Ashtavakra!"(Laughter) For your saying "Sorry" indicates doership. You feel

that YOU have MADE a mistake.

A mistake is part of an unconscious mind. An unconscious mind

cannot do right. A conscious mind can do no wrong. The mind

which makes the mistake and the mind which realizes the mistake

- saying "Sorry" - are entirely different, aren't they? The mind

which says "Sorry" cannot be an unconscious mind. Therefore,

saying "Sorry" sincerely is a BIG MISTAKE!!!


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Did you get it or are you confused? If you didn't get it, don't feel

sorry or u can feel sorry!! (Laughter)

How strange - truth is paradoxical!

Today many are anxious about how to deal with their anxiety!

Here are some of the ways you can manage your anxiety:

Sing, dance and celebrate. The very intention to celebratewill pull you away from anxiety to a more harmonious state.

Think about what you can do for others rather than justabout yourself. Energize yourself with some service activity.

Combined practice of yoga, breathing and meditation.

Know the impermanence of the world.

Having faith and surrendering to the Divine and knowingthat there is a supreme power who loves you. The supreme

power is behind you and accepts you totally. The sense ofsecurity comes with the sense of belongingness.


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Valour/courage: Invoking the lion within you and having anattitude of sacrifice will rescue you from anxiety.

Reminding yourself that you are committed to a greater goalwill keep the anxiety away.

Being unpredictable for a while. Anxiety is always related tosome anticipated action. Do something completely irrelevant

and unpredictable.

Readiness to face the worst will leave you with stability inthe mind.

Remembering a similar situation in the past when you wereable to overcome your anxiety.

Expand Your Vices

If you cannot get rid of vices, increase them. Worry, pride, anger, lust,grief - give them a bigger dimension and a different direction. Anger -

what is the point of getting angry about small events? Be angry aboutthe infinite, about Brahma.

Ego, pride - If you cannot get rid of pride, take pride in owning THEDIVINE.


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Greed - Be greedy for SATSANG.

Craving - Crave for truth.

Aversion - Be averse to aversions.

Jealousy - Be jealous about SEVA.

Intoxication - Get intoxicated in the DIVINE.

Attachment - Attach yourself to the guru.

Joy is love for what is. Sorrow is love for what is not.

Why do you feel awkward? And how do you get out of it?


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If you have always been the center of attention, and are suddenly

sidelined, you may feel out of place. Similarly if you have always

been on the side lines, and are suddenly pushed to center stage,

you may experience restlessness. If you are used to ordering, and

suddenly have to take orders, or, if you usually follow orders, and

you are made to give them, you may feel out of place. A very busy

person with nothing to do, or a laid back person who is faced

with a lot of responsibilities may experience restlessness. Very

often, feeling out of place blocks the reason and distorts the

logic.

If the situation you are in is inevitable, tolerate it. If its avoidable,

walk out of it. If you feel that it can expand your abilities, smile

through it. Every awkward situation increases your comfort zone.

Every awkward situation is a test for how deep you are in the

Knowledge.

Love something of an awkward situation. This will increase your

comfort zone. When your comfort zone increases, no one will be

able to push your buttons and you will become so centered and

unshakable.

Sri Sri: Because you do not know that whatever you are committed

to brings you strength. If you are committed to your family then

your family supports you, if you are committed to your society,

you enjoy the support of society. If you are committed to God,

God gives you strength. If you are committed to Truth, Truth

brings you strength.


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Often one is not aware of this idea and that is why one is hesitant

to commit to a greater cause. Also there is a fear that

commitment would weaken one or take away one's freedom. Your

commitment to a cause is bound to bring you comfort in the long

run. Commitment in life grows toward a higher cause. The higher

the commitment, greater is the good for all.

Noah: Why don't we make any vows in the Art of Living?

Sri Sri: When the path is charming, commitment is effortless and

is part of your nature.

Mikey: In Art of Living we don't make vows, we have Wows!

q & a with sri sri

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