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Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Q: How to be in a relationship without depending on the other, and without feeling possessive.

Sri Sri: Know that love is your nature. By nature you are loving, and relax. Give the person whom you love their freedom; their space.
When you love somebody, you almost want to strangle them. You want to police them from morning till night. It may sound very difficult to not do this, but that is the wisest thing to do. Don’t police the person you love a lot.

Q: Different people have different notions of spirituality. Some think it is escapism, others think it is torturing oneself. What is spirituality according to you?

Sri Sri: Anything that uplifts the human spirit is spirituality. Anything that brings you peace, joy, love, comfort and motivates you to do service in society is spirituality.
We are made up of both matter and spirit. Our body is made up of Amino acids, carbohydrate, protein and all that stuff. Our spirit is made up of love, compassion, generosity, intelligence; all these values. So spirituality is not just sitting and doing something. It is something that invokes, that builds character in you.

Q: Gurudev, can you please explain to me what Grace means.

Sri Sri: That is something which cannot be explained.
When you feel that you have received something which is beyond your ability, beyond your capacity, then you say that it is a gift. Grace simply means gift. That is closest you can get.
By the Grace of God means, I was not worthy of it but he still gave me. That is why you say it is grace.
In school you say grace marks. The teacher gets pleased and gives you some more marks, which you are not really qualified to get, but they give it to you out of love for you. Something that is given to you out of love and feeling for you, though you are not worthy of it, perhaps could be called grace.

When I think, 'I deserve this', then I demand. Then it is the giver’s duty to give me. Grace is always accompanied with gratefulness. When you get what you deserve, you are not grateful for it. But when you are given something which you don’t deserve, then you are more grateful. Grace and gratefulness are very much related.

Q: In Narada Bhakti Sutra, you have said that measure your mind with your heart and understand your heart with your mind. I am unable to understand this, please explain.

Sri Sri: Just give them equal importance in life. Take both of them along with you, and remember that neither is lesser than the other.



Q: I am a homosexual and I am comfortable with it. Some call me a criminal. My family and friends disown me. Does God still love me?

Sri Sri: God has no choice. God loves everybody on earth. So, don’t worry about it. Okay!

Q: Gurudev, can fate be changed, if so, how? I want to wash off my bad karma.

Sri Sri: You are in the right place, doing the right thing. Meditate, chant, take part in lot of service activities and the past karma will get washed away.



Q: How does one cultivate maturity in life?

Sri Sri: Perception, observation and expression - these three things can bring you maturity. The way you perceive things and observe things all around you.
Wisdom doesn’t need time at all. You don’t need to become old to become mature. You simply need observation, of not just yourself but also of the lives of those around you.

Q: Gurudev, we have to bear the consequences for bad karma from previous lives. How do I know if the problem I am having right now is a result of karma from my previous lives or this life?

Sri Sri: Why do you want to sit and dissect it?
They say ‘Gahano Karmano Gati’, the ways of karma are unfathomable.
If something good is happening, then you must have done something good. If something bad is happening, then you must have done something bad at some time. Maybe that was a year ago, or ten years ago, or even lifetimes ago. Why do you bother, just keep them all aside and simply meditate, be in the knowledge, and do some service.
You have been given such a wonderful path, why do you want to sit down and count your karma. Just follow the path and the karma will automatically get washed away.

When you are disposing your garbage, you don’t look inside and see if it’s yesterday’s garbage or day before yesterday’s garbage. Garbage is garbage, you simply dispose of it. In the same way, just let your old karma be, they will turn to ashes on their own.


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