What are the advantages of Satsang?

Question - Gurudev, What are the advantages of Satsang?

Gurudev Sri Sri - Give satsang and meditation your highest priority. One who does not do satsang is like a wild animal. Satsang alone makes you civilised. It is the shelter from changing time and its harsh influence on life. Give quality time to the divine. It will be rewarded.

How do you answer when people question whether you are God?

Question - Gurudev, How do you answer when people question whether you are God?

Gurudev Sri Sri - What is God? If God is love, I am God and you are God. We are composed of love.

If we remove greed and competition from man, does he become Godlike?

Question - Gurudev, If we remove greed and competition from man, does he become Godlike? 

Gurudev Sri Sri - Of course. Godliness is where there is no greed, no selfishness; where there is large heartedness, love for all. That is godliness, isn't it?

What binds the soul to the body and what makes it leave the body?

Question - Gurudev, What binds the soul to the body and what makes it leave the body? 

Gurudev Sri Sri - Time and Karma.

What is the significance of Guru Pooja?

Question - Gurudev, what is the significance of Guru Pooja? 

Gurudev SriSri - Guru Pooja is the mother of All mantras, the maha mantra. You can make your whole body in such a way where it becomes an Invitation to the divine. Guru Pooja is an ancient sanskrit invocation , which invites the ascended and enlightened masters to enter your space. The way the mantra is stated, there is no choice but for these divine energies to answer the call of Guru Pooja. As you give yourself to the process of this invocation, your energy aligns with the divine and as a result your vibration raises in wonderful ways. Practicing Guru Pooja on a regular basis will bring a different quality to your life. It awakens your inner divinity, allowing you to access peaceful and blissful feelings throughout your day. It is a powerful tool used by many yoga practitioners and we would like to offer to you this opportunity to bring it into your daily life. A sanskrit chant with 36 verses. Within this mantra there are 16 ways In which we invoke the divine through powerful ceremony and ritual. It is a way to make yourself like an offering to the divine while you receive the blessings that this invocation brings. It is a way to consecrate sacred space in your environment, your home and around your sacred alter.

I have changed companies and places, still I find so much boredom in my life. Please advise how to come out of boredom?

Question - Gurudev, I have changed companies and places, still I find so much boredom in my life. Please advise how to come out of boredom? 

Gurudev Sri Sri - When you have a passion or a commitment in life for a bigger cause, boredom will vanish. Boredom comes because you are only focused on your own pleasure. If you are only thinking about yourself, about how much more joy or pleasure you can get for yourself, you will get bored, because you will not get it anywhere. However, when your heart beats for others, for something higher, something finer and something more meaningful, then there is no boredom. The commitment level in our life indicates our enthusiasm or our boredom. If our commitment is low, boredom is bound to set in. If our commitment is higher, then boredom will never be anywhere around the corner. Boredom will never be anywhere near you.

How to handle criticism without arguing and fighting?

Question - Gurudev, when someone criticizes me I switch off and go into hiding. How to handle criticism without arguing and fighting?

Gurudev Sri Sri - Know that you're magnanimous. Every time you face a criticism know that you are vast like the ocean, and you can take in anything. When you feel small that is when you don't feel like taking criticism. When you feel you are very big, then you think, ‘I’m much bigger than this criticism, let me take it in’.

How do I increase my self worth and self esteem?

Question - Gurudev, how do I increase my self worth and self esteem?

Gurudev Sri Sri - There is no way on the planet earth. You cannot increase your self esteem even if the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. Even if that is possible, it is impossible to increase your self esteem. Just accept it, if you think you don't have it and you try to have it, it is not going to work. You simply have to recognise that it is already there.

Is it true that if we have less number of desires, there’s a higher chance of them getting fulfilled?

Question - Gurudev, Is it true that if we have less number of desires, there’s a higher chance of them getting fulfilled? 

Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes! When you have less things to do, you will do it really attentively. You put your 100% energy, focus into it when there are less things to do. If you have many things to do, you need to have that much energy, broad awareness and consciousness. And if you’re enlightened, you can do a million things without getting bogged down by anything!

How do we balance worldly activities and spiritual practices?

Question - Gurudev, How do we balance worldly activities and spiritual practices?

Gurudev Sri Sri - How do you walk? You lift up one leg and keep the second on the ground, and then you alternate. This is balance. Can you walk without balance? A man walking in his senses knows what balance is. You balance your life like this. If you leave all your work and only meditate, you will not even be able to meditate. And if you only do work and don' t do your practices, you will feel that longing for meditation. So, listen to your heart. It gets pulled towards both. Balance both well.

How to overcome fear?

Question - Gurudev, I am afraid of so many things especially death. How to overcome fear?

Gurudev Sri Sri - Meditation, and Meditation. Meditation, and Knowledge: only two things will help you overcome this fear.

What can I offer as a gift to the Divine?

Question - Gurudev, The Divine has given me everything. What can I offer as a gift to the Divine?  

 

Gurudev Sri Sri - Keep this question with yourself from time to time, the Divine will take the appropriate gift from you. Whenever you feel upset, hatred, anger, or any negative emotion, give it to the Divine and be happy. 

 

Spread the knowledge, and happiness to other people. The happiness, faith, and devotion you have, whether it is a spark or a flame, should spread to other people so that they experience the same joy, and happiness in their lives.

Which actions will give me happiness?

Question - Gurudev, How can I decide which actions will give me happiness?

Gurudev Sri Sri - Those actions which may seem to bring short term unhappiness yet bring long term happiness are good. Those that seem to bring short term benefits but bring long term misery are bad.

Can it happen that the door bell rings, and when I open the door, I see You standing in front of me?

Question - Gurudev, can it happen that the door bell rings, and when I open the door, I see You standing in front of me?

Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes of course it can. You see me in everyone and it will happen!!

What is the most important gift you are blessing me & the world with @ArtofLiving ?

Question - Gurudev, What is the most important gift you are blessing me & the world with @ArtofLiving ?

Gurudev Sri Sri - If you go to the pharmacist and ask him: ‘Give me the best medicine’, what will he say? ‘I have the best medicine, but for what disease?’ Isn’t it?

Similarly, this knowledge gives you everything that you need. If you have a headache, you have the best medicine. If you have a leg ache, you have the best medicine. You have an earache, or a heartache, and the best medicine is available to you.

When you are determined to be useful to people, useful in any way, you don’t have to ask: just be useful. Do whatever is needed whenever you will be useful for that purpose. 

 

I would always say that this knowledge in the @ArtofLiving is like an ocean. 

If someone wants to just walk by it, and take fresh air, they are welcome. Someone wants to swim in the ocean, they are welcome. Some others will take salt out of the ocean, yes. Some others want to dig deep and take oil, you are most welcome.

Someone goes fishing; take a few fish, fine. Some others go and find all those precious stones, gems, it’s your choice.

 

All is available here and what you make out of it, how you use it, is entirely up to you.

If someone provokes us

Question - Gurudev, If someone provokes us, should we keep quiet or teach them a lesson? If we keep quiet then they consider it as a weakness, and if we teach them a lesson, they say that we have not grown spiritually.

Gurudev Sri Sri - To teach someone a lesson, you should be calm. If you have anger, if you are disturbed, you cannot teach someone a lesson. At the same time, you cannot keep turning the other cheek all the time. Teach the lesson, but with compassion. This will give you strength. When you have understood the position of a person and why they are provoking you, you will deal with them with a calm and serene mind.

Does every person need to have a goal?

Question - Gurudev, after being born as a human being, do we have to achieve something? What is the final outcome of those who achieve and those who don't? Does every person need to have a goal?

Gurudev Sri Sri - A life without a goal will not be a happy one. Without a goal, the mind and intellect will not go in the right direction. So, a goal is needed in life. And the goal is that we should progress and others should benefit because of us.

I find doing Sudarshan Kriya boring now

Question - Gurudev, I find doing Sudarshan Kriya boring now. Earlier I used to do it regularly. 

Gurudev Sri Sri - Ok. That's fine. Are you finding brushing your teeth, bathing and eating boring? If you don't, no one will come near you. There are a few things that you have to continue doing even if you get bored, because you know it is good for you. Brushing is for dental hygiene and Kriya is for mental hygiene and both are important in Life, isn't it?

What are the panch prana?

Question - Gurudev, what are the panch prana?

Gurudev Sri Sri - The five types of prana in the body are Prana, Apana, Udana, Samana and Vyana. Prana is the energy in the upper part of the body, in the region above the heart. If prana is too high or is imbalanced you cannot sleep. Apana Vayu is the energy in the lower part of the body. If Apana is too high, then you feel lethargic, sleepy, and dull. Samana Vayu is in the stomach region, it aids digestion. Udana Vayu is in the upper chest and throat region, it is responsible for emotions. If Udana Vayu is imbalanced, you have no emotions, you become like a stone or you become so mushy-mushy and weak. Vyana is all over the body, it is responsible for movements in the joints, the circulation in the body. If Vyana Prana is disturbed, then the circulatory system is disturbed, your joints are not flexible, there are aches and pains. Panch Prana, the five different types of prana are present in everybody, and different pranas dominates at different times. The imbalances in the pranas are corrected during Pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya, which is why sometimes you laugh or cry as all the five pranas get activated. Knowledge is an unfathomable ocean, there is so much knowledge, but this much is enough to know, that the five pranas are present in our body and when we do pranayama and meditate regularly all the pranas get into balance.

Where does the good go?

Question - Gurudev, where does the good go? We have done so much good for people still we have to suffer sometimes, for no reason. Why? 

Gurudev Sri Sri - Remember one thing, if you have done something good, bad will never come as the result of it. If you have sown a mango tree, you will only get mango fruit, you will not get cherries. So, if you are suffering, there are two reasons : 

1. Either you are not being intelligent and are being foolish.

2. It is some past karma.

3. In the past you have taken a loan from the bank. Now when you are depositing some money, naturally they will minus all that you have deposited towards the repayment of your loan. Then you can't say, "I have deposited so much money but you're showing me nil balance". 

4. You have some debt and you are clearing that out. You deposited money in the bank but you forgot that you had already withdrawn through your credit card. 

Also, bad things happen to good people not because of their goodness but because they are foolish! You can't say, "I am very good but I put my hand in the fire and it got burnt". Nature has given you intelligence and so, you must understand the situation around you and use it.