Q: When you go through a phase where there is a circle of worry and fear, what is the best way to handle

it? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Just your own experience. I have gone through 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. Q: If you dont feel attached to the fruit of action, how can you leave people? This is a puzzle for me. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 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?

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 in the 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.

Q: Guruji, what is the difference between Dharma and Karma? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Dharma is your nature and Karma is your duty. 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. Q: Dear Guruji, God created this world but who created God?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 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 begin somewhere everything and is end somewhere. to end. Something is begins and something ends. So the creation happened and one day going This 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

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.

Meditation is a journey from sound to silence January 01, 2012 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.

So there are simple principles that we need to understand about meditation. Before we go into that, lets see what the benefits of meditation are. 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

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 to stillness. 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!!!

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!

How to deal with Anxiety

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 celebrate will pull you away from anxiety to a more harmonious state.

Think about what you can do for others rather than just about 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 knowing that there is a supreme power who loves you. The supreme power is behind you and accepts you totally. The sense of security comes with the sense of belongingness.

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

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

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

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

Remembering a similar situation in the past when you were able 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 about the infinite, about Brahma. Ego, pride - If you cannot get rid of pride, take pride in owning THE DIVINE.

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.

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

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. The strength of commitment Question: Why is it easier for some of us to commit to our own welfare rather than that of others? 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.

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!