Monday, June 28, 2010

Mature joy is that you get when you give something

Excerpts of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's talk in Hamburg, Germany
You know, why are children all over the world so attractive? Because their presence is so pure! Their presence, their vibration is so positive and clean. As we grow older, we forget how to make our vibrations more positive. In our presence, in our vibration, there is stress, tension and worries. Ya? And that is where these breathing exercises, Sudarshan kriya, pranayama, meditation help –– All these help to uplift our spirit. Make us feel very positive.
We all are entitled to a violence free society, disease free body, confusion free mind, prejudice free intellect, trauma free memory, and sorrow free soul.
We need to wake up. When we are deeply relaxed, we suddenly realize that we are connected to this entire universe. We are part of this universe. You know, I feel at home wherever I go in the world. I am at home with everybody in the planet. I am sure everyone has this ability. Every child does it. And we have to invoke or awaken the childlike innocence in our hearts. To do this, we get doubts in our mind first of all. Mind says, “Is it possible?” Yes, it is possible. And then the doubt is, “Whether I can do it? May be I cannot do it. May be it’s not for me.” I would say, you should think of the impossible. You know if we dream of the impossible, one day we will make it possible. Ya?
You know, when I first came to Hamburg in 80s, we were doing meditation camp there with about 200 people. And I said, ‘Let us all put an intention out there – East and West Germany should become one. We don’t want these borders, fear and tension here. Let us put this intention.’ At the end of that session, I said, ‘You will see within a couple of years, it will become one. Within two years East and West will be one.’ At that time Dr Aber Hart, Carl, Fetra, Riketta were all there. They said, ‘It is not possible.’ Everyone thought, “Oh Guruji is from India. He doesn’t know what the situation is. This is an impossible thing to do.” But I said, ‘It is going to happen before two years.” And that intention manifested itself. So, we need to put our intention. When our hearts are pure and in a calm state of mind, we put an intention and put attention on it, it will manifest. Nature has provided such a technology in our brain, in our consciousness. The ancient Rishis in India, they called it sankalpa-siddhi. That means fructifying an intention, manifesting an intention. How is it possible? Only when the mind is absolutely still, calm and serene, intention gets fructified. And we all have this ability. But we have not learnt how to calm the mind. Though this knowledge was known to ancient people, they used to keep it as a secret. It was not given to everybody in the world. They used to wait for a capable and qualified student to come and learn. I felt that this should be given to everybody, because this will make everyone positive. I believe, ‘Anything that is useful for people should not be the property of one community or one nation. It should belong to the whole world.’
You know, the ‘World Health Organization’ has declared that 30 percent of Europe is suffering from depression. And they said, the second biggest killer in the next decade of the world will be depression. In the next ten years, this will go up to 50 percent with the stock markets crashing, value of money going down, uncertainty in every field… There is so much anxiety and uncertainty. People don’t know how to handle the mind! That is why this knowledge is so essential. With this knowledge of meditation, breathing and mind, one can keep oneself happy all the time. Come what may! Isn’t it so?
When do you need the strength? You need strength when everything is falling apart around you. That strength comes attending to your own breath, your own mind. It’s so useful, I tell you! When people start learning about their own breath, they feel such a transformation, feel so blissful, feel that we all have a responsibility.
You know there are two types of joy. One type of joy is that you get while getting something. As a child you always wanted to get something. Getting something used to make you happy. You know, we wanted to get toffees, toys, visit different places..But the mature joy is that you get when you give something. When you share, you feel happy. When you see a good movie, you force everybody, ‘It’s a very good movie. You must see it.’ You tell everybody. The movie-maker is not giving you any commission. But you just feel good because you have seen a good movie and you want your loved ones to experience the same. This joy of sharing is much superior and the world is forgetting that joy of sharing, especially youngsters. Isn’t it? We have to bring it…just make them aware of it, that’s all. Everyone has this tendency. They simply have to be encouraged.
You know, I remember an incident. My father used to tell me that my grandmother gave ten and a half kilo of gold that she had to my grandfather to give it to Mahatma Gandhi, and my grandfather stayed with Mahatma Gandhi for 20 years. You know, Indian women love gold a lot. So, usually they receive gold as gift in marriage and every function. My grandmother was a very beautiful woman. She had received a lot of gold. She had ten and half kilo gold at that time. Imagine how much it was! Except one chain, she gave away everything to Mahatma Gandhi when he started the freedom movement in India. You know, nobody compels you to give, but your giving brings certain amount of satisfaction.
I say two things that you have to have in life. One is smile more, serve as much as you can and not to worry.
Q: What is the link between ego and self confidence?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ego is feeling uncomfortable in the presence of someone else. Self confidence is, feeling at home. Ya? Being natural is antidote to ego, and being natural is so complementary to confidence. It goes with confidence and is inseparable from confidence. When you are confident, you are natural. If you are natural, you are confident.
Q: Is money a prior requirement in order to feel happy?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There is no doubt that you need some money for your day to day survival. But, money cannot buy you happiness. It’s knowledge or wisdom that brings you happiness.
Q: How come you manage to smile in all the circumstances?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, this is our brand mark. Our logo is smile. If you see somebody and they are not smiling, and they say they have done ‘Art of Living’, don’t believe them. I am sure, all those who are here, who have truly done it will agree with me.
Q: What is role of service in order to have inner contentment?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, we should have a goal in life. My goal is to bring happiness to more and more people. If we sit and keep thinking of ourselves all the time, we’ll be depressed. We should see, ‘How can I be of service? How can I be of use to others?’ This thought is very useful. Very, very, very useful. Ya?
So, ‘Art of Living’ provides a platform for everyone to come together and do some service. You know, when United Nations announced, ‘Stand up and take action’ - they wanted tree planting; ‘Art of Living’ volunteers have planted 55 million trees around the globe.
We all can jointly do some service activity. Reduce violence, reduce stress, create a sense of belongingness, and spread the positive vibration of love and peace. Shall we all do this together? Is everyone committed to do this? (A resonating yes from the audience.)
Q: What is the base of Advaita(Non-duality)?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Advaita is quantum physics. Quantum physics says that this is all atoms or this is all wave function, vibration (referring to the space and things around). That’s exactly what Advaita says. So, the whole universe is made up of one substance. Me, you, she, he…everybody and everything is made up of one substance. And the nature of that substance is bliss. This is what Advaita is.
Just a glimpse of that experience gives you so much strength and stability, that nothing can shake you; nobody can take the smile from you.
Q: Where do you get courage from?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: From Advaita - Knowing that there is something in you that is not changing. A little experience of silence, calmness and meditation will give you enormous courage from within.
Q: ‘Art of Living’ is doing a great job. But with 30 percent of population in depression, and this figure being expected to reach 50 percent in the coming decade, do you still see a hope for mankind? Do we still have hope?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, and we all have to work for it. You know, when we started in India, it was a small program. We had no resources and manpower. But we had a vision – We have to reach many people in the world. So, in these 30 years we have reached millions of people. So, it is possible.
You know, the cell phone has reached the whole world. If cell phone could reach the whole world, do you think wisdom and compassion cannot reach the whole world? We must make an effort. Ok?
Q: I have lost my trust, how can I regain it?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t make an effort to regain it. Listen to your heart. Trust can never be lost. Doubt as much as possible, but truth always stands up to the doubt. Truth is so strong that doubt cannot destroy it. So, it is good to doubt. And the trust which moves through the doubt and stands, that is true trust.
How many of you here have not visited India yet? How many of you would like to come to India? Oh, very good. You know, we will organize a group from here. You have a home there in India. All of you come for a week, ten days, 15 days…whatever is possible. You can all come to India, and have a glimpse of all the service activity.

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