To Make The World A Better Place

Tue, 07/14/2015 Bad Antogast, Germany

(Below is a continuation of post How The Awareness Of Death Brings More Life​)

Does everyone have to find his calling and how to do it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You have already done it. Your calling has come and that is why you are here at The Art of Living. The Art of Living is nothing but a collective calling of many to uplift the world consciousness. Everyone getting together to make the world a better place. Your calling has come, you have already bought your ticket, you are sitting on the ship and the ship is on the move.

See, to achieve something great on the planet, you alone cannot do it. You have to move with the sangha (everyone together), and that is what you are already doing.

Just before I came here, somebody was sharing with me how people are now turning to spirituality in Paris and in many other places in France. It is very good news. Everyone must work together collectively and spreads happiness.

Dear Gurudev, how do I help my mother stop talking ill of her sister? My mother is 76 years old and her sister is 74.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Don’t try to do that. Let her talk and empty it all out. If you want to play some games, write a nice card and say, "Your sister has sent you this!" Anyway, they both may not be able to read it properly so you say, "I will read it for you. She said that she loves you so dearly". Send a card from both sides to each other and see if you can make an impact.

You know, when someone is in such a negative mood, they will say, "See, she is taunting me". At that time, it all appears like taunting and teasing. If you are in a negative mood, even if someone sends a rose, you will see it as taunting. And if someone is determined to be in a negative space, God only can help them. But nevertheless you keep trying. The God inside you can make an effort.

I feel that my wife and kids are moving away from spirituality. I do not want to push them. Is there anything I can do, except having patience?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

That’s okay. You don't push kids too much, but sometimes you should gently encourage them. Sometimes you feel too shy thinking that they might take it as pushing, so you don’t even encourage them. I would say, you need to encourage them to walk on the spiritual path.

Another trick you can do is, one day you say, "I am not going to meditate for two days", and then become so irritable. Your wife will ask you, "What is wrong with you?"
Then you say, "I did not meditate. I gave it up".
She will then say, ‘Please meditate. The days you meditate and do your sadhana, you are so sweet to us".

One mother shared this experience, her son came and said, "Mom, you seem to have not done your meditation. You are being nasty to me. The day you do your meditation, you are very sweet".
So, use all the tricks and skills and make your way through this world which is so complex.

Dearest Gurudev, what is your understanding of Asperger’s Syndrome, otherwise known as High-functioning Autism. My loved one has just been diagnosed.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

I can’t comment on it as I have not studied this disease in-depth. Someone should do deep research on autism as to why so many kids are being diagnosed with the condition these days, especially in America. It has become a very big issue there.

Sometimes vaccination is a really bad thing. You know, you have to compulsorily take Yellow Fever vaccinations when you travel to South Africa and people get reactions such as boils on the skin.

How can we be sure that it is intuition and not the ego?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Time will tell you. If it was intuition, it will never go wrong. If it has gone wrong, it was never an intuition.

Dear Gurudev, when does the soul take on another body? When the soul has taken on another body, can we still connect to that soul?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Well, these are all deeper secrets! What are you going to do by knowing the answers?

Yes, souls come back. Sometimes kids, when they are just two or three years old, they keep talking and saying some things, and you just brush them away. You don’t keenly observe or listen to them. A two-year-child would say, "My house is there in Oppenau". Or he may say, "I have friends in Oppenau", or "My shoes are in Oppenau".
They say something but you don’t pay attention. Many times children, before they are three years old, they remember all those past-life things. Many such instances are there, not one or two, but hundreds.

There is no criteria of when a soul will come back after leaving a body. It can come back any time. Immediately, same day, same hour, or many years later. It depends.
Don’t try to communicate with the departed souls, there is no need. They know everything about you. You don’t need to communicate verbally, they know even before the thought arises in you. Non-verbal communications already happens.