Faith is the petrol in the vehicle of life

24 2012 May

Bangalore, India

Q: Dear Guruji, I have become free from materialistic things, desires and feverishness to a great extent, but when it comes to you, my thirst keeps increasing. What is the solution for this? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is okay. When one withdraws from the materialistic world, and moves towards the self, this is what happens. It brings some essence in life and life is not dull. The path is not dull. And there should be some essence (ras) in life, isn’t it? Otherwise it would be Sushka Vairagya, dry renunciation. When we have someone that is very dear to us, whom we love very much, then life becomes interesting. If there is no one in our life whom we can love dearly then life will not be interesting, it won’t have any juice in it. And love will not dawn. That is why this essence or juice (ras) is needed. And then that one appears everywhere. Gradually, you realize that the same Divinity is present in me, in everyone and everywhere. Q: Guruji, how do we be in ‘Sakshi Bhaav’ (witness consciousness)? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You don’t need to do anything to be in witness consciousness; it dawns on its own. The more peaceful you become, the more you repose in yourself the more it dawns on you. You don’t have to do anything to attain this. Nowadays what has happened, all sadhaks (seekers) keep asking (the Guru): ‘What should I do? What should I do?’, and the Gurus keeps saying, ‘Do this and do this and do that’, and both get frustrated. I say, there is no need to do anything, just relax! Relaxation is the mother (janani) of capability, peace and perfection. The root of everything is vishram (relaxation). There is ‘Ram’ in ‘Vishram’. It is not attained by too much action. This does not mean that you just eat and sleep the whole day, no! Mit-Ahaar (moderation in diet), Mit-Vyavhaar (moderation in conduct), Mit-Bhaashi (moderation in speech), Hit-Bhaashi (beneficial speech) all these are vital. Q: Guruji, is life easy or difficult? In Buddhism, they say, ‘The first truth is that life is difficult’, and you say that life is joy. Which one is true? Don’t tell me that both are right. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why? I will say that only! Both statements are true. When a sad person feels that life is sorrow, if you tell him that life is joy, he will not be able to understand. He will only be able to understand that there is sorrow in life. However, as he progress in knowledge, then he starts to realize, ‘Where is sorrow?’ Sorrow disappears as he progresses on the path of knowledge. The benefit of yoga and meditation is that it removes sorrow from your life. Then you realize the truth, that life is joy and you were unnecessarily worried. Whenever you have been worried in the past, wake up and see, you will realize that you were worried unnecessarily. How many of you have felt like this? Read more on What Sri Sri Said Today