Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Question - Gurudev, I have done many sins in my life. Am I a right candidate for this sacred path? I want to repent for my wrong deeds. Gurudev Sri Sri - Your very wish to repent has solved the purpose. This wish to repent is an indication that your intellect is getting matured. Otherwise, you would not have been aware of your wrong actions. Something wrong has happened through you and you want to repent for that, this means you are out of it in the present. The wish to repent arises only in the matured intellect. You are innocent in the present moment. Don’t live in the past, but take this sankalpa (Resolution) that you don’t have to do this in future. One with deluded intellect supports even his/her wrong actions. Know that the one who does a mistake and supports it is lacking in maturity of intellect. Some people do repentance with guilt. That also doesn’t solve the purpose. That is why Master/Disciple tradition exists. Master would guide the disciple to do something to be free from...

Question - Gurudev, I feel happy and peaceful here. My heart is really contented. All negativity comes when I go out. I encounter all problems like corruption and bribery. How to face these problems? How to maintain the same positivity when I go from here? Gurudev Sri Sri - You forget a strength in you – Prayer and power of your sankalpa (positive intention). You keep doing practices and your things are taken care of. Don’t ask for small things in your prayers. Ask for big things - let government be good and stable, Let this knowledge reach out to many more people. It is up to you to make a divine society. You can start a collective moment. There are many good people and a very few people who cause disturbance, but their influence looks like they are many. You come together and you will find what difference you can make.

Question - Gurudev, I feel that I have not got over a death in my immediate family and it prevents me from moving forward in my own relationships, and starting my own family. I want to move on but sometimes I feel I’m my own worst enemy. How do I overcome this situation? Gurudev Sri Sri - You meditate, you do bhajan. These vibrations reach them also. You be peaceful and peaceful vibrations from you go across to the other side. That is why spirituality is called ’Sadhana’ in Sanskrit, which means the real wealth, the real currency that can go even here and there (laughs). The other dollar currency cannot be used on the other side. That’s why we say when you do satsang, sing and meditate, these positive vibrations reach them. And then, these emotions when they come up just observe them, watch them. They will come, evaporate and disappear. Don’t make a big issue about it. Move on.

Question - Gurudev, during the silence program, do we continue to smile at others or do we not maintain eye contact? Gurudev Sri Sri - You can definitely smile. Silence does not mean keeping a long face. This silence is not the silence of mourning. The silence is that of joy. So, you should keep smiling. In fact, you will automatically start smiling. You don’t have to make an effort for it.

Question - Gurudev, there has been life for so many centuries on this planet. I wish to know why is it that some creatures live a prosperous and extravagant life, and yet there are some creatures who do not even have enough to eat? What is the basis on which a creature gets birth? Gurudev Sri Sri - This is one of the five secrets – the secret of birth. Nature has been very kind that birth has been kept as a secret. Otherwise, you would be living a miserable life remembering all previous incidents that happened in the past lives but a time will come in your life when your mind would be completely established in the present moment, memory would awake, and you will remember what you were and who you were in your previous births. It is alright if it does not happen with some people. The whole world is made up of cause and effect. If somebody is rich, that has a reason. If somebody is poor, that also has a reason. But does that mean we don’t have any independence of Karma? You definitely ha...

Question - Gurudev, taking out time for sadhana in everyday life becomes little difficult, whereas I enjoy doing sadhana. How to make it an easy habit? Gurudev Sri Sri - Look, is it difficult to take out time to brush your teeth? You need to take time out to go to the washroom, isn't it? You bathe everyday or not? Do you run to the office after getting up from the bed? Without having breakfast, do you go? There is time to have tea, breakfast, and gossip. There is time to bathe for an hour, and there is time to stand in front of the mirror and comb your hair. Whoever comes home we have time to talk nonsense with them and on top of all this, there is time for television. But for doing Sadhana, after doing which one feels so good, how come there is no time? I know there is a lot of running around to do in life, and it feels like there is no time, but you have to create a discipline for sadhana. Make a commitment, 'If I don't do Sadhana today, I won't have breakfast. I don...

Question - Gurudev, you have said that once we are on the path we should just relax as you are doing all the work. What does this mean? Gurudev Sri Sri - I say many things at many times, don't take it of out context. You should keep it in context. I have said, 'Till you catch a train you have to run, once you have caught the train, relax with your luggage. Just by you running inside the train with your luggage, the train is not going to run any faster. So, once you're on the spiritual path, drop your anxiety, relax and you will reach where you have to reach'. I say don't go spiritual shopping. Some people go spiritual shopping, a little bit here, a little bit there. Relax. You have gotten wonderful knowledge and a wonderful path, all in one package. Just relax.