Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Question - Gurudev, What is the purpose of performing a long pooja as opposed to a short pooja?   Gurudev Sri Sri - Well, it is just like your daily meditations and your advance course with longer meditations. They all have their impact. Poojas don’t have to be too long, but these poojas are done for the masses. Not for one individual, but for the entire population.

Not everything in this world is hunky-dory (going fine). However, if you are grounded in faith, then you will progress and maintain your equanimity in this world. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The purpose of music is to lead to a space of silence and the purpose of knowledge is to lead to a space of wonderment! ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Question - Gurudev, What are the advantages of Satsang? Gurudev Sri Sri - Give satsang and meditation your highest priority. One who does not do satsang is like a wild animal. Satsang alone makes you civilised. It is the shelter from changing time and its harsh influence on life. Give quality time to the divine. It will be rewarded.

A true prayer can’t happen without devotion and faith. Having faith is to realise that God is there to protect you. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Gurudev Sri Sri Quotes: You cannot separate time from an event, but you can separate the mind from both, time and events, and the way to do that is through meditation. Liberation is freeing the mind from time and events. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Question - Gurudev, how to move from choice to choicelessness?  Gurudev Sri Sri - There is no choice between good and bad. Choice is always between bad and worse; or good and better. If you understand this then you see that there is no choice.

Life, time, feelings and awareness are a gift. If you fall in love then that’s a gift. Awareness is a gift. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Accept the opposite values in life; times that are endearing & times that require endurance. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Question - Gurudev, How do you answer when people question whether you are God? Gurudev Sri Sri - What is God? If God is love, I am God and you are God. We are composed of love.

Question: Gurudev, How do I continue with my normal job and life along with not being in any of the vrttis? Gurudev Sri Sri - Why should you not be (in any of the vrttis)? Maharși Patañjali does not say vrttis should be thrown out. He says they should be controlled. While driving at night, if you do not have control over your sleep, what will happen? Disaster! Right? So, you control your sleep. Suppose someone cannot control sleep at all, what will happen to him? He will go to the grave sooner than expected, correct?

Question - Gurudev, If we remove greed and competition from man, does he become Godlike?  Gurudev Sri Sri - Of course. Godliness is where there is no greed, no selfishness; where there is large heartedness, love for all. That is godliness, isn't it?

Purify your mind with knowledge again and again. Otherwise if we indulge the mind too much in just eating, drinking and other desires, it becomes dull and restless. Our intellect becomes unstable. So channel your mind one-pointedly towards knowledge at all times. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

In the lap of the night, all beings sleep and find freedom from fear and sorrow, although for a short time. The wise awaken to the Shiva Principle, and are liberated forever. Happy Mahashivratri! ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Passion, Dispassion, Compassion, these three things are essential in life. How? Like breathing in and breathing out! Breathing in is passion. But if you don’t breathe out, you can’t survive.  You say ‘I give up,’ out of frustration, but letting go, knowing that nothing stays forever—that’s dispassion. It connects you to the vast energy within. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

People often ask me about the need of publicity and spreading this knowledge, to which I say it is not possible to have a peaceful society unless this knowledge reaches everybody. I don't need anything for me. But it is necessary to bring peace in the society. That is why it is so necessary for each one of us to work for welfare of the society. If each one takes responsibility to bring spread this knowledge, how beautiful this society will be. Isn’t it? So, move ahead knowing that you have a shield of divine energy which is protecting you. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Navratri is a festival for one to take the mind back to its source. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Our presence conveys more than our words. If we're happy, we radiate joy. If we're stressed, that's what we spread. Yet, neither at school nor at home do we learn to keep our vibes positive. This is where 'Art of Living' can help. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

You want a life that’s free from misery. You want a love that’s free from pain. You want a happiness that’s not attached to delusions. All this can happen when you broaden your vision and let go of all that you’re holding on to. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The Divine is within you, you are in God and God is in you. This realisation can happen when the stress, tension, worries and anxieties are all lifted off from the mind. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Masters don't need any favour from you. They just take all that anguish and garbage which you cannot lift off yourself. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

If you lack faith and events frighten you, then you fly away like the husk. You become lost and anchorless. On the other hand, if you have faith that everything will be alright, you will find stability and everything will settle down. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Question - Gurudev, What binds the soul to the body and what makes it leave the body?  Gurudev Sri Sri - Time and Karma.

Coming to the Guru means having the faith that the Guru is with us all the time. It means that whatever we want will be done and we will be shown the way. ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Stop seeking attention from everyone. Focus on doing good work from your heart. When the time is right, you'll get the attention you deserve. Even if you don’t get it, never mind. This is how you move from duality to oneness.

Question - Gurudev, what is the significance of Guru Pooja?  Gurudev SriSri - Guru Pooja is the mother of All mantras, the maha mantra. You can make your whole body in such a way where it becomes an Invitation to the divine. Guru Pooja is an ancient sanskrit invocation , which invites the ascended and enlightened masters to enter your space. The way the mantra is stated, there is no choice but for these divine energies to answer the call of Guru Pooja. As you give yourself to the process of this invocation, your energy aligns with the divine and as a result your vibration raises in wonderful ways. Practicing Guru Pooja on a regular basis will bring a different quality to your life. It awakens your inner divinity, allowing you to access peaceful and blissful feelings throughout your day. It is a powerful tool used by many yoga practitioners and we would like to offer to you this opportunity to bring it into your daily life. A sanskrit chant with 36 verses. Within this mantra there ...