Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Quotes

Love is not an emotion. It is your very existence.

Human evolution has two steps - from being somebody to being nobody; and from being nobody to being everybody. This knowledge can bring sharing and caring throughout the world.

Faith is realizing that you always get what you need.

Today is a gift from God - that is why it is called the present.

I tell you, deep inside you is a fountain of bliss, a fountain of joy. Deep inside your center core is truth, light, love, there is no guilt there, there is no fear there. Psychologists have never looked deep enough.

Difference between motivation and inspiration - Motivation is external and short lived. Inspiration is internal and lifelong

In always wanting to be comfortable, you become lazy. In always wanting perfection, you become angry. In always wanting to be rich, you become greedy.

Life is nothing to be very serious about. Life is a ball in your hands to play with. Don’t hold on to the ball.

If you can win over your mind, you can win over the whole world.

Activity and rest are two vital aspects of life. To find a balance in them is a skill in itself. Wisdom is knowing when to have rest, when to have activity, and how much of each to have. Finding them in each other - activity in rest and rest in activity - is the ultimate freedom.

Wise is the one who learns from another´s mistakes. Less wise is the one who learns only from his own mistakes. The fool keeps making the same mistakes again and again and never learns from them.

Life works on strange laws of nature (Karma). One never knows when a friend turns enemy & vice-versa. Rely on your Self; self-reliance

When you share your misery, it will not diminish. When you fail to share your joy, it diminishes. Share your problems only with the Divine, not with anyone else, as that will only increase the problems. Share your joy with everyone. Listen to others; yet do not listen. If your mind gets stuck in their problems, not only are they miserable, but you also become miserable.

why can't we control our anger? because we love perfection. make a little room for imperfection in our lives.

Worrying doesn't make any difference, but working does and spirituality gives one the strength to work

Knowledge is a burden if it robs you of innocence. Knowledge is a burden if it is not integrated into life. Knowledge is a burden if it doesn't bring joy. Knowledge is a burden if it gives you an idea that you are wise. Knowledge is a burden if it doesn't set you free. Knowledge is a burden if it makes you feel you are special.

If something can bring you great pleasure, it can also bring you pain.

Have "eternal wait," infinite patience. When you have infinite patience, you will realize God belongs to you. Either through awareness or through practice you reach the same spot.

Have this faith that someone is there to take away your weaknesses. Ok, you slipped once, twice, thrice. It does not matter. Keep moving ahead. People take vows never to commit mistakes again. Breaking the vows makes it worse. Surrendering is better

Don't Fall in love, Rise in Love!

Teachers can be a living example to their students. Not that teachers should look for students to idealize them. One who is worth idealizing does not care whether others idealize them or not. Everyone needs to see that you not only teach human values but you live them. It is unavoidable sometimes you will be idealized -- it is better for children to have a role model, or goal, because then the worshipful quality in them can dawn.

Nothing in the world can bother you as much as your own mind, I tell you. In fact, others seem to be bothering you, but it is not other, it is your own mind.

In true love there is no heartbreak. A broken heart means broken demands, broken expectations, broken hopes.

There is no use getting angry at something that has already happened.All you can do is your best to check it doesn't happen again.

But joy is never tomorrow; it is always now.

Creativity can only come from silence. If we maintain two minutes of silence every day, then we will see that a whole new dimension of life opens up.

I say, drop all your defenses. Anyone can make a mistake — even you. Do not defend your mistakes; just accept them and move on. When you are totally defenseless, that is when you will be completely strong.

The path of love is not a tedious path. It's a path of joy. It's a path of singing and dancing.

Longing itself is divine,” writes the Hindu spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. “Longing for worldly things makes you inert. Longing for Infinity fills you with life. The skill is to bear the pain of longing and move on. True longing brings up spurts of bliss.

Infinity means it is permeating all the finite things,

Sadhyojata means “creating every moment anew, knowing every moment new.’ We are used to a certain dimension, so this may go beyond you.

The third one is culturing the mind. One who has never meditated has no right to even touch the book of Ashtavakra.

We should not exit from this world without finding out who we are and where we have come from. This is very important.

There are four sources of energy — food, sleep, breath and a calm mind.

Your desire for pleasure or happiness makes you unhappy.

Your comparison with your own performance is better, is healthy, but if you start comparing with others, in all probability, you will feel jealous.

Dissolving the name is awareness. Dissolving the form is meditation. The world is name and form. Bliss transcends name and form. Bangalore Ashram, India September 24, 1997

You need to see your life in context of time and space — how vast creation is, how big the universe is and how small your life is, relative

I feel it is very important to teach our children and our people how they should handle their negative feelings and emotions such as anger, jealousy and hatred.

You accept food and music from every part of the world without reservation, don’t you? You don’t have to be Danish to eat Danish pastries or Italian to eat pasta and pizzas. You don’t have to be a German to enjoy Beethoven or an Indian to listen to sitar music. Why then, when it comes to wisdom, do we become so narrow-minded?

Life without wisdom is incomplete, Wisdom that does not give rise to feelings is incomplete, Feeling that does not transfer into action is incomplete, Action that does not give rise to fulfillment is incomplete, Fulfillment is returning to self.

This temporary world is of death. Here, everything dies and everything changes. Do you recognise that subtle field of energy, that subatomic level of energy which does not change? Objects disintegrate, but atoms remain the same. Atoms and molecules disintegrate, but the sub-atomic particles are the same. All these human bodies are different, but there is one field of energy, the mind, that flows through everybody. Do you realize that there is one thing that is in everybody? Do you recognize the one consciousness?

There is some virtue to be learnt from every part of the world — teamwork from Japan, precision from Germany, marketing and negotiation skills from the United States, courtesy, decency and refinement from the British, and human values from the villages of India. You

TOLERANCE Neither accept people as they are nor tolerate them. Many people think tolerance is a virtue but tolerance is actually a negative term. If you like something, you do not have to tolerate it. Tolerance indicates a deep sense of dislike that can at any time turn into hatred. It indicates a sense of separateness, small-mindedness, a limitation of consciousness. When you tolerate, it is a temporary state. Tolerance is a potential volcano. If you are tolerating, it means you are just holding on. Acceptance is also negative. You accept that which is not lovable. Tolerance and acceptance come with judgment and separation. Question: "But aren't we supposed to accept people as they are?" If you do not love them, then you have to accept them. I tell you, do not accept people as they are. Just love them as they are.

Young children, who have not yet accumulated a lot of stress, exhibit an abundance of energy, enthusiasm, profound joy, and unconditional love. These qualities that manifest spontaneously in an innocent child demonstrate the truest, unadulterated, essence of humanness. We are all born with a wellspring of love and joy. These qualities are not just emotions, they are the essence of our existence. The truth of our essence cannot change, it can only be covered over and hidden from us.

When our body and mind are relaxed, we can discover divinity in chirping birds, rustling leaves, flowing water or tall mountains. Even erupting volcanoes, thunder and lightning, or warring human beings exude divinity—everyone has the freedom to relate to God in the form they want to. A guru is the one who kindles this awareness in us.

Someone who does not have any responsibility can feel very detached, ‘Oh, I am doing nothing. I am free.’ But that freedom has no value. If someone who is responsible for the whole of society, the whole kingdom can say, ‘I am not doing anything’ in spite of this responsible job; then that ‘not doing’ something is great. That is enlightenment.

Half the health we spend gaining our wealth,” he says, “and then spend half our wealth trying to gain back our health—this is not a very intelligent thing to do.

Rejection itself means the finite.

life is a ball we should play with it !

If people are not inspired from within, it will not be possible to build a good work ethic. Work

Healthy breathing is the key to eliminating these toxins and harmonising emotions. Neither

Science is about learning 'what something is' and spirituality is about knowing 'who I am'. The

Even in moments of utter danger, a person like Mahatma Gandhi remained totally involved in his work.

If someone blames you directly, do not believe it. Just know that they are taking away your bad karma and let it

The fire of love or fire of knowledge creates unpleasantness or a sense of longing in the beginning, but it moves on to the blossoming of bliss, the blossoming of fullness.

Think about a world which never irritated you. You’d be stuck with it forever.

Forgetfulness of the infinite is misery. Forgetfulness of the trivial is ecstasy.

The three gunas [qualities] happen: sattva, rajas and tamas. These three gunas come in cycles into our life. When sattva comes, there is alertness, knowledge, interest, joy, happiness – everything comes. When rajo guna comes there is more desire, feverishness, restlessness, and sadness. When tamo guna comes delusion, attachment, lack of knowledge, lethargy – all these come.

The School Now we come to the school. The responsibility of the school is to educate a child and at the same time, not to vanquish all the virtues that a child is born with. A child is born with virtues and a school should see that it protects their virtues, that innocence, the sense of belongingness, love, and trust which every child is born with. Often in the educational system, the school only caters as an information bureau, but not as a personality-building center. Most schools can produce great computers but only a few good human beings. We have brilliant students. They have information about the world. Just by one question they can answer all the information that is needed. But are they good human beings? Do they know how to behave well? Are they cultured, civilized, compassionate human beings? This is a question that every school and every teacher should ask.

discipline in words and speech. Do not speak any word (from your side) that would create turbulence and turmoil in the minds of others. Even if you don’t speak, some people get turbulent. That you are not responsible for, but from your side, do not speak. This is an oath you will take to begin with, for the next five days. Do not speak any harsh word. Don’t let any harsh word come out of your mouth to anyone. Do not hurt with your words, for the Divine dwells in every heart.

This Truth has to be realized here and now, in this lifetime. Do not postpone it until the next lifetime. If you do not know it this lifetime, it is the greatest loss. There cannot be any greater loss than this. This is the greatest loss imaginable.

If there is fear or confusion in your life, it is because you lack commitment. The very thought, "I am here in this world to do seva," dissolves the "i" and when the "i" dissolves, worries dissolve. Seva is not something you do out of convenience or for pleasure. The ultimate purpose of life is to be of service. An uncommitted mind is miserable. A committed mind may at times experience rough weather but it will reap the fruits of its toil. When you make service your sole purpose in life, it eliminates fear, focuses your mind and gives you meaning.

Arjava [sincerity] is the second thing. There are people who can go on forgiving themselves but they are not sincere. So they can be where they are and continue doing the same thing. Forget the past. ‘Yes, I did something wrong, I am also preparing to do something wrong today and I’ll continue with something tomorrow.’ There’s

An organization should be like a picture frame. The frame shouldn’t eat away the picture.” In other words, just as it isn’t possible to hold a picture in the absence of a frame, without an organization any work, whether spiritual or social, can’t happen. At the same time, if the organization becomes too bureaucratic, it’s like the frame eating the picture away.

More tiring than the work itself is the memory of hard work, just thinking you have worked hard interferes with the quality of rest. Some people take pride in working hard without any results. And there are others who crave for a long rest without knowing that true rest is in non-doership. Thinking you need rest makes you restless. Thinking you have to work hard makes you tired. Thinking you have worked hard brings self-pity.

All that you can do is to raise the level of sattva. And then when sattva’s level is high, we have to wait one moment, any moment knowledge can dawn there. All that you can do to have sunlight in this room, is to open the curtains and keep the windows open. And when dawn comes, it just dawns. You have the sunlight inside. If you close your curtains, even if it’s midsummer afternoon, you will still find your room dark, because the gunas are cloudy.

In science knowledge comes first and then faith follows. In spirituality faith comes first and then knowledge follows. The knowledge that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are good for plants came through science. Based on this knowledge, people had faith in pesticides and fertilizers and they were used all over the world. Then a different knowledge came and faith shifted to organic farming. Knowledge brought faith, the knowledge changed, and then faith changed. The knowledge and faith of science is of "happening." In spirituality, faith is first and knowledge comes later.

The secret—to being you, to being Happy?” “Just keep on smiling. Even when you’re sad. Keep on smiling.” Not the most profound advice, admittedly. But Happy is wise, for only a fool or a philosopher would make sweeping generalizations about the nature of happiness. I am no philosopher, so here goes: Money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. To venture any further, though, is to enter treacherous waters. A slippery seal, happiness is. On the road, I encountered bushels of inconsistencies. The Swiss are uptight and happy. The Thais are laid-back and happy. Icelanders find joy in their binge drinking, Moldovans only misery. Maybe an Indian mind can digest these contradictions, but mine can’t. Exasperated, I call one of the leading happiness researchers, John Helliwell. Perhaps he has some answers. “It’s simple,” he says. “There’s more than one path to happiness.” Of course. How could I have missed it? Tolstoy turned on his head. All miserable countries are alike; happy ones are happy in their own ways. It’s worth considering carbon. We wouldn’t be here without it. Carbon is the basis of all life, happy and otherwise. Carbon is also a chameleon atom. Assemble it one way—in tight, interlocking rows—and you have a diamond. Assemble it another way—a disorganized jumble—and you have a handful of soot. The arranging makes all the difference. Places are the same. It’s not the elements that matter so much as how they’re arranged and in which proportions. Arrange them one way, and you have Switzerland. Arrange them another way, and you have Moldova. Getting the balance right is important. Qatar has too much money and not enough culture. It has no way of absorbing all that cash. And then there is Iceland: a country that has no right to be happy yet is. Iceland gets the balance right. A small country but a cosmopolitan one. Dark and light. Efficient and laid-back. American gumption married to European social responsibility. A perfect, happy arrangement. The glue that holds the entire enterprise together is culture. It makes all the difference. I have some nagging doubts about my journey. I didn’t make it everywhere. Yet my doubts extend beyond matters of itinerary. I wonder if happiness is really the highest good, as Aristotle believed. Maybe Guru-ji, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, is right. Maybe love is more important than happiness. Certainly, there are times when happiness seems beside the point. Ask a single, working mother if she is happy, and she’s likely to reply, “You’re not asking the right question.” Yes, we want to be happy but for the right reasons, and,

Visayasukham duhkhavat parityaajyam. Unless you get this maturity, you cannot move into your center. It needs some maturity from the world, in the world, some amount of saturation, some amount of getting beaten up by situations in life, so that it pushes you to the center. If you are too ambitious all the time, thinking about this and this and this, your mind is hovering around the world, it can never get into the center.   That's why, either a person who is very saturated can go deep in meditation, or a person who has suffered in life can go into meditation. They know what was sorrow, and they can drop things like sorrow. Or they know what was sorrow, and they can take things, this is like sorrow.

Jyothishmati pragnya means to see your whole mind as light, as a flame. Your consciousness is a flame. Your mind is a flame. You forget this! Your entire body is functioning because of this presence of the mind as a flame in you. Otherwise, you’ll be like an unlit candle. What is a flame? How does a flame work? A flame lives on oxygen, doesn’t it? What does it do? A flame uses some matter from the substance earth, and it uses oxygen and lives. And what is life? Life is also the same! It uses oxygen and lives on some matter. Just like a flame lives from the wax and wick, and uses oxygen, so too, your life, the mind, uses the body and food in the body as wax, and the air as oxygen. And it exhibits activities in the body like the flame (consciousness) exhibits life.

Love is not an Emotion, It is your very Existence.

There is a skill to learning. It is all about what is and what is not. While Science is knowing what is, Art is creating what is not.

Shasana means rules someone else imposes on you. Anushasana means rules you impose on yourself.

If you turn back time and look, 5100 years ago in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna did the same thing. He has been the first HR manager India knows. When Arjuna was so depressed and was not ready to do his job, Lord Krishna was with him in the battlefield, and told him all sorts of things. First, He warned Arjuna that people would blame him for sure. Then He incited Arjuna's ego and tried to wake him up. And then He offered His disciple different incentives, saying, "If you win, you will have the kingdom. If you lose, you will enjoy Heaven. Come on, fight." In many ways, Lord Krishna lifted Arjuna out of that depression.

Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself. Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home

Cuando consideras que un símbolo, o un lugar, o un momento, o una persona o un acto es sagrado, entonces toda tu atención deja de estar dividida y se integra.

People lose half of their health to gain wealth, and they lose half of their wealth to regain their health. When I had all my teeth. I had no nuts to chew, and now that I got the nuts, I have no teeth to chew. Caught up between gaining and losing, they lose their entire life.

People lose half of their health to gain wealth, and they lose half of their wealth to regain their health. When I had all my teeth. I had no nuts to chew, and now that I got the nuts, I have no teeth to chew. Caught up between gaining and losing, they lose their entire life. "One who is galloping on desires has no peace; but one who is established in the Self has no desire. All the desires will flow in him, like rivers flowing into the ocean. He will have no dearth of anything." Lord Krishna promises that. Don't think that if you become desire-less it means you become a pauper No! It's the desire which keeps you poor. Your poverty is your hankering.

What is foolishness? If you build a house by the ocean and you are scared of waves, there can't be anything more foolish than that. You have built a house in the forest and you are scared of animals. You have built a house in the marketplace or on the highway and you are scared of noise. In the same way, you are born on this planet, in this world, and you are scared of blame and praise. It's so foolish! Having been born on this planet, you should not be scared of criticism and blame. We are so worried about what other people think about us. In this field, this universe, living amidst opposites and bringing harmony is what the Bhagavad Gita is all about.

Meditate and Smile. Smile and Serve. Serve and Celebrate." "I Promise" If I had to promise you something, what would it be? I can't promise that you would always be comfortable... Because comfort brings boredom and discomfort. I can't promise that all your desires will be fullfiled... Because desires whether fulfilled or unfulfilled bring frustration. I can't promise that there will always be good times... Because it is the tough times that makes us appreciate joy. I can't promise that we will be rich or famous or powerful... Because they can all be pathways to misery. I can't promise that we will always be together... Because it is separation that makes togetherness so wonderful. Yet if you are willing to walk with me, If you are willing to value love over everything else ~ I promise that this will be the most rich and fulfilling life possible. I promise your life will be an eternal celebration. I promise you I will cherish you more tha a king cherishes his crown. And I shall love you more than a mother loves her newborn. If you are willing to walk into my arms, If you are willing to live in my heart, You will find the one you have waited for forever... You will meet yourself in my arms... I promise.

_*Question*_: Please tell us how we should listen to knowledge? _*Sri Sri*_: _Shravana_ is listening to what is said and then _Manana_, in the mind, again and again bringing it into your conscious awareness _Nidhidhyasa_ that which you have thought over again and again, applying it in your life. Don't go here and there; don't do spiritual shopping. You know why? Because the _shravana_, what you heard from the _Guru_ takes a little while to become _manana_, to become part of you and your life's _nidhidhyasa_. It is like a seed is sown, then it becomes a plant and then it starts bearing fruits. In between, if you start sowing other seeds there, pull it out or do something then it doesn't take root.

Question: Please tell us how we should listen to knowledge? Sri Sri: Shravana is listening to what is said and then Manana, in the mind, again and again bringing it into your conscious awareness Nidhidhyasa that which you have thought over again and again, applying it in your life. Don't go here and there; don't do spiritual shopping. You know why? Because the shravana, what you heard from the Guru takes a little while to become manana, to become part of you and your life's nidhidhyasa. It is like a seed is sown, then it becomes a plant and then it starts bearing fruits. In between, if you start sowing other seeds there, pull it out or do something then it doesn't take root.

La negatividad no puede mantenerse sin algo a lo que aferrarse. El positivismo y la felicidad pueden existir sin ninguna razón.

When you consciously acknowledge dispassion as a prime factor to move life, then you are able to control the mind.

When you wish good for others, good things come back to you. This is the law of nature.

Thoughts are like the clouds in the sky – clouds are not the sky. Like that thoughts come and go from you. Good thoughts, bad thoughts, so what? You say, “I am not this,” let them come and go. By doing a little meditation, this becomes very clear to you. It is an experience.

Self realisation is living in a state of love which is unconditional, and living in a state of joy which is unconditional

What is honour? Have you ever thought about it? What is honouring? Honour is total attentiveness to the present moment with a tinge of greatfulness. Honour every moment in your life, that is practice. You respect your own body, that is practice, that is asana. Asana is what? Respecting your own body at every moment consciously. Honouring your breath and keeping it up for a period of time - that is pranayam.

It may be difficult to accept something you do not like but you can definitely accept a tiny bit of it — an atom. The moment you accept that one atom, you will see change happen. But this must be done in a meditative state. Suppose you love someone. You want more and more of them, yet there is no fulfillment. In anu vrat — the vow of an atom — you take just one atom of that person and that is enough to bring fulfillment to you. Though the river is vast, a little sip quenches your thirst. Though the earth has so much food, just a small bite satisfies your hunger. All that you need are tiny bits. Accept a tiny bit of everything in life — that will bring you fulfillment. European Ashram, Bad Antogast, Germany August 11, 1999

Free from feverishness or desires in the mind, united with your Being, centered, when you act without expecting something from it, without wanting to grab or take anything, your action becomes perfect and free from blemishes.

Otherwise, every act has something positive and something negative.

Once you feel jealous, you will justify all your wrong actions, because it clouds your discrimination, it clouds your wisdom.

When you don't worry whether you win or lose, or you don't even consider its effect, you give your hundred percent, then that is really playing, that is a real game.

Estate agradecido por las cualidades que se te han otorgado, porque no fueron construidas por ti. Estas cualidades dependen del rol que te ha sido concedido para actuar. Cuando comprendes esta verdad básica, entonces tu perfección interna se vuelve estable.

Regretting the past is the first sign of ignorance. Anxiety about the future is the second sign of ignorance. And being miserable is the sign of total ignorance. If you are in regret mode, then you are on the first step and that is ‘Vishada Yoga’.

Surrender is the venture of the bold man. A fearful person cannot surrender.

Otherwise, whatever you are resisting, you promise yourself one hundred times, "I will not do this, I will not get angry, I'll not be rough to people," and you will see when the time comes, your emotion comes like a storm and all your affirmations are just washed away. All your promises get blown

Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home.

The Washing Machine Our body is like a washing machine. Our mind is like cloth. Love is like pure water. Knowledge is detergent. Each lifetime is one wash cycle. The mind comes into the body to get cleansed and pure. But if you put in mud instead of detergent, your clothes become dirtier than before. You will have to go on putting your clothes in the washing machine to get them cleaned. And the process repeats again and again. Similarly, you will have many more births until you stop repeating the mistakes that you have made. Weggis, Switzerland