Wisdom from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Good to be in space of, “I don’t know”, then you have a chance of knowing"


Guruji spoke these beautiful lines just a day before Guru Purnima in USA 

Yeah, many have asked this question, “I have no question, what do I do?”! Well, that’s nice! 

So, you all want to sing more, isn’t it? How many of you want to sing more? Want to hear a story?

I am reminded of a story! It happened 5000 yrs ago, when Lord Krishna sent Uddhava, who was his close associate and a very wise man with so much of wisdom of many techniques and meditation to the place of gopis and gopas, who were full of devotion, always singing and dancing. So, he went to give them some wisdom, to talk about liberation, but none of them were interested in listening to that. They all said, “no, tell us some story aboutLord Krishna, tell us what is happening in Dwarka, where he is. We don’t want to hear all this wisdom etc, you can keep that to yourself. But tell us what news you have of Lord Krishna? Come let’s sing and dance. We have heard enough of wisdom, now is the celebration time. 

We have longing and love, and nothing else. We don’t care for the wisdom, we are happy with longing and we are happy with love. So, let’s sing and dance”. That’s the story –that’s all they wanted to do. See how love makes you crazy! But it is good to be crazy, at least sometimes in life. That’s when all the boundaries drop; you feel one with everyone around, and one with the whole universe-and that’s called- ‘Guru tattva’.. 

Guru tattva is the principal., is wisdom and tomorrow is celebration of Guru purnima. From ages, this knowledge and wisdom have been passed on in this world for thousands of years. So, tomorrow we express our gratitude and gratefulness to the tradition of all the Masters of the past.  Like there is fatherhood, motherhood, there is also Guru hood! Guru hood is, ‘I want best for you, I want nothing for myself’. 
Everyone has a little bit of guru hood in them. So, be a guru at least to somebody. 
Of course, the ‘Art of Living’ teachers have played that role. When they come and sit on that seat of a teacher, the whole consciousness shifts, then they are different, isn’t it? And you all are hollow and empty and imparting to others what they need. So, you become a mirror in the world- that is guru tattva, no inhibitions, no impressions, just pure reflection of the being. So, that’s what we will celebrate tomorrow. Many more are arriving tomorrow; today we will sing couple of songs.

Guru tattva is the principal. Now, any questions?

Q: What do you say about doubts? Should we have no doubts?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar :  No, I never said you shouldn’t have doubts, you should have doubts, have as many doubts as you can, for truth can never be concealed by doubts . Yes, doubt can’t defeat the truth, so you doubt as much as you want, but finish it quickly otherwise you will be wasting so much of time. Have as much of doubt as you want and then get over it. 

I remember one incidence which happened in Sweden. There was a public meeting/ gathering and a journalist was sitting right behind. He came forward to me and said- “I want to ask you a question”.

I said- “yes, go ahead.” 

He asked, “Are you enlightened?”

I said, “No”. 

But he insisted, “No, please tell the truth. I know, you are always making fun, always kidding, please tell me the truth”.

I again said, “No”.

You see, my answer of NO should have finished the conversation there, but he won’t listen and kept insisting, “No, no, you are not telling the truth, tell me the truth, are you enlightened? I want to know the answer right away”.

See when you say , ‘no’ –it finishes , there is no need for further proof or explanation, chapter over, but this person won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I said, “So what takes you not to take a ‘no’ for answer? You should be happy with the answer now”. 

But he said, “No, I don’t believe it! 

I said, “You see, there is something inside you which is telling you something, some deeper inner feeling saying –this is not correct, right? So you have the answer then!” 

So often, you listen to your own inner voice but doubt it from the surface mind but deep inside your heart and mind are saying something, you feel something different- a gut feeling and that is what you always rely on and not on what someone else says, isn’t it so? If someone says, “I love you”, do you take them on face value? No, you look at their face, you look at them and even without looking at them, you feel something deep inside. So, what I am telling you is generally true. And every one has this faculty of intuition and what can overshadow this faculty is your greed. 

Greed can overshadow the faculty of your intuition, being over ambitious can overshadow your intuition. Do you understand what I am saying? Wisdom gets covered with greed, feverishness or with over ambition. So, doubt as much as you can!

Q: Dear Guruji, I have never been a spiritual or a true religious person. How can I learn to let go and believe?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  You don’t have to label yourself- I am spiritual, religious person etc. No need for it. 

Just be natural, beautiful, good human being. That’s it! 

If someone is not a beautiful human being and says, ‘I am a spiritual person or a religious person’, what is the use of that? What good he or she is for? Isn’t it? The purpose of spirituality is to make you a beautiful human being, the purpose of religion is to make you a righteous person, connected to the universe, to the universal spirit. And that’s what spirituality is and that’s what a simple, natural, normal human being is! Got it? Right, so it is better not to label yourself. 
If you think you are a believer or a non believer, then even a non believer is a wrong label. Someone who says, ‘I am a non believer, I tell you, this is not true. You simply can’t honestly be a non believer; there is no honesty in it. Somewhere in some corner of your consciousness, you believe something; you know something, for your consciousness is very ancient. You don’t know your consciousness, it is so old, so ancient, there are so many layers, so many impressions on our mind, on our consciousness- it is such an amazing phenomenon! 

Q: Dear Guruji, I heard and understood the truth, but it is not my experience, please help me realize the truth . Yours truly.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  Good! Good to be in space of, “I don’t know”, then you have a chance of knowing. If you think, you know then you are stuck with the concept. In the Upanishad, it is beautifully said, “one who says, ‘I don’t know’, he knows, and the one who says he knows, doesn’t know!” 

Q: Dear Guruji, recently scientists have said that they can create life in a laboratory by manipulating and intervening the genes. Isn’t this contradictory to spirituality and religion, with man creating life and giving consciousness to innate objects?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar :  Not at all. You have heard this saying – ‘God made man in his own image’. Right? So, whatever God can do, man can do too. God made man, created him as his own image. It is written in the Bible. Right? There is a story about it in Mahabharata epic also, written some 5000 years ago. 
So, test tube babies are not new phenomena. Queen Gandhari , from one embryo, had put pieces in hundred pots and created hundred types of kids. But what quality the kids came out with, that you all know! So, there is a big question about the risk, but this is a fact that Gandhari created 100 children in hundred pots. So, test tube babies or creating life in lab is not a new phenomenon. It was done some 5000 years ago also! 

Q: Guruji, are we influenced by mistakes from previous birth? If so, then how does one prevent getting influenced by that or find a way to remove that influence?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  You don’t have to make too much effort. Just do your practices, your Sudarshan kriya, sing and meditate and all the bad karmas and impressions, they will get washed away by themselves. And with few advanced courses, few hollow and empty meditations, all impressions get released. 

Q: Dear Guruji, is it true that it is not the devotee who chose the Guru but the Guru chooses the devotee? If yes, then what took you so long to choose me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar :  Ha, Ha, Ha!! Let’s not go in the past! Let’s look ahead, having great times. Great days, yes? 

Q: Guruji, when you meet terrorists and naxalites, don’t you get frustrated with their attitude and lack of knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar :  This is like asking a doctor- Don’t you feel sick of seeing the sick patients?!!

Q : Can you give me a suggestion – how to be calm when your spouse is always mad at you?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar :  Well, an answer coming from me won’t be authentic! There are many experienced (spouses) ones here, you can exchange notes with them! But if someone gets angry so often then you get used to it, and it doesn’t bother you so much anymore, isn’t it? But if they are sweet and then get mad at you then you get more bothered about it, right?

There is a very popular story in India. A gentle man got married to a woman who was very shrewd. She would do everything against his will.  Whatever he will say, she would do just its opposite and he was so bothered and sad about it. Divorces were not that common those days in India, so he was stuck with this situation. Then, when you are stuck in a situation, you go to a wise man, so he went to meet a yogi. 

The yogi whispered something in his ears and three months later when the yogi met this gentle man again, he was beaming with happiness. He came and told the yogi- “Your formula worked, now we have peace at home!” The formula was-whatever he wanted, he said just the opposite to his wife! So if he didn’t want to wear a green shirt that day, he would say- “ I want to wear a green shirt”, and she wouldn’t do that for him anyway! So, you only need to know the pulse and do accordingly.

If your spouse is all the time angry, then I know you might have experienced and found how to handle it , and how to increase or reduce the volume, right? Interesting! May be (with such people), you should try this for one month or two months, and take them by surprise. If they are angry, praise them, and love them so much. Don’t be too predictable with anger. 

Subject: “OM”

“OM” means PEACE,… Let the peace pervade in every cell of our body.
“OM” means LOVE, …Let love pervade in every cell of our body.
“OM” means LIGHT & WISDOM, … Let light and wisdom permeate our whole being…
“OM” indicates our origin and OM indicates our final destination too…
Remember the origin and the destination.


The ancient syllable “OM” is the shortest of the Mantras. “OM” is the eternal sound… it is the sound of your soul – feel it. OM is the truth, the vibration of consciousness. “OM” is the primordial sound from which the entire universe has arisen.


“OM” is made up of three syllables: A,U and M.
A- denotes the power to create, the Brahma (Creator)
U- denotes the power to preserve, the Vishnu (Preserver)
M- denotes the power to dissolve, the Shiva (Transformer)


When you say “AUM” the PRANA is total, it is compete. AUM is the nearest sound which can be used to address the totality of consciousness.


Chanting these syllables in unison, create an invigorating effect in the body and mind.




Sit quietly with eyes closed and your attention focused at the point between the eyebrows. Inhale gently and when your lungs are full, exhale the breath while making the sound of “AUM” on any pitch that is comfortable to you. When you have completely exhaled, chanting the sound, then inhale and chant again. Continue this process.


The first object of this technique is to exhale the breath and sustain the sound as long as possible. Let the whole process be slow, relaxed and sustained. As you make the sound of “AUM” listen to see how many different parts there are to the word. Be conscious of the transition of the pronunciation from the “A...U...” sound to the “Mmmm..” sound. Make that transition of your lips smooth and continuous; be more and more aware of each aspect of the sound. Feel your body and awareness to be an instrument that observes this sound flowing through it – vibrating with it. You will find as you continue to practice, that your breathing will become slower and the duration of each breath longer.


Continue to relax into the sound, refocusing your attention back to it when thoughts intrude. You can practice this technique as often as you like. Practicing for five minutes continuously will be beneficial; practicing for 20 to 30 minutes once each day will have a wonderful effect. You will notice that you are more calm, more peaceful, more relaxed. In addition, your awareness will be sharper, you will perceive at a subtler level.


Toward the end of your practice, try chanting “Aum” internally in your mind, rather than outwardly using your voice. Keep your attention on the continuous sound of “AUM” within your mind. The AUM technique is also a great first stage in practicing more than one technique during your meditation period. It internalizes the mind, quiets the body and creates fertile soil for further work. The goal of most meditation techniques is to still the mind while maintaining alertness. If you find yourself getting sleepy, make sure that your eyes are turned slightly upward toward the point between the eyebrows – without straining. If your eyes look downward for very long, you will slip into sub-consciousness and sleep.

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: Blessing

Make your home God's home and there will be light, love and abundance.


Make your body God's abode and there will be peace and bliss.


Feel your mind as a toy of God and you'll watch and enjoy all its games.


See this world as play and as a display of God Himself and you will repose in the Non-Dual Self.


Blessing comes to you in many forms.


If you are generous, blessing comes to you as abundance.
If you are hardworking, blessing comes to you as happiness.
If you are lazy, blessing comes to you as hard work! (Laughter)
If you are pleasure loving, blessing comes to you as dispassion.
If you are dispassionate, blessing comes to you as knowledge of the Self.


- Sri Sri

SUTRA:“Prayers get answered. Keep singing with emotion. With faith, silence, confidence & knowledge, prayers get heard.”- Sri Sri

Guruji's Knowledge Sheet: A Quantum Leap

When a worldly man is miserable, he blames the people around him, the system, and the world in general.


When a seeker is miserable he, of course, blames the world, but in addition he blames the path, the Knowledge, and himself.


It is better not to be a seeker so that you blame less. But then a seeker (sadhak) also enjoys everything much more. There is more love in life and more pain. When there is more joy, the contrast is greater. A certain level of maturity is needed to see things as they are and not to blame the path, the self, and the world. Do you see what I am saying?


It is like a quantum leap. If one jumps across this threshold then there is no fall.


The Divine does not test you. Testing is part of ignorance.


Who will test? One who does not know will test, isn't it? God knows your capacity, so why does he have to test you? Then, why the misery? It is thithiksha, or forbearance, in you. And forbearance could be increased by prayerful surrender or vigorous challenge for patience! (Laughter)


- Sri Sri