sri sri ravi shankar is one of the most popular and well known spiritual teacher of india. he is an ambassador of peace, human values and interfaith harmony. his vision is of a stress-free, violence-free society on the model of “one-world family”.
sri sri ravi shankar organisation “art of living” takes part in many social, cultural, humanitarian and religious activities.
sri sri ravi shankar has introduced the sudarshan kriya which is a special breathing technique and is a core component of the art of living courses. regular practice of sudarshan kriya eliminates stress, fatigue and negative emotions like anger, depression and frustration. thus leaving the mind calm, focused and the body energized and completely relaxed. he give lot of emphasis on meditation, love and peaceful living. he is known for raising voice against terrorism and the pollution which is affecting our rivers and air. his organisation has revived many rivers in india thus providing water for agricultural for lakhs of farmers.
connect with sri sri ravi shankar – website, twitter account, facebook page, blog and youtube video channel.
sri sri ravi shankar quotes on love:
1. devotion is ultimate love, the pinnacle of love.
2. don’t go by appearance; listen to your inner voice.
3. today is a gift from god – that is why it is called the present.
4. an intense desire can either frustrate you or make you prayerful. in prayerfulness, there is gratitude & devotion.
5. divinity permeates everything in this earth. puja is not complete without honoring the trees, mountains, rivers, earth and the people living on the earth. honoring everyone is dakshina. da means to give and dakshina means giving something that will cleanse us of all impurities. offering with which all your sins vanish. no puja is complete without dakshina. give your tensions, worries and sorrows as dakshina.
6. there is strength in peace, there is strength in calmness, there is strength in love. what you cannot win with guns, you can win with love.
7. god is never an object of isolation but the very core of your being. the difference between self and god is just like the wave and the ocean. can there be a wave without the ocean?
8. surrender doesn’t mean the absence of action. be active; be dynamic, but not obsessed with the feverishness about fulfilling the desires.
9. 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.
10. nothing stays forever. good as well as bad times go away. be happy, reminding yourself of this again and again. our life as it is, is sadhana. true sadhana is relaxing, deep relaxation. everything is destructible here. everything is changing – your body, your intellect. everything will dissolve. time is running so fast. the only thing that is not changing, that is your consciousness.
11. music is food for the emotions; knowledge is food for the intellect; meditation is the food for the soul.
12. every human is pure but filled with dirt. every human being is like a diamond. the fact that the diamond is in mud, does not make it mud. you simply have to pick it up and wash it. and it shines again. the shiny nature of diamond is always there but covered with mud and slush.
13. combine inner peace with faith and you have a formula to face any situation. realise that you are blessed, then all insecurities disappear.
14. the way u act, god awards the fruit of the action accordingly. if u steal, god will come to u as a policeman. ur actions, good or bad, decide ur experience of joy & sorrow. joy & sorrow are the outcomes of ur discretion; it depends on ur discretion in performing actions. it is ok if you drink 1 glass of milk. but what happens if u drink 3 kilos of milk? without the use of discretion, nectar can turn to poison.
15. the effect of divine energy is such that it transforms all the negative tendencies in the mind. whatever has been said in yogasutras, “tat sanidho vair tyaga”, is very true – one gets free from the feeling of animosity in the company of truth, in the company of those who practice meditation.
16. nature has its own means of balance. if you observe nature, you will see that the five elements are opposed to each other. water destroys fire, fire destroys air. there are so many species in nature – birds, reptiles, mammals; all these different species are hostile towards each other & yet nature balances them out. we need to learn from nature how to balance opposing forces within ourselves & in the world around us.
17. acharya gives knowledge, and a guru gives diksha. diksha means the height of awareness and intelligence, and not information. a guru does not simply stuff you with knowledge, but he kindles life force in you. what happens in a guru’s presence? you become more alive. every cell in your body becomes more alive. guru invokes and awakes the intelligence, not just the intellect. the pinnacle of intellect is intelligence.
18. the lord is not somebody separate, but it is,‘what i am.’ if the wave asks, ‘where is the ocean then what to say? the wave itself is the ocean. you have to only realize this. that is why it is said that while it takes a moment to break a flower stem, the divine can be realized in a fraction of that moment.
19. in the realm of the mind, like attracts like. if the soul is peaceful, it attracts a peaceful environment & peaceful people around it.
20. an ashram is a place where there is no shram/effort. keeping the mind at peace and letting divinity flow through you is effortlessness. and when does that happen? when you are at ease with yourself and the surroundings. and this is, in fact, the significance of the ashram – where you are at home.
21. life is a beautiful mystery, just live it! trying to understand mystery is confusion. when we live mystery of life totally, then joy dawns.
sri sri ravi shankar quotes on meditation:
1. be in the now. desire is wanting to be happy tomorrow. be happy and joyful now.
2. mind means moods, thoughts, opinions, ideas, all these things that we collect. no mind is meditation. dawn & dusk are considered very good for mediation. when you meditate you go off the influence of the mind & go into the self. the self is shiva tatva. shiva tatva means always benevolent, caring, loving, uplifing which is that consciousness deep within you. it will nullify the negative influences of the mind & time.
3. meditation helps to change your perspective. it improves the way you perceive things. it brings clarity in the mind. it improves your interaction with people around –what you say, how you react and act in different situations, you become more aware.
4. when there is no regret of past, no want of future, that moment is whole & complete. meditation is living every moment totally with depth.
5. the self is like space. thoughts come & go emotions come & go but when u go inside there is only empty space. identification with thoughts, feelings & emotions, makes us feel we are stuck. the ‘real magnanimous you’ is that space inside where u feel totally at peace. in moments when u are totally at peace u feel an expansion. u feel boundless & limitless & that is our true nature. we r all one in that, there is no two!
6. in the morning, the mind is in a state of knowledge, alertness and wakefulness. it is action-oriented in the afternoon and in the evening, the mind is in a state of relaxation. one who wants to be unhappy can be unhappy the whole time, and one who wants to be happy can be happy throughout the day. a fool will be unhappy all the time and the intelligent one will be happy in spite of changing moods.
7. being silent and knowing that the divinity is taking care of everything – that is the best form of prayer; the best prayer is meditation.
8. when you are in action, don’t get into this philosophy of doership or non-doership else the mind gets confused. when you act, you act hundred per cent. when you are acting hundred per cent, suddenly you will realize i am not doing, it is all happening. non- doership is an experience; it is not something you try to do or achieve.
9. when mind is outward and is stuck in an outside event or incident, you have to retrieve it back. that’s what you have to do. either something good happens or bad, it stays in mind for some time, produces an impression in your consciousness. but nothing stays for long and it vanishes by time. sign of waking up is that you don’t hold on to it for long. sadhana, meditation is the greatest tool for that.
10. look at the present moment – now, now, now! wake up now! everything else is stupid. all that has happened has gone into emptiness. everything dissolves into emptiness. your entire past – wiped out! all the things that you felt are gone. good or bad, they are gone. so, wake up to the truth of the present moment. divinity is in the present moment. this is yoga. yoga is being established in the moment.
11. nature of mind is wavering. joy is only when the mind is stable. with knowledge and dispassion, mind becomes stable.
12. your mind can be your best friend if it is under your reins and your worst enemy if you are under its reins.
13. quietening the mind gives a sense of intuition, brings the mind to the present moment, brings balance.
14. when the mind relaxes, the intellect becomes sharp. a calm & collective mind is not docile; rather it is a source of creativity & dynamism.
15. knowledge is not only what is obtained from books but that which is obtained from deep rest (Meditation).
sri sri ravi shankar quotes on love and life:
1. life, when it is lived in its totality, is an end in itself and a beginning in itself.
2. when you have commitment and passion for a bigger/higher goal in life, boredom vanishes.
3. if you want abundance in life, have contentment. with contentment comes the ability to bless others.
4. food is connected with god. in the upanishads, it is said ‘food is god’. when you consider food as god you will not over eat. you don’t simply stuff food but you eat food with so much honour.
5. don’t keep any corner of your existence away from divinity. the divine should be interwoven into every aspect of your life.
6. be grateful for life’s magnanimity and divinity. keep aside old enmity & spread sweetness. be a light & show the way to others. happy diwali!
7. never link money with happiness. even the poorest people are happy, if you see. in fact they are more happy. but money can create a false notion of security to you: you think if you have money, you have everything. the idea of money is for comfort. isn’t it? why do you want money? for comfort. but money can give you only one type of comfort. physical comfort. it doesn’t give emotional and spiritual comfort.
8. whenever you are miserable in life, have the courage to let go and when you are happy, have the willingness to do seva (selfless service).
9. every particle in the universe is ancient & forever fresh. so are you – ancient, ageless & timeless; yet fresh & full of life.
10. we are born on this planet with a pure heart. as we grow older, we tend to lose it. regaining this purity and serenity is spirituality.
11. generosity is a quality of spirit. when you feel generous your life becomes abundant, full of compassion & love.
12. our lives will take a new direction if we take pride in nonviolence, compassion & service. that should be our unwavering commitment.
13. it is only through inner silence can you bring out happiness and celebration in life.
14. difficulties do come in life but to overcome difficulties one needs to be strong & strength comes only through spiritual knowledge.
15. spending some time with nature and in introspection; meditating and doing acts of kindness can increase the joy and enthusiasm in one’s life.
16. service and spiritual practices go together. seeing love inside you is meditation and seeing divinity in the person next to you is service.
17. remember, whatever is yours will always be yours. compassion & love are your very nature; these will always remain in you.
18. the busier you are in Life, the more important it is to meditate. meditation is getting back to that serenity which is your original nature.
sri sri ravi shankar quotes on society and world:
1. transformation in the society can only happen with transformation in the individual. we must develop a habit of sharing our joy with others.
2. there is no point in spending the whole of our earnings on ourselves. we have to keep two-three percent for social service, for dharma jagruti (awakening of truth) – so corruption can be minimized. we should all get together and inspire the people of our country.
3. terrorists are cowards. whenever terror has struck in any part of the world, we have heard people say it is an act of cowardice. a coward runs away from action but harbours all negative feelings and does it surreptitiously.
4. world peace comes with individual peace. if individuals become peaceful, communities become peaceful. then the leaders of the world will also become peaceful, and we can have world peace. when people have broad vision for the whole world, world peace is a possibility. we need to spiritualize the politics, socialize the business and secularize the religion.
5. caring for the environment is a big part of the art of living. plant trees; use less plastic, if possible, no plastic and use cloth bags. these are all very valid things to know. you have heard about that in the basic course so you all do it already. keep the environment clean, if you find people littering the streets you should try to educate them. if you have free time wherever you find any littering, you stand there and call a few people and tell them, “let’s clear this place”. do something like that.
6. we have been too tolerant towards crime and corruption. we need to be intolerant towards inequality and injustice.
7. the secret is that the space around us is many times more intelligent than us.
8. respect for elders; compassion to those who are suffering; dedication to progress. this is the need of society today.
9. make others comfortable and you will see that nature will take care of your comfort.
10. when you have reverence for the whole universe, you are in harmony. cultivate the skill of having reverence every moment in your life.