BY SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has inspired a global phenomenon of
compassion and service. A spiritual leader and humanitarian, his
programs have impacted more than 25 million people worldwide. He is the
founder of the Art of Living Foundation, a multi-faceted organization
that offers a wide array of educational and humanitarian programs that
uplift individuals, make a difference in local communities, and foster
global change.
It is important to know about
interpersonal relationships. What keeps and what really disturbs
interpersonal relationships? The relationship gets disturbed when
disagreement begins.
Just look at yourself. Have you always agreed with yourself? You had
some idea yesterday; today you may have a different idea. Five years
back you had other ideas that do not necessarily agree with the ideas
that you have today. So when you have disagreement with yourself, why
should it not happen with someone else?
The ‘someone’ you have a disagreement with is just a photocopy of your
old or the new self. So you need to take a look at your own thought
patterns and emotional patterns, there is a rhythm in them. And there is
a rhythm in the consciousness. We need to find a harmony between all
these rhythms within us and that’s what is called spirituality.
Spirituality is not just fantasizing; it’s observing your own existence.
Have we thoroughly known our body? You can know someone else’s body but
have you experienced your own body? Experiencing your own body, your
breath, your mind, your emotion and the source of your life is
meditation. Meditation is experiencing the life force and being
conscious of it; and it is done effortlessly.
Mind and body function on completely opposite laws. In the realm of
mind, effortlessness is the key. You cannot remember something by
putting effort. The moment you relax, the memory comes back. Creativity,
intelligence and memory — all these faculties within us happen
effortlessly. But you can build muscles only when you put effort.
How do you listen? The sounds come and fall on the eardrums but if the
mind is elsewhere, can you hear? You are listening through that faculty
in you that is called the mind. When you are listening, you are either
agreeing or disagreeing. Notice whether you are saying yes or no. This
something by which we say yes or no is called the intellect.
It is the same consciousness that functions as man, buddhi, chitta,
ahankaara. Our ancient people have called the four different faculties
as Antahkaran Chadushtaya. Similarly, if you observe memory, it clings
onto something that is negative. Ten compliments you will forget from
someone but his one insult will stick to the mind.
This needs to be reversed; and the process of reversing this tendency of
the mind from clinging on to the negative and moving to something
positive is called yoga. Yoga makes you like a baby again. It not only
revives your nature, it also keeps your heart and mind young and bright.
Yoga improves perception, observation and expression.
For maintaining interpersonal relationships, you have to first have a
relationship with yourself. Your relationship with yourself is called
integrity. If you have no relationship with yourself, that’s called lack
of integrity. Secondly, being informal keeps your interpersonal
relationship strong, for it gives space for mistakes to happen. You
cannot expect perfection in any relationship or situation.
Today one of the biggest problems with the world is emotional
instability. When we create an informal outlook and cordial environment
around us, we grease the friction and become the master of our
environment and do not feel helpless about what is happening around us.
Life is very complex. There is no set formula. When you think that you
are very honest, that you are righteous, you become a little stiff
inside without even knowing it. You point your finger towards others and
become intolerant. When you recognize that there are flaws in you, you
are then able to accommodate the flaws in other persons.
That’s why it is said, ‘‘do a good deed and forget about it’’. It is not
only your vices or bad qualities that will harm you. Even your good
qualities can make you stiff, rude and angry. That is why you should
surrender both bad and good qualities. Relax and let go.
There are three types of perfection — perfection in action, perfection
in speech and perfection in feelings. Many who have perfection in their
action and speech do not have that at their feeling level. Some have
perfection in their feelings and also speak very good but their action
will not be perfect. For example, tailors in India. They will speak
sweetly but won’t give clothes for Diwali in time. They will smile but
will not do work. The three perfections are called trikarana shuddhi —
one should try to be perfect in all the three spheres.
If you have a positive state of mind you become creative, entrepreneurs
and successful in anything you do. There are some books about positive
thinking in the West such as How to Win Friends and Influence People.
The man who wrote this book committed suicide. People in the West talk
about affirmation. Affirmation is, you wake up in the morning, sit on
your bed and affirm to yourself, ‘‘I will be good from today and that I
will love myself.” All these affirmations you put on yourself. This is
not at all a healthy thing.
Meditation is the only way you can transcend the negative thoughts and
then positive thoughts will come spontaneously and automatically. Stress
and tension cause negative attitude. Suppose you don’t sleep for two
days, small things can start to irritate. And if you have rested well,
the situation will be different.
Some people always blame themselves for something that goes wrong in a
close acquaintance. Leave this ‘always’ — like ‘‘I want to be always
happy’’. Take life as it comes. Sometimes you are upset or angry; it is
ok to be upset or angry. Life does not stop for anything; it moves. Just
move with the flow.
To learn more about the teachings of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar and Art of Living courses in Atlanta, please visit
www.artofliving.org/atlanta or contact us at 877-AOLIVING or atlanta@us.artofliving.org.
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