Meditation from sri sri ravi shankar. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Eighteen Laws of Spiritual Development

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar flew to Irkutsk from Kazan. The visit to the capital of Tatarstan was preceded by a trip to St. Petersburg, and then to Moscow and Tuapse, organized as part of the celebration of the Yoga Week in Russia. The program of stay in the regional center was scheduled by the minute. On the evening of the day of arrival, a two-hour meeting with admirers of his talent, who came to Irkutsk from all over Siberia and the Far East, took place in the overcrowded Trud Sports Palace. The next day, he talked to journalists, after which he held a practical yoga class for one and a half thousand people. And after lunch I went to Baikal. On the way to Listvyanka, he was keenly interested in the origin of the bays along the Angarsk reservoir. And then he took out his iPad (as it turned out, Ravi Shankar perfectly manages to combine the asceticism of ancient knowledge and high technology) and dozed off to the sound of sitars. After a short pause, he told how many years he had been waiting for this meeting with Irkutsk.

- About 20 years have passed since the first instructor of the Art of Life came here, to Siberia, and then many Siberians went to India. All this time I constantly promised that I would come, come ... Three times I got very close: I was in Mongolia. The last time I came to Mongolia to receive an honorary award from the Mongolian government, and again I really wanted to get to Baikal. But that time it did not work out, and now - yes, so this is a very long-awaited visit. While I'm here, I would like to consider how non-profit, non-governmental organizations such as The Art of Living can help improve the well-being of your society and make its life more fulfilling.

- You travel a lot: your official website says that you visit about 45 countries every year. Are there places you haven't visited yet?

- Perhaps, I was not only in a number of countries in Africa and South America. At the same time, I spend a lot of time in Europe, the USA, Canada, the Middle East and the countries of Central and Southeast Asia.

- What are your impressions of Russia?

- Excellent! You know, Russia is such a big, wide country. I am warmly received in all cities - wherever I go, I feel at home. In my opinion, there should be more communication between Russia and India. Our countries are very close. Throughout the world, one thread runs through all people: it is humanity, kindness, compassion and a sense of belonging. On the other hand, there is always something to do for society. People constantly experience anxiety, tension, stress, which ancient yoga techniques help to cope with.

- How many followers of your program are in Russia?

- According to my information, more than 100 thousand people have already taken the Art of Living courses in Russia. But many more read my books, listened to lectures and public speeches. There are about five to six times more of them than those who took the courses. I recently recorded an audio course in Russian. So you can even appreciate my pronunciation.

- In your opinion, the popularity of yoga in our country is growing?

- Yoga is already quite popular in Russia. Although at the very beginning there were many prejudices. Young people liked it, and people of the older generation had a hard time taking new knowledge. I am talking in this case about yoga 20 years ago, when we just started the “Art of Living” program in Russia and in the world. Today there are fewer prejudices.

- There are different directions of yoga. Does that mean they also require a different approach?

- Whatever yoga you practice, it should be done simply and naturally. You don't need to inconvenience your body. Be natural and simple. When practicing hatha yoga, precautions must be taken.

- What kind of yoga is practiced in The Art of Living?

- All types of yoga together form the "Art of Living". There is hatha yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga, dhyana yoga, raja yoga.

Yoga is often misunderstood. Yoga does not at all mean that you have to lock yourself in a room and practice asanas. Many believe that only asanas are taught in yoga classes. These asanas cleanse and strengthen the body and heal diseases. Yes, it is, but yoga is not limited only to this. The basis of yoga is consciousness, the ability to wonder. Innocence returns to a consciousness filled with wonder.

Look at the setting sun or the rising moon, at the sky and the stars - everything in nature is filled with wonder. Our body is such a miracle! Take a closer look at how it works and how it functions. You will be very surprised. It is necessary to take a fresh look at all the diversity of the world around us, at various objects, animals, people, insects, and see all this with eyes full of surprise. Observe the mind and wonder, then you will feel happiness. At this very moment, you begin to drown in your own bliss. The mind can come to yoga through surprise alone.

Person from the list

According to Forbes India magazine, Ravi Shankar is one of the seven most influential people in India. However, he does not tell how he managed to achieve this, nor does he consider it his achievement. He says to himself: “In my life, the concepts of“ work ”and“ rest ”do not exist. They are inseparable for me. I rest in communication with the people around me and in contemplation of the nature around me. "

After Irkutsk, the guru went to Mongolia. But he promised to return

- You are the initiator and main ideologist of the seminar "Ethics in Business", which is held annually in the European Parliament. But to what extent, in your opinion, is it possible to combine ethics and business in the modern world? And what exactly can your program give to businessmen, managers of large enterprises?

- First of all, it gives peace of mind. Now all big business is, to put it mildly, a little shaken. There is uncertainty, uncertainty about the future. But that will change. Most business people feel stressed. Our program relieves them of this stress and revives their lost team spirit. Today it is very important to restore people's trust in business.

And one more fundamental point: it is very easy to think about rapid growth, but without sustainable development, recession will come quickly. This is exactly what is happening all over the world now. People wanted easy profits, but the result was a collapse of the economy. Therefore, you need to think first of all about sustainable development in business, and without the application of ethical standards, this is impossible. Business in line with ethical principles means taking care of your employees. Not only to give them a salary, but also to see if they are happy, if everything is fine with them, if they succeed in teamwork. It is very important. A team of like-minded people can lead a business out of any crisis.

- Can your knowledge help to get rid of some practical problems - drug addiction, alcoholism?

- Yes, and these programs have already helped. In India, in a number of African countries, in Morocco, even in Denmark, in such developed country We have a prisoner program that has been very successful. We have a drug rehabilitation center in Calcutta. And in the state of Punjab, in India, people get rid of alcoholism. We are implementing this program together with the All India Scientific Institute.

- There were quite a few young people among the visitors to your lecture in Irkutsk. Do you have any special methods of working with youth?

- Yes, today two-thirds of our participants are young people. It seems to me that young people avoid the kind of spirituality that is too serious for them and does not meet their daily tasks. I think our program helps us to inspire them to look at life from a broader perspective, to overcome stress and fear. After all, what is stress? This is when the mind is very narrowly directed, when it lacks a broad vision of the perspective of life. That is why it is very important to expand the horizons of feeling yourself and your life, and for this sometimes you just need to relax first.

- How do you see the future of the world?

- Nowadays, consumerism is developing rapidly. We consume more than the planet can supply. Therefore, you need to take care of the environment. But just as we pollute the earth and water, we pollute the subtle environment of feelings and emotions. A person does not control his mind, he is a victim of the general tension in his environment. We pollute the world through negative emotions. I think there will be a rule in the future that anyone who is depressed will be fined!

Need to convert Special attention on the mental, mental health of people. The pride of non-violence must be revived. This is the most urgent thing to do, otherwise we will destroy ourselves and the planet. When I went to school, pride was associated with simplicity and equanimity. When you are calm, you smile and have compassion. The compassionate person was considered a hero. Today, unfortunately, pride has come to be associated with aggression and violence. Modern heroes are very aggressive. Therefore, if a college student shows himself as a tough guy and pushes everyone, then he becomes a hero, a role model. This shift in role models is a problem around the world.

- What is your recipe for defeating violence?

- If in your mind you feel cruelty towards a person who has committed a bad deed, then you are not very different from that person. This is why forgiveness exists. Forgiveness shields and protects your mind, your spirit, from responding with violence to violence. Better forgiveness is only compassion. Forgiveness comes from a lack of understanding, you don't understand what this person is feeling deep within. But when we understand that all mistakes are caused by a lack of awareness, then we feel compassion for other people. Everyone is clean, but some have fallen into the mud. Each human like a diamond. The fact that a diamond is in mud does not make it mud. You just have to pick it up and wash it. And it will shine again.

“But how can you love people who do terrible things?

- Don't love them. Just accept them. Accept first, then look at them not as criminals, but as victims. Inside every perpetrator there is a victim crying out for help. They did bad things by coincidence. If they had wisdom, they wouldn't do it.

In one breath

The guru himself gives the impression of an absolutely happy person. His personal formula for happiness fits into three simple principles: correct breathing, meditation and daily hard work. “Think, we always doubt something good. Am I really happy? Do we love you? But at the same time, we never doubt the bad: no one asks themselves whether this is a real problem or whether I really have depression. To become happier, people simply need to doubt the bad more often and believe in the best, ”says the guru.

- Your practices are based on breathing techniques. Can breathing really affect the state of the human body so much?

- Yes. What do we do the very first thing in life? Breathe in. What's the last thing? Exhalation. We breathe in and start crying. We exhale and others begin to cry. Life fits between these two events. At the same time, we ignore our breathing: we pay attention to feelings, memory, mind, body, but we forget about what connects everything together - breathing. There is a rhythm in breathing, and this rhythm is associated with the world rhythm, with the rhythm of nature, with the rhythm of the body, with the rhythm of thoughts and the rhythm of emotions.

Do not think that only those who are in the hospital are sick. Sick is the one who is unhappy, the one who is restless and unstable. Anyone who does not know how to deal with their own mind, their own thoughts or a storm of emotions, is in some way sick. And here breathing comes to the rescue. The mind is very abstract, it is impossible to act directly on the mind. If we pay attention to the breath, then we eliminate the root cause of any problem facing the mind. In Sanskrit, the word "health" means "steady in your Self." When the mind is free from fear, from the feeling of guilt, when there is no anger in it and it is concentrated, it can cure the body of any disease.

The breathing technique taught in the Art of Living course is called the Sudarshan Kriya. When it is performed, all cells of the body come to life, toxins and negative emotions are released. This technique purifies you. During the Sudarshan Kriya, you plunge deeply into yourself and feel your inner Self. You feel physical, emotional and mental renewal, spiritual uplift, become more focused and free.

- What can strengthen a person's intentions to do yoga?

- You are always doing something for some reason. Be sure to keep this reason in mind. And this applies to any field of activity: whatever you do, do it without blind faith, remembering the reason.

- What advice can you give to those who are completely discouraged?

- Sometimes we feel very disappointed. At a time like this, don't make any decisions. You may regret them in the future. Go back to yourself first.

We imagine a lot in our mind, whether it exists in the world or not. 75% of all problems in life are fantasy. If you do not have happiness, it is because you yourself have created such a world for yourself. By worrying about the past and imagining the future, we rob our lives of enthusiasm and bliss. And then boredom comes in. As a person gets older, there is less enthusiasm for him. And we call this process of loss of enthusiasm life!

- What, in your opinion, is the purpose human life?

- This is something that everyone should find for themselves. What is the purpose of our life? You can ask this question, but do not accept an answer from anyone. The one who knows will not give an answer, and the one who tries to give an answer does not know. This is the criterion. The question itself, "What is the purpose of life?" very valuable. He means a lot to you. If this question has arisen in your mind, then you can deservedly pat yourself on the shoulder, because this question can remove the intricacies from your mind, your confusion. He can take away all those unnecessary things and get you back on track again and again. There is no single answer. This is the path we need to walk. "Who am I? What do I want? What is the purpose of my life? " This will move you forward. So pat yourself on the back: "Oh, I am so lucky that this question has arisen in my mind!" What is the purpose of life? You know, many people don't even think about this question. They just exist. They eat, sleep, watch TV and then die.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born on May 13, 1956 in the south of India, in Tamil Nadu. In 1982, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founded the Art of Living Foundation, a non-profit public charitable organization whose goal is to conduct socially significant projects for human development and social rehabilitation. In addition, the "Art of Living" provides assistance to underdeveloped countries (builds schools, hospitals, educates young people in professions), and also helps victims of natural disasters and social conflicts.
In 1986, the President of India awarded Sri Sri the title of Yoga Shiromani (The Greatest Jewel of Yoga), the highest honor in yoga.
In 1992, together with the Dalai Lama, he founded the International Association for Human Values, the main goal of which is to teach human values ​​and implement social projects.
The non-governmental humanitarian organizations founded by him operate in 162 countries of the world.

Translation of an article by a political science professor from India on the dangers of cult leaders infiltrating the public debate of economic and political issues that are on the agenda in India. Facts are few, but the very statement of the question that the middle class is the target of cults and the danger of India's departure from democracy to ultranationalism is interesting. I translate closely in meaning and spirit.

Jyotirmaya Sharma - teaches politics at the University of Hyderabad (India), lectures at universities in Austria, Sweden and Germany, and is the author of "A Restatement of Religion: Swami Vivekananda and the Making of Hindu Nationalism" and "Cosmic Love and Human Apathy: Swami Vivekananda and the Restatement of Religion ".

There is a need to weaken the influence of the New Age guru more than ever before. Otherwise, the dominance of religious cults in governments will become a reality.

In March 2001, I wrote a short note in the national daily where I argued that there is no significant difference between the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha Buddha statues by the Taliban and the destruction of the Babri masjid mosque in India. For every mullah of Mohammed Omar in Afghanistan, there is a corresponding Giriraj Kishore in India.

Soon after the post was published, I received an invitation from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, through his student, to talk about this post. I was told that a popular New Age guru was upset and perplexed by my comparison of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues and the Masjid Babri Mosque.

I met him in Delhi, and we talked for almost an hour (during which Sri Sri did not stop eating dried fruits from a large bowl, without inviting me to join). We had asymmetrical outlooks on perspectives and we could not agree with each other. I could not convince him that slavery in historical memory can lead to a spiral of mutual accusations and fuel the desire to settle scores endlessly. Both of these acts are modern, but they are born out of cynical politics and the desire to divide people, to rule them on the basis of such a division.

The "God-man" [Sri Sri] relied on the fact that the mosque in Ayodhya was built after the destruction of the Hindu temple and this puts it in a different category than the Bamiyan Buddha statues. For me, the impulse to destroy the Buddha statues in Bamiyan and the Babri Mosque sprouted from the same seed of intolerance and fear of a diverse and complex world, with only a minor difference.

The Government of India has provided a grant of Rs 2 billion to the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Art of Living Foundation to host the World Cultural Forum on the banks of the Yamuna River (near Delhi).

Disguise of sectarian signs

Of course, the proliferation of new age Hindu gurus in recent years has allowed them to hide behind the obscure New Age tag to hide their obvious sectarian attributes. They manage to hide behind the vague concept of "world religions", which frees them from immediate identification with any narrow sectarian ideology. Their emphasis on singing, dancing and “feeling happy,” and doctrinal fast food in the form of “smiles” and “love”, captivates their burgeoning ideology of “I, me, myself” average class in India, especially among young people.

Avoiding any serious discussion of their doctrine helps to justify both legitimate hedonism and mindless consumerism. They help to understand the world where someone's fault is a consequence of bad karma, and good karma is the pursuit of unbridled pleasure, including an inappropriate thirst for "spirituality."

These new "aged" gurus offer Hindus a simplified, risk-free and pre-chewed doctrine based on a peculiar interpretation of the advaita Vedanta philosophical system that has become popular in India since the nineteenth century. It's like a ripe banana that looks normal on the outside, but is sticky and soft on the inside. The Guru begins endlessly chatting about the unity of the Universe and the universality of Brahman (God the Absolute). Add yoga, meditation and Ayurveda to that and the picture is complete. The latter components are presented as part of the great eternal and enduring legacy of the sectarian version of the great Hindu civilization, additionally their popularity elsewhere helps to integrate with Western modernity and the concept of progress (modernity).

More importantly, almost all of these new cults and “aged” gurus are recruiting centers for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Sangh parivar. In other words, RSS has outsourced recruiting to these new cults. RSS and Parivar Sangh understand that no amount of change will help fix an already negative image.

About the military glory of India, where true humility lies in strength,

About the dream of India as a superpower that cannot achieve economic growth due to communists, secularists, Muslims, missionaries of other religions, alternative lifestyles (non-caste), unorthodox ideas, creative literature, poetry and contemporary art that all work for blackening of India (which is the center of Hinduism and the spiritual world) and its greatness in the eyes of the whole world.

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• "The Art of Living" - Guruism Again?- Dr. Den
• About good and evil, love and justice. Based on my experience with The Art of Living- Natalia Brel
• India is a country of paganism, religious intolerance, monstrous rituals and wildest superstitions- a section of publications about the aggressive essence of the past and modern Indian paganism, its crazy superstitions and rituals ...

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Disastrous banality

Art of Living Foundation founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankara addresses entrepreneurs at Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit 2016 in Gurgaon

Equally dangerous are the cult platitudes they offer day in and day out. The most popular among them are: "the same god in all of us" and "the same essence pervades us all." With the help of them, they downplay the importance of other religions and their followers to insignificance and destroy their any cultural identity (self-identification), despite their importance for people, hiding behind indulgence towards these confessions. New gurus "in age" manage their movements in such a way as to convince their followers that this cult doctrine is the essence of Hinduism, which is very tolerant, like this doctrine.

To resist these pernicious teachings can be a policy oriented towards democracy, liberalism with pluralism in its essence and spirit. Genuine democracy is the greatest enemy of these regressive movements. In recent years, politicians have been distorting the public sphere, allowing various "godmen" who directly relate to the work of politicians to speak publicly on general political issues.

The reasons for such actions should be discussed in public discussions, in order to understand whether it is a private initiative or a political one, in order to avoid the repetition of such actions. Neither Shankaracharya nor new “aged” gurus have any right to interfere in political matters. They have neither legitimacy nor authority. They are not part of official political discourse and should be removed from public life. Of course, the "godmen" are also citizens of this country, but they are no longer the only representatives of their faiths. It's like asking the Hindu nationalist guru Kanchi Acharya to negotiate a settlement to the Babri Ram Mosque dispute, which is clearly unfair to Hindus who don't see him as their spiritual leader.

The new “aged” gurus represent an even smaller (but active) number of people who have settled in their beautiful enclaves that have little in common with the rest of India. It is necessary now, more than ever, to reduce the cult influence. Otherwise, there will be a repetition of the conflict as in Gujarat elsewhere and the "dominance of religious cults in the government" will become the current reality.

There are many problems in India where "godmen" can really help. Most of them do, but limit this assistance to indoctrination of future generations of young men and women to make them less Indian citizens and more Hindu, Muslim or Christian. They don't have any "art of living", but there are a dizzying array of possibilities that we could pursue. The most common Hindu instinctively understands this until he falls prey to ideological strife or restrictive cult ideologies. One of these many ways to realize and live a good life is to enjoy the noise and chaos of democracy, which for some of us is more spiritual and sacred than a sacred text, belief in a "god-man", or the idea of ​​pilgrimage.

• Born on May 13, 1956 in the south of India;
• At the age of 4, he amazed teachers by quoting the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient text written in Sanskrit;
• His first teacher was Pandit Sudhakar Chaturdevi, a close ally of Mahatma Gandhi;
• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar became a specialist in Vedic literature and at the age of 17 received a degree in modern science;
• Honorary Doctorate in Literature, University of Kuwempu, Karnataka, India, 2004;
• Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Holistic Medicine), Open International University of Complementary Medicine, Sri Lanka, 2006;
• Honorary Doctor of Literature, Maharaja Sayajirao University, India, 2007

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a spiritual and humanitarian leader recognized throughout the world. His vision of a society free from violence and stress through the revitalization of human values ​​inspires millions of people to expand their areas of responsibility and work towards a better world.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a social activist whose initiatives include programs aimed at eliminating conflicts and the consequences of accidents and trauma, programs to help the poor, gender equality issues, rehabilitation programs for prisoners, educational programs, and campaigns against abortion and the exploitation of child labor. He is involved in peace negotiations and consulting in world conflict zones. His services were widely recognized during the peace negotiations of the warring parties in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Cameroon, Kashmir and Bihar.

In 1981 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founded an educational humanitarian, non-governmental organization " The Art of Living" , which has a special consultative status of the UN Council on Economic and Social Affairs. Present in more than 140 countries, the organization formulates and implements social and anti-stress programs. In 1997 Sri Sri founded International Association for the Development of Human Values ​​(IAHV) aimed at teaching human values ​​and the implementation of social projects.

There are about 300 million people in the world who have learned about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar thanks to personal meetings with him, his presence at significant public events, programs of the organization "Art of Living", and humanitarian initiatives Sri Sri Ravi Shankara... Since the time of Mahatma Gandhi, there has been no other such person in India who united people of different traditions and faiths into one organization.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was awarded numerous awards, such as the Order of the Pole Star (Highest State Award of Mongolia), the Order of Peter the Great ( the Russian Federation), The Shri Dnyeshwara Award (India), and the International Humanitarian Award (USA).

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar acted as a speaker at such prestigious international events as UN World Summit for Peace (2000), World Economic Forum (2001, 2003) as well as in many sessions of parliaments around the world.

Annually Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visits 30 to 40 countries, illustrating his call for the globalization of wisdom. His message says that love and wisdom triumph over hatred and suffering.

"The values ​​you stand for, including non-violence, compassion, and the integrity of human life, are at the core of what the UN stands for."

(UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon)

One world family

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar deals with the establishment of relations between religious, social, ideological and economic differences, reviving an ancient Indian ideal Vasudheiva Kutumbakam(One World Family). It reminds us that different traditions and cultures spring from the same basic values: peace, compassion, truth, belonging, and non-violence. The Art of Living Organization serves the community with a holistic secular approach, regardless of faith.

In February 2006, the Art of Living Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary in Bangalore, India. About 2.5 million people from 110 countries gathered for the celebration of the spirit of service and spiritual unity. This historic event was marked by the presence of 1,000 leaders from ten of the world's major religious traditions and 750 key global political figures. At the same time, the most numerous recorded in the history of meditations in the world was held.

In March 2007 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, DC, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar presented the World Declaration of Human Values. This document, in the form of a resolution for the UN General Assembly, presents new approach Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to stimulate understanding and harmonious coexistence different people and cultures.

In January 2005, at the First Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, held in Brussels, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar made a keynote speech.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar acted as host and facilitated a number of dialogues and settlements between various caste groups in different parts India. In 2002 at the International Center of the Art of Living Organization in Bangalore, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar hosted a three-day conference showcasing the Dalits' contributions to India's rich heritage.

"The mission of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar about a beautiful, safe, happy and peaceful society for all people on our planet is a great dream." Dr. A.P. D. Abdul Kalam, former President of India.

Conflict resolution

Being respected as an undeniable honest neutral party, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inspires many to use peaceful means of conflict resolution. He has involved conflicting parties in peace processes in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Balkans, Iraq, Kashmir, Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Cote d'Ivoire. Rehabilitation programs are being carried out in these areas everywhere to help people to eliminate such negative emotions. as anger, revenge and frustration that can interfere with the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Iraq

Art of Living volunteers have worked in Iraq on a full-time basis since September 2003, working to maintain the physical, intellectual, and emotional state Iraqis. To date, 5,000 Iraqis have taken part in rehabilitation programs in Baghdad, Basra, Sulaymaniyah and Karbala. In May 2007, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited the country on a three-day peace mission at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Iraq, Rowri al-Maliki. The Prime Minister asked Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to conduct more Art of Living programs in other parts of the country as well as in prisons.

During your visit Sri Sri Ravi Shankar urged Iraqi leaders to give nonviolence a chance. He held meetings with various representatives of Iraqi society, including key political figures, Shiite leaders, tribal leaders, representatives of humanitarian organizations, women, soldiers, and youth. Following Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's visit, the Iraqi government sent 55 young people to the Art of Living International Center for a month-long training program. As a result, more people in the cause of peace have appeared in Iraq.

Sri Lanka

Since 2004 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was actively involved in resolving the crisis in Sri Lanka. He was involved in the formation of the Sri Lanka Peace Committee, which includes Hindu and Buddhist leaders along with the Dalai Lama.

During one of his visits to the country in April 2006, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar held meetings with the President, opposition leaders and representatives of society. During his visit, he received many letters from people asking him to help restore peace in Sri Lanka. In September 2006 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, in spite of the risk, visited Kilinochchi for peace talks.

In 2006 to discuss the crisis in Sri Lanka Sri Sri Ravi Shankara In India, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasingh and two parliamentary delegations, the United National Party (UNP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), attended separately.

Since 2005, more than 1,000 Tamil youths, mostly from Jaffna, have completed the Art of Living program, after which they have renounced violence and embarked on community support projects.

"Through its various activities, the Art of Living Foundation has made a significant contribution to the spread of human values ​​in the world"

(Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India)

Jamu and Kashmir

Peaceful initiatives Sri Sri Ravi Shankara in Jammu and Kashmir are aimed at:

• Healing injuries resulting from decades of military conflict;
• Help in dialogue between people of different ideological groups;
• Improving conditions in migrant camps;
• Working with prisoners in prisons;
• Relieving stress from the military and police officers;
• Help misled youth to engage in constructive activities.

Kosovo

In Kosovo, The Art of Living has successfully carried out programs to foster dialogue between both parties to the conflict, thus expanding the circle of human ownership that was previously based on ethnicity and nationality.

The Ministry of Health of Kosovo directly supports the rehabilitation programs of The Art of Living, which have helped thousands of people, including war veterans, prisoners, medical workers, victims of war crimes, UN peacekeepers, and children in Kosovo.

"Undoubtedly, it is necessary to start programs to revive human values ​​in society and to strengthen the ideas of harmony in the world. I began to admire and appreciate your work even more."

(Mr Thorbjorn Jagland, President of the National Parliament, Norway)

Emergency management and pain relief

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar leads the international community of volunteers for urgent assistance and long-term rehabilitation of people affected by disasters. The Art of Living has led initiatives to manage emergencies and alleviate human suffering in major disasters, including in recent times:

• Floods in Bihar and Assam, India (2007);
• The Virginia Campus shootings, USA (April 2007);
• Farmer suicides in Vidarbha, India (2007);
• Flooding in Surat, India (August 2006);
• War in Lebanon (July 2006);
• Train bombing in Mumbai, India (June 2006);
• Earthquake in Kashmir and Pakistan (October 2005);
• Hurricane Katrina, USA (August 2005);
• Flooding in Mumbai, India (July 2005);
• Flooding in Gujarat, India (June 2005);
• Indian Ocean Tsunami, India / Sri Lanka (December 2004);
• Explosions in the London Underground, England (July 2005).
• Terrorist attack in a school in Beslan, Russia (September, 2004).
• Train bombings in Madrid, Spain (March 2004);
• War in Iraq (ongoing, 2003);
• Earthquake, Iran (December 2003);
• Floods in Jakarta, Indonesia (February 2007, January 2002);
• Elbe Spill, Germany (August 2002);
• Riots in Gujarat, India (2002);
• Conflict in Kosovo (2002);
• War in Afghanistan (ongoing, October 2001);
• Twin Towers Explosions, USA (September 2001);
• Earthquake in Gujarat, India (January 2001);
• Cyclone Orissa, India (October 1999).

"There are very influential people in the world, but they are not able to unite hearts and minds. Only a spiritual leader can do this."

(Mr Nouri al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq)

Supporting communities

Through its initiatives, The Art of Living is helping village communities to unite in a sustainable development process.

Program "5H"

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar started the program "5H"(training on the revitalization and maintenance of Human Values; Harmony in Diversity; Health; Hygiene; Home) in 1997 to manage socio-economic transformation that will eradicate poverty, poverty and disease, will strengthen peace and harmony among communities. The 5H program is being run by young people from rural India trained under the Art of Living program. Currently, more than 56 thousand people work in 32 thousand villages. Projects "5H" are carried out in villages and slums in Africa, Asia and South America.

Education for the poorest in society

86 schools for free education of 7,500 children each year were established in rural and sparsely populated areas of India, where child labor exploitation and poverty are widespread.

Farmer Suicide Help

The Art of Living Organization runs an easy-to-understand program in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state. It was here that the suicides of farmers took place due to crop failures and growing debts. According to initial statistics, 1 suicide was committed every 8 hours. In the 308 villages where Art of Living volunteers worked, not a single case of suicide was recorded. The Maharashtra state government asked Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to work in all problem areas.

The Vidarbha program aims to achieve the following goals:

• Building a system of mutual assistance within the community;
• Building confidence and enthusiasm;
• Promotion of alternative technologies such as organic farming, zero budget farming to increase yields in the long term;
• Rainwater harvesting;
• Implementation of the 5H program for the absolute self-sufficiency of the villagers.

Women's support program

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has inspired a number of initiatives to sustain and create opportunities for the development of women, especially in rural areas. He organized massive anti-abortion campaigns. Pay attention to low level education of women in a number of countries, in schools of the organization "Art of Living" parents are advised to send their girls to study. For example, in one school on the outskirts of Bangalore, India, 46% of students are girls. This figure continues to grow from year to year.

Women are given the opportunity to acquire a profession and are also provided at home. Educational programs for women involve the provision of housing for the period of study. Wellness programs for women include nutrition, hygiene, and disease prevention. Special courses on self-development are held, which helps women to increase their inner self-confidence.

"I approve of the emphasis on human values ​​revitalization chosen by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The Art of Living Foundation is an understandable philosophy and an easy-to-do activity."

(Sri A.B. Vajpayi, Leader of the Opposition, Former Prime Minister of India)

Supporting people

"A disease-free body, a stress-free mind, a violence-free society are the birthright of every human being."- is talking Sri Sri Ravi Shankar... He has developed many self-help programs to relieve stress, create a sense of well-being, revive human values, and inspire people from different backgrounds to come together in a spirit of service and celebration.

Sudarshan Kriya

Sudarshan Kriya Is an effective breathing technique proposed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and is the cornerstone of an extensive list of self-development programs offered to all sectors of society. The Art of Living Organization conducts courses for leaders, youth, military, children, and villagers. Special programs have also been developed for prisoners and people with alcohol and drug addiction.

Independent medical studies from institutions with a high international reputation such as NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Research) and AIIMS (Indian Institute of Medical Sciences) have documented the following benefits Sudarshan Kriya:

• Depression relief;
• Improving understanding and brain activity;
• Decrease in cortisol (stress hormone) levels;
• Change in blood cholesterol levels with a significant drop in LDL cholesterol along with an increase in HDL cholesterol;
• Strengthening the immune system.

Rehabilitation of prisoners

Since 1990, more than 200 thousand prisoners in various prisons in India, Russia, the United States, South Africa, Denmark, Cameroon, Serbia and Argentina are given the opportunity to change themselves by breaking the cycle of violence, guilt and self-flagellation thanks to the organization's "Art of Living" program. In Denmark, the national justice system has recognized the effectiveness of the course and is sending some prisoners to take it.

In India, about 100,000 highly dangerous criminals, including terrorists, have received an opportunity for rehabilitation thanks to the Art of Living Foundation. To ensure a more holistic rehabilitation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar suggested the use of such techniques as theater visits, music and dance clubs, and vocational training. In a number of correctional institutions, with the permission of the management, production workshops began to work.

Freedom from addiction

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar programs were launched to help people overcome alcohol and drug addiction. The effect was particularly high in the United States, India, Mongolia, and Bahrain. In India, addiction recovery centers operate in West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi, Calcutta, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Thanks to the 5H program, thousands of rural residents have completely given up alcohol and other bad habits.

The Art of Living is the path that India, with her experience and courage, has chosen to walk into the future. "

(Edith Cresson, former Prime Minister of France)

Over the years Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has received many different national and international awards. The shortlist includes the following awards:

• Honorary doctorates from 4 universities;
• 2007 National Veterans Fund Award, USA;
• Warsaw Kannadiga Prize, India, 2007;
• Distinguished Service for the Promotion of Peace and Harmony Award, Amity University, India, 2007;
• Peace Prize named after Saint Sri Dnyaneshwar, India, 2006;
• Order of the Polar Star, Mongolia, 2006;
• "Fiery World Love of Life", Taiwan, 2006;
• Order of Peter the Great, First Class, Russia, 2006;
• Award of the Prime Minister of Mongolia, Mongolia, 2006;
• Mahavir Mahatma Award for Contribution to Peace, Times Foundation, India, 2005;
• Dara Shikoh National Award "For Harmony", New Delhi, India, 2005;
• World Humanitarian Award, Illinois, USA, 2005;
• Martin Luther Fellows College Member, USA, 2005;
• Barat Shiromani Award, India, 2004;
• Guest of Honor Award, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004;
• Phoenix Bird Award, Atlanta, USA, 2002;
• Guru Mahatmia Award, Maharashtra State Government, India, 1997;
• "Yoga Shiromani" title, India 1986

"Day of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar" was introduced in the following cities (non-exhaustive list):

• Pomona, California, USA, July 29, 2007;
• Washington, DC, USA, March 28, 2007;
• Ottawa, Canada, September 13, 2006;
• Eddington, Canada, September 7, 2006;
• Halifax, Canada, September 10, 2006;
• Chicago, Illinois, USA, June 28, 2002;
• Beverly Hills, California, USA, May 8, 2002;
• Atlanta, Georgia, USA, April 29, 2002;
• Austin, TX, USA, January 10, 2002;
• Washington, DC, USA, August 26, 2000

"The common future of our One World Family comes from the realization that we have rented our mother earth from future generations. The Art of Living is not the end, it is the beginning for everyone and for everything."

(Professor Rand Lubbers, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Office

International Center for the Art of Living Organization, st Km. Kanakapura Road, Bangalore 560082, India.

Copied from the site "Samopoznanie.ru"

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a leader, spiritual teacher and ambassador of peace, an ardent adherent of the ideals of humanism, whose dreams of creating a free society without violence have become the real meaning of life for many, many people around the world.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born in 1956. The fact that this is an unusual and very gifted boy became clear from early childhood. He had just turned 4 years old, and he was already reciting whole passages by heart and the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient scripture in Sanskrit, which not every adult can understand.

Even then, Ravi was engaged in meditation, and his first spiritual teacher was Sudarak Chaturvedi, who at one time was a companion of Mahatma Gandhi himself. In 1973, Ravi was only 17 years old, and he had already graduated from the university and received a bachelor's degree in physics and Vedic literature.

Foundation of the Art of Living Foundation

In 1981, under the leadership of Ravi, an international non-profit educational and humanitarian organization called "The Art of Living" began its work, the purpose of which was to promote methods that allow anyone to learn how to cope with stress, which in the modern world is increasing every day, and to start receiving life is a real pleasure. One of the main advantages of the practical approaches of these techniques is that absolutely everyone can use them, regardless of belonging to a particular culture or religion.

In 1982, the world learned about the powerful breathing technique Sudarshan Kriya, which was born after Sri Sri spent ten days in absolute silence in Shimoga in the Indian state of Karnataka.

It didn't take long, and this technique, aimed at overcoming stress, the discovery internal source energy, achieving a state of calm and gaining complete freedom, has become an integral part of the Art of Living training courses. The International Association "Human Values" began its work in 1997.

In the process of its creation, Ravi Shankar took an active part. Today, this organization actively cooperates with the Art of Living in promoting projects aimed at developing society, resolving global conflicts and promoting universal human values.

Particular attention is paid by the members of these organizations to programs for the sustainable development of rural areas in India, Africa and South America, in which today more than 36 thousand villages are already involved.

Inspirational judgment and wisdom that unites the world

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inspires a huge number of people to perform real feats of humanism. Volunteers of the organizations, created with his participation, selflessly work in the "hottest" and most dangerous parts of the world.

They help victims of global natural disasters, victims of terrorist attacks, children from disadvantaged families and many, many others, become mediators in resolving global conflicts.

And all this is completely disinterested, because people are guided not by selfish interests, but by the desire for true spiritual service. Sri Sri is fluent in yoga and the art of meditation.

As a spiritual teacher that is called "from God", he was able to transform them into such a form that allows modern people To use them as efficiently as possible in the 21st century. Ancient knowledge allowed Ravi Shankar to create completely new techniques that allow him to know himself, as well as rethink his place in this world and make his relationships with people around him as effective as possible.

For 29 years, knowledge of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has helped a huge number of people living in 150 countries of the world to make their lives better, become free and happy.

Man of the world

Sri Sri Ravi Shankara is a real messenger of peace, therefore one of the directions of his work was active participation in resolving conflicts around the world, as well as promoting the ideology of non-violence through participation in all kinds of forums and meetings. Sri Sri does not support any of the world's political movements, he has his own peace program.

And it really works. It was Sri Sri who was able to achieve dialogue between the warring parties in Iraq, Côte d'Ivoire, Kashmir and Bihar. This gives hope to people involved in confrontations against their will, that from any, even the most difficult situation, there is an opportunity to get out peacefully.

Sri Sri actively advocates for the spread of universal human values ​​throughout the world. One of the main tenets of his philosophy of life is the firm belief that we are all one humanity.

Sri Sri makes every effort to achieve and maintain interreligious harmony and multicultural education. This, in his opinion, will allow achieving sustainable peace on the planet and will prevent the return of fascism, which in the 20th century claimed tens of millions of lives of innocent people. The whole world is one family, the boundaries of races, religions and nationalities do not play any role.

To build a society in which there will be no place for violence, each member of which is calm and happy, is possible only on the basis of universal human values ​​and disinterested service to the highest ideals.

His job

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's dream is a society without violence and stress. But this is not just a dream. Not only does he himself make a great effort to achieve it, but also inspires a huge number of volunteers around the world to do so. Sri Sri founded the Art of Living Foundation, becoming not only a spiritual leader and teacher of meditation, but also a real humanist and fighter for peace.

For 30 years now, he has been calling on humanity to return to universal human values, which will make it possible to reconcile representatives of different religious movements, and to establish mutual understanding between people from different social strata. Sri Sri stands for every person to realize all the social responsibility that today falls on the shoulders of each of us. Ravi Shankar himself makes a lot of efforts to promote the ideas of humanism in modern society.

The whole life and work of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is an example of selfless service to humanity. He visits areas affected by natural disasters to help organize recovery work, meets with rural youth, conducts collective meditations, talks with his students or answers their personal questions, his every action inspires more and more people not only to change their own lives, but also help others to do it. Being a real man of the world, Sri Sri has traveled the whole Earth addressing people of different nationalities, religions and social status.

It doesn't matter who is in front of him: a prisoner or the head of a large corporation, a schoolboy or his teacher, a beggar peasant or a millionaire industrialist, the thought that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar sends to people is always the same - remembering universal human values ​​and trying to make better not only your life but also the lives of the people around us. And it really works. It is quite possible to see people from countries in open military conflict sitting side by side in the Art of Living courses. This is a big step towards a "one world family" built on the idea of ​​universal unity.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar proves with all his life that the achievement of this ideal is quite real.

Relationship secrets

What is the secret of a relationship? How are they developing?

First there is attraction: you are attracted to someone. But when you very easily get what attracts you, the charm disappears. It disappears very quickly. If what attracts you to get a little more difficult, love appears in you. Has this happened to you, have you observed such a thing?

So you fall in love. What happens then? The soap opera begins very soon. You love someone and you give yourself to him, and then you start demanding. And when the demands begin, love diminishes. All excitement, joy - everything seems to melt away. And then you say, "Oh, I made a mistake." And now you are striving to get rid of the relationship with pain and suffering. And after getting rid of them, you immediately start new ones. Find a new person. And all the same is repeated.

So what do you want to know about relationships? What you really want to know is how to make them durable. Right? What secret do you want to know? How to make them durable. Not how to break them. Of course, this is not a secret. Everyone knows this. Just press one or more buttons more often. That's all it takes.

Three things are very important in any relationship: correct perception, correct observation, and correct expression.

People often say that no one understands them. Instead, you could say that you are expressing yourself badly. If you speak Russian to a Spaniard, he, of course, will not understand you. This requires correct perception, correct perception. Correct perception comes when you put yourself in the other person's shoes. When you see the situation from his point of view.

Correct perception. And correct observation. Okay, let's say you perceived everything correctly, but how do you react to it, what are your feelings, what motives, what thoughts arise within you? It is very important to observe your own mind - this is the second important aspect. Observing what is inside you, observing sensations, tendencies, habits - this is also very important. Perception of another person, then self-observation. And the correct expression. We must express ourselves correctly.

All life is a lesson devoted to only these three things: perception, observation and expression. Any mistake you make is not really a mistake. It is the process of exploring the three essential aspects of life. Well, what do you say, isn't that so? Perception needs to be expanded. You need to see not only outside person. If he grumbles or nags, we believe that he is responsible for his behavior. But if you look at it on a larger scale, many things come together in a big picture: he is nagging or fussing, which means that he is under some kind of stress. And this is reflected in the relationship. So look at everything on a large scale. One should not blame the other for what he has done or is doing, but accept him and look at him in a broader context. This will help the relationship. This is the first secret.

Second: it is the ability to give. Of course you all know this: relationship means giving. And at the same time, let the second person also give. Suppose you are doing everything, doing all the service and not letting the other do something in return. You rob him of his self-esteem. Sometimes people say, "Oh, I did so much, but this person doesn't love me anyway." Because it is unpleasant for that person. Love is where there is mutual giving. And this is possible when you give someone the opportunity to do something for you. This requires skill. You see, you need to be able to do so that another can contribute. No requirements. We know of only one way to get someone to do something for us: to demand. And if your partner does nothing for you, this love cannot last long. Because you begin to feel sorry for yourself and say: “I did everything. I was used. " You say, "I am being used." But you have to use it too. If you want your love to grow, then these are the words. “I’m being used”, you need to remove it from your consciousness. Understand that you are being used because you are useful. If you were useless, how could you be used? This happens in almost all relationships, because we do not know how to make the other person contribute. Do you agree?

You know, in ancient india In ancient times, correct giving was called dakshina. In ancient times, children were taken to schools, and they studied there with a master, with a teacher for seven to eight years, twelve years. At the end of the twelfth year, they needed to do something in return. Give something back. Thank the teacher. Pay tuition fees. Tuition fees had to be "dakshina", that is, given with great skill. The way they did it is very interesting. Suppose there are two boys in the same class: a rich one and a poor one. They had one classroom for everyone, princes and beggars. They studied in the same class. And the master told a beggar, a very poor child, to bring money. And the king's son, the prince, has to do some dirty work. And so, a boy from a poor family needs to bring ten gold coins. What should he do? He does not have such funds. If the same were told to the prince, it would be very easy. That ten, he would have brought a thousand. It is very easy for him. But this poor boy will have to walk the streets, write poetry, paint, write a play or something else, use all his creativity to get this money and come to the teacher. And even this process of giving will develop his abilities. He will have confidence in himself: “Yes, I was told to bring ten gold coins. If I could not do this, the teacher would not have told me this. And since he told me so, I can do it. " And with this confidence he will act and earn this money. In the meantime, he will earn these ten gold, all his abilities and skills will be used. It's the same with the prince - he will be told to clean the streets. He will be asked to go and do some dirty work. And he will know, understand how the servant feels. And he will become sensitive. His sensitivity to people will become more, although he lives in a palace.

This mutual bestowal, dakshina, is very important in any relationship. You need to do so that the other does something for you and does not feel like some kind of "despicable worm." He must be aware of his importance. For love to bloom, awareness of its importance is necessary. This is the second important point, the second secret.

The third aspect of relationships is to give the person free space. When you love someone, you just sit on their neck. You do not let him breathe, he is short of air. And lack of air destroys love. You need to give the other free space. And have it yourself. Respect each other's space, sometimes take a break from each other. In ancient times they understood this. You know, they said that one month a year a husband and wife should not walk through the same door. And they sent their wife to their mother's house. And this month the postmen had to work the most. Because this month caused so much melancholy, they began to write poetry, to use all their creative abilities. Love letters flew from town to town. For love to bloom, you need a strong desire. And for a strong desire you need a little free space. If you destroy desire, if you do not allow it to be in your relationship, even if it hurts a little, but you cannot do without it. Otherwise, love will not grow. The charm will be gone. So give the other person a free space and have that space yourself.

And the fourth aspect of a relationship is that it should be considered a dessert. Not the main course. If in your life there is some direction, some purpose, then you are moving in this direction, and your relationship is moving with you. If you only focus on relationships, I will tell you that nothing good will come of it. You cannot eat dessert as a main course. It is impossible to eat it like that. You see, if you have a goal in life, if the goal is the same for both of you, you will move together in this direction, and your relationship will be stronger. Well, what do you say? Of course, I am not an authority on this issue. I proceed only from observations, you see, and from my perception of what is happening in the world. This has been the case for many centuries. You need to have some goal in life, to strive for something. Serve. You see, to live for all other people ... Do you know how much money you spend on your relationships? Think about it. I'm sure you spend much less on yourself. You spend a lot more money on relationships than on yourself. And, of course, you forget about service. One person is not enough, serve all people. Sharing and serving others increases our ability to love and receive. And if you both have that goal, if both of you are moving in that direction, I'm sure you won't have a problem.

I am familiar with one such pair. Do you know what your wife said? "Panditji, I have been living with my husband for 25 years, but I cannot find a single fault in him." She said, "I don't see a single flaw in this person." They are both involved in social assistance. This is so wonderful, and they meditate, take time for themselves. I mean, everyone wants to do this, right? Therefore, when there are common interests, a common goal, a common road, it helps the relationship. Not focusing all of your time and energy on relationships.

Relationships require love, not just attraction to each other. There is aggressiveness in attraction, submission in love. This is the difference between love and mutual attraction. Although attraction is the first step, one cannot stand on the first step for too long. You need to rise higher, and this is love. Service is essential for good relationships.

Good relationships are not based on need, but on the desire to give something. Often you say, "Oh, I'm bored, I need to establish a relationship with someone." And I ask: "If you are bored with yourself, how bored with you the other will be?" You seem like an interesting person for a while, but after a few days or weeks, you stop expressing yourself and annoy each other. Because there is no depth in you. But if you are centered, if you understand yourself, your mind, if you are calm, not feverish ... You know, we do not like to be with people who are possessed by feverish anxiety. Fever repulsive. Unless, of course, you are not so full of compassion that no one's feverishness matters anymore. But especially in relationships, this fever spoils everything. When you are in love with someone, you all talk, talk, talk, talk. ... ... Why say so many words? You can just sit quietly and smile, watch the sunset and be there. Learning to be with your loved one in silence is an art in itself. Because a very in love person does not know what he is talking about. You say something that you later regret, something that might hurt another person. In a lover, the intellect is silent. I mean love in relationships. Because your intellect is asleep, you are in a fog. And in the fog, you are not aware that you are chatting and do not understand how your chatter can affect the other person. And then, ten days or even ten years later, you will find that one of your jokes really offended the other person. How many of you has this happened to? Isn't that so? This is almost always the case. Therefore, when you are centered and free from the feverishness, you are not bored with yourself and your charm becomes persistent. The closer a person is to you, the more they see charm. This is the secret of being centered, connecting with your true "I" deep within yourself. Do you understand? One day Ananda asked the Buddha: “Buddha, I have been watching you for forty years. Day and night. But I cannot understand one thing: every day you are even more beautiful. Every moment I see you, you are new. " This is the nature of our consciousness. You see, our mind is not a lake of stagnant water. It is a river that flows. Flowing fast. Do you understand what I mean? Therefore, when we flow with this river, when we are in the present moment, we do not regret the past and do not worry about the future. You know, one of the qualities of love is its eternity. When you love someone, you want that moment to last forever. We must always be together. It should always be. So we say, huh? Always, forever. Love is immortal. She is beyond limits and time. And this is what we strive for, this is our nature, our source. Just give up for a while from all other affairs and plunge into silence, and you will find tremendous strength in yourself, and your charm will become eternal. Your love will become unconditional. You have heard about unconditional love more than once. But words alone won't help. It must be in us, in our presence. Do you understand what I mean? You can lecture each other about love for hours, but if you do not radiate it, what kind of love is it? And the thing is that we do not care about the quality of our presence. Our society is losing its attractiveness. In the beginning, both of you were attracted to each other, but when your society becomes uninteresting, the attraction goes away and you just hang around your partner. You are bored, but you do not want to admit that you are bored and offend the other person. But he thinks the same way! There is a huge chasm between your minds, although it is not expressed from the outside. How can this chasm be bridged? Only by improving yourself, your society. Do you understand? Look: when you get off the plane, the stewardess sees you off with the words “have a nice day”. But she doesn't mean it! But if someone very close, dear to you, says the same thing to you: grandmother, mother, sister, brother - it touches your heart. Because there is a great feeling behind these words. Therefore, if you ever say to another “I love you”, these words should contain a very great feeling. But don't repeat them all the time. You are upset and say, "Hi honey." You say "cute" on the outside, and on the inside it makes you upset. Maybe you're trying to hide your disappointment by repeating "sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart." There is no feeling behind these words, and therefore the relationship becomes so painful and often ends.

Our love never gets old. She dies locked up. Probably the highest mortality rate in our society is in love. Have a relationship. Is not it?

Take time for yourself, a week a year, stay with nature, watch the waves, the ocean, the birds, be quiet. All these conversations give us nothing, express nothing. They only cause confusion, right? Of course, words are very important, but they have a limit. The purpose of words is to create silence within you, the purpose of words is to create peace within you. If your words create peace, you have used them correctly. If they motivate you to develop, you have used them correctly. But often, when we are in a fog, we use words that have no meaning, meaning, depth. Look into the eyes of a child: he radiates so much love! There is so much love in a child's society. And we need to purify ourselves, the quality of our presence. We never do anything to cleanse our minds, our society, right? For example, you feel angry, excited, stressed, jealous, frustrated. These thoughts turn into particles of your body and remain there in some form. They become part of either the structure of the body or its chemical composition. Only deep rest, proper breathing, or fasting can relieve you of them. If you are meditating, devote at least half an hour a week to yourself. Once a week. And breathe this time. You can remove these particles and revive yourself. Well, let's say you don't believe in breathing. Nothing wrong. Then starve. But again, don't do it yourself, from books - find a good teacher. Ordinary physician or naturopath. Someone who understands fasting. And under his guidance, fast for ten days, twelve, fifteen ... On water, juice or ... And then the toxins are removed from your body. It really helps.

True, this takes even more time, because you need to get out of fasting very slowly. If you don't have time to breathe, how do you find time to fast?

Meditation is nothing to be afraid of. What is meditation? This is a deep rest. Complete relaxation. Rest while awake. Your eyes are closed, but inside you are awake and allowing your body to become very relaxed. Meditation also helps to flush out these toxins. And then your society becomes pleasant, wonderful, beautiful. Your charm will grow steadily. You can go to a beauty salon, do makeup, dress nicely, and so on, but if you're tense inside, you can see it on your face, right? You may not be very beautiful, but if your mind is charming, if your consciousness has innocence, it cannot be expressed in words. We all have these qualities from birth. But somewhere along the way, we lost them. Just go to Kindergarten and look at the faces of the children. See what joy, peace, beauty they have. And then go to school, junior, middle, and then college. And you will see a huge difference. And this is what we are doing? And on such education we spend time, money, energy? To become more and more unhappy and stressed? And lose everything that is given to us from birth? Is not it?

See if your kids are getting happier or more unhappy every day? Admit it, how is it going? The point is that we have not taught them to clear their minds, rise higher, get rid of negative emotions that appear in life. This plays an important role.

So understanding the other person, being able to give him free space, movement and centering, and eliminating the feverishness - all this is necessary if you want to have a good relationship, because in relationships, one is drawn to the other. It is like two wheels connected to each other. You need to pay much more attention and effort to this. I don’t need to say that, you all know about it. So, correct perception, correct observation and correct expression; and as I said at the beginning I am not an authority on this issue. So if you have other points of view, other questions or ideas, I would like to hear from you.

Question: In infinite consciousness, we are all tiny grains of sand. Every moment is now. What form does the future take? Is it a potential future, a probable future, or the only possible future?

Answer: You think that the present moment is some kind of dead material phenomenon. You do not see that he is alive. If the present moment is alive, it has a choice. He lives, he can change at any moment. If he were dead, he would move like on rails, no possibility of change.

The present moment is like a bird. He moves, but at the same time he is free. He does not roll on rails, he is not bound. Do you understand what I mean? We think that only we should have a choice, and God should not have it. If he has identified something, you need to do everything exactly that way.

Why, if you have a choice, it should not be in infinity, in infinite consciousness? It will watch you to see if everything is all right with you. And then it can change its direction of movement, why not? Do you understand what I am saying? We would like to think that the future is defined, but it can be different. And it is different.

Question: Hello, it's so wonderful to see you again. If you take someone you love, and you know that you love him very much, and remember this person, but he has not yet woken up and does not remember you, how to deal with it?

Ravi Shankar: The question is just how to deal with these feelings, right?

The question continues: No, I didn't hear. The question is what?

Ravi Shankar: What if you feel hurt?

The question continues: Not!

Ravi Shankar: Well, when you love someone and they do not recognize your love? And do you feel resentment and pain?

The question continues: Right.

Ravi Shankar: Mmm, isn't it?

The question of pain, huh?

The question continues: Well, yes, probably about this too, but actually I meant that you remember them and love them, but they do not remember you. Yes, it hurts, but is there anything you can do about it? Or should you just move on, knowing they don't remember you, and just keep going?

Ravi Shankar: When you love someone, even if they don’t understand it, they love you. At least that way you will feel like you are more loved. You see, it's all about expression. Different people express their feelings in different ways. How do you know that someone doesn't love you? And again, love is not an act, it is not an act. Someone may send you ten postcards with the words “I love you, I love you” and not feel a single ounce of love inside. So don't jump to conclusions, because love is our nature. And the nature of that person too. So don't get attached to the way you express love. Come from a deeper understanding. Do you understand what I mean? And pain or resentment is part of love. You have to come to terms with it. There is no other way out. For example, if you love someone very much, and he did not smile at you, he was just busy with something, it hurts you very deeply. You are not offended by those who are indifferent to you, whom you do not know, right? Some stranger will scold you, but you are not offended. You respond in kind, and then you go home and rest in peace. Or someone looked at you badly, but you don't care, it doesn't matter. But if someone is dear to you and does not call or smile, you are in such confusion. .. Because the pain of love is inevitable. Jesus is a symbol of love, and the cross is a symbol of pain. Jesus is crucified to pain. Only by going inside yourself and turning this pain into prayer can you overcome the pain. Do you understand what I am saying? Pain can drive love out of you and make you hate. And the same pain can cause prayer, humility, make your love more unconditional. Pain can destroy the enemy of love, demand. Do you understand what I mean? Pain is the weapon that love has against inner demands. You need to delve into it, observe it and be with yourself. Pain is the very first experience in human life. Birth is very painful. The child who comes out of the mother's womb is in great pain. He goes out into the light and cries. And then the mother looks and finds out what love is. Do you understand what I mean? Pain is our first experience. But not suffering. There is a difference between the two. Pain is the very first experience in life. And beyond pain lies bliss. When you were in your mother's womb, it was so beautiful, nothing disturbed you.

This is what Buddha said: “Go beyond the cycle of birth and death, beyond birth is bliss. And with birth comes pain. "

Question: I would like to know how best to help a child release the negative emotions that build up during the day.

Ravi Shankar: Take them to Disneyland.

Continuation of the question: But they are still not happy!

Ravi Shankar: Really? Children are naturally happy. If they are unhappy, there is a reason, because you cannot be unhappy without a reason. Only one can be happy without a reason. Do you understand? There is no need for a reason. Don't force children to do serious things. Their language is a fun game. I would say this should be the case for adults too ...

Ravi Shankar: Yes. Again, you know, I heard about people who get up in the morning ... That was, maybe last year, yes, a year ago, in Switzerland. I saw a married couple there. Every morning they did this: the husband got up, sat on the bed at about three o'clock, at 3 or 5 o'clock and repeated: "I love myself, I love myself, I love myself." Of course, very soon my wife got tired of it. They met Wallace, one of our teachers, while sitting in a cafe. They said, "We are doing this kind of spiritual practice, we get up in the morning and say," I love myself. " And Wally told them, “You know, there is no need for that. We don't, we just love. " We are love, do you understand? You do not need to state this in your mind. You know, all this positive thinking isn't all that scientific. I will even say this: it is unreasonable. Suppose you are in Los Angeles and you know that you are in Los Angeles, but you don’t have to repeat every day, "I am in Los Angeles, I am in Los Angeles." If you repeat that you are in Los Angeles, you will start to doubt: maybe I am in Denver, Colorado? When you know something, you know it. You don't have to repeat it all the time. This repetition creates negativity deep within. People did not know about this, they lost sight of it, they were probably busy. But if you repeat positive thoughts, somewhere inside, negative ones accumulate. Do you understand what I mean? And the mind swings like a pendulum. Therefore, you do not need to try to love yourself, make efforts to this. Just relax deeply. Relax, breathe. You don't have to tell yourself, "I love myself." Just feel it, know that you are love. Love is not words that are in your head, but a feeling that owns your entire body. It is a vibration, a stream that flows through you. Do you understand what I mean? Of course, if you go to a psychologist or psychotherapist and talk to them, tell them about all your problems, you may feel some relief after that. And your mood will improve. But this is only a temporary measure. You know, people go to psychotherapists every day for twenty or twenty-five years in a row. Dig up trauma, you know, all childhood experiences, but relief does not come. Do you understand? So I don’t mean to say that you have to think about the negative. I am saying that you need to go beyond positive and negative thoughts. You don't need to tell yourself: "I will succeed, I will succeed." Well, you instilled this in yourself, and if once you fail, you won’t succeed twice, positive thinking doesn’t work, and doubt creeps into you. And when doubts arise, you try to avoid them and inspire yourself even more persistently. And the more effort you put in, the more the mind resists, the stronger the doubt, and complete frustration sets in. There are many people out there who practice positive suggestion. Their minds are so tense. "They don't know what peace and relaxation are because they constantly need to repeat something, because they are afraid that some negative thought will appear and begin to haunt them. And all the years of diligent positive thinking will be wasted. Do you understand what I mean?

The mind obeys other laws. What you resist in your mind persists. And if you resist negativity, it will persist. It takes skill to solve this problem. And I can tell you that breathing is a very good helper in this matter.

Question: Is love more than love for someone, or does it end when you feel love for all of humanity and for all the people you meet?

Ravi Shankar: Yes. Life is given in order to understand that you are love. And you are in the ocean of love. If you look at a tree, a bird, ocean waves, a flower and feel the same love that you felt in a relationship, the same feeling overwhelms you, then your smile becomes eternal. Nothing in the world can erase that smile from your face.

Question: Can you talk about how opposites attract or repel? I've heard that people are attracted to each other depending on how similar they are. Are opposite or similar characters attracted?

Ravi Shankar: It attracts energy, right? Both are possible. At the level of the mind, similar ones are attracted. If the mind is strong, then it happens like this, if the body is strong ... I mean, everything is ambiguous here. This a difficult situation... Do you understand? All these tastes and preferences, they can change throughout life. Just know that you are whole. You are total and everything is in you.

Question: There is such a situation: a child is in a catastrophe and for several years he cannot speak or move, but he understands everything. And parents have a variety of feelings. There is love, but the energy leaves, it is no more. What to tell them, and how? And they don't react to each other. They seem to want to love, but they cannot. How can they open a new channel, what can they do?

Ravi Shankar: I will give you an example. You know, there was a son in a very famous Indian family. The child had a fever, and the mother went to the doctor for medicine. The doctor prescribed some kind of gray-containing medicine, and the father did not know that the mother had already given this medicine. He gave the child another dose. He just wanted to quickly cure the child of the fever. But it so happened that the medicine poisoned the child and he lost his sight. They began to travel with him around the world to different specialists: to New York, to Germany, to Japan. But no one could help them. This man felt such guilt, and the wife was also unhappy. And this incident greatly affected their relationship.

But what to do? The child's eyesight cannot be returned. Nothing can be done: the optic nerve is damaged. The retina is damaged.

Then, a few years ago, I told him: "Look, you have one such child, and without eyes there are millions of children." It moved him. He set up a donor eye transplant hospital. And he devoted all his efforts to the organization of hospitals and eye treatment centers in several regions of the country. And you know, millions of people have received help. It was only ten years ago. We met him in 1986. And now, in 1997, this man does so much. for others. And he said, "Guruji, I would never have done this if this misfortune had not happened in my family." People are so grateful to him for taking care of donor eyes (You know, when people die, their eyes can be saved for transplantation to others). So if you look at it from a broader perspective, there is something in every event that will push you towards something good.

Question: The desire to have a partner and materialism. How does this complicate the relationship? How do you think you can overcome the subconscious impact of this?

Ravi Shankar: People are attracted to each other on a physical level. But if it is only a physical attraction, it does not satisfy the person. There is so much pornography, but not everyone watches it and not everyone gets satisfaction if it's only sex. Because the desire in the mind is not only a desire for sex, but also for something more. This is why the question of relationships arises at the second level of our existence - in the mind. When we want to be taken care of. You see, in passion, in sex, the second person becomes an object. In physical attraction there is only aggression, but in love there is self-giving, humility. A transformation is taking place because the mind experiences love at a deeper level of existence, not just the physical.

Of course, love is reflected on the physical level as well. Therefore, it is not possible to take only a part of this phenomenon and draw some kind of conclusion. Again, sex is the energy that makes this happen, and breathing is also associated with sex. Touch is associated with breathing, with air, with the element of air. You see, under water, the sense of touch is completely different. You don't feel touched. For sense of touch needs air. So your breath is responsible for sensations.

Question: On the way here, I thought about; this meeting in Santa Monica, about love, about how you can love your child and at the same time pollute environment? How to love someone if there is a conflict in Bosnia? If there are Jews and Palestinians fighting each other? What should I teach him? What example am I setting? Mass destruction, genocide - I don't understand that.

Ravi Shankar: Yes, all this exists because we have not taught people basic human values. A simple lack of education is the cause of all these troubles and wars. We do not know anything about our body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego or "inner self" of the seven levels of our existence.

You know, a person says that Islam is good, not because of the very value of Islam, but because: "I am a Muslim, so Islam is good!" When someone says, "The Bible is good!" - he does not say this because of the value of the Bible as such, because it is a great book. But: “I am a Christian - then the Bible is good! I am a Hindu, so the Gita is right! "

We identify with the limited ego: "I am something or I am someone!"

It is similar to how children at school say to each other: “My mom is better than yours! My teacher is better than yours! " The same childish mentality is present in adults who say: “My culture is better than yours! My religion is better than your religion! " Do you understand? Therefore, when a person first of all identifies himself with some kind of religion, he is ready to give his life in order to preserve this belonging. He says: "Even if I die, I will remain a Jew!" Isn't that stupid ?!

First of all, we are the spark of the divine. We are love!

Secondly, we are human.

Thirdly, we are a man or a woman.

Fourthly, we live in a certain country, we belong to this or that nation.

Fifth, we profess one religion or another.

But we are losing this order. We never think that we are part of the divine, we forget that we are first of all human. We only repeat: “This is the Western culture, and that is the Eastern; this is a western tradition, and that is an eastern one; this is a Western religion, and then an Eastern one. "

This limitation must end. You own everything that is on this planet. Whether wisdom comes from the Bible, from the Avesta, the teachings of Tao or Lao Tzu, it belongs to you. Lack of proper spiritual education led to religious fanaticism in today's world. Is not it? Therefore, you need to give people the right spiritual education. What is correct spiritual education? This is the understanding that we are all one. We are all part of the divine. We all people. In our society, training in human values ​​is necessary.

They say "Western religion." What is Western religion? This is the religion of the Middle East, right? Today in the world there is only religion of the Middle East and just the East. There is no Western religion, right? But we divide everything in our minds into oriental and non-oriental, good and bad.

All these conflicts, not only in one country, but all over the world, are caused by delusions. Do you understand? So take the very best from every culture, from every religion, from every continent, and then you will be a 21st century person.