Love is also a gift. When it is there feel grateful and when it is not be prayerful Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at live webcast of Satsang on 13 Nov #Transcript Sri Sri: Hmm... Today, farmers from all over India have come to the Bangalore Ashram. You are all welcome. Today, many people have joined us today from 55 countries from live webcast. So, I will speak in English and Hindi today. Meanwhile, there should be simultaneous translation happening. We will do that also. The country in which farmers are happy, all the people in that country will be happy. The country in which farmers are unhappy, that country cannot be without sickness or happy. That is why it is very important that the farmers should be happy. There are two reasons for this: 1. Increase faith in yourself, then you get the strength to face issues in life. 2. Plan what you can do so that you do not have to face issues. What is in your hand, you do. Whatever is not in your hand, you pray to God. In the next three days, we will discuss many things and I am sure that you will benefit. If you benefit then lakhs and crores of people will benefit. Because of your efforts, so many people are benefiting. When I was a child, my father used to tell us to chant Anna Datta Sukhi Bhav (may the person who is giving me this food be happy) before and after eating food. I have only heard my father say this mantra. I have not heard him say any other shloka (chant). So, in this three people are covered. Who are Anna Datta (giver of food)? 1. The farmer who grows anna (food crops). 2. The businessman who transports the anna. If the businessman does not do business properly then both the farmer and people suffer. In our country, a lot of crops are grown. Those who hide grains and do not give the correct price for crops, or sell it at a very high price, when you do such things the grains rot. In our country, a lots of food is grown. But due to issues in the distribution, some people go hungry while some crop gets rotten. And then there are no buyers. Only one who is sick will create problems. The person who creates problem is only because they are not happy, not content. If businessman is content and happy, he will not exploit the farmers. If businessman is not doing business properly, then it causes sorrow for both people and farmer. In one kg of rice, there is 200gm of stones! And they should give the proper amount to the farmers. They should not be consumed by greed. As per the Dharma shastras, the businessman should keep 20% profit. But here they take more than 50%. is it like that? How many farmers agree? If they make more money, they should give a portion of that money to the farmers as well. May the businessman be happy and spiritual. 3. The lady who cooks in the house should be happy. If the lady who is cooking is crying, then the person who eats that food cries; food does not get digested. So, the lady should be happy. Pray to God. If you see there is only one Annadatta: God. God is happy. But at the material level, these three people who are anna datta (givers of food), these people should be happy. Pray to God for their happiness. Everyone should say this prayer everyday before or after eating food. Bless them that the people who give you food be happy. India is one of those countries where there is a lot of rainfall. Even though we have so much water, we are not using that properly. We are using chemical fertilizers that other countries have rejected. This spoils the land and also wastes money. There are many specialists here. We will discuss all this. We will also talk about how the number of animals have reduced in this country since the time of independence. This is your spiritual home. Stay happily here. Do some pranayama and meditation in the morning. If you are healthy, then the food that you grow will also bring health to the people who eat the food. The whole world is a vibration. Our vibrations should be sattvic, then food in your farms will also grow well. You will have green fingers. We do Lakshmi pooja every Friday. So tomorrow, you all can participate. First we will pray to the Divine that there are rains on time, let everyone have good intellect, let no one go hungry in this world, and every seed that falls on the ground should sprout. After this prayer, we will take our work forward. When we came into this world, we were dependent on others to provide us food and water. The same is the case when we grow old. The elderly want someone to hold the bag, hand, and help in climbing stairs. In the youth as well, we are dependent on others, such as rain. We should know that when we depend on God, then we get strength in difficult times. They say, Nirbal ka bal, Ram. (The lord is the strength of the weak.) Once, you know this then can you ever be weak and helpless? Audience: No Then you will be self-dependent. Q: Why should Yazidis suffer so much? Sri Sri: These questions have no answers. It is connected with something much bigger than our understanding. You do not need to come to a conclusion why they are suffering, instead do what you can do help them. We have collected 110 tonnes of food material and supplies in the desert, where you do not get anything. And 110 tonnes is not a small amount! We are airlifting that, tents, and other things to people who are caught in the Sinjar mountains. 9500 of them are there. Our Art of Living machinery is working. Anyone who wants to help can contact IAHV, our organization. Create the awareness in people about their suffering. In middle ages, this was the case with Parsis. Parsis were chased out of Iraq. They were given shelter in India. They came from Iraq in small boats and landed in Gujarat. The kings were full of compassion. They allowed them to follow their own religion and keep their tradition alive. This has been an ancient custom of India to give protection to those whose existence was threatened. Similarly, Jews also came to India. They were also given protection here. Today, Yazidis are in trouble and so Art of Living is going to help them preserve themselves. Art of Living is doing everything possible to help them come out of the trauma and their current situation. Q: Is the relationship with the Guru eternal? Are we always with the same Guru through lifetimes? I hope yes. Sri Sri: Why you do not want to finish the journey in one lifetime? You are asking a tricky question. You better finish your job now. Who knows what you will be in the next lifetime. Better make use of this lifetime. Q: Once you are enlightened, then what? Sri Sri: First you get to that stage. Then I will tell you what is next. Q: Getting love is painful and maintaining it also painful. Which pain to choose? Sri Sri: Choice is yours, blessing is mine. If you want to choose pain, you are most welcome. Choose bigger pain. Love for the planet, love for the whole humanity, love for the animals. Animals have the right to exist. Look into the eyes of the calves, dogs, chicks. This entire creation is filled with love. How can people slaughter them to fill their tummy. It is not even healthy. Q: The ashram has become a fortress. It was easier in the olden times to get peace in the ashram. Sri Sri: Be in the present moment and listen to all the knowledge points. In olden days, there must be few people. Now, there are more people. When more people are there is more possibility for you to share your wisdom and gain patience. You should also grow. You cannot be stuck to the way you were 30 years back. Got it? 30 years back, you could interact with 10 people. Today, you may have to interact with 1000 people. We should expand as the time grows. You should not just shrink into your shell. We have said Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. We have accepted the whole world as our family. Then you should rise up to that ideal. Do not always see what is comfortable for you and what is not comfortable for you. You should get out of your comfort zone and bring comfort to others. This is most important. Ask others how many people are comfortable with you. And how many people you make them feel happy and comfortable? You should ask them. You will find if you dislike people, you will find that you are not friendly. As we expand, we become friendly with people having different natures from all parts of the world. Sometimes we are happy with people only from our state, our own country, or our own religion. Here, it is a mix. You have to mix with everybody. There are Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikh and from every state of India: from North East to Kerela; from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. You will find people from all over the country. Their behavior, language, food habits, mannerisms are different. And similarly we have people from all over the world. We have people from Japan to Canada to Argentina. So you need to learn and bring comfort to others. You have had enough peace of the olden days. Now it is better you give peace to others. Today is the anniversary of The Art of Living: 13 November. Actually, there is no beginning for this knowledge. Formally, our organization was registered on 13 November 1981. One of the first trustees was Justice Krishna. It is his birthday today. He has turned 100 years old today. In the olden days, the ashram was small. There was no home with a proper roof in all the villages surrounding the ashram. Today, all the homes in the village around the ashram have shelters. In the ashram as well all the roofs were made of grass and the leaves of coconut trees. The kind of accomodations that used to be available in ashrams in olden days. I like simplicity. In those days, we used to draw water from the well. The electricity used to come from generator for one or two hours only per day. Due to rain and strong winds, the roof used to fly away and water used to enter. At that time there werent many trees. One person said, we have to make a very nice meditation center in the ashram as so many people are coming. Then I designed a meditation center. This is the Vishalakshi mandap. After close to 15 years, we started constructing rooms with roofs. I agreed to this only on the condition that for every pillar, one house should be constructed for the villagers around the ashram. The volunteers constructed homes and toilets in villages all around the ashram. In all the villages around the ashram, lots of toilets were constructed. Q: About time. Sri Sri: First of all go into meditation you will realize there is space and only space. At that time you can also know how there is no time at all. It is in the mind. There is a small booklet on time and space. Pick up that book and celebrating silence. Q: Why do I sometimes feel love and sometimes feel no love? What sustains love? Sri Sri: Love is also a gift. So when it comes, be grateful. When it is not there, there is longing for it and prayer will arise out of it. Let it be. Poems will arise out of it. Dont think poem comes only when there is love. When longing is there, then prayers and poems will come and lot of miracles can happen. Enjoy that. Q: Once you are enlightened, then what? Sri Sri: First you get to that stage. Then I will tell you what is next. Q: Getting love is painful and maintaining it also painful. Which pain to choose? Sri Sri: Choice is yours, blessing is mine. If you want to choose pain, you are most welcome. Choose bigger pain. Love for the planet, love for the whole humanity, love for the animals. Animals have the right to exist. Look into the eyes of the calves, dogs, chicks. This entire creation is filled with love. How can people slaughter them to fill their tummy. It is not even healthy.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 17:31:20 +0000
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