Duncan Trussell Family Hour - 517: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Episode Date: July 14, 2022

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru and wonderful human, joins the DTFH! You can learn more about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on his website, SriSriRaviShankar.org. Gurudev is also the founder of The Art of Living and The International Association for Human Values, be sure to check them out as well! Original music by Aaron Michael Goldberg. This episode is brought to you by: ZipRecruiter - Try for FREE at ZipRecruiter.com/Duncan Babbel - Sign up for a 3-month subscription with promo code DUNCAN to get an extra 3 months FREE! Squarespace - Use offer code: DUNCAN to save 10% on your first site.

Creating a customized wardrobe that fits your style just got easier with Indochino's new women's wear line. Find the perfect fit that's made just for you from Indochino. For 10% off your order, use promo code WOMEN when you visit Indochino.com. Greetings, friends! It is I, Dee Trussell. You are listening to the Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast, and I'm recording this on Wednesday, July 13th, which is a very special holiday that many of you might not even be aware of. It's called Guru Purnima, and this is the day where people all over the world celebrate the guru.

In the West, many people are guru illiterate. We have an idea of the guru that comes from a kind of amalgam of terrifying stories of cult leaders who called themselves gurus. It's an entire genre of documentaries where these mystical figures inevitably end up getting caught up in some kind of rotten scandal, and then everyone's embarrassed and it's a tremendous mess. I guess the classic example of this is the song Sexy Sadie by The Beatles on the white album that originally John Lennon wanted to title Maharishi, but they decided not to. It's considered one of the original diss tracks, and they wrote the song about a guru

that they had been hanging out with that tried to hook up with Mia Farrow. So because of countless stories like that, a lot of people in the West, whenever they hear the term guru, they bristle because they associate that term with charlatans, grifters, scam artists, and nefarious narcissists. Whenever I say I have a guru, I kind of cringe inside because I know whoever I'm saying that to is probably going to think that I'm about to invite them to a sleepover where we drink coconut juice mixed with Xanax and weed killer and try to fly our souls into a spaceship that's orbiting planet Earth. But traditionally, there's lots of different types of gurus.

There's not just the ultimate radiant, eternal portal through which all love shines into the Earth realm. There's also the teacher, like one who gives you basic instruction about some spiritual practice or the guide, like a guru who actually helps you with rather mundane aspects of your life. And then there's the sort of guru that you're going to meet today, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I don't know how I got lucky enough to have the conversation that you're about to listen to with this beautiful human. It's actually a little confusing to me and I need to look up who connected us so that I could thank them because this was one of my favorite conversations of my entire life. So my apologies if I seem like I'm stammering or sort of, I don't know, off a little bit.

I was just dealing with this person's presence and how wonderful it was making me feel and how I kind of just didn't want to talk anymore. I just wanted to sit with him because he radiates this wonderful, sweet, joyful energy that I can still kind of feel it now in my podcast studio and in my heart. And I know that might sound cheesy to a lot of you. I can't help it. It's the truth. So regardless, I'm very excited for you to meet Sri Sri Guru Dev Ravi Shankar. He is a wonderful human and hopefully you'll get the chance to see him one day.

We're going to jump right into this episode, but first this. I want to thank Zip Recruiter for supporting this episode of the DTFH. Have you ever stayed at a nice place or eaten in a really nice restaurant and everybody there is treating you and all the guests as though you are all emissaries from some ancient kingdom? You know what I'm talking about? Where everyone working there is the most charismatic, awesome, sweet person ever. When this happens, it's not an accident. It's probably because whoever is doing the hiring there was working with Zip Recruiter,

who can help you find incredible talent for whatever roles you're trying to fill at your business. Zip Recruiter uses powerful technology to find and match the right candidates up with your job. You can easily review these recommended candidates and invite your top choice to apply. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. So travel to this easy to remember web destination, ziprecruiter.com slash Duncan. That's where you can try Zip Recruiter for free. Again, it's ziprecruiter.com slash d-u-n-c-a-n. Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire.

And we are back. My loves, if you're listening to this on the week of July 13th, I'm going to be at the Denver Comedy Works. A lot of the shows have already sold out, so don't wait. Get your tickets so that you're able to get tickets. Also, I'm going to be in San Diego coming up. I'm going to be in Miami. I'm going to be at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco.

All the links you can find at dunkintrustle.com. And finally, won't you sign up for our Patreon? It's patreon.com forward slash d-t-f-h. We do a weekly meditation and a weekly family gathering. I would love for you to come hang out with your one true family. And now everybody, please welcome Guru Dev Shri Shri Ravi Shankar to the podcast. This is an incredible human who has been doing beautiful things all over the planet. He has a variety of nonprofits out there that are helping people who are in prison,

that are helping people learn breathing methods and yogic methods that help harmonize the body, mind, and emotions. And he's just a wonderful person. And I feel so lucky that I got a chance to have a conversation with him. You can find everything you need to know about him at ShriShriRaviShankar.org or the links will be at dunkintrustle.com. And now everybody, please welcome to the DTFH Guru Dev Shri Shri Ravi Shankar. Welcome, welcome on you, that you are with us. Shake hands, no need to be blue, welcome to you.

It's the dunkintrustle. Guru Dev, what a joy to have you on the DTFH. Thank you so much for being here. I only have a little bit of time with you. So I have a question I have been struggling with that I think you might be the perfect person to answer, which is the concept of world peace, which you promote with your life and everything you do, to many of us feels unreachable, impossible kind of dream. And to me, in particular, the connection between the technology and the computers, the phones,

the cars and profound suffering in the production of those tools that people are using for world peace feels paradoxical, if you know what I mean, that we are using chips and phones built by people like in a form of human slavery in different parts of the world. And even though the technology itself is being used to promote world peace, how do we square the problem of its connection to deep human suffering? You see, technology has united the people across the globe. It has done so much good to our society that information is able to flow freely. Having said this, I will say overuse or misuse of any technology is not congenial for human evolution, human growth.

So no doubt technology is needed and we can't go back. We are already in the technological era that there is no question of going back, but we can judiciously use it to benefit us rather than creating harm to our own nervous system. And technology is like a tool which should be used, you know, with care. Otherwise, you know, you end up losing your good sleep, you end up, you know, destroying your own sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, which we have seen that's happening in kids when they are addicted to cell phones, you know, they can't walk even properly, they start wobbling. So we have to take good care of those misuse or overuse of technology, yes. Yes, thank you. But the technology itself, I was having a conversation with a friend regarding activism and this is something that I'm inspired by what you do.

You're activism, you're the volunteerism you've inspired all around the world. But how are like the technology that we are using to do the good is connected to people in China and various places who are not being forced to do the work or not being paid enough to do the work. And I'm sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but it seems like behind everything, there is profound suffering, violence, oppression and that peace or world peace or even how can we even find inner peace knowing that the things around us that we are using have been manufactured in a way that is hurting the environment of the earth by people who are suffering. Do you understand my question? Duncan, yes, I understand. I mean, I get your question, you see. Suffering is insurmountable. Today in the world in various areas you see whether it's due to poverty, illiteracy, ill-educated people taking weapons in their hand and there is religious tensions in the globe. Yes.

All sorts of problems are there. You see humanity swinging to two extremes. Post pandemic we see so much of depression and even World Health Organization has recognized in the biggest challenge the planet is facing today is of depression. That could be the biggest disease mankind is facing. Suicide of tendencies. Can you imagine 400 doctors commit suicide every year in US? There are doctors who are supposed to save others life. And so the depression is high on the one side. On the other side there is aggression and the drop of the hat people lose their temper. Yes. And they, you know, they're ready to kill each other.

Yes. On the other day I heard in the traffic lights there was some argument between two taxi drivers and they got out of the car and they shot each other where passengers are sitting in both the cars. I mean, this is height of intolerance. Yes. And the root cause of all this is lack of education in peace. We have not learned about our own mind, our own consciousness, neither in school nor at home. They teach you how you can manage your mind. Yes.

You know, how you can manage your emotions, how you can be patient, how you can be resilient, how you can have hope in your life in the darkest time. Yes. These are the things that we need to bring as education. See, with lack of education, diseases spread. If people don't know that they need to wear masks or they need to follow certain protocol, they start inflicting disease to others. In the same way, we need to learn how you can manage your negative emotions. Yes. This, you know, education is missing.

And that is what we are trying to do from Art of Living Foundation, educate people about their own mind, about their own, you know, consciousness. Yes. How they can manage the inner peace, because inner peace is the key for outer peace. Yes. Thank you for that. This terrible polarization between aggression and depression is, it seems to be being amplified by technology, amplified by this incredible device that we are using to communicate. Based on what you have said, in a world where there is this polarization, this lack of education, this sort of spiritual illiteracy or whatever you want to call it, how to possibly even start the conversation? What is the best way to get any kind of information out there?

You know, people like me, I think I like to fantasize that people who listen to my podcast, they meditate, or at least they're interested in some of these topics. But how do you get this information out past that group of people, to the people who are getting out of their taxis and shooting each other, to the people who are in shadowy rooms and can't even get out of bed? How do you even break through the, how do you break through the defense mechanisms that seem to be? You know, this exactly is where technology can be, the same technology which is disrupting social and, you know, the normal life in society can also be used to help people to get out of, say, someone is depressed in their own home. And there are a number of, you know, messages like what you are doing in the podcast, watching the podcast or learning to meditate online. These things will help them. You know, we are doing online courses ever since the pandemic began. Yes. Millions are doing it around the world. You know, about one million healthcare professionals have done the program online.

I tell you. And then, you see, the letters they have sent me, the messages they have sent me is very touching. They said, this has pulled them through the most toughest time of their life. And I feel this is how we need to help people where the need is there so much. See, today because of the social media, people are able to know information which they would otherwise may not be knowing so well. So, there are the other side, the flip side of that also is there, that it can help many people to get over their depression. For example, healthcare professionals, you see, they are so busy, they can't go to any class anywhere. But if something is available online, they put their, you know, earphones and they sit and relax and take the 20 minutes to relax and meditate. And it definitely helps them.

Yeah. Yes. Thank you. But gosh, why is it so hard to meditate? I meditate once a week. And sometimes I'll meditate. I'll meditate maybe two days in a row. That's pretty good. Three days in a row. Wow. Inevitably, though.

Entropy kicks in. Something happens. And then I'm not meditating anymore. Why is it so easy? Why so easy to watch TV? Why so easy to play video games? Why so easy to drink vodka? Why is it so difficult to meditate?

No, in fact, meditation takes away the other difficulties in life. It's not so difficult. See, if you meditate that little bit time, you give it to yourself. I usually call it mental hygiene, you know. In the morning, kids who rebelled to brush their teeth in the night, they would say, you know, I don't... But the mom pulls them and make them brush their teeth so that you can keep all your teeth. You see. Yes.

And then once it gets ingrained in your routine, then you find it is so easy. It just fits very well with you. Because it adds time to you, it adds energy to your routine. And whenever you are a little tired, it just pumps you back with energy. I mean, the benefits are many. It keeps you healthy. Not only that, it boosts your immune system five times more. See, when you know the enormous benefits it brings to you, then you would not miss that, you see.

You would like to do it. And for this reason, I have made a number of meditations and I put it out there in the YouTube and also in the apps. Several apps are carrying my meditations. So people can download it, can do it. All by yourself, you may find it difficult and that is where you have the guided meditations. Oh, I see. It makes it very easy for you to do it. I see, yes.

Meditation is not an effortful process. It's just like taking a good nap, but a conscious rest. Yes, I've never heard that description of it and I love it. That's beautiful. If you don't mind, could you explain a little bit the sort of meditation that you teach and what lineage is it in? Where is this method coming from? Well, you know, if you observe a baby from the age of three months to three years, a baby is a yogi. It does all the yoga exercises.

Yes. And the way a baby breathes is yogic breath. And the way baby sleeps, you know, baby sleeps like this. You will see world over. It's a sort of meditative state. So, yoga and meditation, though they have come from the Eastern tradition, but it is common to people all over the world. It is just a matter of you observing. I often say you observe a baby at home.

You don't need a yoga teacher. You know, they live in the present moment. Yes. The baby is crying and the tears are still in its cheek, but it starts smiling. So, it lives so much in the present moment, not like an adult that you had an argument and you frowned for weeks, you see. Yes. It's not over. So, it gives you the ability to let go of the past and be in the present and move forward.

So, these are the benefits that meditation brings. Though meditation is coming from the Eastern tradition, from the Hindu tradition, Buddhist and Jain religion. They've all been advocating also in the Far East, Taoism, Shintoism in everywhere. And I'm sure when we go to the deep roots in the Middle East, you will also find it in Christianity, Islam and Judaism too. Because meditation is not religion actually, but you can find that in every religion. There are roots, but unfortunately we have moved so far away from the spiritual part of any faith. We are so much caught up in the outer, the external rituals and we are caught up in theories and theology. We miss the basic essence that is love, compassion, peace of mind, you know, putting others before you, the service attitude.

These are the values that have been forgotten. And I call these as spiritual value, that which upholds life, that which creates enthusiasm in you, that broadens your vision to embrace everybody, you know, bipartisan approach to life, to society. These are spiritual values and they are common to everyone. Another example I can give you is, it's like emptying a cup. You know, emptiness in any cup is the same. But if you want to fill it with the cup, okay, one cup could have soup, another could have ginger ale, another cup could have tea or coffee. You know, when you have to fill cup, you could fill with many different things.

But when you empty the cup, the emptiness is same in all the cups. See, and meditation is getting to that inner emptiness which gives rise to fullness in life. Thank you, Babbel, for supporting this episode of the DTFH. Here's my fantasy. I want to take my wife to Paris. I've been wanting to take this trip for years but it got interrupted by a global pandemic and us having kids. But it's a fantasy. The fantasy is we go to Paris and she doesn't realize I've been using Babbel and that I am fluently speaking French. I don't think she's going to care. Honestly, the fantasy kind of ends with me ordering food for us having like a passionate conversation with a accordion player, one of those accordion players who's got a monkey. That's as far as I've gotten with my fantasy but it's still something I want to do.

And Babbel is helping me do it. Thanks to Babbel's addictively fun and easy bite-sized language lessons, there's still time to learn a new language before you reach your destination. There's especially time for me because there's no way we're going to Paris until the kids are much older. But these lessons are incredible. If you're somebody who's got some kind of weird trauma associated with learning a language in high school, this is not that. With Babbel, you only need 10 minutes to complete a lesson so you can start having real-life conversations in a new language in as little as three weeks. With Babbel, you can choose from 14 different languages including Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Plus, Babbel's speech recognition technology helps you to improve your pronunciation and accent. There's so many ways to learn with Babbel. In addition to lessons, you can access podcasts, games, videos, stories, and even live classes.

Plus, it comes with a 20-day money-bag guarantee. Start your new language learning journey today with Babbel. Right now, save up to 60% off your subscription when you go to Babbel.com slash Duncan. That's Babbel.com slash Duncan for up to 60% off your subscription. Babbel Language for Life. Is the emptiness always there? Even in a very full cup or a very full person, is it a fundamental quality, this emptiness? Or is it something we cultivate or harvest or expand into? You know, it's so interesting. Our human mind is akin to an atomic structure. The central core is positive protons like positivity. The negativity is only in the circumference. So it's not the very core of any individual. Because every child who has come into this planet has come as an angel, has come with so much joy.

No bad child was born, I tell you. If someone has cultivated all these bad habits, it's due to environment, lack of proper education, whatever reasons. But basically, human nature, which is good and benevolent, is always there. That's why I say that it's possible to get rid of, reform anybody. Thanks to the reformers in the world, capital punishment is almost gone. Almost in every country has banned, except few countries, they still are in the barbaric age. See, inside every culprit, there is a victim crying for help. If you heal the victim, the culprit will disappear. And that's what we need to do. And all these techniques, meditation and breathing exercise, the sky breathing techniques that we do. Some people say, oh, I have no time to meditate, I can't meditate. But nobody can say I have no time to breathe.

No, I can't. Or you just do the breathing. I'm too busy to breathe. I've got to go to work at a long time. You can't be above the ground also. So it's very important to do that, you know, attend to our own breath that can remove a lot of stress and anguish from us. Yes, it's breathing. I forget to breathe. I mean, I don't obviously, I don't forget to breathe. But sometimes when I am meditating, watching my breath, I'll think, ah, your breath, it's so shallow. It's barely breath at all. And so are you saying that you have to retrain yourself to breathe?

You have to, it's something that we have to work on consciously. And from that, a lot of the problems maybe we're connecting to other things in life might just go away. Meditation, it should be sandwiched between the breathing exercise before and after. When you do breathing exercise before meditation, it helps you to go deep in meditation. And when you come out of meditation, when you do some breathing exercise, it can clear a lot of toxins from the system and make you more dynamic and fresh and alive. But during meditation and breath goes all very shallow. That's a very good sign of meditation. That is okay. Oh, good. Good news.

Guruji, would you mind for those listening, could you explain to us your breathing method or a simple breathing method that maybe people listening could do now? You know, this is 42 years since I've been talking about this, about breath and meditation. You know, around the world, 1981, I started and now with the 40. So there are a number of techniques that are there. But some of the breathing techniques like sky breathing techniques, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga, it needs an instructor. A couple of days to initially learn. And then you can just do it 10 minutes on your own. Sudarshan Kriya is very, very powerful and interesting in the sense that it instantaneously gives us the much needed relief that we are looking for in our life. And it just elevates our whole consciousness. It makes you happy.

That's why we started calling it happiness program, you know, happiness course. Because it brings so much joy in people's life. See, there is a rhythm in the nature, right? Seasons flow in rhythms. There is summer and then there is fall and then winter and spring like that. In the same way, there is rhythm in our body too, you know. Biorhythm is there, you know. There is an archaic cycle that we go through. You sleep at particular time and you feel hungry at other time. So there is a rhythm in the body and there is a rhythm in the breath also, which rarely people have noticed. Your breath moves in certain rhythms and it is connected to our thought patterns and our emotions.

There is a rhythm in our emotions too and there is an innate rhythm deep within you. Now what Sudarshan Kriya does is brings harmony between all those rhythms. So life no longer becomes a noise but a music. There is harmony. See, the difference between chaos and noise and music is a symphony is where all the rhythms are in alliance. In the same way, when our body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, all these faculties, inner faculties, they rhyme in rhythm. Then the impact of it is since a blissful experience, which people go for, you know, with hard drugs and they try to get some high through many other means. You don't need to do any of those. Attaining to your own breath and learning the breathing technique, meditating, can uplift your mood beyond your wildest imagination.

Speaking of drugs, have you ever taken psychedelics or mushrooms or hard drugs? Have you ever experienced any of the substances that some of us are taking? Do you have any curiosity about it? You don't even wonder what that must be like? No, I haven't tasted because I saw the people who have been in it and they don't look very inspiring to me. They were not physically fit or mentally alert and, you know, the downside of that which they go through when they come out of the impact, that is good enough to put you off, you know, and the suffering it has caused to people, their families are something that, you know, I cannot even describe. And so I never even venture to even try it even once because I have seen so many young people's lives are destroyed, their careers are destroyed, their families are in pain and suffering.

So that is why, you know, I say that, of course, now today in the West there are many other versions of it and there are opioids issue for pain killers that people take. And then you get addicted to it and then many are dying out of opioids. We have done some experiment here in the state of Ohio. That's true. For opioid addicts by giving the breathing technique and it had worked wonders for them. You know, they are able to get out of it. You are able to manage your pain without the pain killer when you attend to your breath and meditate. So I find when you have something so beautiful, which is, which makes you healthy, happy and uplift the spirit in you and everyone around you, I think everyone should go for it.

Yes. Now, let me thank you for that. I'm sorry. I think my question. Somebody's speaking of it. Someone just overdosed nearby, I guess. Now, if I could be a little more specific, I mean, yes, I do agree with you, the opioids, those sorts of drugs. I guess I meant more sort of like soma that they talk about and the Vedas or the ayahuasca.

So many people are drinking ayahuasca now and having these healing experiences. That's more what I meant. What are your thoughts on those? Not so much, you know, going out and getting blasted and waking up feeling like you just got run over by a truck. But people who are going through rich, you know, the ritualistic purification process or the psychedelic therapies that according to a lot of research seem to be quite beneficial to people. You know, if you ask me honestly, I would say there is so much more, so much so many dimensions are there within the consciousness. Exploring consciousness itself through your own nervous system, being in your own body is something that's stupendous. It's so it's a phenomenon to discover the self, the consciousness, what you are, who you are.

And, you know, it creates so much thrill and newness every moment, you know, you go on this journey. Then, you know, nothing else charms you anymore, you know, you don't need an external substance to find what you are already inside. If you have already a password to it, key to it, then you don't depend on something external, right? Love it. Yes. Yes, beautiful. Thank you. The FH has been supported by Squarespace who have created a one-stop shop for all of my podcasting needs. Go to dunkatrustle.com and you will lay your eyes upon the beauty of a Squarespace website. Squarespace is way more than just tools to build an awesome looking website, which they have. It is the ultimate service for podcasters.

It's got everything you need. Lots of people ask me, what do I need to start a podcast? Well, obviously you need audio equipment, but you're definitely going to need a home for your podcast. A place where people who like it can find out about new episodes or find out about you. You could even create members only areas in Squarespace for folks who want to subscribe to get additional content for your podcast or whatever you may be making. They've got perfect shopping cart functionality, excellent customer support, and mix and match templates that you can use, not just to create an awesome website, but also to send out emails to your fans or listeners. Head to squarespace.com, forward slash Duncan for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code Duncan to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Squarespace.com, forward slash Duncan for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code Duncan to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Squarespace.ps, it's not just great for podcasts, it's great for anything that requires you to create something that looks good online. Squarespace, they're the perfect tool for whatever you want to put out there on the internet. Thank you Squarespace for supporting this episode. Now that we're talking a little bit about consciousness, are you familiar with, this is all over the news right now, a researcher from Google is claiming that an artificial intelligence has gained sentience, that a machine has woken up and is, you know, having conversations with him. It says that it meditates actually, and it's just very interesting.

I'm wondering your thoughts on that. Do you think it is possible that artificial that one day maybe it's already happened that artificial intelligence or AI can become self aware? Artificial intelligence waking up, yeah, it could be a phenomenon, but I don't know whether it has a soul like you and me, you know, it can be very intelligent, you know, it can do many work like supercomputers and AI has its own, yeah, great dimension. But there is another dimension of bliss that's very much nature of your being, your consciousness. I'm not sure. I don't know whether that it has that blissful being within it. Yes, this is, it's one of the big questions of art. I think it will become one of the big questions of our time. It already is. But what is that the soul? What is the soul? Is it an energy? Is it a data packet? Is it something that is individual? First of all, you have to see that it is nothing, no thing. It's nothing, it's no thing. And then this no thing is full of energy. It's simply energy. You can call it energy, you can say bliss, you can say love, you can, I mean, it's hard to define, it's hard to encapsulate in vocabulary, you see. Yes, yes, but isn't it a joy to try to articulate it? It's so fun to try to understand it and maybe I'm foolish for the attempt, but I wonder, is there, clearly there is individual karma,

clearly there is, and certainly in the Bhagavad Gita or in the much of the Eastern scripture refers to the individual soul, that each of us have this thing that reincarnates, that when the body stops working, it finds another way of expressing itself. So I, the no thing, something I love so much about teachers like you is it's very frustrating. People like me, we want answers. What is it? Where is it? How do I measure it? Can I see it? But if you had to describe it, what is it? That's something which can only be felt, which can only be understood by your heart, not through your intellect. If you try to understand the self through intellect, you'll be frustrated. But you can be it. When you let go, relax and just repose in yourself, then you discover, wow, wow, this is it. You know, you come up with a wow experience. And any wow experience, I tell you, you cannot articulate it. You cannot put them in words. Right, right. Now, if you could just, if you don't mind, what, what do you think for people listening? What do you think are the first steps when it comes to connecting to this and this thing that we can't articulate what I, and it kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier, which is, if you do find yourself in the sticky trap of depression or the binds of aggression, and you are hearing these kinds of conversations, but you think to yourself, there's no, I can't do it. I'm in a tarpid. I'm stuck. I'm glued by my karma to a variety of rotten habits, probably crawling with demons. What, what can a person like that do? What are the steps a person like that could take? You know what? Okay, I'm going to give one idea. Pretend as though you are dead. Gone. Just lie down and say, oh, you're dead. It's done. The curtain has fallen. Nothing more.

Okay. You know, the awareness of death suddenly can bring in you more life. Make you aware that, see, everything is going to finish one day. However, you have lived your life, whether you are passed or you're failed, you're a, you know, you're rich or poor, you're going to die one day, right? Right. Happy or unhappy, you're going to die. Death is the permanent thing that's going to happen to everybody. And just realize this fact, this truth, you're going to die one day, but don't try to kill yourself. Pretend as though you're already dead. Then what happens then? Suddenly relaxation dawns within you and this mind which is galloping on some impossible desire or cravings or frustration or hatred you're holding on to will simply fall out. Your cravings and your aversions are the biggest impediment to know your blissful self. When these two extremities in the mind just drops, you find yourself in a better space than it instead of exhausting your energy, now you get in touch with the source of energy. You become more energetic, you know? So do nothing or just breathe, do some exercise as much as you can when you feel so tired, exhausted, you lie down, when you collapse on the floor, then you will see your body takes over.

Your body takes over your mind and just relaxes you. At that moment also you'll find some peace dawning on you. And also at the peak of any emotions, for example anger, you should not be angry lukewarm, you should get angry as much as you can. Any emotion will ultimately lead you into a space where you start laughing yourself. You must have seen many of those who got so annoyed, so angry, they shout yell and the next moment they're out of it and you find them smiling, laughing. Yes, yes. What is that? That's incredible. Wow, yes, I know exactly what you mean. No, my wife and I were arguing a day ago and that happened where we're like angry, angry, but then somehow it pushed into just being funny and we were laughing. That's interesting. Wow, I never thought of the way out of that as amplifying it, but you're right because it becomes absurd. Any emotion when it is amplified to its maximum, flips over and gets you back to yourself.

Wow. Those moments if you don't miss it, you'll find yourself in a sense of meditative, if you find a sense of meditation there. Wow. Yeah. That is fascinating. Wow. Yeah, that's so interesting. It's like adding wood to the fire. It's making the thing blaze. That's so interesting. I'm going to do that the next time, but I don't want to do it in front of anybody. It's embarrassing. May I ask? Make sure you don't have glasses and other things around you. May I ask why? You know, when I was a four year old, I don't know what I was doing, but I know I was not reciting the Bhagavad Gita as you were when you were four. Why? How is it that you at four have this incarnation where this is coming out of you?

What is, do you, what's the explanation for this versus those of us who we weren't, I don't think I was reciting anything at four. I don't know what I was doing. No, well, you know, this is not the first time around that we are here. We have been here many times and many children have the memory of those previous lives. So it's very common thing you go on YouTube on past life reincarnation experience. You can tons of people. I mean, dozens of people talk about that. And so, well, I haven't forgotten. I kept all those memories. Yeah, so just happen. Forgive me if it's an inappropriate question. How far back do your past life memories go? That I'll keep it to myself for some time now. I've been here many times. Why do we forget? It's good. It's good. We forget and we move on.

Because the problems of this life are enough. We don't need to be caught up in whatever was going on in the past. Correct. Correct. Correct. And from your perspective, from where you are, how do you see time? How do you see time? In other words, my experience of time is linear. The past is something, you know, in the background, there might be some future coming. But if I could remember my past lives, if I could, if I had a connection to the vastness of time, I feel like it might change the way I think of time itself. I'm curious. Do you feel like your perception of time is different from other people's after a lifetime, many lifetimes of having this practice? You know, I never compare myself with anybody who says I don't see that because I see everyone is so unique on this planet. Everyone has come with a mission. Everyone has their own role to play and no role is good or bad, but people have their roles to play and that's it.

So I never compare myself or I don't say, you know, this is better or that's not better. Life is what it is. You know, we just take it as it is and rejoice and do whatever good you can as long as you are here. As far as time is concerned, usually people think the past was all free will and they keep regretting, oh I should have done this, I should have done that, I could have done this better. So this sort of regret about the past is because you think you had a choice then. Oh wow! And then when it comes to future, many times people think, oh it's all destiny, what has to happen will happen. Anyway, nothing is in my hand. That sort of future we take it as destiny.

Past we take it as free will and this is the perfect formula to be miserable in the present. It's true! You just described how I wake up in the morning. Why did I do that? I shouldn't have done that. Oh wow, these decisions are made. But what about right now? Is this free will now? Is this autonomy now? The better way to see it as, you see the whole past as destiny, it has to happen, it was in a grand design. With every mistake you have done, you have learned something, you have grown, you have become more mature. So see the past as destiny and see the future as free will, then you have enthusiasm in the present moment. Wow! You have no disappointment, you have no regret. When you have no regret, you are not accumulating toxins in your system.

And you feel happy, you feel grateful, you have many things to be grateful. And when you are grateful and you live in the present moment, then you have all possibilities for the future. I think this is the most wise way to look at life. Just a little flip of our idea of time. Yes, that is so cool. Thank you for that. Thank you, thank you. We have a little bit more time. And again, any of these questions, I'm sorry in advance, free will or not. If any of them seem odd, but what are your thoughts on Jesus? What are your thoughts on the Christ consciousness? Yes, Jesus is an embodiment of love. He spoke about the inner love and of course it is a valuable contribution to human existence. Jesus' contribution of message of love and peace and service is a great, very great impact on the human society.

Yes. And see, in India we have so many saints and we consider Jesus also as one of the saints. And there will be no time and again there has been different saints have come on the planet, different we call the avatars, the incarnation of pure love and wisdom and knowledge has come. And in the same way, many of the things that Jesus said, I find Lord Krishna has said the same. Yes. You know, if you read Bhagavad Gita, the same thing Krishna has said that, you know, come unto me and I will relieve you of all your sins and I'll free you. All these things, you know what Jesus has said, many of those words are strikingly similar to what Lord Krishna has said. And if you read Yoga Vasishtha, this is a very beautiful treatise on consciousness. One of the Rishis Vasishtha given this wisdom.

I mean, New York University has published this book also in English version. Talks about the consciousness, how there is one consciousness, which time and again assumes different roles and different names and forms. So when you go beyond name and form, you see that one blissful non-dual consciousness which is enveloping the entire globe from time immemorial. I feel that when I'm talking to you, but when the computer goes off, I don't know if I'll keep feeling it, but I like the idea. Do you, may I ask, do you in not just in Christianity, in Eastern traditions, in Buddhism and at least the wisdom traditions I'm aware of, they say coming is another avatar. There's different names, matreya, the second coming of Christ, a being that's to come here and reharmonize and rebalance things. Do you imagine that that being is around the corner? Do you feel that?

You know, we must know that the divine is already present in everyone in every heart. That's what Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is within you, right? Unless you become like a child, you can't enter the kingdom of God. See, all that is needed for us to become innocent and go within. Instead of going within, we keep looking outside. The scenery is not what will give you what you are looking for. You know, if the seer, that getting back to the seer is the door for higher states of consciousness or the basic truth about consciousness. So this is where there is a little difference between religion and spirituality.

See, religion talks about the morality, about how you should lead life and what you should do and all that. Spirituality enhances the core values of life, like peace, compassion, love, service. It gets in touch with you, you see, much deeper. You know, see, there was only one Jesus, right? But you know how many sects of Christianity are there, 72? There is only one Lord Buddha. There are 36 forms of Buddhism. Yes.

There is only one Prophet Muhammad. 135 sects of Islam is there. And similar in Hinduism, you can't even count. So many schools of thought. Usually people feel that these diversity should not be there. Everything should be only one. Everybody should follow only one school or one ideology. This is where the problem is in the world.

Religion which is supposed to bring peace to people has become a point of contention and division because of our own wrong understanding. We want to say only my book is correct, only my way is right, every other way is not the right way. This type of fanaticism has grown. What we need to see is this diversity we must embrace. See, the divinity or the God has not given you just one type of vegetable. He didn't make only potatoes and eat this all your life. He makes so many, ono, flora, so many types of people and species on this planet indicate God loves diversity. So we must embrace the diversity in wisdom too.

Laosu has something great to say, Upanishads have something great to say. Shintoism has something to offer to the humanity. Christianity has some valuable contribution. So every school of thought has added to the richness of the global wisdom. We must embrace the diversity and go deep in your own roots. Honour everyone and follow your roots. This is what I would recommend for people. Instead of saying only my way is the highway, everything else is nonsense.

That type of narrow mindset has to be done with. I think this is the time. It's the time for people to wake up to that reality, embrace the good things from over there and find the inner peace. See, if a person has found inner peace and stability, he can influence his surroundings. He can calm people down. He can create more love and compassion in everyone around him or her. This is possible. And I've seen this happening around the world over and over again.

See, when we have done these programmes in the prisons, in the correctional homes, around the world, nearly 800,000 people. 800,000 people when they went through the breathing and meditation. Complete transformation in their life. This is possible. That's why I'm saying, see the world from a different outlook than the stereotype that we have been used to for years. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It has been such a good fortune that I got to spend this amount of time with you.

I'm very grateful to you for your time. Thank you. This conversation meant a lot to me. And Hare Krishna, thank you, thank you. Namaste, namaste. All the best to you and continue to inspire everyone around. Thank you. That was Guru Dev Shri Shri Ravi Shankar.

Again, you could find him at ShriShriRaviShankar.org. A tremendous thank you to whoever made that connection. And thank you all so much for listening. I'll see you next week. Come see me in Denver. I love you. Hare Krishna. Together's to fancy occasions, wedding season two. We do it all in style. Dresses, suiting and plenty of color to play with. Get fixed up with brands like Liz Claiborne, Worthington, Stafford and Jay Farar.

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