Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Daily Sutras

Keep immersing in knowledge, you don't have to apply it, it applies itself. Remind yourself of the knowledge. Focus on the knowlede, don't get entangled in the people around you. Satsang is to be in touch with the inner being. Instead you start judging, having different types of interaction with people, this is not Satsang!

The Upanishads tell about the experience of divinity in four stages for the Seekers:Saameepya: feeling the proximity of the Divine, Sannidhya: feeling the Presence, Saaroopya: doing what the Divine is doing, imitating the Divine, Saayoojya: Merging with the Divine.

Akshat means something that cannot be destroyed. In physics it is said that an atom can never be destroyed. Our ancestors brought this truth to light millions of years ago. They said that not even a grain is destroyed. It may lose its form but is never destroyed. Shat means destruction. Akshat means that which cannot b...e destroyed. Like a seed we sow is never destroyed, it takes different forms and exists.

There is no need to go on long pilgrimages to find the Divine. If you don’t find God here, where you are, then it is not possible anywhere else. Where the mind dissolves, Shiva is there. Be established wherever you are. The moment you are established, centered, you see that there is Divinity present everywhere. This is meditation.

Prayer is asking God for something, meditation is listening to God! In prayer, you ask, ‘Give me this, give me that’, giving instructions, demanding. In meditation, you say, ‘I am here to listen, what is it that you want to tell? Tell me, whenever you are free, I am here. Culmination of prayer is meditation. When prayer goes to the peak, that is meditation.

Parmatma is the sun, devta is its ray. Without the sun, there is no ray and without the ray, there is no sun. A ray has all seven colors, these all different devtas. God is the combination of all the seven colors. God is certainly not made of one color. When all colors combine, white is obtained and that is Parmatma.

When you start finding source of thought, you have started on a journey for which you are here. Our journey is to find the source, from where this thought has arisen. I want all of you to be scientists. Scientist goes on experimenting, asking questions. It’s a very good opportunity to find out where it comes from? What... is its origin? Since it comes in you, you find its answer.

If the room is dark for 20 years, it doesn’t take another 20 years to bring light in. it just needs one connection, one switch on and the whole darkness goes away. Your life may have been miserable in the past, but wake up and see. Look at your past, problems came and they have all vanished. Right? The problem is not there. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional!

A Guru only wants the disciple to progress, to blossom, not to be unstable, just be happy, unselfish and serve people. And whatever a disciple wants from Guru, Guru keeps on bestowing that. Initially, a disciple asks for little things and then asks for great things. The Guru sometimes gives him the little things he wants and sometimes doesn't! :)

Devotion is the zenith of Love. ‘Saa tvasmin panama prema rupa’ - Embodiment of supreme love for the divine is devotion. You can’t posses God. In routine love affairs, you love someone and you expect the same in return. You can’t claim a right on God. Love for that infinite consciousness is devotion.

Feelings are superficial. If you think the feeling is the depth, then you have not gone deep. Feeling is deeper than thinking. But feelings change. Whatever is the deepest doesn't change.

When you react, what happens? You regret afterwards. Reaction happens through an emotional upsurge. When someone says something you don’t like, your emotions swell up. Anything you do in an emotionally disturbed state, you repent afterwards. When emotions are on peak, the intellect goes in background. Your actions are ...from the intellect and your reactions are from emotions.

When ur heart opens up tears come, it’s natural. Let it be. It is said in scriptures that tears of love are so precious that even angels run to collect them. The most wonderful thing on the planet is to have tears of love & gratitude. That makes our life rich & fulfilled. Fulfillment in life is having tears of gratitud...e.You can’t manufacture them. When U realize what all U have received in life, your heart opens up!

Enlightenment is a connection with the universal spirit, realizing that U R part of it, you are that. Living unconditional love without any effort! All these qualities are there in every individual. It only needs a little nurturing & it starts blossoming. Walk like U're enlightened. Enjoy the freedom! When U don’t have... any cravings & aversions of ur own then U can give yourself a certificate that you are enlightened!

God is hungry for feelings. He doesn’t need your sweets or flowers. So if you sit with feelings, that is enough. See Krishna everywhere. Lord Krishna says in the Gita, “Wherever you see in any form, I am there. I am knowledge in a knowledgeable person, I am strength in the strong, beauty in the beautiful, all is me”. R...ead the Gita deeply and best is to meditate. Be a yogi!

Just be happy and keep your heart clean and soft. When you doubt, when you are angry or frustrated, your heart and feelings get hardened. With the knowledge and wisdom, your heart remains soft and supple.

If you keep doing the same thing again and again, knowing that it brings you misery, you really don’t understand it brings you misery or you think it brings you some pleasure. Craving for pleasure and non-awareness that it is going to cause you misery are two things which makes you commit the same mistake again and again. That’s why they’re called habits.

The solar plexus is called the second brain or mid brain. For a yogi, the solar plexus is larger in size. Scientists have also said this. It is small in a person who doesn’t do yoga and meditation. A yogi who does meditation and yoga has a larger solar plexus. When solar plexus is larger, creativity dominates and generosity rises. When it is smaller, jealousy arises!

To begin a practice you have to put in effort. But once you are on the path, you have to relax. You won’t reach any faster if you keep running inside the train. Know that all is done for you. You don’t have to put effort. There is effort to light a candle. Once it is lit then no effort is required to pull the light out... of the candle. Light is coming to you on its own. But you have to light the candle first!

Once you are able to see the light, you see the entire past as a dream, move on. Wake up and see the present, you will find happiness is there, unconditional happiness. Then you are happy and not dependant on others for your happiness. Happiness depends only on your mind. When the mind is free of past impressions and future cravings, happiness is there.

Where do I go to find happiness? Be Antarmukhi (go within). Outside is a bazaar, a market. In the city market, below the bridge, people will be sleeping! You can learn from them. They can sleep in the middle of the bazaar. You can also meditate and be calm. Become Antarmukhi!

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that one who is dear to me, who doesn’t hate anybody, who doesn’t have any ego – I, I, me. One who is calm in success or failure. Whatever he gets - sorrow or happiness - he takes it all with a smile.

When mind is free from lust, greed, possessiveness, arrogance etc, when the mind is in the pure form with which we were all born with, then nature listens to you. You are a child of nature and nature loves you. When that manifests, when you are clear; then two things happen - your wishes get fulfilled and you can fulfill others’ wishes also.

Don’t try to see Divinity. Take it for granted. It is there like the air. Eyes can’t see it. When your mind is totally relaxed you feel that the whole universe is filled with Divinity. You find that the chirping of the birds is Divinity, the moving of leaves is Divinity, the flowing of water is Divinity, You will find ...that beyond all this phenomenon, there is a field or phenomena that exists – that is Divinity.

Longing and love are two sides of the same coin. You can’t say, ‘I love you but I don’t long for you’. And it is impossible to long for someone without having love. That is why it is said: ‘RadheShyam’. Radha is longing and Sham is love. RadheSham (longing and love) go together in life.