Share the wisdom of Sri Sri Ravishankarji - 11 & 12

[Guest guest]

Dear friends and devotees,

 

Bhakti is eternal.

 

Share the wisdom of His holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

 

11. RESISTANCE

 

Do you welcome all that comes to you or do you resist everything? If you

cannot resist anything, you cannot welcome anything. You cannot resist

everything and you cannot welcome everything.

 

You don’t welcome all thoughts that come to your mind. When you welcome a

thought, it means you find it good and act on it. If you act on all thoughts

that come to your mind, you will end up in a mental hospital or in a prison. So,

you resist or ignore some thoughts and welcome the other thoughts. You need

discrimination in life. Welcoming and resisting are a part of the swing of life.

Welcoming is essential for expansion and growth, and resistance is essential for

the maintenance.

 

Question: “But what you resist persists!”

 

If you resist cold, it does not persist. If there is no resistance in your

body, you cannot survive. Your body resists some things and welcomes other

things.

 

Where resistance is weak, persistence results. Weak resistance makes

opposition persist. A strong resistance erases the opposition. Strong resistance

leads to valor, power and Samadhi- equanimity. It creates in you the strength of

a warrior. Nothing can tempt you, nothing can obstruct you, and victory gained

without fighting. Where there is strong resistance or total acceptance, victory

is gained without any fighting.

 

12. CONFLICT

 

When you are in a harmonious environment your mind picks up any excuse to be

in conflict. In this situation, small things are often enough to create

tremendous turmoil. And when you are in a contentious environment you tend to

seek harmony. Ask yourself this question; do you seek harmony in every situation

or do you seek to widen the differences and prove your righteousness?

 

When your survival is at stake, you do not complain that nobody loves you. But

when you are safe and secure you start demanding attention. Many people create

conflict in order to get attention. The seed of negativity and the tendency for

conflict in you can only be annihilated by sadhana- spiritual practices.

 

Only speak knowledge. Do not repeat anything bad that someone tells you about

someone else. When someone comes to tell you the negative things, discourage

them. Do not believe it.

 

If some one blames you directly, do not believe it. Just know that they are

taking away your bad karma and let it go. If you are one of the master’s close

ones, you will take all the blame of the world with a smile.

 

Conflict is the nature of the world; comfort is the nature of the self. Amidst

the conflict seek the comfort. Trying to end conflict prolongs it. Face the

conflict by seeking the comfort of the self.

 

When you are bored with the comfort, enjoy the games of the world. When you

are tired of the games of the world, enjoy the comfort of the self. If you are

one of the master’s close ones, you do both simultaneously.

 

God is alive in the world and has tolerated all the ongoing conflicts

throughout the ages. If God can put up with all the conflicts, you can too. The

moment you agree to live with the conflict, it disappears.

 

People who love peace do not want to fight, and those who fight do not love

peace. Those who want peace want to run away. What is needed is to be peaceful

within and then fight. This is the whole message of Bhagavad-Gita. Krishna tells

Arjuna to fight but to be at peace at the same time.

 

In the world, you resolve one conflict and the other one arises. The conflicts

in Russia are solved and then conflicts in Bosnia arise. You make one better and

then another starts up. Your body gets a cold, then you get better, then your

back hurts and then it gets better. Your body gets better and then your mind

goes. Without any intention, misunderstandings happen and conflicts arise. It is

not up to you to try to resolve the misunderstandings. Ignore them and be alive.

 

To be contd. . . . 13.

 

With love and regards,

 

Sastry