Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von

In this episode of 'This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von,' host Theo Von interviews Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a renowned spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living movement. The conversation explores his early life

Key takeaways

• Meditation and breathing techniques can transform emotional states and reduce conflict within individuals.
• The Art of Living movement began as a personal epiphany during a 10-day silence, leading to practical tools for inner freedom.

Main topics

• Spiritual leadership and early life of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
• The Bhagavad Gita and its significance in Indian culture

Notable quotes

Every culprit is a victim himself or herself.

Conclusion

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar shares that inner peace and mental well-being are accessible to everyone through simple practices like breathing and

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Today's guest is a humanitarian, he's a spiritual leader, a soul summoner, if you will. He founded the Art of Living movement, and he's one of the most respected teachers of meditation in the world. A fascinating chat with today's guest, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Is that correct? Right. Thank you for being here today. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your energy that you've put into the world. Thank you so much for your ability to be a guide for people. For our listeners that don't know, you're a humanitarian, a spiritual leader, a practicer of peace. Is that fair to say? Speaker 4 (1:07) Yeah. Speaker 2 (1:09) Okay. And Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. You can Speaker 4 (1:13) just call me Gurudev. Speaker 2 (1:14) Gurudev is fine? Excellent. You had an experience that happened when you were very young, at the age of four years old, from what I hear, if the story is true, that... I Speaker 4 (1:27) could recite the ancient text. Speaker 2 (1:29) You could recite the ancient text of the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita. Can you tell us what the Bhagavad Gita is for our listeners that don't know? Speaker 4 (1:38) Gita is the scripture which was written 5,000 years old when Lord Krishna gave advice to, lessons to Arjuna, the warrior of that time. So it's about, it's knowledge of yoga and about everything about life. So this is what Mahatma Gandhi had as a handbook. Speaker 2 (2:07) Ah, okay. Speaker 4 (2:08) And everyone in India, it's almost like a Bible for the Indian continent, you can say, Hindus mainly. Speaker 2 (2:16) Got it. So at four years old, you were kind of a prodigy. You were kind of like the Justin Bieber kind of a meditation maybe, you know, Speaker 4 (2:23) in Speaker 2 (2:24) a way. I don't Speaker 4 (2:25) know Speaker 2 (2:25) if that's Speaker 4 (2:25) – Speaker 2 (2:25) you were kind of the Jean Benet of India, you know, still living, of course. What was it like to have that much attention at such a young age? How did that affect you? Speaker 4 (2:35) It just felt very normal to me. Yeah. Speaker 2 (2:39) Was there a reason? I didn't Speaker 4 (2:41) feel any special. I felt as normal as anybody else. Speaker 2 (2:45) Was there a reason you felt like you kind of received this download sort of that you received this capability? Speaker 4 (2:52) You know, there are so many child progenies these days. You can see them all. So it's a very natural thing. It was not something that, you know, you make out of it. Speaker 2 (3:05) It was just part of your life? Part of your Speaker 4 (3:07) life. Speaker 2 (3:08) What effect did that have on your childhood? Speaker 4 (3:11) I was a little strange in my childhood. As you know, I didn't take much interest in normal things that kids would do. So I spent most of my childhood with elderly people. Speaker 2 (3:25) With elderly people? Elderly Speaker 4 (3:26) people, adults. And yeah, I felt a little bit out of place many times. But I tried to fit myself in everywhere I used to be. Speaker 2 (3:38) Take me through some of what happens after that in your life that kind of leads you into becoming a guru. Speaker 4 (3:46) Well, you know, I'm a guru by accident. In a sense, you know, I just kept teaching or telling people what I know and then they started taking me as a guide. Well, apart from that, you know, I had deep interest in spirituality and science. As a teenager, I was very much into physics. So, physics and astronomy, science and ancient scriptures, all this interested me quite a lot. Because I felt that such a similarity or parallel between the spirituality and science. That was very interesting for me. And then, you know, my teacher was one who lived with Mahatma Gandhi for 48 years. Speaker 2 (4:33) Your teacher lived with Mahatma Gandhi for 48 years? For 48 years. So he Speaker 4 (4:36) is the one who taught him the Gita, the script, when he came from South Africa. He was in the Airwada jail and all. So he was a very funny guy. He used to tell a lot of stories about his time with Mahatma Gandhi. And he was a rebellious person there. It was very interesting, you know. So I grew up in such an environment where, you know, this nonviolence and friendliness, love, compassion, all had great value. And also my grandfather was also a great follower of Mahatma Gandhi and he lived in Gandhi's ashram for many years. Speaker 2 (5:19) At what point did you start to become a teacher? Like at what point did people start to come to hear what you were sharing? Speaker 4 (5:24) I think it's in my teenage that I started this one. And when I was 23, 24, I started the Art of Living movement. That time, there were two judges of Supreme Court of India. One was... a thorough believer, a theist, and another was an atheist. Speaker 2 (5:46) Just as we are Speaker 4 (5:47) Krishna, he was an atheist. Speaker 2 (5:50) And what was the first one? He was a... He Speaker 4 (5:52) was a believer. A believer. A Speaker 3 (5:53) great Speaker 4 (5:53) believer. And they both, you know, came as a trustee, became the trustee of our organization. Then he made an organization. He said, you know, you have a beautiful knowledge to share. It needs a framework, he said. You know, to hold a picture, you need a frame. We will be the trustees and we'll make it a mega organization. So it's 45 years now. Speaker 2 (6:15) So the government started to help you sort of put a frame? Not the Speaker 4 (6:17) government. Individually, their individual capacity, the people. The Speaker 2 (6:22) people did. I read that you started the Art of Living after you had a 10-day period of silence where it was kind of this epiphany that fell upon you. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Speaker 4 (6:36) Correct. The breathing techniques. You know, though I was teaching meditations of yoga and all, I was feeling there's something missing. There's something that I need to bring about. People do all that, but still they have conflicts inside themselves. They're unable to get over their habits. You know, there was a struggle. So I thought there must be something that would... So I went into a silence of 10 days. And at the end of those 10 days... It was in a remote place in India. Then a few of the doctors and engineers in that area, they came and then I started teaching the breathing technique. That's the birth of that. Speaker 2 (7:17) And that's the sky breathing technique? Yes. And can you take me through a little bit of what that technique is? Is that okay to ask you? Speaker 4 (7:24) Yeah, it takes a couple of days to learn it, just three days to learn it. It's mainly recognizing the rhythm in your breath. You know, your breath has a rhythm. And your breath connects your body and your emotions, your mind and sensations. So harmonizing this, you know, brings a lot of freedom from within. And that's how it started, you know. Speaker 2 (7:51) And at that point, do you start traveling around to share your knowledge and share your experience? Correct. Speaker 4 (7:57) Though in the earlier years, there was a lot of prejudice against meditation yoga. People thought, hey, this is not, you know, this must be for someone who is out there all cuckoo. Oh, yeah. I'm talking about 45 years back, 40 years back. There was a lot of prejudice against. Anything about meditation or breathing. Speaker 2 (8:20) What were some of the places that had probably some more prejudice than others? Like, what were some of Speaker 4 (8:25) the Speaker 2 (8:25) tougher places to go and teach? Speaker 4 (8:26) I would say Europe had that and also US. You know, we wanted to teach this in the prisons and then there was a lot of resistance. Because I knew that when we taught the prisoners, because every culprit is a victim himself or herself. Speaker 2 (8:45) Wait, say that again. Every culprit is a victim. Speaker 4 (8:47) Victim of something, you know, situation, ringing up. So when they need healing, they need that healing touch. When you teach this, that anger, rage, and distress, sadness, everything vanishes. So that's where... This has been very effective. We have taught prisoners all over the world now. Speaker 2 (9:13) Yeah, I've read about that. When you're teaching this, when you say this, do you mean like someone's relationship with their consciousness? Is that kind of what you're talking about? Speaker 4 (9:22) It's just technology, you know. See how through your own breath, you can change your feelings, your moods. Many times people feel so desperate. Actually... you know, like trapped with their own emotions. I feel so bad, I don't know how to get out of it, you know? Okay, I pray, I do this, I do that. Still, there is something inside of us that doesn't let us feel the freedom from emotion. Using the breathing techniques, it makes a huge difference. Speaker 2 (9:54) What are some of the first things someone will notice from using some of the techniques? Speaker 4 (10:01) First of all, calmness of the mind. Then you feel your immune system becomes better. You feel better. Really? Speaker 2 (10:09) And Speaker 4 (10:10) then clarity in mind. You know, you feel more clear. And Speaker 3 (10:15) your perceptions become better. Speaker 4 (10:16) Lots of many benefits. All the benefits of meditating. Many people say, oh, I can't meditate. You know, too many thoughts bombard my head. And, you know, I can't sit quiet and I feel so restless. Just a few minutes of this that takes care of all those issues. Speaker 2 (10:31) Amen. I know you just turned 70 recently. Yeah. Do Speaker 4 (10:37) I Speaker 2 (10:37) look Speaker 4 (10:38) 70? No. You Speaker 2 (10:40) look 25. Does our consciousness age? Does it make sense to you kind of? Speaker 4 (10:47) Our intellect age. Our intellect becomes mature. But consciousness is the same. Speaker 2 (10:52) Has your consciousness felt the same from the beginning, do you feel like? Speaker 4 (10:57) Yeah, that's something that doesn't change in you. Oh, Speaker 2 (11:00) got it. Speaker 4 (11:01) You know, there are two aspects inside. One is that changes constantly, right? There is something else in you that's a referral point of all changes. So that which is a reference point of all changes cannot change. Speaker 2 (11:18) That's fascinating. What is consciousness to you? Like how would you describe consciousness? Speaker 4 (11:24) Everything is consciousness. Speaker 2 (11:25) Everything? Speaker 4 (11:27) You are consciousness. The trees are consciousness. Whole world is consciousness. Speaker 2 (11:33) It's just Speaker 4 (11:34) energy. The consciousness is that ocean of energy which has manifested everything here in the planet. Speaker 2 (11:43) Yeah, I think I just, I think, I don't know, I get scared a lot. Do you ever get scared? Speaker 4 (11:50) Not so far. Speaker 2 (11:54) Yeah, I think I just have a lot of fear sometimes. You know, fear is nothing but love standing upside down. Really? Like explain it to me. Speaker 4 (12:05) Fear is a sensation you get, right? In your chest region or in the belly. What are you afraid of? Because you love something and so that from the other side appears to be as a fear. Speaker 2 (12:23) Right, because I'm afraid it'll be different than what I think. Speaker 4 (12:27) Or Speaker 2 (12:27) I'm afraid it'll feel different than how I want it to feel. Speaker 4 (12:30) Afraid you will lose what you have. Or you will not get what you want. That's a fear, right? And if you just sit back and relax, there's no fear. Speaker 2 (12:45) Do you think there's like a group, like, I feel like we're in a time in society where things feel very scary. It feels kind of stressful in the world, right? Do you, how would you, how would you suggest that we ward off that? Speaker 4 (13:01) Listen, it's like a boy or girl going for an examination. You're so scared. What's the outcome of the exam? Speaker 4 (13:12) But someone who has already passed the exam would say, hey, don't worry. Speaker 2 (13:18) If Speaker 4 (13:18) someone has to perform the first time on stage, they will feel so scared. But a seasoned performer, nothing, don't worry, go ahead. So similarly, if you have mastered the art of life itself. You know, seeing life from a broader perspective. So what? It's not the first time you are scared. It has happened to you when you are a child, when you are a boy, when you are a teenager, when whatever, but still you are here. So broadening our consciousness, our awareness, the fear disappears, number one. Second way to combat fear is attending to your breath. Breathe from the back of the throat. Speaker 2 (14:06) Breathe from the back of the throat. Speaker 4 (14:08) Long, deep inhalation and slow exhalation. You know, that settles down. That settles down the fear, the sensations. And third thing is, know that this is all just a game. Everything around you is a game, you know. You shouldn't be afraid to play a game. Speaker 2 (14:32) What Speaker 4 (14:32) do you think? Speaker 2 (14:33) I think I'm still a little scared. But you know, Speaker 4 (14:39) you're thinking about the past week. That's why you are scared. Well, I Speaker 2 (14:42) think I probably am. You're right. I think what I think, I think some things I fear probably. Can I share with you some of my fears? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I think I fear like, I fear that as a society and that we're losing what it means to be human sometimes. That we're getting so involved with technology that we're forgetting that the value of being human is starting to be... Yeah, Speaker 4 (15:08) I get what you're saying. I make a little distinction between concern and fear. Speaker 2 (15:13) Okay. Speaker 4 (15:15) I'm also concerned where are we going in the world? We are all, you know, moving in the age of technology and how mankind is going to use this technology, whether it will be for the benefit of people or for selfish gain. I mean, that's a concern. Yes. Concern must be there. If you don't have any concern, you will have no passion. Right. You must have concern. We're all concerned. Any conscious person will be concerned. Okay. And that concern is a great motivator. It makes you act. Speaker 2 (15:53) Yeah. That's a good point. Yeah. So I'm glad I have concern because it makes me want to take action. Yeah. Got it. How do you look at that? How do you view that concern? Speaker 4 (16:06) I'm very concerned about the planet. I'm very concerned about the state of mental health in this. in the whole world, especially in this country too. Young people, one in every fourth person is mentally challenged, getting into some sort of problems, issues. For Speaker 2 (16:28) sure. Speaker 4 (16:28) So we need to attend to this, number one. And then we need to realize that the human society is one family. I always espouse a world as one family. Speaker 2 (16:44) Yes, sometimes it feels like we're losing our sense of purpose. You know? I think that's one thing that scares me. Speaker 4 (16:53) They can only lose the purpose once if they have not found there is no point, they cannot lose it. Speaker 2 (16:59) Many Speaker 4 (16:59) have not even found what is the purpose of their life. Speaker 2 (17:03) Oh, that's a good point, huh? I should be grateful that I found some purpose. Speaker 4 (17:07) Yeah. Speaker 2 (17:09) When you look at kind of where we're headed with technology, what's a positive way that you see it affecting us? Speaker 4 (17:18) It's very good. I tell you, when I was going to college, I had to go to library and it would take a whole day to find the index and find the book. Today, in the fingertips, you can get any knowledge, anything from anywhere, you see? You don't have to... wait for such a long time to understand something. So knowledge is easily available in every corner of the world. Yeah. Number one. Second is artificial intelligence. Many are very skeptical or even scared about artificial intelligence as though it will take away their jobs. Yeah. But you know, artificial intelligence, AI is a boon also. It's not just a curse. So it's a positive as well. It's a positive thing. challenges our intellect to be more original. Speaker 2 (18:11) It Speaker 4 (18:11) can only put what is already been discovered. Speaker 2 (18:14) I see what you're saying. So if it only has knowledge, right? And if everybody has knowledge, then creativity should maybe go to another level. Another Speaker 4 (18:22) level, yeah. Speaker 2 (18:23) Because that will become sort of a primary... Speaker 4 (18:27) It's a challenge for an individual to be more creative, more original. Speaker 2 (18:33) Because everybody has the same information now. Speaker 4 (18:35) So Speaker 2 (18:36) now creativity kind of has a new stage. New stage, yes. That's pretty fascinating. Yeah, I guess I hadn't really thought about it like that. Do you worry that a lot of the power that's in the world is in evil hands? And do you believe like in good and evil? Do you think there's such thing? Speaker 4 (18:58) Theo, not one child is born on this planet as an evil child. Everyone is born here as a bundle of joy. Every baby is a divine gift. They're all beautiful kids. But due to circumstances, situations, lack of understanding or wrong education or whatever you can say, indoctrination, it leads them where they are. That's where I feel there is a lack of values in the education system. Speaker 2 (19:33) Yeah. Speaker 4 (19:34) And if those people were cared in the very beginning, you nip those negative qualities, trends in a child, in an adolescent. In children, they don't come. In adolescent, they start getting up into this sort of, you know, rage. In adolescence? Adolescence, rage and, you know, anger. So there is no education. There is no peace education in the world. Speaker 2 (20:02) It's really true. You know, it's interesting. I look back on like my experience in school and a lot of it was just a lot of factual information, but they never taught me how to be like a person or to look at myself or to have a conversation with myself or how to see if like something is going on with a friend and how I can be a good friend. Is that just an American education system or do you find that that's almost everywhere? Speaker 4 (20:23) It's almost now everywhere. Universally it is there. Maybe a little less or more. in places, but the lack of education in human values, you can see prevalent. And when that is given, you know, you will find there is no evil person. I always say that evil is only a veil around the goodness of a person. Speaker 2 (20:50) Amen. I believe that. Do you think that we come sometimes from a past life with other stuff or do you think it's new? Yeah, we do. We do? We do. Oh, man. Because that's a bummer because I'm just – I could be dealing with somebody else's junk. Speaker 4 (21:08) You know – Speaker 4 (21:12) From junk, you can create something. Okay, that's fair. Speaker 2 (21:18) On Speaker 4 (21:18) this creation, nothing is a waste. But imagine saying... Only the waste also brings wealth. Speaker 2 (21:24) A waste also brings wealth. That's a good point. Manure, huh? Look at manure. Speaker 4 (21:28) Manure, manure. Speaker 2 (21:29) But it's kind of, imagine you land at the airport and you look at your luggage and it's someone else's, you know? Speaker 4 (21:35) That shows lack of awareness. Speaker 4 (21:40) I Speaker 2 (21:40) think you're right. That kind of does show. Yeah, I've probably picked up somebody else's. Speaker 2 (21:48) And if Speaker 4 (21:49) someone picks up yours, you call them a thief. Speaker 2 (21:51) Yeah, Speaker 4 (21:51) that's true. Speaker 2 (21:55) Yeah, I think I'm trying to think of some other fears that I have. I think I have fears sometimes of like letting go of the past. That's something that's been very tough for me in my life. Like sometimes I think I've let go of the past, but it comes back again. You know, some of the same feelings, like even though I've offered like forgiveness and things like that, sometimes it still comes back. Do you know what I'm talking about? Speaker 4 (22:16) Yeah. I know. I very well understand that. Dalima. You know, that's why I say forgiveness cannot just happen from your thinking, from your intellect. It has to come from within, your feeling level. And that can happen when you do meditation. Do the breathing. Speaker 2 (22:37) Really? Yeah. And how does breathing help you heal from the past? Speaker 4 (22:43) Because, you know, the emotions which are stuck in our system, that need to be released. Speaker 4 (22:50) And breath is the best tool. Mind is so abstract. You can't catch hold of the mind and do anything about it. You know, you try and you can't, you know, do something with your own mind by the mind. Speaker 2 (23:03) Right. It's like a, yeah. Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's like trying to grab your hand with your hand. With Speaker 4 (23:07) your hand. Of course, you have another hand to hand. Oh, that's good. Speaker 2 (23:11) Okay. Speaker 4 (23:12) But with the breath, it is much easier. Because breathing has a pattern. for every emotion. You know, when you are happy, your breath moves with a different rhythm. Speaker 2 (23:25) Is that true that breathing has a pattern for every emotion? Speaker 4 (23:27) Correct. See, when you are happy, how do you breathe? When you are angry, yeah. See, you know, your emotions and the breathing has deep relations and they have sensation in the body also. That's why attending to the breath and rhythms of the breath. Speaker 4 (23:48) Grace magic. And what you think is so hard to forgive, forgive, forget, and all the things become, as a matter of fact, so easy. Speaker 2 (24:00) Yeah. Oh, yeah, man. It's like, I know it's like, yeah, sometimes you just forget to breathe, you know? Speaker 4 (24:07) Yeah. We use only 30 % of our lung capacity. We don't even breathe. Is that true? Yeah. Speaker 2 (24:13) We use 30 % of our lung capacity? Speaker 4 (24:15) Yeah, yeah. That's what scientists say. Speaker 4 (24:19) So, breathing and meditation, combined with meditation, makes a big difference. That's the reason