Q: Guruji, why is craving and aversion not correct in the path?

Sri Sri: You know craving causes sadness. If you are caught up in craving and aversion too much then you loose your discrimination. You loose your vision. Your vision gets clouded. Then everything you do becomes wrong. But it can be removed through yoga. Slowly slowly… u can make it a practice. Then one day you will see there is only love without craving.


Q: How does discipline bring freedom?

Sri Sri: If you have the discipline to brush your teeth everyday, then you are free from tooth decay. Similarly if you have the discipline to do yoga and meditation everyday then, you can be free from most diseases. That’s how discipline brings freedom.

Q: Guruji, how to get more devoted to you?

Sri Sri: Devotion is like that. Endless. The more you are devoted, you still feel you can be more….. If someone tells you “Oh I am so devoted”. Just know that the person is not. Its like the person is almost climbing down the steps!! The sign of true devotion is that you start feeling endless. Ask any mother; they just cannot stop giving their daughter!! Everything they find good in the market, they want to secretly procure and give it for their daughter. But they feel that if the same behavior is done to the daughter-in – law, they may get spoilt!! (Laughter). Tell me how many of you feel the same? Raise your hands, how many of you have the same problem in you house? Yeh. But you are not understanding the mothers emotions… this is a sign of deep love. How much ever you do yet you feel less is done.


Q: Guruji, what should we do if a trouble troubles us even after surrendering it to the divine?

Sri Sri: You must repeatedly keep surrendering. Someone asked me Guruji, why should we do Sadhna everyday? That’s why we say in that song ‘bar bar Bali jayo’.. means again and again. Tell me if you exercise of one day will you get ant result? No. you have to do everyday to get some result. Untill and unless it becomes your true nature. And I tell you if you keep surrendering a problem whenever it troubles you, it becomes you’re your nature.


Q: Guruji, what is lust? And how to take control of lust?

Sri Sri: Lust is a desire to seek joy. But when you understand that you are source of joy, and then the desire to lust disappears. But you know the more you encourage lust, the more it catches you and get you to trouble. There are two things that usually people do to handle lust. A) Try to stop it. B) Encourage it. I tell you none of it is correct. Observe a middle path. Observe the mind. Be regular tro the seva, sadhna, and satsang and you will see slowly it is not troubling you any more.

Q: Guruji, How ho we remove doubts?

Sri Sri: The nature of the mind is that we always doubt the good. The positive. We never doubt the negative! If someone tells you, Oh that person is bad. You immediately believe it. But if someone tells you, that person is very good, you start thinking, ‘is it true, really etc.’ Do you see what I am saying? If someone praises you, you don’t try to believe that. You ask that person, “really”? Now the question is how to handle doubt. Doubt how much you want. Go ahead. ………And stop when you are tired. (Laughter)


Q: Guruji, if a devotee who is in Seva, Sadhna, and Satsang is not able to handle a problem and tries to commit suicide, what do you have to say about it?

Sri Sri: No one who does seva, sadhna and satsang everyday weill even have the intention to commit suicide. If someone is not interested and you have made him do the sadhana then there could be a tendency. But do not blame the Sadhna, Seva and Satsang.


Q: Guruji is it ok to lie for a good reason?

Sri Sri: Wait thoroughly before that. You cannot take it as a justification to tell a lie. Lie should be sparingly used. It should be like the pinch of salt in the food. Too much of it may spoil it. Like if a blind man comes on your way, you should not tell him, “you blind get off my way”. In that case, you are not lying by calling him a blind because he is indeed blind, but we should be more sensitive towards other people’s feelings. You know they say that, its better to say pleasant lie than to speak unpleasant truth. There is this story on truth and lie. I think ‘ve told you before.

Never mind I can tell once again. There was this king who had a very clever Minister named Birbal. He was a funny man and would make some comic always!! Once the King madea rule, that in His kinddom no body should speak a lie. If anybody is found speaking a lie the will be immediately sentenced to death. This kind of a law created a lot of fear and chaos and disappointment among his subjects. People were very upset. Especially the businessman. They started saying that our whole profession is based on lies. We often sell the medium quality of stuff to the people saying that it is the best quality!! How should we run our business without lying!??! Then the lawyers started talking, they said how do we survive in the market?? Our entire business is to fooling people!! We are surviving on lies alone!?!? Where do we go!??! Then came the doctors. They started saying,” we always tell people, don’t worry I’ll cure youe patients problem, knowing full well that nothing is in our hand”. As they were all sharing their problems, suddenly an idea came to them that probably one person can really help them and that is the Kings clever Minister, Birbal. They all went to Birbal and shared their problems. Birbal promised them he would do something. The next morning Birbal went to the King’s palace. He almost barged in. The guards asked him, “Where are you going?” Birbal said, “I am going to hand myself”. And that was a lie. The attainders went to the king immediately to complain that Birbal has said a lie that he was going to the palace to get hanged. The king was surprised!! But he was also in a dilemma. What is the dilemma? If he punishes Birbal (hang to death) for saying the lie then ultimately it does not remain a lie. He is really getting hanged.
Because that’s what he said. In that case the King will be accused of killing an innocent person!! But on the other hand, if he does not punish him, it would be as though he is allowing lies. So finally the King had to withdraw the law.