Buddha Sangha Dharma & You: A talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

On the Spiritual path, there are three factors:
Buddha - the Master or the Enlightened;
Sangha - the commune or the group; and
Dharma - your nature, your true nature.

 Buddha - the Master or the Enlightened
The closer you go to Buddha, the more charm you find; you will never be tired of the Enlightened. The closer you go, the more newness, the more love you feel. It’s like a depth without a bottom.

The Master is a doorway, and the doorway needs to be more charming than the world so that people will come to the doorway. Someone is in the street and there is rain and thunder, or hot sun. They need shelter. They look around and find a doorway. The doorway is more inviting, more charming, more celebrative and more joyful than anything else in the world.

Nothing in the world could give that much peace, joy and pleasure. Once you come to the doorway, you enter the door and see the world from there, from the eyes of the Master. This is a sign that you have come to the Master. Otherwise, you may still be standing in the street and looking at the door.
Once you have entered, you will see the whole world from the eyes of the Master. What does this mean? In every situation you face, you will think, ‘If this situation comes in front of the Master, how would he or she handle it?’ ‘If this complication comes in front of the Master, how would he take it?’ ‘If someone blames the Master like this, how would he handle it?’

See the world from the eyes of the Master at all times. Then the world looks so much more beautiful; it is a place filled with love, joy, cooperation, compassion and all virtues. The world is much more fun. Looking through the doorway, there is no fear, because there is shelter.

From inside your home, you will look at the thunder, you will look at the storm, and you will look at the rain. You will look at the bright sun; inside you have air conditioning. It is very cool and pleasant. Outside it is hot. You don’t mind because there is nothing that can really distract you, disturb you, or take the fullness away from you. Such a sense of security, fullness and joy comes, that is the purpose of having a Master.

All relationships in the world go topsy-turvy. You make relationships and you break them. Then there is craving and aversion. This is the world, this is samsara. However, the Master is not a relationship; the Master is the Presence. Don’t make the Master a part of your world. Feel the Presence of the Master - that is eternal. It has been with you before, it is there with you now, and will be there in the future too.

The second factor is Sangha, the group. The group is very charming from a distance, but the closer you get, it pushes all your buttons and brings about all the unwanted things from within you. Any group is very good from a distance or with just a little acquaintance. If you think some group is very good, then that means you are not yet completely with the group. When you are totally part of that group, you will find that some bickering will come up. That’s why you find the other group to be better than your group; but you make the group -so if you are better, your group will also be better.

Sangha has a reverse nature to Buddha. Once you are used to a Sangha, it loses its charm. Buddha makes your mind one-pointed; Sangha, because it includes so many people, can scatter your mind, fragment it. This is the nature of Sangha, though it is very supportive. If it were repulsive all the time, then nobody would be part of the Sangha.

Buddha uplifts you. With Grace, with Love, with Knowledge, He pulls you up. Buddha pulls you up from above, and the Sangha pushes you up from down below. The Dharma should be in the middle. Not going to any extreme is your nature. Your nature is to be in balance, to smile from the depth of your heart, to accept this entire existence totally, as it IS. Do not crave or be averse to anything. Often you crave for Buddha and are averse to the Sangha, and you try to change; but by changing the Sangha or Buddha, you are not going to change.

Third component is Dharma:
The main purpose is to come to the centre deep within you, which means to find your Dharma. This is the third factor. What is Dharma? Knowing that “this moment” is what has been offered to me by my life, and that is how I take it. A sense of deep acceptance for this moment, for every moment, is Dharma. When this has come up then there is no problem at all. All the problems generate from our mind; all negativity comes in from our mind.

The world is not bad; we make our world ugly or beautiful. So, when you are in your Dharma, in your nature, you will not blame the world and you will not blame the Divine.
The difficulty of the human mind is that it cannot be part of the world totally, and it cannot be part of the Divine. It feels a distance from the Divine. The world is its own creation and yet it feels like blaming the world. It’s not comfortable with the world. Dharma is that which puts you in the middle and makes you comfortable with the world. It allows you to contribute to the world, be at ease with the Divine, and feel that you are a part of the Divine. That is true Dharma.

This is a talk given by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is Spiritual Leader & humanitarian leader.

Secrets of Meditation -3: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

There are several things you can do about it.

First is accepting it and not fighting with it. You fight with it and feel that you should not have this noise. The more you want to get rid of it, the more it will stick to you. The principle of consciousness or mind is such that resistance does not eliminate it but makes it grow. So first you have to let go and not resist it.
Second is the five different ways of getting into meditation. Breathing will help you get rid of the noise. Proper food can also make an impact on meditation. Exercise, posture and refined emotions, good understanding, all these will aid meditation.

Q-2: Dear Guruji, during meditation I was aware but had no sensation in my body. There was only ‘I am’ and then my body jerked and I was back. What happened?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is good, you had a glimpse of that inner state, the consciousness that you are. That is normal and good too. But now don’t try to have the same experience tomorrow. No. It is not going to repeat. Everyday there is a new treasure that will come to you. So, just take it and do not latch on to experiences. You are much bigger than these experiences.


Q-3: During meditation, my mind becomes silent but I haven’t been able to transcend or go beyond my mind. Am I trying too hard?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, you should not try to go beyond the mind. For your own sake don’t do anything, just let it be. Ok?
If you are on a massage table, what do you do? You just let the masseuse take care of you. The masseuse does the job. You do nothing. It is the same in meditation: you do nothing. Let nature take care of you. The spirit will take care of it.

Q-4: After meditating for a while I have become aware of my patterns of reactions, such as defensiveness and anger. How do I get myself to react differently?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Disown all that you think are your patterns, let them be.
If you start identifying that "I am always angry", "I am always defensive", then you are latching onto the past or some patterns. So disown them. They were there yesterday. It came in my space. So what?
Sometimes you see dark clouds in the sky, but the space does not own them. It just allows them to come and pass away. Similarly, these emotions come, sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant. You should disown them. That is the first step. Let them come and go.

Q-5: I have heard that after years of meditation that one’s whole life becomes a constant meditation. Can you explain this?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes! That inner calmness stays whatever you do.
You may be walking, talking, eating, chatting, watching news, and there is that certain serenity which continues. You get so used to it. It doesn’t leave you.
But again, don't keep thinking, ‘When will I get this sort of experience?’. 'It can happen anytime. Who cares?' That should be the attitude. That is the best thing to say, ‘Okay, let it be.’
There is a beautiful verse by Kabir. He was an Indian saint during the middle ages. He said that he went in search of God all the time, looking everywhere, 'Where is God? Where is God?'
He said, ‘When I went in search of God, I couldn’t find God. But when I dropped everything and relaxed, God was after me, calling me, ‘Kabir, Kabir, Kabir!’’
So when he stopped running after God, then God started running after him. This is very true!
Just know how to relax deeply. Without effort. Because whatever we gain through effort is material and is limited. Anything you want to gain on the spiritual plane, anything higher, effort is not the language. When all effort is dropped, you gain something bigger.
The material plane is just 1/10th of the entire existence and 9/10th is the spiritual plane.
See, you cannot cultivate love through effort, you cannot be compassionate through effort, can you? Can you say, ‘I try hard to be compassionate’? Your 'trying hard' is the impediment. Just relax and you will be compassionate. You try hard to be happy. That is the deterrent factor to happiness. So effort is the language of the material world.
Without effort you can’t make money, you can’t study or gain good marks. You can’t obtain a degree if you don’t put any effort. So everything in the material requires effort. Like building a home. It does not happen just by thinking about it. But to attain something spiritual just the reverse is needed – no effort! A few moments of sitting and making no effort at all whatsoever.
I know you may tell me it is difficult not to do anything. It is difficult to be quiet. But it just appears like that. A couple of days here and you will see how it is so simple, so easy!

SriSri On Sudarshan Kriya:

There are three levels of spiritual practices.

Sudarshan kriya

The first one is called Anva Upaya. The second is Shakta Upaya, . and the third one is Shambava Upaya. Shiva, Shakti and Anva. All practices in the world can be categorized into these three categories. So, Anva is the lowest; means the very beginning. All the japa, mantras, poojas, yogasanas, breath control, everything comes under Anva Upaya. They are called Upayas, which means remedies. Above this is Shakta. Shakta is only mental, i.e., inside. There is no outer thing, no mantras in it. It is the effect of the meditative state, that is Shakta Upaya.

When you sing, meditate,  do pranayam and Sudarshan Kriya Technique (Kriya begins with Anva Upaya but then), it leads to Shakta Upaya, when you are just energy. Here there is no effort, there is no doing. Just a little bit effortless effort is there.

Then the Shambava or Shiv Upaya is just pure awareness. Just a state of awareness. Shambava Upaya means that there is no means (way) to do it, it is just a happening, it will just happen. Even then it is still called an Upaya.

So the purpose of Anva and Shakta Upaya is to go to Shambava Upaya wherein you become one with Shiva (the fourth state of consciousness). There is no two, there is no doer, you are Shiva, and that is Shambava Upaya.

Usually people who have experienced some degree of Shambava Upaya, they simply discard the other levels. If you read, some people have said that there is no point in doing pranayama, or, there is no point in chanting mantras, or there is no point in doing Pooja. They are all talking from the level of Shambava Upaya, but all these practices have their own place too. See, for example, if you go to the Prime Minister of a country, the Mayor doesn’t matter much. But suppose the Mayor has a say as well, then even if you go to the Prime Minister the mayor of this town can put some hurdles, isn’t it? The beaurocrats can put some hurdles.

So the ancient system is attending to everybody and giving everyone their rightful place. And that is how all this, Anva Upaya, Shakta Upaya, everything is maintained because they have some purpose.

Sudarshan Kriya audio is not available for sale. This knowledge is only meant to benefit the society through Art of Living teachers.

7 Myths About Meditation Uncovered

Myth #1 Meditation is concentration

Meditation is actually de-concentration. Concentration is a benefit of meditation. Concentration requires effort and meditation is absolute relaxation of the mind. Meditation is letting go, and when that happens, you are in a state of deep rest. When the mind is relaxed, we can concentrate better.

Myth #2 Meditation is for old people

Meditation is universal and adds value to lives of people of all age groups. One can start mediating at the age of eight or nine. Just like a shower keeps the body clean, meditation is like the shower for the mind.

“After practicing meditation, I do not get as angry as before,” shares Sandra, a middle school student. “Just a few minutes of meditation keeps me calm all day,” shares 19-year-old Karan, another young mediator. “Meditation gives me the zeal and enthusiasm to spread positivity around me,” shares a 25-year-old.

Myth #3 Meditation is like hypnotizing yourself

Meditation is an antidote for hypnosis. In hypnotism, the person is not aware of what he or she is going through. Meditation is complete awareness of each and every moment. Hypnotism takes the person through the same impressions that are in his mind. Meditation frees us from these impressions so that our consciousness is fresh and clear. Hypnotism increase metabolic activity, meditation reduces it. “Those who practice pranayama and meditation regularly cannot be hypnotized easily,” says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Myth #4 Sit in the lotus posture to meditate

The Patanjali yoga sutras are perhaps one of the most scientific and detailed study that man has produced dealing with the nature of the mind. “Sthirasukhamasanam,’’ a yoga sutra by Patanjali explains that while meditating it is more important to be comfortable and steady. This helps us to have a deeper experience in meditation. You can sit cross-legged, on a chair, in a sofa – it is fine. Yet when you start your meditation it is good to maintain a posture where the spine is erect and head, neck and shoulders are relaxed.

Myth #5 Meditation is a way of running away from problems

On the contrary, meditation empowers you to face problems with a smile. Skills develop in us to handle situations in a pleasant and constructive manner through yoga and meditation. We develop the ability to accept situations as they are and take conscious action instead of brooding over the past or worrying about the future. Meditation nurtures inner strength and self-esteem. It acts like an umbrella during rainy days. Challenges will arise, but we can still move ahead with confidence.

 Myth #6 Meditation, a religious practice

Yoga and meditation are ancient practices that transcend all religions. For meditation, there is no bar on any religion. In fact, meditation has the ability to bring religions, nations and faiths together. Just like the sun shines for everyone, and the wind blows for everyone, meditation benefits everyone. “We encourage people from all backgrounds, religions and cultural traditions to come together and meditate in a spirit of celebration,” says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Myth #7 Meditation is thought control

Thoughts do not come to us by invitation. We become aware of them only after they have arrived! Thoughts are like clouds in the sky. They come and go on their own. Trying to control thoughts involves effort and the key to a relaxed mind is effortlessness. In meditation, we do not crave for good thoughts nor are we averse to bad thoughts. We simply witness and eventually transcend thoughts and move into that deep inner silent space.

We hope they help to bring greater clarity on the effect and the benefits of meditation in your lives and reinforce the need to meditate. Meditate Now

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Secret of Secrets

Why is it kept secret? It is said that mantras are like seeds and seeds sprout in secrecy. You put the seed under the ground and cover it with mud, then the seed sprouts and becomes a tree. The ancient concept of mantra is that a sound which is kept secret grows and resonates within you. Any secret that you keep to yourself does not leave you but it takes you deeper to the subconscious layers.
The same principle works for confession. Why do you confess? To ensure that it does not go deep into your consciousness. A mistake or sin leaves you once you say it out. It does not remain within and bother you. But the mantra, a sound which has been given, and that too by one who is deep into meditation, one who has mastered it, helps you go deeper.

The sound (mantra) is given to another person, a student saying, ‘Keep it to yourself, it is your personal mantra, and let it grow.’

Here the meaning of the sound is not important, just the vibration is important. Understanding the meaning is superficial compared to the vibration of the sound. It could be the same sound which everybody knows.

In olden days there used to be four days of celebration to give a mantra. They would call all the relatives and friends when the child was to be initiated. They would bring horses and put the child on the back of the horse and have a procession.
This was the ancient way of doing it.

Spiritual journey is considered very sacred, very personal and yet a matter of pride. You are getting a secret sound and that is a big pride because it is sacred.

Based on a series of talks entitled ‘Secrets of meditation’ given by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on April 21, 2012, California. These talks have been made into knowledge sheets.

Meditation Secrets Revealed

Every human being has the need to meditate because it is a natural tendency of human life to look for a joy that doesn’t diminish, a love that doesn’t distort or turn into negative emotions.

Is meditation foreign to us? Absolutely not! You have been in meditation for a couple of months before your birth. You were in your mother’s womb doing nothing. You didn’t even have to chew your food, it was fed directly into your belly and you were there happily floating in the fluid, turning and kicking, sometimes here and sometimes there. That is meditation. You did nothing. Everything was done for you. So there is a natural tendency in every human being, in every soul, to crave for that state of absolute comfort.

You know why you want comfort? It is because you were comfortable at one point, because you have experienced a state of comfort called meditation. Meditation is absolute comfort. So getting back to that state which you have experienced before coming into the hustle, bustle of this world is very natural because in this universe everything is cyclic. Everything wants to go back to its source. That is the nature of the world.

During autumn, leaves fall and go back to the soil and nature has its own way to re-cycle them. The natural tendency to re-cycle all that you have collected every day of your life as impressions, to get rid of them and to get back to the original state that you were in when you came to this planet, is meditation. Becoming fresh and alive is meditation. Getting back to that serenity which is your original nature is meditation. Absolute joy and happiness is meditation.

A pleasure minus excitement is meditation. A thrill without anxiety is meditation. A love without hatred is meditation. Meditation is food for the soul. There is a natural craving for food. When you are hungry, spontaneously you eat something. If you are thirsty you want to drink some water. In the same way, the soul yearns for meditation and this tendency is in everyone.

There is not a single individual on this planet who is not a seeker. Just that they don’t know it, they don’t recognize it. We try to look for that food where it is not available, that is the problem.

Secrets of Meditation : Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Day 1

Secrets of Meditation : Talks by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in California

In the next three days we will explore all about meditation.
Are you ready for the journey? Then buckle up! Fasten your seat belt!
Do you know what the real seat belt for meditation is? Feeling at home, being natural! If you feel very formal, you can’t meditate. Meditation requires being informal and feeling at home.

I suppose you all feel at home, right? Of course, it is California, everyone always feels at home. We are very casual, isn’t it? That’s the great thing about California, very at home, easy!

So, we will explore the need of meditation. Why do we need to meditate and what are the ways to meditate. I won’t go into the benefits; I assume you all know the benefits of meditation. But the need and the methods, and how we can have a successful meditation, we will explore all these avenues; the different types of meditations.

Now, what is the need for meditation, why should you meditate?
The need is there in every human being because it is a natural tendency of human life to look for a joy that doesn’t diminish, a love that doesn’t distort or turn into negative emotions. This is very natural, isn’t it?

Is meditation foreign to us? Absolutely not! This is because you have been in meditation for a couple of months before your birth. You were in your mother’s womb doing nothing. You didn’t even have to chew your food, it was fed directly into your belly and you were there happily floating in the fluid, turning and kicking, sometimes here and something there, but most of the time happily floating there. That is meditation. You did nothing, everything was done for you. So there is a natural tendency in every human being, in every soul to crave for that state when you are in absolute comfort.

You know why you want comfort? It is because you were comfortable at one point. So that wanting comfort is again natural because you have experienced a state of comfort that is called meditation. Meditation is absolute comfort. So getting back to that state which you have had a taste of just before coming into the hustle, bustle of this universe, of this world, is very natural because in this universe everything is cyclic, everything wants to go back to its source, and that is the nature of the world. Everything goes back and everything is cyclic; except plastic if you don’t use it properly.

See, when the autumn season comes, the leaves fall and go back to the soil and nature has its own way to re-cycle them. The natural tendency to re-cycle all that we have collected in day to day life as impressions, getting rid of them and getting back to the original state that we were when we dawned on this planet is what meditation is. Becoming fresh again, alive again is what mediation is. Getting back to that serenity which is your original nature is meditation. Absolute joy and happiness is meditation.

A pleasure minus excitement is meditation. A thrill without anxiety is meditation. A love without hatred or any of the opposite values is meditation. Meditation is food for the soul, so there is a natural craving for food, isn’t it? When you are hungry, spontaneously you go to eat something. If you are thirsty you want to drink some water. In the same way, the soul yearns for meditation and this tendency is in everyone. That is why I say, there is not a single individual on this planet who is not a seeker. Just that they don’t know it. They don’t recognize it. We try to look for that food where it is not available, that is the problem.

It is like you going to a grocery shop when you want to fill gas in your car. It won’t work. You keep going round and round the grocery store saying, ‘I want gas for my car.’ It won’t work because you need to go to the petrol station. So that right direction needs to be found and that is what we are going to explore. What are the ways and how we can meditate, how we can experience that absolute comfort within our self.

Secrets of Meditation : Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Day 2

Secrets of Meditation : Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in California

Meditation is the journey from sound to silence, from movement to stillness, from a limited identity to unlimited space.

Last night, I said that there are five ways through which meditation happens. Let us recapitulate.
The first is by physical manipulation. Yoga, Tai-Chi, all these come under that. By stretching and contracting the body, the mind experiences a state of awareness that you can call meditation.

The second is through breathing exercises and pranayama, the mind becomes quiet and still.

The third is through any of the five senses and sensory objects; one can experience a state of no-mindedness, no thoughts, calmness, serenity and inner beauty.

If you observe a child, a baby enjoying a lollypop or a toffee, you can see how the child is engrossed totally in enjoying that piece of candy. You ask the baby, ‘What is your name?’ It won’t answer. They are fully into it. Being 100% engrossed in a particular sensory object brings you to a state of meditation.

On a free day, just lie down and keep looking at the sky, a moment comes when the mind becomes still, there are no thoughts and you don’t know where you are, but you know you are. An experience of the center everywhere and circumference nowhere. Limitless awareness can happen through just watching an empty space, because our mind is also space; consciousness is a space.
You listen to music and then a moment comes when you are completely engrossed in the music and you snap out of it. You no longer hear the music, but you know you are and yet you have no boundaries. In the language of Yoga, it is called Laya Yoga, which means dissolving in it. That leads you to meditation.

Any wonderment or astonishment also leads you to that state. Whenever a ‘Wow!’ arises in you, there is no mind, there are no thoughts, but you just are.
Sense of touch, smell, taste, sight and sound can all lead you into meditation, provided you do it in the right way. It needs a certain skill to experience that.


Emotions can lead you to a state of meditation; both positive and negative emotions, not only positive. A state of shock can also take you into meditation. Again, it is a little risky.
You know, when you feel utterly hopeless, you say, ‘I give up!’ When you are very angry, what do you say? ‘I give up!’ It means, ‘This is it. I can’t take it anymore.’
During those moments, if you don’t slip into frustration or depression or violence, you will find that there is a moment where it snaps and there is no mindedness. So, whether it is positive emotions or negative emotions, like fear, the mind stands still, it stops. It can lead you into that spot.

The next is intellectual stimulation, through knowledge, through awareness you can go into meditation. This is called Jnana Yoga.
If you have been into a space museum, you are in a different state of consciousness when you come out of the museum. There is a different context, because you have seen yourself in the context of the universe. Who are you? What are you? Where are you? How are you in reference to the unfathomable, infinite universe?

If you have studied Quantum physics, you start to see that everything is just atoms, just a wave function, just energy. If you really listen to Quantum physics and then you study Vedanta or the Art of Meditation or Yoga, you will find striking similarities. You will find that the same language is being spoken.
Adi Shankara said, ‘All that you see doesn’t exist’.

One of the top scientists of our times, Dr. Hans-Peter Durr said, ‘I studied matter for the last 35 years, only to find out that it does not exist! I have been studying something that does not exist’. So, through knowledge also you can experience a state of meditation.

I won’t go into the benefits of meditation. You can go to google and find out. There are greater minds that have done a lot of research on meditation and have put it there – what are all the benefits of meditation. Any meditation has some benefits. But the secrets of meditation, that is what we are interested in. We are inquisitive about this – what are the secrets?!

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