The Yoga way with Sri Sri
Autor: Afonso Alves | Publicado: 2015-04-21T20:14:00-07:00


21 April, 7:30 pm IST: Live webcast - The Yoga way with Sri SriYou can also listen to talk in the following languages:*&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;*&nbsp;SpanishSri Sri: If there is a competition for God today in the world, I would say that it is stress. Stress has become almost synonymous to God - it is omnipresent. Today, you can find stress everywhere.What really is stress?Stress is when you have too much to do, too little time, and no energy.How to get rid of stress?&nbsp;* By reducing the workload - This does not appear to be a possibility these days.&nbsp;* By increasing the time - This is which we cannot do. It is fixed, unless we go to another planet.* By increasing the energy level within us - And this is the only option we are left with.&nbsp;When we have enough energy and enthusiasm, we are able to handle any challenge.&nbsp;One aspect of the yoga way is to provide us tools and techniques to lead a stress-free and tension-free life. On the other hand, yoga is also the greatest wealth of humankind, I would say.&nbsp;What is wealth?Wealth is that which brings us comfort. The purpose of wealth is to bring happiness and comfort.&nbsp;If wealth doesn't succeed in achieving this goal of bringing comfort to human psyche and human life, I wouldn’t call it wealth. Yoga is wealth, in the sense that it brings absolute comfort.&nbsp;A violence-free society, disease-free body, confusion-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, trauma-free memory, and a sorrow-free soul is the birthright of every individual. And the parliaments world over are striving to achieve this goal of human existence - that is happiness! Isn’t it? We all want happiness for our people. And yoga is a way for that much needed happiness factor in life.&nbsp;We think yoga is some sort of exercise. In the '80s and '90s, when I would tour Europe, yoga was not a subject or thing of mainstream society. Yoga was considered to be a very hard exercise, standing on nails or on one leg. The whole concept of yoga was very weird. Today, I am glad that there is an awakening and people have recognized the importance of yoga. World over, yoga has become synonymous with relaxation, happiness or a creative mind. Even big companies in their advertisements put people sitting in a yoga position or in meditation pose to depict the inner peace one has. This is a very welcome move.&nbsp;I would like to remind you that whether we like it or not, we are all born yogis. You do not need a yoga teacher if you observe a baby. Any baby in the world, from the age of 3 months to the age of 3 years, a baby does all the yoga postures. The breathing, the way they sleep, the way they smile, everything is yoga. Baby is a yoga teacher. See a baby as a yogi. That is how a baby is stress free. There is happiness. A baby smiles 400 times in a day.The purpose of yoga is to put a smile on you in spite of all the stress, tensions, and situations we are putting (up with) in our day-to-day life.&nbsp;The benefits of yoga are multi-fold.1. Health benefits2. Changes the behavior of a person because behavior depends on the stress level in a person. It creates a friendly disposition and a very pleasant atmosphere in people.We convey a lot through our presence, our vibes. Yoga helps to improve our vibes. More than words, we convey through our presence, our vibrations.I would like to give an example. You can notice a clear difference when someone close to you says, "Have a nice day!" And an airhostess greeting you, "Have a nice day!" When you get off the plane, the air hostess greets you, "Have a nice day!" They really do not mean it. But the same words, when it comes to you from a kith, kin, or a close friend, it carries certain vibes.&nbsp;Speaking in terms of Quantum Physics, we are all emitting vibes or wavelengths. When communication breaks down, we often say 'Our wavelengths don't match.' Because our ability to communicate depends on our ability to receive communication from others. Here, yoga helps us to have that clear mind.&nbsp;Another issue that we face in society today is prejudice. All types of prejudice: prejudice with religion, race, class, gender, educational status, financial status. All these different types of prejudice has clogged the mind of men and that's how conflicts arise in society. Yoga helps us to reach out and resolve this conflict created by prejudice. It spontaneously and naturally makes our mind free from prejudice.I would like to share an incident that happened a few years ago in Ivory Coast. There was polarization between two villages. People of two different religions chased out the (people from) other religion from their town. Just one of our volunteer, went and talked to them, taught them a little relaxation, meditation, and brought the people from both villages together to shake hands. And you would see and you have also seen some of the experiences, how they could break that barrier or the prejudice in the mind and shake hands with people who are different than us. I think this is very much needed in the world today.Now, coming to the aspect of developing skills within oneself. The propounder of yoga has said, Yogaha Karmasu Kaushalam. In Gita, Lord Krishna has said, ‘Yoga is skill in action.’ Yoga is not just an exercise, it is how skillfully you can communicate and how skillfully you can act in any given situation. This is again yoga. And I don't think any one here would say, we don’t want skills. I don’t think anyone here would say, we don’t want innovation. Innovation, intuition, skills, and better communication: all these are side-effects of yoga. I wouldn't even say they are the main effects. They are the side-effects. These things come to us, naturally.Having said that, does yoga conflict with any of our belief system? I believe in a particular religion, or particular philosophy, or I follow a particular political thought line. Does it conflict?I would say, not at all. Yoga always promotes harmony in diversity. It encourages diversity. The word yoga itself means uniting; uniting all diverse aspects of existence, of life. Now, whether someone is a businessman or a public figure or a private individual, we want peace, we want to smile, we want to be happy. And this happiness can only happen when we look into the root cause of unhappiness.&nbsp;Unhappiness is due to:lack of visionstresstensionAgain, European Union, you have been talking a lot about GDH. I suppose from GDP, we are moving towards Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). Here is something that can aid that. It can be a very very useful tool. A large percentage of our population today is suffering from depression. Just popping a Prozac or anti-depressants will not help. We need something that is natural, as natural as our breath, that we can use and elevate our spirit and feel that much needed happiness. The pursuit of happiness that everybody is after.&nbsp;When we are happy, what is our experience? When you are happy, what is it that you feel? Have you noticed a sense of expansion within you? Suppose you are complemented or you accomplished something that you wanted to accomplish, you will find that there is something in you that is expanding. At the same time, when we face failure or someone insults us, we find that something in us that shrinks. So, yoga is putting our attention on this something in us that seems to be expanding when we are happy and crushing or contracting when we feel unhappy.Often, we feel helpless about our negative emotions. Neither in school, nor at home does anyone teach us about how to handle our negative emotions. If you are upset, you remain upset or wait for time to heal it. Yoga has a secret to turn this state of mind. It makes you so independent. It empowers you to feel the way you want to feel at any time, instead of being a victim of your own feelings. In our experience of teaching in prisons around the world, with half a million people, this is what we have found: every culprit says he is a victim of something. When we heal the victim in him, the culprit disappears. And breath, as simple as breath, can do this job for us. We just need to learn how to breathe in different rhythms, different patterns, and eliminate those traumas, those strong impressions in the mind or the pain, suffering that we have been carrying in our heart.&nbsp;Again, Patanjali, the propounder of yoga, he enunciated the purpose of yoga, “Heyam Dukham Anagatham.” The purpose of yoga is to stop the misery before it comes. On many counts, this is very useful. When a conflict is boiling somewhere, ask people to breathe, sit together and communicate better, you will find that you can resolve the conflict right at the root cause of it. Whether it is greed, anger, jealousy, hatred, or frustration, all these negative emotions can be healed or re-oriented through yoga. And this is my experience throughout the world.&nbsp;Yoga also helps someone to be more responsible, to take more responsibility in life. This is called Karma Yoga. A Karma Yogi is one who takes responsibility. We all play many roles in our life. We have an option to play the role either as a yogi or as a non-yogi; one who is responsible or one who is not-so-responsible. You can have a responsible teacher, a doctor with responsibility, a businessman who cares. Caring, sharing, and responsibility are the characters that yoga simply nurtures in us. We all have this inside us. The entire population has this in us, but it needs some nurturing. Yoga is one of the best tool to nurture an individual to take responsibility.Q: Namaskar! I have a very simple question for you. Is it possible to synchronize left and right sides of the brain? And is it possible to train oneself to balance the logic and music?Sri Sri: Definitely, that is why we have two nostrils. Nature has provided us two nostrils. When you alternate your breathing and the breathing corresponds to the left and right hemispheres of the brain as well. Definitely, it is possible.&nbsp;Q: Do you think people in this room would make better decisions if they had a yoga class every morning?Sri Sri: I think that is the first right decision.Q: Which are the qualities that yoga can help you develop in order to become a more responsible person towards yourself and the others?Sri Sri: I just explained it. Yoga can definitely make you more responsible. Because it creates more energy and enthusiasm in you. When you do not like to take responsibility, when you are tired and stressed. Right? If you have taken care of these two issues and you have enough enthusiasm and energy, you will definitely take more responsibility. And responsibility with a sense of lightness.&nbsp;Q: How many hours of meditation a day do you need to achieve practical results?Sri Sri: I would say about 30 to 40 minutes in the morning including exercise, breathing technique, and meditation should do.Q: When a child is between 3-months and 3-years, he is not conditioned by any societal systems because he is natural. How do we get rid of conditioning?&nbsp;Sri Sri: When you go to the root cause of conflicts, you will find that it is stress, mistrust, and fear of the other. And yoga (helps you to) get over all the three. Fear of the other vanishes, because you have broadened awareness, broadened consciousness. You feel everyone is part of you and you are part of them. Fear of losing one’s identity or fear of losing existence, being extinct, is something that is very deep-rooted. Yoga, I feel, is the best thing to remove these fears from the minds of people.Q: My yoga teacher told me that things that happen to you always reflect your inner state or condition. My question is can you transmit the same philosophy to the level of a group? Things that are happening to certain countries would reflect what’s inside of them?Sri Sri: Yes. We reflect the society and society reflects what we are. In a broader sense, yes. But when the tension is building up, the group fear begins there. And mob psychology is very much compared to an individual reflection of what people are feeling. I am sure that could be addressed through right education.Q: What is yoga? Is it a meditation? Is it different postures of the body? If that is so, what are the scientific linkages between those things and what happens inside which leads to such dynamic effects in the form of resolution of conflict and giving us peace of mind?Sri Sri: First, I would like to refute your first statement that you have never done yoga in your whole life. You have done as a baby, but you don’t know it. Not a single child on this planet has come up without doing yoga. Babies, when they sleep, they will put the Chin Mudra while sleeping. In any part of the world you see, when babies are lying down they lift their legs first, and then they go on their belly and try to lift their shoulders. So, they do the Bow Pose, and then they try to hold the toe. So, asanas to some extent every child has done on this planet. And then coming to the breathing pattern. The way we breathe is different from the way a baby breathes. A baby has a stress-free mind, a happy mind. So, all the science of yoga is already there in a baby. We have all been yogis. We are all going back to our roots.&nbsp;Yoga has eight-folds; there are eight steps to it. One among that is physical postures also. But, mainly maintaining the equanimous state of mind is the center core. Samatvam yoga uchayate, yoga brings equilibrium in mind. What you can do with mindfulness, any action that you are performing at the same time you are aware of what you are saying, what you are doing, makes you a yogi.See, science is a systematic, logical understanding of what is. In the sense yoga is a science, that it is a systematic understanding of the subject. Knowing ‘What this is’ is science. Knowing ‘Who am I’ is spirituality. But, both are science.&nbsp;Q: The whole commercialization of yoga is helping to lose its original purpose, which is spirituality.Sri Sri: Commercialization is to do with people and not to do with yoga. Wherever there are people and there are arrangements to be done, commerce becomes a part of it. But if yoga is denied to people because they do not have money, I would say that is wrong.&nbsp;Q: Nowadays, the schools of yoga have subscriptions that are overpriced.Sri Sri: Yoga is better taken as a mission and not as a profession. Some people take to yoga as a mission to bring happiness to people. Some others take it as a profession. When they have taken it as a profession, it already has a commercial aspect to it. People take it as a profession because it is the need of the hour.&nbsp;Q: Guruji, you have been teaching for many years. Do you think you are a very different person now as compared to when you started?Sri Sri: A part of me is the same throughout. I have not changed. f you ask me on the other count, have your activities expanded? I would say, yes. There are many challenges. Now, I am ready to take many more challenges. In that sense, yes. The answer to this question would be yes and no.&nbsp;Q: Which sutras of Patanjali you consider the most important in your practice?Sri Sri: The very first sutra of Patanjali, ‘Yogah Chittah Vritti Nirodaha, Tada Drishta Swarupena Awathanam.’ Establishing in the seer is yoga. Getting back from the scenery to the seer is yoga.Q: I have never practised yoga. But I have always been impressed by the relaxed state and spirituality of Gurus and yogis. Speaking as a Catholic, what do you say to those leaders of monotheistic religions, senior clerics in my own faith that say that yoga has its origin in Hinduism and Pantheism and focused entirely on the physical aspect of the body can undermine Christian prayer. Therefore, it is not necessarily the right approach to spirituality for Christians. Is being a devout Christian compatible with the practice of yoga?&nbsp;Sri Sri: By eating Chinese food, we do not become Chinese. Listening to Beethoven, does not turn you into a German. When we can accept food from every part of the world, music from every part of the world, technology from every part of the world, why to single out wisdom or technology that can bring you inner peace, without interfering your own faith or belief system? This is my question. No doubt, yoga has its root in Hinduism. Actually, Hinduism is a way of life. Patanjali never talks about so many Gods or pantheism. Patanjali simply says there are body, mind, breath, life-force; attend to this.&nbsp;We should welcome wisdom, irrespective of its source, as long as it does not conflict with our traditions.Now, I would like to lead you through a small exercise desktop yoga and desktop meditation, which you can use in any stressful time, whenever you need.&nbsp;*Meditation*If we take just a little more time, a couple of hours, we can learn a lot many techniques related to our body-mind complex. Simple things which will come in very handy for us when we are facing a lot of stress. As decision makers, when we have to take important decisions, I would say just take that 10 minutes, sit back, relax. Just center yourself and you know you will find some wonder happening inside of us. Our intuition gets triggered with these techniques, and intuition is something that never goes wrong. If it goes wrong, it is not intuition. Thank you!&nbsp;