BATIQ (Beautiful Answers To Interesting Questions) Part 1

Beautiful Answers To Interesting Questions (BATIQ) is going to be a series and this is Part 1. Here I have collated some beautiful Q & A s from Guruji's talks in December 2009. Enjoy! -

Q: Can charity grant liberation?

Guruji: Charity purifies Wealth. Ghee purifies the Food. Knowledge purifies the Intellect. Bhajan purifies the Mind & Service purifies the Actions.


Q: Tell us something about ‘nadi shodan’ (alternate nostril) pranayama.

Guruji: There are 1,82,000 nadis/ energy channels in our body. When we breathe, these are activated and that is why we are alive. When we breathe through the left nostril, certain nadis are functioning and others function when we breathe through the right nostril. So when we alternate the breath through the nostrils, certain changes happen in the body and in our system. Our system gets purified. Fresh energy moves in the system and the stress is eliminated. The left nostril activates the functioning of the right brain and vice versa. So when we alternate our breathing, all the brain waves get synchronized. Biochemical changes happen in the body. The Endocrine glands function better and any imbalance in body is rooted out. There are many benefits of pranayama.

Q: They say cats are fiercer than tiger. I am relating this to women. Women nowadays are not open to accept men’s opinion. I am concerned about the male species.

Guruji: You mean we should start men empowering seminar. (Laughter). Perhaps!!

Q: Guruji, if souls are immortal does that mean there are finite number of souls on the planet?

Guruji: Have you seen that signboard for advertisements? So many lights are there on it but not all are lit at one time. At some time some patterns of lights are there on board and at some other time some other patterns. Same is with the souls. It all depends on what souls are exhibited at one time.

Q: What are the three most important values? (Asked in a Youth Forum in Melbourne)

Guruji: You want to limit it to three?!
A sense of belongingness with the whole world. You have to take this stand, feel that you are part of the whole world and all are part of you.
Commitment to whatever you take up, and an integrity inside of you which says you are going to see your commitments through.
The third value is living in the present moment, not holding onto the past and getting into trouble in your own mind. Do you know how many problems we can create for others when we hold onto the past?

Q: How does a youth handle the ups and downs of life?

Guruji: I am a youth myself! Life is a mixture of everything: failure & success - they complement each other. If you fail, then you know the value of success, it is a stepping stone.
You need to move forward: ask yourself, what did I learn from the past, and then what is my vision for the future? This will keep you going. For this, you need presence of mind, and for this, you need to get rid of stress.
You are the player, not the pawn. If you are a pawn, someone else is moving you, and you have no control. You have to be the player, empower yourself, and that’s how these Art of Living programs can help you.

Q: How do I do charity?

Guruji: Three quarters can be given to your children, and one quarter to the child next door. Your first duty is to feed your children. As they say, there is enough for the need of the world today, but not enough for one’s greed.
Our centre in Bangalore is surrounded by villages. Unless the villages are kept clean, we cannot keep the centre clean and pure. So I said we need to build individual toilets for each family, and help to clean up the villages. Our center administration said we are always short of rooms in our center, we should build rooms in our centre rather than spend resources on cleaning the surrounding villages. And I said, the number of rooms will never be enough, the number of people visiting our center is always growing. We cannot wait for our needs to be fulfilled, and then one day start working in the village.
You cannot wait until all the needs of your family are met, and then do service. It has to be simultaneous.

Q: Can the common man attain spirituality?

Guruji: Only the common man can attain spirituality! If someone thinks they are very special, they cannot!

Q: I have started schools across the world. Please bless me.

Guruji: Very good. Make Sanskrit compulsory in your schools.A few days ago it was in the newspaper that three schools in the UK have made Sanskrit compulsory as a subject. After so much research it has been found that studying Sanskrit brings brilliance and once learnt, it is very easy to learn any other language. Studying the Devnagri script is very good for the brain.