Some wonderful things Guruji said that I loved and thought are really relevant to all of us. One is on changing habits and the other is on Seva. Enjoy!
Q. What is the secret to having a strong will power? Please tell me as I have so many bad habits that I would like to change about myself.
Sri Sri: Now, three things can help you to get over bad habits. 1. Love- If you love somebody or something, then promise them for their sake that you will continue the good habits. 2. Fear - When there is a fear that this bad habit is going to bring great problems to me, then you will get out of it. 3. Greed - If someone tells you that by leaving this bad habit, you will get a million dollars, you would not do that (the bad habit), you want a million dollars in your pocket. If someone tells you, don’t drink or smoke for the next one week, then you will be entitled to one million dollars. Will you smoke, will you drink? No ways! If someone tells you that you will get 10 million dollars or 10 million euros if you don’t smoke for one month or 30 days, they will say, ‘Why only 30 days? I will not smoke for 35 days. I am sure of the number of days, as I want to be sure. Not 29 days. Some months are only 30, some are 31, so let me do for the maximum of 35 days’. Because you know, when you value some thing much more than the habit and you know that you are going to get that, then the habit will drop out of it. So through love, fear or greed you will stop doing it. You know, promiscuity has reduced to a great extent because of the fear of AIDS. After the dreadful disease of AIDS started appearing, then promiscuity came down to a great extent. So similarly, commitment to a higher cause can help you get over small little attractions.
Q. Dearest Guruji, I am so fortunate to be on a path like this with you. I want more people to get this experience and be more happy by living in the knowledge and practicing the technique. But some people are not willing to be approached nor understand when I would like to share. So how to speed this to the people who are in need? Maybe their time has just not come.
Sri Sri: No, no don’t think their time has not come. You keep doing your work. You keep telling, you don’t have to push everybody but gently you have to facilitate people to get into the knowledge. Yes, this is necessary.
Of all things three are really the strongest motivators for any act that we do - Love, Fear and Greed! I looked at this answer from Guruji and looked back at myself and found it to be true. Either we something because we really love some person, situation or things; OR we do it out of fear of something we don't want to happen; OR because we are obsessed about Name, Fame, Money, etc and want to get there in a hurry (Greed)!
Funny part is this keeps happening hundreds of times every day - all we need to do is become aware of it!
For example, writing this blog could have been motivated by any of the following -
a. i want to add value to your life and bring you the latest knowledge from Guruji and latest insights from my experiences OR
b. i fear that you will stop following the blog hence put a post OR
c. i want more followers hence keep updating the blog regularly so that you keep coming back and invite your friends
It could also be combination of the three and one factor being more dominant than the others.
So, here's an exercise - for an entire day observe your actions and why you are motivated to do it - you'll find a great secret of how to change your bad habits!
Lots of Love!
P.S. I would love to see some of your comments on your learnings & implementations from the exercise
Bhaiya, there have been several occasions when I have been a part of a group which is discussing Art of Living. I always dispell any misconceptions that people have about the organisation and about Guruji, but there is one recurring question that I have no answer to...A professor of mine put it in the best way," What is the need to do all these courses. If you really want to learn something, you should learn it from experience, why do you need a Guru to teach you all these things? That is just like using a short cut."
ReplyDeleteI replied giving him the example of how one would use an escalator and not climb stairs but he was all the more convinced that a Guru is a crutch for a person who does not want to learn the hard way. What should my response be in such cases?
Dearest Neha,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you asked this question! I am sure it has come up in many other people's mind. Here's how I would respond to it:
Firstly,
There are 3 types of people:
1. Fools - Who keep on repeating the same mistake over and over again
2. Intelligent - Who learn from their own mistakes and don't repeat them
3. Wise - Who learn from Other people's mistakes
Point no A: Learning from others is a sign of the WISE!
Secondly, everything you have learnt in life is through one Guru or the other. For simple things such as riding bicycle, singing or be it playing guitar, you needed a Guru to teach you how to do it. Do you think with such a profound thing as "Art of Living"/ Enlightenment, you can manage without one? When even Guruji had a Guru, what makes you think that mortals like you and me won't need one?
Point no B: Having a Guru is absolutely essential to progress on the path!
Having a compass in the forest ensures you don't get lost on the path! If you wait to learn from your own experience you might end up wandering in the forest for lifetimes together! In this forest of Life, only one in billions comes who gets out of this forest without a compass!!
Wow! Thanks! Now I have an answer ready for all those who belittle the concept of a Guru and more importantly I've understood it myself.
ReplyDeleteYou rock!