Question:
I want to know how far I have progressed in my spiritual development. These days I have even stopped running behind your car. Does this mean that I have grown spiritually, or does this mean that my devotion towards you has decreased?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: This only you can know.
Once you have come on this path, you will progress. You will only move forward.
See, do not measure your growth by whether or not you run behind my car. Never do that. How centered have you become? This is what you need to see. The more centered you become, the more you have progressed on the path.
Wherever you are, be there and become still. Bring your mind to the self.
What you need to remember is that there is no lack of devotion in you. Do not even think that you do not have enough devotion. Yes, sometimes devotion may get hidden, but that is only for some time, soon it will come up again.
Feelings cannot always be constant. Our passion also will not be the same all the time. There will be ups and downs.
Feelings are not like stones, they are like water. Just like how ripples arise in water, the same goes for feelings as well. Feelings arise and then they settle down, and then again they rise. This is only natural. That is why love and longing always go together. You sometimes feel intense longing, and sometimes you feel an abundance of love, and then again you experience longing and then intense love. This will keep on happening in life.
