Question:
Guruji we all know what is right and wrong but why do we still do wrong things. Why does this happen?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: There are only few things which makes us do wrong:-
Anger - we know that getting angry is not good for us but still we get angry.
Lust - we know it is not good but still the mind races.
Greed - we know according to the law it is wrong but still your greed increases.
Dishonesty - you know it is not good to speak lies but still you do so.
Anger comes only out of weakness. Yet you see now, after practising meditation and pranayama, it reduces. When you are constantly in knowledge your anger reduces. Behind anger, there is a desire. Anger arises whether your desire is fulfilled or not.
Desires are of two types - from the level of the body and the level of the mind.
At the body level, desires are influenced by the chemical responses in your body due to your food, water, environment, your age and the company you keep.
And at the level of the mind, past impressions influence the desires that arise. Only meditation and pranayama can bring a transformation in this.
Even well-educated people have made mistakes. It is ok. Whatever happened in the past, it is ok. Just drop it. In the present moment you are innocent.
One who is caught in self blame will repeat the same mistakes over and over again. So for this, you should listen to the Bhakti sutras. Surrender your mistakes to the Divine. Just with devotion you can calm down thousands of your desires.
Desires have no end. There are people who spend their lives earning money to simply have more money than somebody else. People keep on buying clothes, shoes, sometimes more than they can ever use. There is no satisfaction
Only through Seva (service) you can experience true satisfaction and joy. And that joy will reduce your desires. Greed has no end. It is ok to have desires. There is no harm. But you must be happy. Your happiness should not depend upon any desire being fulfilled.
One should have a calm and centered disposition, have awareness and live by the yamas and niyamas (the guiding principles for life). Integrate them in your life as much as it is possible. Don't overdo anything. It is said 'ahimsa paramodharma' - Non-violence is the highest dharma. When you speak many germs die, some people always keep their mouths covered because of that. No need to go so far. The more you practise the yamas and niyamas, that much more you will shine. Your interest and pull in life should be towards these principles.
Violence starts in the mind. The root cause for violence is craving and aversion. Craving and aversion can be finished in the mind itself.
What happens at the body level without your knowledge, as Lord Krishna says in the Bhagvad Gita to Arjuna, "Know that you can neither kill any being nor give life."
You know, the Bhagwad Gita is one of the most ideal scriptures. Even Einstein had said this. Integrate this Knowledge in your life such that your life itself becomes knowledge. And this can happen only through meditation. Only through meditation can true knowledge dawn within you. And then you see the world in new dimensions.
