|
COVER STORY:SRI SRI RAVI
SHANKAR
SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
"Let Osama Read The Vedas"
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke to senior Editor s. prasannarajan
in Kolkata on faith and reason. Excerpts.
Q. You say God is fun. Then why the word
god-fearing?
A. Not
in this country. Here God is always in leela, at play, as in Krishnaleela.
Song, dance and drama are part of our spirituality, but we seem to have
lost the sense of fun. God-fearing is a Christian concept. We have only
bhakti (devotion), no bhay (fear).
 Q.
Is faith in constant struggle with reason?
A. Reason
and faith should have a fine balance. Through reason you develop faith
just like through reason you develop faith in antibiotics.
Q. But one man's faith can be murderous.
A. The
problem begins when one wants to impose his idea of God. My idea of God
and his idea of God should co-exist. The basic principle of the Art of
Living is accepting people as they are. Life is multi-dimensional. When
you forget this...
Q. What happens?
A. You
have people like Osama bin Laden who have not read any scriptures other
than their own. If he had studied the Upanishads he would not have done
this. God has been there before the Koran. And we should take some responsibility.
We have not taken the knowledge of yoga, Vedanta and Upanishads to the
whole world. Remember, you cannot have a uniform way of living in this
world. You cannot make everybody materialistic as the communists have
tried and failed. And you cannot make everybody spiritual either. There
is room for everyone in this world.
Q. There are people who think 'Vedic' is
a retrograde word?
A. They
don't know. They don't understand the spiritual values of this country.
There is a lack of self-esteem. Take the word saffronisation. People who
have a problem with such a word should not be drinking orange juice. You
do not have to believe in God to enquire about God's nature. If you are
an atheist, at least you believe in your existence. And yoga doesn't exclude
an atheist. There is no blasphemer in Indian philosophy. If you want to
criticise someone you should have complete knowledge about his system
of thinking. The very structure of Indian philosophy is such that you
can never be a fanatic.
Q. The New Age has spawned a salvation industry.
Are you a marketeer of salvation?
A. Market
means the need of the people, and the need of the people is happiness,
peace, beauty. Salvation industry? Business and spirituality move in opposite
directions. In business, you give less and take more. In spirituality,
you give more and take less.
Q. Does the lure of spiritual alternatives
then keep the gurus going?
A. It
is man's search for happiness. In truth you reach the destination. Truth
is the last moment. The finale.
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
