Evil has no absolute existence of its own. The Bhagavad Gita says: “The good will never perish; evil can never exist”. Evil doesn’t exist as a separate entity; it is only an appearance. As such, it has only a relative, not absolute, existence. Just as darkness does not have an existence; it is not an entity or a substance but only a lack of light. In the same way, evil is simply lack of goodness. Moreover, according to the Puranas, even the demons finally merge into God: Ravana dies and merges into Rama. This approach avoids the dilemma about evil and the omnipresence of God. Most religions a ..read more

The more you try to hold on, the more the essence shall slip away. The beauty of human life is to let go and live peacefully. In the Bhagavad Gita, lord Krishna says, “You cannot get into yoga (union with the self) unless you drop the desires in you.” So the question is how to drop desires. Meditation is the art of letting go your desires. life teaches you the art of letting go in every event. What is that you are looking for? I will give you an example. Have you seen dogs biting bones? Do you know why they do that. Biting that bone makes a wound inside their mouth. Its own blood comes out an ..read more

Feeling at home, wherever and with whomsoever you are is what I would call the true evolution of human beings. For that, we need to take a look within ourselves. Thirty years ago, there was so much prejudice towards spirituality and wisdom. People would want to keep it at arm’s length and believed that it was not for them. Today, there is acceptance. People are willing to try it and once they see that it benefits them, they are less prejudiced. Life comes to us like a gift, a very charming gift, but we seldom open it. It’s all about opening ourselves and being open. Life is a gift wrapped in ..read more

As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be at total rest. Every desire or ambition is like a sand particle in the eye! You cannot shut your eyes nor keep them open with a sand particle inside — it is uncomfortable either way. Dispassion is removing this sand particle so you can open and shut your eyes freely! The other way is to expand your desire, or make it so big — then also it will not bother you. It is a tiny sand particle that irritates your eyes — a big rock can never get into your eyes! If you have a desire coming into your mind right now, at this very moment what do y ..read more

What is health? Health is having all these – a disease-free body; a quiver-free breath; a stress-free mind; an inhibition-free intellect; an obsession-free memory; an ego that includes all, and a soul that is free from sorrow. Only a healthy bud can blossom into a beautiful flower. In the same way, only a healthy being can achieve the goal they want to achieve. The Sankrit word for health is ‘swaasthya’, which means to be established in one’s self. The ancient scriptures mention that our body has five levels of existence – the environment or the atmosphere: our physical body; life force or pr ..read more

When you have judgement or labels against people, your behaviour starts getting disturbed. You become stiff because of the seeds of negativity you are carrying against others, and your vibration becomes negative. You don’t even realise that you are carrying negativity within you. Negativity is such that you get sucked into it without being conscious of it. When your intellect becomes sharper and more soaked in knowledge, you will immediately be able to rise above negativity. That is why we need to develop our awareness. To begin, ask yourself these four questions: 1) Are you wasting mental en ..read more

The ‘Holi’ festival is a fun-filled and popular occasion for celebration. People play Holi with chandan or sandalwood powder and coloured water. The festival is celebrated around early March each year, coinciding with the full bloom of spring. People believe that bright colours represent energy, life and joy. Huge bonfires are also lit in the evening as part of celebrations. Life should be full of colours! And each colour is meant to be seen and enjoyed separately, for if they are all mixed together, all the different colours merge and will appear all black. All colours like red, yellow, gree ..read more

Shiv Sutras: A Sutra is a thread and Shiva means that which is auspicious. Among many negative things, take that one positive thing and hold on to it. If someone has fallen in a deep well, what do you do? You help them come up with a rope. That is what Shiv Sutras are meant to do. These are simple one line sutras that make you aware that your true nature is “Swatmananda Praksha Vapushe”. Your true nature is bliss; your true nature is joy. Your nature is light. That is why it is said: Namah śrī śambhave svātmānanda prakāśa vapuśe I bow down to the wealth that brings peace and fills the body wi ..read more

This article written by Bhanumathi Narasimhan, sister of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Recently, i invited a new mother to model in the fashion show at our upcoming International Women’s Conference. Her radiance and beauty should get some spotlight, i thought. The young lady had taken a break from her work to fully attend to her motherly duties. During our conversation, i suggested that she could let her two-year-old son accompany her on the ramp. The mother’s eyes lit up as she asked, “Can he be the model and i will help him from behind?” The brief chat got me thinking about this tendency in ..read more

Shivaratri is the day of Lord Shiva. Shiva is the lord of meditation and, therefore, the lord of awakening. Shiva is called Mahakala — grand time. Shivam also means innocent. Shiva is a very simple Lord, but in this simplicity there is a deep message. Shiva, in his Nataraja form, symbolises the union of nature and the Divine. Natraja holds fire in one hand, representing the fire element. A damru (conical musical instrument) in the other hand depicts the space element. Shiva’s hair is open and flying, representing the air element. One foot on the ground symbolises prithvi (earth element), anot ..read more