Compassion in life

People with strong minds - are the one who have gone through a lot. A lot of pain / suffering / emotions / whatever it be. We either love such people or hate them because of what they are.
But, the truth is had they not changed to what they have become, they would have not survived. Remember, its the survival of the fittest.

I think had they got a different guidance from elders / friends / spiritual gurus, they would have learnt to tackle their problems in a different way and may have become more composed, more centered and agreeable to different ideas / ways instead of a strong-minded life.

We need more compassion, more love, more guides in life. Lets be a guide to someone in life.

Love that rises out of kinship it remains for life-times | The Art of Living

Love that rises out of kinship it remains for life-times | The Art of Living


Do you love someone, because they are great or unique? I tell you - you are hopeless!

Why do you love someone? Is it because of their qualities or is it because of a sense of kinship or intimacy?

You can love someone for their qualities and not feel a sense of kinship. This type of love gives rise to competition and jealousy. Such is not the case when love arises out of kinship.
If you love someone for their qualities, then when the quality changes or you get used to the quality, love also changes. However, if you love someone out of kinship, because they belong to you, then that love remains for life-times.

People say "I love God, because He is great". This is no big thing. If God is found to be ordinary, just one of us, then your love for God collapses! If you love God, because He is yours, then however God is, whether He creates or destroys, you still love Him. The love for kinship is like the love for yourself.

Question : Many people do not have love for themselves?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: No! It is the other way around. They love themselves so much, that they want better qualities and better appearance for themselves. This love of qualities makes them be hard on one self.

If love is based on the quality of a person, then the love is not stable - after sometime the qualities change and the love becomes shaky. Loving someone because of their greatness or uniqueness is Third-rate love. Loving someone because they belong to you, great or otherwise, is unconditional love.

Knowledge, Sadhana, Seva and Satsang help to bring about a sense of belongingness in no time. When love springs forth from a sense of belongingness then the actions and qualities do not over shadow the love. Neither the qualities nor actions can be perfect all the time. Love and a feeling of kinship alone can be perfect.

Love and Renunciation | The Art of Living

Love and Renunciation | The Art of Living

Only one who has renounced can truly love. To the degree you have renounced, to that degree you have the ability to love. Often people think those who renounce cannot love, and those who love cannot renounce. This is because so-called renunciants do not seem to be in love, and so-called lovers are very possessive and are in need. True love is non-possessive and brings freedom, and renunciation is nothing but freedom. Only in freedom can love fully blossom. When in love you say, "I want nothing, I just want this." Renunciation is, " I don't want anything. I am free." In love there is no other need. Renunciation is having no need. Love and renunciation, although appearing to be opposites, are two sides of the same coin.

McQueen said -- They are the same side of the same coin. (laughter)

Tara asked -- Does this mean the lover renounces his beloved?

Guruji responded -- You renounce the attachment, the possessiveness. Renunciation doesn't diminish love; it enhances it.

Only renunciation can sustain love and joy. Without renunciation love turns into misery, possessiveness, jealousy and anger. Renunciation brings contentment and contentment sustains love. Without renunciation one gets discontented, frustrated, sad, fearful, suspicious, analytical. And the whole soap opera begins. And this is what we find in society , don't we?

The so-called renunciants have run away from life frustrated and disappointed. Real renunciation is born out of knowledge and wisdom, knowledge of life in the background of time and space and in the context of this magnanimous universe.

Q&A128 | The Art of Living

Q&A128 | The Art of Living

What to do if you love someone but the other person doesn’t love you enough?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:
Do not ask them “Do you really love me?” Instead, ask them “why do you love me so much?” Tell them they love you too much and “I think I don’t deserve this.” You have to go on this trip and do everything with style. Any problem in life should be handled with style.

The whole of life is a game to be played. It is not a struggle. Nothing can destroy you. You are a drop of immortality, a drop of something eternal. Your spirit is eternal. And it is alright if this does not ring a bell right now. I will just say what I know and some day you might authenticate it. Do not be afraid of anything.

Love and Lust | The Art of Living

Love and Lust | The Art of Living

In love even an object gains life. Stones speak to you, trees speak to you, the sun, the moon and the whole creation becomes alive, Divine. In lust even a living being becomes a mere object. You want to use even people like objects. Here are some salient attributes of love and lust. They are so different yet so close! If you find more you may add to the list.

Lust bring tension	Love brings relaxation
Lust focuses on the part	Love focuses on the whole
Lust brings violence	Love brings sacrifice
In lust you want to grab and possess	In love you want to give and surrender
Lust says all I want you to have is what I want	Love says I want you to have what you want
In lust there is effort	Love is effortless
Lust causes feverishness and frustration	Love causes longing and pain
Lust imprisons and destroys	Love liberates and sets you free
Lust demands	Love commands
Lust gets you mixed up and confused	In love you are focused and spaced out!!
Lust is only dark and monotonous	Love has many modes and colours

If someone's lust is interrupted they get angry and start hating. Hatred in the world today is not out of love, it is out of lust.

Love is playfulness and in lust there is cunningness and manipulation. Shiva, the embodiment of innocence and love was meditating. His meditation was disturbed by an arrow of flowers from the lord of lust. As soon as Shiva woke up he opened his third eye and the lord of lust, Manmatha (one who churns the mind) was reduced to ashes. Everybody celebrated by throwing colors on each other realising that life is full of colours.

We play many roles in our life. If all the roles get mixed up it becomes dark, like when you mix all the colours. The wise play each role distinctively side by side, like colors displayed side by side form a rainbow.