Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

0:01Tetragrammaton.

0:23This planet always had some peaceful places, peaceful times. it's not that the whole planet was being disturbed at one point of time maybe during covid even then there were places where there has been peace like there is day somewhere on the earth and night somewhere else like that peace and disturbance have been part of this existence from a long time In the recorded history, I hear about just 285 years without any war or recorded conflicts. But conflicts are also part of life. Is sitting practice the best thing that we can do? Is that number one? Sitting, meditation? It's essential. I would say it's essential.

1:25Once you are well into practices, if you have practiced meditation for a long period of time, then whether you lie down, you are walking, you are talking, that serenity or meditation goes with you. It stays with you. So if you practice enough, the feeling permeates you all the time. Absolutely. It's just your vibration turns into that space, and then you create joy. You don't say, oh, this is bringing me joy. But you are the source of joy. Do you feel that from the practice you've done and from the state that you're in, that you can see a change in people when you're with them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

2:16That's obvious. How has your relationship to practice changed over the course of your life? Well, from my childhood, I've been in this sort of space, which, from a very young age. So, it's not just some moment that happened that I completely shifted, nothing like that. But of course, I took some silence retreats, and I myself went into silence for 10 days. And then when I came out of silence, I started teaching, then the breathing technique came. Those things happened. But meditation was like fish to water for me, natural. Tell me about the benefits of being in silence. you know it consolidates your yourself in ways that you can't even explain you know you'll be able to hear the noise in your own mind and then you know the mind becomes like a laser beam very sharp and focused so it's very beneficial i would say silence is the mother of all creativity.

3:31See, suppose you want to write a music or write some lyrics or a poem or anything, you need a quiet place, right? You can't come up with a creative idea in a noisy place. No. See, now you are in a beautiful quiet place so that your creativity finds an expression. And so, silence is necessary for creative productive activity. What would be a suggestion for those who have trouble being in silence and feel they're not comfortable being with themselves? Yeah, that would happen. That's why you need a teacher, someone who is experienced, who can just handhold you through that journey. See, even to learn swimming, you need a coach.

4:26if you know that there is a lifeguard standing on the swimming pool you would just jump without any fear and anxiety so the same way silence for the first time may be rattling it may be very confusing so if there is a person who has experienced that deep silence and is sitting with you it becomes so easy for you to get into that silence space. Beautiful. Because we are all just energies and we transfer energy with each other. We exchange. So silence is also one such high-volt energy that can bring about transformation in people's lives. Yeah. More than words, silence can waste a lot. Really? Yeah.

5:20I don't speak math.

5:25Would you recommend that most people starting off meditate for the same amount of time, or is it different for different people? Yeah, general thing is about 20 minutes, half an hour. It's good to begin with, yeah. It's not the amount of time, but it's the intensity with which the meditation moves in you. That's more important. Have you noticed the difference in the outcome when someone meditates by themselves versus meditating together in a big group of people? Oh yeah, they have qualitative differences there. They both are needed for an individual. Sometimes a group meditation, and that can uplift our spirit, our energy, our field.

6:13It creates a field of magnetic energy that makes it easy for you to go deep in. And other times, it's good to be by yourself and meditate alone. They both have their own benefits, and both are necessary. Are there many opportunities to meditate with other people? Oh, yeah. We do create, in Art of Living, we have full moon meditations. We are group meditations very often. Beautiful. Almost everywhere we open our meditation session to everyone to come and join. Tell me about Vedic astrology. Vedic astrology is one of the most ancient astrology. I mean, you know, it's startling to see how to the minute and second, the calculation that was done from thousands of years ago holds good even for today.

7:13If you have seen the Vedic Almanac, they call it the Panchang, exact time of eclipse, exact time of transition of planets, all calculated and mentioned, are given. And so the mathematics in that is so exact. And so also the knowledge that comes about predictions and the nature of a person. Astrology gives you a roadmap. It's like a GPS of life. It should not be mistaken as a fatalistic science. It's not fatalistic. It is futuristic. It gives you an opportunity, tells you what all you can do, what all your possibilities, what would be the pitfalls that may be. So it helps one to manage and steer your life through that.

8:16Do you have any idea how they figured it out? You know, this is all part of the Vedic wisdom, the knowledge, which was all downloaded. Actually, it's not someone who wrote by their intellect, but something that they cognized, that came to them in vision, that came to them as a premonition. In the modern language, you can say they downloaded it. So Vedic Astrology and also same with Ayurveda. Just imagine so long back ago, they could see which herb and what are the combinations which would suit for a particular part of your body. what's good for your liver or kidney or spleen or pancreas. I mean, this is startling science.

9:08Research, if you go on research also, it may take you maybe several centuries to find out all this. Wow. Materia Medica. And it's all in poems. Most interesting is the only Materia Medica which is in poetry form is in Ayurveda. so from the Vedic wisdom there are four subordinate Vedas in that comes Ayurveda and Vastu about architecture, about music how different sounds can impact your moods this is on Gandharveda and then on the subordinate limbs on the limbs of Vedas you have Jyotish, the astrology so in astrology it's deeply connected with mantras, sounds, and what sound vibration would nullify what negative impact for you, and what are the impact of the microcosm on the microcosm.

10:11So this connection between the microcosm and macrocosm is so well explained in astrology.

10:26As nutrition science advanced through the mid-20th century, researchers began to understand that modern eating patterns, limited variety, processed foods, and time constraints could leave small but meaningful gaps in daily micronutrient intake. Today, large population studies confirm that approximately 90 % of adults fall short on one or more essential vitamins or minerals. AG1 was formulated in response to those findings. Each daily serving provides more than 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole food source nutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, B6, B12, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and iodine. A scientifically developed formula backed by nutrition research and delivered in forms the body can readily access.

11:20Because utilization depends on absorption, AG1 also contains probiotics to support gut health and digestive function, helping the body make effective use of what it receives. AG1 contains no gluten or dairy, uses no genetically modified ingredients or artificial sweeteners, and is suitable for a wide range of dietary approaches, including plant-based, paleo, keto, and low-carbohydrate diets. Available in single-serving packets for when you're on the go. Manufactured under strict quality controls, every batch of AG1 is tested to confirm its composition, nutrient levels, and the absence of contaminants, ensuring reliability from one serving to the next.

12:08it's no wonder AG1 is trusted by the world's top athletes and experts. What was once a futuristic concept, daily nutritional support in a glass, is now the result of applied science. Learn more at drinkag1.com slash tetra. Do it today.

12:40How different does a mantra function if it's sung out loud versus if it's repeated internally? Certain mantras are good to repeat inside. It has to be kept within yourself when you get initiation. These mantras are helpful in taking your mind deep into meditation. otherwise there's many other mantras which you're chanting loud and listening to them they create a field of vibration that's good can you remember the first time you had a feeling of transcendence as I said you know it was there for me from my very childhood so I couldn't pinpoint one time oh I had this wow experience. How did you come to it in childhood?

13:39We were here many lifetimes before. You know? Did you seek it out or was it given to you? As far as I remember, I never sought for anything. You know, I didn't go searching for anything. Were your family members also practitioners? Yeah, of course. My mother as a mother, my parents. It was in the family, the mantras and the pujas. They were all doing. They were quite, in that sense, quite steeped in it. I read that early in life you spent some time with Maharishi. Yes. Can you tell me about that? It was so wonderful that in my young age, in my teenage, I spent my time with all great saints and seizes of India.

14:35Now that I'm older, now I'm spending time with young people. Yeah. Marci was such a wonderful being to be with him. That's something, yeah. How would you say the different saints of that period of time were similar and different from each other? You know, there is one common thread between everyone, that is wisdom and serenity and love, and that was it. But their expressions were different. So many had different type of expression. Maharshi was very scientific outlook, and he was very sensitive to the Western society and Western needs. And there are others who are very traditional and different, yeah.

15:31But it's more than what one speaks, it's the vibration. I see. It's the vibration. That's something nobody can deny, and it's so beautiful, yeah. Are the new discoveries different understandings of ancient practices, or are they actually new methods? You know, Lord Krishna says, you know, the ancient path is like a walkway. It's like a trail. You know, a trail sometimes gets covered. But then when you clear the trail, it is both new and old. I see. So, nature reveals itself to, you know, time to time what is needed for that time. And everyone else is just an instrument for nature to play its game.

16:22How important is spending time in nature? One has to be within one's own nature, one's true nature. And of course, everything is part of nature only. You must realize that. I know that when I spend time on the beach, with the ocean, I feel different than the nature of a big city. yeah that's that's fine you may feel that way but a point comes in life where nothing makes a difference to you wherever you are whatever you are to me even the most noisy place can sound musical to you if your mind is in in the self if you are a center noisy place also doesn't matter to you and And if you are disturbed, even this so beautiful, nice place also will be very disturbing and lonely.

17:24So it all depends on us, how we feel, how the feelings come around. Tell me about the art of living training. Art of living is just seeing life from a broader perspective in context of time and space. and learning about the seven layers we are, a little bit knowledge about seven layers, the body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego, and then the self which is beyond the ego. So a little bit understanding, a glimpse of these, but bring a huge transformation. And this we do with a little breathing techniques and a little bit of meditation and all that together. And some techniques, you know, of broadening our consciousness, our awareness.

18:23And it has helped people all over the world, yeah. I only see this as a gift that has come to this generation, which does not have so much time or patience to pursue any spiritual practices, you know. these people are in such a hurry they have to do so many things they want everything very quick and this is something in a short period of time opens up those doors and removes the cobwebs around the mind which causes so much anxiety, tension sleeplessness and all that so physically it is helping we have a number of programs and first this is a basic program is one thing. Because like in our days, we used to spend many years to learn something.

19:18A spiritual journey was not one or two days matter. It's for months together you have to do the practices. So today nobody has neither patience nor the time or resources. So they need things in a short form. So a little bit glimpse into it. What would help them to be healthy, happy here is the basic programs we do. And then for advanced seekers, then you have to take them through a four-day, five-day silence retreat. And then deeper, you know, on as programs on at various levels where you get the ability to bless others. you get so centered and then you become a blesser you'll be able to help people to heal them from their physical ailments, mental traumas and bring a smile on others face and it's very gratifying for people when you are able to be of help to people around you you feel such a sense of purpose in life and satisfaction this is what people are looking for you see, if you ask Everyone says, what is the purpose of my life?

20:37Life becomes really meaningless if it is only self-centered. But if our life is useful to everybody, you don't even feel that time. For most people, even the glimpse is enough to change their lives, would you say? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Of course. See, we are teaching this program in the prisons around the world. More than 800 ,000 prisoners around the world have undergone the program. And you must listen to their experiences, their testimonies. It just moves you. And same with the inner city gang members and the antisocial people. People used to go with the guns and keep shooting. those sort of people with criminal and tendencies violent tendencies are huge change in their whole outlook towards life these are some of the very important things that indicate to us look the knowledge can bring transformation just a little bit of knowledge is good enough to bring a huge change in life

21:59In a world of artificial highs and harsh stimulants, there is something different, something clean, something precise. Athletic nicotine, not the primitive products found behind convenience store counters, not the aggressive buzz that leaves you jittery, but a careful calibration of clean energy and focused clarity. Athletic nicotine The lowest dose tobacco-free nicotine available Made entirely in the USA No artificial sweetener Just pure, purposeful elevation Athletic nicotine is a performance nootropic Athletic nicotine is a tool for shifting mindsets Athletic nicotine is a partner in pursuit of excellence Slow release Low dose Gradual lift Sustained energy Soft landing Inspired results Athletic nicotine More focus Less static Athletic nicotine More clarity Less noise Athletic nicotine More accuracy Less anxiety Athletic nicotine From top athletes pushing their limits To artists pursuing their vision Athletic nicotine offers the lift you've been looking for Learn more at athleticnicotine.com slash tetra and experience next-level performance with athletic nicotine.

23:27Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

23:33Would you say you're the same person you were when you were a child? Yeah, I keep saying that I'm a child who refuses to grow up.

23:46Do you know English is more close to Sanskrit than other languages, Hindi or other languages? I didn't know that. Yeah. It will be startling. The names of the month that's all in English, they're on Sanskrit actually. Really? You are saying December, you are saying October and then November. December, these months we say, they're all Sanskrit names. this Ambar means the 10th sky Ambar means sky Dash means 10 December means 10th sky November means 9th sky October means 8th sky September September Ambar 7th sky so March was supposed to be the new year the spring so March is new first year February is the fag end of the year the last month of the year so New Year should begin in March actually with the spring solstitude so spring is actually when the cycle starts when the cycle starts, exactly that was like that till 500 years back when the king of England decided to have the New Year celebrated in January because he was born in January And then see, all the verbs that we have in English, like go, is Sanskrit, gamma.

25:16Gamma means go. Kaccha means go. Organs of the body, hand, heart, hasta. Nasika, nose. Danta, dental. Heart, hridaya. You'll see English is 80 % in Sanskrit. Wow. It's an unknown fact. It's very interesting. Yeah. Like daughter. In Hindi, daughter means beti. But in Sanskrit is duhita. Duhita is close to daughter, not beti. Like suta, son. Beta is so far away from Sanskrit. Beta in Hindi. So if you compare Hindi and English, English is more close to Sanskrit. Wow, and Sanskrit's older, yes. Older, yeah, much older. Wow, I wonder how that came to be. Yeah, swasa, sister. So, I mean, I can go on and on and on.

26:17Sanskrit is not foreign to English. Sanskrit is the mother of English language. Wow. So anyone who is thinking Sanskrit is a foreign language, you are making a blunder, because you are disowning your own mother. Wow. The mother of English is Sanskrit. Tell me about physical practice and breathwork. We have three dimensions. The physical body and then the breath, the prana, and then the mind. So breathwork or prana is the link between the mind and the body. So doing breathing exercise is a way to have a say over the mind and the body also. so it's very useful and very helpful the first act of our life is we took a deep breathing then we started crying we couldn't cry without the breath in the last act of life is we breathe out so throughout the life we keep breathing but we never pay attention to our breath so for every emotion there is a particular rhythm in the breath this is what I've been talking last half a century how breath is so important to have a say over your mind and it's a way for your spirit too expression of our spirit and the breathing exercise can enhance the vibrations in your body and in your mind and that is what consciousness is all about consciousness is just the vibrations and it doesn't take too much time to learn about it just a few hours you can learn about different rhythms about the breath and what impact it has in what part of the body see when you are happy you breathe different when you are upset you breathe different so if you are in a bad mood you don't have to wait for time to turn around.

28:28Your breath can help you to get out of your bad mood in no time. So it's one of the ignored dimension. That's what we are bringing up in our gap breathing. Giving prominence, making people aware how important it is. I imagine the speed of the breath, how fast, how deep, and where you place it in the body. Yeah, there is rhythm in the breath. When you're happy, your inhalation is deep, and exhalation is not so deep. When you're frustrated, your exhalation is prominent. and there are rhythms in the breath if you observe and the breath changes from the left nostril to right nostril there is a lot about it and even knowing a little bit about our breath can help us to be more independent independent of our own emotions our you know physical comfort or discomfort we will be able to manage many things heat or cold and how to feel warm from inside there are many many possibilities are there

29:58LMNT element electrolytes Have you ever felt dehydrated after an intense workout or a long day in the sun? Do you want to maximize your endurance and feel your best? Add Element electrolytes to your daily routine. Perform better and sleep deeper. Improve your cognitive function. Experience an increase in steady energy with fewer headaches and fewer muscle cramps. Element electrolytes Drink it in the sauna

30:36Refreshing flavors include Grapefruit, citrus, watermelon And chocolate salt Formulated with the perfect balance of sodium Potassium and magnesium To keep you hydrated and energized throughout the day These minerals help conduct the electricity That powers your nervous system So you can perform at your very best Element electrolytes are sugar-free, keto-friendly, and great tasting. Minerals are the stuff of life. So visit drinklmnt.com slash tetra. And stay salty with Element Electrolytes. LMNT.

31:24Have the Vedic teachings been continually practiced from thousands of years ago till today? Yes, yes. But it was kept as a guarded secret with very few people. They would only share it with, you know, people who are really ethical or whom they see that they are fit to be given knowledge. Maybe some royalties were given. But, you know, I thought, you know, it's the other way around. We can make people fit and more moral and ethically strong by teaching them this. Yes. So I'm a little bit of a rebel in that direction. I said, whatever traditional knowledge is there, it should be available for everyone on the planet.

32:17Every human being is right over them. That's my view from the very beginning. So I wanted people to have that. So there was a time it was more like a secret knowledge. Yes, it was always guarded as a secret knowledge. So there are chances for people misusing it. It's very powerful. Powerful knowledge. Over the course of your lifetime, how have you seen the acceptance of spiritual practices change? Oh yeah, big way. 45 years back, it was not the same. The mainstream people thought, oh, these practices, meditation, this must be a little, maybe some cuckoo or something. They would not think that it is a mainstream narration.

33:10But today it's different You know last year 192 countries Came together To declare World Meditation Day Wow This has never happened in United Nations Of course 10 years back They did World Yoga Day 21st June But last year specifically Meditation was taken as a Very serious thing when I learned the meditation in the United Nations Secretary General he said this we need this before every negotiation when people meditate they become calm and they are able to listen to others our perception our observation our expression all improves through meditation and that's why I feel it's very important today to bring a robust mental health in our society.

34:08This has been a very big issue. Perhaps you may also have never heard about bipolar, schizophrenia, when you were all young, right? No. I never heard about these words. No. When I went to school and college, we never heard about bipolar or schizophrenia. Today, people take pride in taking the antidepressants. That is so surprising. People think, oh, I'm taking Prozac. I mean, that shows the mental health issue is a very big issue in the world. Now, these practices will help you to get out of those mental health challenges. And you don't need to take these medications. Even to sleep well, you need today.

35:02sleep has become an abnormal function to make it normal you have to consume sleeping pills if you meditate, do the breathing techniques our sky techniques Sudarshan Kriyan you have very good sleep, you have very good alertness and another thing in the modern day life is about the mindfulness people talk a lot about mindfulness the mindfulness Mindfulness is, I would say, is just the parkway to your home. It's just the portico of the house. It's not the house. Mindfulness is a product, a byproduct of meditation. If you practice mindfulness too much, it causes more tension to you. It is doing something.

35:52Mindfulness is keeping your mind alert. And this is a lot of effort. But this is strenuous on our mind and brain, actually. Meditation is just the opposite. It just relaxes you. It gives you deepest rest so that when you come out of meditation, mindfulness is already there with you. Natural. It's not an imposed, practiced one. It is a natural outcome in your life. You are very mindful, you are very aware of everything. But that should be the byproduct of meditation. Would you describe meditation as an active or passive process? It's an active, passive process. It's an activity in the sense you have to sit and do it.