Abundance, Self-Discovery, and Global Transformation w/ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar EP 1445

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See, you are forgiving somebody so that you could be free. Otherwise they occupy your upper chamber and trouble you day and night, right? It's not for the other person. You are giving forgiveness. It's for your own sake. You don't want to punish yourself. You don't want to carry the garbage. You don't want to carry stress. You want to be free.

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You have been continually for decades serving humanity to create more peace, harmony, alignment, congruency, joy, abundance, and fulfillment in life. And so I want to acknowledge you for your continual service and how you show up for the world. It's a beautiful thing. And I wanted to ask you first about how can we forgive the people that have hurt us the most? Whether intentionally they tried to hurt us, whether they are emotionally abusive, verbally, physically abusive, Or unintentionally we interpreted they did something that hurt us. How do we learn to let go of that hurt and pain?

I want to ask a counter question. Why do you want to forgive?

Why do you want to forgive?

Well, what happens if we don't forgive? It's very painful, right? We hold on to stress and- that's it.

Yeah. That's it. See, you are forgiving somebody so that you could be free. Otherwise they occupy your upper chamber and trouble you day and night, right? It's not for the other person. You are giving forgiveness. It's for your own sake. You don't want to punish yourself. You don't want to carry the garbage. You don't want to carry stress. You want to be free. Right. And you just might forget and forgive and move on.

But why is it so hard for people? Some people hold on to that anger and resentment for years. And it's so hard for them to let go of of the pain.

I tell them, see, if you find it hard to let go, don't struggle. Do the easy way. Is it easy to hold on the grudge?

It's painful.

What appears to be easy is not easy. And what appears to be difficult is not difficult. They must We must wake up and see this, this is the fact. You know, you are holding grudge against somebody and you are creating toxins in your own body and you are spoiling your health. You are spoiling your mood. You go with sleepless nights. So do the easiest one.

Right, exactly. Speaking on relationships, I feel like life is about relationships, the relationship we have to ourselves, the relationship to others, the universe, all these different things. It seems to me like a lot of people are struggling in intimate relationships these days, finding a healthy partner in relationship. Why do you think it's so hard for people to attract a healthy partner and really keep a happy, healthy relationship?

Coming back to the previous point you said about forgiveness. You know, usually we think forgive when we forgive somebody, we think we are doing a favor to someone. That's not so. That's secondary. That's only a side effect. Favor to others is a side effect. But it's favoring yourself. Every time you are angry, You're punishing yourself for someone else's mistake. Right.

So you get double the pain. They hurt you and you keep hurting yourself.

Yeah. Wow. Coming to this, why we attract people, how do we manage that? You know, it all depends on our vibrations.

Our vibrations.

Our vibrations. See, If our vibrations are positive, then Dvai attracts such people. If our vibrations are negative or doubtful or, you know, greedy sometimes, and so we get into relationship with people who have similar... you similar vibes. Have you heard about this? I mean, We have all heard about these sayings, no birds of the same feather flock together.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah. So we need to improve our own vibrations. We seldom pay attention to that.

What should our vibrations be and how can we get them to a healthy conscious place?

First of all, broadened awareness, a bigger context to life. Ability to let go of the past and be in the present moment. Second is doing breathing techniques and meditation. Making music a part of your life. Singing, dancing, playing, having fun. All this can create a very positive vibe around you. Yeah. Then many times it feels like easier said than done. It feels so not so possible, not so easy and it's difficult. But you know, you have to move through that. You have the power to make it possible for yourself, if you wish. Yeah.

But when someone's feeling stuck or anxious or depressed, like their life isn't moving forward, or things keep happening that don't support them in their growth.

How can people get on- Sky breathing technique.

What's it called? What's it called?

The sky.

Sky breathing?

Yeah. Sky breathing technique. The Sudarshan Kriya and the breathing exercise, Pranayama, meditation. This does it.

Really?

Sure.

How long does this breathing technique take?

Oh, it just takes a couple of days, two, three days to learn, and then you can do it on your own. Five, ten minutes, ten minutes every day.

Can you share a brief example of what that looks like?

No, you need to learn it. I don't believe in piecemeals usually. So it's a thing that there are a number of instructors in this country, It's being offered in many college campuses. About 107 universities in this country have taken while veterans are taking it and they're benefiting from it. So you can just Google and go into the- Right.

Sky breathing technique. It was called Keljo. Why do you think so many people are desperate to be in a relationship, an intimate loving relationship? Why do you feel like that's happening in the world right now? That people are struggling to find love? keep love and they want it so badly.

No, it's a human nature to relate to people. Human nature is to be together, express their feelings, share their feelings. There's nothing wrong in it. But in this process, we need to see how enduring is our relationship.

Enduring.

And how we are able to accept the other person.

Yes.

Sometimes we want everything in our way only. You know, that doesn't work. In relationship there is always a compromise. It's always you have to give and take. And today with so much stress in our life, You know, our communication system has broken down. Our thought keeps breaking down. And then our perceptual ability is also taking a beating.

Our perception abilities?

We are not able to perceive the right thing properly. We don't go beyond our own mental and emotional bubble to see what others are in need and what do they see and what do they want. You know, that sense of caring and sharing is essential in any relationship. And all this can come only when we have patience.

A lot of people struggle with having patience. And they struggle with accepting another person in a relationship. They want the other to change. Just why do so many people want their partner to change and why can't they accept them?

This is my question. This is the question we need to ask because one is not aware, one is not aware about oneself. We are not conscious about what we think, what we do, how we behave and what impact it has on the others. We don't pay attention to that at all. We only see the other, what they are doing, how it is affecting us. You know, human mind swings between a victim consciousness and a culprit consciousness. Both are not healthy in any relationship. They both will destroy intimate relations.

Really?

If you feel you are a victim, that's it. You cannot have a normal relationship. And if you feel guilty that you have done something wrong and you are a culprit, Then also it cannot happen. So you need to find that fine balance and move yourself away from the action and all those things, even for a few seconds, few minutes every day, and be a witness and create that inner awareness from within you. Then you know your intuitive ability works. Your vibrations become so harmonious and you become more loving and lovely person. Right.

What would you say then are the keys to creating a conscious healthy relationship?

It's to be free from stress. If you are stressed, you are far away from creating a healthy relationship.

Really? But what about the people watching or listening saying, okay, that sounds great, but I've got all these responsibilities and kids and bills and debt. How do I not be stressful with so much going on?

Well, being stressful, are you able to manage those things?

Not well.

Not well. Yeah.

So how does someone overcome that?

You should have that confidence. You look back in your own life. This is not the first time you're getting stressed. You got stressed so many times from years and you have overcome all those situations. That should give you enough self-confidence that you can, well, I can get over this. There's nothing. You see? Looking back at your own experience, you can learn, number one. Second is see that But any stressful condition that you are in at the current moment, it's not going to stay there like that forever. You'll be able to manage it. It's going to change. It'll all change. That confidence that things will change for better will help you. Third thing is, no, there is a higher power which is so caring and loving, your own higher self or you say God or whatever. Know that that higher power has the power to change things and you offer it to the higher power.

What if someone doesn't believe in a higher power?

Never mind, never mind. You believe in your own power.

Right, yeah. You're capable.

You're capable. Yeah, you're capable.

Why do you think so many relationships end intimate relationships?

Bitter and sour and all that, right? This is not a subject which I am too familiar with, but still by my observation what I can say is in relationship it's like two lines focusing on each other and sometimes they will have to go part their ways. If you police your partner too much, this is what is going to happen.

If you police them too much.

But if both the partners have a single goal of doing something bigger, something good, then it's like two parallel lines that can go on forever. But if you are focused just on each other, where are you going, what are you doing, what do you do, you know, all that stuff, What did you say? What I didn't say and stuff like that, sooner or later it's going to become messy. Right. And the second thing is if the relationship is coming from the space of giving, contributing in the relation, not taking, then also it will be long lasting. That has to come from both sides. It's not that one person is giving, the other is only taking or It won't work because the giver will get frustrated, the taker will feel there is no charm in the relation, they'll move away. It is the taker who feeds there is no charm, they move away. So here again, that should come from both sides. We contribute to each other and we have a bigger goal in life. a common goal to move on.

What is an example of a goal that a conscious relationship could have?

Yeah, it could be many things. Both can work towards environmental causes or can work for making the society better or art or culture or, you know, there could be many things.

One common goal- Something more than just the relationship.

Yeah, more than just you and me, you and me all the time, you know, that chapter. Yeah.

Why else do you think people struggle in intimacy and relationships from your observation? Is it a lack of communication? Is it a lack of choosing the right partner because you don't accept them?

You see, many times people say there's a right partner they choose and after a while they don't find them anymore. Right.

They were right, now they're wrong.

No, yeah. They were right. And then they say we never got along after 20 years of being together. So, this is all the mind game that we go through, you see. Again here, you should know that any relationship, it could be Mr. Toad's wild ride. You see, there could be a bumpy ride. But you have to move past that. There are speed breakers. In small roads, you see? You are on highway, there is no speed breaker, but in small roads there will be speed breakers, stop signs. And you have to stop.

Pot holes, yeah. What it sounds like to me is we've got to learn to, you know, the journey within also is in unison with mastering our minds, is learning how to manage the minds at different seasons of life.

Exactly.

Relationships, career, money, objects.

It's all in there. It's all in there. You can't move within unless you see that there is harmony all around you. And how to create harmony around you? By your attitude, by your understanding, and by your communication skills and improving your vibrations. and this is all what we talk about in this, how to manage anger. It's normal to be angry, it's normal to feel greedy, it's normal to feel jealous, it's normal, all these negative emotions are normal. But if you don't know how to handle them, manage them or get over them, then you're stuck. Right. Then you make a mess out of your own life. This is all what in the In this few days, few pages of journey within, we have, you know, it started in 1995 when I sat with a group of people and they had all these sort of issues. And then time to time, every Wednesday we would sit and we would come together with some Points of Wisdom from Life. It's not taken from any books or here and there. It's life experience. And then we call it the Knowledge Fax. Those days there was no email, there was no social media, you know, and not even cell phones. So we used to fax this around the world to people around the world.

You have one in here on page 109 that says, Fools will make you wiser. Why will fools or people that upset you or frustrate you make you wiser?

It's interesting you go through that. Read it. I mean, many of these topics are just out of the box thinking. They're not just a normal, you know, conceptual thing, but something which triggers your imagination, triggers your thinking. into a very unconventional manner. Yes.

You said here, respect everybody as you respect your spiritual teacher, but don't expect from everyone what you expect from your spiritual teacher. That's great. I'm curious about money and happiness. We're here in Los Angeles, and a lot of people, not everyone, but a lot of people come to LA because they want to make money, they want to become famous, and they think that will also make them happy. Can you speak into what is happiness? How can we generate happiness? And does money and fame support you in being happier?

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Well, There is nothing wrong in wanting to be rich, wanting to be famous. That's normal for people who are who want to progress in their life. They want to achieve something. It's quite normal. There's nothing wrong. But if you see when you get there only then you will be happy, then you are wrong. Look at all those people who are rich or famous. Are they happy in their life? You will get the answer. So you can be happy now and then work towards whatever you want to achieve in life. You see? Don't postpone being happy. That's what I tell.

Yeah.

Otherwise, it will be a continual postponement. You may start postponing to the next lifetime, you see? So, as per you know, you can do whatever you want, you can work towards it. But when you are happy now here, it will give you more energy and ideas to go where you want to go.

Yes.

If you are simply being feverish to make more money, even if you make money doing all sorts of things, you don't know where you will end up later on. Correct? Right. So, your goals must support your end.

Your goals must support your end.

Your goals, yeah, your means for the goals. So it supports your end. Right. Right. And the means should not be an end in itself.

Right. You know, there's, speaking of, you know, wealthy people and are they happy? There's definitely wealthy people who are happy, but there's some other people who are not happy that are miserable and have a lot of stress. You've been to some of the poorest places in the world to be in service and you've seen children who have nothing very happy.

-Very happy.

-Very happy. I've seen the same thing. And it's amazing. They have maybe one meal a day if they're lucky, but they have friends, family, they have community. and they're running around playing soccer with, you know, rocks on the field and a broken ball, and that's all they have, but they're happy. Why are some poor people extremely happy, and some rich people extremely poor in happiness?

This is something that everyone has to think about. That gives them idea happiness is not just connected to your richness or poorness or where you live. I wouldn't say all the poor people are happy. There are poor people who are unhappy too. And I don't even say that all rich people are unhappy. That will also be wrong. There are some very rich people who are happy and they are happy doing service. There are two types of happiness. One is the happiness that you feel when you get things. you know, you get a birthday gift or you get a Christmas gift and you are so happy. The joy in getting something is normal. It's there from the childhood, right? But there is a different type of happiness, the happiness that you get when you give. This is the joy of a grandmother, I would say. You know, a grandmother make many dishes when the kids come home and she'll give cake. She'll bake the cake and make the cookies and she'll make pastries. I mean, her joy is in feeding, her joy is in giving. So in life, some place we have to get to this joy of contributing. So if you're contributing to society, the immense Gratification it comes to you, gives you. When you wipe the tears of even one person around the corner, you know that gives such a cool breeze to your heart and to your mind such joy to your mind. This is the joy that we should not miss in life. We cannot die only grabbing things. till the last minute. We must learn how to contribute and feel happy about it.

Right.

What about certain people that maybe don't feel like they're receiving anything in life? They're not receiving any gifts or support. They're struggling and they don't feel like they have anything to give. They really feel like, I'm in lack. I don't have anything to give as well. How can they turn that situation into joy and happiness?

My dear, you can at least give a smile.

I agree.

You can say a few nice words to people of comfort. Try to smile. Now what is big in just smiling when everything is okay, when things are falling apart, if you can stand up and smile, I know I can manage, I know things will pass. That smile, that positive vibration from you amidst all the troubled water, Itself is a hope. Your positive mindset itself creates such a positive vibration around you and helps other people.

Absolutely.

So you don't have to be giving something if you don't have. You can only give what you have. Nobody expects you to give what you don't have. But whatever you have, you can definitely share with others.

Absolutely, yeah.

This is what we see in some of the poor communities. They may have very little, but they share with others. Right.

And they feel a lot of love and joy and community and connection and fulfillment. How does someone develop an abundant mindset? Something where they believe that abundance of love and joy and opportunities can come to them. versus staying stuck in a limit of what they're capable of creating or achieving.

One should, first of all, become aware of the reality in the world. Get out of our little well that we are into and see the ocean of humanity where it is. and compare with that and you'll see you'll be grateful. You are at least much better off than so many people who don't even have the basic things that you have. That itself will give you a breathing space. See? Feel better about yourself. Number one second. Again here I would say meditation will help one to get out of grief and sense of lack. You know, it's just a state of mind. You can continue to feel that even if you are a billionaire.

It's true.

It can continue with you forever in your life. So here meditation can bring that inner sense of abundance. and when you have that inner sense of abundance, I tell you, abundance will start flowing to you from outside as well.

What should that feeling be inside of us in order to feel abundant? What does that feeling look like, experience?

There's no, it should be this way. Your feelings are feeling just Be with it. Those feelings come because you have certain misconceptions in your mind, wrong notions in your mind, or stress, too much stress, then everything appears to be very bleak.

Yes.

And you don't enjoy even simple things, you know. So, I feel stress is the biggest enemy of mankind.

Really?

Stress destroys the relationship. It destroys your own peace of mind. Your health, your health, your communication goes for it.

You react more. Yeah. But it seems so hard for people to let go of stress. To just let go of it.

It seems- no, because nobody taught them how to get out of this.

Interesting.

Neither at school nor at home, no one teaches us how we can be free from stress.

We're seeing how to be stressful, but not how to get out of stress.

Get out of stressful.

We see other people stressed and we're mimicking that, but not how to be peaceful.

Yeah, good, this education is missing. That is where I feel it's very important. Now, intellectually, you know, oh, I shouldn't be upset, I shouldn't be annoyed, I shouldn't lose my temper. But all this intellectually, you know, as a concept, you know. You understand all that. But in practical life, it doesn't seem to become a reality. It doesn't translate into reality. Your thoughts are different, your actions are different. This is where the breathing techniques and Sudarshan Kriya techniques all come so handy.

Yes.

Because it helps when it gives tools and techniques for people to you know, just let go of those and feel the freshness from within.

How often do you feel stressed or angry today with all the wisdom that you have? Do you ever feel stressed or angry?

Do I look stressed?

Not right now.

Do you ever have a moment inside where like, I don't like that person did this thing or said this or does it ever like just a little bit and then you go back to.

Your It will be so hard to believe, but it is true that I don't get this at all.

That's got to feel amazing. It's going to feel peaceful then. How much does the ability of someone needing to learn to heal support them in overcoming stress? If they still have emotional or physical wounds from the past or memories from the past that hurt them?

That could be healed. and again here this will help you to heal. Your breathing technique, meditation helps you to just come out of it. And that's what we have been doing in this country for all the war veterans. You know they have tried all psychological things and then they have seen doctors and PTSD syndromes. 8,000 of the war veterans in America alone have undergone these programs, healing breath workshops. And you must hear their experiences. And it's so heartwarming. You know, the mothers and the wives of those people, they've said, We got our son back. You know, these same war veterans who just hide in their basement would not have any family life. and that the trauma of war wounds, the psychological wounds they had undergone, moral wounds were very difficult to heal. But just in few days time, three, four days time, they're completely on.

Wow.

So a gentleman even made a movie out of it, almost Sunrise is a movie they made on. And our technique, how this has helped many war veterans. It's a very interesting movie.

I feel like it's hard to be peaceful if we haven't learned to heal. It's hard to not react and be stressed if there's still a wound inside of us.

Absolutely, absolutely right. That is where wisdom combined with techniques would help them to get on.

Right. wisdom techniques and integrating these techniques consistently.

Yeah. And I'm not saying, oh, you have to practice for a long time, then you will find the effect. No. Within few days, within few sittings, three, four sittings, you can find a change.

Yes.

The healing is so fast.

Yes.

So at some point, sometime we even called this healing breath workshop when we started. But then Healing breath means its scope is very limited only for those who need it. But many don't even realize they need these exercises to be more happy. So we changed it into happiness program.

That's good. I like it. Yeah, I like that. You talked about the education system and what we aren't teaching our kids at home and in schools. If you could require in a hypothetical world, if you could ask that teachers or schools teach only three things to support the youth, what would those three lessons be?

Teach them how they can manage their emotions, number one. Number two, we have to teach them how they can accept others, and how to create a very cordial atmosphere, make more new friends in their schools and colleges, wherever they are. Third thing is to be resilient. You know, failures come in life. You know, you get fights, you get into some unpleasant situations, and how to snap out of it. without hanging on to it in your mind and worrying about it.

Going along with that, I think those are beautiful. Going along with that, I believe.

One.

Of the biggest fears for people is the fear of rejection, the fear of other people's opinions and rejection. How does someone learn to be okay with others rejecting them, with nasty comments online, with people saying no to them over and over, how does someone learn to still love and appreciate themselves in the face of rejection?

You need inner strength for that. That's where the journey within will help you a lot. Yeah. You need inner strength to be able to be solid and not worry about what others say, not to be football of others' opinion. For that you need that inner strength. And it's a gradual growth. You can't say it can happen right tomorrow after listening to our podcast. No. For that they need to do a little bit of meditation, a little bit of wisdom, and all rest will be the journey with them.

Yeah, for sure. But why do you think people hold on to the opinions of others so much? Why do we care so much about Why?

Because you don't have a bigger context about life. You don't see all the thoughts, all the opinions of people are changing, including your own. You had some opinion about somebody and then it just changed very fast or, you know, in few days or in few months, right? Your opinions do change. So, others, you must give others also the freedom to change their opinions.

That's true.

And we don't have to think their opinion is etched in stone and same all the time. It's just a ripple on the surface of water.

Yes.

And you have no control over that.

That's true.

And the bigger context to your life again and more being conscious of the The different treasure of wealth that you have, the beautiful qualities you possess as a human being will help you to overcome those things.

Broadening your perspective about life. I've heard you talk about, you know, that we have so many thoughts every single day in our mind, right? Thousands, millions of thoughts a day. What are the thoughts that we should be trying to focus on the most consistently when we have a negative thought? How can we replace it with something else?

I feel you shouldn't fight with any thoughts. The more you resist, the more those thoughts will come to you. This is a skill in dealing with the thought, turning the negative into positive. That skill is what meditation is all about. And if you are stressed, however you struggle to get rid of negative thought, it is impossible for you to get rid of them. If you don't get rid of stress and try to only manage the thought, it is not going to work. Root cause of all this negativity is the stress. You get rid of stress and you will see naturally you will have only positive. Right.

And if you start to heal, you'll start to get rid of the stress.

Absolutely. Yeah.

Is it possible to be happy and hurt at the same time? Have like a wound emotionally or psychologically or physically? Is it possible to be happy at the same time that you're dealing with pain?

Maybe partially there could be some, but you know, to be really totally happy, you have to get rid of the pain.

The wounds.

And I don't see it as impossible. Right. I see it is very much possible. Even if they take a little bit of inner journey, make that inner journey, meditate a little bit, have a broader context to life and serve in society in whatever capacity they can. Yeah.

What do you think people struggle with the most that you've seen over the last few months in society?

Is it dealing with- Post post pandemic, what I see is there is aggression on one side and depression on the other side.

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People are swinging between these two extremes. At the drop of a hat, people lose their temper and become so aggressive on one side. On the other side, there is depression and suicidal tendencies. and feeling bad about themselves, this is also prevalent. And both I feel is not good for the health of a society, of an individual. So we need to get rid of these two extremities.

What's the root cause of aggression and depression?

Again, lack of robust mental health. and this is the talk of the town, everywhere, mental health, we talk about it. But we are not thinking about remedies which are time tested like breathing, meditation, yoga and all these things.

Nature.

Nature walk and we are only thinking about what type of medication we can stuff ourselves with and steroids that you take and then you know, bloat yourself even more. And I think the lifestyle changes really to adopt to ourselves.

Yeah. Why are people so influenced on these things or on things that really don't matter about the journey within? Fancy things, superficial things, you know, more.

And more and more.

Why are people so focused on these? things in life versus feeling peaceful and happy.

See, nature of mind is to wanting something new. Mind always goes for something new. Right. And fashion and more. But heart always longs for something old. You take pride in an old friend, not in a new friend.

Right.

And You take pride in having the latest model of car, a computer or a watch, right? That's the latest thing that the mind wants. So life is like that. Life is a combination of old and new. Like the roots are old, but the shoots come new.

Right.

And we had to balance them. And if you don't attend to the roots at all, there is no light.

That's true. How do you balance that in your life by having the mission that you're on and dealing with everything else that's happening?

Life is already balanced. You don't have to make struggle, make any attempt to balance it. It's been like this for me.

Right.

Because I want nothing for myself.

What's that?

I want nothing for myself. Right. I'm here to give and whatever I have. Yeah, that's it. Right. Have you.

Have you always been like that or is. Did you have to train your mind?

No, no, I didn't have to do any training or nothing. I've been like this. Really?

Why do you think you've been like that? It's been easy for you.

Well, I don't know myself. Well. It's been like that. It's my nature. I've been like that from my very... 10 days, so... You know when you have a purpose and the nature is taking over that, you're not even thinking, I have to do this, this nature makes things happen through you.

Right. Did you always have a purpose or did it come to you later in life?

No, I always from childhood, I knew that So unite everybody.

Really?

Make people realize, hey, we are all one human family.

When you were a kid.

Really?

When did you realize that you could truly make an impact on people's lives? Like how old were you when you noticed that you were able to- you-.

See, I did not think about, oh, I had to do this and this and this and that. And I just let life take over and- I flew with however the time took me wherever it took me. Right.

I've heard you talk about mental health, about creating the journey within, meditation, breathing, and really broadening our perspective of life. What do you see happening over the next couple of years after the pandemic and after where everything is at with aggression, depression? What do you see things moving into?

Do I mean to be Predicting, looking at a crystal ball.

I'm just curious if you have any insights of what you think might happen.

No, I don't see that. I think more and more people are getting more conscious.

Consciousness.

Consciousness. They are realizing where we are going wrong and how we should get our life back on track and how it's important for us to share and care for environment, for people, Give us peace in the world.

Right.

You know, when this war broke up between Ukraine and Russia, we started a Stand for Peace campaign. Tremendous response was there in people.

Right.

Because we were feeling so, the population was feeling so trapped and so helpless. See, we can't do anything. If someone is fighting there, what can we do? Sort of despondency was in the public. So when they all stood up and said, I stand for peace, there is something that you can do for, even from the thought level, an intention of goodness, of peace for the world. It empowers you. It helps you to come out of the despondency and a sort of helplessness. This is what I would tell every, don't underestimate your power, your mental power, your spiritual power. Each one of you have an ocean of wealth, energy within. Tap into that.

Yes.

And you can do, you can make a difference in the world.

Absolutely. That's beautiful. I've got two final questions for you. as we get close to the end of our time. Before I ask them, I want people to get the book Notes for the Journey Within, Essentials of the Art of Living. Make sure you guys get a few copies for yourself, for your friends. This is going to help you stay spiritually aware, keep your perspective broadened, and really help you let go of the stress that's causing you a lot of the pain and suffering right now. So make sure you guys get a few copies of this. Follow you everywhere. I love your YouTube, your Instagram, your social media superstar now. So make sure to follow everywhere on social media. We'll have it all linked up. I want to acknowledge you, GuruDev, for your consistency in your journey of service. I love the example that you set. You inspire me. You inspire so many people. So I'm so grateful that you keep showing up and giving to the world in the way you do to stand for peace. and harmony. I asked you these two questions the last time, so I'm curious if the answer is different now that it's been a couple of years. But this is a question called the Three Truths, and I have your answers here from before. But if you could share only three lessons with the world, and they wouldn't have access to this book or this conversation or anything else you've shared, what would those three lessons be? Or those three truths?

See if you go to a pharmacy and ask them, Give me three medicines. What would they do? See, come on, what is the medicine that you want? You pick up. Say, you, go to the ocean and give me three things that you have. The ocean would only say, Come on, you pick up what you want. Salt from me, fish from me, oil from me, gas from me. Pearls from me, you pick up. Wisdom is an ocean and so you pick up what you want and that's what journey with it is.

I like it. Final question, what is your definition of greatness?

Why do we have to define greatness? We don't need to define anything that is very big, very significant in your life goes beyond definition. You can't define love. You can't define compassion. How can you encamp soul something which is so sacred, so intimate to you like compassion or love? In few sentences, same with greatness. It's something that uplifts you, elevates your old spirit. When you feel more than what you are yourself, and then you want to define it what gratefulness is, then we are not doing justice to those qualities or those words even.

I hope today's episode inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a rundown of today's show with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me as well as ad free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple podcast. If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend over on social media or text a friend. Leave us a review over on Apple podcast and let me know what you learned over on our social media channels at Lewis Howes. I really love hearing the feedback from you and it helps us continue to make the show better. And if you want more inspiration from our world class guests and content to learn how to improve the quality of your life, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness Newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com/newsletter. And if no one has told you today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.

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