Fireside Chat with Tim Draper & Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A Meet the Drapers Exclusive

Well, welcome everybody. This is a really special treat. I am here with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the great humanitarians, has been spreading peace throughout the world. Sri Sri, welcome. Welcome to Silicon Valley. I'll start off with this. Peace seems to be your driving mantra. Tell us a little bit about How you came to peace, how you came to peace with yourself, how you came to peace with the world.

Well, peace is the basic ingredient, is the raw material for prosperity. There is no peace, there is no prosperity, there is no happiness, there is no nothing in life. In a world ridden with so many conflicts, I thought peace is the basic thing that we have to attend to. And neither at home nor in school we are taught how to Calm our mind down. See, calm collective mind is, is the source of creativity.

You created this organization. Tell us a little bit about the Art of Living.

41 years back, that's when I started this Art of Living, and I didn't intend to start an organization. I kept sharing what I knew, and then it grew into a big organization, volunteer-based throughout the world. So the basic principle is to make life a celebration. If you observe our mind, we are anxious about the future, We are angry about the past. So the mind vacillates between these two, and we collect a lot of garbage, a lot of stress. But nobody teaches us how to get rid of the stress. So 40 years back when we started, we said a simple technique. You know, there is a rhythm in the breath, and there is a rhythm in our thought pattern, there is a rhythm in our emotion. If you attend to the breath, you don't have to feel helpless about your own moods. You can be master of your mood. you can just snap out of that bad mood you have when the stock markets crash, you see, when things go bad, you can just snap out of it attending to your own breath. And then we started teaching the silence programs, you know, how important it is to be silent in order to tap into creativity inside of you and intuitive experiences. That is a very important thing. intuitive aspect in all of us, and every business needs that intuition. So we designed about 57 different courses. It's working well.

The stresses of the future and the stresses of the past— does that mean you try to live for the present, or are you just get to your breathing, and when you get to your breathing, those stresses will calm?

You start being more in the present moment. You are more alert. You are able to plan better. Your perception, observation, expression all becomes much better, much clearer. So we call this Art of Living the learning to celebrate life. There is so much diversity in the world, it can be point of contention. Usually people want everything to be in a uniform way. So here we say, learn to celebrate the diversity, understanding this. takes you to a different level altogether. That's why we call— make life a celebration is our motive in Art of Living. And it's a volunteer-based nonprofit educational organization.

As a nonprofit, we know both nonprofits and for-profits have to make money. The way I make money is through my venture capital business. What's the main source of revenue that comes into your organization so that you can do all these amazing things that you do?

For courses, we do charge an amount for all courses according to different cities, areas, and looking at the community's affordability. From our teachings, we generate the fund, and then of course donation.

What's it called so our viewing audience can know?

Art of Living Foundation.

Oh, terrific.

And then we have another wing, another organization called International Association for Human Values. There we raise funds are disasters and like whatever happened in Ukraine or other calamities when it happens, we see that the entire fund goes to that project.

That's great. The reason I've come up with trust and freedom is that I've noticed that countries that recognize trust or freedom end up succeeding, whereas countries that have corruption at the top end up failing. Singapore went from one of the poorest countries to one of the richest Just based on trust. South Korea is much more effective and happy because they are the free country. And so I have this sense that trust and freedom are what really will drive a society forward. Which do you think is more important, trust or freedom?

They go hand in hand. They go together. You have trust, then you enjoy freedom. If there is freedom, that implies there is trust. I see them two sides of the same coin. That's great.

Good. Well, then I can't change my tie. See, this is Bitcoin on the front, but it represents freedom and trust.

This is what's important. You see, trust should be inside. Then you have freedom outside.

And then you have freedom outside. Ooh, maybe I have to make a new tie. You have brought peace to groups that were at war. How do you do it?

Trust.

And freedom. The promise of freedom.

Freedom from their own emotions, their own past. See, people are stuck with their own mind. They hold on to their perception. They're not ready to see from, from a different viewpoint. They're unable to get out of their, you know, emotional garbage, and that's why they feel stuck and they don't feel any freedom. When they have no inner freedom from their own mind, from their own emotions— We build bridges. First of all, we need to know that we understand them whenever we get into the conflict. Since your neutrality, both parties Trust you, and then they get freedom from their own emotional turbulence that they have been going through. Inner freedom is essential before you can even perceive it all around you. If you are not free from your own prejudice, your own concepts, you will not be willing to see the other point— other person's point of view. See from an unbiased mind.

So do you have a family?

Oh yeah, the whole world. And you're part of it.

That's what I was thinking, because you really have covered a lot of territory. I have the ambition to do a lot of those interesting things, but I do have a family and they need care and nurturing. Do you have any recommendations for families?

Yeah, I have quite a few recommendations. First thing is never question the law. Don't go on asking, do you really love me? Do you love me? And those sort of things. Take it for granted. It's there. Even in rough times, you should know that love is always there. Second, I would say, don't get upset at the same time, both of you. One of you gets upset, the other one tries to digest it. So you take your turns to express your bad moods. And with kids, you know, you need to treat them like your friends. Once they are in their teenage, we have to gently guide them to the right path. At the same time, you can't just leave them to themselves, you know. It's a delicate thing to guide them.

Was there a moment that inspired you to this path that you've taken?

Usually people turn to something philosophical, spiritual, if they have some rough time, they have breakup in their relationship. I had none of those. I was like this from childhood, and I had a vision, and I thought this is what's going to happen.

And at what age did you feel like, OK, this is my vision, this is where I'm going?

You know, in fact, as a child, I was ridiculed quite a bit, because I used to say in my classrooms, you know, I have family all over the world, I have friends everywhere, I'm going here, and I would not even go to the next city in my summer vacations. And they'll come to question my mother, and my mother would pull my ear, why are you telling lies? I said, well, you know, I can't but say what I feel.

A lot of our, our audience is entrepreneurial. They want to start businesses, or they're— they've already started them, or they're raising money, or they're trying to make something happen from nothing. And you have become, whether it feels that way or not, you are an extraordinarily successful entrepreneur. Do you have any interesting advice for those people who are getting started and trying to go on their missions?

Whenever you start a journey on entrepreneurship, be prepared to face challenges. Disappointment may come, but rely on your intuitive ability. If you tap into your intuition, things will fall in place for you all the time. Second is a broad mindset. You smile more, like you are, you know, like many of them, they keep such a long face, serious face, and looks as though they are in a constant mourning atmosphere. You see, it's not congenial for people to work in that type of atmosphere. So you have to lighten up the atmosphere and create that sense of belongingness. And when you are doing something that is useful for the people, for the planet, for the world, success is for sure. If you are focused only on yourself and make— how I can make more money— good, you can make money, but if your focus is only on that, your innovative spirit That's really funny.

I've said when they say, well, what, what do you look for in an entrepreneur? I say, well, you know, I'm looking for this passion, this drive. But a lot of entrepreneurs say, hey, I'm gonna make money, or the clever ones say, I'm gonna make you money. And those we want to have nothing to do with. We're interested in that vision and that future. That's the thing that drives me to invest. So maybe you become a venture partner of ours. You can sort of help us, help us think about whether this entrepreneur is the right fit. I'm not sure. has the true feeling inside them, or whether it's just on the surface they want to get some money.

Formula for all that, I would say, have some M&M.

Have some what?

M&M, you know?

M&M. Have some M&Ms.

It's not the chocolate. It's meditation and meals together. It takes a few minutes of everyone sitting together, meditation. And if you're not too much on meals, you can have music, meditation and music together. You know, these things can create an atmosphere which is very congenial for creativity, productivity to come up.

So if it's music, do you dance?

Yeah, you can dance, yeah.

Maybe we should dance.

Sing and dance, yeah. I consider the whole life is a dance. Don't lift both your legs up.

That's it. We have a credo over at Draper University, and one of them says, I will pursue fairness, openness, health, and fun with all that I encounter, mostly fun. And we have to dance. So somehow we've come to the same conclusion that in order to become everything you're meant to be, you've got to have some fun. Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Interesting. How do you feel about politics? How do you feel about government? Politics in the media, it can drown out a lot of this thought process, a lot of the peace. What do you think about that? Is there something we can do as a society to sort of bring it all together and create a more peaceful world?

I wish many people had the same thought like you are having this question, what we can do about it. Politics per se, I don't consider it's an untouchable thing, it's a bad thing, but the people there makes the difference. Whether it's business or politics or even spirituality, it all depends on the person, no? The person has no ethics, no trust, you see the disaster that happens. And if they don't believe in the oneness of mankind, then they can stifle anything. In business, so many corporations, they've gone bust, and there are people who have taken a ride on the trust of the people they have had in the business. Same with the politicians too. One is the people should be more aware what they want and not just play to the tune of someone saying something which is unpractical. Second is ethics among the politicians. Politics is not the business for them, it should not be considered as business, as a service to humanity. It all boils down to mental health, right type of mind attitude in the leadership. One more thing I would like to add, actually. Democracy, you need a strong opposition as well.

You need a strong opposition.

Opposition.

So that a good solution can come from the 2 opposing forces.

The 2 forces.

Like our heroes and villains out there. If you were physically attacked, how would you respond?

You don't think about it beforehand. You will listen spontaneously at that time, what comes to you. There'll be inner defense that takes over. You should just let it take over at that time. And it has happened to me in the past. Just someone came and said, oh, you're satanic, and this and that. And I just looked at him and said, Just wait, and that's it. And he became quiet, and tears started rolling into— in that person's eyes, and that whole animosity vanishes. See, one thing we forget, we convey more through our vibrations. Yeah. If we are peaceful inside us, we can impact that on the other person as well. And I've seen this happening many a time. When I first met the FARC rebels, in the beginning they didn't want to talk to me at all, but then they didn't want to leave me, you know, just a couple of hours we sat with them and we talked to them, I said I understand them, they are not there to just have fun in the jungles fighting a guerrilla war, they are fighting for social justice, I told them I understand you, but what I don't approve of them is the violence, 20 million people are homeless and 7 million people were killed. I said, this is not the right thing to do. Why don't they accept the principle of nonviolence? On the 3rd day, they said yes, and they agreed. They came to the press conference with me, and they announced that we are going to accept the Gandhian principle of nonviolence.

Fantastic. Probably the wisest man I've ever met. You feel that you're a man who's just slowly but surely come to these conclusions as your world has evolved.

In fact, I have no conclusions at all. I don't conclude anything. I just let life be and take over, do whatever happens. We all have a role to play, so we just play our role, and then one day the curtain comes down, and that's it.

Who would like to ask a question?

I'll bring the mic over to you.

Shree Shree and Tim, thank you for a very compelling session. I have a question. You mentioned about being in the present. Can you share maybe a couple of techniques to ground an individual In being in present? Besides meditation, of course.

I kind of knew that was coming. That's— When you are in deep love with something, then you are in the present moment. When you are appreciating something, you are in the present moment. And the moments of wow. So beauty can keep you in the present moment. Being surprised about something that you never expected can keep you in the present moment. And I tell you, anger can also keep you in the present moment. Not just simmering anger, but full-blown anger also keeps you in the present moment. But I don't think you want to keep that. Creativity and music can also keep you in the present moment. All these other things, they are all extracting energy from you, but in meditation you end up gaining. What has been the best What's the happiest moment in your life? Every moment. This moment.

You know, I just noticed something. You wear socks and sandals. My wife gives me so much trouble because I wear socks and sandals. Now I'm totally absolved, and I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna say, I just want everybody to know that that's the I have a question about science.

You're a physicist.

What do you see as the connection between mindfulness and physics, maybe quantum physics? Quantum physics and the science of consciousness, they resonate. It's almost the same. When Professor Doerr, one of the top nuclear scientists, visited our campus in Bangalore, he said, when I talk about quantum physics, people think that I'm talking about Buddhism or Vedanta philosophy. I can't but agree with him. It's absolutely same. Never in the history the Oriental philosophy and science were at loggerheads because the criteria was the same. First you know and then you believe. They never say you believe and one day you will know. No, whatever you know, only that you believe. This is the methodology. Whereas in the Occident, it is the different pedagogy. In Occident, it is said first you believe, one day you will know. That's why science and religion were in conflict in the Middle East and the West throughout the history, but never once in the East. No scientists were ever persecuted there because the methodology was the same. I want to believe, then first experience. You don't have to believe this water is cool or hot. Why don't you taste it? Even spirituality in the Orient goes with first study of the 5 elements of nature. Then comes the mind, time also, then space. All these are part of elements, is counted as elements, including your consciousness. So it's a subjective analysis study and objective study where theory of relativity very well fits in there.

I'm gonna take that a little farther. I was out with our students looking at the stars. We were out in the middle of nowhere, looking up there, and it reminded me of when I was a little kid looking up at the stars. And my question was, does it end? Or if it doesn't end, does it go on forever? And then there's a corollary to that: is it alive? Does it go on forever? And that kind of is a little scary to think about. Or does it end, which is even more scary to think about?

This quest for origin Has always been there in the human psyche. Where did this come from? Here, because we are taught to think linear, I ask the question, which is the beginning point of a tennis ball? You tell me. Where does the tennis ball begin? Either you can say it doesn't have a beginning or doesn't have an end.

It's infinite.

A circle is a circle, and it doesn't have a beginning. Every point is a beginning and is an end in itself. So this, I would say, is a spherical thinking.

And you're comfortable in that?

Very comfortable.

Good. I'll have to get my head around that one.

the present moment. It's an art in itself. We appreciate all the amenities of life, but do we appreciate life itself? Do we honor life itself? It's meant to bring smile on every face and create celebration in our lives. Thank you.

About to go through an anthropological leap forward. The internet connected all of us and the geographic borders fell, and then Bitcoin came along and suddenly governments got a little nervous and they tried to put those borders back up. But that this new younger generation does want this decentralized world. They want this world where we were free to roam and free to Do business across all the borders and be all one with the world. But it feels as though it's got to go through some sort of a catharsis to get there, whether it's various border wars that will eventually collapse. What do you think of that? Because I think that when you get beyond that, we are all one world. We're all going to be in peace and we'll be very prosperous. But we kind of have to overcome this geographic limitation that we've been living under.

I think the world trade will collapse. This is the fear of almost all governments. There are a number of trade agreements, a number of different allocations and quota systems. Only you can import, export only certain amount of goods. This entire system might collapse. This is one fear that's quite understandable, number one. The second thing about the Bitcoins, I feel— very little knowledge I have about that— I can say there is a chance for people misusing it also. There are, there could be number of other entities. We can't say everyone who is doing the, who is in this business or honest or trustworthy. There could be some people who can use this opportunity or this new platform to easily cheat the gullible people around there. So there need to be some sort of safety, security to safeguard those gullible people's interest. people are honest with the business, there shouldn't be no issue. Those who want to exploit the gullible people or innocent people, there we need to bring some attention on that. What do you say? Do you agree with me?

You mentioned you've got to kind of serve people, you've got to provide a good service for them to make them happy. We always say delight your customer. I am hoping for a time where governance is a service, where they have to compete for us, or they have to provide good service, or we will dump them. But right now they have monopolistic positions, so they don't need to respond to the people in a lot of places. As society becomes more fluid, the governance will have to be Competitive. They will have to provide great service. Why don't we— we'll take a few questions from the class. Yeah, yeah.

We are taught in the society this paradigm: you have to do in order to have, so that you are a way of being. So you have to do things, or do to go to school, get a degree, get a house, family, so that you can be happy. What about the paradigm which can be shifted so you are a way of being, then you can do so that you can have? My question to you is, what was your journey to get to the vibration of the peace? Because I can see that you contain peace, and for you to spread it in the world, you must contain it. What was your journey to get to this vibration?

You are asking about my autobiography or my biography, right? My sister is sitting there, she has written my biography. Sometimes you can pick it up and read that. It's quite interesting, you won't be able to keep the book down. Yeah. All right.

Thanks.

Thank you so much for coming to speak with us today. In the last 6 months, I started to really embrace the present moment after reading a book called The Power of Now, because it was life-changing for me. Being present, it's only in the present that limitless possibilities exist. As entrepreneurs, sometimes we have a fixation on the past or fixation on the future. A fixation on the past leads to depression, and a fixation on the future leads to anxiety. I think as entrepreneurs, it's difficult for us to really be present, and I also believe that it is only in this present moment that you can truly tap into your deepest creativity. What advice do you have for all of us here, something that is practical that we can do to stay in this present moment while still working towards our goals and improving the mistakes that we've made in the past?

Are you breathing, ma'am?

Sorry?

Are you breathing? Are you breathing?

Yes.

You're breathing, but you're not aware of the breath. Consciously breathe for a couple of minutes. When you have a pain, you're totally in the present moment. Get hurt a little bit and you'll say, oh, painy. Then you are not thinking about the future or past. But it's better to attend to the breath than go through the pain.

Yeah.

Got it? Meditation is the answer. There are apps I have created just for this. Millions of students ask this question. You know, we are teaching this Sky Meditation for colleges in all the universities. 101 universities in this country have this for credit. Many of them have for credit, others are teaching there, and it has helped students a lot. Even in Yale and Stanford, Harvard, everywhere. So I would recommend you to do these this program Sky Meditation program, and it definitely helps you a lot. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can. What are your thoughts on meditations generated by AI? Meditation generated by AI. Meditation is meditation. You can use. any device to experience it. I would prefer a real human voice than a mechanical voice guiding you to meditation.

So, well, thank you for coming. Of course, as entrepreneurs here, we want to change the world. And in your opinion, my question is, what does the world need? What do people need nowadays in society? More empathy, better products, More love? What is your opinion on that?

It's a very generic question. It's not one thing that everybody needs. Every country, every community needs different things. But if you want to— if you insist what is the real one thing, of course love. Nobody wants to live without love. Other than that, some places people need food, some other places they need technology, some other places they need Mere survival, some other place they need more creative ideas.

Yeah, thanks a lot for coming. This is a very unusual session compared to others that we had before. My question is, well, I meditate and I work on my energy a lot, but I also see many entrepreneurs are super successful. They're in Forbes 30 Under 30, you know, all media talk about them, but I know some of them and they even don't believe in God, they don't believe in some energy. So I'm wondering, how is it even possible to be successful like them? Or do they just look successful and inside there's something wrong? Or do they really successful everywhere, inside and outside, even though they don't believe in this kind of energy?

It's not necessary everyone talks about what they are really believe or they don't believe. I mean, why do you want to get an approval from others for everything? If you find this is right for you, it is keeping you happy, you should do what, what feels right for you. Never mind if the others don't believe in it. 40 years back, 41 years back, when I was teaching yoga, meditation, breathing, people would thought it's some sort of weird thing, weird stuff. I speak about vegetarianism or veganism, people thought it's It's impractical and not scientific. And what you see today, 2 billion people on this planet, they practice yoga. So time changes. The first digital watch were developed by 2 entrepreneurs like you in Boston, and they went to Switzerland. They went to— they knocked at every watch company door to door, and they all just— every door was shut for them. But then what happened? When you believe something, you go ahead with it. That's the sign of entrepreneur. You don't look around. Oh, these are old ways. You never know what is successful for how long, and you don't know other people also.

Yeah, you don't see Elon saying, talking about his aura or his energy, but I've met him and he has it. Same thing with Nicholas Zennstrom and Robin Lee.

Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs, his energy was extraordinary. There is something to that. And the AI comment, I think you can teach techniques with AI, but I'm not so sure you're going to be able to feel what I just felt when we did a meditation. And I would like to do a meditation. Would you lead this group in a meditation?

Yeah!

Thank you so, so much. What a treat this was. Now we've all got this new energy, and all because of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has really fired me. So thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. What a treat. This was really wonderful.