This week’s wisdom post is more than just sentences and paragraphs. If you let it, it will awaken you to a deep but meaningful secret for leading a happy life. In this week’s wisdom post, we share with you a priceless commentary by global spiritual leader and humanitarian, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the International Association For Human Values, about the two tendencies of the mind that keep you from going back to your innocence and live in this present moment.

“Have you noticed what keeps happening in the mind at every moment of time? The mind keeps wondering what is going to happen next. Knowledge is being aware of this phenomenon of the mind; of what is happening right now in the mind. All other information and education can be acquired by reading books. You can open a book on any subject, be it birth, death or dietary habits; there are volumes of books available on countless topics. But awareness of our own mind cannot be learnt from a book.

What does our mind do? It vacillates between the past and the future. Every moment, it is either angry about the past or anxious about the future. There is another tendency of the mind – clinging to the negative. If ten positive instances or events are followed by one negative event, we cling to that one negative thing. We simply forget all the ten positives.

To bring about a change in these two tendencies of the mind is the greatest help you can render to yourself. Becoming aware of these two tendencies in the mind will make you very natural, very simple. These are very precious values and will enable you to blossom from within. We are actually born with this innocence in us; but as we become more and more mature and intelligent, we tend to lose this innocence and end up becoming stiff. Drop the stiffness, and then see how much more rewarding, more enjoyable, more interesting life becomes. This is knowledge. And this is also worship.

As child, you had no problems; you fought one day and made up the next day. But as you grow, you get tangled, entangled. You get into a mess, the whole society gets into a mess. Then you need the comb of knowledge. When you have an effective comb, it helps keeps your hair tangle-free and orderly. The same thing happens in the society. Without knowledge and wisdom, we get entangled with each other; our minds are filed with hatred, aversions and cravings. Look into anybody’s mind; there is feverishness about somebody, a craving for the future or an aversion for the past. With the comb of wisdom and knowledge, we can promote order in the society.

If everybody in the society lives in the present moment, if we are able to accept people as they are, there will be no problems, no strife. We have to have wisdom and knowledge; we have to have awareness. It is very essential.”

About The Author

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is an international humanitarian leader and a spiritual master who is the global rallying voice of this generation’s collective call for peace.

Named one of the “Seven Most Powerful People in India,” by Forbes, his world-renowned meditation techniques helped end the 60-year conflict in Colombia. He has been credited with bringing opposing parties together to facilitate meditation and peace talks in Iraq, Cote d’Ivoire and India.

Founder of the Art of Living Foundation and International Association for Human Values, Sri Sri is leading the way toward peace and tolerance through meditation and humanitarian efforts. Over 35 years, his programs and initiatives have touched the lives of over 370 million people in over 150 countries.

“Sudarshan Kriya,” the meditation technique introduced by Sri Sri is backed by research and implemented in schools, corporations, prisons, refugee camps and retreat centers around the world. As a spiritual teacher, Sri Sri has rekindled traditions of yoga and meditation that have helped millions of people achieve personal and social transformation by relieving stress and discovering inner peace in daily life.

If you want to live and experience what peace is, even if for a few minutes in your day, here is a short guided meditation led by Gurudev, for just the right start of your day or may be the mid-day boost of Prana (life force) that you need for your day.