THE ED MYLETT SHOW - How To Experience Deep Inner Peace w/ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Episode Date: June 6, 2023

I think the number one thing most people TRULY want is MORE LOVE and LESS STRESS… but the burning question remains: How do you actually make it happen?Get ready to meet my exceptional guest this week, the remarkable GURUDEV SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR. I've been a fan and follower of his work for a long time, and I'm genuinely thrilled to have him on the show.Gurudev is a true champion of humanity, a spiritual leader, and a peace ambassador. Through his incredible organizations, he has touched the lives of an astounding 500 MILLION people in over 180 countries. His messages couldn't be more timely as he empowers and transforms individuals to tackle personal, local, and global challenges.Our conversation is an absolute rollercoaster, covering an array of mind-blowing topics, including:The role of DOUBT and how it impacts our livesHow to let go of things that no longer serve you and break free from unnecessary baggageGurudev's insights from negotiating peace in global conflictsHow the power of MEDITATION and BREATHING can reshape your daily existenceHow to cultivate and nurture your identityHow to unlocking your hidden potentialHow to find CLARITYHow to have more JOY in lifePeering into the mysteries that lie beyond this life's horizonA thought-provoking discussion on the potential of PSYCHEDELICSLet me tell you, Gurudev is one of the most awe-inspiring individuals I've ever encountered. As you listen closely, get ready to discover powerful insights that will guide you towards greater PEACE and BLISS in your own life.These are the answers we all need in times like these—a compass that will help us navigate the stormy seas and find the serenity we seek. So, join me in this incredible episode and get ready to be transformed!

This is the end my let's show. Welcome back to the show everybody. I'm so honored to have this beautiful being sitting across from me here today. I've been a fan of his work for a long time. It's made a big impact in my life. I guess the best way to describe him is he's a spiritual leader. He's an ambassador of peace in the world. He's a yoga guru, but he's also just a man who spreads love and bliss and joy throughout the world and gives people the tools of how to live their lives better,

including mine. So Guru Dev Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, welcome to the show. Finally, great to have you here. Thank you. It's so good. You only flew 18 hours from Dubai to do this with me today. So that's all everybody. So we're going to make this as magical as we possibly can.

All right, I have so many things I want to ask you. We really need five hours, but we only have about an hour. So first things first, I want to ask you about you said something so fascinating to me about doubt. I want to ask you about this first. You said, we really don't, we only doubt positive things. We don't doubt negative things. And man, I really started to ponder that. I meditated about it. And it's very true. So I want you to start out today just to

elaborate on that concept about doubt. Yeah. You see, when someone tells you, I love you a lot. You say, you'll ask them really, you go really, right? And similarly, you know, be doubt or happiness. When you say, you're happy, well, I'm not sure, is what the normal response we hear. Right. But that's not the same thing when it comes to negative feelings. When you're depressed, you never say, well, I'm not sure if I'm doing it. You're so sure about your depression. You're so sure about your anger.

Right? Yes. I'm mad at somebody. You never doubt a madness with someone, right? Why is that? Do you think? That's how it is. You think that's our nature? It's a nature, right? So that's why we doubt the honesty of a person. We never doubt the dishonest effort was. Gosh, that's true. When you believe somebody's dishonest, you know, your intuition tells you, I know they're dishonest, but when they are honest, we still wonder or doubt whether they're honest with

us. Is that because our nature is to resist, Because I don't believe this intuitively either. So is our nature to resist a blissful or happy state or is just a higher threshold? No, this is a nature of doubt is such. The opposite of doubt is wonder. You know, wonder always has a joy with it. You're right.

Curious, you know, if children have more wonder in curiosity, don't they? Absolutely. And that's why they have more bliss in their life. Why do you think more people who have achieved external success in their life aren't internally happier? You know, when you put your 100% out there, that brings some sort of relief, you know, that helps you to repose in yourself.

Unless and until we repose in ourselves, we can't find inner peace or happiness. So the key is to repose. To repose, you should have the satisfaction. Yeah, I'll eat 100%. Suppose you're on a running race and you put you 100%. Then that frees you. Someone is done better than you. It doesn't bother you, but you have done your 100% right?

Hmm. I'm surprised to hear a spiritual guru say that, that it's good to empty the tank and to give 100% of something because you do teach that. You don't believe it just laying around and meditating 100 hours a day and that somehow you're going to be great in your life. See, meditation is a tool for dynamism. What's that mean? That is, see, you meditate, you recuperate, you find the energy in you,

but what you do with the energy when you don't want to act. It's like, you go to the bank, you take the money out, and if you don't want to spend it, it was the point in having money in the bank. That's really awesome to hear, because prayer prayers always been a part of my life, but meditation is a newer part of my life. And I have found this renewed enthusiasm and energy in my life and clarity also that I didn't have before. And I have to tell you that I've achieved more and more external, whatever you want to call it as I've given myself the gift of a little bit more emptying of my mind every single day.

I've started to do yoga, which will really surprise my audience. I'm doing a lot more yoga. I'm actually going to a yoga retreat, the end of May, and it's made a huge difference in my life as well. Now, the other side of the coin that you talk a lot about that's interesting to me, as you say, the reason why people don't always get what they desire is that potentially they hold on to it too long, meaning they hold on to what they want too long.

What do you mean by that? No, actually, what I meant is you really don't realize your potential. So, when you realize you have the potential and you have the right intent, say, intention starts to manifest. But if your intention is clogged with doubts and uncertainty about yourself, whether you will be able to do it or not, then you find it hard to get what you really wanted. Do you think that you can hold on to the thing you want so hard that you almost surrender the energy from it, meaning there's a nuance I think in life between having a goal, but also separating from the outcome all the time as you're in the process

of achieving it. Does that make sense? In other words, it's treating nuance of being very goal oriented and something I want very badly, but sometimes I think when we hold on to the outcome too hard and too firm, it just burns your heart. Yes, it just burns you out and it weakens you in many sense. It drains your energy. So what if Nietzsche wants to do something bigger for you? Why don't you believe that? You know the higher self, the higher power wants to give you something much bigger. And your goal is something much smaller and you're struggling with it.

So I always say when you have a goal, you should have a class to it. This is something better than it. See, I've been doing this. I'm 52 years old. I've never heard that in my life. And it's really true because what most people do is they have a goal or something smaller than it. The idea that it could be bigger and by the way, in my life, God's delivered to me so many dreams and so many achievements in my life and experiences that I never dreamed that are bigger and more beautiful and more magnificent. Absolutely. God knows better than what you know about yourself, right? You have the ability to

achieve something more. That's when when ever someone claims their success, I find it is a sort of ignorance because you claim success because you think you have only that much potential. Wow. Now, you've been to some of the most dangerous places in the world, right? You've been to war zones. And you've tried to negotiate peace in some of the most unsettled places in the world. Can you tell me about some of those experiences that you took away when you were there? And what do you do when you sit down with two leaders that literally would like to kill one another or kill one other's people?

I mean, that's the most extreme chaotic lack of peace environment. And you've tried to negotiate peace in those places. What can you tell us about that? When I was in Columbia, you know, with the FAR 52 year old war, and then, you know, find the big, the first place they didn't want even me to be. They didn't. They didn't. They didn't want. They said, you know, our God is called Marx and we only believe in Communism. We don't want to meet with anybody. We don't believe in any spiritual thing. So, then I was giving a talk in University of Havana. So they came there, they sent some of their feelers. Check out, check me out. And therefore I'm an interesting person. So they were then they were ready to meet

with me. So when I met with them, their hope was that I would help them to change the mind of Columbian government and give them an international support hearing for them. So I said, yes, I understand your predicament. You are not having fun in the jungle. You are fighting for a cause. Your cause is to bring social justice to people. I said, I am for it.

But the path you have chosen of violence, I don't upper one. Then I spoke to them. I do understand them very well. But they need to stop violence, issue violence. And then come to talks in P. And then I meditated with them. They did meditation with me. They meditated you. Yes.

Next three days I spent with them, every day talking and meditating with them. And the last day, you know, they came on their own to the press conference. And they said, from today we adopt the Gandhi and principle of non-violent. Wow! What? Yeah, when I mentioned this neither the press nor the government were ready to believe, they said they're just buying time and this is all their gimmicks. I tell them, please give them a benefit of doubt. Doubt. The benefit of the doubt, which is what we started with.

You know what which is afterwards, let me, after that, you know, for a month, it went on, then they agreed for a peace process and the peace process happened. Then, the most interesting thing was we brought the victims, I flew the victims from, you know, from Columbia to Havana to Cuba, the victims came in front of them and they asked forgiveness with them. Oh my gosh. See, yes, we have caused so much pain to your family. And they had killed many soldiers and the families of soldiers came and there was tears

and there was not one dry eye in that place. How beautiful. And then they went on to do this process with many cities. There are 20 million people have been affected by the war. And they asked for forgiveness. That is so beautiful. That shows their, you know, like, dynamite. Well, I think it also shows that for human beings, that's the most extreme case of lack of peace

or they're murdering one another. They're killing each other's children, right? You take that back all the way to a human being who's got strife with their spouse or they're not talking to their mother or father anymore or maybe they have self hatred. Maybe there's an internal battle in most people. And by the way, I think there's an internal battle in a lot of people. And in our country, it's red states against blue states and, you know, Democrats against Republicans and Fortunately for us it hasn't gotten nearly as violent yet as it has in some of these other places

But one of the reasons I do my show obviously I want to give people the tools to improve their lives and Achieve more things but one of the main reasons I do it is I want people to experience more bliss and more peace in their life And it's why I've wanted you here so badly for so long. That's exactly what we do do it as I want people to experience more bliss and more peace in their life. And so I've wanted you here so badly for so long. That's exactly what we do. I know what you do. There are these small capsule programs for sky-breathing techniques. And when the practice they find themselves in a completely different space, they're able to shut the anger and frustration.

Feel, you know, get connected with one's own inner state, inner peace through breathing. You also have a book out coming out called Notes for the Journey Within. Correct. Let's, let's, because that's really the journey I'm on right now. And my audience knows it. I'm on this journey within. I've, I think a lot of people master

the external game of their life. They get pretty good at achieving different things, but the internal game is a different thing altogether. And so let's talk about that for a minute because you used meditation as a tool with these leaders and part of meditation, connected to meditation to me is breathing, right? Is some yoga practices. What would you tell the average person, listen to this, he's like,

I don't know about this meditation thing. I can't quiet my mind and, you know, breathing really, you know, I'm going to start breathing better and that's going to change my, because by the way, breath work has absolutely transformed my life. And for me, I must tell you, one of the main reasons your teachings have helped me is, I'm sure it's the breathing itself, but it's actually the time I've taken just to be with my body and to be with myself and to just pay more attention to me and my breathing

and getting quiet has caused me to be much more, I think I'd call it self-aware and intentional about different things. So what would you tell people, because meditations is broad topic and breathing. What would you share with us? You know, I would call it as a process of mental hygiene. Mental hygiene. Like dental hygiene, you know, it's a hyzen. You know, we get so stressed, and neither at home, nor in school, we learn what to do when we are upset, when our moods are bad, when we are in rage, when we are restless, nobody has taught us how to manage our mind. And to manage the mind directly is almost impossible and breath is the

lead for every rhythm in the breath there is a connection to our emotion and our state of mind so breathing in certain patterns, certain ways can help us to come out of the respondents we feel with our own moods. Really good. What I've noticed when I'm not in control of my breathing and anger rises in me and they've been proven this too that there's a lack of heart and brain coherence that happens at one time. And you actually give yourself a kind of a form of a lobotomy when you're very angry and your breathing isn't being regulated, you're not paying attention to it. You actually give yourself a lobotomy. You

don't process information as well. You don't make good decisions. Correct. And that's what you mean by this hygiene. It's cleaning the system to some extent. Correct. And the breathing and meditation brings clarity in mind and focus in our awareness, you know, in our attention span. Today what we see is the lack of attention span, in calls, colleges and schools. Our attention span is reducing day by day. Breathing in meditation helps us to get over this attention deficiency syndrome. And there is more intuitive ability that comes up

with you. You become more creative. And this is what you want, you know, whether you are in business or in academics, all that you need is an intuitive ability, force from within. This is why you're brilliant. Let me tell you, I want to elaborate on that. Can I add to what you just said and acknowledge it? So what my breathing and my meditation work has done for me is my attention span has increased. And what I noticed with me was odd, like my paying attention to things that were always there that I didn't.

And this may sound really corny, but it led to business success. So let me tell you, as I started to do more breath work and more meditation work, my ability to pay attention longer has increased tremendously. And I didn't realize how quickly in a day I go, oh, let me check my phone again. Oh, let me see this. Let me turn the TV on.

Let me, I didn't realize at 52 years old how much my attention span had shrunk. And it sounds funny, but I started to notice the sounds funny, everybody, but listen to me. I started to notice like wrinkles on my hand that weren't there before. Paying attention to my hand, I've seen things that were there all the time, certain trees in my backyard that have been there the entire time I lived there that I have never seen or recognized before. I've noticed the beauty in these trees.

I noticed there's a part of my yard where I didn't even know where there's a hill that's in there. I thought I was flat. I noticed these little things. You think, well, what does that matter? I don't know, but it gave me a lot of peace and joy. And then when I'm in business meetings, now I'm noticing emotions on people and facial expressions and tonality that I wasn't paying attention to that's made me a better speaker, a better businessman, but that goes all the way back to breath work and meditation. These little symptoms showed up of trees and flowers and

a breeze that have led to better decision making. Yes, you are absolutely right. You know, the first thing that it does is it improves your perception, observation and expression. You'll be able to express yourself much better, much clearer to people. That's one thing. I mean, the communication breakdown today in the world is because of death, lack of expression and lack of understanding of that. All these benefits happen. There are 100 benefits, you know, established evidence, these benefits on this. Can you imagine if every world leader of every significant country meditated 30 years ago? You'll have a wonderful, you'll imagine. Let me ask you this, what do we get wrong about meditation? Is there something that culture gets wrong about it that they don't understand that's a mistaken belief

system about it? I don't think any religion or any faith based organization, uh, opposes meditation. Meditation is getting connected to yourself that makes your prayers deeper. I have a comparison with prayer and meditation. Prayer is like, God, give me this, give me that. Meditation is, oh, here I am ready to listen to. What do you have to say to me? So good. Do you know that my dreams have become more vivid and clear also at night? I just want everybody to hear this. And I'm telling you, this isn't foofy stuff. I mean, it's foofy stuff, but it's also business stuff.

It's life stuff. What you just said about your ability to express yourself and to communicate. Now, since you use the word self, let's go pretty deep here, because there's other stuff I want to ask you. So you said self. What is self? I've heard you say you are not your body. You are not even your thoughts or your mind. So who am I? What is self then? If I'm not my thoughts, I'm not my mind and I'm not my body. What and who are we?

The key notes I'm just my body. I'm not just my thoughts cannot say I am just my body. I am not just my thoughts, I am not just my emotions. You cannot say I am not the body, but you can say I am not just my body. Not just, okay. I am much more than the body because body is changing, but there is something in me is not changing. A thoughts are changing, emotions are changing. There is one aspect in you that is a reference point

of all changes. Without that you can't even notice changes, right? You can't say I have changed unless there is somebody inside who has not changed. Right. Right. So change can only be noticed with a reference which is non-change. And this non-changing aspect inside of you that doesn't die, that doesn't, you know, age, and that's source of all energy, is not an entity, but it is a field, it's an energy. And with this reference in life, our other activities, our emotions, our dealings, everything gets a good put hold. They become very stable.

You know, the glimpse of your non-changing entity or aspect inside of you can make your life so much more stable and powerful and focused and you know, can give impotence to your activity or dynamism. Do you think that that's why I've, I won't ask you this because this is recent work for me like call it a year that I've been doing. I've noticed that things that used to make me very worried or very angry or give me great anxiety or trepidation. It doesn't do it anymore. It doesn't do it anymore. Or at least it does it a lot less.

Is that a product of this? Absolutely, absolutely. Do you have that? You're right on the dot. Yes. You make it upset even now, but that doesn't stay too long. Right. Even you make it angry, you know, you may shout something, but you know,

it doesn't just touch, it doesn't sink into you so much. So there is a part of you which remains very blissful calm, study and, you know, serene. You're right. My faith has always given me a great deal of comfort. I'm a Christian, it's always given me a great deal of comfort, always give me a great deal of comfort. I'm a Christian, it's always given me a great deal of comfort and perspective. But my breath work and my meditation work has given me a perspective and calmness that shocks me because what you said about me,

I've always thought, you know what, I run a little hot. I'm just a wound up guy, you know, and I found that actually I don't think that's me. I think that that was a program I was running for years that I almost became addicted to these emotions of frustration and anxiety and worry and a little sprinkling little anger from time to time. That was kind of my cocktail of My emotions and I find lately it's more like gratitude and bliss and peace and Perspective it's changed. You're right. You know, this is what even you know What Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you

unless you But Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you Unless you Become like a child from within, you know getting into that space of you know sense within you You can't get to the kingdom of my father Do you do anything to send yourself so you flew 18 hours last night? At least plus the drive plus this plus that plus its LA you're driving to me today. Anything you do before an interview like this or a moment like this or a day that helps center you is there something specifically you do? No, I don't do anything in your. Honestly. Yeah. It's just your state of being now. Yes. You know, when you keep doing something for some time and then it becomes very obvious in your nature and you don't need to do anymore.

You, but you do believe in karma. And your definition of karma is something I had not heard before also. Now that karma was like, I do something bad, it's going to come back around and get me. I do something good, it's going to come back around and bless me. But you, I want to, I don't give it away, but you define karma as what? See, karma is the impression in the mind. Karma has three connotations. One is it's the impressions, and then it is the tendencies, and it is the fruit of the action that you have already executed.

So action is also called karma. Action is karma. That was the difference for me. What do you mean when you say that? Because that was the difference. That action is karma. There is a term called karma yogi. Means you are putting your 100% and not worried about the result that is karma yogi and your action is an expression of joy rather than expecting joy out of the action. Wow.

Can you say that again? Say that again. See usually you are doing a work to get joy from that. Yes. Instead of joy as a product affection, now here joy as an instrument affection. You are happy and so you do it. You know? Those are the people that I remember in my life.

Do you have those are the people that, the reason why do you say it again, the people that I have recollections of that made impressions on me, they are joyful in their actions. Not trying to get joy from the result of their actions. No, you put your 100% and your action is out of joy. Yeah, I think about watching Michael Jordan dunk a basketball with his tongue out, you know, and he's about to dunk. He's just in such bliss as he was doing what he did. Yes. Or a great artist playing a song, and they're just lost in it, right?

Or a speaker on the stage or an incredible school teacher teaching a lesson, or a mother with their baby. Yeah, you love what you're doing. Right. And you're not expecting some result out of it. Even if you accept, expect that doesn't matter, but it's an expression of joy. That's what I meant earlier when I said separating from outcome.

Not being so caught up in the end result as the payoff. Correct. And I think, there's actually studies now in the brain that say, even when you get to the payoff, that the dopamine in your brain actually crashes when you get the reward that the actual dopamine spike the joy in your brain is actually in the process and true. They've actually measured it in the brain now. So that's how it's how right you are. You also talk a lot about intuition and intuitive power. And I used to not rely on that. The Bible even talks about discernment as a gift, right? And I used to fear my intuition and not trust it and think, no, I've got to

I've got to research this or know it. But people that I know that, you know, frankly, make great decisions in their life, they tap into their intuitive power. And you believe that we all have intuitive power, correct? Absolutely. Every single person even animals do have intuition. In fact, they're even more intuitive than human being. We have intuitive power and we need to tap into it. That makes life a lot more fun and a lot more easier. How do you do that? Just listening to that whisper, that voice in your heart, in your head. For that you need to have clarity in mind. If your mind is all with buzz of too many things and worries, forget about intuition.

Again, here breathing and breath worker meditation helps you to connect to that deeper self inside of you, which is non-changing. What specific thing, I want them to read the book and I want them to go to your courses too, so I want to give too much, but what about breathing? What could you teach us right now as it relates to our breathing that would benefit us? See, the first act of life is you took a deep breath in, then you started crying. The last act of our life is you will breathe out and it will make others cry. Yeah. If you don't do that then you have not lived a good life. Wow.

So in between when we are breathing every day and night, we are releasing toxins from the body, we are bringing rest over sub-considant conscious mind. But we seldom attend to the breath which has several patterns, several rhythms. So by attending to the rhythm of the breath, breathing it in certain rhythms, I've set the clock in its right perspective. No point in having a clock, so Eastern time here in, let's go, right,

are giving a time of Israel in sitting in USA. So, you need to set your clock to the current position where you are. Like that mind, our body, our breath, our intellect, our memory. All these seven our faculties, enough faculties, gets into rhythm. And so we are in the present moment. That's what breathing is done for me. Focusing on my breath has brought me to the, I have a hard, I had a hard time just getting quiet, emptying my mind. And when I started to focus on my breath work, I realized I'm right here right now.

And it's easy. Yeah. And it's easy. It is so easy. It's interesting in life, the things that are the most wonderful in our lives, we need to be careful not to take for granted. So you have this amazing spouse and maybe over time, because they're just there all the time,

you begin to take them for granted. Or you know, you have children in your home, parents can relate to this and boy, then when they leave, you just go, I hope I didn't, did I take it for granted when they were here? And breath is like that. Breath is with you all the time. And because it's with you all the time, don't you think we just sort of take it for granted

that it's just there and it's not that big of a deal? You agree? You agree? Yeah. If you could see his face, he really agrees with me right now. So that's a good thing. I mean, I've made a very profound point, which I loved to hear. Okay. I'm going to get some good stuff on top of this. I've made a very profound point, which I love to hear.

Okay, I'm gonna get some good stuff on top of this. You say confusion is a temporary state. And I think that so many people in the world right now, they're confused what's going on in the economy, what's going on in my own life, and I really pursuing my true purpose. And people just, and I, I feel like pain is temporary also in people's lives. But you talk about this idea that confusion is temporary. And I just want

to elaborate on that because I think people think they're going to be living this perpetual state of not knowing their purpose or their passion or their cause or where they're going. You know, knowledge comes in contrast. It's always like that. You can feel the cold because there is heat. Similarly, there has to be some clarity only then you can even feel the confusion. If a confusion is so perpetual, you can't even feel it. You can't even know that you are confused. feel it. You can't even know that you are confused. So they all come in little doses or little gaps. So in the gap you realize though I was confused or I'm in confusion. That is a clarity. See, yes. If I say that how I am so confused, that means you have some clarity at least. Right. You realize what state you are in, in. And so we cannot generalize and

internalize everything. Usually we say, generalized, you know, I'm always like this, I'm always dull and I always lazy. These are things that, you know, we tend to see that way. But in reality, you'd simply have to take a little time for yourself to have the clarity dawn in you. I would say more than, but I would say more than confusion today, people are in a state of uncertainty. Yes. Everything is uncertain.

So, the state of uncertainty causes more confusion in the mind. How about the choice of? What I was going to say about that was, I hope everybody can feel what I feel sitting really close to you, because energy is real. And when you're in the presence of somebody that has such peaceful energy or clarity, you tend to catch some of it. So like as I'm sitting here listening, I'm finding myself like a very at ease, very peaceful,

very clear in what I'm thinking about and, I'm finding myself like very at ease, very peaceful, very clear in what I'm thinking about and then I want to do. And I feel like that's almost like an energy frequency that you give off. And I guarantee you, everyone who's coming in your presence feels this. It's just, it's just easier. It's easier. You know, we can be more through our vibrations than through our words. You know, you may talk for hours and but then if the vibration doesn't convey, nothing

gets conveyed. So you can, one can stand and talk about love for one hour. But if they're not living it, if it's not coming as in the vibrational level, you don't feel anything. But the puppy in your home, a dog in your house, can make you feel that love. You know, a baby can make you feel that vibes, right? Yeah, just their vibrational frequencies, their presence. And you should ask yourself, everybody, I want you to talk about this too. When I'm around you, it makes me evaluate other people I'm around.

And what energy do they give me? And you know, I don't think people evaluate often enough the vibrational frequency they're getting from the people they surround themselves the most with. Do you believe there are toxic people? Do you believe there's toxic energy? Do you believe people should be more vigilant in their evaluation of the human beings they surround themselves with what are your beliefs about that your thoughts? As I said we are the energy field definitely

Each other's energy affects us energy field definitely each other's energy affects us. Suppose someone is very angry and they're coming with those vibes and then of course it affects you unless and until you are very well established in yourself, you're very strong, you're very centered, then you take them all as kids. Yeah. See like a school teacher, nursery school, class teacher, kindergarten teacher, she does kids come with all different emotions. And even if they are jumping around some is crying, some is yelling, some is angry. It doesn't affect the teacher. It's true. It's true. Because you have

gone one step ahead to make yourself much stronger. So again here, breathing meditation, if it is practice, take a little, keep you in that state of positive energy. So the negative energy doesn't affect you that much as much as it would otherwise. Maybe the best description I've heard of that is how you describe the five elements. And then ending with light, would you tell everybody about that? Because I think that that's, I think that that light is energy, right? Can you tell them what the five elements are of? See, we have earth, water, fire, air, ether, these are the elements, but one interesting thing if you see, the lighter energy spreads more. Spreads more.

Spreads more. The finer it is, it reaches more. So, mind is much lighter, the sense. In meditation, one can experience this. You know, you cannot understand just by as a concept. But as an experience, you can get it if you sit with a teacher or a lawn or practice it, then it's easy. What is Dharma and Shiva?

What are those? What does that mean? Siddharma is the true nature. Okay. Your Dharma, your Dharma is to talk and to express itself and motivate people. That is your Dharma. Yes. A doctor's Dharma is to reassure people of their health and help them to get out of their sickness. A teacher's Dharma is to dispel the ignorance and get knowledge to the student.

So, Dharma is that translate, that your nature which translates into action. That's Dharma. What is Shiva? Shiva is that principle the samam bonum of all creation. That in which everything is into which everything goes and by which everything is sustained and are born, that that field, which is truth, beauty and benevolence, that is Shiva. I love this. Was there an experience early in your life that put you on this path that you're on?

Like how do you become you? Is there something that happened? No, no, nothing special happened. Usually people come on spiritual path and some drastic either tragedy or any accident has happened. None of those hit me from my childhood. I knew I came for doing some work. You knew as a little boy. Did you have some special insights or feelings into people? I think we all have these gifts, right? You said minds to communicate or motivate,

but certain people in certain areas, I believe are born with an abundance of one or more of those things. So I probably was born with maybe a proclivity to communicate or speak. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And so yours was, did you, did you? See, every child has that, you right? We all have the joy. We

have all bliss. Every baby comes to this world as a bundle of joy, bundle of bliss. And people on the course of days, years, they lose it. I didn't lose it. I'm holding on to it. You've held on to yours. Look at how joyful you are. You laugh a lot. You, you, I just feel like there's a lot of people that would listen to this and go, I don't know what mine is though. So I think I think you would agree with me. I think a lot of it. It's good. And it's good to say, I don't know about myself rather than putting a label on yourself about all your limitations. Are you know? Do you think, well, that's good to know.

Because I think you just gave a lot of people a little break right there that they're like, okay, maybe it's good that I don't know. But it wouldn't be good to end your life at the end and never figure out what it was. Right? So it might be okay right now not to know because that creates curiosity. But nobody wants to get to 110 years old and go, I never figured out my purpose, right? Nobody wants to get to there. So, is there a way that someone begins? The first step is to say, acknowledge that I don't know about myself or my abilities. I may have many abilities. That takes you out of your limited identity with which you are crushing yourself or limiting your growth or limiting your expression of abilities that you are endowed with. to say, I can do whatever I decide to do. Whatever I wish to do.

I think more people, I'm going to say something to you about that. I want to talk to you about this. Like, I'm just never going to listen into you and I talking from it. This isn't for everybody else. I've realized in me lately, I don't know if it's growth or just change, but the parts of me, I think you need to check in on yourself from time to time and up and audit what matters now compared to before. So when I was a young man, I wanted to be successful and influential and achieve and whatever all that comes to that probably rich, right? Probably have money, even though I never really thought a lot about that. And then I got to a stage in my life that I think I'm in now where my

real mission and goal is just to contribute as much as I can to other people. But there's this other part of me that now feels the needs of time of rest and rediscovery and recuperation. And it's an interesting thing for me because all of my friends are still like one of the other two versions of me. And so I'm going to do this. I'm going to write this book. Where's your new book at?

You haven't written your next book. And there's this part of my spirit that's just saying, no, this is, and I haven't know that I've done it yet, but like right now I feel like I'm supposed to be resting and recovering and recuperating a little bit. And it's very foreign to me because I've never allowed myself to think that before or feel those things before. And I really want to turn inward right now. And I feel like I'd be more valuable to other people going forward if I turned introspective

and inward for a while. Yet I have nobody in my circle who's at that stage. It's not like I've grown out of something. I've just morphed changed. No, this is very interesting and it's essential thing to check the burnout. Say activity and rest, they go hand in hand. It's not that you achieve success and then one day you will come and rest. Rest will help you to achieve things in much more effortless and efficient manner. What you would put yourself so much and still your success is less, that means that you are not rested enough, you are not taken that in

a look. Right. See? So they are complimentary, they appear to be opposite, but they are complimentary. Now, there are two types of joy. One joy is you achieve something, you get success, when you get something you are happy, right? something you get success when you get something you have you're happy right and you get a present on the Christmas Eve or your birthday and then you're all curious to open it and you know there is a

joy in getting that's an infant joy we have all grown with that joy but there is another joy that comes to when you give the joy of a a grandmother, I often say, the joy of a grandfather, the grandmother isn't, when they give to the kids and in the joy of them, they find their own joy. So we have to grow from the joy of grabbing and getting to joy of giving, contributing. That would bring immense satisfaction and it will, it is restful too. You're right. That was really good right there. That was really, really good right there. You also say, don't sit around and analyze yourself too much, which I think is interesting coming from a guru, right?

Like you don't sit around too much because does that mean if you just become so self-involved if you analyze too much your own life that you can almost become, it almost becomes an ego thing. What do you mean when you say that? Because I think there's a community of people I think you to group me. There's a bunch of people in the world that are just go go go go go and they don't take any time whatsoever to Give themselves the gift of self-reflection analysis. Then there's another group of people that all they're doing is Analyzing themselves constantly and they're not getting around to do it a whole lot, right?

It's like chewing that it's like chewing gum. You're chewing it and not getting anything out of it. It's all patterns and thoughts and they come and they go you know it's just in a field places impact you people impact your thought process and all that and why do you have to analyze so much and identify yourself with those thoughts? Yeah. You know, you don't need to do that. That's just move on. Just keep moving. So you talk about this guy last year who won the Nobel Prize in Physics. And basically his overall belief system was none of this is real. Right?

So I want you to talk about this because it's kind of the guy with a Nobel Prize in Physics and is basically his conclusion is three scientists three of them said tell us about that tell us what that well this has been said in ancient philosophy long time back you know the world is like a dream it's unreal what is real is within you so realize that something in you which doesn't change and you will realize everything else is temporary. But the fact stays on your face and nothing is permanent, see? Thoughts are not there all the time. Thoughts are not, you know, emotions are changing.

A body is changing. You get wrinkles, you get whatever boat I can, all that, you do, still it is changing, right? You're right. You, um, you've lived an amazing life. And I'm curious, what do you believe is on the other side of this? I'm curious, what do you believe is on the other side of this? That's a surprise. Let us keep some surprise.

Why do you want to know everything right away? Right. Right. So you're okay with not knowing every element of it. I don't need to analyze that. I know because I've, you know, and you go deep within yourself, you know, that there is something that goes from life to life. But don't you think that that's the, here's why I ask it. I think it's the primary question your human beings live with since the day they were born. Is what does this mean? Is this real? That's a good question to have. This question

helps us like a vehicle to move where we want to go in the spiritual journey. We should not be in a hurry to find an answer for it. Who am I? What do I want? Where do I go? What's the purpose of my life? These questions themselves removes all the cobwebs on our path. It makes our, it brings clarity and direction to where we want to go. I usually say go with negation. If you are confused about the purpose of your life, now list out what is not the purpose of your life. The purpose of your life is not to be miserable and make others miserable, not to be greedy and just get swayed away by someone else's mistakes. And you know, other thing I say is anger is a punishment.

You give it to yourself or someone else mistake. Ha ha ha ha ha. Man, is that the truth? You know, I'm gonna tell you something. I never thought I would say that Gurudev and Matthew Makanahe share a similar belief system, but you know the actor Matthew Makanahe, he was just on my show recently.

And we were talking about trying to figure out who you are and what your identity is. And he goes, well, I think you ought to start with who you're not. What am I not? Oh, okay. And it's almost identical to what you just said. And so he said it with a totally different accent

than you in a completely different background, but it's a very similar conclusion. So all right, I got a couple of couple things I got to ask you about psychedelics. You like them? You don't like them. I say stay away from them. Okay. Why? I see people have used it and they don't look very happy and held either. And when you can do it all, then you can have that high just with your own breath, why do you spend money and your health to get an altered state of consciousness? Now, I didn't think you were going to say that and that's interesting. I almost wish I asked that in the beginning of the interview, so so everybody because you know it's the thing right now.

Yeah, it's a temporary high that people experience. But I can say you can do an experienced permanent high and feel healthy and have less sleep, three, four hours sleep and you get many powers in your own system and you become a power house if you start meditating and doing breathing. Did you just say three or four hours sleep? You get many powers in your own system and you become a power house. If you start meditating and doing breathing, did you say three or four hours sleep? Yeah. Wait a minute. Is that what you get a night?

Four or three hours. You have this much energy. Stop it. Wait a minute. You have this much energy. You've flown across the planet to come see me here today. And you're telling me that you average three or four hours of sleep. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you say that like, yeah, of course I do. You know that that's not normal. No, but see, if you meditate, you get to

that I don't I'm not telling you should not. You start doing it. You know, you'll be a wreck. I don't want you to do that. Try that, but you know, that would be enough for you. It's not in so many, by the way. I can sleep if I want to. I can sleep six hours eight hours, but you don't. How is your, how, how is your energy level? So I've watched videos of you for a long time. I've watched you all the way back to when you had dark hair. Okay. And now it's not so dark anymore. So do you feel older? Do you feel less energy? I don't think you do. And that's surprising. That's what you're. And you attribute that to just the years and years and years of work you've done. Just being the space of yourself, love, nothing other than that.

What a great reflection you are of, no, you're a great expression of joy and love, and I'm telling you everyone that you feel it when you're in his presence. Okay, I'll give you one more question because we've taken up so much time today. And again, I feel like I legitimately have gotten to like 4% of the things that I wanna ask you. So you're gonna have to fly 20 hours back and do this again. We'll have another one of these. But if someone was listening, they said,

listen, I've had some things happen to me in my life. People have hurt me. You know, I'm carrying some emotional pain in my life or, you know, I've recently gone through a divorce or my business failed or, you know, just life so far hasn't turned out like I dreamed it when I was a little boy or a little girl. And I find myself listening to Ed's show and you're here today. And, you you know I'd like to turn the page and begin again from where I am. What would you say to that person? Very good decision. Start a new, no point in life is too late for it. And whatever pain you have had in the past, it has taught you something. It has made you strong, it has made you deep somewhere.

Now, just shed all that and move on, you know. But there is a beautiful you inside you that's looking for an expression. It has gone through all the bad but now for it to come out. A beautiful life is ahead of you. I'm so grateful that you came this far today. I've enjoyed it so much. So much. Your description of you is your humanitarian, that's one of the things, and now that I've

been with you. You are an ambassador of peace and real true human values. I am so grateful for you. Thank you, Ed. I'll leave. And continue to inspire people as you have been doing. All the best to you.

Thank you, all the best to you. I intend to do that. Hey, everybody, one thing. You can go to artofliving.org. You can go to youtube.com, it's four or less, Shree Shree, which is S-R-I, S-R-I, and you can just Google them, and you'll find everything you need.

And notes for the journey within is this upcoming book. What an amazing conversation today. Everybody, please share this with anybody that you care about, that you want to have more bliss, success, joy, and abundance in their life. God bless you all. Max out.

This is The End My Let's Show.