Q: What was the three-day Silver Jubilee show all about?

Celebration. People were going to come anyway. We simply had to provide the infrastructure and everything else.

Q: How did all this happen? When you started the Art of Living Foundation, did you know it would get so big?

One thing that I felt is that the whole world is my family… that every one is a part of my family. I suppose I have always felt a sense of belongingness to everyone.

Q: What was your mission for Art of Living?

There was no particular mission. There was no ambition to start a particular movement. Everything unfolded naturally. It started with an intention to just share whatever we have. The movement happened as a part of sharing. Whatever we have, we shared with people…. And as more people wanted what we wanted to share, it grew… through word of mouth.

Q: There always seems to be an expansion of projects or activities…

You know, that’s quite natural. When people are full of enthusiasm, love and compassion, they just want to share it and their intention to share it brings compulsion to start projects.

Q: But they all say that the source is you.

(Laughs)

I simply take credit for all the work that the volunteers do, that the devotees do. Devotees do all the work.

Q: What is your vision for people? How do you see them?

When I see people, I see them as my own self… like my own fingers, my own parts. I don’t feel that “they are my people” or “ they are mine”. This is what we tell all our teachers and teach in all the teachings. The ‘sense of belongingness’.

Q: What do you think is the most important quality that every human being must process?

Nurture human values, compassion, love, caring, friendliness. Many people are not friendly with those who they think are different from them. Basic tendency should be friendliness. In spite of differences, an attitude of friendliness with one and all, whatever their isms, philosophies or attitude may be… this makes a big difference… from our side, have a friendly attitude even though the other person is not responding. If you keep up this attitude instead of swaying to the other person’s, then you come up.

Q: People say you never ever write off or give up on any human being. So much compassion. Don’t you ever get tired?

I never do anything that is not in my nature. You don’t ask the wind whether it gets tired of blowing or the sun whether it is tired of shining. This is because they don’t do anything that is not in their nature. And the thing here is that there is not pretension. There is no covering up of a mistake. There is no point in trying to appear as someone you are not. These are the principles that make people very strong.

And when we lead through such examples, through our own lives, it becomes really effective in other’s lives also. People are moved by people, not just by principles. It’s a ripple effect.

Q: How do you perceive the Divine?

Like the space permeates everything, divine also permeates everything. It’s the basic substratum of the universe. The basic difference between the West and East it that in the West, there’s the Divine and the devil. In the west, the devil is an entity. In the East, devil is not an entity. It’s simply lack of light. Sometimes it’s even perceived as dormant light. Light hasn’t yet manifested, not active. Even inside the devil there is divinity, but it is sleeping. When it wakes up the devil simply disappears.

Q: That seems to be the attitude that gives so much faith to your followers.

Yes. When we go prison and to naxalites and others, we don’t consider them as bad people. We simply say they have beautiful hearts that have not come to light. We see goodness in them too, but it’s sleeping.

Q: When I search for spirituality on Google, I get 25 or more definitions. What exactly is spirituality?

Spirit represents love, compassion and service. It is all those things that you can’t hold on to… which (are not) concrete. Spirituality is that which enhances this understanding, brings you peace of mind, makes you happier, more compassionate, awakens a want to serve etc. It makes you realize that your life is much more than what you think it is

Q: You said the need of our times is secular spiritualism. What is secular spiritualism?

India is full of different cultures, and different sects within a religion. Many religions follow different things. So what is the thread that can weave them all without disturbing and creating a conflict with their faith or belief system? That’s what I call secular spirituality. It is a spirituality that unites, promotes harmony in diversity, and that makes people appreciate and honestly pray from their heart.

Q: The dialogue on secularism is conducted largely within the political framework. Are there political parties that are not secular?

It is difficult to say who is really secular. Even those who claim to be secular don’t seem to be secular anywhere anymore.

Q: Corruption is selling India down the drain. Who would you blame?

The blame culture has to be dropped. It is easy to blame somebody and get out of responsibility. We all have to take responsibility. Spirituality gives us the strength to stand up to corruption. It is the inner courage that gives you the strength to stand up to corruption and transform people. Corruption can only happen outside the purview of belonging, you can’t be corrupt with someone (for whom you feel) a sense of belonging. You will cheat those you think don’t belong to you. You will corrupt them. You saw the sense of belonging (among) more than a million people here. There was no stampede, no looting, no cheating, no crying and no traffic jams. People dispersed in such orderly manner. People are beautiful. They are good. They just need a little nourishment and the little flame that a candle requires. The wick is there. And the wax is too. It only needs a light.

Q: Coming back to the Silver Jubilee, I’ve not seen Chinese and Taiwanese dancing together ever before.

Yes. And Pakistanis and Indians.

Q: So is this the beginning of a shift in world consciousness?

Definitely.

Q: So where does it go now that the shift has begun?

We’ll have to realize that the world is one family. We can’t stay in isolation. We have to leave the differences, and dialogue should be the language of the future. Dialogue can happen only between people with differences. It is such ridiculous thing in India that people of different ideologies don’t even want to see each other or sit on the same dais. There can’t be anything more foolish than this. How can a dialogue happen if (only) person of the same ideology get together? They can’t have a dialogue for they will all agree (anyway).

Q: On a lighter note, how did you get into spirituality?

Ha, ha. I’ve been like this from childhood.

Q: Isn’t that curious? Usually you get into spirituality after a crisis.

Yeah, a crisis in life. For example, a failed love affair, a lost business, or the loss of a dear one. That’s when people turn to spirituality. With me, however, that’s not the case. I have been like this from the beginning. It is not a big shift. Nothing has changed. I am a child that refuses to grow up.