Spirituality is a Certain Way of Being
Spirituality is a Certain Way of Being
Actress and director Nandita Das and ad man Prahlad Kakkar join Sadhguru on the Times Now TV channel and explore the question "What is spirituality?"
Sadhguru: Spirituality does not mean any particular practice. It is a certain way of being. To get there, there are many things to do. This is like a garden in your house. If the soil, sunlight or stem of a plant is in a certain way, it won’t yield flowers, you have to do something. You have to take care of those things. So if you cultivate your body, mind, emotions and energies to a certain level of maturity, something else blossoms within you – that is what is spirituality. When your rationale is immature, it doubts everything. When your rationale matures, it sees everything in a completely different light.
Whenever any human being experiences something bigger than himself, the traditional way of looking at that is, "this is God…" The whole idea of God is just that - anything bigger than you. It could be a human being or an experience or some aspect of nature. But is this spiritual? No, this is just life. When I say "just life", I am not trying to dismiss it as a small thing. It is the greatest thing. Only when life becomes an overwhelming, powerful, blissful experience for you, you want to know what could have created this.
If you want to know the process or the source of creation, the most intimate part of creation for you is your own body, isn’t it? There is a captive creator here, trapped within you. You shouldn’t miss him here. If you don’t miss him here, if you know the source of creation within you, you are spiritual.
Does Belief in God Make You Spiritual?
An atheist cannot be spiritual. But you must understand that even a theist cannot be spiritual. Because an atheist and a theist are not different. One believes there is God, another believes there is no God. Both of them are believing something that they do not know. You are not sincere enough to admit that you do not know, that’s your problem. So theists and atheists are not different. They are the same people putting up an act of being different. A spiritual seeker is neither a theist nor an atheist. He has realized that he does not know, so he is seeking.
The moment you believe something, you become blind to everything else. The whole conflict on the planet is not between good and evil as they are trying to project it. It is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief. The need for belief is more psychological than spiritual. You want to cling to something, you want to feel secure, you want to feel like you know it all. That is coming from a very immature mind. What is the problem if you don’t know anything about this existence. You actually don’t know anything. It’s beautiful! And you see how to make yourself beautiful and joyful within yourself, which is within your hands.
What is a Spiritual Experience?
Going to the ocean or to the mountain and seeking an experience may be beautiful, you must enjoy the world the way it is, but you must understand, the fish in the ocean doesn’t think it’s a spiritual experience, nor does the mountain goats think the mountain is a spiritual experience because they are there all the time. If you bring them to the city, they may think it’s a spiritual experience. It is the breaking of the barrier within you – something broke within you. You were in a shell. This broke and became a bigger shell. What I’m saying is, if you get used to the bigger shell, it feels the same way as the previous one.
So if you want to become boundless and you are trying to attempt it through physicality, you are essentially trying to go towards boundlessness in installments. Can you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and one day count to infinity? You will only become endless counting. That’s not the way. Through physical means, you can never reach towards boundless nature. Every human being is looking to become boundless. If you give him whatever he wants, for three days he is okay. The fourth day he is looking for something else. Somebody may label it as greed, I just say this is life process in the wrong direction. If you want to know boundless nature, you must experience, you must perceive something which is beyond the physical. Something you might have touched when you jumped into the ocean, when you saw a mountain, when you sang a song, when you danced, when you closed your eyes, in so many ways it could have happened to an individual. You touched it, but now the question is of sustainability.
Spirituality is a Certain Way of Being
Actress and director Nandita Das and ad man Prahlad Kakkar join Sadhguru on the Times Now TV channel and explore the question "What is spirituality?"
Sadhguru: Spirituality does not mean any particular practice. It is a certain way of being. To get there, there are many things to do. This is like a garden in your house. If the soil, sunlight or stem of a plant is in a certain way, it won’t yield flowers, you have to do something. You have to take care of those things. So if you cultivate your body, mind, emotions and energies to a certain level of maturity, something else blossoms within you – that is what is spirituality. When your rationale is immature, it doubts everything. When your rationale matures, it sees everything in a completely different light.
Whenever any human being experiences something bigger than himself, the traditional way of looking at that is, "this is God…" The whole idea of God is just that - anything bigger than you. It could be a human being or an experience or some aspect of nature. But is this spiritual? No, this is just life. When I say "just life", I am not trying to dismiss it as a small thing. It is the greatest thing. Only when life becomes an overwhelming, powerful, blissful experience for you, you want to know what could have created this.
If you want to know the process or the source of creation, the most intimate part of creation for you is your own body, isn’t it? There is a captive creator here, trapped within you. You shouldn’t miss him here. If you don’t miss him here, if you know the source of creation within you, you are spiritual.
Does Belief in God Make You Spiritual?
An atheist cannot be spiritual. But you must understand that even a theist cannot be spiritual. Because an atheist and a theist are not different. One believes there is God, another believes there is no God. Both of them are believing something that they do not know. You are not sincere enough to admit that you do not know, that’s your problem. So theists and atheists are not different. They are the same people putting up an act of being different. A spiritual seeker is neither a theist nor an atheist. He has realized that he does not know, so he is seeking.
The moment you believe something, you become blind to everything else. The whole conflict on the planet is not between good and evil as they are trying to project it. It is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief. The need for belief is more psychological than spiritual. You want to cling to something, you want to feel secure, you want to feel like you know it all. That is coming from a very immature mind. What is the problem if you don’t know anything about this existence. You actually don’t know anything. It’s beautiful! And you see how to make yourself beautiful and joyful within yourself, which is within your hands.
What is a Spiritual Experience?
Going to the ocean or to the mountain and seeking an experience may be beautiful, you must enjoy the world the way it is, but you must understand, the fish in the ocean doesn’t think it’s a spiritual experience, nor does the mountain goats think the mountain is a spiritual experience because they are there all the time. If you bring them to the city, they may think it’s a spiritual experience. It is the breaking of the barrier within you – something broke within you. You were in a shell. This broke and became a bigger shell. What I’m saying is, if you get used to the bigger shell, it feels the same way as the previous one.
So if you want to become boundless and you are trying to attempt it through physicality, you are essentially trying to go towards boundlessness in installments. Can you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and one day count to infinity? You will only become endless counting. That’s not the way. Through physical means, you can never reach towards boundless nature. Every human being is looking to become boundless. If you give him whatever he wants, for three days he is okay. The fourth day he is looking for something else. Somebody may label it as greed, I just say this is life process in the wrong direction. If you want to know boundless nature, you must experience, you must perceive something which is beyond the physical. Something you might have touched when you jumped into the ocean, when you saw a mountain, when you sang a song, when you danced, when you closed your eyes, in so many ways it could have happened to an individual. You touched it, but now the question is of sustainability.
A Simple Practice
One thing is, we can put you on to something very simple, which is subjective. Any subjective technology cannot be taught to you in uncommitted atmospheres. So if you are willing to give yourself a small space of time that is very committed and focused, we can put you on a simple practice, where investing just 21 minutes a day (Inner Engineering), you can start your day with a very phenomenal spiritual experience within you. A very powerful experience that leaves you peaceful and joyful throughout the day.
Apart from that, to sustain it, one simple thing every human being has to do is, make your sense of involvement indiscriminate. If you look at a person, a tree, or a cloud, you are equally involved. You are equally involved with your own body and the breath. If you have no discrimination as to which is better, and you are equally involved with every aspect in life, then you will be constantly spiritual. Nobody needs to teach you what is spirituality.
When You Are Finished with Everything, Spirituality Begins
Going through life in its various aspects and stages, you may reach a point where you realize that all that you are involved in, all that you used to hold as desirable and precious does not really lead you to fulfillment. Sadhguru explains, that is where the true journey begins. [powerpress url=”http://sadhguru.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-10-25T02_27_35-07_00.mp3″] Editor’s Note: For […]
Going through life in its various aspects and stages, you may reach a point where you realize that all that you are involved in, all that you used to hold as desirable and precious does not really lead you to fulfillment. Sadhguru explains, that is where the true journey begins.
24×7 Spirituality
Sadhguru looks at how it doesn’t take much to transform ourselves completely, if we keep our spirituality “ON” 24x7.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru looks at how it doesn’t take much to transform ourselves completely, if we keep our spirituality “ON” 24x7.
Sadhguru:Once, a group of students were raising funds for some community work and they happened to knock on a particular door in the neighborhood. An 88-year-old lady opened the door. She asked them in and they explained the work that they were doing for the community. They told her the different options that they had through which she could contribute to the work that they were doing. And then they said “You can make a pledge for the next three years. You don't have to pay it all up front.” She said “At my age, I don't even buy unripe bananas. Making a pledge for three years! No way.”
Whatever peak you may have touched, even at that peak if you lived, you would be free from so many things that bother you on a daily basis.
A person on the spiritual path should be like this – you don’t even have time to buy unripe bananas. You have got to be in a hurry. Once a little laxity comes, it will take lifetimes. If you are in a hurry, it is very quick. In your life, there may have been certain moments of extreme intensity and ecstatic states within you. Just imagine life like this – whatever is the peak experience that you have touched in your life, not necessarily in yoga but anywhere in your life, if you could stay there constantly every moment of your life, do you see how free you would be from the many little things which nag you and pull and push you all the time? You may not have touched the highest peak, but whatever peak you may have touched, even at that peak if you lived, you would be free from so many things that bother you on a daily basis. Nothing would really be a problem in this world.
Functioning Like The Divine
Right now, it is just in a few moments here and there that something really worthwhile has happened. The rest of the time, we have given ourselves to simple processes of the body. The body knows only two things – self-preservation and procreation. It does not know anything else. It will either run after security or sexuality. That is why money and sexuality has become so important to people because they are just living as biological entities. Nothing else has touched them.
The physical body itself can be transformed into a divine entity if we just reorganize our systems in a particular way.
But if you reorganize the energy in this body, this same body can be transformed in such a way, that it can function like the Divine. The whole science of idol-making is based on this. India is one place where they went into elaborate systems of idol-making. This has been misunderstood by other cultures. People think that certain cultures are worshiping some doll as a god. No. People are very much aware that it is we who create the shapes and forms. If you look at it from the standpoint of modern science, we know today that everything is the same energy, but everything is not the same in the world. For example, the food that you eat, see how nice it is, how much you long for it, how much you care for it. You don't know when to stop because it is so good. This food that you like so much, the dinner that you eat today, tomorrow morning, see what has happened to it. It is the same stuff, isn't it? But you don't want to go anywhere near it. This same shit, if you throw it on the land, the day after tomorrow once again it becomes food. It is the same energy. But you cannot say that both are the same. They are the same essentially, but in your experience and the way it relates to the world, it is not the same thing at all. This same energy can be like an animal or it can function like the Divine. I am not talking about you as a being, I am just talking about the body itself. The physical body itself can be transformed into a divine entity if we just reorganize our systems in a particular way. The science of idol-making means, they create a certain form with certain materials, and energize it in a certain way like a human being is built. Different idols are made in different ways, but they relocate the chakras in certain places to make it into a completely different possibility.
Talking to someone, working in the office, every single activity, every breath that you take if you make it into a spiritual process, you will see within a few months, you will be in a completely different space.
For example, between the full moon day and the new moon day, each of the nights in-between would be so different in your experience. Today, we are all living with electric lights, so you don't know the difference. Suppose you lived on a farm or in a forest where there was no electricity, every night would be very different because the moon comes up at different times and it has different shapes and forms. But it is not a different entity. The same moon is having different impacts at different times. Just a little rearrangement, see what a difference it has made. Similarly, if you re-arrange the energy system in the body, this body which is just a mass of flesh right now, can become a divine entity. The whole system of yoga is oriented towards this. Everything that we are doing is in that direction. Gradually, if you give it sufficient attention and practice, you will see that this body is no longer just craving for self-preservation and procreation, it has become something else altogether. Though it is a physical thing, though it is biology, it need not be limited to the physical. It can function and operate in a completely different dimension. Its very presence can become different. It is from this context that many yogis who made their bodies in a certain way, allowed people to worship their bodies. They themselves would not be there in the body, but they let people worship their body because the body has become like a divine entity, because it is a reorganized energy – completely engineered. It is no longer just a biological entity.
Steady application, continuous rise
Once these energies begin to transform themselves, certain changes will happen. The problem with people is, they are always aspiring for something to happen to their life. They are bored with what is there. But if anything new happens, they have a fear about it. This is like wanting to drive your car with the hand brake on – it does not work like that. If you want to drive, you must take off the brake. If you don't want to drive, you should not get into the car at all.
If it is off and on, off and on, it will take lifetimes. It needs a little steady application, where it is a continuous steady rise, so that in a couple of months or a year, you should find a significant difference in the way you are. You must keep it on steadily – 24 hours. What does spirituality being “ON” mean? “Does it mean I can't go to the office? I can't be with the family?” You must make everything into a spiritual process. Talking to someone, working in the office, every single activity, every breath that you take if you make it into a spiritual process, you will see within a few months, you will be in a completely different space where your presence will be cherished in the world – not just by human beings, every other being will respond. Even animals and plants will respond to you in a wonderful way.
Evaluating Growth on the Spiritual Path
Question: How do we known how much spiritual growth we have experienced? How do we know we are moving ahead on the spiritual path? Sadhguru: In the initial phase, do not worry about whether you are moving ahead or backwards because your logical judgments will be very misleading. When you sit for your kriya in [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
The spiritual path can be a confusing journey, and whether one is going forwards, backwards, or totally off-track may not be obvious at all. Sadhguru answers a seeker’s question about "spiritual growth."
Question:How do we known how much spiritual growth we have experienced? How do we know we are moving ahead on the spiritual path?
Sadhguru:In the initial phase, do not worry about whether you are moving ahead or backwards because your logical judgments will be very misleading. When you sit for your kriya in the morning, your legs will tell you that you are going backwards, and your family will also probably tell you to stop this nonsense. So in the initial phase, do not judge anything. It is always best to start a spiritual process with an unconditional commitment for a certain period of time. No so-called "spiritual growth" or benefit needs to happen to you. Just simply do the practice out of commitment for six months. After that, evaluate your life and see how peaceful, joyous and calm you are. What is it doing with you?
Give yourself to a certain period of sincere practice without expecting anything to happen. Don’t look for miracles to happen. The greatest miracle in life is life itself.
Even a man who has reached the peak within himself always takes time to evaluate himself, maybe not in the usual ways, but he does in many other ways. A certain incident happened in Gautama Buddha’s life. On a certain day, everybody came and bowed down to Buddha but one man came and spat on his face. Anandatheerta, Buddha’s close disciple who adored and worshiped him, got really angry. He said, “Give me permission, and I will teach this man a lesson. How could he spit on your face?” Gautama said, “No,” and thanked that man. He said, “Thank you very much for spitting on my face because this has given me an opportunity to see whether I am still capable of anger or not. I am very happy to know that I am not angry even if people spit on my face. That is very good. You helped me evaluate myself, and at the same time, you have also given Ananda that opportunity. So thank you very much. You have made both of us realize where we are right now.”
So give yourself to a certain period of sincere practice without expecting anything to happen. Don’t look for miracles to happen. The greatest miracle in life is life itself. The very process of life, that you are sitting here and breathing, is a miracle. If you do not appreciate this miracle, and are looking for some other miracle where some God will extend his hand out of the clouds and do something to you, then you are still very childish. You have not matured into an adult and you still believe in fairytales. So do not be in a hurry to evaluate your spiritual process; just allow it to sink in.
Do not be in a hurry. Just stick to the practice, evaluate yourself periodically and see.
Generally in this tradition, the normal commitment that was demanded to start any spiritual process was twelve years. You simply say a mantra for twelve years and then look at what is happening with you. Even now, many spiritual sects in India follow this path. A Guru gives you a mantra to utter for twelve years, and then you come back to see your progress. But today, people have become so impatient with life. Even if we ask for twelve days of commitment, people have so many problems. People are complaining that it is too long!
Gautama Buddha had his own methods. If anybody came to him, there was absolutely no teaching, no spirituality or anything for two years – you would just hang around. If you could wait for two years, then a certain quality came and something else would happen to you. When he initiated you, it happened in a big way for you. But now, people are struggling to wait because the modern mind has become so impatient. Do not be in a hurry. Just stick to the practice, evaluate yourself periodically and see.
Editor's Note:Download the ebook “Inner Management”, where Sadhguru reveals effective tools to enhance our capabilities, change our life, and open up a whole new dimension of life that frees us from external influences. Set "0" in the price field to download the book for free.
What Spirituality Means – Moving Towards Ultimate Freedom
Shekar Kapur: Sadhguru, you have said many times that the highest goal is freedom. Freedom from what? Sadhguru: Generally, before 1947 in India, if you said “freedom,” people only thought, “If the British go away, we are free.” That was the idea of freedom at that time. The British went away. Now, are we free? [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Oscar-winning filmmaker Shekhar Kapur asks Sadhguru what freedom really is. Sadhguru explains that spirituality essentially means moving towards ultimate freedom, and breaking everything that limits us.
Shekar Kapur:Sadhguru, you have said many times that the highest goal is freedom. Freedom from what?
Sadhguru:Generally, before 1947 in India, if you said “freedom,” people only thought, “If the British go away, we are free.” That was the idea of freedom at that time. The British went away. Now, are we free? Not really. Politically free – yes. But in no other way are we really free. So, freedom may mean different things to different people, depending upon the context of their individual life at a certain moment.
But leaving the political, economic and other aspects of freedom aside, do you see that essentially, as a human being, as a piece of existence, we are living within certain limitations? That you are a limited entity? Do you also see there is something constantly longing within you to be a little more than what you are?
Shekar Kapur:Yes.
Sadhguru:There is something within you which cannot stand boundaries. Or, in othOnly freedom can be infinite.er words, there is something within you which wants to become boundless. What can be boundless? A physical form can be small or big, but never boundless. There is something within you which is longing to touch a dimension which is beyond the physical.
There is something within you which is longing to be spiritual. “Spiritual” does not mean looking up or looking down, or praying or going to the temple. “Spiritual” essentially means you are in an experience which is beyond the limitations of the physical. That means you are in a boundless space. This longing is always there in every human being. Either you are approaching it in installments, or you are consciously going for the Ultimate.
Shekar Kapur:So why, in my mind, is the Ultimate so blurred? Why can’t I imagine it? The moment you talk about something measurable, I can imagine it. But how do I aspire for something that I am unable to imagine?
Sadhguru:That is why you should never aspire for something that you are unable to imagine, that you do not know. If you want to become free, you should never think of freedom. Only look at the ropes which bind you. If you cut these ropes which bind you, there is some sense of freedom. Then you realize, there is another set of ropes that bind you.
If you cut that, there is freedom. But then you notice there is another set. It does not matter how many sets of ropes bind you, there must be a point where if you cut enough of them, nothing binds you anymore, right? The number may be big, but still, it cannot be infinite.
Only freedom can be infinite. Bondage cannot be limitless. Only freedom can be limitless. This is not just semantics and ideas. In terms of life’s experience, don’t waste your time talking about or thinking about freedom or the Ultimate. The body is a limitation, the mind is a limitation, emotions are limitations – but they are also possibilities. Look at what binds you now, and see how to transcend this. This is growth.
“Mystic’s Musings” by Sadhguru offers more on spirituality through the mystic eye. Sadhguru keeps us teetering on the edge of logic and captivates us with his answers to questions relating to life, death, rebirth, suffering, karma, and the journey of the Self.
The Two Ways to Speed Up Your Spiritual Process
Q: How can we allow the spiritual process to happen within us in full flow, and what might we be doing unconsciously that might keep it from happening? The most fundamental thing is your likes and dislikes. Everything else is based upon this. Who you can be with and who you cannot be with, what [...]
Q:How can we allow the spiritual process to happen within us in full flow, and what might we be doing unconsciously that might keep it from happening?
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru:What could be a barrier within yourself? The main problem is you attach too much importance to your thoughts, emotions, ideas and everything else that you consider as “me” – all the ingredients that make you a person. You make them too important because these are the things that build your personality.
The most fundamental thing is your likes and dislikes. Everything else is based upon this. Who you can be with and who you cannot be with, what kind of food you eat and what you don’t eat, where you go and where you don’t go, what kind of ideas you ascribe to and what you reject – everything is fundamentally rooted in your likes and dislikes. If you can take away this one thing, the spiritual process won't happen slowly, it will explode in you.
Right now, your problem is, “this” is sacred, “that” is nonsense. Now you’re lost. Life will not work like this. No growth will happen.
There are two ways to approach this. One way is to see everything in the existence as sacred. Your work, your wife, your child, your husband, your dog, your mother, your god – everything, including going to the toilet – see it as sacred. Or, you see everything as utter nonsense – with absolute disdain – including your God, your own body, your spirituality, meditation, everything. Both will work wonderfully.
Right now, your problem is, “this” is sacred, “that” is nonsense. Now you’re lost. Life will not work like this. No growth will happen. The basis of your karma itself is your like and dislike. That’s the only bondage you have really. When you are in a mode where you love this and hate that, you are setting forth a duality. Once you establish duality, there can be no spirituality because yoga essentially means union. If you do not like this part, how can you become all-inclusive? It is a self-defeating process. You just have to work on that. There is no such thing as liking or disliking. Everything is sacred or everything is utter nonsense – which way do you want to walk?
If you see everything as sacred, it is much easier. To see everything with utter disdain takes a different kind of strength. There is a certain huge group of yogis in India called naga babas. Among them there are two kinds. One set see everything as sacred. Whether they see a rock or a man or a woman or an animal or anything, they see everything as Shiva. There is another set who are very fierce people. Generally, nagas are a very fierce tribe of yogis. They are naked sanyasis. If it is very cold, they will wrap themselves with a rug but they never wear any stitched cloth. They usually carry a trident. This tribe sees everything with absolute disdain. If you just as much as take one wrong step in front of one of them, he will use absolutely filthy language on you. He will even use this kind of language for Shiva. This is how they are. One segment sees everything as sacred, another segment sees everything as utter nonsense. Both of these work wonderfully.
If you choose the path of seeing everything as sacred, you give yourself absolutely to everything. You see everything as divine, then there is no question of which is better than which, which is more important than the other. You have to give yourself towards everything.
The difference between the two is, if you see everything as sacred, you will have enormous amount of activity in your life. If you see everything as nonsense, this is a hard but quick way. However, you cannot do this in social situations. You have to withdraw somewhere all by yourself. Whatever suits you, do that. Whether you see everything as sacred or everything as utter nonsense, there is no like and dislike. That’s the tool. If you make one thing sacred and another filthy, as far as the spiritual process goes, you burn like an incense stick – slowly. If you just pull the plug on your likes and dislikes, fireworks will begin with your spiritual process.
Women on the Spiritual Path
In the second part of the “Women and Spirituality” series Sadhguru speaks about how distorted perceptions have crept into culture and tradition, creating a bias against women on the spiritual path.
Last week, in the first post of the “Women and Spirituality” series, Sadhguru looked at women on the path of Kriya Yoga. This week, Sadhguru speaks about how distorted perceptions have crept into culture and tradition, creating a bias against women on the spiritual path.
Sadhguru:
Indian spirituality has always been a rich mixture of men and women reaching the heights of their consciousness. A woman is as capable as a man when it comes to inner nature. It is only the peel, the body, which you call as a man or a woman. What is within is the same. The peel is not going to decide what one’s spiritual capabilities are.
In ancient times, women also wore the sacred thread because without it, they could not read the scriptures. Like a man, she could live within the marriage for ten to twenty years, and when she had the urge to become spiritual, she could renounce the family. However, when barbarian hordes invaded India, women slowly lost their freedom. The rules started changing. Maybe it was necessary for a certain period of time, because the physical situation was such that some restriction had to be placed on women for their own safety. But unfortunately it became the law. The first let down for a woman was when they declared that she cannot wear the sacred thread. It was also said that the only way she can attain mukti, or her Ultimate Nature, is by serving her husband. It was fixed that only a man could renounce.
Unfortunately, this sometimes continues even today. A woman is told that she has been born only to serve her father or her husband. People talk about the non-duality of existence and say, “Everything is one, but women are less.” In spite of the fact that a man knows that his existence depends upon her, if he cannot even accept her, his accepting all the dualities in the existence is simply out of question. The question of inferiority or superiority comes only in a prejudiced mind. It is just a question of two qualities. If a woman, out of whom a man is born, is inferior, how can man be superior? The possibility just does not arise. This problem is universal. It is not just about one gross man thinking like this. It has become a man’s way of life, a part of his very culture and religion.
Once, a certain social reformer went to Vivekananda and asked, “It is great that you also support women, what shall I do? I want to reform them. I want to support this.” Then Vivekananda said, “Hands off. You do not have to do anything about them. Just leave them alone. They will do what they have to do.” This is all that is needed. It is not that a man has to reform a woman. If he just gives room, she will do what is necessary.
Stay tuned every Monday, for upcoming posts in this series.
Does Spirituality Make You Special?
Sadhguru: For many people, the reason why the spiritual path seems to be a struggle is that their culture and social situations have always taught them to be special. One’s whole life effort becomes focused on this. To be special means to have something that others do not have. But this is not special, it [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru talks about the mind’s desire to be special, and how this is counterproductive on the spiritual path.
Sadhguru:For many people, the reason why the spiritual path seems to be a struggle is that their culture and social situations have always taught them to be special. One’s whole life effort becomes focused on this. To be special means to have something that others do not have. But this is not special, it is a convoluted sense of wellbeing. Right now, if your only joy is that someone else does not have what you have, if this is the only pleasure in your life, we call this perversion not being special.
People can find pleasure in all kinds of things. Once, two men were captured by fierce cannibals from a neighboring tribe. After a meeting with their headman, the tribe decided to cook the men alive. The men were placed in a pot of water, and as the fire started burning and the water became hotter and hotter, the older man started laughing – really laughing. The younger man said, “Are you crazy? Do you know what is going to happen to us? Why are you laughing?” The older man said, “I just peed in their soup!” People find pleasure in all sorts of perverted ways.
A Sore Thumb
Spirituality is not about becoming special. It is about becoming one with everything. This disease of wanting to become special has come to people simply because they have not recognized the value of the uniqueness of their being. By living on the surface for so long, their whole effort has been to be special. As long as this effort is on, you are only working counter to the spiritual process. The whole dimension of spirituality is to melt and become one with existence, not to stand out like a sore thumb.
In so many ways, the mind always wants to be special. That is the nature of the egoistic mind. It can only compare logically. The moment this comparison comes, competition starts. The moment competition starts, your life sense will disappear because now it is only about being better than others. It is because of this foolish endeavor that we are in the ridiculous situation of having to teach people about their own nature. We have to remind people about their own original nature simply because they are lost in trying to outdo someone or everyone around them.
Ordinary to Extra-ordinary
Some time ago, our yoga program brochures used to say: “From Ordinary to Extraordinary.” People thought they would become special by doing the program and would ask me “Sadhguru, how will we be special?” I would always tell them, “You are going to become ‘extra’ ordinary – more ordinary than other people.”
The more you try to be special the further you get from the truth. So much suffering and mental illness have come from this desire to be special. Instead of deriving perverse pleasure from the fact that someone does not have what you have, if you genuinely make the effort to become one with everything, this internal struggle will completely go away. If you recognize your uniqueness and also every other being’s uniqueness, you can neither become less nor more than anyone else.
Spirituality – Not a Moral Code
Q: Some people seem to keep spirituality separate from life. Why is this? Is awareness only when you are meditating? Sadhguru: If your spirituality is time-bound, from five to seven in the morning or whatever time, you are just trying to be spiritual; there is nothing spiritual about you. What conclusions have you made about [...]
Q:Some people seem to keep spirituality separate from life. Why is this? Is awareness only when you are meditating?
Sadhguru:If your spirituality is time-bound, from five to seven in the morning or whatever time, you are just trying to be spiritual; there is nothing spiritual about you.
If your spirituality is time-bound, from five to seven in the morning or whatever time, you are just trying to be spiritual; there is nothing spiritual about you.
What conclusions have you made about being spiritual? If you have made the conclusion that being spiritual means speaking kindly to everyone, you are mistaken. If someone is communicating with different aspects of life in different ways, out of their understanding, out of their sensitivity, out of their own experience – they know how to communicate with a baby, a buffalo, a mountain, they know how to speak to the bus driver – if they know it out of this awareness, then it is wonderful and fine. That is how life should be.
If someone, out of their so-called spirituality, is trying to speak with whatever they believe is kindness or goodness, to every aspect of life, they are just moralistic and stupid. Maybe they are good people, but they have no sense of life. There is no inner experience; it is just coming from their goodness and morality. They may make good citizens, but they will not know anything of the beyond.
If one is communicating in different ways with different aspects of life because of their unawareness or prejudices, that is a different aspect altogether. How one talks to a bus driver may be a way of seeing where that person is, or may not be at all. It is best that you do not judge a person by the way they are speaking to someone at a certain moment. If there is a pattern of addressing something kindly and another aspect of life rudely, then you know it is coming from ignorance.
Spirituality – Not a Moral Code
First, let us understand that spirituality is not a moral code. Spirituality means you are beginning to experience that which is beyond the physical. It has nothing to do with the way you communicate and handle the world around you. The way you do that is just a question of your capability, intelligence, exposure, inclination, and what kind of objectives you have in your life.
Spirituality means you are beginning to experience that which is beyond the physical.
There was a yogi who lived many decades ago. Once, he was sitting in the forest, absolutely blissful, but if people came anywhere near him, he threw stones at them. He never hit anyone, but he threw stones at them like a mad man. As far as people were concerned, he was a madman throwing stones. It was only much later when people looked back, they were able to see that not once did he hit anyone. He always made sure of that. He just did not want people around him. He knew that if people came, they would ask for things, and because of the way he was – his energy was in a certain state – naturally miracles would happen. Then people would gather and mess up his whole life. So if people came anywhere near him, he would throw stones at them.
If you go by one’s behavior, about what he is doing or what he is saying, you will definitely come to a wrong conclusion, a wrong judgment. If you had known Sadhguru Sri Brahma, if somebody came and said something stupid to him, he would just kick them – not out of arrogance or hatred. That was how he dealt with people. I don’t do that. This is not because I am more realized or less realized, it is simply from being a little smarter with the world. How you operate is just a question of your inclination, intelligence and exposure. It has got nothing to do with your spirituality.
Editor's Note:The word "tantra" creates many misconceptions in the modern mindset: of immorality, sex and clandestine activity. In the video "Tantra – Being an Instrument of Life," Sadhguru redefines tantra, restoring it to its original scope and dimension as an ancient technology for ultimate transformation. Purchase and download at Isha Downloads.
Is Spirituality Relevant to Leadership?
Sadhguru: The very mention of the word “spirituality” conjures a variety of images in today’s popular culture – a galore of misconceptions. Spirituality is not about love or humanity or ecological consciousness. Those things can be done without any spirituality; you just need a little sense in your head. If I must define spirituality, I [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru, during the India Today Conclave in 2008, speaks about the importance of spirituality among the leadership, and that this can decide the course of the next decade in our country.
Sadhguru:The very mention of the word “spirituality” conjures a variety of images in today’s popular culture – a galore of misconceptions. Spirituality is not about love or humanity or ecological consciousness. Those things can be done without any spirituality; you just need a little sense in your head. If I must define spirituality, I would choose a very technical definition. When one’s ability to experience life transcends the limitations of the physical, we say you are spiritual.
The essential nature of the physical is a defined boundary. The very nature of the human being is such, there is one part of him – the instinct of self-preservation – which constantly tries to define and protect this boundary. But there is another dimension of the human being that is always longing to be something more than what he or she is right now. It doesn’t matter what you have become in your life, you are still longing to become something more than who you are right now. If you manage to conquer the whole planet, I am sure you will look at the stars. There is something within you that does not like boundaries – which is constantly longing to become boundless. Boundlessness means non-physical. The physical is only the cover – the basis is a core non-being that is non-physical in nature, which is constantly trying to find expression in human life.
Leadership: Going Beyond Body & Mind
In what way is spirituality relevant to leadership? As I said, spirituality means your experience of life has transcended the physical. If you look at your body, it is just a heap of food. What you eat is becoming you. What you call “my mind” is essentially a heap of impressions that you gathered through the five senses.
Without a spiritual element, a leader – whether political, economic or otherwise – is definitely handicapped.
If you function only on physical and intellectual terms, you will be a poor leader because your body and mind are chained to the past. People are always looking forward to a leader who does not repeat the past. They look forward to a leader because he can create something that other people could not think of. He sees something that everyone else could not see. Unless there is a spiritual element, unless a human being has started experiencing life beyond his body and intellect, he will not create a new possibility. Without a spiritual element, a leader – whether political, economic or otherwise – is definitely handicapped.
A leader is someone who takes charge of the destiny of a large mass of people. Unless he is capable of organizing and directing situations towards the desired goals, he is not a leader. But that will only happen if you have some mastery over yourself. How much mastery you have of your own inner nature will decide how free you are from outside situations
True Freedom
Most people’s way of being is hugely enslaved to external situations. The nature of the situations in the world is such that it doesn’t matter who you are or how powerful you are, no one has 100% control over the outside situations. No one in this world functions 100% the way you want them to, but at least you must function the way you want.
When a human being has to constantly handle complex situations, he will naturally get pulled down if he is not spiritually established.
If your inner situation functioned the way you wanted, how would you keep it? Naturally you would keep it in utmost pleasantness. You wouldn’t know any tension, anger or other nonsense. The reason people are going through these things is simply because the fundamental faculties within them – their own body, mind, emotions and energies – are happening in reaction to external situations.
Is there a possibility where whatever the outside situation, one can be free from that within themselves? Each one of us is uniquely capable when it comes to outside realities. But when it comes to inner realities, all of us are equally capable. Because you are looking in the wrong direction, it looks so far away and impossible. If you turn around, it is just a simple reality.
Today in the world, whatever kind of leader you are, it demands extensive travel, handling complex situations and above all handling people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. When a human being has to constantly handle complex situations, he will naturally get pulled down if he is not spiritually established. People talk about burnouts these days. This is not happening because the work is difficult, but simply because we do not know how to manage our own systems. Managing these systems from outside will not help because they were created from within. But if you have access to that which is the source of this body, they can be managed from within.
Spirituality means gaining access to that dimension within you which is the very source of who you are right now. This is not about looking up, looking down or looking around – this is about looking inward.
A Tremendous Opportunity
Right now, we are trying to handle human wellbeing and the wellbeing of nations and societies in a very ad hoc way. Today, India as a nation is on the threshold of economic prosperity. We as a generation of people have the opportunity to move a large mass of people from one level of living to another. No other generation has ever had this opportunity. In the next 10 years, what kind of leadership we have will decide what we do with this. A leadership bereft of any spiritual content, bereft of perception beyond the limitations of logical intellect and physicality cannot manage a situation like this with absolute clarity. It can only manage by chance. By chance, anything can happen, but if we are doing things by chance, we are a potential tragedy because we can fall at any time.
Indian culture is steeped in these technologies for inner wellbeing. This is something we must make use of.
Indian culture is steeped in these technologies for inner wellbeing. This is something we must make use of. No other land has seen as much work towards human consciousness as this culture has. The best acknowledgement for this came from Mark Twain, one of the greatest intellects of the previous century. He came to India and had a good guide who took him to the right places. When he was leaving, he said, “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”
I invite all of you to make use of these technologies so that we and the future generations here can know the exuberance of human existence.
Editor’s Note:Visit isha.sadhguru.org and check out the Isha Upa-Yoga practices from Sadhguru. These short, powerful processes are an ideal starting point to help you create health, peace and wellbeing.
Is Celibacy a Necessity on the Spiritual Path?
Q: Is celibacy the only way or can people in whatever is considered as “normal life” also have a foothold in spirituality? Sadhguru: The whole dimension of spirituality is to grow beyond the physical, to taste something beyond the physical. If your involvement with the physical is very deep, naturally your attachment to the body [...]
Q:Is celibacy the only way or can people in whatever is considered as “normal life” also have a foothold in spirituality?
Sadhguru:The whole dimension of spirituality is to grow beyond the physical, to taste something beyond the physical. If your involvement with the physical is very deep, naturally your attachment to the body is very strong. It is not sex per se which can be an impediment in one’s growth but one’s attachment to the body definitely is an impediment – there is no question about that. Generally, sexuality breeds that attachment. Celibacy has been talked about in that context. But does the sexual act itself stop a person from pursuing his spiritual path? Not at all, but what is being said is, unless your focus is strong and one-pointed, the chances of progress or the progress itself will naturally be very slow because you are thinking in many directions at the same time.
For a person who wants to go all out and do things in a short time, the advice is definitely to not get entangled with these bodily aspects because then you will get involved in many things. For many people, if they start out with any kind of physical involvement with something, emotions and thoughts follow and their whole life becomes just that – they cannot keep their focus on anything else. If a person is such that one department of his life is handled one way and it is totally absent when he sits for something else, then it is not so much of an impediment. But most people cannot deal with their lives like that. It just entangles them on all levels. It is in that context that this has been said.
Whatever activity you do in your life has nothing to do with the spiritual process because the spiritual process is inward, activity is outward. Action is either of the body, mind, energies or emotion. All these things can be stepping stones for a spiritual process but they are not spiritual in any sense because all of them belong to the physical realm. Spirituality and activity have actually got nothing to do with each other if you know how to keep a clear distance between the two. But that distance is not there in most people, so we say “do not get entangled in this, do not get entangled in that.” If you are absolutely conscious in every aspect of your life, nothing that you do in your life is an impediment. But that is a far away thing for most people.
Compulsiveness to Consciousness
Though people would like to project their sexuality as a very conscious process, it is not so. It is a compulsive process. Maybe it is handled a little consciously by some people while others do it compulsively, but essentially, the basic ingredient and seed of sexuality is a compulsive process. It is physiological and chemical – it is a function of hormones which drives you in that direction. Unless you are able to transcend all compulsiveness within you, it is definitely an impediment in that sense.
Any kind of activity, whether it is eating, sexuality, talking or whatever, if it is a compulsive process – if you are enslaved to it – it is an impediment. If you look at what is causing this compulsiveness, if you understand that and handle that aspect, compulsiveness goes away. That means you are definitely moving towards freedom. If one pursues a spiritual path, irrespective of where he is right now, he will gradually evolve out of many compulsions within himself.
Editor’s Note:Download the ebook “Sexuality and the Divine”, as Sadhguru’s insight and humor takes the reader on an in-depth discussion about sex, revealing its true nature as an expression of unconscious longing to know the divine. Available on a “pay as you wish” basis at Isha Downloads.
On the Spiritual Path, There is No "Best"
Questioner: How do I decide which path is best for me? What is your advice on making that decision? Sadhguru: There is no such thing as “the best”. The biggest mistake people make is that they want to choose that which is the best. Whether it is your career, marriage, spiritual choices, ultimate choices – [...]
Questioner:How do I decide which path is best for me? What is your advice on making that decision?
Sadhguru:There is no such thing as “the best”. The biggest mistake people make is that they want to choose that which is the best. Whether it is your career, marriage, spiritual choices, ultimate choices – there is no best thing to do in your life. If you put your everything into what you choose to do, it becomes a great thing. You should have something great going, not the best, because the best is in comparison with something else. Right now, I am feeling great, not because this is the best day or the best place in the universe. There is no such thing. But if you put yourself into it, it is a great place.
If you put your everything into what you choose to do, it becomes a great thing. You should have something great going, not the best, because the best is in comparison with something else.
Drop this idea of choosing the best thing or finding the best person for you in your life. There is no such person in the universe. The moment you compare and ask if this is the best one, or if something else would be better, you will always be confused. Even when you are being buried, you will wonder if you are in the best coffin. What if you wanted a mahogany coffin but they chose something else? Even there, you will twist and turn, because you have lived life in comparison.
When it comes to the spiritual process, you have to decide if you want to go with your judgment, or if you think it is better to leave it to me. If you place it in my hands, I take care of the decision as to what works best for you right now. If you choose, you will choose what is most comfortable for you. It may not necessarily produce results, or it may be an unnecessarily long route. I am not interested in your comfort. I want you to get there, because your time and energy are limited. If you do not put it on an express mode, you will wander around and get lost.
But I will tell you what will work best for you only if you leave the decision to me. Otherwise, I will never impose my judgment on anyone and tell them what they should do in their lives. Only if you are one hundred percent sure that even if I ask you to go to hell, you will, and at the same time, you have the trust that I definitely do not want you to go to hell, will I make the decision for you. But if there is a possibility that halfway down, you start having doubts, I will not take up the decision.
If you prefer wandering around, that is up to you. I am not someone who is planning lifetimes. I want things to happen to people in this life. If you are thinking about making it in many lifetimes, there are ways to evolve slowly. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am not that patient, because this is my final round – that is for sure.
Editor’s Note:Offering the rare possibility to go beyond all limitations, Sadhguru takes the seeker on a mystical journey towards ultimate liberation. In “A Guru Always Takes You For a Ride”, Sadhguru delivers rare insights into the Guru-shishya relationship. Download now.
Actress and director Nandita Das and ad man Prahlad Kakkar join Sadhguru on the Times Now TV channel and explore the question "What is spirituality?"
Sadhguru: Spirituality does not mean any particular practice. It is a certain way of being. To get there, there are many things to do. This is like a garden in your house. If the soil, sunlight or stem of a plant is in a certain way, it won’t yield flowers, you have to do something. You have to take care of those things. So if you cultivate your body, mind, emotions and energies to a certain level of maturity, something else blossoms within you – that is what is spirituality. When your rationale is immature, it doubts everything. When your rationale matures, it sees everything in a completely different light.
Whenever any human being experiences something bigger than himself, the traditional way of looking at that is, "this is God…" The whole idea of God is just that - anything bigger than you. It could be a human being or an experience or some aspect of nature. But is this spiritual? No, this is just life. When I say "just life", I am not trying to dismiss it as a small thing. It is the greatest thing. Only when life becomes an overwhelming, powerful, blissful experience for you, you want to know what could have created this.
If you want to know the process or the source of creation, the most intimate part of creation for you is your own body, isn’t it? There is a captive creator here, trapped within you. You shouldn’t miss him here. If you don’t miss him here, if you know the source of creation within you, you are spiritual.
Does Belief in God Make You Spiritual?
An atheist cannot be spiritual. But you must understand that even a theist cannot be spiritual. Because an atheist and a theist are not different. One believes there is God, another believes there is no God. Both of them are believing something that they do not know. You are not sincere enough to admit that you do not know, that’s your problem. So theists and atheists are not different. They are the same people putting up an act of being different. A spiritual seeker is neither a theist nor an atheist. He has realized that he does not know, so he is seeking.
The moment you believe something, you become blind to everything else. The whole conflict on the planet is not between good and evil as they are trying to project it. It is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief. The need for belief is more psychological than spiritual. You want to cling to something, you want to feel secure, you want to feel like you know it all. That is coming from a very immature mind. What is the problem if you don’t know anything about this existence. You actually don’t know anything. It’s beautiful! And you see how to make yourself beautiful and joyful within yourself, which is within your hands.
What is a Spiritual Experience?
Going to the ocean or to the mountain and seeking an experience may be beautiful, you must enjoy the world the way it is, but you must understand, the fish in the ocean doesn’t think it’s a spiritual experience, nor does the mountain goats think the mountain is a spiritual experience because they are there all the time. If you bring them to the city, they may think it’s a spiritual experience. It is the breaking of the barrier within you – something broke within you. You were in a shell. This broke and became a bigger shell. What I’m saying is, if you get used to the bigger shell, it feels the same way as the previous one.
So if you want to become boundless and you are trying to attempt it through physicality, you are essentially trying to go towards boundlessness in installments. Can you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and one day count to infinity? You will only become endless counting. That’s not the way. Through physical means, you can never reach towards boundless nature. Every human being is looking to become boundless. If you give him whatever he wants, for three days he is okay. The fourth day he is looking for something else. Somebody may label it as greed, I just say this is life process in the wrong direction. If you want to know boundless nature, you must experience, you must perceive something which is beyond the physical. Something you might have touched when you jumped into the ocean, when you saw a mountain, when you sang a song, when you danced, when you closed your eyes, in so many ways it could have happened to an individual. You touched it, but now the question is of sustainability.
Spirituality is a Certain Way of Being
Actress and director Nandita Das and ad man Prahlad Kakkar join Sadhguru on the Times Now TV channel and explore the question "What is spirituality?"
Sadhguru: Spirituality does not mean any particular practice. It is a certain way of being. To get there, there are many things to do. This is like a garden in your house. If the soil, sunlight or stem of a plant is in a certain way, it won’t yield flowers, you have to do something. You have to take care of those things. So if you cultivate your body, mind, emotions and energies to a certain level of maturity, something else blossoms within you – that is what is spirituality. When your rationale is immature, it doubts everything. When your rationale matures, it sees everything in a completely different light.
Whenever any human being experiences something bigger than himself, the traditional way of looking at that is, "this is God…" The whole idea of God is just that - anything bigger than you. It could be a human being or an experience or some aspect of nature. But is this spiritual? No, this is just life. When I say "just life", I am not trying to dismiss it as a small thing. It is the greatest thing. Only when life becomes an overwhelming, powerful, blissful experience for you, you want to know what could have created this.
If you want to know the process or the source of creation, the most intimate part of creation for you is your own body, isn’t it? There is a captive creator here, trapped within you. You shouldn’t miss him here. If you don’t miss him here, if you know the source of creation within you, you are spiritual.
Does Belief in God Make You Spiritual?
An atheist cannot be spiritual. But you must understand that even a theist cannot be spiritual. Because an atheist and a theist are not different. One believes there is God, another believes there is no God. Both of them are believing something that they do not know. You are not sincere enough to admit that you do not know, that’s your problem. So theists and atheists are not different. They are the same people putting up an act of being different. A spiritual seeker is neither a theist nor an atheist. He has realized that he does not know, so he is seeking.
The moment you believe something, you become blind to everything else. The whole conflict on the planet is not between good and evil as they are trying to project it. It is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief. The need for belief is more psychological than spiritual. You want to cling to something, you want to feel secure, you want to feel like you know it all. That is coming from a very immature mind. What is the problem if you don’t know anything about this existence. You actually don’t know anything. It’s beautiful! And you see how to make yourself beautiful and joyful within yourself, which is within your hands.
What is a Spiritual Experience?
Going to the ocean or to the mountain and seeking an experience may be beautiful, you must enjoy the world the way it is, but you must understand, the fish in the ocean doesn’t think it’s a spiritual experience, nor does the mountain goats think the mountain is a spiritual experience because they are there all the time. If you bring them to the city, they may think it’s a spiritual experience. It is the breaking of the barrier within you – something broke within you. You were in a shell. This broke and became a bigger shell. What I’m saying is, if you get used to the bigger shell, it feels the same way as the previous one.
So if you want to become boundless and you are trying to attempt it through physicality, you are essentially trying to go towards boundlessness in installments. Can you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and one day count to infinity? You will only become endless counting. That’s not the way. Through physical means, you can never reach towards boundless nature. Every human being is looking to become boundless. If you give him whatever he wants, for three days he is okay. The fourth day he is looking for something else. Somebody may label it as greed, I just say this is life process in the wrong direction. If you want to know boundless nature, you must experience, you must perceive something which is beyond the physical. Something you might have touched when you jumped into the ocean, when you saw a mountain, when you sang a song, when you danced, when you closed your eyes, in so many ways it could have happened to an individual. You touched it, but now the question is of sustainability.
A Simple Practice
One thing is, we can put you on to something very simple, which is subjective. Any subjective technology cannot be taught to you in uncommitted atmospheres. So if you are willing to give yourself a small space of time that is very committed and focused, we can put you on a simple practice, where investing just 21 minutes a day (Inner Engineering), you can start your day with a very phenomenal spiritual experience within you. A very powerful experience that leaves you peaceful and joyful throughout the day.
Apart from that, to sustain it, one simple thing every human being has to do is, make your sense of involvement indiscriminate. If you look at a person, a tree, or a cloud, you are equally involved. You are equally involved with your own body and the breath. If you have no discrimination as to which is better, and you are equally involved with every aspect in life, then you will be constantly spiritual. Nobody needs to teach you what is spirituality.
When You Are Finished with Everything, Spirituality Begins
Going through life in its various aspects and stages, you may reach a point where you realize that all that you are involved in, all that you used to hold as desirable and precious does not really lead you to fulfillment. Sadhguru explains, that is where the true journey begins. [powerpress url=”http://sadhguru.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-10-25T02_27_35-07_00.mp3″] Editor’s Note: For […]
Going through life in its various aspects and stages, you may reach a point where you realize that all that you are involved in, all that you used to hold as desirable and precious does not really lead you to fulfillment. Sadhguru explains, that is where the true journey begins.
24×7 Spirituality
Sadhguru looks at how it doesn’t take much to transform ourselves completely, if we keep our spirituality “ON” 24x7.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru looks at how it doesn’t take much to transform ourselves completely, if we keep our spirituality “ON” 24x7.
Sadhguru:Once, a group of students were raising funds for some community work and they happened to knock on a particular door in the neighborhood. An 88-year-old lady opened the door. She asked them in and they explained the work that they were doing for the community. They told her the different options that they had through which she could contribute to the work that they were doing. And then they said “You can make a pledge for the next three years. You don't have to pay it all up front.” She said “At my age, I don't even buy unripe bananas. Making a pledge for three years! No way.”
Whatever peak you may have touched, even at that peak if you lived, you would be free from so many things that bother you on a daily basis.
A person on the spiritual path should be like this – you don’t even have time to buy unripe bananas. You have got to be in a hurry. Once a little laxity comes, it will take lifetimes. If you are in a hurry, it is very quick. In your life, there may have been certain moments of extreme intensity and ecstatic states within you. Just imagine life like this – whatever is the peak experience that you have touched in your life, not necessarily in yoga but anywhere in your life, if you could stay there constantly every moment of your life, do you see how free you would be from the many little things which nag you and pull and push you all the time? You may not have touched the highest peak, but whatever peak you may have touched, even at that peak if you lived, you would be free from so many things that bother you on a daily basis. Nothing would really be a problem in this world.
Functioning Like The Divine
Right now, it is just in a few moments here and there that something really worthwhile has happened. The rest of the time, we have given ourselves to simple processes of the body. The body knows only two things – self-preservation and procreation. It does not know anything else. It will either run after security or sexuality. That is why money and sexuality has become so important to people because they are just living as biological entities. Nothing else has touched them.
The physical body itself can be transformed into a divine entity if we just reorganize our systems in a particular way.
But if you reorganize the energy in this body, this same body can be transformed in such a way, that it can function like the Divine. The whole science of idol-making is based on this. India is one place where they went into elaborate systems of idol-making. This has been misunderstood by other cultures. People think that certain cultures are worshiping some doll as a god. No. People are very much aware that it is we who create the shapes and forms. If you look at it from the standpoint of modern science, we know today that everything is the same energy, but everything is not the same in the world. For example, the food that you eat, see how nice it is, how much you long for it, how much you care for it. You don't know when to stop because it is so good. This food that you like so much, the dinner that you eat today, tomorrow morning, see what has happened to it. It is the same stuff, isn't it? But you don't want to go anywhere near it. This same shit, if you throw it on the land, the day after tomorrow once again it becomes food. It is the same energy. But you cannot say that both are the same. They are the same essentially, but in your experience and the way it relates to the world, it is not the same thing at all. This same energy can be like an animal or it can function like the Divine. I am not talking about you as a being, I am just talking about the body itself. The physical body itself can be transformed into a divine entity if we just reorganize our systems in a particular way. The science of idol-making means, they create a certain form with certain materials, and energize it in a certain way like a human being is built. Different idols are made in different ways, but they relocate the chakras in certain places to make it into a completely different possibility.
Talking to someone, working in the office, every single activity, every breath that you take if you make it into a spiritual process, you will see within a few months, you will be in a completely different space.
For example, between the full moon day and the new moon day, each of the nights in-between would be so different in your experience. Today, we are all living with electric lights, so you don't know the difference. Suppose you lived on a farm or in a forest where there was no electricity, every night would be very different because the moon comes up at different times and it has different shapes and forms. But it is not a different entity. The same moon is having different impacts at different times. Just a little rearrangement, see what a difference it has made. Similarly, if you re-arrange the energy system in the body, this body which is just a mass of flesh right now, can become a divine entity. The whole system of yoga is oriented towards this. Everything that we are doing is in that direction. Gradually, if you give it sufficient attention and practice, you will see that this body is no longer just craving for self-preservation and procreation, it has become something else altogether. Though it is a physical thing, though it is biology, it need not be limited to the physical. It can function and operate in a completely different dimension. Its very presence can become different. It is from this context that many yogis who made their bodies in a certain way, allowed people to worship their bodies. They themselves would not be there in the body, but they let people worship their body because the body has become like a divine entity, because it is a reorganized energy – completely engineered. It is no longer just a biological entity.
Steady application, continuous rise
Once these energies begin to transform themselves, certain changes will happen. The problem with people is, they are always aspiring for something to happen to their life. They are bored with what is there. But if anything new happens, they have a fear about it. This is like wanting to drive your car with the hand brake on – it does not work like that. If you want to drive, you must take off the brake. If you don't want to drive, you should not get into the car at all.
If it is off and on, off and on, it will take lifetimes. It needs a little steady application, where it is a continuous steady rise, so that in a couple of months or a year, you should find a significant difference in the way you are. You must keep it on steadily – 24 hours. What does spirituality being “ON” mean? “Does it mean I can't go to the office? I can't be with the family?” You must make everything into a spiritual process. Talking to someone, working in the office, every single activity, every breath that you take if you make it into a spiritual process, you will see within a few months, you will be in a completely different space where your presence will be cherished in the world – not just by human beings, every other being will respond. Even animals and plants will respond to you in a wonderful way.
Evaluating Growth on the Spiritual Path
Question: How do we known how much spiritual growth we have experienced? How do we know we are moving ahead on the spiritual path? Sadhguru: In the initial phase, do not worry about whether you are moving ahead or backwards because your logical judgments will be very misleading. When you sit for your kriya in [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
The spiritual path can be a confusing journey, and whether one is going forwards, backwards, or totally off-track may not be obvious at all. Sadhguru answers a seeker’s question about "spiritual growth."
Question:How do we known how much spiritual growth we have experienced? How do we know we are moving ahead on the spiritual path?
Sadhguru:In the initial phase, do not worry about whether you are moving ahead or backwards because your logical judgments will be very misleading. When you sit for your kriya in the morning, your legs will tell you that you are going backwards, and your family will also probably tell you to stop this nonsense. So in the initial phase, do not judge anything. It is always best to start a spiritual process with an unconditional commitment for a certain period of time. No so-called "spiritual growth" or benefit needs to happen to you. Just simply do the practice out of commitment for six months. After that, evaluate your life and see how peaceful, joyous and calm you are. What is it doing with you?
Give yourself to a certain period of sincere practice without expecting anything to happen. Don’t look for miracles to happen. The greatest miracle in life is life itself.
Even a man who has reached the peak within himself always takes time to evaluate himself, maybe not in the usual ways, but he does in many other ways. A certain incident happened in Gautama Buddha’s life. On a certain day, everybody came and bowed down to Buddha but one man came and spat on his face. Anandatheerta, Buddha’s close disciple who adored and worshiped him, got really angry. He said, “Give me permission, and I will teach this man a lesson. How could he spit on your face?” Gautama said, “No,” and thanked that man. He said, “Thank you very much for spitting on my face because this has given me an opportunity to see whether I am still capable of anger or not. I am very happy to know that I am not angry even if people spit on my face. That is very good. You helped me evaluate myself, and at the same time, you have also given Ananda that opportunity. So thank you very much. You have made both of us realize where we are right now.”
So give yourself to a certain period of sincere practice without expecting anything to happen. Don’t look for miracles to happen. The greatest miracle in life is life itself. The very process of life, that you are sitting here and breathing, is a miracle. If you do not appreciate this miracle, and are looking for some other miracle where some God will extend his hand out of the clouds and do something to you, then you are still very childish. You have not matured into an adult and you still believe in fairytales. So do not be in a hurry to evaluate your spiritual process; just allow it to sink in.
Do not be in a hurry. Just stick to the practice, evaluate yourself periodically and see.
Generally in this tradition, the normal commitment that was demanded to start any spiritual process was twelve years. You simply say a mantra for twelve years and then look at what is happening with you. Even now, many spiritual sects in India follow this path. A Guru gives you a mantra to utter for twelve years, and then you come back to see your progress. But today, people have become so impatient with life. Even if we ask for twelve days of commitment, people have so many problems. People are complaining that it is too long!
Gautama Buddha had his own methods. If anybody came to him, there was absolutely no teaching, no spirituality or anything for two years – you would just hang around. If you could wait for two years, then a certain quality came and something else would happen to you. When he initiated you, it happened in a big way for you. But now, people are struggling to wait because the modern mind has become so impatient. Do not be in a hurry. Just stick to the practice, evaluate yourself periodically and see.
Editor's Note:Download the ebook “Inner Management”, where Sadhguru reveals effective tools to enhance our capabilities, change our life, and open up a whole new dimension of life that frees us from external influences. Set "0" in the price field to download the book for free.
What Spirituality Means – Moving Towards Ultimate Freedom
Shekar Kapur: Sadhguru, you have said many times that the highest goal is freedom. Freedom from what? Sadhguru: Generally, before 1947 in India, if you said “freedom,” people only thought, “If the British go away, we are free.” That was the idea of freedom at that time. The British went away. Now, are we free? [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Oscar-winning filmmaker Shekhar Kapur asks Sadhguru what freedom really is. Sadhguru explains that spirituality essentially means moving towards ultimate freedom, and breaking everything that limits us.
Shekar Kapur:Sadhguru, you have said many times that the highest goal is freedom. Freedom from what?
Sadhguru:Generally, before 1947 in India, if you said “freedom,” people only thought, “If the British go away, we are free.” That was the idea of freedom at that time. The British went away. Now, are we free? Not really. Politically free – yes. But in no other way are we really free. So, freedom may mean different things to different people, depending upon the context of their individual life at a certain moment.
But leaving the political, economic and other aspects of freedom aside, do you see that essentially, as a human being, as a piece of existence, we are living within certain limitations? That you are a limited entity? Do you also see there is something constantly longing within you to be a little more than what you are?
Shekar Kapur:Yes.
Sadhguru:There is something within you which cannot stand boundaries. Or, in othOnly freedom can be infinite.er words, there is something within you which wants to become boundless. What can be boundless? A physical form can be small or big, but never boundless. There is something within you which is longing to touch a dimension which is beyond the physical.
There is something within you which is longing to be spiritual. “Spiritual” does not mean looking up or looking down, or praying or going to the temple. “Spiritual” essentially means you are in an experience which is beyond the limitations of the physical. That means you are in a boundless space. This longing is always there in every human being. Either you are approaching it in installments, or you are consciously going for the Ultimate.
Shekar Kapur:So why, in my mind, is the Ultimate so blurred? Why can’t I imagine it? The moment you talk about something measurable, I can imagine it. But how do I aspire for something that I am unable to imagine?
Sadhguru:That is why you should never aspire for something that you are unable to imagine, that you do not know. If you want to become free, you should never think of freedom. Only look at the ropes which bind you. If you cut these ropes which bind you, there is some sense of freedom. Then you realize, there is another set of ropes that bind you.
If you cut that, there is freedom. But then you notice there is another set. It does not matter how many sets of ropes bind you, there must be a point where if you cut enough of them, nothing binds you anymore, right? The number may be big, but still, it cannot be infinite.
Only freedom can be infinite. Bondage cannot be limitless. Only freedom can be limitless. This is not just semantics and ideas. In terms of life’s experience, don’t waste your time talking about or thinking about freedom or the Ultimate. The body is a limitation, the mind is a limitation, emotions are limitations – but they are also possibilities. Look at what binds you now, and see how to transcend this. This is growth.
“Mystic’s Musings” by Sadhguru offers more on spirituality through the mystic eye. Sadhguru keeps us teetering on the edge of logic and captivates us with his answers to questions relating to life, death, rebirth, suffering, karma, and the journey of the Self.
The Two Ways to Speed Up Your Spiritual Process
Q: How can we allow the spiritual process to happen within us in full flow, and what might we be doing unconsciously that might keep it from happening? The most fundamental thing is your likes and dislikes. Everything else is based upon this. Who you can be with and who you cannot be with, what [...]
Q:How can we allow the spiritual process to happen within us in full flow, and what might we be doing unconsciously that might keep it from happening?
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru:What could be a barrier within yourself? The main problem is you attach too much importance to your thoughts, emotions, ideas and everything else that you consider as “me” – all the ingredients that make you a person. You make them too important because these are the things that build your personality.
The most fundamental thing is your likes and dislikes. Everything else is based upon this. Who you can be with and who you cannot be with, what kind of food you eat and what you don’t eat, where you go and where you don’t go, what kind of ideas you ascribe to and what you reject – everything is fundamentally rooted in your likes and dislikes. If you can take away this one thing, the spiritual process won't happen slowly, it will explode in you.
Right now, your problem is, “this” is sacred, “that” is nonsense. Now you’re lost. Life will not work like this. No growth will happen.
There are two ways to approach this. One way is to see everything in the existence as sacred. Your work, your wife, your child, your husband, your dog, your mother, your god – everything, including going to the toilet – see it as sacred. Or, you see everything as utter nonsense – with absolute disdain – including your God, your own body, your spirituality, meditation, everything. Both will work wonderfully.
Right now, your problem is, “this” is sacred, “that” is nonsense. Now you’re lost. Life will not work like this. No growth will happen. The basis of your karma itself is your like and dislike. That’s the only bondage you have really. When you are in a mode where you love this and hate that, you are setting forth a duality. Once you establish duality, there can be no spirituality because yoga essentially means union. If you do not like this part, how can you become all-inclusive? It is a self-defeating process. You just have to work on that. There is no such thing as liking or disliking. Everything is sacred or everything is utter nonsense – which way do you want to walk?
If you see everything as sacred, it is much easier. To see everything with utter disdain takes a different kind of strength. There is a certain huge group of yogis in India called naga babas. Among them there are two kinds. One set see everything as sacred. Whether they see a rock or a man or a woman or an animal or anything, they see everything as Shiva. There is another set who are very fierce people. Generally, nagas are a very fierce tribe of yogis. They are naked sanyasis. If it is very cold, they will wrap themselves with a rug but they never wear any stitched cloth. They usually carry a trident. This tribe sees everything with absolute disdain. If you just as much as take one wrong step in front of one of them, he will use absolutely filthy language on you. He will even use this kind of language for Shiva. This is how they are. One segment sees everything as sacred, another segment sees everything as utter nonsense. Both of these work wonderfully.
If you choose the path of seeing everything as sacred, you give yourself absolutely to everything. You see everything as divine, then there is no question of which is better than which, which is more important than the other. You have to give yourself towards everything.
The difference between the two is, if you see everything as sacred, you will have enormous amount of activity in your life. If you see everything as nonsense, this is a hard but quick way. However, you cannot do this in social situations. You have to withdraw somewhere all by yourself. Whatever suits you, do that. Whether you see everything as sacred or everything as utter nonsense, there is no like and dislike. That’s the tool. If you make one thing sacred and another filthy, as far as the spiritual process goes, you burn like an incense stick – slowly. If you just pull the plug on your likes and dislikes, fireworks will begin with your spiritual process.
Women on the Spiritual Path
In the second part of the “Women and Spirituality” series Sadhguru speaks about how distorted perceptions have crept into culture and tradition, creating a bias against women on the spiritual path.
Last week, in the first post of the “Women and Spirituality” series, Sadhguru looked at women on the path of Kriya Yoga. This week, Sadhguru speaks about how distorted perceptions have crept into culture and tradition, creating a bias against women on the spiritual path.
Sadhguru:
Indian spirituality has always been a rich mixture of men and women reaching the heights of their consciousness. A woman is as capable as a man when it comes to inner nature. It is only the peel, the body, which you call as a man or a woman. What is within is the same. The peel is not going to decide what one’s spiritual capabilities are.
In ancient times, women also wore the sacred thread because without it, they could not read the scriptures. Like a man, she could live within the marriage for ten to twenty years, and when she had the urge to become spiritual, she could renounce the family. However, when barbarian hordes invaded India, women slowly lost their freedom. The rules started changing. Maybe it was necessary for a certain period of time, because the physical situation was such that some restriction had to be placed on women for their own safety. But unfortunately it became the law. The first let down for a woman was when they declared that she cannot wear the sacred thread. It was also said that the only way she can attain mukti, or her Ultimate Nature, is by serving her husband. It was fixed that only a man could renounce.
Unfortunately, this sometimes continues even today. A woman is told that she has been born only to serve her father or her husband. People talk about the non-duality of existence and say, “Everything is one, but women are less.” In spite of the fact that a man knows that his existence depends upon her, if he cannot even accept her, his accepting all the dualities in the existence is simply out of question. The question of inferiority or superiority comes only in a prejudiced mind. It is just a question of two qualities. If a woman, out of whom a man is born, is inferior, how can man be superior? The possibility just does not arise. This problem is universal. It is not just about one gross man thinking like this. It has become a man’s way of life, a part of his very culture and religion.
Once, a certain social reformer went to Vivekananda and asked, “It is great that you also support women, what shall I do? I want to reform them. I want to support this.” Then Vivekananda said, “Hands off. You do not have to do anything about them. Just leave them alone. They will do what they have to do.” This is all that is needed. It is not that a man has to reform a woman. If he just gives room, she will do what is necessary.
Stay tuned every Monday, for upcoming posts in this series.
Does Spirituality Make You Special?
Sadhguru: For many people, the reason why the spiritual path seems to be a struggle is that their culture and social situations have always taught them to be special. One’s whole life effort becomes focused on this. To be special means to have something that others do not have. But this is not special, it [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru talks about the mind’s desire to be special, and how this is counterproductive on the spiritual path.
Sadhguru:For many people, the reason why the spiritual path seems to be a struggle is that their culture and social situations have always taught them to be special. One’s whole life effort becomes focused on this. To be special means to have something that others do not have. But this is not special, it is a convoluted sense of wellbeing. Right now, if your only joy is that someone else does not have what you have, if this is the only pleasure in your life, we call this perversion not being special.
People can find pleasure in all kinds of things. Once, two men were captured by fierce cannibals from a neighboring tribe. After a meeting with their headman, the tribe decided to cook the men alive. The men were placed in a pot of water, and as the fire started burning and the water became hotter and hotter, the older man started laughing – really laughing. The younger man said, “Are you crazy? Do you know what is going to happen to us? Why are you laughing?” The older man said, “I just peed in their soup!” People find pleasure in all sorts of perverted ways.
A Sore Thumb
Spirituality is not about becoming special. It is about becoming one with everything. This disease of wanting to become special has come to people simply because they have not recognized the value of the uniqueness of their being. By living on the surface for so long, their whole effort has been to be special. As long as this effort is on, you are only working counter to the spiritual process. The whole dimension of spirituality is to melt and become one with existence, not to stand out like a sore thumb.
In so many ways, the mind always wants to be special. That is the nature of the egoistic mind. It can only compare logically. The moment this comparison comes, competition starts. The moment competition starts, your life sense will disappear because now it is only about being better than others. It is because of this foolish endeavor that we are in the ridiculous situation of having to teach people about their own nature. We have to remind people about their own original nature simply because they are lost in trying to outdo someone or everyone around them.
Ordinary to Extra-ordinary
Some time ago, our yoga program brochures used to say: “From Ordinary to Extraordinary.” People thought they would become special by doing the program and would ask me “Sadhguru, how will we be special?” I would always tell them, “You are going to become ‘extra’ ordinary – more ordinary than other people.”
The more you try to be special the further you get from the truth. So much suffering and mental illness have come from this desire to be special. Instead of deriving perverse pleasure from the fact that someone does not have what you have, if you genuinely make the effort to become one with everything, this internal struggle will completely go away. If you recognize your uniqueness and also every other being’s uniqueness, you can neither become less nor more than anyone else.
Spirituality – Not a Moral Code
Q: Some people seem to keep spirituality separate from life. Why is this? Is awareness only when you are meditating? Sadhguru: If your spirituality is time-bound, from five to seven in the morning or whatever time, you are just trying to be spiritual; there is nothing spiritual about you. What conclusions have you made about [...]
Q:Some people seem to keep spirituality separate from life. Why is this? Is awareness only when you are meditating?
Sadhguru:If your spirituality is time-bound, from five to seven in the morning or whatever time, you are just trying to be spiritual; there is nothing spiritual about you.
If your spirituality is time-bound, from five to seven in the morning or whatever time, you are just trying to be spiritual; there is nothing spiritual about you.
What conclusions have you made about being spiritual? If you have made the conclusion that being spiritual means speaking kindly to everyone, you are mistaken. If someone is communicating with different aspects of life in different ways, out of their understanding, out of their sensitivity, out of their own experience – they know how to communicate with a baby, a buffalo, a mountain, they know how to speak to the bus driver – if they know it out of this awareness, then it is wonderful and fine. That is how life should be.
If someone, out of their so-called spirituality, is trying to speak with whatever they believe is kindness or goodness, to every aspect of life, they are just moralistic and stupid. Maybe they are good people, but they have no sense of life. There is no inner experience; it is just coming from their goodness and morality. They may make good citizens, but they will not know anything of the beyond.
If one is communicating in different ways with different aspects of life because of their unawareness or prejudices, that is a different aspect altogether. How one talks to a bus driver may be a way of seeing where that person is, or may not be at all. It is best that you do not judge a person by the way they are speaking to someone at a certain moment. If there is a pattern of addressing something kindly and another aspect of life rudely, then you know it is coming from ignorance.
Spirituality – Not a Moral Code
First, let us understand that spirituality is not a moral code. Spirituality means you are beginning to experience that which is beyond the physical. It has nothing to do with the way you communicate and handle the world around you. The way you do that is just a question of your capability, intelligence, exposure, inclination, and what kind of objectives you have in your life.
Spirituality means you are beginning to experience that which is beyond the physical.
There was a yogi who lived many decades ago. Once, he was sitting in the forest, absolutely blissful, but if people came anywhere near him, he threw stones at them. He never hit anyone, but he threw stones at them like a mad man. As far as people were concerned, he was a madman throwing stones. It was only much later when people looked back, they were able to see that not once did he hit anyone. He always made sure of that. He just did not want people around him. He knew that if people came, they would ask for things, and because of the way he was – his energy was in a certain state – naturally miracles would happen. Then people would gather and mess up his whole life. So if people came anywhere near him, he would throw stones at them.
If you go by one’s behavior, about what he is doing or what he is saying, you will definitely come to a wrong conclusion, a wrong judgment. If you had known Sadhguru Sri Brahma, if somebody came and said something stupid to him, he would just kick them – not out of arrogance or hatred. That was how he dealt with people. I don’t do that. This is not because I am more realized or less realized, it is simply from being a little smarter with the world. How you operate is just a question of your inclination, intelligence and exposure. It has got nothing to do with your spirituality.
Editor's Note:The word "tantra" creates many misconceptions in the modern mindset: of immorality, sex and clandestine activity. In the video "Tantra – Being an Instrument of Life," Sadhguru redefines tantra, restoring it to its original scope and dimension as an ancient technology for ultimate transformation. Purchase and download at Isha Downloads.
Is Spirituality Relevant to Leadership?
Sadhguru: The very mention of the word “spirituality” conjures a variety of images in today’s popular culture – a galore of misconceptions. Spirituality is not about love or humanity or ecological consciousness. Those things can be done without any spirituality; you just need a little sense in your head. If I must define spirituality, I [...]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru, during the India Today Conclave in 2008, speaks about the importance of spirituality among the leadership, and that this can decide the course of the next decade in our country.
Sadhguru:The very mention of the word “spirituality” conjures a variety of images in today’s popular culture – a galore of misconceptions. Spirituality is not about love or humanity or ecological consciousness. Those things can be done without any spirituality; you just need a little sense in your head. If I must define spirituality, I would choose a very technical definition. When one’s ability to experience life transcends the limitations of the physical, we say you are spiritual.
The essential nature of the physical is a defined boundary. The very nature of the human being is such, there is one part of him – the instinct of self-preservation – which constantly tries to define and protect this boundary. But there is another dimension of the human being that is always longing to be something more than what he or she is right now. It doesn’t matter what you have become in your life, you are still longing to become something more than who you are right now. If you manage to conquer the whole planet, I am sure you will look at the stars. There is something within you that does not like boundaries – which is constantly longing to become boundless. Boundlessness means non-physical. The physical is only the cover – the basis is a core non-being that is non-physical in nature, which is constantly trying to find expression in human life.
Leadership: Going Beyond Body & Mind
In what way is spirituality relevant to leadership? As I said, spirituality means your experience of life has transcended the physical. If you look at your body, it is just a heap of food. What you eat is becoming you. What you call “my mind” is essentially a heap of impressions that you gathered through the five senses.
Without a spiritual element, a leader – whether political, economic or otherwise – is definitely handicapped.
If you function only on physical and intellectual terms, you will be a poor leader because your body and mind are chained to the past. People are always looking forward to a leader who does not repeat the past. They look forward to a leader because he can create something that other people could not think of. He sees something that everyone else could not see. Unless there is a spiritual element, unless a human being has started experiencing life beyond his body and intellect, he will not create a new possibility. Without a spiritual element, a leader – whether political, economic or otherwise – is definitely handicapped.
A leader is someone who takes charge of the destiny of a large mass of people. Unless he is capable of organizing and directing situations towards the desired goals, he is not a leader. But that will only happen if you have some mastery over yourself. How much mastery you have of your own inner nature will decide how free you are from outside situations
True Freedom
Most people’s way of being is hugely enslaved to external situations. The nature of the situations in the world is such that it doesn’t matter who you are or how powerful you are, no one has 100% control over the outside situations. No one in this world functions 100% the way you want them to, but at least you must function the way you want.
When a human being has to constantly handle complex situations, he will naturally get pulled down if he is not spiritually established.
If your inner situation functioned the way you wanted, how would you keep it? Naturally you would keep it in utmost pleasantness. You wouldn’t know any tension, anger or other nonsense. The reason people are going through these things is simply because the fundamental faculties within them – their own body, mind, emotions and energies – are happening in reaction to external situations.
Is there a possibility where whatever the outside situation, one can be free from that within themselves? Each one of us is uniquely capable when it comes to outside realities. But when it comes to inner realities, all of us are equally capable. Because you are looking in the wrong direction, it looks so far away and impossible. If you turn around, it is just a simple reality.
Today in the world, whatever kind of leader you are, it demands extensive travel, handling complex situations and above all handling people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. When a human being has to constantly handle complex situations, he will naturally get pulled down if he is not spiritually established. People talk about burnouts these days. This is not happening because the work is difficult, but simply because we do not know how to manage our own systems. Managing these systems from outside will not help because they were created from within. But if you have access to that which is the source of this body, they can be managed from within.
Spirituality means gaining access to that dimension within you which is the very source of who you are right now. This is not about looking up, looking down or looking around – this is about looking inward.
A Tremendous Opportunity
Right now, we are trying to handle human wellbeing and the wellbeing of nations and societies in a very ad hoc way. Today, India as a nation is on the threshold of economic prosperity. We as a generation of people have the opportunity to move a large mass of people from one level of living to another. No other generation has ever had this opportunity. In the next 10 years, what kind of leadership we have will decide what we do with this. A leadership bereft of any spiritual content, bereft of perception beyond the limitations of logical intellect and physicality cannot manage a situation like this with absolute clarity. It can only manage by chance. By chance, anything can happen, but if we are doing things by chance, we are a potential tragedy because we can fall at any time.
Indian culture is steeped in these technologies for inner wellbeing. This is something we must make use of.
Indian culture is steeped in these technologies for inner wellbeing. This is something we must make use of. No other land has seen as much work towards human consciousness as this culture has. The best acknowledgement for this came from Mark Twain, one of the greatest intellects of the previous century. He came to India and had a good guide who took him to the right places. When he was leaving, he said, “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”
I invite all of you to make use of these technologies so that we and the future generations here can know the exuberance of human existence.
Editor’s Note:Visit isha.sadhguru.org and check out the Isha Upa-Yoga practices from Sadhguru. These short, powerful processes are an ideal starting point to help you create health, peace and wellbeing.
Is Celibacy a Necessity on the Spiritual Path?
Q: Is celibacy the only way or can people in whatever is considered as “normal life” also have a foothold in spirituality? Sadhguru: The whole dimension of spirituality is to grow beyond the physical, to taste something beyond the physical. If your involvement with the physical is very deep, naturally your attachment to the body [...]
Q:Is celibacy the only way or can people in whatever is considered as “normal life” also have a foothold in spirituality?
Sadhguru:The whole dimension of spirituality is to grow beyond the physical, to taste something beyond the physical. If your involvement with the physical is very deep, naturally your attachment to the body is very strong. It is not sex per se which can be an impediment in one’s growth but one’s attachment to the body definitely is an impediment – there is no question about that. Generally, sexuality breeds that attachment. Celibacy has been talked about in that context. But does the sexual act itself stop a person from pursuing his spiritual path? Not at all, but what is being said is, unless your focus is strong and one-pointed, the chances of progress or the progress itself will naturally be very slow because you are thinking in many directions at the same time.
For a person who wants to go all out and do things in a short time, the advice is definitely to not get entangled with these bodily aspects because then you will get involved in many things. For many people, if they start out with any kind of physical involvement with something, emotions and thoughts follow and their whole life becomes just that – they cannot keep their focus on anything else. If a person is such that one department of his life is handled one way and it is totally absent when he sits for something else, then it is not so much of an impediment. But most people cannot deal with their lives like that. It just entangles them on all levels. It is in that context that this has been said.
Whatever activity you do in your life has nothing to do with the spiritual process because the spiritual process is inward, activity is outward. Action is either of the body, mind, energies or emotion. All these things can be stepping stones for a spiritual process but they are not spiritual in any sense because all of them belong to the physical realm. Spirituality and activity have actually got nothing to do with each other if you know how to keep a clear distance between the two. But that distance is not there in most people, so we say “do not get entangled in this, do not get entangled in that.” If you are absolutely conscious in every aspect of your life, nothing that you do in your life is an impediment. But that is a far away thing for most people.
Compulsiveness to Consciousness
Though people would like to project their sexuality as a very conscious process, it is not so. It is a compulsive process. Maybe it is handled a little consciously by some people while others do it compulsively, but essentially, the basic ingredient and seed of sexuality is a compulsive process. It is physiological and chemical – it is a function of hormones which drives you in that direction. Unless you are able to transcend all compulsiveness within you, it is definitely an impediment in that sense.
Any kind of activity, whether it is eating, sexuality, talking or whatever, if it is a compulsive process – if you are enslaved to it – it is an impediment. If you look at what is causing this compulsiveness, if you understand that and handle that aspect, compulsiveness goes away. That means you are definitely moving towards freedom. If one pursues a spiritual path, irrespective of where he is right now, he will gradually evolve out of many compulsions within himself.
Editor’s Note:Download the ebook “Sexuality and the Divine”, as Sadhguru’s insight and humor takes the reader on an in-depth discussion about sex, revealing its true nature as an expression of unconscious longing to know the divine. Available on a “pay as you wish” basis at Isha Downloads.
On the Spiritual Path, There is No "Best"
Questioner: How do I decide which path is best for me? What is your advice on making that decision? Sadhguru: There is no such thing as “the best”. The biggest mistake people make is that they want to choose that which is the best. Whether it is your career, marriage, spiritual choices, ultimate choices – [...]
Questioner:How do I decide which path is best for me? What is your advice on making that decision?
Sadhguru:There is no such thing as “the best”. The biggest mistake people make is that they want to choose that which is the best. Whether it is your career, marriage, spiritual choices, ultimate choices – there is no best thing to do in your life. If you put your everything into what you choose to do, it becomes a great thing. You should have something great going, not the best, because the best is in comparison with something else. Right now, I am feeling great, not because this is the best day or the best place in the universe. There is no such thing. But if you put yourself into it, it is a great place.
If you put your everything into what you choose to do, it becomes a great thing. You should have something great going, not the best, because the best is in comparison with something else.
Drop this idea of choosing the best thing or finding the best person for you in your life. There is no such person in the universe. The moment you compare and ask if this is the best one, or if something else would be better, you will always be confused. Even when you are being buried, you will wonder if you are in the best coffin. What if you wanted a mahogany coffin but they chose something else? Even there, you will twist and turn, because you have lived life in comparison.
When it comes to the spiritual process, you have to decide if you want to go with your judgment, or if you think it is better to leave it to me. If you place it in my hands, I take care of the decision as to what works best for you right now. If you choose, you will choose what is most comfortable for you. It may not necessarily produce results, or it may be an unnecessarily long route. I am not interested in your comfort. I want you to get there, because your time and energy are limited. If you do not put it on an express mode, you will wander around and get lost.
But I will tell you what will work best for you only if you leave the decision to me. Otherwise, I will never impose my judgment on anyone and tell them what they should do in their lives. Only if you are one hundred percent sure that even if I ask you to go to hell, you will, and at the same time, you have the trust that I definitely do not want you to go to hell, will I make the decision for you. But if there is a possibility that halfway down, you start having doubts, I will not take up the decision.
If you prefer wandering around, that is up to you. I am not someone who is planning lifetimes. I want things to happen to people in this life. If you are thinking about making it in many lifetimes, there are ways to evolve slowly. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am not that patient, because this is my final round – that is for sure.
Editor’s Note:Offering the rare possibility to go beyond all limitations, Sadhguru takes the seeker on a mystical journey towards ultimate liberation. In “A Guru Always Takes You For a Ride”, Sadhguru delivers rare insights into the Guru-shishya relationship. Download now.
