What Does it Take to Become a Genuine Seeker? 🙏 With Sadhguru in Challenging Times - 07 Apr

08:05 - It’s been more than probably two months since it rained.

08:10 - Last night there’s been a downpour. Everything is looking fresh, green and wonderful out here.

08:18 - I wish you were here too (Laughs). But if you come now, you will have to go into twenty-eight day quarantine, that’s standard at the Isha Yoga Center (Laughs).

08:32 - So don’t come right now. So, yesterday night all the… all the… you know, still raw mangoes, all of them who didn’t have the necessary strength to hold on to the tree have fallen down.

08:52 - Those who have survived yesterday’s rain are going to become ripe.

08:59 - No, I’m not talking about mangoes only (Laughs), about… this is the nature of life - will you fall off because you’re tired, will you fall off because you’re bored, will you fall off out of weakness or will you fall off due to lack of focus, or will you fall when you’re ripe, this is a big difference! A fruit should fall when it’s ripe.

09:36 - So, it should be with the human being, you should detach from life when you’re fully ripe, not halfway down because of ill health or because of virus or because of rigours of life or you worried yourself to death.

10:02 - Well, today also happens to be the World Health Day and the pandemic is dancing across the planet, taking a huge toll.

10:19 - Some countries are really hit, some are waiting to be hit.

10:26 - Some are struggling to contain, some have given up and they’re looking up at God.

10:37 - One must understand, if you’re exuberant, joyful and wonderful your immune system will function much better than when you’re worried and distressed, its’ a simple thing.

10:54 - Well, will we be able to hundred percent contain this virus from entering our homes and our bodies? We do not know.

11:07 - We are making an attempt. But this much we can do that we remain as dynamic as the virus, it’s very dynamic, it’s doing its job really well.

11:26 - We must do ours, very well as human beings.

11:31 - One fundamental thing is to keep this life exuberant and alive.

11:37 - It may find expression in the form of joy, in the form of love, in the form of meditation or ultimate stillness, but this life should be kept exuberant not depressive at a time like this, at all times.

12:02 - But now, it will have a consequence, a positive or negative consequence depending upon how you are.

12:10 - Of course, there will be people who say, “this is not science. ” Of course, there is no definition of what is joy, what is healthy in any science book.

12:21 - But people are joyful, people are healthy, at least some are.

12:26 - Others are giving commentaries about it. It’s okay.

12:32 - But, this is something that every one of you must strive especially now, you don’t have much work to do, we have a lot of work to do here only thing is we are not travelling, but those of you who are homebound because your office, your business and other things are closed down- I know it has economic consequences, various social consequences; keep that aside right now, because economy, society, and many other structures in the world are all created for this life’s well-being.

13:16 - Keep this well, alive, exuberant, joyful. Your body’s ability if not ward off at least to fight will be in a much better state.

13:30 - This much everybody must do, rest of it is left to various situations.

13:37 - Not just about you, how everybody else behaves is also going to affect you.

13:43 - So all that may not be hundred percent in your hands.

13:47 - But keeping yourself well, keeping yourself as alive, as you can keep yourself is most important.

13:55 - This you must do because this is in your hands.

14:03 - (Laughs) See, everything is looking fantastic out here but the world is not well, at least to human beings are not well.

14:18 - Well, a certain number of human beings are already ill.

14:25 - Unfortunately, in some countries, the leaders in the nation are being hit, especially in UK, unfortunately the Prime Minister has been moved into the ICU.

14:39 - This is not good, because this could cause a huge depressive mood in the nation.

14:47 - When they see, top line leadership goes down, in some way, that could affect the whole nation.

14:54 - So it’s very important, the leaders must stay healthy and remain an inspiration for everybody, but unfortunately it’s happened.

15:05 - In a few countries this has gone a little extreme.

15:09 - Even the tigers in the zoo are getting it. Well, that brings another dimension to the whole virus business.

15:21 - Till now everybody tried to believe, tried hard to believe - It is only from human being to human being.

15:30 - It will not happen any other way. Now those of them who are playing with the pets, pets were keeping people happy.

15:41 - Now that also become suspicious, your dog becomes a suspicious character, your cat definitely belongs to the big cat family.

15:51 - Now that the tiger, one of the most ferocious cats that you can find on the planet, or the most ferocious cat you can find now it started coughing.

16:05 - Now, it brings a whole new dimension to handle.

16:09 - If animals around us start getting it, well, what we cannot do to human beings we will start doing to the animals.

16:19 - A lot of them will be put to sleep, all these problems will come and human beings will suffer from all these things.

16:25 - I’m saying there are many, many dimensions to this, we don’t know how it will play out.

16:31 - But at the same time, we have repeatedly been saying with conscious responsible action we can contain it.

16:44 - Obviously we cannot prevent it, we can slow it down.

16:50 - But if a vehicle moves fast, it will reach it’s destination quickly, if it moves slow, it’ll take a long time.

17:00 - Right now we are slowing down. Well, a few states in the country in India have already taken this stance, even without a central governments directive, by themselves they were decided they will extend the lockdown.

17:21 - Maybe with mild modifications, but they will extend the general lockdown, particularly travel aspect of it, mass transport aspect of it will remain for sure.

17:33 - So, at the right moment I’m sure this will come from the central government also.

17:40 - So I’m saying, many of us will be homebound for much longer.

17:45 - Unless you are in specific type of activity or industry.

17:51 - So it’s time that you invest in your well-being, well-being of this life.

17:59 - Because after all, our work, our wealth, our business, our social interactions, were all essentially towards one’s wel… well-being.

18:14 - So let us focus on that because human well-being… your sense of well-being, comes because you’re peaceful, you’re joyful, you’re loving, you feeling wonderful; that’s well-being.

18:30 - And all human experience comes from within you, this is the time to understand and get some mastery over this aspect.

18:40 - There are many aspects already available. What we can transmit directly cannot be done right now, but whatever directions we can give online - many are there we could provide many more. If you have any specific needs we can do that.

18:58 - But the important thing is make use of this time.

19:02 - Because never again, you may get another time, hope you will not, unless you consciously choose.

19:09 - Never again, in your lifetime, you may get four weeks or six weeks or eight weeks of time, just for yourself.

19:20 - This happens only in the life of serious pol… spiritual seekers.

19:25 - Now, nearly two-thirds of the world has this opportunity, this is a good time.

19:33 - Well, this is all the choice we have, that is what the world throw… throws at us, is not always our choice.

19:43 - What we make out of it is hundred percent our choice.

19:46 - This should become a time of rejuvenation. This should become a time of heightening the value of your life.

19:57 - This should become a time where you truly enhance the quality of who you are, as a life, as a being, and as a person too.

20:09 - Let’s make this happen! Questioner: Sadhguru, This question is from Maya.

20:17 - Dear Sadhguru, I once heard a French idiom that translates a dictatorship of sages is better than democracy of idiots.

20:26 - What are your thoughts on this? If you were able to rule a nation, would you opt to be a stage dictator? Sadhguru: Maya means illusion (Laughs).

20:47 - First let me negate one thing I’m not planning to rule any nation.

20:53 - I was thinking of the world (Laughter) Not to rule, but to inspire.

21:07 - Because only one whose ways of being is not naturally inspiring will think of ruling people.

21:23 - I’ve never thought of ruling people. Because I think it’s too crude.

21:33 - Well, can we inspire the entire world? Sadhguru you yourself have admitted you’re a failure.

21:47 - Yes, I am. Can we inspire the whole world, some people need to be ruled.

21:55 - Maybe, right now it is true. But it need not remain that way.

22:03 - Are you a hopeless optimist? No, I’m not.

22:10 - But I know a human being is a possibility. Well, the period of treatment that was needed for me was a bit long, but I know what kind of a human being I was, and today how I am within myself.

22:34 - So if I could be transformed I’m sure you could be too.

22:38 - Yes. And I’m sure everybody can be.

22:43 - Only problem is, some people have invested heavily to their own belief systems, their own scriptures, their ideologies.

23:01 - Heaven bound people, you know. Just like to inform them.

23:15 - Though all mass transportation in the world is largely done, transportation to Heaven is not done.

23:24 - Just informing you. So those who think this is not a good place to live, there is a better place to live somewhere else, they are the only people who take a long time to transform.

23:44 - Hard to inspire them. Because only one foot is here, another foot is up there.

23:56 - Only one ear is here. The other ear is, there.

24:01 - Making up things that they don’t hear. So because of that, inspiration in the right direction, may take much longer.

24:14 - Otherwise, this virus time is a good time actually because virus is reminding you.

24:22 - I have been, you know, constantly talking, reminding you of your mortal nature.

24:27 - But look at the efficiency of the virus. I took 38 years and I’ve convinced of, you know, maybe nearly a billion people today, that you are mortal but in one shot, in two months.

24:45 - I don’t have the efficiency of the virus. But the virus has done this job, it has reminded us how fragile and mortal we are, as a life.

25:00 - Let’s use this well. Because if you do not know this, in the yogic culture, the first step towards spiritual process, before initiation, always, was the seeker or the sadhaka should go and spend a certain amount of time in the cremation grounds.

25:23 - You will always see Shiva himself sitting like this in the cremation grounds, because the idea is to bring home the fundamental reality that you are mortal.

25:36 - Why is this so important? It is the most important thing, because you have limited amount of time.

25:47 - That’s what mortality means. Otherwise, in your silly mind you go on thinking what will I do tomorrow, What will I do day after tomorrow, What will I do next day, next day, next day, as if you’re going to be here forever.

26:02 - If you go sit in the cremation ground, one body after another, one body of another who look just like you are all being burnt to ashes.

26:12 - Burial will not do that because you will imagine that they are down there and they will do something.

26:20 - Cremation does that very clearly, brings it home, that you are mortal.

26:27 - So in a way, this first part of the sadhana that the yogic culture demanded from everybody, now, a pandemic like this, unfortunately such a thing has to happen for people to realize.

26:42 - It’s coming home that a lot of people who thought they were immortal, rich and poor, are beginning to. . poor are always generally conscious, it’s is the rich who think they are forever.

26:54 - Because in the comfort of the four walls, you’re not even a life.

27:00 - You’re preserved. When you continuously live among the four walls, you get the false idea that you’re preserved for good.

27:13 - One day, for most of you one day, or one night, of… let us say, fierce weather…

27:24 - I refuse to use the word bad weather, that’s from English culture.

27:30 - We don’t have bad weather. Some days the weather is fierce and fantastic.

27:35 - Like yesterday night it’s pouring rain. One night like that, you spend in the forest.

27:41 - I’ve spent many. One night, you spend like that.

27:45 - It will come home to you very strongly how fragile a worm you are.

27:52 - Worms know how to survive. You will not.

27:55 - You will struggle with all your brains, how to manage if you don’t have any kind of equipment, which is how I went into the jungle without any equipment.

28:04 - Only my HMT watch. Mch. . The industry itself is closed down I think now.

28:11 - The damn thing would get fogged within five minutes of the rain.

28:15 - Can’t even see the time. You can’t read the stars, you can’t feel if sun is coming up not coming up because it’s overcast and pouring.

28:25 - Then you will see you don’t know the directions because everything is. . almost you’re blind, in terms of your direction.

28:36 - So either you keep going round and round or you try to sit down in one place, and you see the worms the insects and of course the tigers and the elephants, they are all well equipped, they’re all managing.

28:49 - You are the only creature, who’s really struggling to find your place there.

28:57 - You clearly, clearly it comes home how fragile you are, one mistake, you will not see sunrise.

29:06 - One mistake, you will not see sunrise that’s how it is.

29:10 - So living in the comfort of four walls most human beings have this feeling that they’re preserved, because in a box you always feel like that.

29:21 - So cremation ground, and then forests were two instruments which were always used in the yogic culture as a way of bringing this home to you.

29:32 - Because if one has to become a genuine spiritual seeker, this is the most important thing that you know that you have a limited amount of time.

29:44 - But (Laughs) people are more cunning than that.

29:51 - They started talking about eternal life elsewhere.

29:59 - Well in India, you came up with… “I will come back another hundred lives”.

30:06 - Well people try to find ways in their mind how to be more than this life.

30:13 - There are ways to be more than this life, but not psychologically, you can’t make up something, it’s not going to work like that.

30:22 - Even if you believe that you’re going to heaven, if you. . if somebody points a gun at you at your head, you will tremble.

30:34 - You must be ecstatic, you’re going to heaven, but such a thing won’t happen.

30:39 - Because the life knows. In your head you can make up all kinds of rubbish, but the life inside knows, that if it leaves the shell of this body, then what is next has remained (Gestures).

30:57 - So, inspiration. Whoever the french man who said this.

31:10 - Definitely… If a sage, or a group of sages, as it is, as the idiom says, were ruling the planet, or the nation would be definitely better than all kinds of fools ruling, but would those group of sages be dictators? If they are sages, they won’t be dictators.

31:37 - Because, to be a sage, and to dictate won’t go.

31:47 - If they are sages, if there were so many of them in France, I don’t know how you would find so many in France… they would inspire.

32:00 - See changes happened in France of an inspired revolution.

32:06 - Maybe not sages, maybe workers, but inspiration.

32:12 - Not because of dictatorship. But today, democracy, which is a fantastic idea, has its problems.

32:26 - Because slowly political parties, individual people, those who aspire for power, have understood the mechanics, especially I think in the last twenty, twenty-five years, they have understood the mathematic and the mechanic of winning an election.

32:44 - Which (Laughs), which is no more democratic.

32:52 - It is becoming a kind of a. . mm professional expertise of how to manage the numbers.

33:02 - But still, it is a better way. Essentially democracy and dictatorship, democracy versus monarchy, democracies versus dictatorship, the most useful aspect of this democracy is, you can change power without blood flowing on the streets.

33:28 - And it changes all the time. Which is both a plus and a minus.

33:34 - Most of the time there is no continuty of effort for the upliftment of the nation.

33:40 - Because every four years, five years when they change, what one group of people have done another group of people want to reverse, we have seen this across the world.

33:51 - So many calamities happened because of that.

33:54 - But in spite of that, you only have to endure these, whoever is elected, only for five years, max, in the world. I think some governments have six I think.

34:08 - Four five six that’s it. But if you get a dictator, or a monarch, you will have to endure them for twenty-five to thirty years.

34:20 - At least this change of scene. That’s the best thing about democracy.

34:27 - Questioner: Next question is from Kodeeshwaran.

34:30 - Namaskaram Sadhguru. We have seen repeatedly in the outside world, that people don’t listen and follow even basic rules.

34:39 - How is everything in Isha so perfect? And how do people follow the steps given to them? Sadhguru: Who said they’re perfect (Laughter)? Questioner: To me it is very magical.

34:51 - Can you shed some light on it? Sadhguru: Yes.

35:04 - See anything that you are not able to do, if somebody does, It will look magical or fantastic or divine or whatever.

35:18 - Suppose, Suppose suppose. . see suppose somebody walked upon water, that would be magical.

35:34 - That would be divine. Or at least, son of divine.

35:49 - So similarly, because you had never seen anybody doing that, and you yourself could not do it.

36:03 - Let’s say nobody knew how to swim in the world.

36:07 - Suddenly one day one man jumped into the river and swam across, would it look magical? would it look divine? One hundred percent.

36:19 - Now, living just with a little bit of sense, not absolute sense, little bit of sense is looking magical to you.

36:30 - I can imagine what sort of atmosphere you’re living in.

36:38 - People here are not perfect. They’re striving to be better.

36:48 - Just because of that striving, they… our volunteers everywhere, not just in the yoga centre stand apart from a crowd, simply because there is a striving to be better.

37:03 - This is all you have to bring into your lives.

37:06 - Nobody is expecting you must be perfect, but are you striving to be better.

37:11 - This is important. As long as you’re striving to be better, life will go on getting better.

37:20 - Forget about life, you will start. . you will slowly get better and better and better.

37:26 - When you get better and better and better, everything around you will be better.

37:36 - So that is all it is. But maybe this question is coming because of the few irresponsible things that a few people are doing in the world, especially in the country.

37:50 - Maybe that’s a reason it’s coming. But we also have to acknowledge majority of the population in the country are right now following instructions and doing a wonderful job of slowing down the virus or the spread of virus.

38:09 - When in countries like United States, where it has quarter the population that we have, and three times the land that we have, it’s going wild, like a wild fire.

38:23 - I think fatalities have crossed 11,000. Our fatality rate is still just crossed hundred I think, has it, has it crossed hundred or not yet? Huh? It just crossed hundred, with 1. 4 billion people, with one-third of the land, and four times the population.

38:45 - Obviously we have to congratulate the citizens and the leadership (Applause).

38:55 - So ah, let us not paint them all that bad, maybe they behave little badly around you Koteshwaran, because your name says- you have millions - Koteshwaran means one who has crores of rupees or millions of millions, and maybe you’re not sharing it so they’re nasty with you (Laughter).

39:23 - You must also understand, if… this this is something, this is something all of you please bring it into your life; If suddenly you find people are behaving little badly around you, walking on the street, even a street dog wants to come and bite you, if such a thing is happening, you must stop and look at what is it that’s wrong with me.

39:48 - You must! Don’t think everybody in the world is gone crazy.

39:54 - If you find continuously people are reacting to you, doing nasty things to you, you must stop and look at it - Why is this happening to me? This is very, very important.

40:10 - If you don’t do that, there’s no room for transformation.

40:15 - Maybe you must share your millions Koteshwaran, Hmm? If you have millions, I need you too right now, because we are thinking how to expand this voluntary work in this virus-times.

40:32 - So, if you have kodi, kodi, we also need you.

40:41 - Questioner: Next question is from Mira. I’m a Devi devotee but I cannot visit ashram now, ever since the lockdown.

40:50 - I feel very anxious and fearful all the time.

40:53 - Is there a way I can invoke Devi’s grace on a daily basis? Sadhguru: Well, what is consecrated as Devi is a physical form here The moolasthanam or the root form is here.

41:18 - But if our influence was just limited to the temple, she’s not worth wasting our time and energy on.

41:27 - Her influence is not determined by the physical space.

41:33 - Wherever you are, if your doors are open, it’s available.

41:39 - Any genuinely… you must understand there are two different kinds of images or two different kinds of consecrations.

41:49 - One is just a reverberation - You can… You can even make this vessel reverberate but you cannot access this vessel from elsewhere.

42:01 - Because it’s simply reverberating without specificity of what it intends to do, it has no intention or intelligence.

42:10 - But consecrations which are as complex as the Devi or much more with the Dhyanalinga is, they are not limited by physical space.

42:22 - Many, many people… the first time it happened in United States.

42:26 - I think this was just the second program, Inner Engineering programme we were doing.

42:33 - There was a lady who was involved in all kinds of, you know, whatever, certain type of work from Caribbean Islands.

42:44 - She went on doing something with her pencil in the book.

42:47 - You know we have a problem with people taking down notes.

42:52 - I said, “No, you cannot take notes, just be with me. ” She will be looking at me, not even looking at the book, just looking at me and just doing this with her pencil.

43:05 - Then, at the end of the three-hour session, she said, “I don’t know why this came… something came out of this and this is the thing that… you know the form that came out of me, I didn’t know what happened, as I was looking at you, I was trying to sketch you.

43:22 - But this is what I got. “ It’s a clear proportion of the Dhyanalinga, that… that must be still in our archive somewhere.

43:33 - She just got the image of Dhyanalinga, like she completely - The whole page she scratched with her pencil, what was left unscratched was just a form of Dhyanalinga, exactly.

43:46 - The same exact proportion But she was trying to make a picture of me.

43:54 - So I’m telling you, consecrated forms are not limited to its physical space.

44:02 - And you being anxious. . well, you have this choice, every one of you have this choice, You can use this mind, either to create well-being or misery for yourself.

44:25 - This is one thing you have to come to terms with. You must understand, if you’re feeling wonderful right now, it must be because of you.

44:35 - If you’re feeling terrible right now, it is because of you.

44:41 - Other things may stimulate, but essentially all human experience is caused by you, you and you alone.

44:51 - How much are you enslaved to external situations is simply determined by how compulsively reactive you are.

45:03 - If you’re very reactive, what is around you will determine how you are right now.

45:09 - If you are a conscious response to the world in which you live, your well-being, will be very much in your hands.

45:18 - Devi’s grace, can be used for something much higher than just beating your anxiety. .