FOREWORD

THOSE WHO LIVE AND WORK closely with Sadhguru are no stranger to his unpredictable and unconventional ways. Yet, sometimes, his chameleon-like ability to adapt to situations and his visionary ability to alter situations are astonishing to witness. To be fair, before the Youth and Truth movement, Sadhguru gave us volunteers at the Isha Yoga Center a heads-up – that we would be seeing him in a very different avatar. We also had to rejig ourselves to be in sync with this avatar and the youth he was reaching out to.

Sadhguru began undergoing visible changes. He was riding his motorcycle more, and wearing a T-shirt and denims. His choice of words and style of communication were becoming more informal and wittier than usual. Despite his white beard, he seemed to embody a youth. In fact, he exemplified what he had said before: that “youth” need not necessarily be linked with age, that youthfulness is very much in one’s outlook – in not jumping to conclusions but willing to look at life fresh all the time. This movement was as much for the “youthful” as it was for the “youth”.

To gear up and breathe life into this new movement, the various departments at Isha Foundation had to undergo a dramatic transformation and exhibit their youthfulness. It was as if our daily Yogic practices, which involved bending and twisting the body, found a new arena – summoning a new flexibility on the mental scape! The Sounds of Isha, accustomed to producing profound devotional songs, found themselves dabbling in the genre of rap music and strumming the electric guitar. The website team wracked their brains on how to create a “cool” Youth and Truth site. The media team had to move beyond the realm of TV and newspaper and enlist young YouTube stars and Instagram sensations to engage with Sadhguru. The design team shed the elegant motifs used for Isha’s brochures and began doodling in earnest to make graffiti art.

It was in August 2018, at the end of a long conference call, that Sadhguru told the Isha core team, “Get ready.” What followed was a whirlwind month of Youth and Truth events at colleges and universities across India. Sadhguru was adamant that these be interactive sessions with students, not a monologue by him. It was to be a “gossip”, as captured by the byline of the movement: Exploring truth not with the seriousness of gospel but with the playfulness of gossip. He wanted students to ask him whatever they wanted, not inhibited by pressure or influence from teachers or parents. Nothing was off limits – from topics that were taboo, politically incorrect or controversial, to matters that were very personal, vulnerable and honest. They were even free to question Sadhguru himself and all that he stands for!

And so, in the run-up to the first event, Isha volunteers went all out to let the millennial generation know what was in store for them. Youth saw advertisements of a Ducati-riding Guru, watched their film idols interviewing him, and heard the audacious, grilling questions in the “Poochu Kya?” rap songs on social media. Sadhguru’s tweet only added to the momentum: “Social media is gossip gone global. Let’s raise it to the next level. When you gossip with a Mystic, your gossip goes cosmic.”

Gradually, “Youth and Truth – Unplug with Sadhguru” started buzzing in student groups, generating excitement. But still, students had reservations about what to ask a guru. Isha volunteers struggled to convince them that Sadhguru was open to taking any kind of question from them. It was only after the video of the first event went viral online that students could fathom how lively and approachable Sadhguru was. They happily let down their guard and brought out their deepest questions. The festive atmosphere at the events also helped everyone to loosen up. Concerts by pop singers had everyone dancing, and martial arts performances by Isha Samskriti students left one and all in awe. Sadhguru mingled with the youthful audience, taking selfies, or going to play a round of frisbee or football with them. They discovered in Sadhguru someone they could “unplug” with – who did not conform to established sets of tradition or ideology, who was unprejudiced, all-inclusive.

This book is an attempt to provide a glimpse into some of the most insightful conversations from the series of Youth and Truth events of September 2018, as well as later events that took place in India and abroad. It features the full talks at: Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi; Regional Institute of Education, Demonstration Multipurpose School, Mysuru (Sadhguru’s alma mater); Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; and Columbia Business School, New York. Following each talk is a candid, behind-the-scenes account from students and volunteers.

Youth and Truth demonstrated the power of a question. We hope readers can recognize and celebrate this power in their lives. Questions that have the power to tear down assumptions and allow new perspectives to dawn, to shake societal structures and pave the way for change, to kindle more questions and lead us towards the wonder of discovery, and to nurture empathy, acceptance and bring us together as one.

Isha Publications

INTRODUCTION

IN THE LAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS that I’ve been active with people, there has been a constant refrain: thousands of people ask me, “Sadhguru, where were you when I was twenty? You have come when I am sixty. If you had come when I was twenty, I would have lived differently – I would have done this, I would have done that.” I’ve been hearing this continuously, so I decided to step out and meet all those people who are below twenty-five. That’s how this Youth and Truth came about.

What we call life is essentially a combination of a certain amount of time and energy. Time is passing for all of us at the same pace. If we sit, it passes. If we stand, it passes. If we do something, it passes. If we laze around, it will pass. Awake or asleep, time is rolling for all of us. Time is not manageable; the only thing we can really manage is our energies.

When you are in that segment of life which is known as youth, you are at the peak of your energy. This is something most youth do not realize till it passes. Life is not going to be the same as the years roll. When this energy – which is the only manageable part of our life – is raging at its peak, if we can bring ourselves to a certain level of clarity and balance, it could become a phenomenal force in our life. This energy could become a possibility to unfold our genius.

Every individual has a certain genius within them. Will they find the necessary atmosphere, attitude, and situation within and around themselves to unfold this? That is the only question. Unfortunately, I think not even one percent of the human population manages to really let their genius blossom in their life because they are too concerned with their livelihood. Very few people remain unconcerned and explore the possibility of what can be done at their peak.

My endeavor is to raise this percentage to ten percent in this generation. Then we will have a brilliant and phenomenal world, because, after all, a society, nation and the world are products of human genius. Whether we live as a mediocre society or exceptional society is not decided by the masses on the street, but those few brilliant minds which shine in each generation. If we increase the percentage of that brilliance and allow it to unfold in a society, that society will flourish in a different way. Individual genius has always been the focus in Indian culture, because ultimately that is the determining factor. That is why, as part of Youth and Truth, I have been frequenting universities, to assist the youth in this process of igniting their genius.

“Youth are natural seekers of truth. Time to empower them with the needed clarity, commitment, and courage to find their truth.”

SHRI RAM COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, NEW DELHI

4 September 2018

Sadhguru: Namaskaram and good morning to everyone. So this endeavor called Youth and Truth is going to last for some time. And it’s our privilege – and your privilege – that SRCC is the first institution where we are starting. [Applause]

Shriram (Moderator): Namaskaram, Sadhguru. There is no need of much elaboration as to how privileged we are to have you amongst us.

Sadhguru: You can introduce yourself.

Shriram: So, I’m Shriram.

Sadhguru: You were born here? [Laughs]

Shriram: [Laughs] It so happens. I’m a third-year BCom Honors student.

Pranit (Moderator): Namaskaram, Sadhguru. I’m Pranit from Ludhiana and I’m a second-year BCom student.

Riya (Moderator): Namaskaram, Sadhguru. I’m Riya. I’m a first-year BA Economics Honors student.

Shriram: We all are fortunate to have gotten this opportunity to mediate this event.

Sadhguru: No. Mediation comes in only when we have a fight. [Shriram laughs] We don’t have a fight, so…

Shriram: A lot of people had a lot of questions to ask, and we have tried our best to shortlist them and put forward whatever is relevant. Sadhguru, all of us sitting in this hall have some goals. And as most of us are students, our goals are at the maximum level. We are very eager to know, when you were our age, what was that thing which you wanted to become? What was your goal?

Sadhguru: Oh, this is beginning like an interrogation! [Laughter] Well, frankly I had no goal of any kind, to such a point that my father used to say, “What will this boy do? He’s not interested in anything.” Well, it was completely wrong. I was not interested in the things that he was interested in, but I was absolutely interested in many, many things.

See, when we say “goals”, we must understand this – if you set a goal for your life from where you are, you can only set a goal according to your present level of understanding and knowledge, isn’t it? You think you’ve reached a point where you know everything in the universe? So if you set a goal, what kind of goal will you set? A very meager goal. And if you grow rapidly, you will be terribly disappointed with your own goal. But this has been taught to you in the recent years that you must be goal-oriented.

Let’s say you want mangoes in your house – you don’t have to think of mangoes. You have to think of soil, manure, water, sunlight. None of them look or taste like mangoes. But if you take care of those things, mangoes will come. Suppose you have a strong desire for mangoes, but you did nothing about growing a mango tree in your home; you will want to steal them from him [pointing to Pranit] if he has them. Yes or no?

Every year, we have a business event in the month of November. All the top business leaders have been there. Two hundred CEOs come every year to train with us for four days. So last year, one of them, who is running a major multinational company, was asking me, “Sadhguru, we pick the best from the IITs and the IIMs, and we keep paying them more and more, and they keep asking for more and more. But when I look at your organization, you pay nothing to any of them, and it seems to function many times better than our corporation. What is the secret?”

I said, “See, this is all it is – we are devoted to the process; we are not concerned about the goal.” We are absolutely devoted to the process. Because if you do not do what you’re doing right now well, your goal is just going to be a fancy desire, isn’t it?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: I would tell the young people, “Don’t set a goal.” If you have absolute devotion to what you’re doing right now, depending upon the times and the opportunities, you will go as far as you go. But if you’re always concerned about the finish line and not the step that you’re taking right now, you will most probably fall flat on your face. If you get to the goal, you will be disappointed. If you don’t get there, you will be broken.

I want you to look at it. Don’t just go by what I say. Just go on the street and watch people. Leave the people who are driving a bullock cart and this and that. Watch those people who are driving BMWs, Mercedes and whatever else. Carefully watch the successful people. How many of them are joyfully driving their BMW or their dream car that they worked for? You will see hardly anybody, unless it’s a stolen car! [Laughter]

So those who have gotten to their goals are disappointed, and those who could not get there are broken and frustrated. What’s the point of a life like this?

Your ability to do things is enhanced only when you’re absolutely devoted to the process you’re involved in. I’m using the word “devotion” intentionally, because people think devotion means going to the temple. You tell me, in any arena of life – sport, art, music, politics, spirituality, academics, name it whatever you want – has anybody reached any significant levels of achievement without being devoted to what they’re doing? Hello?

Audience: No.

Sadhguru: They have done mediocre things. But only those who are absolutely devoted to what they’re doing have done significant things on this planet, and that’s what you must do. [Applause]

Pranit: Sadhguru, so as you told us, those who achieve their goals aren’t that happy…

Sadhguru: [Makes a growling sound and pouncing motion, with fingers spread like claws; Pranit pauses] I thought I’ll just scare you a little bit. [Laughter]

Pranit: …and those who don’t have goals are also not happy, but goals are the starting point.

Sadhguru: No, no, no. Please let me correct this. Is a goal a starting point or a finishing line? Which is it?

Pranit: It’s both ways. [Laughs]

Sadhguru: How is that? How is a goal a starting point? Please, you must tell me. All of you, is goal a starting point or a finishing line?

Audience: Finishing line.

Pranit: But goal is something that motivates us … like once we think of a goal in mind…

Sadhguru: Ah, you’re coming to the point now. So, you have been trained like a circus monkey. [Laughter] You know, circus monkeys are like this – if you want them to do a trick, you have to give them a sweet. [Gestures like a circus monkey; audience laughs] Otherwise, “I won’t do it.” Then, one more little sweet. Don’t be a circus monkey. I thought we evolved out of being monkeys a long time ago.

You’re only working because of “What will I get? What will I get?” What the hell will you get? You’ll die one day, that’s all. [Applause] You think you’re going to get something in the end? No, you’re just going to die one day. The question is only how beautiful, significant and intense a life you have lived. That’s all there is. Goal is an end point, isn’t it? What do you think you’ll get at the end of your life? I want you to visit old age homes and hospices where people are reaching the end of their lives. Just look at them. What do you think they have got? Nothing. Either they lived a profound life or they did not. That’s all there is.

Pranit: Sadhguru, humans, and especially youngsters, have a lot of desires in their lives. But many a time we all are told, “Be content with what you have.” But it comes to my mind that if we’re satisfied, won’t that lead to an end to progress?

Sadhguru: I don’t know what kind of teachers you have met who told you, “Be content.” Well, the word “contentment” comes from the word meaning containment. If you think containing your life is an answer, this is simply because you’re just shit scared of life. That’s all it is. See, if you step out into the world, something may happen to you. Possible? [No response from audience] Hey, are we on talking terms or no? What’s the problem here?

Audience: Yes!

Sadhguru: If you step out of the house, something may happen.

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Anything may happen – life may happen, death may happen, injury may happen, terrible things may happen, wonderful things may happen. Yes or no?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: So one day, something a little terrible happened to you. Now, you come to your philosophy: “Don’t step out of your house. Something terrible may happen to you.” Yes, it may happen. But something absolutely wonderful can also happen to you. If you contain yourself, you can avoid both. Essentially, you’re trying to insulate yourself against life. People come to me and say, “Sadhguru, please bless us that nothing should happen to us.”

I say, “What kind of blessing is this? My blessing is, let everything happen to you! Let everything that’s life happen to you.” [Applause] First thing you must decide is, have you come here to avoid life or have you come here to experience life? Please make up your mind right now.

Audience: Experience!

Sadhguru: Well, if you want to experience your life, it doesn’t mean you must get intoxicated. If you want to experience your life, that doesn’t mean every evening you have to party. If you want to experience your life, you must bring this one instrument that you have to experience life [referring to the human system] to its highest possible sensitivity. If this becomes super-sensitive, it will experience everything in the universe. If you keep it dull and lethargic, you will be right here; you won’t know what the hell is happening around you.

Right now, because people are heavily goal-oriented, they don’t know what’s happening around them. They are only interested in the finishing line. The finishing line comes as a consequence of a certain efficient process. It does not come because you desire it. Success does not come because you desire it. It will not happen to those who are just desiring it; it will only happen to those who are doing the right things right now. [Applause]

Riya: So Sadhguru, you have always emphasized on how important clarity is in comparison to confidence or courage. But for people of our generation, confidence is something that’s at a different level. Even when my nerves were racking to be here on the stage with you…

Sadhguru: Really?

Riya: Yes. [Laughs]

Sadhguru: Do I look so dangerous?

Riya: No.

Sadhguru: [Laughs] No, you’re safe, don’t worry. I was only trying to scare him [pointing to Pranit], not you. [Laughter]

Riya: Each of my friends emphasize on how confident I should be. So, do you think that overrating confidence has led to undermining the importance of clarity?

Sadhguru: Very much. See, confidence means this: now this hall is reasonably well lit. If I ask you to walk from there to there, do you need confidence?

Riya: No.

Sadhguru: Why? Because you can see things clearly. If we turn off the lights, make it pitch dark, and I ask you to walk from there to there, do you need confidence?

Riya: No.

Sadhguru: You do. If I ask you to walk in total darkness on the street, don’t you need confidence?

Riya: Yeah.

Sadhguru: Why? No clarity. So, somebody thought confidence is a substitute for clarity. Let’s say, you can’t see clearly. You want to cross one of the main streets in Delhi. How to build confidence? Well, you can say “Jai Shri Ram” and run across the street. Or you can say “Allah-hu-Akbar” or “Hail Mary” and run across the street. You may make it just by sheer chance or because of the compassion of some driver. [Laughter] But if you try this every day, we know where to pick you up. [Applause]

I’m asking, is confidence really a substitute for clarity? The problem is like this… You take a coin and flip it: “Heads – ‘I will do it.’ Tails – ‘I will not do it.’” There are a whole lot of people in the world who are doing this. The problem with the coin is that it has only two faces; the problem with life is that it has a million faces. So, this heads and tails looks like it solves your problem, but for those who are right only fifty percent of the time in their lives, there are only two professions left. They can either become a weather person and predict weather, or an astrologer. In any other profession, they’ll be fired. [Applause]

See, it happens many times that if you just run across the street, you make it. That’s the whole problem. There is an element of chance in life through which you can make it. This is something young people must decide, it is very important: Do you want to build your life on chance or on your competence?

Audience: Competence!

Sadhguru: Suppose you’re successful by chance, you’re always insecure and fearful, isn’t it?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: If you’ve made it by your competence, then it’s a different matter – if this doesn’t work, we’ll do something else; if that doesn’t work, we’ll do something else. Because we built a competence. But if you’re living by chance, then if you make it, you’re fearful you’ll lose the position. If you don’t make it, of course, you know the pain. [Applause]

Pranit: So Sadhguru, nowadays we see a lot of young people are in relationships. A public display of affection (PDA) is quite common and popular among the young generation, and it’s very normal for all of us to, you know, hug our friends or kiss our partners openly in front of others. But our previous generation consider PDA as something vulgar. It’s very strange that love offends someone. So, my question is, whose outlook do you support? That of the young generation or of your own generation? [Laughter]

Sadhguru: What makes you think you’re younger than me? [Cheers] No, no, I don’t agree that you’re younger than me! [Laughs]

There are many aspects to this question. You said that today young people have relationships. Unfortunately, you have come to a place where you think that a relationship means it must be body-based, that there must be something biological involved. Biology is a part of our life. But the significance of becoming human compared to other creatures is they’re complete biology and we are only part biology. We have other dimensions to us. We have an intelligence. We have an emotion. We have a consciousness which is of another dimension. Biology is only one part of us.

If an earthworm says, “I have a relationship,” and two of them tangle each other, I understand. If a human being says, “I have a relationship,” it could be a friend, a brother, a sister. It could be a variety of relationships and also body-based relationships. So, using the word “relationship” only with biological stuff is essentially because somewhere, unknowingly, may be because of the internet, you’ve gotten enslaved to America. It all started in the United States. Relationship means it has to be about the opposite sex, or something sexual. Why can’t you hold relationships of other kinds? Are we not capable? Can’t we have every intimate, profound relationships with people without fondling their bodies? I’m asking, possible or no?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Biology is not the most prominent aspect of being human. It is there. It’s not something you can put under the carpet. It is very much there, but it is not the dominant aspect of being human. With other creatures, it is so. With a human being, the most significant aspects are our intelligence, our emotion, our consciousness – these are big things. Body is just one part of it. I’m not saying you must ignore the body. Body is there.

Now when you say “young people”, you’re talking about those people whose intelligence has been hijacked by hormones. [Laughter] When you were ten years of age, you looked at people and everybody was fine. They were quite okay. You became fourteen, fifteen, and you looked at them – every little bump on their body suddenly became a world by itself. [Laughter] You have to wait for some more time. When the hormonal thing goes down, then you look at people, again they will all look normal. [Applause] So, it’s not a question of right and wrong, it’s not a question of morality. It is just a question of priority – what kind of priority you want to give to your own bodily compulsions.

Just now when I was coming to your college, somebody in a main street was standing there and urinating. When he feels like it, he does it. What’s the problem? No problem! Because when you feel like it, you do whatever you want and you think it’s your right. He also thinks it’s his right – when he feels like it, he urinates on the street. “What’s wrong? Dogs are doing it, donkeys are doing it, cattle are doing it. Everybody is doing it.” [Laughter] “Be natural” – this is the philosophy you are talking about.

I’m saying, there is a certain sanctity to relationships, especially body-based relationships. If you don’t maintain that sanctity, after some time it’ll definitely become vulgarity. So, somebody is able to see it before you can, that if you go like this, tomorrow it’ll lead to something else. This does not mean being a moral prude. No. But if you don’t maintain that sanctity, you will regret how relationships will become. Later on, you will see how much pain they can bring in your life.

So, you’re talking about the previous generation. I neither belong to that nor do I belong to your generation. I belong to the future generations, that’s why I’m like this! [Laughs] [Applause] The previous generation that you’re talking about was a generation which came just post-Independence. You must understand their reality. They lived as an occupied nation for a period of time. Some of them fought, others slinked around. Whichever way, their ideas of morality, essentially, were of their masters. It is British prudery that they carried within themselves. Their idea of being “right” is that they must be in a straitjacket all the time. You don’t have to go by that, neither do you have to do something stupid in reaction to that. You must conduct your life sensibly. You must conduct your life in such a way that this will work for you for your entire life, in some sense.

You do something wacky today, and there may be a payment tomorrow. So, why don’t you think it through – what is the best thing to do? How much of what should I do? How much of body, how much of intelligence, how much of emotion, how much of consciousness. In your life, you must decide which should dominate your life. Accordingly, you conduct it – it’s fine. Somebody doesn’t like it, they need not see it. [Applause]

Shriram: Sadhguru, now I want to ask you something out of the context. So, when we all sat for deciding on the questions which we want to ask, a girl came up with something very unique which she noticed in you, and we felt it is relevant. Why is it that wherever you go to kind of preach or talk about stuff, you sit in a particular position? You know, with the sandal removed from your left foot, left leg up and your right leg on the ground intact. Is it your style or is it a way that one should sit?

Sadhguru: Do you still use the Indian toilet? [Laughter]

Shriram: Yeah.

Sadhguru: Yes. Do you sit in a particular way? [Applause] I am just asking you, do you? Why? Because the body is made like that. I forget the name of the university – some university in the United States did a study and they said, “This is the best way to shit!” [Laughter] Because your thighs will go into your abdomen and press it out. Everything that needs to come out will come out. If what needs to come out doesn’t come out, it will slowly rise to your head. [Laughter] Yes!

So, in the Yogic sciences we observed that certain types of body positions will support one to perform different types of activity to the best. Or, in other words, in what is known as Hatha Yoga, the physical postures are about manipulating the body in such a way that you get to a certain geometric perfection, that your geometry is aligned with the larger geometry of creation so that you are always in sync, you are never off. And how balanced you are, how clearly you see things and how well you do things, simply depend on how much you are in sync with everything else around you. Whether it’s people or trees or life or just space, whether you are in sync with it or not will decide how smooth, how friction-free your function is in the world. Now, I don’t sit like this all the time – only when I speak.

If I have to explain how I am sitting … There is something called Siddhasana. There are many aspects to it. One simple aspect is, there is a point on the left heel that today the medical sciences are calling the “Achilles”. You’ve heard of that? You’ve heard of the man, Achilles? [Talking to Pranit] You didn’t see the movie Troy? An innocent boy! So, you put your Achilles at what is called the muladhara or the perineum in your body. If these two things touch, many aspects are cleared out within you for that period of time. Your thoughts are clear, your emotions are calmed, and there is a very clear perception of what’s happening around you.

You’ve heard that Achilles was killed because an arrow was shot to his heel. You don’t believe if somebody hurts your heel, you will die. Isn’t it so? But Achilles died that way. And there is another person who died that way in India, way before him.

Audience: Krishna.

Sadhguru: Yesterday was his birthday – Krishna Janmashtami. He also died in this way. What this is trying to tell you is that they were killed in an expert way. Not just slitting your throat or breaking your head, but just putting a point at the Achilles – so they had to die.

There is a certain energy system in the body. If that point of Achilles is in touch with your muladhara, when you sit like this, there is a certain balance, that you don’t take any sides. See, all of us have our own opinions, ideas, ideologies, stuff – our own experiences of life. Your own experiences of life and imprints that you have taken in your mind influence everything that you see. You like this person, you don’t like this person, you love that person, you hate this person – all this is because you are constantly taking positions of your own. But if you really want to know life, the most important thing is you don’t take any position. You’re willing to look at everything absolutely fresh every moment of your life.

This is very difficult for people to understand. People who have been with me every day for thirty, thirty-five years, working with me, doing so many things – I still don’t have a single opinion about them. Only when I need to do some work, I may look at their competence and stuff. But I don’t have a single opinion about anybody who is around me for such a long time. By now you should have formed your opinions, but I don’t, because that is the essence of the spiritual process – that we’re constantly looking at every life as a possibility.

There is, of course, a distance between possibility and reality. Some will have the courage and commitment to travel that distance. Some will not. But every life is a possibility. If you want to keep that possibility open, you never ever form an opinion of any sort about anybody. Good, bad, ugly – you don’t form these opinions. You simply look at them right now. How are they right now, this moment – that’s all that matters to me. How you were yesterday is not my business. How you may be tomorrow, let’s see. Tomorrow must be created, not concretized right now, isn’t it? [Applause]

It’s a certain geometry of the body. I’m telling you, right now, the Western cultures are going about propagating, “Yoga is another stretching exercise. Instead of that, you can do Pilates, you can do boxing, you can play tennis.” See, if you want to be just fit, then go run somewhere, climb a mountain, play tennis, do something. Yoga is not about fitness. Fitness is just one consequence.

The important thing is to get the right geometry of life, because the physical universe is all geometry. Now, this building is standing here. How long will it stand? Whether it will fall on our head today or stand for a long time essentially depends on how geometrically perfect it is. The same goes for the body, the same goes for the planetary system, the same goes for the universe, the same goes for everything. Planet Earth is going around the sun not with a steel cable attached to it. Just perfection of geometry, isn’t it? If a little off-geometry happens, it’s gone forever – and that’s true with you also. If you go off your fundamental geometry, you are gone.

It’s very important that at an early age you do the right things to bring a right sense of geometry – now, you become competent to go through life. Those people who are thinking only good things should happen to them, obviously, they are unfit for life. Because, if you do not know how to go through harsh situations well, joyfully, then you will avoid all possibilities, isn’t it? You will avoid all great possibilities of life, simply because you want to avoid a little bit of difficulty. Only when you are geometrically in a certain state of congruence, are you willing to go through any situation no matter what it is. [Applause]

Riya: That was really profound.

Sadhguru: Achcha?

Riya: Sadhguru, jealousy is always considered as a really cynical emotion. But to be honest, for me, it has worked so well…

Sadhguru: [Laughs] What did you get to do, hm?

Riya: It motivates me. [Sadhguru laughs] So, every time my friend learns something new, I just get this innate urge to perform better. And it’s probably why I have landed up in my dream college. So, do you think that jealousy is actually a negative emotion, or does it motivate you to do better?

Sadhguru: See, these days fortunately it’s gone. When we were growing up, especially when Diwali came, in small towns, one fun that people had was to fill a can with firecrackers and tie it to a donkey’s tail. When it went dum dum dum!, the poor donkey ran all over the place faster than a horse. You think that’s the way to motivate life? [Applause] There are better and more intelligent ways of doing things. Well, when you feel like your tail is burning, you may run. If a dog is chasing you, you will run really fast. But, you know Mr Bolt? He does not run because his tail is on fire. He runs because he has prepared his legs and lungs in such a way, whichever way he runs, he is faster than everybody. Isn’t that the way to run? [Applause]

You want to run either because a dog is chasing you or because your tail is on fire. No, that’s not a pleasant way to run. One thing is, it is important that you run fast. Another thing is that your experience of running is fantastic. Isn’t that important?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Well, you got into your dream college, but it could be three years of hell, who knows? Is it not important that these three years are a fantastic experience for you? Running is not the only important thing. Suppose we ran because our tails were on fire – now we understand the only way to make people run is to set their tails on fire. How much damage we will cause to everybody! And, I’ve seen these donkeys running faster than a race horse because they’re terrified. That’s not the way to run. Please don’t do that to yourself. Not anymore, okay? Now the dream has come true. [Applause]

Riya: Yeah.

Shriram: Sadhguru, now that we talked about her dream college…

Sadhguru: Hey, it’s okay. You were born here, so it’s all right. [Laughter]

Shriram: …I take the leverage of putting you in a situation. Suppose you are a third-year student at SRCC. Most of the third-years would join me in the mindset that this is the time, you know, where we have a lot of options – we can opt for placements, we can do higher studies, we can pursue CA, etc. But at times it so happens that our mission or our goal about life is different from that of our parents. Have you ever come across such a situation where your goals are not in line with your parents’, and is it okay to kind of go against them?

Sadhguru: See, they had goals and goals. I had none. So I never came across such a thing. [Applause] My father is a very good man, and academically, all his life he’s been at the top, and he’s a physician. In India, we have a malice that, first thing is you become a doctor. If you cannot, you become an engineer. If you cannot, then only you end up in commerce. [Laughter] At least in the previous generation. When we were growing up, that was the thing. So obviously, his dream was I should become a doctor. I hope he is not on the web, listening to me! Because he studied in such a way that for him it was a passion. He lost his mother when he was four years of age – she died of tuberculosis. So, though he is from a very large business family, he committed that he will become a doctor. Because somewhere, a four-year-old boy felt that if there was a good doctor, his mother would have lived. For him, being a doctor was not a profession; it was like his religion. He lived like that. So naturally, he wanted all his four children to become doctors. First one didn’t become a doctor, second one didn’t, third one didn’t, and I got caught. [Laughter]

At the age of ten or eleven, I clearly told him, “See, one thing is I’m never going to be a doctor. Please don’t pin your hopes on me.”

He showed me all his piles of notes that he’d kept during his studies. He said, “I’ve kept all this so that one of you will become a doctor.” Well, all three went different ways, and me going nowhere. [Laughter] I am only interested in biology, which means I’m interested in the jungle – not in dissecting something, but just in looking and absorbing things.

So a time came when I finished my – what do you call Plus Two today?

Riya: Twelfth grade.

Sadhguru: Twelfth. At that time, it was called “pre-university course”. I finished my twelfth standard and I decided I will not go to the university. By then I had cycled across southern India, I had seen more life than most people would have seen. I had done some small trading of this and that, and earned a lot of money. “Lot” means in those days a few thousand rupees. Maybe I had 50,000 to 60,000 rupees when I was seventeen years of age. All rolled up. I didn’t know what’s banking, so I rolled it up and put rubber bands, and hid it all over so that my brother doesn’t steal it.

I had a lot of money, and I had a bicycle, and I wanted to go to Moscow on my bicycle. I was preparing for that. So, I was not going to the university, for sure. In this family, if you fail, there’s an advantage – you don’t go to the university. If I knew that, I would’ve just failed. But the problem is I’d passed. So I said, “I won’t go to the university. I will educate myself.”

He said, “What? Not going to the university?”

I said, “No.”

Then, once I said I’m not going to the university, suddenly, I became such an evil in the family. Everybody started looking at me like, “What is wrong with you?” I couldn’t understand. What are they reacting to? I don’t want to go to the university, what is their problem? First of all, I never understood why I should go to the university.

That one whole year, just to handle the reaction I got, I did something very unique and uncharacteristic of me. I went to the Mysore University library every day. When the library opened at nine o’clock, I was there. I was the first customer. When it closed at eight o’clock, I was the last one to get out. These days, many of you are well-fed – those days we were also well-fed, but the level of activity was such, I was always hungry. At that time, I would actually eat at least ten times more than what I eat today. So, no matter how much I ate, I was always hungry. But this one year, I went without a lunch. It’s not a small thing. You [pointing at Pranit] can easily go without lunch. But for me, who was scrawny and had a concave stomach all the time, going without lunch for one year was like a big feat.

I just read anything to anything. You know, from Kalidasa to Homer, to popular mechanics, to many, many years of National Geographic, and all kinds of books on physics, mathematics, astronomy, whatever. One whole year, every day, eleven hours a day, I read and read and read. That’s the only reading I did. After that, me and books don’t go together.

Then, after one year, I realized that just gathering all this information is a waste of time for me. And when the next academic year came, there was drama at home. My mother was crying and said, “What are you wasting your life for? We thought you will become this, you will become that.”

I said, “I don’t know what I’ll become.”

But she put so much pressure: “Just get into some college. Whether you go there or not, I will not ask. Just get into some college.”

Then I thought through this and I said, “Okay, I’ll do English literature.” Because in this one year, I had developed some appetite for reading literature and poetry, and I myself was writing many poems about just anything. So I joined literature. I went to college.

First day, a teacher came and read a book. Everybody was writing down karrah karrah.* These days it doesn’t make noise, but those days, the fountain pens – fifty people were writing karrah karrah. I didn’t like this. I just looked into the teacher’s book. Then I saw it is a handwritten book, her notes. I said, “Ma’am, if you give that book to me, I’ll make photocopies of this and give it to everybody. You don’t have to come, we don’t have to come.” [Applause] “But if you want me to come here, I have millions of questions – like a dark cloud, it’s hanging around my head. I’m going to ask these questions. If you cannot answer these questions, I cannot sit here.” Then, I made a deal with all the teachers that they give me attendance, and I won’t bother them with questions. [Applause] This deal worked pretty well for three years and I got out.

Is this what my father wanted? Definitely not. I’m saying this to you not so that you simply go against your parents – that’s not the point. The point is, this life is precious. Now when you’re talking about “What shall I do? Shall I do this, shall I do that?” – is it only about how to earn a living? You must get off that. Education is not about earning a living. When an earthworm, grasshopper, every insect, bird and animal can earn a living, what is the big deal about survival with such a big brain?

Survival is not the big thing for the human being. Survival has become a problem because you want to survive like somebody else. That’s the whole problem. If you want to survive, it’s not a problem. My father would ask, “How will you make a living? How will you live? What will you earn?”

I said, “If nobody wants to feed me, I’ll go into the jungle.” Many times, I went off into the forest and just survived off the forest without any food support from anywhere else.

So, survival is not the issue. What are we going to do with this life? Are we going to take this life to full potential, or are we going to be those people who are just shit scared of life itself? “What will happen to my food, what will happen to my food?” What is this? When a street dog is not bothered, happily wagging his tail and going about tuk tuk tuk, what is your problem with such a big brain? You don’t educate for survival. You educate because you want to expand your horizons. You want to make this life into a worthwhile life. That’s what matters. [Applause] Will it be in conflict with many people? Of course, it will be. Because they think you won’t make it.

I must tell you this, now that you asked this question. This was almost thirty-four years ago. There was a person who was like a godfather to my wife at that time. She was still working in a bank. I was living on my motorcycle, traveling all over the place. I would teach here and there once in three to four months, but the rest of the time I was simply riding across the country with no purpose. So, one day I came to Bangalore, and I went to their home because the entire night I’d been riding. I wanted to shower and have some food, and then go pick up my wife from the bank. I showered and ate well. And then this man sat in front of me and said, “See, I know somebody in the Bangalore Development Authority. In this particular extension there are some house sites available. You must get yourself a house site.”

I said, “What? Me, buy a house site? For what? I live on the motorcycle. Why will I buy a house site?”

He said, “No, you’re married. You can’t be like this. You need to have a house someday. You must buy a house site.”

I said, “Don’t you tell me this. If I want to buy real estate, I wouldn’t buy a house site; I will buy a town. Okay? So, that’s not my interest at all. I’m not going to buy a house site, please don’t try to push me. Thank you for the meal and the shower, but…”

Then he looked at me hopelessly and asked, “How long will you go on like this?”

I said, “As long as my marbles roll.” That’s about it. That’s how long everybody goes about in their life.

Then I went out. After eighteen years of no contact, he called me in 2017. Because the government gave me this Padma Vibhushan, he called me and he said, “I never thought your marbles will roll this far!” [Applause]

See, the problem is just this – people value something only because it’s recognized by somebody. That means they’re blind, isn’t it? If you look at this light, you must know this is light. If you look at this and don’t know what it is, and I say, “See, that is light,” that means you’re blind. Yes or no? Unfortunately, a whole lot of people can see light only when you say it is light; otherwise they can’t see it. Don’t go by such people, whoever they may be. It doesn’t matter who they are. [Applause]

Pranit: So, Sadhguru…

Sadhguru: You can hold the mic close, it’s not dangerous. [Laughter]

Pranit: Okay. So, expression of opinion is a fundamental right given to all the citizens of the country. And we youngsters, born in the era of social media, are not at all hesitant about expressing our opinions on social platforms or to anyone. But there are times when by expressing our opinion, we might hurt someone’s sentiments, or other people might get offended by what we say. So in such a situation, how should a youngster use the tool of social media and express his opinion in a very balanced way so that no one is hurt?

Sadhguru: In 280 characters, some of the world leaders are expressing the policy of the nation, all right? They’re even setting foreign policy agenda of major nations in 280 characters on Twitter. So I was telling these Twitter people, “You guys are missing something tremendous just for the numbers [of accounts]. Tomorrow the entire world may set its agenda and policy on Twitter. But that will not happen simply because for seven billion people you have fifteen billion accounts. Most of them are fake.” People who don’t have the courage to put their name out and say “This is what I want to say” are slinks; this is not opinion, isn’t it?

Young people must do this: You can say what you want, but you must have the courage to stand up and say, “Okay, this is what I will say.” Not hide under the chair and say something loudly. What is the point of such a life? What is the point of such an existence? Is it not important that whatever you say, you’re accountable for it? Hello?

Audience: Yes!

Sadhguru: All of you who are managing fake Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, take them away and put your name out there – “This is me and this is what I say. You like it, or you don’t like it. If you don’t like it, please tell me. I will look at it. If you don’t like it, you explain to me why you don’t like it, then I will consider.” But you don’t even want to put your name on it and you want to express your opinion all over the world. No, you have no right to do such things just because you have technological tools. Okay? I can’t stand behind this board [pointing to the backdrop on the stage] and shout something at you. If I want to say something, I must be able to say it to you, isn’t it?

Without responsibility, you should not claim an authority over everybody’s life. I don’t have authority over your life to say whatever I want about your life and what you do. If I want to say something, I must take some responsibility for that, isn’t it? If this is brought about, everybody can say what they want to say.

Only thing is, you’re talking about if it hurts somebody. See, let’s understand this. Speech is communication. Communication between who? Two people. Isn’t it so? Two groups of people or two individuals or whatever. When I’m speaking to you, is it not important that whatever I wish to say I can say? Is it not important that I respect your position? I’m willing to listen to what you say, and then I will say strongly whatever I want to say. I will say it very strongly. See, look at me! What I say, I will say it very strongly. “I’m not even willing to listen to you” – that is not at all acceptable. But right now, that is the instrument social media has given to people that they can say what they want and they don’t have to listen to anybody. If you say something, they will abuse you. Abuse is also language, isn’t it so? Shall I use it right now on you? [Speaking to Pranit] Do you want to be abused by anybody? [Pranit shakes his head] So if you don’t want to be abused by anybody, you must understand, nobody else wants to be abused either. [Applause]

Shriram: Sadhguru, so you have built such a huge Adiyogi statue at your ashram, and whoever visits that place is in awe of that particular statue. So do you think nowadays, in the current scenario, things have to be done in a mass scale to get noticed?

Sadhguru: No, there’s only one statue, how is it a mass?

Riya: It’s huge…

Shriram: It is built in such huge form.

Sadhguru: The size?

Shriram: Yeah.

Sadhguru: See, what is big and small is according to people’s perceptions. All the people in the Yoga Center say, “Sadhguru, we should have made it a little bigger. It’s looking so small compared to the mountain behind.” So what is small and big is always people’s perception, but there is something called visual impact. Of all the five sensory organs that you have – of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching – if I tell you, “I’m going to take four of these away from you right now,” which one would you like to keep? Just the nose or just the tongue? This is an option. Four you have to lose, one you can keep. Which one will you keep?

Shriram: Everything is important.

Sadhguru: Everything is important, but you’re going to lose four. You must learn to exercise these options, because life is like that. It won’t let you keep everything, something you have to lose. Which four will you want to lose and which one thing will you want to keep?

Shriram: Can you just tell the five?

Sadhguru: Either I’ll take off your eyes, or your eardrums, or your tongue, or your sensation, or your nose. Which one thing do you want to keep? Tell me.

Audience: Eyes!

Sadhguru: Eyes, of course. Because of the five sensory impacts that you have upon you, visual impact is the largest right now. So in that sense, it is not about the size of the Adiyogi; it is about the geometry. To get the geometry perfect in a small size is extremely difficult. So, we needed a certain size to get the geometry easily in place. The geometry of Adiyogi is to exude certain specific qualities.

Is it true that if you go home today and your father is sitting in a certain way, just by looking at his posture, you would know whether he’s angry, happy, unhappy, or disturbed?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: So, we wanted the geometry of Adiyogi to exude three aspects – one is exuberance of life, another is stillness of life, another is intoxication. I worked for two and a half years to get this face right. Many, many faces were made. Then we decided we needed a certain size, and that size became over eighty feet. When it became over eighty feet, we thought the number also has to have some significance. So, we went for 112 feet, because when Adiyogi propounded the different ways in which a human being can attain their highest possibility, he gave 112 ways. It could have been eighty-seven feet. But I thought, if we are going for eighty-seven, what is the problem? We’ll get it to a number that he likes. So it became 112 feet. But we wouldn’t have been able to achieve the geometry of what we wanted in less than eighty to ninety feet. That’s why it’s 112 feet.

Riya: So Sadhguru, you are so revered and you are so cherished. Do you ever get a superiority complex?

Sadhguru: Right now, yes [deepens has voice; straightens and glares at Riya]. [Laughter] See, the question is not about superiority complex, inferiority complex, poverty complex or wealthy complex. That you have a complex is a serious problem, isn’t it? Whatever kind it is! What a complex means is you have assumed something about yourself and you have concretized that assumption in such a way that you make a bloody fool of yourself wherever you go. Do I look like I’m making a bloody fool of myself with you?

Riya: No.

Sadhguru: No. So no complex of any kind.

Riya: All right. But then our confidence fluctuates every day, so what do you have to say about that?

Sadhguru: Because I don’t have any confidence about anything, I just have clarity, people think I have knowledge. No, my head is empty. That’s why to make it look a little substantial, I have a turban. [Laughter] It’s totally empty, always, but I have clarity. Clarity means what? You see things the way they are. Knowledge means what? You have fixed information about everything. If things have changed, you will not see it the way it is. That’s as good as being blind. See, people think owls are blind. It’s not true. Their vision is far more sensitive than yours, but because of sunlight they’re blinded – because it’s too much. What is the power of your glasses?

Riya: Around 3.4.

Sadhguru: Let’s say we put it at ten! Now, if you look at these lights, you’ll feel dazzled. That’s what is happening to an owl in the day. When light goes down, he sees very clearly, not because he’s blind, but because his eyes are supersensitive. So, it’s important that you bring clarity to your life, not knowledge, because knowledge is conclusions that you gather. Knowledge is okay when you’re trying to do something physical, material, in the world, but not with life.

Is it true what you thought was absolute at the age of twelve is not true today? Yes or no? Are you sure that whatever you think as “this is it” right now will be “this is it” in another three years’ time?

Riya: Of course not.

Sadhguru: You know that. So, you know you’re wrong. [Laughs] Yes or no?

Riya: Yes.

Sadhguru: You know anyway you’re wrong, so why assert the wrong things? Well, right now we are wrong, at least let’s manage with a little more consciousness. If you know you’re wrong, you will walk carefully, isn’t it? But if you think you’re absolutely correct, then you will do stupid things and blunder around the world. If you know you are not seeing properly, will you walk carefully or not? Suppose we turn off all the lights suddenly, will you not become super alert and conscious as to how you walk? But when the lights are on, you’re just going unconsciously, bumping into everybody. So, if you learn to walk every moment like there are no lights and you’re looking at everything absolutely carefully, then what you see clearly, you go through it; when you don’t see clearly, you hesitate. Some places you take a little bit of chance. But if you are just confident, you will blunder through life; we don’t know where you will get in and what you will get trapped into.

Most people are trapped in their professions, their family situations and their social situations in such a way that they all become like this [shows a dull, zombie-like face]. Yes? Already I’m seeing, not just older people, even the youth have become like this. “What will happen to me at the end of my life? What will happen to me at the end of my life?” I already revealed the secret: you will die. “But Sadhguru, if this happens what to do, if that happens what to do?” All those things will happen. It’s not that everything will happen in your life the way you like it. Things will happen in the way you don’t like.

It once happened. Shankaran Pillai got fired from his job simply because he asked a question – “Smoking or non-smoking?” How can you get fired for asking such a simple question? Because what he was supposed to ask was, “Cremation or burial?” You’re not getting it? [Laughter]

Many times what you do thinking “I’m right” may be irrelevant to the situation in which you exist. The most important aspect of your life is you are relevant. Not right – you’re just relevant to the existing situation. “I’m right, I’m right, I’m right!” This is confidence. Nobody cares about you being right. All the idiots who think they are right, nobody wants to listen to them, nobody wants to be around them, isn’t it? People who always think “I’m right, I’m right” – you want to be around them? No. The important thing is you are relevant to the situation in which you exist. If you have to bring relevance into your life, you must extinguish your confidence and bring clarity.

There are many systems to develop clarity. See, to develop your muscle, there are systems, isn’t it? Similarly, to develop clarity, there are many systems. Unfortunately, our education system is dulling clarity in so many ways. Some of the research studies in the university show that if a child goes to kindergarten and goes through twenty years of education – I’m sorry, I’m saying this at an educational institution! – and comes out with a PhD, they are saying seventy percent of their intelligence is irrevocably destroyed. So you have a knowledgeable idiot. What do you do with this? Well, you can impress people by throwing information. But this whole game of impressing people, throwing information around, is all going to go, because that Google lady is better than any of these idiots. [Applause]

It’s really amazing. Let’s say I’m flying to the United States, Africa or somewhere. I just ask, “What is the morning temperature in Entebbe? I’m landing there.” Without batting an eyelid, in two seconds, she tells me it’s fourteen degrees Centigrade, by afternoon it’ll be eighteen degrees Centigrade, by evening it’ll be twelve degrees Centigrade. Who could ever say this? She may not be perfectly right, but she’s almost there. So, people who are carrying a basket of information on their heads and feeling superior, I want you to understand this. Just a few generations ago, somebody who could read a book was seen as godlike because everybody else was illiterate. And people thrived simply because they could read the Gita or the Bible or something else. But once everybody could read, we are ignoring those people completely. Yes or no?

Audience: [Few people respond] Yes.

Sadhguru: Tsk. You are falling asleep, I think. Hey, this is not a commerce class! [Laughter] So, people who are carrying information and feeling superior will all be made into nothing in the next fifteen to twenty years’ time. Once artificial intelligence comes all over the place, information will mean nothing because it will be available everywhere. By then you must be competent to do something beyond information. This is why I’m with you. [Applause]

Riya: All right. So now before we open the session for our audience to ask you questions, we have some really popular questions from various social media platforms.

Sadhguru: Whoa!

Pranit: So the people who could not join here, they’ve sent us the questions through various social media platforms, and the first question, I’ll read it out – “Sadhguru, you mentioned that you can do fourteen different activities at a given moment. So, we all are very curious to know, how can we achieve such prowess over both body and mind?”

Sadhguru: Oh! Whoever said this? I didn’t say anything like that. Anyway, do you have a liver?

Pranit: Yes, I do.

Sadhguru: Functioning?

Pranit: Yes. [Laughs]

Sadhguru: Do you know how many levels of activity it’s doing right now? What the liver is doing is far more complex than what your brains are doing right now. Do you know this? A brainless liver, if it can do so many things, a brained Pranit, how many things? No, I was not only talking about activity per se. But yes, activity is also possible. See, you must understand this. Are you on a round planet?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Spinning?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Most people don’t understand this unless, you know, they get sozzled out with something, or they get some ailment where there’s either a few drops more or a few drops less between the ears – suddenly you see the planet is round. Do you know how complex an activity it is for a human being to walk at a certain latitude on a round planet which is spinning and which has magnetic forces working upon you all the time? It’s an extremely complex process. You ask a child who is one year of age, he knows how complex it is. Have you seen? But the moment you learn to walk, you assume that it’s nothing. You are sick of walking. You want to drive a car, you want to ride a motorcycle. But walking is such a complex process. Your knees and your brains and the fluids in your body – all of them are doing not fourteen, but a thousand different functions all the time.

Anyway, you’re doing it. If only you could conduct these things consciously, you would be doing a thousand things. So, I was only talking about different channels of the mind, which you don’t have to actually conduct; you just have to initiate them and leave – it will go on. For you to think about your neighborhood girl, do you have to initiate action every time? No! I’m saying, if she’s pretty, once you look at her, it just goes on by itself, isn’t it? Because you are drawn to it. If you are drawn to ten different things at the same time, the mind is capable of creating ten different channels and keeping them running.

Right now, I think there is one Jain monk, a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy. You’ve heard of him? He’s in the newspapers.

Pranit: Yes, Sadhguru.

Sadhguru: How many things can he do? Ten things or fifteen things. Anyway, there are people in small towns in southern India who are called Shatavadhanis; that means they can do one hundred things at the same time. A complex mathematical problem, a sensation, a music, some raga, this, that, a hundred things at the same time, because that is how complex the human mind is. You can use this complexity to drive yourself crazy with unbridled thought and emotion. If you harness it though, it can do things that nobody has imagined possible. It can do things in a miraculous way. You can manifest things in a phenomenal way if the necessary training goes into you. See, if somebody is walking there, if you just look at how they are walking, can you not make out whether they are physically fit or not? You can see the body has been worked upon.

Similarly, whether the mind has been worked upon or not, whether your energies have been worked upon or not, are things that are visible. Most people may not see, but if you pay attention, you will see. The most sophisticated machine on this planet is this human mechanism. Isn’t it so?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: I’m asking you, have you read the user’s manual?

Audience: No.

Sadhguru: No? When are you going to read it? On the last day? When I see this ridiculous stuff, people reading the Gita when they are dying, I say, “You are reading the user’s manual on the last day. What’s the point?” If you buy a phone, should you read the user’s manual in the first three days or after three years when you want to get rid of the phone?

Audience: First three days…

Sadhguru: You must read it in the first three days. So, I’m not asking you to read a scripture. Well, this [referring to the human system] is a living scripture. Should you not become competent to read this scripture, understand what is the nature of this, the full potential of it, and explore it? Because this life is not about this or that – this life is about this one [referring to oneself]. Yes or no? There is no choice about this. It is just that you can enslave this life to something else and think it’s about that. But actually, it’s about this, isn’t it so? Are you okay with this?

You think right now your life is about education – no! Your life is about this one. You want this one educated. You want this one to do well. You want this one to experience love. You want this one to experience pleasure. You want this one to do all this. All the other things are only attendant things; this one is the real thing, isn’t it?

So, if this is the real thing, does this deserve some amount of attention? “Some amount of attention” does not mean standing in front of the mirror and attending to your skin endlessly. Should you not pay attention to every dimension of what this human being is made of, what makes this life tick and how? If you understand what makes it tick, you can make it roar. If you can make it roar, why fourteen things? You can do many more! [Applause]

Shriram: Sadhguru, I’ll just read the next question out for you. “It is believed that Srinivasa Ramanujan could write mathematical equations as if he had access to the whole universe. He also says that the goddess dictates those mathematical ideas to him. How can I reach that state?”

Sadhguru: First you must find a goddess. You’re interested in this question? Hello?

Audience: [Murmurs “Yes” and “No” ]

Sadhguru: I want to hear whatever I hear loudly, I’ll go by that.

Audience: [Shouts out “Yes” and “No” ]

Sadhguru: “No” is coming late. “Yes” came strong. [Cheers] All of you, do you use a phone?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Why do you use a phone? Why did we first of all make a telephone? Because we can speak. If we had no ability to speak, would we manufacture a microphone, a telephone, or any of these things? Why did we come up with a bicycle? Because we can walk. But we wanted to walk faster, so we ran. We ran and we knew there is a limit. We wanted to go faster than that, so we came up with a bicycle. Suppose we were made like a tree, rooted to one place, would we have invented a bicycle?

Audience: No.

Sadhguru: So a telephone, a telescope, a microscope, bicycle, automobiles, airplanes, everything – we want to enhance what faculties we already have. We did not suddenly come up with any machine for which we had no faculty, because we don’t even know what those things are. Yes? The faculties that we do not have, we have no way to perceive whether they exist or not. We are only trying to take far the faculties that we have.

In this effort, we came up with many machines. All machines here are only enhancing our existing faculties. They have not come up with any absolutely new faculty. In the same context, right from ancient times in this culture, we came up with machines not made of material or a mechanical process, but an energetic process. What does a machine with an energetic process mean? See, suppose somebody is dead. Have you seen any dead people?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Where did you see? I never saw. You saw dead people or dead bodies?

Audience: Dead bodies.

Sadhguru: Ah. Dead body means what? Let’s say, somebody just suffocated and died. Their heart was doing well – maybe not beating, but it was fit. Liver, kidney, everything was all okay. All the mechanical parts are okay. Only thing is, the person is not alive. That life energy is missing. So, this [referring to oneself ] is also an energy machine on one level, isn’t it so? Yes or no?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: This is also an energy machine. On top of it we have put mechanical parts to it. Even if all the mechanical parts are intact, if there is no energy, this will not function. So from looking deep inside, we understood we could create an energetic machine without mechanical parts – because mechanical parts need a certain level of maintenance, servicing, and the works. But if you just create an energy machine, it will simply function day and night.

Let’s say your phone was just an energy machine without mechanical parts – see, it’s happening. From such a big phone, it’s slowly becoming smaller, smaller. With lesser and lesser mechanical parts, it’s becoming more and more efficient. Why do you think? Slowly it is moving towards a space where it is becoming more energetic than mechanical, isn’t it so? Do you remember the old James Bond movies? Such a big phone! Ah, it was looking like a just-born baby. [Laughs] But today it’s become so small.

They are expecting in another probably ten, fifteen years, your phone can be just imprinted on your hand. Simply like this [holds hand up next to his face] you can speak. Or you don’t even have to do this. If you simply wave it around, it will say what you want it to say. From being mechanical, now we are going towards an energy-based machine. From a huge earthmover to a computer, this is the big difference – that it’s more energetic and less mechanical.

So we created energy machines, for which the English word is “deity”. Generally in this culture, we called them as murtis. These are forms – energetic forms which have a certain ability to do certain things. Different forms are like windows to the existence; you could open up different dimensions. All this has been forgotten, made into absolute nonsense today in the form of superstitions. Otherwise it was clearly prescribed. Today people get identified with this or that. They think it is about belonging to their gods. No, “god” is a wrong word for this – these are deities or murtis created with a specific purpose.

If you want intelligence, you go to one kind of deity. If you have fear problems, you go to another kind of deity. You have love issues, you go to another kind of deity. You have prosperity issues, you go to another kind of deity. Like this they made energetic forms which you must learn to use. These are not places of prayer. These are not places of worship. These are places where you learn how to use the machine for your benefit. They were built in various forms and various capacities. They were also connected to people’s genetic information, which we called Kula Devas, where it works only for that genetic pool.

This is a very complex process. So, Ramanujan comes from the south. Why I am specially mentioning the south is… These things were there everywhere in the country, but the northern belt of this nation has taken too many invasions, too much disruption. South of the Vindhyas, we have been very well protected. Even today we maintain many things. We never had major disruptions as the north had. Because of this, certain sciences are still alive and active, which could produce a Ramanujan.

Ramanujan made mathematics for black holes more than a hundred years ago when there was no concept of black holes. Science always progresses like this: first the concept, then the theory, and then the mathematics. But he made the mathematics first, before there was a concept or theory. He was sitting on his death bed, and simply pouring out notebooks and notebooks of mathematics. People asked, “Where is this coming from? What is this?” He said, “My Devi bleeds mathematics.” [Applause]

Pranit: So Sadhguru, with your due permission, now we open the floor to the audience for asking the questions. Mic runners, kindly reach out to the people.

Sadhguru: I have heard of kite runners, where are these mic runners? Yeah, please [pointing to the member of the audience who has the mic].

Azeem: Namaskaram, Sadhguru.

Sadhguru: Hey, how come you got a better microphone than me, hm? [Laughter]

Azeem: My name is Azeem. I am a first-year student pursuing BCom Honors. So basically, we all know that at this age we get into a relationship, then we break up. One of my friends recently broke up, and he asked me to give him some advice on how to move on and how to cope with things. Being of the same age, I cannot advise him because I don’t know how to move on. So, my question is, how to move on after that situation? [Applause]

Sadhguru: Well, somebody else has moved on. Even if you stay in the same place, distance will happen. See, let us understand this in terms of life – not in terms of trend, morality, right and wrong, but in terms of life. Azeem, do you remember what your great-great-great-ten-generations-ago-grandfather looked like?

Azeem: No.

Sadhguru: No. But his nose is sitting on your face. Yes or no?

Azeem: Yes.

Sadhguru: So is it true that your body has a tremendous amount of memory?

Azeem: Yes.

Sadhguru: This memory is on many different levels. There is an evolutionary memory. There is a genetic memory. There is a karmic memory. There are conscious levels of memory and unconscious levels of memory, articulate and inarticulate levels of memory. But if your great-grandfather’s nose has to sit on your face, obviously your body is carrying a very complex mechanism of memory, isn’t it?

Azeem: Yes.

Sadhguru: So, if this body is capable of such a complex sense of memory, you think it is not gathering memory with whatever you touch and feel and relate with? You think so or no?

Azeem: Yes.

Sadhguru: It does. It is gathering an enormous amount of memory – this is how you know. See, how to go up the steps, how to go down the steps – it looks very simple, but it’s not simple; it’s very complex. Your body has to remember. Otherwise it cannot go up and go down so simply. Well, today the sports people are talking about muscle memory, building memory into their system so that the sport can be executed at a certain level of efficiency. So this is not only for sports or a specific activity; every day you are imbibing so much memory. If there is a certain kind of congruence and cohesiveness to this memory, it will become productive. If there is a certain level of chaos to this memory, then you may know everything, but this memory will work against you because it’s contradictory and conflicting within itself. When your friend asked you this question, the question itself is coming because it matters, isn’t it?

Azeem: Yes.

Sadhguru: If it didn’t matter, you could have just forgotten about it and gone on like an old pair of shoes. But it matters. Because you invested your thought, your emotion, and maybe even your body in it. Once you invested these three things, there is a profound sense of memory about that. If you create lot of contradictory memory in your system, you will see life will tell you later – that you have everything, but you feel like you have nothing. Because it’s confused and it’s joyless, it doesn’t have exuberance.

It’s very important that young people understand the mechanism of what you have been given. If this was just a lump of flesh, you could have done whatever the hell you wanted with it. But this is a very sophisticated machine. If you treat it sensitively, it can do things in a phenomenal way; otherwise it will do mediocre things. Let’s say you know nothing about computers and I gave you an Apple Air. Have you seen this model?

Azeem: Yeah.

Sadhguru: Very thin and sharp. I gave you this, but you don’t know what it is. You took it home and started chopping cucumbers. It works very well. But isn’t it a tragedy that you are using a computer to chop cucumber? Nothing wrong with the cucumber but something definitely wrong with you, isn’t it?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Something very fundamentally wrong with you when you do not understand the significance of what you have on your hands – all significant things will go waste. I am saying, before you touch or involve yourself in anything, not just other human beings, you must see what is the level of involvement you wish for. You must see where you want to take this and also see what are the different impacts it will have upon you. You must consider whether this will work well for this life or work against this life. Otherwise you will become a loose life. I am not using the word “loose” in terms of morality. I am just talking about loose in terms of not being able to fulfil the direction in which you wish to go in your life. Bringing some integrity to your life – intellectual integrity, emotional integrity and physical integrity – is very, very, important. Well, beyond that if something goes wrong, you just have to understand, when you were born you came alone and when you die you will go alone.

Azeem: Thank you so much. [Applause]

Sadhguru: [Pointing to someone in the audience] Hey, this girl, she can’t live without asking the question. Please give it to her.

Shriram: Mic runners, please. This side.

Sadhguru: Pranit, be a gentleman. Run and give her the microphone.

Shraddha: Thank you so much, Sadhguru, thank you. Namaskaram. I am Shraddha, Sadhguru. And very, very fortunate to have been a student of Isha Home School*.

Sadhguru: Oh! You? Okay. [Laughs]

Shraddha: So, my question is, I am pursuing science, and when I talk about Yoga and doing Shambhavi** in my college, people kind of look down upon me, saying, “You are a science student, how can you talk about these things?”

Sadhguru: [Laughs] How can you live sensibly? [Sarcastically]

Shraddha: [Laughs] So in my first year, I used to feel very bad about it, but then I just left it. Now I have a question as to why there is such resistance in the youth about our own sciences. I mean Indian sciences have been established by a deep understanding of everything. Why is there a resistance? And is it important that we convert this resistance into acceptance or, at least, you know, tell them not to disregard it without having explored it in its complete sense. And if so, how do we integrate inner sciences into the current education system that is in place? Thank you so much. [Applause]

Sadhguru: But Shraddha, why are you doing science in a commerce college?

Shraddha: I am from a different college.

Sadhguru: Okay. See, unfortunately today, we have a constipated perception of what is science or what is scientific. Essentially the way science or the scientific process is defined is if there is a systematic approach to it, and the approach should be repeatable and should work not just for me but for many people. Then it is considered a science. Science is fundamentally physics, but there are other sciences which have evolved out of it. Biological studies, psychological studies and social sciences are there. So anything which has a systematic approach and is applicable not just to one person but to a larger number of people becomes a science or a scientific approach.

In that sense, there is no other science which is as largely applicable as the Yogic sciences. It is just that the Yoga that people have heard about today is a rebound from the American coast, so they think Yoga means wearing Lulu pants and going around. It’s a kind of fashion. No. I want you to listen to this carefully because this is not something that you can explore in a casual atmosphere like this. Yoga literally means union. What does union mean? The very body that you carry right now, one day somebody is going to bury you or burn you. Smoking or non-smoking, we will do it. Either we do this or that – will you become part of the earth?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: How come now you are not part of it? Even now you are part of it, isn’t it? You’re just a small outcrop of this earth. Only because you were given the ability to be mobile, you lost your sense. You thought you are a world by yourself. If you were stuck like a tree, I am sure you would have understood you are a part of the earth, isn’t it? Just because the planet gave you the freedom to move, how stupid we became. It’s not just with body, it is so with the entire universe. It is not just with the physical form, it is so with every aspect of you.

So Yoga means union. It is a science of how to obliterate the boundaries of your individuality so that you become a much larger life than you are right now. Either you can live here as a constipated life… When I say “a constipated life”, constipation means it happens little by little. Right now, for most people, life is happening little by little. You ask them what are the great moments in their life, they say, “When I passed my examination, I felt great. Then I was miserable. Then I found a job, I felt great. But then, you know, all the people made me miserable. Then, I got married, it was really wonderful. Then my mother-in-law came and pishoow [gestures it being extinguished].” [Laughter] She didn’t come – she was there all the time, before you and your man. “But…” like this it goes on. They will count five things where they had great moments in their life – this is a constipated life where every moment of your life is not an exuberant outburst of life. It is once in a way that something happens to you. Constipated or no?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: Do you want to live a constipated life?

Audience: No.

Sadhguru: If you have to live an exuberant life, the boundaries of individuality have to be erased to whatever extent. Only then you capture a larger amount of life and you have a larger experience of life, a higher level of exuberance than what you normally see around you. Have you blown soap bubbles, at least when you were young?

Audience Members: Yes… Now also we are young…

Sadhguru: Oh! Did you blow soap bubbles at least when you were children?

Audience: Yes!

Sadhguru: So you got only this tiny bubble. But somebody else got such a big bubble. Same soap, but somebody blows this big of a bubble, but yours is only this much. You also have a lungful of air, you also have soap. Why do you think it happens? Because if you want to expand boundaries, what is important is not the desire. What is important is you need to capture that much air in that limited possibility. Then it becomes that big.

Similarly, this one [referring to oneself]. See, my body and your body are different. This is me, that is you. Till we get buried we don’t understand it’s all the same earth. But right now, this is my body, that is your body, one hundred percent clear. This is my mind and that’s your mind, hundred percent clear. This can’t be that, that can’t be this. But there is no such thing as my life and your life. There is just life.

How much life you capture, not how much information you capture, determines the scope and scale of your life. If this has to happen, you have to breach the concretized boundaries of your individuality and push it. When the boundaries are dissolved, then we say you are in Yoga. If one experiences that dissolution, then we refer to that person as a Yogi. Well, how far each individual is going to go is subject to various realities. But should you not at least make an effort, a scientific and focused effort as to how to breach these boundaries of individuality which we ourselves created? Hello?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: All your boundaries are created by you, isn’t it? You create the boundary and you suffer the boundary. What kind of life is that? If nature created the boundary and you’re suffering that, that’s understandable. You create your own boundary because of self-preservation. In pursuit of self-preservation you build walls. These walls of self-preservation will become walls of self-imprisonment. If you don’t want that, you need Yoga.

“Oh, should I twist, should I turn, should I stand on my head?” No. Yoga does not mean twisting, turning. You can breathe and do Yoga. You can walk and do Yoga. You can talk and do Yoga. You can read and do Yoga. You can sleep and do Yoga. You can stand and do Yoga. You can do Yoga in whichever way! There is no specific activity; it’s a certain dimension. What is a dimension – once it goes to the United States, unfortunately they reduce it into a specific activity, and you have to wear Lululemon pants. Otherwise, no Yoga.

Yesterday somebody asked me, “Sadhguru, how many hours of Yogasanas do you do?”

I said, “Twenty seconds!”

“What!? Only twenty seconds?”

“Yes.” Actually, it’s true. I wake up in the morning, if I sit up, just twenty seconds, I’m done. Then, do I not do Yoga the rest of the day? No! I live Yoga. Because my entire life is to constantly wipe away the boundaries within myself and within everybody else. This is Yoga. What we are doing here is Yoga right now. [Applause]

Shriram: We’ll be taking two more questions.

Shudipto: Hello sir, myself Shudipto Das. [Reading the question from his phone] So, I saw one of your videos on what a twenty-year-old should do in life. There you asked us to take a few days off uninfluenced by anybody and think what is needed the most for the universe. But also you added…

Sadhguru: Where are you? [Audience members point to Shudipto] Oh, okay, fine. Yeah.

Shudipto: …so should I repeat?

Sadhguru: No, no, I got it. But why are you copying a question? [Referring to his question being read]

Shudipto: No, no. I’ll ask you my question. So you added to keep aside the things that are coming due to our immediate compulsions. Suppose my immediate compulsions are shelter and to get self-sufficiency, how do I keep them aside and work on something as important as, say, gender equality?

Sadhguru: Oh, what is that? What do you do about gender equality?

Shudipto: Like I feel that there should be gender equality, and in this stage of the world such a situation is not present.

Sadhguru: No, you don’t have to do anything about gender equality. If you don’t mess with the girls, they will prove they are equal. [Applause] Unfortunately, many times, they will prove they are little more than you. [Applause] No, I don’t know how these two things are linked, but you are talking about what I said, that before you take major steps in your life, you must move to a place where you are not influenced by your peers, your elders, your parents, your teachers. Spend some time upon yourself: “What is it that I want to do with this life?” This life [referring to oneself]. Do not understand life as job, food, profession, this, that, nonsense. This one is life, isn’t it? You are mistaking the accessories of life as life, unfortunately.

Today, if people say “my life”, we are supposed to understand they are talking about their car, their home, their wife or husband, their dog. No, this one is life. Those are all accessories of life. Once the accessories of life become more significant than life itself – oh, you are finished, okay? Whatever you do, you will be messed up. So I said, withdraw from all the influences that you have. If you think you are a worthwhile life, it deserves attention, isn’t it? You spend a few days looking at. If all these people were not there telling you a thousand things as to what you should do, what is it that you really want to do – you must look at it, isn’t it?

People who have been married for thirty-five years come and tell me, “Sadhguru, I knew I made a mistake with this marriage.”

Then I ask, “Really, then how did you get these three children? If marriage was a mistake, you could have stopped right there. How did three children happen?”

“No, Sadhguru, you know…”

I know how that happens. [Laughter] “But then, how did you build this big house, this nonsense, and all the things you are beginning to suffer now, unfortunately. You are not enjoying them, you are suffering them. So, how did you do all this?”

“No, Sadhguru, you know, mistake, mistake, mistake, mistake.”

Why are you a serial mistake? Because you don’t stop and look – what is it that this life really cares for. Beyond social pressures, beyond teachings, beyond all kinds of diktats that come from everywhere, what is it that this life wants? Every human being must look at it. It’s everybody’s right to look at it, beyond all the pressures. [Applause]

Shriram: Someone, please… from that side. This will be the last question for the day.

Lavanya: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. I am Lavanya. I am studying Economics Honors, first year. I am from Hyderabad. Despite being surrounded by so many people, we still lack that feeling of belonging to somebody, being accepted by somebody, being loved by somebody. How should we deal with that discontent and loneliness?

Sadhguru: [Speaking in Telugu] Yemmandi, Hyderabad nunchi vacchi? (What, coming from Hyderabad?)… [Lavanya laughs] See, you must understand this. Right now in these two hours, you are speaking two different tongues. On one level, many questions are aimed towards “How can I be free from this and that?” On another level, you are asking, “How can I bind myself to something or somebody?” You must decide, what is the highest value in your life – freedom or bondage? Please, I would like to hear that word.

Audience: [Shouts in unison] Freedom!

Sadhguru: Oh, freedom! But if you are free, you feel lost. If you go into the mountains and you are totally free – that is, nobody around, nothing around, you are just in the empty space of the mountains – you don’t feel free, you think you are lost. So, handling freedom requires a certain clarity and strength. Most people cannot handle freedom. They are always trying to bind themselves, but only talking, mouthing freedom all the time. If you really set them free, they will suffer immensely. So, this is an evolutionary issue, in the sense, human beings are right now like a caged bird. If you keep a bird caged for a long period of time and then, one day, you take off the door of the cage, the bird will still not fly. From inside it’ll protest that it’s not free, but it’ll not fly. Human condition is just that.

For all other creatures, nature has drawn two lines within which they have to live and die, and that’s what they do. But only for human beings, there is only a bottom line, there is no top line. And that’s what they are suffering. If their life was also fixed like every other creature’s life, they wouldn’t be stressed, they wouldn’t be anxious, they wouldn’t be struggling about how to handle their own intelligence. And that is what you are seeking unknowingly. You may seek it in the form of relationships, you may seek it in the form of profession, you may seek it in the form of nationality, ethnicity, community, god, heaven, hell.

All you are trying to do is draw an artificial line that does not exist. Because freedom needs courage, freedom needs a certain madness. If you are very sane, you cannot be free because you will go between the two lines of logic. To be free, it takes a lot of strength. First of all, what needs to happen if you want to be free is… Do you understand that all human experience has a chemical basis to it?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: What you call joy is one kind of chemistry, misery is another kind of chemistry. Stress is one kind of chemistry, anxiety another kind of chemistry. Agony one kind of chemistry, ecstasy another kind of chemistry. At least you know ecstasy is another kind of chemistry, I hear. [Laughs] So, your experience of life has a chemical basis to it. This is the most superficial way of looking at it. There are other dimensions to it, but for your understanding, in other words, you are a chemical soup. The question is only, are you a great soup or a lousy soup?

If you have a chemistry of blissfulness, then if you close your eyes, it’s fantastic; if you open your eyes, it’s fantastic; if somebody is here, it’s fantastic; nobody is here, it’s very fantastic. But you have a lousy chemistry. If you look at them and they smile at you, it’s nice – not fantastic. If they glare at you, suddenly it’s a problem. If these people are happening just the way you want, your chemistry is reasonably balanced. If they do something that you don’t like, boom! It goes somewhere else. So, essentially, you have not looked at this mechanism, what is the basis of this, how it functions, how you can make it function at its highest level.

Right now, let’s say you’re really blissed out like me – do you care who is around, who is not around? If they are around, it’s fantastic. They’re gone – fantastic. Because your experience of life is no more determined by what you have and what you don’t have, whether it’s people or things or food or this or that. Once your way of being is not determined by anything outside of you, then there is no such thing as loneliness, but you will enjoy your aloneness. At this young age, it’s a little difficult to understand this – whether you like it or you don’t like it, within this body you are always alone, isn’t it? Whether you do interaction or intercourse or whatever, you are still alone in this body. Yes or no?

Audience: Yes.

Sadhguru: If you don’t learn how to handle this aloneness, you have not learnt anything about life. The most beautiful thing about life is nobody can get here [points within]. It’s just my space. Nobody can invade me. They can capture me, they can torture me, they can do so many things, but they cannot invade me because I have a space which is just my own. Isn’t this the most wonderful aspect of your life? Don’t suffer that. That is the most beautiful thing. Oh, but you want to pine a little romantically and enjoy… What are those popular songs? Pining for somebody, “Without you I cannot exist.” [Laughter]

Riya: Most of the songs are that way now.

Sadhguru: Sing one song, no. [Laughter] Older ones, older ones.

Riya: I am horrible at singing.

Sadhguru: Just tell me the words, I will sing.

Audience: [Calls out lyrics]

Sadhguru: Say it on the microphone.

Pranit: [Speaking in Hindi] Hum tere bin ab reh nahi sakte, tere bina kya vajood mera? [Applause] (I can’t live without you. Who am I without you?)

Sadhguru: You’re saying it to me? [talking to Pranit] [Laughter]

Pranit: [Laughs and shakes his head]

Riya: Shriram is a singer.

Sadhguru: Shriram, that song… what he is saying…

Shriram: [Sings in Hindi] Hum tere bin ab reh nahi sakte, tere bina kya vajood mera? [Cheers]

Sadhguru: See, all the boys must learn songs like this, otherwise you can’t floor the girls. [Laughter] But the girls should understand the guy has a need and he is doing this. It’s not really true but let’s enjoy the game right now. [Applause] Because what we do is just a certain game – life is, because it comes to an end. But the important thing is how you are within yourself. If you are here in such a way that you are only driven by your needs, you will live a very meager life. But if you can sit here without any need but you will do whatever is needed, then you will live a magnificent life. It’s my wish and my blessing every one of you must have a fantastic life. Make it happen for yourself. [Applause]

Shriram: Thank you so much, Sadhguru, for all the insights you have seeded in our minds. We’ll try to incorporate those in our day-to-day lives.

Sadhguru: Hey, when this Shriram guy sings, girls, please know he is just a singer. [Laughter] He doesn’t mean it, I mean to say. Thank you, thank you very much.

THE BEGINNINGS

In August 2018, students of Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, were busy Googling details of a public figure that they were familiar with, but didn’t know enough about. His YouTube videos were doing rounds on WhatsApp and WeChat groups on the campus. SRCC’s notice boards were plastered with images of him on an adventure motorcycle, and a black and white stamp-sized logo – “Youth and Truth - Unplug with Sadhguru”. The unusually high level of excitement and interest was evoked not only by his stature, popularity, and the impact his talk was likely to have, but also the fact that he was going to be in a freewheeling conversation with three SRCC students.

Coincidently, at the same time a year ago, to revitalize India’s severely depleting rivers, Sadhguru had kickstarted the mammoth Rally for Rivers movement from Isha Yoga Center at Coimbatore, which culminated in New Delhi on 2 October 2017. Conversely, in 2018, New Delhi was playing host for the launch of Youth and Truth. SRCC students had the distinct privilege of being at the first Youth and Truth dialogue, which would set a precedence for many more that would follow in the next three weeks.

“It was going to be the largest event on campus during my time here as a student,” says Pranit, one of the moderators.

Another moderator shares, “We have hosted many popular public figures at our campus, but this was different because here we had an opportunity to sit next to Sadhguru and pose our most audacious questions. It was hard to believe that I was free to ask him whatever I wished. In college, we are used to lectures and monologues, but an event like this was unheard of, especially with a spiritual leader.”

THE CHOSEN ONES

On one hand, while Isha volunteers were busy crafting an unprecedented online and offline campaign of immense magnitude to present a completely different facet of their Guru to the world (and especially to the youth), on the other hand, the students of SRCC, the crème de la crème of Delhi University, were busy partaking in a competition of a different kind.

“When we got to know that our college was going to host Sadhguru for this new series, everybody wanted to participate and help organize. The faculty was really involved, and they created a rigorous competition to select student representatives,” explains one of the students who was involved in organizing the event.

The task of shortlisting three student-moderators from around 3000 wasn’t an easy one. Neither was the shortlisting of questions. Almost every student had a question to ask. Questions were collected from social media platforms affiliated with the college, including various student associations and forums, Google forms, and other offline means. After multiple sessions and competitions, twelve students were selected, and fifty questions were shortlisted from a pool of over a thousand.

Isha volunteers then conducted elaborate workshops to understand students’ perspectives of Sadhguru and alleviate their apprehension about asking taboo questions. Swami Sukhada from Isha Yoga Center played an important role in helping the students. “Every city and college has a distinct culture that triggers certain types of questions. The questions also surface from the personalities of those posing them. So, we wanted to assess what kind of questions the students are likely to pose,” he shares. “One of the quirkiest questions from the SRCC students,” he adds, “was about why Sadhguru sits the way he does. There were multiple theories and explanations floating among the students.”

At the end of the workshop, both the questions and the panellists were finalized, and the stage was set.

A DAY TO REMEMBER

On 4 September 2018, excitement was palpable in the SRCC air. The response to the event was so great that just a few days before the big day, the venue was changed to the larger sports auditorium. Despite the eleventh-hour changes to accommodate a huge audience, things had surprisingly not devolved into utter chaos. “While many events at SRCC hold massive student crowds, this crowd was more diverse and very well-managed,” says a student who was at the talk. The celebratory atmosphere was so contagious – students were dancing to the beats of drums outside the auditorium even before Sadhguru arrived.

Meanwhile, the three chosen ones, collectively decked in tricolor (of India’s national flag), were getting ready for their meeting with Sadhguru in the green room. “It was definitely a whole new experience. And also my first time wearing a kurta!” recalls Pranit. The meeting with Sadhguru really helped break the ice for all the panellists and made them comfortable enough to banter onstage. “We were not only representing SRCC, but also the entire Delhi University. So there was a lot of pressure to carry that legacy, deliver well on stage, and not disappoint our institute. In the end, it all went really well. We received a lot of appreciation from everyone on campus,” he shares on behalf of the moderator trio.

While all went well during the course of the event, Isha volunteers were in for a surprise after the talk. An informal frisbee match with Sadhguru drew a sea of students as far as the eye could see. The sheer sight of Sadhguru lost amidst the masses was eye-opening and somewhat alarming for the organizers who realized subsequent events would need to take into account crowd management at all times. Swami Sukhada says, “For the first time we realized that Sadhguru has a huge fanbase across all kinds of audiences, including people who have no interest in Yoga or spirituality. SRCC students were sharing how cool Sadhguru was! He was received like a rock star.”

“If the world was guided by youth, it would be a better place. They are the ones who are most alive, idealistic, and energetic.”

Click on the link to buy the complete eBook, www.amazon.in/dp/B09Q7JGHX9

Click on the link to buy the complete eBook, www.amazon.in/dp/B09Q7JGHX9

“If the youth of the world stands up for raising inclusive consciousness, we can address every problem on the planet.”

Click on the link to buy the complete eBook, www.amazon.in/dp/B09Q7JGHX9

“Youth is a state of tremendous energy. This could be transformed into a beautiful or ugly expression of humanity, a great possibility or a disaster.”

Click on the link to buy the complete eBook, www.amazon.in/dp/B09Q7JGHX9

* Scratching sounds of pens

* School founded by Sadhguru at Isha Yoga Center.

** Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya, an inner energy process.

* Retired Headmaster C.G. Nagaraj of Demonstration Multipurpose School, who bowed to Sadhguru before the talk.

* Referring to the promotional rap song for Youth and Truth, “Poochu Kya?”, where youth ask questions that are considered taboo.

* Kalaripayattu. Referring to the performance by Isha Samskriti students before the talk.

* Design motif.

* Referring to the Ayodhya dispute.

* Literally “five trees”.

* In reference to a protest demanding safety for women on campus after an incident of molestation.

* Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of Banaras Hindu University.

* In reference to the US presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

* A satsang on Sadhguru’s Enlightenment Day

* Introductory video about Sadhguru shown to the audience just before the main talk.

* “Alai Alai” by Sounds of Isha.

** In Conversation with the Mystic event with Ranveer Singh, in which Sadhguru danced.

* Co-author with Devang Singh of the cookbook Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan: Food of the Gods.

* Referring to the planned border wall between the US and Mexico.

* Referring to the introductory video about Sadhguru shown to the audience before the talk.

ABOUT THE BOOK

What happens when millennials meet a mystic? An avalanche of queries and an unflinching stream of answers. In this compilation of five talks from Youth and Truth events, Sadhguru fields questions that are quirky, personal, profound and shockingly bold from university students.

In a camaraderie bridging age, they adventure through a mind-boggling spectrum of subjects like romance and sexuality, loneliness and jealousy, parenting and education, career and business, politics and spirituality, artificial intelligence, racism, drugs, food, Yogic sciences, and god-making. Equally wide-ranging is the mood of the talks that ranges from playfulness and hilarity to moments of gobsmacked speechlessness, dawning clarity and paradigm shifts, all infused with the fizzing energy of youth.

Here is a book that’s not just for the youth, but for the youthful in search of truth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

YOGI, MYSTIC AND VISIONARY, SADHGURU is a spiritual master with a difference. Absolute clarity of perception places him in a unique space, not only in matters spiritual but in business, environmental and international affairs, and opens a new door on all that he touches.

Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is known as a speaker and opinion maker of international renown. He has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.

Sadhguru has initiated large-scale ecological initiatives, such as Rally for Rivers and Cauvery Calling, to revitalize India’s severely depleted rivers. These projects have found phenomenal support among India’s people and leadership. They are internationally accredited and recognized as game changers that can establish a blueprint for global economic development that is ecologically sustainable.

Sadhguru has been a primary speaker at the United Nations General Assembly and several other UN forums. He has also been regularly invited to speak at establishments such as the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, the House of Lords, the University of Oxford, MIT, Google and Microsoft, to name a few.

With a celebratory engagement with life on all levels, Sadhguru’s areas of active involvement encompass fields as diverse as architecture and visual design, poetry and painting, aviation and driving, and sports and music. He is the designer of several unique buildings and consecrated spaces at the Isha Yoga Center, which have received wide attention for their combination of intense sacred power and strikingly innovative aesthetics.

Three decades ago, Sadhguru established the Isha Foundation, a non-profit human-service organization, with human well-being as its core commitment.

app.sadhguru.org

isha.sadhguru.org

facebook.com/sadhguru

twitter.com/SadhguruJV

youtube.com/Sadhguru

instagram.com/Sadhguru

rallyforrivers.org cauverycalling.org

ISHA FOUNDATION

Founded by Sadhguru, Isha Foundation is a non-profit human service organization, supported by over nine million volunteers in over 300 centres worldwide. Recognizing the possibility of each person to empower another, Isha Foundation has created a massive movement that is dedicated to address all aspects of human well-being, without subscribing to any particular ideology, religion or race.

Isha’s unique approach in cultivating human potential has gained worldwide recognition and reflects in the Foundation’s special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

The Foundation is headquartered at the Isha Yoga Center, at the base of the Velliangiri Mountains in southern India, and at the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences on the spectacular Cumberland Plateau in central Tennessee, USA.

isha.sadhguru.org

facebook.com/ishafoundation

twitter.com/ishafoundation

youtube.com/ishafoundation

ISHA YOGA CENTER

Isha Yoga Center, founded under the aegis of Isha Foundation, is located at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains. Envisioned and created by Sadhguru as a powerful sthana (a center for inner growth), this popular destination attracts people from all parts of the world. It is unique in its offering of all aspects of Yoga – gnana (knowledge), karma (action), kriya (energy), and bhakti (devotion) and revives the Guru-shishya paramparya (the traditional method of knowledge transfer from Master to disciple).

Isha Yoga Center provides a supportive environment for people to shift to healthier lifestyles, improve interpersonal relationships, seek a higher level of self-fulfilment, and realize their full potential.

The Center is located 30 km west of Coimbatore, a major industrial city in southern India which is well connected by air, rail and road. All major national airlines operate regular flights into Coimbatore from Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Train services are available from all major cities in India. Regular bus and taxi services are also available from Coimbatore to the Center.

Visitors are advised to contact the Yoga Center for availability and reservation of accommodation well in advance, as it is generally heavily booked.

Learn more at isha.sadhguru.org/center/isha-yoga-centercoimbatore.

DHYANALINGA

The Dhyanalinga is a powerful and unique energy form created by Sadhguru from the essence of yogic sciences. Situated at the Isha Yoga Center, it is the first of its kind to be completed in over 2000 years. The Dhyanalinga is a meditative space that does not subscribe to any particular faith or belief system, nor does it require any ritual, prayer, or worship.

The Dhyanalinga was consecrated by Sadhguru after three years of an intense process of prana pratishtha. Housed within an architecturally striking pillarless dome structure, the Dhyanalinga’s energies allow even those unaware of meditation to experience a deep state of meditativeness, revealing the essential nature of life.

A special feature of the Dhyanalinga complex are the Teerthakunds, consecrated subterranean water bodies, energized by rasalingas. A dip in these vibrant pools significantly enhances one’s spiritual receptivity and is a good preparation to receive the Grace of the Dhyanalinga. The waters of the Teerthakunds also rejuvenate the body, and bring health and well-being.

The Dhyanalinga draws many thousands of people every week, who converge to experience a deep sense of inner peace.

Learn more at dhyanalinga.org.

LINGA BHAIRAVI

Adjacent to the Dhyanalinga, near the Isha Yoga Center, is the Linga Bhairavi. Consecrated by Sadhguru, Linga Bhairavi is an exuberant expression of the Divine Feminine – fierce and compassionate at once. Representing the creative and nurturing aspects of the universe, the Devi allows devotees to go through life effortlessly; all physical aspects of their lives – health, success, and prosperity – will find nourishment. A variety of rituals and offerings are available for one to connect with the Devi’s outpouring Grace.

Learn more at lingabhairavi.org.

INNER ENGINEERING ONLINE

Inner Engineering Online is a technology for well-being derived from the science of Yoga. It is offered as a comprehensive course for personal growth that brings about a shift in the way you perceive and experience your life, your work, and the world that you live in.

The objective of the program is to render you to explore your highest potential through powerful processes of self-transformation, distilled essence of classical Yoga, meditations to address key aspects of life and access to secrets of ancient wisdom.

Inner Engineering offers a unique opportunity for self-exploration and transformation, leading to a life of fulfillment and joy.

INNER ENGINEERING COMPLETION

After Inner Engineering Online, you can take your experience a step deeper with Inner Engineering Completion (also available as an online program). Designed by Sadhguru, the program offers the transmission of Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya, a powerful and purifying 21-minute energy technique which incorporates the breath, along with rejuvenating and invigorating asanas. 

Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya aligns your entire system so that your body, mind, emotions and energies function in harmony, establishing a chemistry of blissfulness within you and empowering you to create your life the way you want it.

Today, millions of dedicated practitioners have experienced greater emotional balance, mental clarity, focus, stability, and improved health.

For more details visit innerengineering.com.

ISHA KRIYA

Isha Kriya™ is a simple yet potent practice created by Sadhguru, which is drawn from the wisdom of Indian spirituality. The word kriya literally means “internal action”, while “Isha” refers to that which is the source of creation. The purpose of Isha Kriya is to help an individual get in touch with the source of one’s existence, in order to create life according to one’s wish and vision.

Provided as a free guided meditation online and available with written instructions as well, Isha Kriya offers the possibility to experience the boundless energy within.

Daily practice of Isha Kriya brings health, dynamism, peace and well-being. It offers tools to cope with the hectic pace of modern life.

Learn more at ishakriya.com.

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First published in India by HarperCollins Publishers 2022

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Copyright © Sadhguru 2022

P-ISBN: 978-93-5489-540-1

Epub Edition © February 2022 ISBN: 978-93-5489-556-2

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own.

The facts are as reported by him and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

Sadhguru asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

For sale in the Indian subcontinent

All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.

Cover design: Isha Foundation