Please click on an article or scroll downwards to read this month’s Sadhguru Speaks:

• Q and A with Sadhguru - Kavita Chhibber (in conversation with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev)

• Managing Relationships - by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev 

• Sadhguru in Atlanta - An Evening of Wisdom, Meditation and Bliss

Q and A with Sadhguru

By Kavita Chhibber

A Kavita Media Presentation. Please email comments here.
You can also contact Kavita with your feedback, by dialing 678-720-1260. Selected comments will be broadcast on our webcast

Thank you again for the overwhelming response to my continuing conversations with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the founder of Isha foundation.

Sadhguru has requested that everyone who asks a question on this forum to plant 10 trees themselves and if they cannot, please donate the amount to Isha so they can plant the trees in your honor. Kavitachhibber.com is pleased to present questions by those who have shown great generosity and honored Sadhguru’s request. Sadhguru thanks those individuals. Hear his message here.

The questions have been reformatted to make better sense. No question is off bounds with Sadhguru and I hope readers will continue to think about life and ask relevant, thought provoking questions so others can also learn from the discussion. Some repetitive questions have not been answered in this month’s selection. Please do not ask Kriya related questions as they have to be explained. Contact your teachers. Also please do not ask more than 2 questions so others also get an opportunity. Some of the questions have already been answered here and in Mystic’s Musings, and will not be posted again here. Please refer to previous Q and A selections. Others did not make it in time for the issue.

Here are the selections for this month.

Dear Sadhguru, I am working as a software engineer and I wanted "Inner engineering program" to be conducted in our office. So I contacted our HR People. After explaining and regularly posting emails they agreed for the same but at the last minute, one person from HR department posted an email to Senior HR official stating that (In her own words)
"Please think twice before getting into something like this (INNER Engineering Program). I have a living example of a badly affected person at home. My son underwent this program in the UK and had to face dire results. I do not agree with their main principle and their ethics.
The major problem in my life is because of this centre and my sincere suggestion is please do not get involved with this organization."
When we enquired she is not willing or ready to talk about that. There is lot of resistance for this I really feel for her and her son but I just want "INNER ENGINEERING" to happen in my company. How to handle this situation? Regards,
Prashanth Ramanujan

I don’t know what issues the lady has and I wish she would have the courage to come forward and speak in detail so that our teachers can look into it and help out. We have never heard of the practice having a negative effect on someone. What we teach is not a philosophy, a morality, ethics, or principle. It’s a simple technology that has benefited millions of people who practice it the right way, in improving their general and inner well being and that should be the concern of everyone.

This may be an internal family matter where she may not like what her son is practicing-fear of the unknown is a major factor which stops people from trying out something new. One cannot blame something that is a tested and tried technology for personal family issues. If she is really concerned she must contact one of our teachers so we can look into the matter, He may be having some other problem that is unrelated to Isha. Whatever is happening in his life cannot be blamed on Isha by someone who neither understands the technology nor has she practiced it. The fact that it has been embraced by millions world wide should be considered enough validation that it works. As far as you are concerned, there is no need to be upset or disappointed. Instead, you must show by example how this has changed your life for the better.

Dear Sadhguru, what is it in us that experiences the ’hurt’ or pain when we are in conflict with someone? I don’t understand what in me is hurt when I get into a row with someone. If the soul is above any hurt or damage or cannot be subjected to any pain, why do we still feel bad and suffer inside when something goes wrong?

2. I long to see Sadhguru, be in his presence, but it is not happening. I am confused when any small desire comes in me it is instantly fulfilled but why not this one? Regards Sailaja Kumar

What you think has gone wrong is not really wrong. It’s just that someone is not happening the way you want them to happen. They may be happening the way they want to happen. Do you always do everything others want? No-then why should they be that way. Every relationship is a transaction and no transaction can continue happily if only one person is profiting continuously. So the more inclusive and accepting everyone becomes the less friction there will be.

My schedule is on the web. You can come where I’m and meet me any time.

Namaskaram Sadhguru. To one of my earlier questions you had responded as
“If you do not fear the consequences of your actions then do what you want. If you are scared about what will happen if you act a certain way, then regulate those actions. If you do something bad and accept the consequences joyfully then do as you please."

What happens to a society, if majority of people do bad things and accept the results joyfully, will not the society suffer and also will it not set a precedent and get acceptability among the good section of the society that bad deeds are fine and this may prompt others also to change to bad ways. (My view of bad deeds - exploitation of the weak, misuse of authority, corruption, murder, robbery…etc )

Rulers of states and nations (particularly India) clearly do not adhere to civilized behavior; exploitation/politicization (by all means) is their only motto and they joyfully do it; is it justified?

Is there any thing like righteousness ( of conduct) in ones’ life time?

2. You say with yoga one can exhaust his/her Prarabdha Karma at a faster pace than normal. My understanding is that an individual is alive till he/she exhausts the Prarabdha Karma, does it mean that with yoga one’s life span can be reduced? S Subramanian

I think what I said has been completely misunderstood. The fact is- every action that you perform has a consequence. If you realized that you will stop performing the so called bad actions. The so called people doing bad things and seeming joyful-well you are very wrong in thinking they are joyful. These people are not joyful, if you got to know them. They are actually very agitated, angry and disturbed all the time. What may seem joy is actually sadistic pleasure and that cannot be called joyful. Once a person is joyful he is naturally generous, naturally kind and flexible. When you are truly happy do you ever think of causing harm to anyone? You are much more of a human being when you are joyful, than any other moment of your life. When you are unhappy then you lash out, hurt or mistreat people because you are in pursuit of what you perceive to be happiness and react against those who are in your way.

The second question has been answered before on this website.

Managing Relationships

By Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

(A Kavita Media Presentation. Please email comments here.
You can also contact Kavita with your feedback, by dialing 678-720-1260. Selected comments will be broadcast on our webcast.)

Question: Much of the anxiety I experience comes through my relationships. Isn’t it reasonable to expect some understanding from other people?

When you live in this world, there are various types of complex interactions happening. As your field-of-play increases, the complexity of interaction also goes on increasing. If you’re just sitting in a cubicle, working on your computer with only one other person, you need only a little understanding; but if you’re managing a thousand people, you need a vast understanding of everybody. Now, suppose you’re managing a thousand people and you want all these people to understand you, then you’re not going to manage anything. You need to understand the limitations and the capabilities of these thousand people and do what you can; only then will you have the power to move the situation the way you want it to go. If you’re waiting for these thousand people to understand you and act, it is only a pipe dream; it is never going to happen.

The closer the relationship is, the more effort you should make to understand them. Somebody becomes closer and dearer to you only as you understand them better. If they understand you, they enjoy the closeness of the relationship. If you understand them better, then you enjoy the closeness. It is not that the other person is totally bereft of understanding. With your understanding you can create situations where the other person would be able to understand you better. If you’re expecting the other to understand and comply with you all the time while you don’t understand the limitations, the possibilities, the needs and the capabilities of that person, then conflict is all that will happen; it is bound to happen. Unfortunately, the closest relationships in the world have more conflict going on than between enemies.

In your relationships, you have fought many more battles than this and are still fighting; isn’t it so? This is because your line of understanding and theirs is different. If you cross this L.O.C., this Line of Control, they will get mad. If they cross it, you will get mad. If you move your understanding beyond theirs, their understanding also becomes a part of your understanding. You will be able to embrace their limitations and capabilities. In everyone, there are some positive aspects and some negative aspects. If you embrace all this in your understanding, you can make the relationship the way you want it. If you leave it to their understanding, it will become accidental. If they are very magnanimous, things will happen well for you; if not, the relationship will break up.

All I am asking is: do you want to be the one who decides what happens to your life? Whether they are intimate relationships, professional, political, global or whatever, don’t you want to be the person who decides what happens in your life? If you do, you better include everything and everybody into your understanding. You should enhance your understanding to such a point that you can look beyond people’s madness also. There are very wonderful people around you, but once in a while they like to go crazy for a few minutes. If you don’t understand that, you will lose them. If you don’t understand their madness you will definitely lose them. If you do, then you know how to handle them. Life is not always a straight line; you have to do many things to keep it going. If you forsake your understanding, your capability will be lost. Whether it’s a question of personal relationships or professional management, in both places you need understanding; otherwise, you won’t have fruitful relationships.

The way you are right now, the very quality of your life is decided by the type of relationships you hold. You better make the needed effort to understand the people around you.