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

• Sadhguru Speaks at Tiecon 2007 - by Kavita Chhibber.

• Q & A with Sadhguru - in conversation with Kavita Chhibber.

Sadhguru Speaks at Tiecon 2007

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev addressing attendees of Tiecon 2007

By Kavita Chhibber
 

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev recently appeared at the high profile Tiecon 2007, held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, in California on May 18-19^th. Sadhguru had arrived a  couple of days earlier and each day was jam-packed with meeting leading members of the Silicon Valley community from the entrepreneurial and Hi-Tech World. His talks with them were very well received. In spite of battling consistently high fever for several weeks, which went undiagnosed in spite of several check ups and trips to the emergency room, Sadhguru continued with his tour keeping all his appointments in California.

The final key note of the convention was given by Sadhguru. Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman Microsoft India, who introduced Sadhguru to the audience talked about how he met Sadhguru during an especially stressful time in his life. Sadhguru had said to him-“If you can’t take care of yourself, how will you take care of the hundreds of people working for you?”  Taking the inner engineering course transformed his life, said Ravi.

The topic was Inner Engineering - Peak of Well-being. Sadhguru pointed out that life before we started messing with it and the world is really simple-but we weren’t willing to live with the world the way it is. We wanted to make it the way we wanted it to be. The last hundred years, we have changed the very face of the planet, may be too much because we are threatening the life of the planet.”

Sadhguru said while we are the most comfortable generation ever to inhabit this planet, most ordinary citizens having access to even what royalty couldn’t afford hundred years ago. “But can we also claim that we are the most joyful generation? Are we the healthiest?”

Sadhguru pointed out to a news report that said 43 percent of the American population is existing on anti-depressants. “So if you take away those pills half the population will go crazy. It is not well being, it’s a tragedy.” While taking a nation from poverty to affluence is hard work, affluence has not succeeded in well being. “We have fixed the outside but neglected the inside.”

(Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev meeting admirers after his lecture at the 2007 TieCon in California)

Sadhguru said that for most successful people, being peaceful is not a state, it’s a goal. “If you are not peaceful inside you cannot even enjoy your dinner.” He was at Princeton and asked why every one over 30 was carrying a long face-the answer was-they are married!” He quipped.

 Joking aside Sadhguru said to look at the life of a young child-the joyful state the child is in, has to be forcibly shattered, but as adults we can barely count the joyful moments we savor even in twenty four hours. “As individuals, as a society and as a nation we have invested in many things but we have not invested in human well being.” It will only happen, if you know how to keep a balance between your mind, body, energy and emotion. There is a whole science behind how to create that state. When you are agitated or stressed out, you yell at every one, and it affects your well being. Often you end up popping a pill to make you functional. Five million people are popping pills for every experience they want. Today every human experience has a chemical basis in it.”

 Sadhguru said if people are willing to do it he can  give them the tools to be able to effectively use the body and the mind in a way that will keep the inner and the outer in sync. It will in turn help every one,  be they entrepreneurs, technocrats and people from any walk of life, live to their full potential both on a personal and professional level.

Sadhguru, being the great story teller that he is, shared the story of a man who sat on frozen Lake Michigan, cut a hole through the ice and lowered his hook to catch fish. Several hours passed and not one single bite. A little while later, a young boy listening to music sat down near by cut a hole and put the hook in. The man scornfully looked at him and thought-“I haven’t caught a singe fish and here comes this upstart, thinking he can out do me.? But to his surprise, he sees the boy catch fish after fish. He can’t control himself and goes to the boy and asks how he managed to catch so many fish? The boy mumbled with a full mouth-you have to keep the worms warm.” Moral of the story-you have to do the right thing or it won’t work. Life’s energies alter depending on how you use them.

Another story reflected how we tend to fool ourselves into thinking we are fine even when we are not. A pheasant and a bull were together in a meadow. The pheasant was on the bull’s back picking ticks as the bull grazed. The pheasant looked at the  towering tree in front of him, sighed and said, “When I  was young and strong, I fly to the top of the tree.” The bull said you can still do it, just eat my dung for a week. The whole world is doing it.” The pheasant reluctantly ate some-the very next day, much to his glee, he could fly to the first branch. A week later, as promised he was on the top of the tree. He crowed in delight, a farmer seated on the verandah of his house, saw this fat pheasant crowing, got his gun and shot him to the ground for a meal. “So”, said Sadhguru, “bullshit can take you to the top but it never lets you stay there.”

At the World economic forum Sadhguru says he was asked what  was a mystic doing in an economic summit? “I said, Isn’t the key premise of all your businesses and political agenda human well being? Well that is my business too. A phrase that I had coined “ inclusive economics” seems to have caught on every where and I see people, including the current Indian Prime Minister, using it quite frequently.”

Sadhguru said doing business globally in a limited way and excluding a huge population does not make good business sense. “If a small shift happens in the mind of each leader or those who can make an impact, we can create a major shift with positive ripples through the entire planet. At Isha we have the science, the technology to create inner well being for every human being, but so far we have not seen many people have the will to make it happen.”

Sadhguru also reiterated that you can’t run after happiness. “Don’t pursue happiness, step back into it.”

Sadhguru mentioned how he spoke with Bill Clinton about the permanent damage of the Iraq war and how even a fraction of the billions wasted, could have benefited the whole world had they been used on education, health and human well being. Clinton agreed. Sadhguru said spirituality has to find a place in US politics.

Kaval Kaur, the Co-Convener for the event said that when they decided to invite Sadhguru, many people were hesitant. “ They said this is a business forum, will his presence be relevant?’

They persisted, and Sadhguru received a standing ovation when he finally spoke! Rajen Shah Co-convener also felt that everything Sadhguru said made sense to the full auditorium.

Raj Jaswa the President of TiE, who had earlier hosted Sadhguru for a dinner at his place, said he has been reading Mystic’s Musings and finds it utterly fascinating. “ Simple questions that you have heard a million times have been asked and Sadhguru is someone who answers each question with a fresh, new perspective which rings true-that’s the beauty of what he says. It was wonderful that everything he said in his keynote address was totally understood and appreciated by the audience.”

CLICK HERE FOR A DIRECT LINK TO SADHGURU’S KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT TIECON 2007.

Q and A with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

In Conversation with Kavita Chhibber

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

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 refer to previous Q and A selections.

Here are the selections for this month.

Dear Sadhguru,

You said that each individual is a combination of masculine and feminine and it is possible for one to merge within themselves. How can one identify and merge with the other gender within oneself? What are the possible ways in which this can occur ? What sort of a change could this bring in individual transformation ? -R. Sridevi, Trichi

It is not possible for me to instruct you right now in cyber space. You need to come to the Ashram for that, but what I can say is this. If people do certain sadhanas and create  the necessary balance in the system and create awareness just the observation itself will make you see how some parts of you are different from the others. That acceptance and understanding itself will transform your life, and make you less compulsive about identifying yourself with one gender or the other. It will make you a complete person but to get the best experience it has to be done under proper supervision.

What is the power of promise. what will happen if one misuses it. In the month of Feb I experienced a moment of nothingness. Or is it hallucination???!! I am sure it is nothingness so I proceed further. I have looked at myself in a different way. I saw myself unable to sustain in that nothingness, I think this is because of that am always shuttling between memory and imagination but not living in reality(as you always say).  Now I clearly know what I want in my life. I need self satisfaction and happiness. I know I have some talent to survive in this competitive world but many times I have noticed when I give my input to any work with some involvement am not getting a satisfied output. I mean input is more but output is very less. And I don’t know the reason...  How to correct this?-Rajshri Chennai

A joyful person is not really result oriented. Results happen automatically when you are happy. Do not pay unnecessary significance to the so called moment of nothingness. Spiritual processes are not about experience hunting. Experiences happen and are like milestones or like an inspiration to keep going. Focus more on your sadhana and clarity will come.

How many enlightened people are living on this planet today? Please can you name a few of the most famous, particularly westerners?-Margit Schweiger, Munich, Germany

There is one great yogi who will be passing away in the next couple of months. He is not available to the world, but the impact he has had on the planet is very visible. I can’t say anything beyond that.

Dear Sadhguru,

You say being enlightened is  the ultimate possibility for a human being. Even other yogis and great men have said the same thing. We as normal human beings become materialistic and are far away from this  inner possibility, but we have the capacity and the common sense to understand through our  experiences or through your lectures that we are in the wrong direction and we should  look inward. But what about those people who do not have the mental capacity to  understand for example people who are mentally retarded and many such cases, what about them how will they realize such an important possibility- Shyam Balakrishnan

Both physical and mental ailments that have happened to a certain segment of people, is a reminder that by looking at them those who are well should realize the blessings of life to them. If they focus inwards and bring about awareness it will go a long way in bringing change and easing the suffering of the whole planet. People with mental and physical disability remind us of life happening in an improper way. Some of it can be fixed and some cannot through certain ways and means, but those who are healthy should bring relief in the lives of those who are not. That is a big difference right there.

Everything in my life is a struggle(mentally):  at times I am able to take this as a step to grow but at times I just break! I do not know how I can maintain a balance between the two!-Vanita Chawla

There is no “two”-it is just a mental illusion that you are trying to create and see the inward and the outward as two different things. If you see it with awareness or understand it intellectually, you will realize that your expression is self created. Understand there is no division and your struggle will cease.

Dear Jaggi,
Namaskaram., kindly give more explanation about the triangle position during the prithista of  dhyanalinga-Sriguru-Malaysia

The explanation is given in the last chapter of my book Mystic’s Musings. Please read it there.

I am a 20 year old and until 7 months I had been smoking marijuana for 5  years. I can leave the sitting in bus stops behind, I can leave the boring  conversations behind but I can’t seem to let go of the obsession with the  whole Bob Marley type thought and that smoking marijuana and these things  can help you spiritually. Please offer me some advice- Reno

Bob Marley never got spiritual. He just died at 32 otherwise  we would have heard some more good music for a few more years. So you have 12 more years if you want to be a Bob Marley. If you don’t, then clean up your act.

 I wanted to ask about the usefulness and effect of the rudraksha mala and also about the restrictions of keeping it near metals. Is it ok to wear it with other silver/gold necklaces or should it be worn alone? Is it necessary to wear it all the time or can it be worn only while doing our practices. How do you make out the real rudraksha from a  fake one. -ashutosh, Kathy, preeti from Australia, Germany and San Francisco.

The Rudraksha is a certain seed found at a certain altitude in the Himalayas. It has a very unique vibration, just as every substance on the planet has its own unique vibration. The fundamental nature of the Rudraksha is to cleanse your aura. An aura can be pure white to pitch black and in between there are million shades. The person’s aura can tell you about that person’s health and mental state and his karmic structure.

It doesn’t mean that the moment you put on a Rudraksha, you’ll have a halo around your head or neck. When a person tries to purify himself every little support helps. A Rudraksha mala becomes one of those supports.

Medically research has proven that a Rudraksha mala lowers blood pressure and calms your nerves down. People with many skin ailments also seem to find relief after wearing the Rudrakhsa mala. The Rudraksha also protects you from negative energies around you. It Is especially good for people who travel a lot because traveling and different kind of foods cause a havoc in the person’s system.

We usually prefer that it be worn alone in a silk thread. Often when it is strung in silver or gold, the beads tend to get cracked. You can wear it after purifying it 24 hours in ghee and 24 hours in milk. It is good to wear it at all times and even during the bath if you are not using chemical soaps.

A Rudraksha is supposed to be a one time buy, and a lot of fake Rudraksha malas are being sold in the market. In fact there is a very poisonous seed called Badraksha, and that mala too is being sold in the market. It looks a lot like the Rudraksha.

Buy the mala from a reliable source, as it is not easy for a layman to know the real mala from a fake one.

Namaskaram.

I heard you say that women should avoid visiting Tanjore Big temple as the Siva Lingam there has not been consecrated in a proper manner; Jesus visited Kasi during his life time; you were a witness and experienced various subtle bodies during your recent Himalayan expedition and the list can go on. I heard you say many times that one should not believe such stories and they are good for a gossip in the next social party. I agree that mortals like me may take  many janmas ( provided we sincerely follow spiritual process) before we experience what you are saying - as you are a Jivanmukthar.

Sadhguru,  should I believe or disbelieve you. The reason why I am asking is, in my current state of awareness, I am not in position to experience what you proclaim. Let us suppose that I is believe you then I am not part of ISHA to follow the spiritual path that you teach us. Suppose I believe what you say (for example; the ones given above) then why should I not believe other such claims made by other masters.Net-net does it mean who is saying determines if it is a truth or not rather than the matter itself. Respectful regards-Srinivasan subramaniam, Chennai , India

I have answered this question before. The only experience that is true is what you experience personally. There is no need to be confused about what to believe or disbelieve what others say.

And who told you that if you don’t believe me you are no longer a part of Isha? That is also a presumption.

Sadhguru, This particular question is tickling my mind for more than a decade.  Many elderly people especially religious leaders discourage people practicing kundalini yoga. 

Many of my father’s friends who follow hatha yoga and prayanama did not encourage me even to talk about the Kundalini during my early twenties. They sow a sense of fear in the mind of aspirants who wish to take Kundalini diksha. Why this kind of stigma is attached to the practice of Kundalini yoga. Does the practice of Kundalini yoga brings mental imbalance to the sadaka?-V Dhanaraj

It is not a question of stigma. It is just to prevent people from not doing it correctly without guidance. How can you do PhD, when you don’t even know the ABC to begin with. Yoga is a very powerful and sensitive process and if not done properly it won’t benefit you. Kundalini yoga especially can cause severe physical and psychological damage and therefore must never be attempted without proper supervision.

Please send your questions to Sadhguru and mention the city, and country.
The questions can be sent to Kavita@kavitachhibber.com.