Gem of an interview by Sadhguru

For those who don't have the patience to watch the whole video..enjoy the jist below.....

On new leadership

leadership has to be on many tiers of society. .generally in Asia particularly in India ..if a good leader comes up instead of reinforcing his position they worship..

building leadership in all tiers of  society is a very important aspect if we really want to grab the economic possibility in front of us…

for me the economic possibility doesn’t mean soaring stock markets or limousines on the street..for me what it means is there are 400 million people that have not eaten well..yet..they will get to eat well, there will be food on their plate..

On Economy & Spiritual movements

i wouldnt use the word like greed..because once you've chosen market economy..

there is no such thing as greed..'cos thats the driving force..

its no more a dirty word..

as long as somebody is earning by legitimate means ..paying his taxes he drives a gold plated rolls royce

its not your business..that is the mode of economy we've chosen..is it right or wrong..this is not the time to ask the question..

'cos we've already made the choice..of market driven economy this is not the time to ask..

once you ask that question you are going into socialistic mode..which has not worked for some reason..for whatever reason..

On what Spiritual Movements do

to activate that natural, intrinsic need within a human being  to share..that is where the spiritual movements and other things come into place...

you cannot do it through the economic system..economic system is designed to drive and grow..

so for a human being to decide..see everybody wants to share..the Q is only what is his identity..

if he is identified only with his family..he shares only with his family..

if he is identified with his community he shares with community

if he is identified with the nation he shares with the nation..

if he is identified with the whole humanity he shares with the whole humanity..

so enlarging that identity in a human being is the work of the spiritual movements..

so if an individual person's identity is enlarged to the whole humanity and to all life in this planet naturally he will share...

On differences

so we are always looking at cultural differences with a certain apprehension..because there is a history of people identifying every difference as a discriminatory process..

yes that is the bane of democracy..you dont always get to do the wisest thing..

you tend to do what is popular..for which we always pay a price..

On individual responsibility

ultimately as human actions or human thought or human emotions come ..it is only individual responsibility..which can permeate into the social action...

the more important your position becomes in the world, now when you have the power to impact millions of people..now every thought you generate, every emotion you generate, every word you utter, every action you perform becomes of profound importance..

if you are an ant you can walk upon everyone..if you become an elephant then you have to walk carefully..so as you get into positions of power and responsibility your individual responsibility becomes of paramount importance..

On spiritual and religious process

in a spiritual process you refer to yourself as a seeker ..

you become a seeker as you realize you do not know..

when you identify yourself with a religious process you refer to yourself as a believer..whatever you do not know you believe..

Isha Yoga

I am going to pen my experience of Isha yoga, Velliangiri Hills, Coimbatore where I spent close to 20 days, doing various courses and staying in the ashram. I will not go into the details of the programs, just recollect what my experience was..

 I landed in Coimbatore, coming from Saudi off the August heat, the weather was welcoming. As I drove across the city towards the Velliangiri hills I could see how small CBE was, just a compact fairly well laid out city. Quickly the feel was like I was driving thro some roads in Kerala, greenery and the cold air..

As I entered the ashram, it just got better. If my few human interactions in Coimbatore city were pleasant, with the people ever conscious of their language - polite and mild mannered, inside the ashram it was surreal. The volunteers had something about them that I've never seen in the outside world. The smile, the warmth and the care seems to come from a different source. The look in their eyes were that of a long lost brother or a mother. I am trying to overtly put in words my experience of the people without getting carried away.

 The volunteers! Why would they volunteer? Why are they so nice to everyone? The whole Ashram is run by volunteers -permanent and  temporary. I wondered what was 'wrong' with them, I just did not get it!  Yes I've paid for the course, but you just cannot put a price tag on their love..suddenly there were brothers and mothers around me with this sparkle in their eyes that I did want to know more about.

32 years of this conditioned mind, so used to the plastic smiles and the 'near and dear' that are more worried about my life and my 'culture' and how I should live it, than their own, ever judging and preaching, I just couldn't digest this acceptance of me as I am without any prejudice. They made me feel welcome and  I belonged there!

My Inner Engineering experience..

Firstly, it was the Inner Engineering. Trying to keep aside all that I have read, the various theories, philosophies and belief systems. I tried to 'just be' with what was happening in the program. I found myself very emotional and could see the walls crumbling deep within while we went out to play a series of games. A team game and me! I was always a loner, the egoistic moron may be that never enjoyed playing a team sport ATALL. Is that why I like martial arts? Ill save that for later. Here I was fully participating in these simple games and I am not sure when I was more physically and mentally alive to a situation. EVER. I cannot say the 'child' in me was out because honestly even as a child I think I was restrained as far as my memory could recollect.

Sadhguru always says the one favor we could do to ourselves is stop reading spiritual books. I could see why as my mind threw concepts and counter concepts to what was being said in the program. The mind hinders 'what is'.

 Before I could realize the Inner Engineering program was over. No out of the world experience. I have a tool to enrich and nourish my life energy and hence my well being. Just few days of practicing the kriyas, I could feel the lightness of body and the energy. May be its the wholesome food and the ambience of the ashram. So let me test it in the in real world and comment after 60 days(usually 48) of practice.

My Dhyanalinga experience..

The Dhyanalinga Temple. Let me not attempt to verbalize the experience and leave patterns in the reader's(if any) mind. Just 'be' there, the Dhyanalinga, the living guru will take care of the rest.

My Hata Yoga experience..

 Hata Yoga  was for just over a couple of days. Just 3 words -tiring, tiring and more tiring. I tried not to resist and was amazed how supple and flexible my 20 kg overweight body could get. Oh ya thats right, its twenty kilograms in words, like we write in a cheque. Can I write it off to someone? Hah, that would be nice..

I've done a few Hata Yoga programs with no disrespect to them I liked this one as they stressed on awareness all thro. This actually made the difference. Instead of struggling with postures I was flowing into them and it made a huge difference. One more tool picked.

My BSP experience...

Everyone there the volunteers the teacher, old students etc kept talking about this BSP program. Do it at any cost! BSP this, BSP that. So I decided to risk it, risk as in the day it ended was the day i was flying out of Coimbatore. A tight rope walk when i am let go and make the 90 mins trip from ashram to airport.

Anyways, I did it and am I glad I did it? Lets see..

Imagine the feeling you get when u look into the eyes of a really loved one. May be it is your mother, father, husband, wife, brother, sister a close friend or your child. This feeling of love, a connectedness beyond the physical form. Now imagine having the same feeling, the same connectedness for a total stranger you have never seen/known in your life before. How about having the same feeling staring at a plant ...this is the closest explanation I cld give to my experience of the program. Yes the state of connectedness wasn't permanent, yes the so called 'logical' mind took over, but the experience remains. 

At the end of the program everything was clear. I could relate to why the volunteers were the way they are. It was no more surreal. The externalities of life batters and bruises us to such extent that our innately sensitive nature, the naturally loving, giving, inner being goes dormant. This program brings to our experience this inner being that though might be for just a few fleeting moments makes us realize who we really are.

The only sad moment of my whole stay was missing Sadhguru's darshan the day I had to leave. I am quietly confident his Grace is always there for the willing, hmm even more so for the not so willing.

My days in the ashram were filled with tears, joy, laughter, gratitude, humility and this unbound, unconditional love never felt before...I always thought I was a loving person. I was not! Love with our boundaries isn't love, it is just gratification, convenience and the ego's expression/reassurance for territorial safety. I can safely say, I experienced love in its unbound, pure form.

People in the ashram don't live their lives, they celebrate it. Whatever they do they give their all. Abundance there has a totally different meaning. They might not have the material comforts that is normally related to 'abundance' but their abundance transcends the externalities and they flow through this life with no friction and embrace life. Being there is like living, feeling, experiencing this poem of life every moment. They work, they eat, they pray, they play they do all of this with so much poise and grace. They just flow!

All I have is this feeling of gratitude to Sadhguru and I thank whoever/whatever it is for the chance to experience it this lifetime..