Renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Devi Shetty asks Sadhguru why some children are born with congenital illnesses such as cardiac problems. Sadhguru explains that the body is fundamentally physical, and that can never be perfect. He looks at how in ancient times, Indian culture setup certain processes to ensure that the next generation produced was a constant evolution.

Full Transcript:

Devi Shetty: Sadhguru, majority of the people who fall sick, it’s primarily because they led a life which would definitely land them in trouble. But thousands of children are born in this country, like any other part of the world with cardiac problem, with cancer, all kinds of problem. They… it is not their fault. Why it happens? It shouldn’t have happened.

Sadhguru: You know six million Toyota cars were withdrawn last year for defective whatever and about nine million General Motors withdrawn for ignition problems…

Devi Shetty: It’s a manufacturing defect.

Sadhguru: Only… only problem is, you can’t withdraw them (Few laugh). Actually nature is trying to withdraw them, we are not allowing it. There was a time we would allow the nature to withdraw. Yes?

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru: All the manufacturing defects that came, hundred- two hundred years ago we would allow the nature to withdraw. By the time children are four, only the fittest would survive, rest would go.

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru: Now we don’t allow them to withdraw, so we need a whole lot of things to run the defective cars. I know, I’m putting it so blatantly but you need to understand – physical, the physical existence is mechanical. Whether you like it or you don’t like it probably all kinds of sensitivities and emotions are there about this “my physical body” but when they come to you, you strip them down and treat them like a machine, isn’t it? And you’re calling it a dumb part, they think it’s the most precious part that they want to give it to somebody (Laughter). Don’t tell them this is dumb part, they value (Few Laugh). So when you… when you look at it as a doctor particularly as a surgeon, you’re definitely looking it at as a… as a mechanical part… mechanical structure - complex, sophisticated but still mechanical, isn’t it?

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru: There are other aspects to it but fundamentally mechanical. Anything mechanical, anything physical - there is never something called as perfection to it. It is a constant work in progress, you can improve it and improve it and improve it. What we call as evolutionary thing is just that. Now the parents, the two machines which produced this small machine…

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru: …okay, what condition are they in, this is also an issue which we’ve not taken care of. There are… there is a lot to be said which is controversial about this but essentially this idea that everybody must have children has to go. Yeah, I know I’m getting into trouble (Laughter). But we… we are not seeing humanity as a future possibility, we’re just seeing it as a regressive way of something that we can extend into future of our own - a footprint. Those who want to live… leave a footprint will never fly, you know.

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru:(Laughs)If you want to leave a footprint, you’re not going to fly. So I am saying if humanity has to fly, we have to think differently. Our …this is a… this is a Dhrithrastra syndrome, we’re still suffering from it (Laughs), you know.

Devi Shetty: Yes, yes.

Sadhguru: A blind man who had nothing to do (Laughter). And hundred children and the works, you know the whole story (Laughter). We’re still suffering from this. Even today “Mine” is more important than what is right, so we can… if we cannot think beyond our biology - right now that’s a problem, our identification with the body is so strong, the physical body is so strong, we are unable to think beyond our biological identity. Once you’re not able to think beyond your biological identity, the very nature of being human, the immensity of being a human is constrained and constipated into a very small process. In this process there are problems. In the ancient past they handled this in many different wage (ways?) which are absolutely, utterly controversial today and can never be brought back into this society but they did handle things in a completely different way. They’re bred carefully, which is very important.

Devi Shetty: Sa…

Sadhguru: We’re thinking about… when it comes to animal husbandry, we’re thinking of breeding right, as human beings why are we not thinking of breeding right? (Few Laugh) Because we are too identified with our own body. “It’s mine” is more important than what’s right and the level of suffering that you bring into this fresh life, you know, you see it every day.

Devi Shetty: Yes. Yes. Sadhguru, as doctors especially surgeons, the common man’s impression about surgeon… oh, he is the one who cuts and stitches and… but essentially very early stage of my career, I was insisting that my junior surgeons, before they start actually getting into cardiac surgery, they should attend drawing classes because…

Sadhguru: Drawing class? Oh.

Devi Shetty: …painting and drawing classes - essentially we need to train the younger generation as artists and when a surgeon has a bent of mind of an artist, when he is doing an operation what comes out at the end of the operation is something very beautiful. This is the way I thought twenty-five years ago but today it has become a norm, that everyone thinks that surgeon should behave like an artist and they should be trained like an artist, they should be creative, do you believe in that concept?

Time 88.00

Sadhguru: I feel that’s one small step. Like what I was saying earlier if a certain level of coherence has to come, surgeons should become yogis. Yes, they must have such a level of coherence (Applause)… they should have such a level of coherence with everything around them, not just the patient, with the whole atmosphere; because as I said earlier, everything that we have made whether it's the heart or the brain or liver, kidney -all manufactured from inside.

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru: We have the intelligence and the competence to create a heart, to create a brain, to create a liver, kidney everything. For some reason - for whatever reasons, not getting into that detail - it's gone bad. When it's gone bad, philosophies and logics are insulting, okay? We want a solution. If we want a solution, is it a comprehensive solution or is it just an immediate solution? When we say comprehensive solution, are we just trying to extend life or are we wanting life to be nourished and flourishing life – this is the question. Now if…When I say a yogi, this must be understood, it does not mean that you must move to the mountains or something. The word yoga means union or cohesiveness between what is limited and unlimited, what is physical and what’s non-physical. The reason why in the beginning you said is “It may be all preordained” is because there are no answers in the physical world that you’ve examined. When you open and look at all this complicated machine - it doesn’t matter how many thousand times you’ve looked at it - if you think, you’re still… it's an apprehensive state to be looking at somebody’s heart beating. You’ve seen it a thousand times or ten thousand times, but still you know you’re playing with somebody’s life. One small mistake, it can happen and the consequences of life and social and family and other things, all those things are there.

Considering this, how much cohesiveness we have, existentially - not just emotionally, not psychologically, not in a bio-chemical way - existentially in the most fundamental way in terms of consciousness, in terms of the quantum leap between physical and non-physical, if there is a cohesiveness, I would say if you… if you invest one year, not fulltime, one year of sadhana - I would say you would bring down… at least twenty-five percent of your surgeries would be cancelled and you would do something else with them. I think it's worth that every doctor should invest (Applause) in this direction. Twenty, twenty-five percent easily you can write off those surgeries, they won't be needed.

Time 91:25

Any number of people who have come to us with their bypass… they won't come and do anything sensible till you fix a date for them (Devi Shetty Laughs). You say your bypass surgery is this day, now panic, that somebody is going to open their heart and see. Now at that time last moment they come. Any number of people have bypassed this bypass surgery, simply by doing certain fundamental things right with themselves. One thing is taking charge of the five elements, within the system and outside the system - the water, air, earth, fire and space. Seventy-two percent of our body is water, twelve percent is earth, six percent is air, four percent is fire, remaining is space. The fundamental nature of the yogic sciences… is rooted… the technology of yoga is rooted in what is called as Bhutashuddhi, that is cleansing the five elements. If just these simple things are brought, because they will listen to you better because they come to you sick always.

Devi Shetty: Yes.

Sadhguru: To me they come both ways (Devi Shetty Laughs). If they just do a few simple things and they see that this is not some kind of a, you know mumbo-jumbo from somewhere, you’re talking solid science to them - because science means it has to come from the West. We can talk western language - I started with Isaac Newton that way, that’s why (Devi Shetty laughs) because without calling these new gods it’ll not work, you know. So whichever way – I don’t care how as long it works - whichever way, if it can be melded together, I think we will be doing a tremendous service to a whole lot of people.