Isha Forest Flower

Our Temples Need to Be In the Hands of Devotees. Here’s Why.

There is much more to our ancient temples than meets the eye. That is why Sadhguru recently created the #FreeTemples movement. It is not just about restoring absolute masterpieces of architecture and craftsmanship that are dying a silent death. Or remedying a gross injustice that goes back to colonial times. What is at stake is nothing less than the centerpiece of a most profound culture, which would be an immeasurable loss not only for India but humanity as a whole. Find out more.

The Status Quo: Gross Neglect

In 2020, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department submitted in the Madras High Court that they are not able to maintain even one pooja or ritual per day in 11,999 temples because there is no revenue. Some 34,000 temples have less than 10,000 rupees income per annum. In 37,000 temples, they are not able to appoint more than one person to do whatever is needed in the temple. That means the same person is supposed to do the pooja, clean it, take care of the management, and everything else.

It is time that temples come out of the clutches of the government and into the hands of responsible, competent devotees. There was a time in this country when temples were mainly built and taken care of by kings. Now some people argue that this was like being under the government, but that is not so. Kings were devotees to such a point that in many kingdoms, the deity was the ruler, while the king saw himself as the servant of the deity. That was their level of devotion.

Why This Ancient Culture Is Vital For Our Future

Fundamentally, Indian temples were not created as places of prayer. Mostly, they are different types of energy centers that people can soak themselves in. This has been the experience of millions of people, for millennia. We are not a culture that believes there is one power up there who manages everything. Here, we are always told, “Your life is your karma. Whatever happens, it is your making.” But you can empower yourself with spirituality and devotion to create your life the way you want. This ancient culture will be vitally relevant for the future, and temples, as consecrated energy centers, are an important aspect of that.

The Way It Is, Is Absolute Injustice

No one has any right to take anyone’s place of worship, whoever they are, and whatever they believe in. But in Tamil Nadu, for eighty-seven percent of the population, their places of worship are unfortunately in the hands of the government. This is about the fundamental rights of the citizens of India and about secularism. Because in my understanding, to be secular means that religion does not mess with the government – government does not mess with religion.

There is much more to managing a temple than to sweep it or do two poojas – it is a very intricate science. It bleeds my heart to see that something that was created with such a great effort and science in the past, something that brought tremendous wellbeing, prosperity, scientific development, and above all, an exuberant culture, is today in a process of decay.

Our constitution gives the right for everyone to practice their religion, irrespective of their faith. When that is the case, the fact that the majority population’s temples are being managed by the government is very shameful. No matter which community you belong to, every sensible Indian must act on this. I am not a regular temple-going person. I am saying this because it is a glaring injustice. Recently, the American poet Amanda Gorman recited a poem with this fantastic line: “…what just is, isn’t always justice.” The way it is right now is “just is” from the British era. This is not justice – this is absolute injustice that a certain community cannot keep their own places of worship.

Painful Acts of Desecration

Some people only think about the money and the property that belongs to the temples. My concern is that sacred spaces are being systematically desecrated. The aesthetics with which these temples were built are phenomenal. In Tamil Nadu temples, they carved granite, which is a very hard stone, into exquisite art. But today, people managing the temples have put oil paint or enamel paint over all these stone carvings. That is their idea of aesthetics. They have simply put walls here and there. This kind of desecration has been done, and temple processes have been changed without considering the science of temple building. Such intricate processes and aesthetics have been massacred.

You cannot create these temples again. There is a profound science as to how they were built, and, above all, how they were consecrated. In Tamil Nadu, we have temples that were consecrated by Agastya Muni, Patanjali Maharishi, and many other sages and saints, including the Nayanmars. This is a legacy that should not be destroyed. But unfortunately, a lot of damage has been done. I think the time has come to release them.

Our Democratic Right and Duty

The movement to free our temples is not an effort to protest, agitate, or even corner anyone. This is out of a very deep anguish for what is happening to our ancient temples. I firmly believe that in a democratic country, every responsible citizen must clearly articulate before elections what the few things are that must happen in their state or in the country. Political parties must know that this is what the people want, and they must make their manifestos based on that. We will work with whoever gets elected to take this to its logical end. It is in the people’s hearts that this must happen. Around 3.32 crore people have supported this movement so far through missed calls and other means of communication. When that many people want it, I do not see how any government can ignore it.

Is Modern Life Making Us Mentally Ill?

Russell Brand: When you say that a good percentage of Americans are getting some sort of pharmaceutical aid [for their mental health], whether it is prescribed or illicit, it seems to me to not be a coincidence that this happening in the most economically advanced culture and one with a deeply entrenched, financially supported, culturally enforced, propaganda-illuminated ideology of deep capitalist consumerism. And whilst I acknowledge the only role I can meaningfully conduct is my own evolution and awakening, and I hope that it has environmental benefits, I feel that it is negligent not to observe the cultural impact of ideologies that are making drug addicts and manufacturing mental illness.

I feel that these conditions do not occur in isolation – they occur at epidemic levels because of broken ideologies, which are themselves a reflection and manifestation of these unconscious appetites. We have yet to process that both on a cultural level and on an individual level.

Sadhguru: I would say all ideologies are spirituality gone off track. There are two fundamental ideologies: There is a capitalistic way of doing things, which is essentially manufacturing more and consuming more. Then there is a communist philosophy, which is about sharing and creating a community.

Capitalism, A Train Gone Off Track?

A train is good when it is on track – when it goes off the rails, it is a disaster. Capitalism or consumerism is a spiritual longing that has gotten derailed. Wanting more is the nature of human consciousness, because a human being does not want to be contained – he wants to be everything. But we are going in installments. If you want to become infinite, can you count one, two, three, four, five, and one day be infinite? No, all you will become is endless counting. This is consumerism. At one time, ten pounds was a great amount of income. Today, you might say it is ten billion, but that actually does not mean anything because people’s suffering is not related to how much they have. If you have two billion dollars and you lose one billion dollars, you will be miserable. But someone else in a remote society who only has two cows and loses one of them, will be equally miserable. Because in terms of individual experience, it does not really make a difference; only in the social context it does.

So how should we conduct society? Human consciousness should shape society. Society should not shape individual human consciousness. Right now, the only value that you have is economics. Everyone has become slaves of the economic engine. But essentially, economy is a glorified survival process that has spread across the world. The present economic condition in the world is that everyone has got their foot on the throttle – no one has their hands on the steering wheel. Only the virus has brought some sense and brakes to the economy. This is the time to reorganize ourselves and rethink many aspects.

Communism, Another Derailed Train

So essentially, wanting to be more is the basis of capitalism. The basis of communism is also the same thing. What you consider as wellbeing for you, you want it to spread to everyone else. Maybe not in material terms, but in terms of wellbeing as a community, it essentially means we all share. That also went off the rails, because those who had nothing to share wanted to share. Those who had something to share did not want to share. Unfortunately, this is what happened to communism in the world.

Longing for One Thing

It is very important to look at Rama as a human being. If he was a god, you would hang him on the wall and forget about him. No one ever tries to emulate a god. If a man is doing really wonderful, naturally everyone aspires to be like that. Essentially, what Rama encapsulates is absolute passion for everything and total dispassion for himself. Rama’s passion for the wellbeing of his people was limitless to a point of self-sacrifice. I think this is a quality all human beings need to emulate, no matter where they are.

The word Yoga means union. You being an individual is just your idea. The very body that you carry is a piece of the planet. What you think is your psychological structure is a heap of impressions that you have gathered. Everything that you know as “myself” is a collage of things, but still, you are there. If you open your eyes and look, you see the world. But if you close your eyes and you do not see the world, you still exist. You do not exist only because you see, hear, smell, and taste. If you are fast asleep, you are unconscious, but still you exist.

Why Your Existence Is Like a Bubble

Beyond your personality, beyond your physical and psychological framework, there is something that is “you” – let us call it life. Right now, your experience of life is like this. Russ, did you blow soap bubbles, at least when you were young?

Russell Brand: Bubbles are the motif of the football club that I support. “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” [the anthem of West Ham United Football Club] – ephemeral, beautiful bubbles.

Sadhguru: If both of us blew bubbles, and my bubble was floating here and yours was floating here, you would say, “This is my bubble – that is your bubble.” But if they pop, you would not say, “This is my air – that is your air.” The bubble contains the same air. In terms of life, this is a living cosmos. It is a great privilege that life has allowed us an individual experience, though there is nothing individual about existence.

It may look like it on the surface, but there is nothing individual about this body – it is all the same soil. There is nothing individual about the impressions we have taken in, or the life that we are. It is the magnanimity of life that has given us an individual experience. This is not a time to be depressed, anxious, or worried. Life is the greatest phenomenon that is happening to you. Though there is nothing individual about you, there is a whole individual experience – as if you are real and absolute. Our existence here is very much like a soap bubble. I am glad your football club, West Ham, has this soap bubble motif, because they know you may be a champion today, and tomorrow, it could burst.

Technology Is What We Make of It

The important thing is the way you kick the ball right now. These days, everyone is complaining about this pandemic as “the greatest difficulty ever.” They have forgotten what previous generations have gone through. Since you are in London, just ask some old people who are still alive how 1942 was for them [when London was systematically bombed for almost two months by the German Luftwaffe]. If they as much as lit a cigarette on the street during a blackout, their own soldiers would shoot them dead. Today, they are only asking you to stay home – not in a prison but your home – and to wear a mask if you come out. And now people are complaining, “No, we want freedom!” We have become so frivolous.

Instead of using our comforts and conveniences as a platform for our creativity and our genius, we have used them to disable ourselves. I just talked to a group of business people in Chennai. I looked at them and asked, “Suppose you are walking on the streets of Chennai and a tiger came, how many of you could run and climb a tree, sit there, and enjoy the wildlife? Most of you will fall all over the place and break your bones, before the tiger eats you. Only those few guys who are doing menial jobs on the street will be able to climb up the tree, while you are becoming the tiger’s breakfast.”

Development, civilization, technology, comforts, conveniences, and economic wellbeing should be about enabling ourselves, but as it is now, the reverse is happening.

Sadhguru: Full Moon or Purnima means different things to different people. For some, it means enlightenment. Historically, in this culture, many beings have attained on a Purnima or in the fullness of the Moon. For some, it means love. For some, it means meditation. For many, it means flirtatiousness. I am calling this program “Full Moon Flirtations” – not enlightenment, love, or meditation. Enlightenment is a faraway thing for most people, at least in their minds. Love is too much commitment, and too often too painful. Above all, whom to love? It is complicated. The image of meditation in the world is that of hurting ankles, back pain, and boredom. But flirtation does not demand commitment – it just needs a little attention, and you can play without consequences.

What Happens When Flirtation Progresses Into Love

People think that flirtation is only concerned with the opposite sex, but most human beings are only flirting with life. Their involvement is based on fear, so they can never really engage themselves absolutely. They are not willing to plunge into life; they just touch life with their fingertips, in everything that they do. I am not talking about hormone-induced flirtatiousness, but about life being flirtatious. Many times, people try to flirt, but they end up falling in love or having the person they wanted to flirt with as their wife or husband.

I will flirt; you also flirt. In the process, maybe you will fall in love. If you fall in love, it will become transformative. Once you are in love, I can make you meditate; maybe I can even enlighten you. Love is a trap without an exit door. That is why people flirt. I am okay with that because if you start flirting, maybe you will fall in love, and of course it will be transformative. But if you just remain flirtatious – no harm, no gain.

When the Moon Has a Greater Impact Than the Sun

We follow the solar calendar for the events in the world, but for things that happen within us, we follow the lunar calendar. This is the wisdom of this land – the Yogic system has always used it this way. This is because our internal mechanism is far more influenced by the Moon than the Sun. The Sun has an overall influence as it is the basis of everything that we are, but on a daily basis, the Moon has much bigger impact, particularly on the glandular secretions.

If you are a little more conscious, a little more engaged with life within you – once you close your eyes and observe your body, you will know what the phase of the Moon is. This is because how your system functions is directly connected to the phases of the Moon. This not only applies to human beings, but many other terrestrial and marine animals as well. Likewise, the phases of the Moon have a bigger influence on the tides of the ocean than the Sun.

Why ‘Lunatic’ Comes From Luna (the Moon)

The U.S. Department of Justice published a study in 1979 about the connection of the full Moon and that biological tides and human emotions, mood disorders, as well as unstable and violent behavior are very directly connected to the phases of the Moon. Data gathered from police records, mental institutions, and psychiatrists shows that different phases of the Moon aggravate different types of experiences, moods, and mechanisms within the human system.

How we feel, think, and experience life right now is determined by the management of our glandular secretions. Whether your digestive process, your reproductive process, your neurological process, your moods and emotions are okay or not – all this is controlled by a complex variety of glandular secretions. This is why, when it comes to inner dimensions, we follow a calendar that is based on the lunar cycles. And when it comes to external situations, we follow the solar cycles.

Full moons and new moons have a significant impact on the system. In Indian languages, the Moon is referred to as soma. Soma also means inebriation, because the Moon has the quality of intoxicating you.

Intoxicated On Life

Since this is an online program, I am hesitating a little about how “drunk” I should get you on these full moons. Those who are here can crawl to the dining hall, and we understand. But suppose it happens in your home or somewhere else, your family may call the doctor. This is why I said there must be registration for this Satsang. If the same people participate every month, then we will see how to provide you intoxication without alcohol or drugs.

Essentially, the full Moon is about getting intoxicated on life. Your experiential dimension, which is determined by the fluids in the body and the secretions of the glands, are at their peak during the full Moon. Whether you concoct an ecstatic, depressive, fearful, or meditative concoction is up to you. Hopefully, we can teach you how to cook up an ecstatic concoction within you in the next twelve months.

Two Ways to Get Out of Your Patterns

Questioner: Sadhguru, I’ve been regular with my practices, but lately, I feel I’m falling back into old patterns. Somehow, my involvement and commitment has weakened. How do I stay motivated?

Sadhguru: There are patterns in all of us, without exception. The patterns that are caused by karmic imprints compel us to go by the rut. The question is only whether you are “stubborn” enough to come out of them or not. If you can fly, you will come out of your ruts. If you are not the flying sort, you must be stubborn. The “flying sort” are people for whom closing their eyes is good enough. I do not really bother whether they are doing their morning Hatha Yoga or not. The flying people only have to worry a little bit about the weather. But all the walking people have to worry about every pebble, stone, thorn, and slippery place they may step into.

Your patterns determine what kind of terrain you get into. Especially when you get into bad terrain, or, in other words, compulsive patterns – which may be physical, psychological, or emotional – that is when you must show your stubbornness.

Does Your Karma ‘Possess’ You?

In traditional language, if someone is following certain patterns, we say, “This is your karma.” Karma means action – past action. You can perform action physically, mentally, emotionally, and energy-wise. Every action you perform leaves a certain residue. This residue forms a pattern of its own. In that sense, karma is almost like a possession. It makes you do things you do not want to do and does not allow you to do things you want to do. Your own karma possesses you. The past is possessing the present and destroying future possibilities. Especially in such situations, you must be stubborn. If you do not have that stubbornness, your patterns will wash you away. Not being able to focus and commit to what you want to do will make you feel listless, initially. After some time, it will make you depressed and lifeless.

Are You in Touch With People Who Inspire You?

For people to evolve spiritually, both the spiritual practice and a supportive culture are important. That is why spiritual movements always gave tremendous importance to sangha – a community of people who are on the journey. They also have their own struggles and problems. Some people are carrying their problems with a smile on their face, some are carrying their problems for everyone to see – that is their choice. But what you need is stubbornness and a little connection.

You have to keep in touch with that which supports you. People who are on the path will help you keep your commitments strong. If you meet the wrong people, they will say, “What? You get up at five o'clock in the morning?” The people you need to meet are those who say, “What? You are getting up at five? I am getting up at 3:45 a.m.” You should meet people who are more committed and determined than you. As your aspirations grow, your ideal of what you should be will evolve if you keep meeting such people.

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