[Sadhguru chants “Jananam Sukhadam”]
Sadhguru: Namaskaram and good afternoon to you, Paris.
Paris: Thank you so much for coming on the show. It’s an honor to have you here today. So, everyone, today we have a very special guest. His name is Sadhguru, and he is one of the most prominent spiritual Guru in the entire world. Welcome to the show.
What you just did [refers to the chant], what exactly is that for?
Sadhguru: A tennis player trains his body before any game quite differently than a footballer or a golfer. We need to prepare our bodies in different ways for different tasks. Similarly, to do different types of activities, you need to train your mind well. Above all, to perform different types of activities, you want your energies to be in a certain way.
Move Your Life Energies for Success
The energy you need to perform various activities can be stagnant or structured, according to your memory patterns, karmic patterns, behavior, and character. But there’s one dimension of Yoga that helps you move your life energies where you want. For example, I want to do something effective with my hands. If I move my energies into my hands, my touch will become tremendously powerful, and there will be wellbeing in that. Similarly, if I move my energies into my eyes, my look will achieve a different level of penetration, depending upon how much life energy I put into my eyes. If I concentrate my life energies in my throat, my speech will become powerful – both in content and sound.
In our lives, if we do not do what we cannot do, there is no problem. But if we do not do what we can do, we are a disaster.
In most people, their thoughts, emotions, body, and energies prove to be the biggest impediments. We should be able to move our energies consciously so that the maximum happens when we perform different activities. In our lives, if we do not do what we cannot do, there is no problem. But if we do not do what we can do, we are a disaster. It’s extremely important that physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically, you are fully empowered to do what you want to do.
The Longing to Be More
Paris: You’ve been described as a guru and a mystic. Can you explain to my listeners what that is?
Sadhguru: Mystic means everyone is confused about me. [Both laugh.] They don’t know what to make out of me, so they call me a mystic.
Paris: Do you like that?
Sadhguru: Unfortunately, people are trying to define life, which means they set a boundary for it. But in reality, whoever you are, you want to be something more. There is something within a human being that does not like boundaries. When you don’t know there is a boundary, you are okay. But the moment you realize there is a boundary, you want to push it or break it. However wide it is, the moment you feel the boundary, you want to break it. There's something within you that is always longing to become boundless.
Yoga means to consciously obliterate the boundaries of your individuality.
Some go to the temple, some to the bar; some take drugs, others pray, meditate, or conquer something. These are all ways in which human beings are trying to be a little more than who they are right now.
We can categorize this longing to be something more in four fundamental ways. If the longing finds a basic physical expression, we call it sexuality. If it finds a mental expression, we call it ambition. If it finds an emotional expression, we call it love. And if it finds a conscious expression, we call it Yoga. Yoga means to consciously obliterate the boundaries of your individuality. Until you do that, you will never feel fulfilled, no matter what you have in your life.
Past Memories Are Your Karma
Paris: I love what you say about Karma, because I really believe in that. And I believe what you put out into the world will come back to you as well, whether it’s good or bad. What do you think of that?
Sadhguru: Karma need not be looked at as a punishment and reward system. For instance, you might be generating a certain thought in your mind right now. The residual imprint of the thought remains within you and functions within, even though you may not be conscious of it. From the time you were born to this moment, everything you did, thought, felt, and were exposed to, has an impact on you. That’s your Karma.
We talk about a step-by-step process in this book (Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny) with which you can stand up on the stage of your Karma.
Over 99% of your memory is not conscious, but the body remembers how your forefathers were a million years ago. There are various levels of memory – evolutionary memory, genetic memory, and karmic memory. A composite of all these memories is your Karma. Your memories play out in their own way, unconsciously, creating certain tendencies within you, because of the karmic bondage and accumulation.
We talk about a step-by-step process in this book (Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny) with which you can stand up on the stage of your Karma. Your life is very rich because of all the innumerable experiences, but you shouldn’t make quicksand out of your karmic stage. If you create enough surface tension on the karmic memory that you have, you can stand up, enjoy the richness of your life, and do what you want to do now.
The Past Is Like a Sofa: Sit on It, Don’t Sink
The past cannot be changed; the present can only be experienced, and the future must be created. If you do not think about the past and forget about it, you may repeat the same silly mistakes. It’s very important that we remember the past. For a human being, the memories are vivid, and that makes our lives rich. The past is like a sofa on which you should be able to sit, not sink into the cushions. If you sink into the cushions, they will suffocate you.
The past cannot be changed; the present can only be experienced, and the future must be created.
Over a period of time, I have realized how invested people are in their miseries. This is why this book on Karma is very important – it shows people the mechanics of how they’re getting invested in their miseries, and how they’re allowing their past experiences to contaminate the present and stymie the future.
A large percentage of human beings do not know how to handle their faculties. If they had half the brain that they have, they would be peaceful and fine. Unfortunately, human intelligence has become a curse for most people, because they don’t know how to handle it. They are hurting themselves with their intelligence.
Choose to Be Blissful
Paris: I love that message of not letting your past define you.
Sadhguru: Right now, our problem is we misunderstand our psychological realities as existential. People still suffer from what happened yesterday, or 10 years ago. That means you’re suffering your memory, not life. If you suffer by thinking about what may happen tomorrow, it means you are suffering your imagination, not the future. No one can suffer the future because it doesn’t exist. No one can suffer the past, because it doesn’t exist. You are suffering your two most fantastic faculties – a vivid sense of memory and a fantastic sense of imagination, which make you a human being.
If you suffer by thinking about what may happen tomorrow, it means you are suffering your imagination, not the future.
Paris: So how can people bring more happiness into their lives?
Sadhguru: If you are willing to invest just 20 or 30 minutes a day for something about this life, we can teach you something very simple that will help you to become blissful. If you nurture this life for those 30 minutes and stop thinking about this person, body, family, money, and profession, your chemistry will become blissful. Once your chemistry is blissful, you come to absolute ease.
Paris: Well, thank you so much for all your knowledge and just being here. My listeners are going to love this. You’re awesome.
Sadhguru: Thank you. Namaskaram.
