Sadhguru walks down memory lane as he remembers his first meeting and marriage with Vijji, the adventurous time they spent together, living like gypsies and touring the country. He also explains how Vijji chose to attain Mahasamadhi.
Sadhguru: Vijji wanted to train as a Yoga teacher. She came from Bangalore, where she was working in a bank. Earlier, I had decided I would never marry. But the second time we met, we just knew. There was no discussion, no proposal, nothing. We got married – just the two of us; no one else. Shiva was our only witness.
For the first two to three years of marriage, we literally lived on the motorcycle. We carried a tent on the motorcycle and slept on the roadsides. We traveled – sometimes with purpose, most of the time without purpose. These few years really made a lot of difference and were a big experience for me. I worked it out in my own crazy ways – walking, riding, just sitting somewhere. I did not do any particular sadhana as such. Another two years, I spent meditating. Those were the days when Vijji worked, fed me, clothed me, and took care of me. After that, we were busy going here and there.
After we came together, for twelve years, we lived like gypsies, constantly traveling. People were wonderful to us, but still, as a woman, she had no hearth or home. Every day, we were in a different town. She was like my shadow. She went everywhere I went. She did Yoga only because it meant something to me. She did not do it for her health or wellbeing – she did not care about her wellbeing. She worked throughout the day and helped organize our Yoga programs.
She was not someone who climbed the rungs step by step to reach the final destination. Vijji existed more like my child than my wife. When one day, she said she wanted to leave her body and attain Mahasamadhi, I asked, “Why now? We’re just settling down. There’s a place for you to live in, and our daughter is just seven years old.” She replied, “Right now, everything is at its best within me, and everything and everyone outside is beautiful to me. I want to leave now.” I had to bow down before that wisdom.
Thaipusam, the full moon day she chose to attain Mahasamadhi is held very sacred in the Yogic traditions. Many beings either chose or got induced into consciously shedding their physical bodies on this day. For Vijji, who had neither sadhana nor any great knowledge, with the simplicity of her emotion and the intensity of her focus towards what she wanted, Mahasamadhi happened so effortlessly. Even accomplished yogis would go through a little bit of struggle and strategy, but for her, it happened with such ease.
She would have been very happy and proud to see the glorious way in which the Dhyanalinga consecration happened, in spite of her absence, and of course everything else that has been happening with Isha in the last twelve years. Today, as an organization, Isha has spread to many corners of the world, but that is not the important thing.
The important thing is, compared to any spiritual movement on the planet, you will see more energy bursting out of Isha meditators than anywhere else. We have a million volunteers and have gone around the world. But the biggest achievement is that we are building people with phenomenal energy.
If you bring a little wisdom along with this energy, it would do great things. I can infuse energy into you but not wisdom. Wisdom is something one has to earn with the daily experience of life. If you make every moment of your life into a learning process, wisdom will happen.
Participant: Is it possible for us to achieve Mahasamadhi the way Vijji amma did?
Sadhguru: No way. The Isha Yoga Center will definitely witness a lot of Mahasamadhis in this generation, but not now. We are making them wait till their knees creak and their backs are bent because I attach a certain value to the physical body. I come from a tradition where we know a whole science as to how to make this flesh and bone into something that is worthy of worship and of phenomenal value to the rest of the world.
