India has long been the epicenter for deep exploration of human possibilities and inner wellbeing. In this article, Sadhguru speaks of the country’s potential to become a Guru to the world, and how embracing its profoundness and inclusion can draw global attention.
Sadhguru: For thousands of years, the fundamental USP of this culture has been that if people were looking for anything concerned with the profound aspects of life, understanding the mechanism of the human being, how we are made, what the ultimate possibilities within us are, exploring humanity within ourselves – not just as a value, but as a profound inner experience – they have always looked toward Bharat or Hindustan as it was known at that time. Over 25 centuries ago, when Pythagoras came from Greece and then Apollonius, they made very strong statements about India being beyond compare.
Today, the World Health Organization warned of a potential mental illness pandemic, which is alarming. This is because we have not learned the mechanics of how a human being functions from within, nor have we understood the instrument of our mind, which makes us a unique species on this planet. In this context, India has always been the focal point.
It is wonderful that India is leading the International Yoga Day and bringing the mechanics of Yoga to the world under the leadership of the Prime Minister, and that the United Nations took it up and made it part of the Sustainable Development Goals. As more and more nations fulfill their survival needs, India can take a leadership position in promoting the inner wellbeing of a human being because no culture has invested as profoundly in that as we have.
Someone asked me about my thoughts on the concept of India as the world Guru, who rises at the world stage. If you want to be a Guru to the world, you must understand that it is not a power, rise, or conquest – it is an embrace. We seek to include the world, not conquer it. This has been our way: whatever kind of people have come to this land, they have become part of it without any struggle because this culture has embraced them.
Being a Guru is not a position of power or influence, but one of love and inclusion. This is what we must do. It is very important how we project it. People should not see Yoga or the spiritual process as Indian and resist it because they are of a different nationality. This is for the human being. This is our humanity; this is why everyone is chanting Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam[1]. It essentially means our goals are of humanity, not just of nationhood.
The most important thing we need to understand is that, for a nation to stand strong, its strength should not be used for dominance, but rather to have the power to include everyone and make them want to be part of it. We must be economically strong; there must be health and education; and, above all, we must live in such a way that our profoundness and inclusion cannot be ignored. This is how we have been in the past, and it is time to create such a future.
We should not do this to parade ourselves, but rather, let our way of being naturally draw the attention of the world, as it has been our way in the past and should continue to be so in the future. No one can build a nation without building individual human beings. It is the profoundness and wellbeing of the individual human being that is reflected in a nation. When all citizens of this beloved Bharat become that way, then the nation will be that way, and the world cannot ignore it. That is what we need to do.
[1] Traditional Sanskrit phrase meaning “the world is one family”
