Are you looking for true liberation? Sadhguru explains that moksha, or freedom from the cycle of life and death, is only possible when we have seen and experienced the full range of life, and seek true fulfillment. Learn how the right approach to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the right resolve can help us realize ultimate liberation.
Questioner: Sadhguru, how can I achieve moksha?
Sadhguru: Moksha means ultimate liberation – liberation from the very process of life and death. Do you want to be free from this process? To have the longing for ultimate liberation, you must have seen enough of life – the highs, lows, all of it. If you have seen and experienced the whole range of life, then the longing to go beyond the process of life, death, and whatever else it involves arises.
So, how to get to ultimate liberation? Once you have made the mistake of sitting with me, the seed of moksha is sown. Whether you like it or not, it will keep pushing you in this direction. I have no intentions of providing you with health, wellbeing, mental peace, or success in life. These things may occur as a result of your body and mind functioning better, but this is not my intention.
My intention is to take you to the ultimate. As this begins to happen, everything else will naturally work better, but this is not my intention. These are merely fringe benefits that we use for marketing purposes because that is what people are looking for right now. They do not understand that even if everything is perfect with life, they will still be dissatisfied. They need to go through a lot of life before they come to that understanding.
The Yoga Sutras that Patanjali wrote are composed of almost two hundred sutras. Anything that can ever be said about life has been expressed in the Yoga Sutras. They are written in such a way that an intellectual mind can never understand what the Yoga Sutras are. Many people have created their own interpretations of the Yoga Sutras.
Scholars can never grasp the Yoga Sutras because they are not meant to be read. The Yoga Sutras are meant to be slowly picked out from within you. You are not supposed to read all the sutras; just read one and work with it for a lifetime. It is a formula. It may take a whole lifetime to make it a reality.
A book of tremendous significance such as the Yoga Sutras begins with a half a sentence: “And now, Yoga.” What does this mean? You tried everything – wealth, money, sex, drugs, and every other possibility to fulfill yourself. It gave you pleasure, joy, and satisfaction, but still no fulfillment, and you realized nothing really works. Once this realization has dawned upon you, “And now, Yoga.”
If you still believe that by buying a new car or finding a new partner, everything will be okay, it is not yet time for Yoga. When you have seen everything, and you know ultimately nothing really works, “And now Yoga.” Have you come to this realization? Otherwise, all the nonsense that Yoga will take away your backache and headache, that it will improve your memory and concentration, that it will make you work better and take away stress, is just marketing.
Questioner: What if for some reason, I don’t manage to realize myself in this lifetime – will you help me continue the path in the next life?
Sadhguru: About a next life, I have made it very clear: I am not coming back. Let us say you were in third standard in school, and you were already planning for next year, “If I retake the class, will you be my teacher again?” Well, whoever the teacher is, it would be a waste. You must make up your mind that this life is precious. Leave aside the assumption that there is a heaven or another life.
Right now, you have this life. How to take it to the highest peak? Because there is nothing in the universe that can stop you, except yourself. Your lack of intent is the only thing that can stop you. In this context, we are going to socially raise the temperature a little bit in the coming year.
Our teams are working to set up the necessary software, IT infrastructure, everything because we are going to ramp up the Inner Engineering process in the world in a big way. This is the first step toward the Conscious Planet movement. When I am thinking of making the planet conscious, you must make up your mind that there is no next time – this is it.
Gautama the Buddha underwent severe sadhana for eight years. He did not eat for many days or months, and his body became very weak. On a full moon night, which is now known as Buddha Purnima, he sat down under a tree. He knew many things but realized he was not yet free. With the resolve that he would either realize or die trying, he sat there. Then a few moments were all it took for him to realize. So, why it takes so long is due to a lack of resolve.
Most of the time, falsehood develops with good intentions. For example, when someone is dying and afraid as to where they will go, people will tell them, “Don’t worry. You will go to heaven and sit in God’s lap.” Based on that, people came up with so many stories and added more detail to the painting. What you say to someone who is broken, or to a child is not necessarily true for everyone else.
When someone has fallen or is in pain or suffering, you say certain things which need not be true. The idea is to assuage them because what they need at that time is empathy, not knowledge. For everyone else, it is important to open their eyes. If you have to knock them on the head, then that is what you need to do.
Gautama sat there with this resolve, and it took only a few moments for him to realize. He had wasted eight years because he had thought it was a path. A path means there is a distance, and you do not know how long it is. A path into nothingness is an endless walk. It is an inward path. Between you and yourself, what is the distance?
If there is a distance, then there is time, effort, and fuel involved. If there is no distance, all you need to do is turn around. You think life is out there. Once you understand life is here, within yourself, it is done. So, why does this realization not happen? Because it is not the top priority. “I would also like to get enlightened, Sadhguru, but today is my birthday. Tomorrow, I will get enlightened.”
The way you address your life should be according to the needs of the time, but those needs should not determine your priorities. Once you set your fundamental priorities, then you can do other things as necessary. In this culture, the greatest of teachers were not quietly sitting in a mountain cave or in a secluded place; they were in battlefields.
Why did a spiritual person fight a battle? Because it was needed. If there was a choice, they would not have done that; but when there was no choice, they would do it, and they would do it totally, the way it should be done. It is not in your action – it is in your volition or intention. If the intention is strong, why would you be thinking about a next life?
