In the maze of everyday life, where desires and compulsions weave a complex web, Sadhguru offers a departure from the pervasive trappings of modern existence. Enlightenment, he suggests, is not a distant goal but a return to our core. This perspective opens a path for women to rise spiritually beyond biological and social constraints, moving toward true empowerment and consciousness.
Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. You spoke about different levels of realization and enlightenment. How far can a regular human like me go? Is there an individual limit for each of us, as to how much we can grow in this lifetime? And why aren’t we naturally born enlightened?
Sadhguru: Enlightenment is not an achievement. It is a homecoming. By throwing your desires out there, you are running away. But if you stop that, life will come home. Enlightenment is not about getting somewhere. It is about losing the need to get somewhere.
You do not have any need to go anywhere or become anything. You just sit here. Everything is fine. At the same time, you are involved and dynamic. This is not a philosophy because you are lethargic. You are full of life. If you have to go to Timbuktu or another planet, you will go there if there is something to do. But you have no personal need to go anywhere.
No matter where you are or what kind of activity you are engaged in, the concern of not being fulfilled always remains with you. When you find a new job, you are excited initially. When you get married, you first dance with joy. I am not trying to make everything negative, but generally, when you get somewhere, you think, “This is it,” but after some time, you find the concerns about fulfillment are still there.
People always tell you the next thing will fulfill you, and it goes on endlessly. Once you throw out one desire, it is like a trap, with things adding up from all sides. You can call it marketing, your parents, your friends, your wife, your husband, your children; all kinds of people keep drawing you into more and more things. The market economy relies on you doing more and more, buying more and more, and taking more and more loans.
It is like this: two schoolboys went camping. They were not well-equipped and got bitten by mosquitoes. They tried to cover themselves and sleep, but mosquitoes kept biting them everywhere. You know how mosquitoes are: if you cover your feet, they will bite your cheek; if you cover your cheeks, they will bite your feet.
They struggled for a while. After some time, unable to cope, they opened their eyes and looked around. They saw some fireflies. One guy said, “We better give up. Now they’ve come with torches looking for us.”
This is like a credit rating. Once you do one thing, they will target you from every side. It is important to make a sensible decision on how much time, energy, and interest you have to engage in these things. I am not telling you how much, but you must make a decision according to your requirements.
To gain clarity, step away from everything for some time. If you come here, we will give you special sadhana; sit in silence for a week. When you are very still and clear-headed, free of compulsions, determine how much you need in life. Go by that. You do not have to go by my way – go by your way. Right now, others are driving you, including commercial agencies, which is not fair.
These agencies decide what you should do, how much loan you should take, and more. Decide for yourself how much you truly need. Do not compete with others, because that is not the way life works. Life is about consciousness, not concerns, competition, or coercing yourself or others. Life is about being conscious. Only if you are conscious can you truly be considered a human being. Otherwise, you are a human creature driven by compulsions.
Regarding the question about enlightenment and your individual growth... In the life process, women are more anchored to their physicality than men. Only because of that did our mothers take care of us, no matter what we did. That is the structure of life. But particularly as a woman, you must know when to work yourself out of that pattern, or you will go on endlessly with the same concerns until your last breath.
Unfortunately, this is true for many women. Not that men are all enlightened, but for women, there is a biological factor that makes you a little more concerned about your body and physiology. You have to do a little more sadhana than men because biology holds a certain grip on you. It is not your fault; it is a natural process to perpetuate the species.
In November/December 1996, as the time Vijji had set for herself was approaching, I tried to play the woman’s role and said to her, “You know, you still have a child. You can postpone this. I’ll support you; you can do it some other time. Not now. The girl is not even seven.”
Vijji responded in a way that was far beyond her usual wisdom, “As a mother, I have done everything I can do for her as a little girl. But now that she is almost seven, seeing the way she is, her intelligence, and how she moves around with you, there is nothing more I can add. I have given her love and comfort. I absolutely love her, but I don’t think I can contribute anything more to her life. Anything else would only entangle her with me.”
I bowed down to her and said, “This is too much wisdom.” It was extraordinary for a woman with a seven-year-old girl to say. Then I added, “I have no argument against this.”
There have been many great women in the past, especially in the East, who rose as sages and saints. They were different in their ways, but no one could stop them because the culture and society allowed for it.
Today, almost all societies in the world allow this. This is the time for women to rise in this way. It is unfortunate that we have put them in competition with men. Physical bodies are different. In body, there is male and female. But in spirituality, there is no male and female. This is where you must rise and reach your fullness.
If wisdom arises within you, you will be visible in today’s world; no one can stop you anymore – those days are gone. You are in that privileged generation of women – probably the first where, if you rise in consciousness, you will immediately be recognized, which was not the case for thousands of years. Make the best of it.
