The Dimensions of Adiyogi: Sadhguru on Adiyogi at iii – Part 2

The Adiyogi at iii

Sadhguru: This Adiyogi is a combination of many things. We made a beautiful man. That Adiyogi is purely ascetic. He has no business with anything other than yoga. This here is also yoga, but with lots of accessories. This Adiyogi here is how he came to his wedding. So, there are various aspects of life involved. Due to lack of better words, I would say this Adiyogi is a downgraded version of the Dhyanalinga. Similar aspects are there, but not to the same extent – similar aspects in the sense that he embodies all aspects, whereas generally, when you make a linga, there is no feminine aspect at all. But he embodies the feminine in a certain way. He is both masculine and feminine. You know there are images of Shiva where one half of his body is masculine, the other half is feminine. Within himself, one half is man, the other half is woman.

Three Forms of Transmission

Fundamentally, there are three different ways of delivering yoga. Let me tell you a story. Adiyogi started transmitting yoga in its full depth and dimension to the Saptarishis, the seven sages. It took many decades, but in their experience, trying to grasp the many dimensions, it must have felt like many millennia, and that is how the stories describe it – that for many millennia, they had to learn. It need not necessarily be a quantum of time – it is a quantum of experience. Suppose I make you sit cross-legged, not allowing you to move for four hours, it feels like 4,000 years.

So, for a long period of time, he expounded the entire mechanics of the human being and in turn the mechanics of the universe, because the human system is just a miniature version of the larger universe. Today, certain theories have come up in modern science that say the fundamental design of an atom and the cosmos are essentially the same. The fundamental design of how a bacterium is made and how you are made is the same. It is only the sophistication and complexity that multiplies manifold.

Adiyogi went through the entire gamut of things with the seven sages. Parvati, his wife, saw the magnitude of what was happening and said, “I want to know this too.” He smiled at her and said, “Just come and sit in my lap.” She said, “No, that’s not what I want. What these seven people are beginning to know, I want to know.” He said, “Come, sit here.” Hesitantly, she came and sat. He pulled her closer and closer. After some time, she became one half of him. If you want to include someone as a part of you, you have to throw out a part of yourself. This is why the expression “falling in love” is significant – something in you must fall. So, he let one part of himself disappear and made her one half of himself. Looking at this, the ganas said, “We thought only these guys are smart and are getting something that we don’t know. Even she’s getting it. What about us?” He said, “Ha! Just drink with me. Let’s drink!”

So, three fundamental forms of delivering yoga came up. One is delivering it as a pure science, as he delivered it to the Saptarishis. Another is by sheer inclusion, which can only happen in a certain level of intimacy. Again, “intimacy” is a much abused word in this part of the world. You think of intimacy as going to bed with someone. The body is the outermost layer of who you are. Two bodies come together because of chemical poisoning – that is not intimacy. Something more than that must happen. If the fundamental life energies melt into each other – that is intimacy. And to the ganas, he said, “Just drink with me.” So for one, he delivered yoga as a pure science. For another, he delivered it as absolute intimacy where two became one. To others, he said, “Don’t bother. Just hang around – that’s all.” I am telling you the same thing.

Realization Is Not an Achievement

If you are not just interested in realizing but you want to know, you want to understand, then it is a long journey, because learning is always incremental – it will never happen in an instant. But realization is just one moment. Realization is not an achievement, attainment, or accomplishment. Realization means one day, you got to see something that was always there. It was always right here, but you did not see it. You realize how stupid you have been to look everywhere except here.

I cannot tell you the entire story now, but Arjuna asked Krishna, “What is the nature of truth? Where is it?” He was a warrior – he wanted to know where it is so he can shoot it. Krishna laughed at him and said, “The highest truth of life is at the tip of your nose.” So, many schools of yoga are concentrating on the tip of the nose. By doing so, you will not get enlightened. But for sure, you will get a headache. What Krishna was saying is it is the most obvious thing. It is not something that you have to search for in the mountains; it is not something that you have to look for heavenward.

If you want to realize something about your nature, you have to turn inward. Is this not the most obvious thing in the universe? You want to know something about yourself, and you invent a telescope and look at the heavenly bodies, not realizing that if you were on another planet, let’s say if you were on Mars, the Earth that you are upon was a heavenly body for you? You think where you are is a bad place, but there is another heaven somewhere. This is the fundamental fallacy that Adiyogi destroyed. He destroyed the idea of heaven before it was created, saying, “You are the problem – you are the possibility.” Another way of putting it is, “You are hell – you are heaven.” You can choose where you want to be. There is no gate between heaven and hell. This moment you can be in heaven – the next moment you can be in hell.

The Qualities of the Adiyogi Linga at iii

Here , the linga is made in such a way that it is inclusive of both. It has a dimension of science, but not to the extent that the Dhyanalinga has. The Dhyanalinga is a complete repository of yoga, not towards a particular practice or area – simply a huge library. Or one could say the Dhyanalinga is like a huge book – that is why we tell you, just open it somewhere in the middle, because you are not going to read it end to end. You are not one of the Saptarishis, and even they did not. Out of 112 ways in which a human being can attain to the ultimate, Adiyogi offered 16 to each of the seven sages.

That is why there are many things here which are 16 in number. When we do guru pooja, it includes 16 offerings, because out of 112 ways, 16 segments formed themselves in a certain way. Within the geography of this body, these 16 are generally oriented in one direction. Because of this, the idea of seven chakras came up in people’s minds. Not that they do not exist, but not the way people think today. One part has 16 segments. The yantra we have here has 16 segments, and many other things here are in 16 too, because within the human geography, the number 16 is significant, and it multiplies by 7 to become 112.

The Significance of Sixteen

When Adiyogi taught the 112 ways to the Sapta Rishis, he gave each 16 dimensions of it, because 112 would be too much for anyone’s intellect to learn and understand. When their study with him was over and they became fully realized beings, he told them to go out and spread it in the world. One eventually moved to what is North Africa today and created a revolution in that area. Another moved to what is South America today. Another moved to Central Asia. Another stayed with him. One went down to what is today referred to as the Indian Himalayas. And another one, who is very precious to us, Agastya Muni, came down south and touched every human habitation in the area. Another went to Southeast Asia.

When they were just about to leave, Adiyogi said, “Where is the guru dakshina? Where are the fees?” They were flabbergasted, “Fees? You are our life. What do we have to give?” They had been with him forever, and all they had was the loincloth that they wore. It was most uncharacteristic of him to ask for a fee – they could not believe it. Then Agastya Muni, who, being a Tamil man, was the most diminutive in terms of physical stature, got the point. If you offer something to your Guru, you must offer that which is most precious to you. So he said, “This body means nothing to me, otherwise I would have offered it to you. The only thing that is truly precious to me is the knowledge that I acquired from you in all these years. These 16 dimensions of knowledge that you have offered to me are my offering to you,” and he placed it at Adiyogi’s feet. Taking the cue, one by one, the other six did the same.

Then Adiyogi said, “By all means, please proceed upon your journey.” They had spent many decades with him, which felt like many millennia, and they knew nothing else apart from him. And now, whatever they had learnt painstakingly over the years, they had offered to him. Empty-handed, they walked. And because they walked empty-handed, through Adiyogi’s presence, all the 112 ways became present in every one of them. He made his presence always alive for them.

From Prayer to Presence

Adiyogi will have this quality, that there is a certain level of Grace that no one will go untouched by. But everyone will be touched in a specific way, because he has an intelligence of his own. No one can tell him how he should respond to you, so do not pray to him. He is not a dumb god who is looking for suggestions from you. Just learn to place what is most precious in you in front of him – he will do what he has to do. If you trust there is an intelligence bigger than you, you should not suggest anything to it. It is the most idiotic thing that every day, people tell whatever God they believe in what he should do. If you want to know the power, the Grace, the beauty, and the potency of Adiyogi, you must learn to transform yourself from prayer to presence.

Editor’s Note: A version of this article was originally published in Isha Forest Flower November 2015. Download as PDF on a “name your price, no minimum” basis or subscribe to the print version.