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FEEL FRUSTRATED WITH LIFE?
REMEMBER THE JOY OF BEING ALIVE
RANKED AMONGST THE FIFTY MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN INDIA, SADHGURU IS A YOGI, MYSTIC, VISIONARY AND A NEW YORK
TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR SADHGURU HAS BEEN CONFERRED THE PADMA VIBHUSHAN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IN 2017, THE
HIGHEST ANNUAL CIVILIAN AWARD, ACCORDED FOR EXCEPTIONAL AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.
- SADHGURU ISHA FOUNDATION
Questioner: Namaskaram, Sadhguru. I see
many people who are cynical, bitter, and
frustrated with life. They feel life has defeated
them, and they resign. How do we avoid
becoming like that, especially later on in life?
And how do we help others to come out of
this way of seeing everything as a problem
instead of an opportunity?
Sadhguru: Being cynical, being depressed,
and losing interest in what happens around
them � these things largely occur because they
have failed at something. And it is very easy
to fail in the current social pattern. If you look
at life in any economically developed country,
a normal person cannot succeed� you must
be quite insane to do so. This is not exactly
the case yet in India, but we are going in that
direction. Essentially, economy is a process of
sustenance for human beings. But today, it
has acquired a heavenly aura. The commercial
forces have created a situation where economy
is the most important thing in your life.
There was a time when, suppose there was an
economic slowdown in a society or a nation,
everyone would advise to save, not to spend
too much. But today, governments advise to
spend � get a loan and do shopping. You
cannot spend what you do not have � it is
as simple as that. But most modern societies
do not understand this. People have six credit
cards and think they can use all of them as
much as they want before life catches up with
them. As students, they already have a quarter
million student loan. Then immediately, they
must buy a car � they have a car loan. Then
they have to get a house � 30-year mortgage.
If you mortgage your life for 30 years, I think
you lost your sense �you have no sense about
life at all.
Mortgaging your life
When human beings were hunters and
gatherers, they were completely free. If they
made a kill on one day, the next 15 days,
they ate from it and just lived � maybe beat
a drum that was made out of the skin of the
animal and danced around a fire, or used
their hands to create something else. But food
10 GolfPlus JULY 2020