Feature
your life. Different people may have different
ideas about how to get there but everybody is
in pursuit of happiness. The human race has
been doing so much to achieve happiness and
wellbeing on this planet that in this pursuit,
we are destroying the very planet on which we
live. We must fi rst understand what our idea of
wealth is. Is it just about more buildings, more
machines, more cars - more of everything?
More and more is death, isn’t it? In the most
affl uent societies in the world - for example
in the United States of America, 43% of the
population is on anti-depressants on a regular
basis. If you just withdraw one particular
medication from the market, almost half the
nation will go crazy. That is not well-being.
Generally, an American citizen has everything
that anybody would dream of. Wealth is there
but there is no well-being.
If I go to the West and ask them, ‘Why
don’t you meditate?’ the common statement
everywhere is ‘Oh but we’ve got to pay bills.’
I said, ‘Why do you guys generate so many
bills? If your whole life is about paying bills,
why generate those damn bills? You can
curtail yourself and live more comfortably,
isn’t it? To pay all those bills you are just
working endlessly. What is the point?’ ‘No the
whole society is doing it.’ It doesn’t matter;
they are driven by somebody else. If you
have any sense, you must drive yourself to
the extent that you are comfortable. You don’t
try to do what somebody else does. When it
comes to outside situations, we have not come
with equal capabilities. No two human beings
are made with the same level of capability.
There maybe somebody who can do a
thousand things in a day without suffering or
being stressed. Maybe you can do only three
things in a day; it’s okay.
Life places us in many situations where
managing things is like juggling. For
example, being in the family is a big juggling
process, isn’t it so? Keep your emotions aside
and just look at it sincerely. Our lives have
many complex activities and we have various
types of relationships and various levels of
involvement with different types of people on
a day to day basis; we are constantly shifting
from one type of relationship to another.
Initially maybe you were just juggling with
two balls and it was quite simple. Then you
picked up four or fi ve more balls and the
juggling became complicated. When you want
to take up more activity, there will be more
juggling. You can’t help it; that’s the way it is.
So once you take to juggling, you had better
develop some skill. Otherwise your balls will
be scattered all over the place and you will be
freaking out everyday because you can’t hold
things in place. How smoothly you carry your
life simply depends on how much of a master
juggler you are.
survival process so that the deeper dimensions
This moment you may be on the phone
of who you are fi nd expression in your life.
with your business partner and the next
It is extremely important that you fi nd out
moment you may be talking to your wife or
what it means to just sit here and reverberate
your child. Life is like this; it is constantly
as a piece of life because that is the ultimate
shifting. You can’t just tune yourself, ‘Ok
ecstasy of being here. And now that our
right now I am going to be like this.’ So
survival is generally taken care of, I think we
because of the complexity of this adjustment,
must cause a wave of bliss wherever we go.
if you happen to treat your wife like you treat
If we don’t do that, people have come to the
your business partner, immediately you are in
conclusion that a human
trouble. Or if you treat your
being means a miserable,
business partner like your
RANKED AMONGST THE FIFTY
useless nothing. When
wife, you are in trouble,
MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE
you use the expression
isn’t it?
IN INDIA, SADHGURU IS A
‘Oh, I’m just human,’ it
So before we enter any
YOGI, MYSTIC, VISIONARY
means ‘I’m just helpless
situation, as far as possible
AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR.
nonsense.’ We need to
you must look at your
SADHGURU HAS BEEN
change the context of what
ability to juggle? ‘Can I
CONFERRED THE “PADMA
it means to be human.
juggle all this and still be
VIBHUSHAN” BY THE
When somebody says ‘I’m
happy? Or will I get lost
human’ he must mean ‘I’m
in the process of juggling?’
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IN
ecstatic. I’m capable of
If you are not much of a
2017, THE HIGHEST ANNUAL
wonderful things within
juggler, you better remain
CIVILIAN AWARDS, ACCORDED
myself.’ We’ve chosen to
alone and juggle yourself.
FOR EXCEPTIONAL AND
make a human being into
Everything comes with a
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.
a miserable worm who
certain pain and pleasure.
just fi ghts for his survival
There is a price to pay
throughout his life. We are capable of
in every aspect of life. So before taking
organizing our survival in such a way that we
on anything in your life, you must see, are
don’t have to struggle for survival on a daily
you willing to pay the price? Every human
basis - unless we complicate the survival
being has to decide how much of what is
process.
right for him? Your neighbor may have a
For most human beings the survival
100-bedroom house; maybe he likes to live
process itself is becoming a full-time job.
in a hotel. For yourself, you must decide how
Just to earn a living, to reproduce and to die
much. You don’t do things like him. This
one day, what a fuss they are making. Even a
is the biggest problem; we are trying to do
worm and an insect with their minute brains
things like somebody else. That’s the wrong
are handling their survival quite well. Nature
way to approach life. We need to decide how
has given every human being substantial
much of what we should do in our lives - how
intelligence to take care of his survival and
much outside activity or inner well-being
to take care of his offspring. It is just that you
or social well-being would keep our life in
are trying to overdo it.
a balanced way without ruining us and the
A while ago, I had a serious squirrel
atmosphere around us? But unfortunately
problem in the house. The mother squirrel
that intelligence is missing in the world; we
gave birth to four babies this season. Three
are just going rampant. It is insane the way
of them got eaten up but the mother doted
we are going because the kind of lifestyle the
upon the last one and she would watch
world has chosen is just not sustainable.
her son go all over my things, biting into
Simplify the survival process
everything. What I see is, the mother squirrel
Today, if you have enough money, you can
is very eager that the little squirrel learns its
go into a store and buy everything that you
squirrel business as quickly as possible; she
need for a whole year. This was never so on
wants to be free of him as soon as possible.
this planet. Survival has always been such a
But unfortunately, most human parents don’t
great struggle but now for the fi rst time in the
have this sense. They want their children to
world, the survival process has been totally
learn the human business as slow as possible
organized. This is the time to fi nd ways to fi nd
because they don’t have a life of their own.
expression to deeper dimensions of what a
They have some life going only by
human being means. But unfortunately, most
hanging on to their children. Otherwise they
people choose to complicate their survival.
have no life of their own. It is because they
We don’t seem to be fi nished with survival.
are constantly doing this that there is so much
We want to make the survival process so
juggling. Human beings claim to be the most
complex that we will spend the rest of our
intelligent of all the species, so our children
life fi ghting for survival.
should be free of their parents much faster
It is very important that you simplify your
than anybody else. But unfortunately it is
GolfPlus
DECEMBER
2018
15