Feature
The word “yoga” fundamentally means
“union”, but generally for most people
today in the world, yoga means asanas.
Asanas are just a small preparatory
aspect of yoga. Yoga is not a practice,
a particular action or posture – it is a
way of being. When a person begins
to experience everything as a part of
himself, he is in yoga. Intellectually
whatever we say about it, at the most
it will make you curious to know more
about it or inspire you to walk the path
of yoga. We can never say what yoga
is in words, but if a person is willing,
experiencing yoga is very much possible.
GP: Why it is necessary for life?
Sadhguru: It is not that yoga is
necessary for life. Life is possible only if
there is yoga. Yoga is your inner nature.
Whether it is necessary or not does not
arise. What you call as life is yoga.
When you start experiencing life in its
totality, when your experience of life
becomes all-inclusive, that is yoga. Yoga
is something which is, always. Only if
you are in touch with it, you live a life
of fulfi llment. Fundamentally, every
human being is seeking fulfi llment in
every action that they perform. If this has
to come, the only way is yoga. When I
say “yoga”, it need not necessarily be in
the form of a practice. Yoga means that
which allows you to reach your higher
nature. Every single action that you
perform in your life can be made into
yoga, if you develop a keener sense of
awareness. Now, the methods that we are
teaching are just that, to make even the
process of breath into yoga. In fact, every
involuntary function and every chemical
reaction that happens in the body can
be made into yoga. Whatever devices
or methods a person may use to break
through his limitations into his unlimited
nature, unless he breaks through one way
or the other, he will never see fulfi llment.
GP: What are the benefi ts of yoga?
Sadhguru: I normally never talk
about the benefi ts, because I consider
them as the side effects of yoga. People
may initially come to yoga because it
offers a variety of health benefi ts and a
way to become free from stress. There
are defi nitely physical and mental
benefi ts. One can experience remarkable
changes in terms of being peaceful,
joyful and healthy. And there are many
people who have come out of their
chronic ailments quite miraculously. But
that is not the essential nature of what
yoga is. The fundamental objective of
yoga is to make your experience of life
so large and all-inclusive that instead
of being an individual, you become a
universal process. You will see it will
yield phenomenal results.
When the physical dimensions of
yoga were fi rst taught, it was expounded
as to how to align this human system
to the cosmic geometry. If you get it
perfectly aligned, all the friction is
taken off. Internal friction means you
are working against yourself; you are an
issue by yourself. When you are an issue
by yourself, what other issue can you
handle? Everything is stressful. As you
take on more activity in the world, the
challenges will multiply endlessly. That
is why your own body, mind, emotions
and energy should work for you, and not
be stumbling blocks in your life.
If these four are properly aligned,
suddenly this body and this mind can do
things that you have not thought possible
in your wildest dreams. People will
think you are superhuman. Whether it
is business, home, love or war, you will
do it with a certain level of effi ciency
and competence. This is because in a
most essential way, somehow, either
consciously or unconsciously, you found
the geometry of existence. You may
remember in the 70s and 80s, there was
an aluminium antenna on top of your
house. If it was aligned properly, the
whole world poured into your sitting
room through your television, just
because you got it into the right position.
Similarly, this body has a tremendous
capability. If you hold it right, you
can download the whole cosmos.
As we looked at it earlier, the word
“yoga” means union. Union means
the distinction is gone between what
is individual and universal. When
everything has become you – that
means you are in yoga. Not because you
imagined something, but because you
perceived. Learning to hold this body
right is like adjusting your antenna – if
you hold this right, the whole existence
pours into you. It is a tremendous
instrument of perception. This is what
hatha yoga is all about.
GP: Why does the world need an
International Yoga Day?
Sadhguru: Since Adiyogi, the fi rst
yo gi, taught the science of yoga a little
over 15000 years ago, many things have
happened in terms of propagating yoga.
Many administrations in the form of
kings took to yoga and actively spread
the knowledge. During Krishna’s time, he
wanted to fuse the political system and
the spiritual process. Unfortunately most
people do not recognize his tremendous
effort. People are only talking about the
excessive butter he might have eaten
and the girls, the fl ute and the cows.
All that was limited to his childhood.
Throughout his adult life, he started over
1000 ashrams across the northern plains
of this country, but he has gone without
acknowledgment. This is the body of
his work because he did not want the
spiritual process to be an archaic practice
somewhere in some ashram. He wanted
this to spread across the society. Above
all, his intention was that those who rule
the nations must be spiritual in nature.
Particularly in the last 12-15 years
we have made many efforts to reach
out to people who are the leaders of
nations, in order for them to have some
spiritual process in their life. Above
all, today for the fi rst time, the head of
a major nation on the planet is talking
about yoga in public in an international
forum. 177 countries got together to pass
the resolution for an International Day
of Yoga. Never before in the history of
United Nations have so many countries
voted for anything.
It is wonderful that the United
Nations has declared 21st June as the
International Day of Yoga. The coming
year is a historic event in many ways
because this could be a foundation stone
to make the scientifi c approach to the
inner wellbeing of the human being
available worldwide. That is, you do
not have to look up, look down or seek
celestial help because the quality of
human wellbeing essentially originates
from within. If you want to fi x it or mess
it up, both can be done only within you.
An International Day of Yoga means
the world is beginning to accept human
wellbeing is within us. It is a tremendous
step for the world. A vertical scale up of
yogic practice on the planet can happen.
This day is timed on the
summer solstice, at the beginning of
Dakshinayana, which indicates the
shifting of the relationship between the
sun and the planet from north to south.
On this day Adiyogi turned south and
then delivered this whole dimension
of yoga, opening up this possibility
of understanding the mechanics of
the human being in relation to the
mechanics of the cosmos and how one
can transcend it. It is truly wonderful
that this phenomenal happening is being
recognized as the International Day of
Yoga.
GolfPlus
JULY
2017
15