Sadhguru At Harvard University – Youth And Truth

1:08:27

1:08:27

Sadhguru At Harvard University – Youth And Truth

by Sadhguru Jaggi

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talks

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Meditation

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Sadhguru was at Harvard University, as part of the Youth and Truth movement. Watch the vibrant question-and-answer session that followed as Sadhguru answered students’ questions on a wide range of topics.

Detachment Identity Goal Setting Yoga Self Improvement Mental Health Karma Consciousness Hormones Migration Self Philosophical Discussions Spirits

Meet your Teacher

McMinnville, TN, USA

Meet your Teacher

McMinnville, TN, USA

Transcript

We are delighted to have Satguru on stage. We have been planning for this for 6 months and to see him on stage is an exciting thing for all of us here in the organizing team. I had planned a long introduction to Satguru and then I realized he needs no introduction. So I'll take the easier way out and introduce the student moderators. Here we have Nithisha, Tanvi and Vikram. Nithisha and Vikram from the Howard Kennedy School and Tanvi from the Howard Business School. They have prepped up, All set and here we go. Jananam Sukhadam Maranam Karunam Milanam Madhuram Smaranam Karunam Aalavashadih Sakalam Karunam Samayadipate Akilam Karunam Namaskaram, Good morning to everyone. I said good morning. Sadhguru, We'll start with some questions on the internal contradictions that exist within us. So more on the philosophical side and then we'll move to the world or politics side of the questions. So our first question is that in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna advises us to keep putting in effort without being attached to the results. But I find it incredibly hard to keep working and not obsess over the results. And I would love to know how we can better practice effort, Putting in effort while being detached to the results. Well, I am not in any way well studied about any scripture. It's unfortunate, But I have to say I have not even read the Gita. But we know the life of Krishna. That people think Krishna means butter, Girls and flute. But you need to understand this. All these things happen only till he was sixteen years of age. Till you're sixteen years of age, Well, Some butter, Some flute. How many girls till sixteen? I'm asking practically. So after sixteen, He lived an extremely committed life. His commitment was to marry the political process of the day with the spiritual process. Because he saw unless those who wield power or essentially in their experience have a larger sense of life and an inclusive sense of identity, Not my family, My children, My husband, My wife, This stuff. You have a larger sense of identity. Only then you must wield power. Otherwise, It will lead to corruption. People say power is corruption. Power is not corruption. Limited identity is corruption. They believe they're doing the right things and they're doing the horrible things all the time. Because their identity is so small. So he was trying to change this. This was his whole life's mission. And always working for results. Hello? A man who's working with such intensity and commitment is not working for not producing results. Obviously, He's working for results. The problem is, You heard what Krishna said through the words of a king's servant. Nobody else told you. He only spoke to Arjuna. Arjuna never spoke. He lived for thirty-six years after that incident. But he never uttered one word what Krishna told him. Have you heard anywhere? He ruled as a king. But never once he said, Krishna told me this on the battlefield. Not once. So everything that you have heard is only from Sanjaya, Who was a king's servant. You must understand the quality of a king's servant. He's very reliable. See, If you, Let's say, If your husband or wife or children, They saw something, They come and tell you. They will add a little bit of their own stuff and tell you. It is intrinsic to a human being. Their own opinions, Ideas, Other things will naturally get into what they're speaking. But a king's servant is trained never to add his opinion, Otherwise his head will go. He will only interpret everything word by word as it was. So he's a kind of a ancient tape recorder. Okay. He's recording and just telling the king, This is what he's saying. But there's no context. What is shared between two people, Where there's a very deep relationship, If two lovers are doing something, Talking to each other, Somebody else may think they're quarreling, But they're doing their love affair. So this is a love affair between Krishna and Arjuna, Because they know each other very intimately. So he's speaking a certain language. So as king's servant takes word by word, Without knowing the context or understanding what it is, The experiential dimension of what it is, And he's saying, So having said that, See, Essentially it is just this, Whatever you wish to do in your life, You have goals. What kind of goal will you set up? Right now you're in the university. What kind of goal will you set up? What you already know, You will exaggerate that a little bit and think it's a big goal in your life. Generally people call this an ambition. I call this a constipation. Because you're trying to handle life little by little, Just like constipation. If you have a goal, Your goal cannot be something absolutely new, It is only an exaggeration of what you already know. Yes or no? Can you think of a goal that you simply don't know? How is it even possible? So what he is saying is, Don't… you know, There is a direction we have taken, But you have to be dedicated to the process. Otherwise goal will just be hallucination. If you do one thing right now, You know, Just don't take this one breath, Take the other breaths, Let me see. That's all he's saying. He's saying without taking this step properly, You hallucinate about the goal. What is the point? In yoga we say this very simply. We say if you have one eye on the goal, You have only one eye to find your way, It's inefficient, That's all. So he is just talking about in a battle, If you're inefficient, It is not that you won't get your increment or promotion, You just get… you just get dead. Hello? In a battle, If you're inefficient, You think you will just lose your marks or something? A grade you will lose? Is that what it is? No, You will be buried that evening. So he is telling him, Because Arjuna is talking about how to kill all these people and me become a king, He say, You idiot, You have not become a king yet. You need to shoot this guy in front of you now properly. Otherwise you… not the king, You will be buried today evening. That's all he is trying to tell him. Is it wrong? So, Sir, You know every year in the month of November, We have a business event. So two hundred CEOs were there last year also, This November it's coming again. And they just look at how seamlessly Isha Foundation functions. Variety of activity, All volunteers. You know volunteers means what? Nobody is trained for the job. They are super dedicated, But they are not trained for the job. And you can't fire them because they are volunteers. If you hired them, You can fire them. They are volunteers, How to fire them you can't. So they looked at this and said, Sadhguru, We pick up the best from IITs and IIMs and all this stuff. But you are just doing with volunteers and your organization functions better than our companies. How is it? I said, See, All of you are dedicated to the goal. Here, I have continuously instilled in people that you're absolutely devoted to the process. Now what you're doing? You do this well. Most of them don't even know where I'm taking them. All right? They're working for a certain project. They don't know what is the goal. I have something else. If I tell them right now, They'll freak because my goals are so far they will give up. So right now, We have instilled this in them. You just absolutely involved in the process. Know the joy of involvement, First of all. Without absolute devotion to what you're doing right now, You will not do anything significant in your life. Whether it's art, Music, Spirituality, Politics, Business, Take anything. Without being devoted to the process that you're doing right now, You think you will do anything significant? That's all he's saying. It is all the scholars' interpretations and interpretations they are doing, Messing up Krishna. Thank you. Taking forward the theme, Sadhguru, Today about the process inside and work outside. When we look around the country today, We see so many problems affecting our fellow Indians – poverty, Discrimination on the basis of religion, Caste and inequality. And of course, When I look inside myself also, There are problems. I'm very far from having good process. I'm definitely not a yogi. And so what is the relationship between this work which I need to do inside and the work which I need to do outside? Can I do both? Do I need to do one before the other? How can I go about? Because I don't feel like accepting that I can do either one or the other. See, If you want to lift this tumbler, This amount of water, At least you need that much of strength, Isn't it? You may not be a heavyweight lifter, But at least this much muscle you must have. Can I have water please? Thank you. If you don't have this muscle, Even taking up this cup won't happen, Isn't it? So tell me, Preparing to do something, The preparation should be before or after. A whole lot of people think their spiritual process, They will start after they're seventy years of age, When they're no good for anything. If you understand spiritual process as a disability, Then that's the way to go. I see spiritual process as the greatest empowerment in my life's experience. I think it should happen at the earliest possible time. Unless you're planning to live elsewhere, Those people who are in the upper strata, I'm telling you, If you're thinking you'll go there and live well, That's up to you. To put it in perspective, One of my projects, Of the many projects, One of the projects is, Before I fall dead, I want to make sure all the heavens are destroyed. Is that okay? No? You want to go there? Because I want to destroy the good food in the Hindu heaven. I want to destroy, I want to make sure that people eat good food here. I want to destroy all those angels who are floating up in the clouds and angels in heavens. I want people, Angelic people to be here. And of course, I want to destroy all those virgins up there. Because the very idea that there is a better place to live than this is a crime. You want to make a hell out of this and go somewhere? So, This is the fundamental issue. The issue is just this, If you want to do something, What can you do? You can only do what you are. Can you do something more? Can you? You can stretch yourself, But still only what you are, Isn't it? So, Is it not important that first you enhance what you are? If you enhance this, Activity will naturally happen. Right now, This is one complaint I'm seeing, And I'm seeing even in the universities, People are going like this. We didn't walk like this when I barely went, But the little I went, We were… I'm seeing people are walking like this. It looks like they're practicing their last posture. See, The problems of life have not yet hit you, Okay? When you're in the university, They have not yet hit you. It's a very protected atmosphere. All you have to do is read some dumb textbook and write something. I'm not trying to belittle the study, But I'm saying the real problems of life have not yet hit you, Right? The true challenges have not come yet. Here only if you're overwhelmed by this, How the hell will you live in the world, I'm asking? How will you take up any big issue? I'm saying if you are an issue by yourself, Obviously you will not take up any big issue and try to bring solutions, Isn't it? First and foremost thing you must do is, In your life, You are not the issue, Never. I am not the problem in my life. There are problems and problems. How many we can solve, We will see. All of them will never be solved. But how many can be clear in our life is a big question. But if you yourself are a problem, You yourself being problem means… See, I'm just meeting people every day, Fifty, Sixty years of age, Still they've not figured how to handle their thought and emotion. When are you going to get it? I'm asking. See, These are very fantastic faculties that only human being has, Right? No other creature can think like us. No other creature can emote like us. They are very limited stuff. Here it is so evolved. Now you are suffering that immensely. If you don't learn how to handle your thought and emotion, You are already thirty, Forty, Fifty years of age. When are you going to learn? What is your lifespan? A million years is it? I didn't know. What is the lifespan in Harvard University? Is it not very important that by the time you are twelve, Fifteen years of age, You know how to handle your thought and emotion. Otherwise, You are a bloody issue all the time. You don't need any outside issue. You just leave people alone by themselves. They are a big issue by themselves. When you are alone, If you are miserable, You are obviously in bad company, Isn't it? Hello? So if you don't settle this, If you step out, Well, You will go about blundering and messing around all the time. It looks like you are working for a solution, But when you are a problem, You will only spread problems. It may look like a temporary solution. This is the reason why after thousand years, We are still talking about the same problems. Obviously, We have not solved it, Isn't it? After thousand years, If human beings have the same problem, That's very stupid, Isn't it so? Only the phones are getting smart, Sir, You know. Phones are getting smarter by the… See, If you have to call somebody, He is very smart. When do you do that? When you find him smarter than you. Yes or no? Only then you say, Oh, He is very smart. So when you call a phone, Very smart. It's a statement. So can I do these things both together? Because enhancing yourself is a limitless process. It's not a graduation that's going to be over at one time. But the fundamental is just this, Human beings are going through variety of suffering. Well, Those who are in situations of famine, War, Those things you… Let's keep it aside. Fortunately, Still it's a small population, All right? If you don't take care of it, It could become very large. That is one thing. We will keep them aside. Krishna is talking about even they're not being bothered on the battlefield. That's a different matter. I won't take you that far. We will give a margin for them. But those of you who had breakfast in the morning, What is your problem? Hello? In India, In southern India, Where you come from, In the villages if you go, People will come and inquire, Oota matadu ra? Oota aitha? Yes? Saapting la? What this means is, The only question they will ask you is, Have you eaten? Because they ask you, If you've eaten, What is the problem? No, No. For most human beings, If they have not eaten, There's only one problem, Food. The moment they eat, They have hundred problems. So it is not that there are problems. It is just that you have a cerebral capacity that you don't know how to use. Yes? If you're alone and you're feeling miserable, What does it mean? Your intelligence has turned against you. Once your intelligence has turned against you, You pray and call whatever forces you want. No damn thing is going to work for you, Hundred percent. If your intelligence turns against you, You are a finished case, Isn't it? Hmm? All kinds of sufferings on a daily basis. What do you think they're suffering? When is the last time somebody poked you with a dagger? Hmm? Never happened to you, Isn't it? So what is the suffering? You poking yourself all the time, Endlessly. Of course, You have good reasons for that. There's no reason, It's just dumb stupid, Okay? Yes? Yes, It's just dumb stupid that you're constantly poking yourself and you think it's being intellectual. Not at all. You just don't know how to use the sharpness of your intellect. That's all it is. Instead of using it towards a solution, You are making a big problem out of it. You think you're suffering life. No. You're only suffering the two most significant faculties of being human, Which is a vivid sense of memory and a fantastic sense of imagination. This is what you're suffering. You suffer what happened ten years ago. You suffer what may happen day after tomorrow already. What does this mean? This simply means you're suffering your memory and imagination. You have no contact with life because your psychological structure has become larger than the cosmic structure. This is your problem. This must be settled. Especially if you're going to get into public life, It's very important you settle this damn thing that you are not the problem. You are never the problem. Outside problems, According to our capabilities, We'll do our best. That's all there is. Moderator 1 – Sadhguru, One question on karma. Sadhguru – She is… Moderator 1 – So, Can good karma cancel out bad karma? And… Sadhguru – What did you do today? Moderator 1 – I'm asking for humanity, Not for myself. And is our life predestined or can we change it by karma? And what is good karma? Sadhguru – See, Let's understand this word. I know this has become part of English lexicon. Karma is an English word now. The word karma means action. As you sit here, There is physical action going on, There is mental action going on, Emotional activity going on, Energy activity going on in every one of us. Whether you're awake or asleep, Four dimensions of karma are happening all the time. Since you woke up today morning, Except for that bad karma, You're dead. No, You don't have to reveal that. Since you woke up today morning till this moment, Just a few hours, How much of these four dimensions of karma did you perform consciously? Moderator 1 – Should I answer? I was not conscious while performing my actions. Sadhguru – I'm saying for almost every human being is well below one percent. If you take in a day, Well below one percent. So when ninety-nine percent of your actions are accidental or unconscious, You do one thing, You just drive here. Here the traffic is very slow, It's safe to try this experiment. Ninety-nine percent of the time just close your eyes and simply sit like this. Once in a way, Handle the steering. Let's see where you will be in five minutes. This is a disaster of human life. So you must understand this, This is the most profound dimension of Eastern cultures that we told you your life is your karma. This means your life is your making. There is no manager sitting, I'm not talking about you guys. There is no manager sitting up there and managing you. Your life is your karma. The way you make… do it is the way it happens. There is no… no other way. Only because over ninety-nine percent is happening unconsciously, It looks like some other force is manipulating you. All bad drivers are like this. When they get into some kind of a crash, I was driving properly only, Something happened. Have you heard this? Something happened, Something supernatural happened and I crashed my car. No, You're just a dumb driver. So the same thing goes for life. The same thing goes for life that we constantly reminded you. Now in this generation, It's lost in probably, Maybe your mother or let's say your grandmother's generation, If they sit down, Stood up, They said karma, Prarabdha, Mukti, Moksha. This is a proper day-to-day conversation, Not spiritual conversation. Yes or no? Every day, It's time you bring it back because karma means you're reminding yourself, Everything that I'm doing and not doing is my fundamental responsibility. If you ask me, People have been asking, I have not articulated this till recently, But some people have been asking me, So I'm these days talking to them and I'm saying, What is the mission, They ask me. I say, The mission is just this, Religion to responsibility. You think it is there. No, It's here. This is what karma means, That you understand you're the source of your life. Is there no other force working in the universe? Yes, It is. But even to harness this… see, Harness that is your business, Isn't it? Hello? Even to harness that is your business. Otherwise, What's the point? So karma means your life is your making. There is nothing else that can decide. If you take charge of your body, Let's say you have some mastery over your physical body, Fifteen to twenty percent of your life and destiny will be in your hands. If you take charge of your mental process, Fifty to sixty percent of your life and destiny will be in your hands. If you take charge of your basic life energy into your hands, One hundred percent of your life and destiny will be in your hands. Every young person must first explore this dimension before you step out into the world and mess other people. Yes, Very important. But what is the fix for the morning's bad karma? You must understand karma is not like reward and punishment system. It is just residual memory within yourself. Everything, Every thought, Every emotion, Every action, Every moment that you do, In some way is recorded into this. This memory creates a tendency for you because so much memory is gathered naturally. It's like software, You're writing unconscious software every moment. See, If you walk from here to here, I'm telling you, There are at least twenty-five different kinds of smells. You're not conscious unless something is very strong, Acute in some way, In a positive or negative way, Then you will notice, Otherwise you're not noticing. You will see if a dog passes, He's just figuring out you, What you have done, What you have not done, Your good karma, Bad karma, Everything he's just figuring out. Yes or no? You also are conscious. Your system also is perceiving it because your neurological system is far more superior to the dog's neurological system. Do you agree with me? Hello? Dog lovers, Is it okay? Human neurological system is far more advanced than any other creature. You also capable, But because of cerebral activity, You're missing it. You do one thing, Just go live in the jungle for some time, You will see suddenly your sense of smell. You just know everything just by raising your nose a little bit, Sticking your nose out, You just know what's coming, What's going. You will see in the villages in India, They'll say it's going to rain today. You understand? Nothing, No sign of rain, No cloud, No nothing. He'll simply… and he'll say it's going to rain today and it will because the changes are happening in the atmosphere. So, Because of this unconscious nature, If you walk from here to here, These twenty-five smells, For example, Are all recorded in the system. And all like this, Visual inputs, Audio inputs, Everything is recorded, Recorded, Recorded. Depending upon the type of material you've taken in, Slowly you will develop an unconscious tendency. Suddenly you'll like this, Not something else, Because of the kind of inputs you have taken in. These tendencies traditionally, Because you're coming from the scripture, Traditionally we call this vasanas. Vasana is a very good expression because vasana literally means smell. So, Depending upon the type of smell, Accordingly you draw that type of life towards you or you move in that direction, That's what they're trying to say. But this is essentially, Put to put it in modern terminology, You're building an unconscious software, So naturally it begins to function in a certain way. It doesn't matter what is the software, Can you rewrite it? Of course you can. That is also your karma. So, Will you allow unconscious activity that you have performed to rule the nature and destiny of your life or will you make sure it is the conscious activity that you perform which will rule the destiny of your life? This is something you have to decide. For a woman who chooses not to be a mother, Who doesn't… Oh, I'll give you award. So, She has chosen you as an advocate for her case and you have to fight her case. So, What are the arguments? I'm sorry, I didn't get that. So, There's a woman… Yeah, She doesn't want to have a child. And she's chosen you as an advocate for her case and you have to fight her case. So, What are the arguments that you would give for a woman who doesn't want to bear a child? I said she needs to be awarded. I have already announced in India, Young women who are capable of childbearing chose not to do it, We will institute an award for them because right now the greatest service you can do in the world is you are not extra-populating this planet, Okay? If suppose you were a tiger woman, I mean to say a female tiger, Then I would have encouraged you, Please breed, Please breed because it's an endangered species. Well, You know, See we are not endangered. Wherever you go, There is a crowd. Well, To protect a nation you have to build a wall, Otherwise people are coming. Obviously, There's too much… Obviously, There is too much population everywhere, Isn't it? So, This is something we need to look at in a very fundamental way. This is happening because the need, The need is inbuilt. The reproductive need is a very inbuilt need. Whatever arguments they have at one point, The body dictates. Fortunately, There's lot of pain and stuff involved. Otherwise, I don't know what would have happened. So, This need if it one has to transcend, Instead of forcefully putting it down, If your identity naturally shifts beyond your biological self, You will see these needs will completely disappear. Right now, I want people to understand what you're looking for is not a child. What you're looking for is involvement. Right now, Your problem is you simply cannot involve with people unless they came out of your body. Your identity of biology is so strong, You can't simply include these people as yours. Oh, This one came from my body. This is mine. This… This is because you're trapped in your own biology. That's all it is. Today, I must tell you in the Isha Foundation, There are hundreds of couples who have all chosen not to have children. I said, You want involvement? You want children? I'll give you hundred. Why one? You take care of them. Why should it fall out of your body? Not necessary. Human being has the ability. This is an animal instinct. This instinct is needed for the survival of the race, Of course. But now, The survival of the race depends on consciously controlling the population a little bit. From the beginning of 20th century, In 1910, Our population was just 1. 58 billion. Let's say 1. 6 billion. Today, We are 7. 6 billion. By 2050, They're estimating we will be 10. 3 billion. When it's 10. 3 billion, I don't want to be around. Hello? I want you to just imagine, Another 50% rise in the world's population, You can imagine what all problems you will face. We are ensuring that our children cannot live well on this planet by producing more children. It's very, Very important. We must understand, Why this has happened is not just because of unbridled reproduction. No, That is not true. It's controlled. It is simply because our life expectancy is extending itself. It's fantastic. For example, In India, When the British left India, Our life expectancy was 28 years. How many of you are over 25? 28, I'm sorry. So you're all dead. That's what it meant. I want you to understand. 28 years. Today, It has reached 70. It's a phenomenal achievement in 70 years of independence. So, When we take death into our hands, Should we not take birth into our hands? I'm not propounding any philosophy. I'm just talking simple arithmetic. Hello? When we take death into our hands, Should we not take birth into our hands? If we don't do that, If we do not consciously contain our population, Nature will do it to us in a very cruel way. You want to wait for that day? You can. But being human beings, It'll be nice if we do it consciously, Isn't it? I personally feel, Sadhguru, That there's this phenomenon of castration anxiety in India. I'm sorry? Castration anxiety, Something related to male ego. We see that this male ego has… Where in? Harvard University? They've been castrated? Kind of everywhere. It's kind of everywhere. So, This male ego has been somewhere hidden behind the rapes that happen, The sexual harassment that happens, A lot of gender disparity. I wouldn't say this is the only reason, But it's somewhere hidden behind. And we never address it up front. And all of these acts are acts of shame, But there is a sense of pride associated with it. How can we change the sense of pride to a sense of shame? See, In the question there is a contradiction. If there is a castration syndrome, There shouldn't be rapes. There are rapes means they have not been castrated, Obviously. Yes? So, We need to understand this. There are many aspects to rape. This is a dangerous subject to tread into because half the population could turn against you on the planet. And as you say, In the other half also they'll turn against you because nobody wants to look at it as it is. Everybody is trying to make this into a social cause. This is not a social cause. This is a very fundamental thing. Why is this happening? We need to look at it in a more fundamental way. One thing is you need to understand, Human hormonal equity is real. It's not… it is not manufactured in your laboratory. It is not manufactured in your mind. It is real, It's in the body. So when does it start? Starts thirteen, Fourteen years of age and picks up momentum. Probably it hits its peaks between eighteen, Twenty-five. But so life was structured in a certain way to address this issue. But today we got modern. What modern means is totally messed up in your head. You don't look at life as it is. You make up a unreal reality in your mind and you think that is… that is what should happen. Now you have an education system where generally by the time you're competent enough to get into life, You're like twenty-five. So today maybe you have lot of relationships going in the university but that's not the case everywhere. So the peak hormonal activity, There is no outlet, All right? There is no any kind of outlet. Well, Girls were getting married fifteen, Sixteen years of age, Boys were getting married seventeen, Eighteen, Before twenty. So it was addressed. Even if it was not physically addressed, It was emotionally addressed that by the time you're twelve, They're telling you, See this is going to be your wife, This is going to be your husband. Emotionally it was addressed. So they did not look here and there. So now can we go back to that system? Not at all. It's not possible to go back there. What is the new system? At least we must debate, Isn't it? If you leave it loose like that, A fundamental force in human society is hormone. We are born here. I want you to understand this. You and me are sitting here because somebody got horny, All right? Hello? Oh, You're not supposed to say this. No, They love, Fell in love with you. Leave it. Somebody got horny. That is why you and me are here. So it can't be wrong. You and me are here because of that. Only thing is how a human society can conduct this dimension in a graceful and aesthetically sensible way. That's all we're looking at, Right? We're not talking about against sexuality. We are talking about how to conduct it in a graceful manner. To conduct it in a graceful manner, There must be addressing human issue as a human issue. This is not a social issue. This is not for sociologists to discuss. This is happening in the body. How do we make a conducive situation for people? This debate has to come. Simply putting it under the carpet and thinking something else and calling somebody a rapist. In the national media, People are talking, We must castrate this boy, We must do this. What's happened to us? This is not the way. I'm not trying to approve rape, But I'm saying it is a genuine issue. It is not something somebody socially deviant is doing it. It is just that you're trying to suppress a basic energy within the human being. This will happen. Otherwise, Will you put them on some sadhana where they will become like monks and be perfectly fine within themselves? You have not done anything like that in the society. There is no discipline of any kind. Everybody is, You know, By the time fifteen, Sixteen, They're consuming alcohol, Where their judgment goes away. All right, You are encouraging alcohol, You are encouraging titillation, All kinds of titillation through the movies, Pornography is like all over the place. And the guy is supposed to be like this. It's not going to work. Two drops of alcohol, The guy loses his judgment and does stupid things. Is it right, Wrong? That's not the way to look at it. Are we brave enough to address human issues as human issues and try to find solution? Is there an absolute solution? No. There's no absolute solution. But we can create a society where these things are minimal, Right? There always is crime in every society, Always has been. The question is how rampant. Isn't that the only question? Only a fool will think we'll create a society without crime. It doesn't happen like that. It is just that how minimal can we make it? So last question, Sadhguru. So in today's society, Many influential people, Judges or senior civil servants, Armed forces officials, They don't express their personal political views in public because the thinking is that they hold a post which should be beyond any political party. Now, What do you think the role of spiritual leader should be when you are thinking about politics? See, Everybody as a citizen has a right to express their opinion if they wish. But people who hold positions in the government, They are not supposed to take political positions. In personal life they can, But in public life they cannot. I have imposed this upon myself. I need not. Many people have not, But I have, That in public I don't take political sides because if I take a side, I may move millions of votes in one direction, Which I don't want to do. Why I am saying this is, My concern is this, If one individual can move, Let's say a million or ten million, A hundred million votes, This means we will go back to feudalism, Not democracy. The idea of democracy and secret ballot is that every person will think for himself or herself and cast the vote. You are not even supposed to influence your family, Actually. I strictly maintain, My daughter asked me, Whom should I vote? I said, You just acquaint yourself what's happened in the last five years. Do you see you want the same people or not? You make up your mind. Because if everybody does not think for themselves, Right or wrong, It doesn't matter. If they don't think for themselves, Then there is no democracy. I would say, I am sorry, But I think in United States there is no democracy, It's feudalism. Because my father was a Republican, I am a Republican, My grandfather was a Republican, I am a Republican. The same thing goes for Democrats. How is it democracy? You are already fixed. I am pushing for this in India. I know everybody, All political parties will be against me. I said, Political party membership should be taken away. Political parties should not be able to enroll members. Because now you have hundred million members, These hundred million people are simply voting for you without looking at what you have done or what you are going to do. They should go. Every time, Every five years, We must be willing to evaluate what's happened. Is it worthwhile giving them another chance or no? This evaluation should happen every… every election time. But right now it is fixed. Because I belong to this party, Anyway I am going to vote this party, No matter what nonsense they do, This has to go. This is just feudalism. You've destroyed democracy. So as a part of that, I have taken a stand that I will never publicly give a call, This is the way to do. But at the same time, Everywhere I go, People keep asking, What has happened in the last five years, Is it worthwhile? I only tell them, See this is what has happened, It's for you to decide whether this is worthwhile or not. You must decide. I will not tell you, This is great, You must vote for this party, Because that will destroy the fundamental democratic fabric. So judges and others, They should not, Because they are holding a position which will… which will become weak, If they express political opinion. That's not a right thing to do. But every other citizen has, Recently I was even asked, Why someone who's, You know, Has a religious whatever, You know, Like they're talking about the UP chief minister, How can he be a chief minister? What I'm asking is, He's a monk, All right? Because he's a monk, Have you given him any special rights? Can he drive without a license? Can he go without paying taxes? Is there any special rights? Can he travel in an airplane or a train without ticket? No, No special rights. Then why the hell are you taking away the privileges that other citizens have? Like anybody else, He stands for election, Wins the election, He rules, But he may impose his religion. Well, A whole lot of people are drinking alcohol, All right? Ministers, Chief ministers, Are they imposing alcohol on you? Maybe they will try. They're trying, Not only trying, They are actually. So if a man is meditating, Maybe he will try to influence. Whether you meditate or not is your choice. Can he impose it on you? Does he have the mechanism to impose it on you? No. These are just rubbish nonsense going on all the time because there are two hundred news channels, They have to fill it with something. If there isn't news, They got to make it. Two hundred channels is too much of news, Isn't it? And everybody says, We are the… what we are right now broadcasting is unique and fresh. Only we are doing it. I would have loved to ask a follow-up question, But I think we're out of time. So let's open it up to the audience. So let's do this. Let's take questions in groups of three and then Sadhguru can choose how to club them and answer whatever. I normally answer every question. So just give me one at a time. Sadhguru, You speak so logically and it makes sense to me. But at the same time, You're celebrating the religious festival of Mahashivratri in a grand way at the Isha Yoga Center. For a young person like me, These religious festivals seem like outdated rituals. So I want to know, What is the relevance of Mahashivratri to the youth? Thank you. What kind of festival would you like? Festival. Maybe only the Valentine's Day or something. That is also religious, It's Saint Valentine. All right? So what is Mahashivratri? You need to understand this. There are certain… In India, There are three-hundred-and-sixty-five festivals in a year. Yes. Today, Due to economic reasons and the way we have structured our work and things, A whole lot of them have died. Still about thirty to thirty-five are being actively. Maybe more than that. About fifty to sixty festivals are being celebrated by different people. But that number also is decreasing. Largely, Maybe about five or six are being celebrated in a big way. So, Some of them are social. A few of them may be religious, But hardly any religious ones. Some are all connected to the calendar. Almost every Indian festival is connected to the calendar, What's happening in the solar system. We want to do something which is conducive for what's happening that day in the rest of the solar system. Why this is important is, Because what you call as my body right now, What is human mechanism, Is… has come out of this planet. Most people don't get it till you bury them. They think they came from somewhere. No, This body is… solar system is working like a potter's wheel to generate this. So, Everything that happens to the solar system happens to you in some way. So, There is a very keen observation of what is happening in the solar system today. Accordingly, We have crafted one kind of celebration and we do those specific things. So, On Mahashivratri night, To cut it short, Because this is an elaborate subject what you opened up, On that day, Which doesn't fall on the same calendar, You know, The regular modern calendar date, This time is on 4th of March. On that day, There is a natural… because, You know, Planet is not spinning like this, It is spinning a certain way and there is a precision to the planet. You know what's the precision? Hello? No, Not precision in terms of exactness. I'm talking about what is precision in terms of the planet. The planet's axis is not simply rotating like this. It is going like this. It is a wobble. There is a wobble to the planet always. Because of that wobble, It creates a certain kind of situation on the planet. So, On that day, Especially in the northern hemisphere or only in the northern hemisphere, There is a natural upsurge of energy. There is a natural upsurge of energy. Oh, All this energy, I don't believe. You don't. Just go sit on the coast. If there is a full moon night, Is the ocean rising? Hello? So, On new moon day, Full moon day, Do you see that the very ocean is trying to rise? Well, Over two-thirds of your body is water. What makes you think? Body… Water inside the body won't rise. All the fluids in the body are also rising. So, You will see these things are there everywhere. If you are in a… If you have ever been in a mental institution… No, You could have gone there and just forgot. You will see on full moon days and new moon days, People take extra care because those who are psychologically disturbed become far more disturbed. People think moon causes madness. That's why lunar and loony and all this stuff. Moon does not cause madness. It just pulls everything up. If you are little crazy, It makes you more crazy. You are little loving, It makes you more loving. You are little meditative, It makes you more meditative. Whatever is your quality gets enhanced because it's kind of… there's an upsurge in the system. This particular day, After the solstice happens in December, Twenty-second of December is the winter solstice. After that, The planetary precision is such that there is a natural upsurge on that particular night in a very big way. If on that night, If you lie down, This means, When the energies are trying to move like this, You are kind of obstructing it. It is not only that you lose the benefit, You could also harm yourself in… in a very sensitive way. All these things matter to you only when you want to be a full-fledged human being. When I say a full-fledged human being, You want every faculty that can be opened up in the human being, You want it to be opened. Not if you are that kind, By evening you are drunk and sleeping. What is there also, You want to kill it. That's up to you. But if you want to be a full-fledged human being, You want to full scale everything happening to you, You observe all these small, Small changes that happen in the system and take care of that. So you want to sit straight, You want your spine to be erect on that night. When energies are moving upward, You want to help it further go up, Not like this. So we created what is called as jagaran. That means to stay alert and to stay erect. How to keep people erect? Just make them sit. You think they will? If I make you sit for another five, Six hours, You will simply sit? No, I have to entertain you. Hello. So that night we have a celebration from evening six to morning six, Twelve hours non-stop music, Dance, Meditation, Various things being done so that everybody stays alert. Nearly a million people are in one place, But these numbers were exploding. So now we have large screens in over hundred and thirty cities across the country in southern India so that people gather there and too many don't come here, But still it will run into somewhere around seven hundred to eight hundred thousand people in one place and over eighty-six channels are telecasting it live. So how many millions of people are watching? We don't know. Last year they said it could be somewhere around six crore people could be watching. This time it's going to be much more. This is also the twenty-fifth year of Mahashivratri in Isha. Twenty-five years ago we started Mahashivratri celebrations in that place with just seventy people. So it's grown that big because people find the benefit of what it is. You do one thing on that night without getting drunk or drugged, Just sit alert. You don't like celebration, So you simply sit like this. It's up to you. So you need to understand this, A human being needs celebration. If celebration has to happen in your life, You need some sense of playfulness, Otherwise there's no celebration. Most people can celebrate only if you get them drunk. I will show you a million people in one place, Not a drop of drink allowed anywhere, But you will see full night, Not one person will sleep, Everybody is on, On, On, Okay? Participant 1 – Hi. Participant 2 – Hi. Participant 3 – Go ahead. Sadhguru – Please wait for the microphone, Please. Hello, Please wait for the microphone. If everybody goes off like that… Participant 3 – Hi. So I have a question for you and… Sadhguru – Sorry, One moment, One moment. Gentleman. Participant 3 – Your thoughts I would say, Or I could say your answers about the questions on pregnancy or whether… your thoughts on like what it means for women to bear children or not bear children and the choice thereof was a beautiful answer. I could relate to everything you are saying. Sadhguru – Please, Just come to the question. Time is very… Participant 3 – The context is slightly necessary. I'll keep it short. You said about rapes and increasing cases of rapes or them being sort of a social crime but also there is an association of pride, Etc. That was a question. And both the answers in and of themselves were honest answers. But together… Sadhguru – This is not a comment, Just come to the question. Participant 3 – But together, Is it possible that there was in your two answers, Perhaps unconscious bias or double standard because in the answer to pregnancy, You said, Oh, It is just your primal instinct, Your biological need for an identity to care about a certain person, You should grow beyond it. And in your answer about rape, You said, Oh, Humans have this hormonal urge and we are not… Sadhguru – See, I know what I have said, Please. I know what I have said. Why don't you just ask the question? I know what I have said. Just come to the question. Participant 3 – Is it possible that in these two answers, There is perhaps a subconscious bias or am I reading it wrong? Those two answers to me seem like, Oh, This is biological, Let it go. Oh, This is biological, It won't go. I think you have made your point, So let's hear the answer. Sadhguru – Oh. Let's understand this. The hormonal impact on human biology is such, It subjugates one's intellect, Subjugates one's knowledge, Subjugates social order and acts beyond that. Is that the way to create a society? No. The whole idea of creating a society is that all these things will fall into a more graceful slots so that they will function smoothly to everybody's benefit, Not against anybody. That's the whole idea of trying to bring a civilization to a society, Is just that, That's the effort. Have we ever in these whatever thousands of years, Have we ever succeeded one hundred percent in this effort? Have we? No. At certain times, These things have been well handled. At certain times, They have been badly handled. Only thing we can do is, How well can we handle it in our time? That's all there is in our hands. You're thinking of these things as some sort of absolutes. These are not absolutes. Don't think there is a man who is a rapist and there is a man who is no rapist. It's not like that. It's just that when he goes out of control, He will do ugly things. When he is in control, He behaves well. When he is in love, He behaves well. When he is joyful, He behaves well. When he gets frustrated, He behaves horribly. This is the nature of the human being. If you think it needs my endorsement or not, Then you are living in some la-la land. This is the nature of the human being. Are we going to create a system where there is going to be minimum friction among people is the continuous challenge for every generation. Yes? It is a continuous challenge for every generation. No generation has ever arrived at one perfect system that it worked absolutely for everybody. Always somebody was exploited. If you don't know the reality of the existence and you are living in some other psychological state of absoluteness, Then that's not the point. But pregnancy is a choice. And especially now it's a cho… it would… I wouldn't have said it's a choice hundred years ago because it just happened. It… just the hormonal thing happened. But pregnancy is a choice. Even if you are sexually involved, Still you don't have to get pregnant. That is possible only for this generation. If you do not understand the impact of that, That is the biggest thing that's happened. For woman, That's the biggest thing that's happened. That is, There is birth control, That one can exercise their choice whether I want to go into it or not go into it. So, That is of a different kind, This is of a different kind. That's why I said, If you want to bring both of them in one category, You come to me, I will initiate you into brahmacharya, I will give you sadhana, You do that. Both will be by choice. Thank you so much for coming here. I just wanted to ask you about how we can contribute back to society and give back because everyone keeps talking about contributing and contribution but it's really hard for each person to come up and just want to hear your thoughts on it. When I talk about giving back something to you, That means I have stolen something from you already. Please don't do that. If you don't do the first act, The second act will not be necessary. As a part of this, We have started this conversation in the business world. It's still picking up momentum but not enough momentum. I'm talking about structuring businesses in such a way that you understand, In any transaction, You're talking about sustainable business, Not only ecologically, The business also has to sustain as a business. If any relationship has to sustain, It must be beneficial for both the parties. Whether it's marketplace or marriage, I want you to understand, You're not but Whether it's marketplace or marriage, Unless it benefits both the people, This transaction is not going to go for long, Isn't it? So to build a business in such a way that always it's beneficial for both the parties, If you do, First I don't have to take it and then at the time of retirement, I want to give it back. What is this? This is like the old, You know, Even the mafia and Robin Hoods who steal from other people also give it to people because otherwise they cannot survive. So first don't take it and then try to give it back. Why? Why can't our life process itself is useful to everything that we do? Why can't businesses be built in such a way that it's naturally beneficial to everybody? And if you make this happen, If you structure, Today lot of impact businesses are coming, Which are all thinking on these terms. It is still not large enough as it should be, But it's beginning to happen. As a part of this, Right now one of the biggest problems we need to address in the world, In the next few years is going to be migration. It's estimated nearly 1. 5 billion people will migrate in the next five to ten years' time. When 1. 5 billion people start moving, Not one wall, People will try to build walls everywhere. And wall is a solution only till the tide is of a certain level. When the tide increases, It will fall over the wall. It will. Not… I'm not just talking about one country, I'm saying everywhere. So what is the solution for this? This problem is just this, Right now nearly eighty percent of the world's investment is probably… probably in approximately twenty-five to thirty cities on the planet. This needs to spread. If investment has to spread, Who will risk spreading their investment to a place which is harder to do business? You have to create a fund which will allow a little more easy money. If you want easy money, You must invest it in impoverished societies. So we are looking at this in a big way, Trying to work with the United Nations and the large businesses and set up a trust where businesses will be given soft loans for long gestation period, Twelve, Fifteen years, So that you have time to go there, Train the people, Create talent and create a business and create livelihood there so that people don't have to go away. What kind of business? Well, Businesses can decide what kind depending on the terrain, People, The nature of everything else that is there, Ecosystem. But if we don't do this now, That if we don't spread the world's investment into various areas, You will see when one segment of population is living with so much comfort and well-being, Another segment has nothing, You cannot control it. All these years you controlled it because there was no transportation, You understand? Now everybody has transportation. One way or the other they will come in. One way or the other they will come in. It doesn't matter what kind of barriers you put up, In the next ten years' time they will come anyway, Unless you put investments in various places and create livelihoods. The businesses have to be structured like this. Young people who are studying business, You must think of solving world's problems rather than just thinking of some fanciful ambition. Your ambition, Whatever it is, I want you to understand this. You will realize this as you go with your life, But if you realize early, It's better. In terms of activity, Whatever activity we perform in the world, How deeply we touch another life is the most profound satisfaction of activity. That's the purpose of activity, Really. Do you want to write a book that nobody wants to read? No. Do you want to cook something that nobody wants to eat? Do you want to build a building where nobody wants to live? When you do something, You want it to touch somebody's life. So if this is the thing, The young people who are going into business, You must think on these terms. How to impact maximum number of lives and where can we do it? If we don't create this opportunity and allow migrations to happen, You will see terrible things happening when people migrate. So you must understand this. Right now, Between Africa and United States, Spain, Italy, All these places, Every year thousands of people are drowning in the waters. They are not reported. Media will not report that. Nobody wants to report that because they are unwanted people. But some deaths will be reported. Deaths are reported. Is anybody capable of reporting the human suffering of leaving their homeland, Take dragging their women and children and going somewhere, That suffering can anybody report ever, I'm asking? Is death the only thing that matters? Human suffering matters, Isn't it? Human suffering cannot be reported by news media. Only if deaths happen, They will say hundred people died, Two hundred people died. But that is not the real thing. Those thousands of people who left their homelands where they have lived forever and coming and desperately looking here and there, Losing their wives and children and husbands and searching here and there, This is not a small thing. This is going to scale up in a tremendous way if we don't spread investment, If we don't spread businesses into societies which are struck… stuck in poverty right now. We are out of time. It's 12. 30. So on behalf of everybody, Let me thank Satyri very much.