What are some of the learnings / values that we can take and apply from Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings towards creating peaceful societies?
Sadhguru: If you look at Mahatma Gandhi, he was not talented or anything special. He could not successfully practise as a barrister in India, which is why he went to South Africa. But suddenly, the man made a commitment towards something. He became so committed that he became a giant.
This is all that happened to many people who are historically known as great beings. They were living with a limited identification, and then, all of a sudden, an event occurred that broke their identities so they were able to relate to a larger process happening around them. They did things that they themselves could not imagine possible.
Being committed is just something we have to decide within ourselves. Whatever happens, life or death, one’s commitment should not change. When you are truly committed, you express yourself totally, in every possible way. When commitment is lacking, somewhere you lose your purpose. When the purpose of why we are here is lost, there is no question of fulfilling our goals.
In many relationships after having kids the man and the woman lose the passion in their relationship. Why does it tend to be a normality?
Sadhguru: Where there is a relationship, there is an expectation involved. If there is no expectation at all, why would you form a relationship? The expectation may be physical, psychological, emotional, financial, social or it may be a complex mess of all these things. The important thing is to recognize that you are forming a relationship because you have certain needs and expectations from the other person.
But as people grow and mature, as situations change – for example you may have a child – these needs will change. When these needs change, what looked like everything between two people may not feel the same way after some time. We do not have to base the relationship on those same needs forever and feel that the relationship has fallen apart. We can always make the relationship mature into something else. Whatever the needs that brought us together need not be the fundamentals of our relationship forever. The very fundamentals have to change as time passes, as one ages and matures in different ways.
Does one need a teacher to practise yoga or not?
Sadhguru: Yoga is not a form of exercise. Yoga is a science through which a dimension beyond the physical becomes a living reality within you. This is a technology that renders you to a higher possibility. Anything that has tremendous transformative power can also cause damage when handled improperly. This is why Yoga should always be taught in a committed atmosphere.
There are other practices, known as Upa-Yoga, which do not demand that sort of commitment because they are very simple, and they have only physical and psychological benefits. They do not touch the spiritual dimension. But Yoga itself should be done with proper understanding and guidance. Otherwise, it can be lots of trouble. Transmitting spiritual dimension to an unconscious population, who are not ready for it, and without a certain level of expertise in the teachers, could be irresponsible over a period of time.
Upa-Yoga means pre-yoga or sub-yoga. It is a very distinct and safe way to take Yoga to the world large scale. Once they feel the benefits of Upa-Yoga, once they experience what difference it makes, they will naturally seek Yoga in a more serious manner and that is when Yoga should come into their lives.
As someone who seamlessly balances spirituality and physical activity, what would you like to convey to youngsters and professionals in world that is hurtling forward at a maddening pace?
Sadhguru: As we have allotted time in our lives for education, for making money, for building families, for doing so many things in the world, similarly if you do not allot the necessary time and work towards restructuring your interiority so that your energy itself is joy, then conflict within you and in the world around you is inevitable.
Without transforming the individual, there is not going to be any transformation in the world. If you are willing to change, you will see a very silent revolution will happen around you.
Without any fight, without any slogans, without any shouting you will see the situation will change.
In his Ask Sadhguru column, the spiritual leader talks about intelligence being important to live life sensibly
(Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the founder of Conscious Planet – Save Soil)
