Sadhguru: Once we are born as human beings somehow life got little complicated.
It would have been very simple if we came here like any other creatures on the planet
- stomach full, everything is fine.
When we were hungry we also believed that, once we take care of our survival everything is going to be fine.
No?
Now once we realize somehow survival process is not good enough,
there seems to be a need to do something more,
immediately a whole industry which we call as religion and spirituality sprung up (Laughs).
All kinds of people trying to tell you what you need to do to fulfill your life,
or how you can never fulfill your life but you have to go to heaven.
This has taken on so many forms, so many,
and the diversity is wonderful but the deception is quite shameful.
In the name of religion, in the name of believing this or that we have broken humanity into so many pieces
that we can never fix it.
It almost looks like we can't fix it.
No?
And then came the spiritual leaders.
There have been some truly wonderful, absolutely incredible masters of past and present,
but at the same time too many of all kinds of different levels of ignorance,
and different levels of intention has grown into it.
There is all kinds of deception in the world,
but the religious and the spiritual kind is the grossest kind unfortunately.
If somebody’s…
If somebody dear to you died, your neighbor who was always quarrelling with you,
even he will simply bow down and go, on that day at least.
Hmm?
Yes or no? Participants: Yes.
Sadhguru: A criminal who came to rob your house sees your wife is dead, even he will say okay.
A politician who is quarrelling with his opposition all the time, when somebody dies even he goes,
but the spiritual people they won't miss an opportunity (Laughter).
Somebody is dead who is dear to someone and that moment they want to use.
Even a common criminal wouldn’t do that.
Isn't it so?
Even he would…
Somebody is dead in the house I don’t think any, you know,
like a house which is in condolence was ever burgled (Laughs).
Usually it doesn’t happen, you know, even he avoids it.
So, it becomes extremely important to present the spiritual process in its proper light for what it really is.
On a certain day a bull was grazing upon the field.
Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp,
- grazing, grazing, grazing, grazing, grazing went deep into the forest.
Weeks of grazing on lush grass, he became nice and fat.
A lion which was past its prime, who was having difficulty hunting the wild creatures,
saw this nice fact bull and stopped him, pounced upon him, killed him, he ate him up.
Stomach became full.
Then with great satisfaction, like our friend, roared (Laughter).
There were few hunters passing that way, they heard the roar, they tracked him down and shot him dead.
The moral of the story is - when you are so full of bull, you should not open your mouth (Laughter).
But they are so full of bull and not for a moment they’ll keep their mouth shut.
You know I was…
Two years ago when I was at the Economic Forum, somebody was speaking about something
- actually they were talking about brick making.
You know this is my problem, I am interested in everything (Laughs).
There is nothing that doesn’t interest me.
So, spiritual process is just this - a deeper involvement with life, much deeper than people would ever imagine.
Not just living the surface, living the core.
This is not some bull that you read in some book, this is not some nonsense that you received from somewhere,
this is going to the very core of life.
And you cannot go to the core of life unless you are willing to pay attention to the detail of life.
Nothing in the existence will yield to you unless you pay attention to it, isn't it?
Yes?
Women are all nodding, men are not saying anything (Laughter).
Women are all saying “Hmm…” (Gestures)
Nothing ever yields to you unless you pay attention to it, isn’t it so?
And nothing ever cannot yield to you if you pay enough attention to it.
The creation and the creator has to yield to you if you pay substantial attention to it.
So, if you are willing to pay substantial attention to something, everything will yield.
I was just telling them, you know, you’ve heard of Andrew Carnegie?
Hmm?
Have you heard of Carnegie?
Carnegie in 20th century became one of the richest men in America in a very short span of time,
in a single generation, just himself.
So, when as a young man he is… got into business and his business started multiplying at a phenomenal pace.
He started making money at a pace that America had not witnessed till then.
So, naturally the administration got suspicious
that he may be doing some criminal activity to make so much money.
They put his business through the scanner and they couldn’t find anything wrong.
Then they set up an enquiry for him.
A group of congressmen were conducting this enquiry and then they asked,
“We have looked through your business in every possible way and we don’t find anything wrong.
So how is it that you make so much money? What is this?”
So Carnegie said, “See I can keep my mind focused on something for five minutes at a stretch
- five minutes I can keep my mind focused on something.
Can any one of you do it?”
They all said, “No.”
And they actually set up some experiments.
None of them could keep their mind focused more than a few seconds.
Then he said, “You should not be running United States” (Laughter).
Nothing yields unless you pay enough attention,
and there is nothing in the existence which cannot yield if you pay enough attention to it.
So, spiritual process is just about paying attention to life
- taking this attention deeper and deeper where not just the creation,
the very source of creation becomes a living reality for you, even the source of creation has to yield.
There are beautiful stories in India,
about how when a yogi or a rishi sits down and starts his penance or his meditation or something,
god is just helpless, he doesn’t want to yield but he cannot do anything, he has to come.
There’re many stories like this.
This is just to tell you, if human consciousness is substantially focused,
even the source of creation cannot deny it to you, even that has to yield.
So, this is a choice we have
- either to exist here just as flesh and bone, as a piece of creation or as the creator himself.
This is the choice we have.
When you exercise this choice, when you do not waste this choice, when you actually exercise this choice,
then we say you are on the spiritual path.
I cannot understand how anybody cannot be on the spiritual path because this is everybody’s aspiration.
Everybody wants to be something more than what he is right now, isn't it so?
That something more happens he wants to be something more.
This is a spiritual path conducted in a foolish way.
If you conduct it the right way then it produces results otherwise, you will die as an aspiration.
Most people die as an aspiration unfortunately.
Very few people die as a realization.
An aspiration is good as a starting point, but an aspiration is not a good thing as an ending point.
Isn't it so?
No?
Yes?
As aspiration is a good thing as a starting point.
An aspiration is not a good thing at the closing point.
Closing point should be realization (Laughs).
Beginning point is aspiration, that’s okay.